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January
Taliban seeks economic self-sufficiency and foreign investment for Afghanistan, minister says
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Taliban administration will encourage self-sufficiency and wants international trade and investment, the acting commerce minister said, as Afghanistan faces isolation and suspension of some humanitarian operations over restrictions on women.
"We will start a national self-sufficiency programme, we will encourage all government administrations to use domestic products, we will also try to encourage people through mosques to support our domestic products" Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters. "We will support any item which can help us for self-sufficiency."
Another part of their strategy was to boost trade and foreign investment, he said.
"Those who were importing items to Afghanistan from abroad, they are asking us to provide opportunities for investing in Afghanistan and they want to invest here instead of importing from abroad," he said.
He said that countries including Iran, Russia and China were interested in trade and investment. He said some of the projects under discussion were Chinese industrial parks and thermal power plants, with involvement from Russia and Iran.
Already facing a lack of formal recognition and sanctions hampering the country's banking sector, investors are faced with growing security concerns after attacks on foreign targets in Kabul, claimed by the Islamic State.
An attack on a hotel catering to Chinese businessmen this month, which badly hurt several foreigners, could prompt some to re-think investing, a leading member of the Chinese business community has said.
Azizi said authorities were working to ensure security.
"We do our best for our businessmen to not come to harm. The attack hasn't had any bad impact, (but) if it happened constantly, yes it might have bad impact," he said, referring to the investment environment.
Azizi laid out a plan to develop industry by creating special economic zones on land previously used for U.S. military bases. He said his ministry was presenting the plan to the administration's cabinet and economic commission.
He added that foreign investors were showing interest in Afghanistan's mining sector, which has been valued at more than $1 trillion. He said that an iron mine in western Herat and a lead mine in central Ghor province had seen 40 companies take part in an auction and that the results would be announced soon.
He said that a major contract signed with Russia in September for the supply of gas, oil and wheat would see the delivery of the items to Afghanistan in coming days.
The Taliban-led administration is facing increased isolation over policies in recent days restricting women from access to public life, including attending university.
An order barring female NGO workers has thrown the humanitarian sector, which is providing urgent aid to millions of people, into disarray, with some organisations suspending operations in the middle of the harsh winter.
Azizi did not comment on the new restrictions but said his ministry had allocated 5 acres of land for a permanent exhibition centre and hub for women-led businesses.
"We always support women investors," he said. (Reuters)
January
South Korea, U.S. discussing nuclear exercises as tensions flare with North, Yoon says
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea and the United States are discussing possible joint exercises using U.S. nuclear assets, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un labelled the South its "undoubted enemy" in flaring cross-border tensions.
Yoon's comments, in a newspaper interview published on Monday, come after he called for "war preparation" with an "overwhelming" capability, following a year marked by the North's record number of missile tests, and the intrusion of North Korean drones into the South last week.
"The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises and training should be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States," Yoon said in the interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
The newspaper quoted Yoon as saying the joint planning and exercises would be aimed at a more effective implementation of the U.S. "extended deterrence," and that Washington was also "quite positive" about the idea.
The term "extended deterrence" means the ability of the U.S. military, particularly its nuclear forces, to deter attacks on U.S. allies.
A Pentagon spokesperson said: "We have nothing to announce today," when asked about Yoon's comments, adding that the alliance remains "rock-solid."
Yoon's remarks were published a day after North Korean state media reported that its leader Kim called for developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an "exponential increase" of the country's nuclear arsenal.
At a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party meeting last week, Kim said South Korea has now become the North's "undoubted enemy" and rolled out new military goals, hinting at another year of intensive weapons tests and tension.
Inter-Korean ties have long been testy but have been even more frayed since Yoon took office in May, promising a tougher stance on the North.
On Sunday, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast, in a rare late-night, New Year's Day weapons test, following three ballistic missiles launched on Saturday.
The North's official KCNA news agency said the projectiles were fired from its super-large multiple rocket launcher system, which Kim said "has South Korea as a whole within the range of strike and is capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads."
The North's race to advance its nuclear and missile programmes has renewed debate over South Korea's own nuclear armaments, but Yoon said in the Chosun Ilbo interview that maintaining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remained important.
To better cope with the North's growing threats, South Korea's military said on Monday it had established a new directorate under the Joint Chiefs of Staff to counter the North's nuclear and weapons of mass destruction capabilities.
North Korea, meanwhile, conducted a reshuffle of its military leadership at the year-end party gathering, sacking Pak Jong Chon, the second-ranked military official after Kim, and replacing its defence minister and the chief of the army's General Staff, according to state media.
The reason for Pak's replacement was not immediately known, although Pyongyang regularly revamps its leadership and uses the party event to announce major personnel reshuffles.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said this year could be a "year of crisis" with military tension on the Korean peninsula going beyond 2017, when Pyongyang first test-fired an ICBM and also conducted its sixth nuclear test.
"North Korea's hardline stance...and aggressive weapons development when met with South Korea-U.S. joint exercises and proportional response could raise the tension in a flash, and we cannot rule out what's similar to a regional conflict when the two sides have a misunderstanding of the situation," Hong said. (Reuters)
January
Islamic State claims responsibility for Kabul attack
Written by Nur YasminIslamic State on Monday claimed responsibility for an attack on Taliban forces in Kabul.
The militant group said on Telegram that the attack on Sunday had killed 20 people and wounded 30.
A spokesman for Afghanistan's Taliban-run interior ministry said an explosion outside the military airport in the capital Kabul had caused multiple casualties.
The interior ministry denied the casualty figures claimed by Islamic State and said it would release the official death toll.
Islamic State has claimed several high-profile attacks in Kabul, including the storming of a hotel that caters to Chinese businessmen and a shooting at Pakistan's embassy that Islamabad called an assassination attempt against its ambassador, who escaped unharmed. (Reuters)
January
Anger in Russia as scores of troops killed in one of war's deadliest strikes
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russia acknowledged on Monday that scores of its troops were killed in one of the Ukraine war's deadliest strikes, drawing demands from nationalist bloggers for commanders to be punished for housing soldiers alongside an ammunition dump.
Russia's defence ministry said 63 soldiers had died in the fiery blast which destroyed a temporary barracks in a former vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk.
It said the accommodation had been hit by four rockets fired from U.S.-made HIMARS launchers, claiming two rockets had been shot down. Kyiv said the Russian death toll was in the hundreds, though pro-Russian officials called this an exaggeration.
Russian military bloggers, many with hundreds of thousands of followers, said the huge destruction was a result of storing ammunition in the same building as a barracks, despite commanders knowing it was within range of Ukrainian rockets.
Separately, Ukraine said on Monday it had shot down all 39 drones Russia had launched in an unprecedented third straight night of air strikes against civilian targets in Kyiv and other cities.
Ukrainian officials said their success proved that Russia's tactic in recent months of raining down air strikes to knock out Ukraine's energy infrastructure was increasingly a failure as Kyiv beefs up its air defences.
'EACH MISTAKE HAS A NAME'
Unverified footage posted online of the aftermath of the Makiivka strike on the Russian barracks showed a huge building reduced to smoking rubble.
Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian troops in east Ukraine who has emerged as one of the highest profile Russian nationalist military bloggers, said the death toll was in the hundreds, later editing his post to include wounded in that figure. Ammunition had been stored at the site and Russian military equipment there was uncamouflaged, he said.
Another nationalist blogger, Rybar, said around 70 soldiers were confirmed dead and more than 100 wounded.
"What happened in Makiivka is horrible," wrote Archangel Spetznaz Z, another Russian military blogger with more than 700,000 followers on Telegram.
"Who came up with the idea to place personnel in large numbers in one building, where even a fool understands that even if they hit with artillery, there will be many wounded or dead?" he wrote. Commanders "couldn't care less" about ammunition stored in disarray on the battlefield, he said.
"Each mistake has a name."
Russia's acknowledgement of scores of deaths in one incident was almost without precedent. Moscow rarely releases figures for its casualties, and when it does the figures are typically low - it acknowledged just one death from among a crew of hundreds when Ukraine sank its flagship cruiser Moskva in April.
Russia has seen in the new year with nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, hundreds of kilometres from the front lines. The nightly attacks mark a change in tactics, after months in which Moscow usually spaced such strikes around a week apart.
After firing dozens of missiles on Dec. 31, Russia launched dozens of Iranian-made Shahed drones on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. But Kyiv said on Monday it had shot down all 39 drones in the latest wave, including 22 shot down over the capital.
Kyiv said the new tactic was a sign of Russia's desperation as Ukraine's ability to defend its air space had improved.
"Now they are looking for routes and attempts to hit us somehow, but their terror tactics will not work. Our sky will turn into a shield," presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.
In his latest nightly speech, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised Ukrainians for showing gratitude to the troops and one another and said Russia's efforts would prove useless.
"Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them," he said of the Russians. "Because we stand united. They are united only by fear."
Ukraine's air defence systems worked through the night to bring down incoming drones and to warn communities of the approaching danger.
"It is loud in the region and in the capital: night drone attacks," Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said.
Russia has turned to mass air strikes against Ukrainian cities since suffering humiliating defeats on the battlefield in the second half of 2022.
It says its attacks, which have knocked out heat and power to millions in winter, aim to reduce Kyiv's ability to fight. Ukraine says the attacks have no military purpose and are intended to hurt civilians, a war crime.
Russia has flattened Ukrainian cities, killed thousands of civilians and annexed swathes of Ukraine since Putin ordered his invasion in February, calling Ukraine an artificial state whose pro-Western outlook threatened Russia's security.
Ukraine has fought back with Western military support, driving Russian forces from more than half the territory they seized. In recent weeks, the front lines have been largely static, with thousands of soldiers dying in intense warfare.
In a stern New Year's Eve message filmed in front of a group of people dressed in military uniform, Putin vowed no let-up in his war.
"The main thing is the fate of Russia," Putin said. "Defence of the fatherland is our sacred duty to our ancestors and descendants. Moral, historical righteousness is on our side." (Reuters)
December
Xi tells Putin that road to peace talks on Ukraine will not be smooth
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's President Xi Jinping told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday that the road to peace talks on Ukraine would not be smooth and that China would continue to uphold its "objective and fair stance" on the issue.
Xi said Beijing and Moscow should closely coordinate and cooperate in international affairs and emphasised Russia's willingness to engage in negotiations over Ukraine, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said in its report on a call between the two men.
"The Chinese side has noted that the Russian side has said it has never refused to resolve the conflict through diplomatic negotiations, and expressed its appreciation for this," Xi was quoted as saying in the video call by CCTV.
Xi and Putin have in recent years been drawn closer by a shared distrust of the United States and its allies, highlighted by a declaration in early February of a "no-limits" strategic partnership that sent alarm bells ringing across the West.
But after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, China has publicly stressed that it is not in any way a party to the conflict and in September, after the Russian army had faced several setbacks on the battlefield, Putin publicly acknowledged that Xi had "questions and concerns" about the war.
Putin said in comments on Russian television on Friday that he aimed to strengthen military cooperation with China but there was no mention of military cooperation in the CCTV report of the call.
The "no-limits" description of the Sino-Russian relationship has fallen out of favour in Beijing, at least publicly, as it seeks to avoid sanctions from the West over aiding Russia's war efforts.
Xi, however, made clear on Friday the ideological affinity between Beijing and Moscow when it came to opposing what both view as the hegemonic U.S.-led West.
"Facts have repeatedly proved that containment and suppression are unpopular, and sanctions and interference are doomed to failure," Xi told Putin.
"China is ready to work with Russia and all progressive forces around the world that oppose hegemonism and power politics...and firmly defend the sovereignty, security and development interests of both countries and international justice." (Reuters)
December
South Korea's Yoon orders revamp of response to violations of country's air space
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered a revamp of the military's response to objects violating its airspace, his office said on Thursday, after an intrusion by North Korean drones exposed its difficulty in shooting down small aircraft.
Five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea on Monday, prompting South Korea's military to scramble fighter jets and attack helicopters, though it failed to bring down the drones, which flew over South Korea for hours.
Amid criticism over South Korea's air defences at a time of North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, Yoon visited the state-run Agency for Defence Development to check the country's reconnaissance and interception capabilities and called for an overhaul of the response system against "all flying objects".
"North Korean drones' intrusion of our airspace is an intolerable incident," Yoon said. "We should let them learn that provocations are always met by harsh consequences."
Yoon has slammed the military's handling of Monday's incursion, the first since 2017, urging it to hasten the reinforcement of drone units.
The military apologised for its response, and said it could not shoot down the drones because they were too small.
"To secure peace, we need to prepare for a war with overwhelming capabilities," the president said, adding that the South's defence procurement strategy should also be reviewed in line with the North's weapons advances.
On Thursday, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the country's military would hold drone-focused exercises.
"Our military will conduct joint air defence drills ... simulating response to enemy's small-sized unmanned aircraft," a JCS spokesperson told a regular briefing. (Reuters)
December
China's Xi solidified grip on power during tumultuous 2022
Written by Nur Yasmin
Xi Jinping secured an historic third leadership term in October, emerging as China's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong, bolstered by a Politburo Standing Committee stacked with allies and no successor-in-waiting to challenge him.
It was a rare highlight for Xi in 2022, a tumultuous year capped by unprecedented street protests followed by the sudden reversal of his zero-COVID policy and coronavirus infections rampaging across the world's most populous country.
While frustration over zero-COVID and its devastating impact on the second-largest economy did little to disrupt Xi's march towards five more years as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, 2022 was a year of crises at home and abroad for the 69-year-old leader.
China's economy is on track to grow at around 3% in 2022, far short of its official target of roughly 5.5%, as the country's outlier COVID curbs stifled consumption and disrupted supply chains, while crisis in its massive property sector continued to weigh.
Beijing's relations with the West deteriorated, worsened by Xi's "no limits" partnership with Moscow struck just ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, as well as growing tensions over U.S.-backed Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory.
Xi travelled abroad for the first since the start of the pandemic, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. In November, he met U.S. President Joe Biden at the G20 in Indonesia as both sides sought to steady relations.
Later that month, protesters in cities across China took to the streets in opposition to nearly three years of stifling COVID-19 controls that were a signature Xi policy. Such widespread protests were the first in China since 1989.
In an unexpectedly sudden reversal, China in early December dropped most of its COVID controls as cases in cities including Beijing surged, despite warnings from global experts over insufficient vaccine coverage and a health system unprepared to cope with an explosion of infections.
WHY IT MATTERS
For decades, China has been the world's primary economic growth engine as well as the linchpin in industrial supply chains. A prolonged economic slowdown or fresh logistical disruptions, whether due to COVID or geopolitical tensions, would reverberate globally.
Xi further consolidated his power in a process that began when he first took office a decade ago, a concentration that has taken China in a more authoritarian direction and that critics warn raises the risk for policy missteps.
Immediately after October's Communist Party congress, global investors dumped Chinese assets and the yuan currency tumbled to its weakest in nearly 15 years on fears that security and ideology would increasingly trump growth and international detente during a third Xi term.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR 2023?
Since the congress, China has reversed zero-COVID and said it will focus on stabilising its $17 trillion economy in 2023.
Management of mushrooming infections across a vast population with little "herd immunity" is Xi's most pressing challenge, with implications for public health as well as social stability and the economy.
Experts warn that China, home to 1.4 billion people, could see more than 1 million COVID-related deaths in the coming year.
At its annual parliamentary gathering in March, China will complete its leadership transition, with Shanghai party chief Li Qiang, a close Xi ally, poised to replace the retiring Li Keqiang as premier, a role charged with managing the economy.
The World Bank expects reopening of China's economy will lift growth to 4.3% in 2023 from its forecast of 2.7% for the current year.
Diplomatically, Xi appears to be trying to cool some of the tension that has made relations with the West increasingly fraught, even as Beijing tries to shore up its position as a counterweight to the U.S.-led post-World War Two order, with outreach such as Xi's recent visit to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
December
U.N. halts some programs in Afghanistan after ban on women aid workers
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United Nations said on Wednesday that some "time-critical" programs in Afghanistan have temporarily stopped and warned many other activities will also likely need to be paused because of a ban by the Taliban-led administration on women aid workers.
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths, the heads of U.N. agencies and several aid groups said in a joint statement that women's "participation in aid delivery is not negotiable and must continue," calling on the authorities to reverse the decision.
"Banning women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans. Already, some time-critical programmes have had to stop temporarily due to lack of female staff," read the statement.
"We cannot ignore the operational constraints now facing us as a humanitarian community," it said. "We will endeavour to continue lifesaving, time-critical activities ... But we foresee that many activities will need to be paused as we cannot deliver principled humanitarian assistance without female aid workers."
The ban on female aid workers was announced by the Islamist Taliban-led administration on Saturday. It follows a ban imposed last week on women attending universities. Girls were stopped from attending high school in March.
"No country can afford to exclude half of its population from contributing to society," said the statement, which was also signed by the heads of UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the U.N. Development Programme, and the U.N. high commissioners for refugees and human rights.
Separately, 12 countries and the EU jointly called on the Taliban to reverse the ban on female aid workers and allow women and girls to return to school.
The statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Britain, the United States and the EU.
The ban on female aid workers "puts at risk millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian assistance for their survival," the statement said.
Four major global groups, whose humanitarian aid has reached millions of Afghans, said on Sunday that they were suspending operations because they were unable to run their programs without female staff.
The U.N. statement said the ban on female aid workers "comes at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan ... require assistance to survive as the country grapples with the risk of famine conditions, economic decline, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter."
The U.N. agencies and aid groups - which included World Vision International, CARE International, Save the Children U.S., Mercy Corps and InterAction - pledged to "remain resolute in our commitment to deliver independent, principled, lifesaving assistance to all the women, men and children who need it."
The Taliban seized power in August last year. They largely banned education of girls when last in power two decades ago but had said their policies had changed. The Taliban-led administration has not been recognised internationally. (Reuters)
December
Kazakhstan to deport Russian major who fled his country over war
Written by Nur Yasmin
Kazakhstan is preparing to deport a Russian security officer who fled his country because he objected to the invasion of Ukraine and hoped to find refuge in the West, his wife said on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled to Kazakhstan and other neighbouring states after the war started. Many of them were civilians, crossing legally as they sought to avoid mobilisation.
As an officer of the Federal Protective Service (FSO), which is tasked with protecting the Russian president, Major Mikhail Zhilin, 36, was barred from leaving Russia and he illegally crossed into Kazakhstan in September when it became clear he could be sent to Ukraine.
His wife Yekaterina travelled to Kazakhstan legally with their two children at the same time. Zhilin was detained in Kazakhstan and sentenced to deportation which he tried to preempt by flying to Armenia, only to get detained again before he could board the plane.
Zhilin's wife said a Kazakh court reaffirmed the deportation verdict on Wednesday and on Thursday Zhilin was already en route to the border while she was contacting human rights lawyers in an attempt to prevent his deportation.
Kazakhstan's interior ministry could not be immediately reached for comment.
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic which denied Zhilin's request for refugee status, treads a fine line between staying on friendly terms with Russia, a major trading partner, and not carrying out actions that could make it look like it is taking a pro-war stance, especially since most Kazakh citizens are against the invasion. (Reuters)
December
U.N. aid chief to visit Afghanistan over female aid worker ban
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths will visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks and seek to meet the highest possible officials within the Taliban-led administration after it banned female aid workers, a senior U.N. official said on Thursday.
"We regret to see that there is already an impact of this decision on our programs," Ramiz Alakbarov, U.N. aid coordinator in Afghanistan, told reporters in New York after the United Nations said that some "time-critical" programs had temporarily stopped and other activities will also likely be paused.
He said women made up roughly 30% of aid workers and that they would not be replaced with men. Alakbarov also said the "humanitarian needs of the people are absolutely enormous and it's important that we continue to stay and deliver."
The United Nations has said that 97% of Afghans live in poverty, two-thirds of the population need aid to survive and 20 million people face acute hunger.
Alakbarov said U.N. officials were meeting with ministries to discuss the impact on aid programs and that a meeting with the health minister about the delivery of services for women and girls by female aid workers had been "rather constructive."
"We already had an agreement with the minister that in that sector there should not be a barrier and the service providers may return to work. Now let's see how this is going to play out," Alakbarov said. "The discussions with other line ministers have not yielded the same results yet, but they are ongoing."
He said he would be focused on talking with the Taliban-led administration to try and get the ban reversed because they responded better to dialogue instead of pressure, adding: "This movement have not responded well to the pressure in the past."
Alakbarov said that 70% of U.N. programs were implemented in partnership with other aid organizations.
Four major global groups said on Sunday that they were suspending operations because they were unable to run their programs without female staff. Others have since followed suit.
The ban on female aid workers was announced by the Islamist Taliban-led administration on Saturday. It follows a ban imposed last week on women attending universities. Girls were stopped from attending high school in March.
Alakbarov said most of the decrees came from the Shura, or leadership council, in the southern city of Kandahar - the birthplace of the Taliban - and if a decree was signed by a minister in the capital Kabul it referenced the Kandahar Shura.
He said there were divisions within the Taliban over the bans on women, adding: "It's also generational. The older generation of Taliban is more conservative.
The Taliban seized power in August last year. They largely banned education of girls when last in power two decades ago but had said their policies had changed. The Taliban-led administration has not been recognized internationally. (Reuters)