KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday “strongly opposed” Turkey’s offer to retain soldiers in Afghanistan to guard and run its international airport in the capital city, Kabul, once the United States and NATO-led troops withdraw from the country in the next few months.
Turkey has more than 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO mission to train Afghan security forces.
“We will allow no country to keep their troops, be it from America or Turkey... nor agree with this,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Arab News on Wednesday.
“If Turkey has such an intention, the Islamic Emirate [name of the Taliban’s government when the group was in power] will strongly oppose this, we will not accept any foreign force in the country, under any name,” he added.
“Presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan soil is not acceptable regardless of which country they belong to,” Mujahid said. “As you know Turkey is a member of NATO too. They have stayed here for 20 years and were involved in a part of the war. They should not make the mistake (of keeping troops) and if they want to keep troops in Afghanistan, without doubt, Afghans will treat them in the same manner they have dealt with other invaders because Afghans will not who the invader is.”
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday Turkey intended to stay in Afghanistan “depending on conditions.”
“What are our conditions? Political, financial and logistical support. If these are met, we can remain at Hamid Karzai International Airport,” his ministry quoted Akar as saying, according to a Reuters report.
The Taliban, however, maintained that “there was no need” for foreign forces as Afghans, throughout history, “have not accepted nor will accept the presence of foreign troops,” according to Dr. Mohammad Naem, a spokesman for the group’s political office in Qatar.
“The responsibility of Afghanistan’s security belonged to Afghans alone and protection of foreign civilians, both from an Islamic point of view and based on international principles, was the responsibility of the country where they live,” he told Arab News.
Turkish officials say the airport security proposal was made at a NATO meeting in May when the US and its partners agreed to withdraw troops once Washington ends its nearly 20-year occupation of Afghanistan on Sept. 11.
Safeguarding the airport is crucial for military and commercial flights and the safe passage of international aid groups and diplomats residing in the country. It could also help persuade some countries to maintain a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. Last month, however, Australia shut its embassy in Afghanistan, citing “security concerns.”
While other US-led foreign troops have been subjected to regular attacks by the Taliban and other militant groups in the past 19 years, Turkey’s forces remain unharmed, partly because it is the only Islamic country and NATO member.
With hope over the success of US sponsored talks between the Taliban and President Ashraf Ghani’s embattled government waning, there are concerns among some Afghans and foreigners that the Taliban will endeavor to retake the country by force as they did in the mid-1990s.
Turkey’s proposal comes amid the Taliban making territorial gains during clashes with local forces in Afghanistan after Washington started to withdraw its troops on May 1.
All foreign troops should have left Afghanistan last month, but the new US administration unilaterally extended the deadline until Sept. 11, based on a controversial agreement between Washington and the Taliban more than a year ago.
Toreq Farhadi, an adviser for former Afghan president Hamid Karzai said the Taliban had rejected Turkey’s offer as part of a “military strategy.”
“It could be part of the Taliban’s military objective [to ensure President Ashraf] Ghani’s total surrender. It is clear that the Taliban’s military strategy is to cut off the Afghan government from the breast that feeds them; the international community,” he told Arab News.
However, he added: “This has its own risks for the Taliban. NATO allies are also a supplier of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, something which the Taliban recognize as a need to be met going forward.”
Farhadi explained that the Taliban have “shown an interest in Afghanistan maintaining its relations with the world, to continue receiving donor funds.”
“They also want their names removed from the UN’s sanctions list... refusing international support would mean depriving Afghanistan of much needed diplomatic, aid and investment support,” he told Arab News, adding: “If they have a problem with Turkey, they should offer an acceptable alternative country for this [airport security] task.”
Taliban reject Turkish military presence in Afghanistan after troop withdrawal
https://arab.news/2r2c2
Taliban reject Turkish military presence in Afghanistan after troop withdrawal
- Taliban spokesperson says if Turkey decides to keep troops, Afghans will treat them the same way they “dealt with other invaders”
- Turkey has more than 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO mission to train Afghan security forces
British police charge three Iranians in counter terrorism probe
British police have charged three Iranian men with offenses under the National Security Act after a major counter-terrorism investigation, the police said on Saturday.
British counter-terrorism police arrested eight men including seven Iranians earlier this month in two separate operations in what the British interior minister called some of the biggest investigations of their kind in recent years.
Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori were charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between August 14, 2024, and February 16, 2025, the police said in a statement.
The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran, they added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said he was “disturbed” to learn that Iranian citizens had been arrested by British authorities.
The British government has placed Iran on the highest tier of its foreign influence register, requiring Tehran to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK.
Police investigate disappearance of Melania Trump’s statue in her native Slovenia
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia: Police in Slovenia are investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue of US first lady Melania Trump that was sawed off and carried away from her hometown.
The life-size sculpture was unveiled in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office near Sevnica in central Slovenia, where Melanija Knavs was born in 1970. It replaced a wooden statue that had been set on fire earlier that year.
Police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik Rangus said Friday that the police were informed about the theft of the statue on Tuesday. She said police were working to track down those responsible.
According to Slovenian media reports, the bronze replica was sawed off at the ankles and removed.
Franja Kranjc, who works at a bakery in Sevnica that sells cakes with Melania Trump’s name in support of the first lady, said the stolen statue won’t be missed.
“I think no one was really proud at this statue, not even the first lady of the USA,” he said. “So I think its OK that it’s removed.”
The original wooden statue was torched in July 2020. The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017. The replica bronze statue has no obvious resemblance with the first lady.
They once lived the 'gangster life.' Now they tackle food insecurity in Kenya's slums
MATHARE: Joseph Kariaga and his friends once lived the “gangster life” in Nairobi’s Mathare slum, snatching phones, mugging people and battling police. But when Kariaga's brother was shot dead by police, the young men took stock.
“We said, 'We cannot live like this. We are going to lose our lives.’ Many of our friends had died,” said Kariaga, now 27. “I reflected on my life. I had to change.”
Now the men are farmers with a social mission. Nearly a dozen of them founded Vision Bearerz in 2017 to steer youth away from crime and address food insecurity in one of Kenya’s poorest communities.
Despite challenges, Vision Bearerz makes a modest but meaningful community impact, including feeding over 150 children at lunches each week. Some residents praise the group and call the men role models.
Amid cuts to foreign funding by the United States and others, experts say local organizations like this may be the future of aid.
Vision Bearerz works on an urban farm tucked away in the muddy streets and corrugated-metal homes that make up Mathare, one of Africa's most populous slums. Estimates say about a half-million people live in this neighborhood of less than two square kilometers.
Some 2 million people, or 60% of Nairobi’s population, live in informal settlements, according to CFK Africa, a non-governmental organization that runs health and poverty reduction programs in such neighborhoods and is familiar with Vision Bearerz' work.
Lack of infrastructure is a key challenge in these communities, which are growing amid sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid urbanization and booming youth population, said Jeffrey Okoro, the group’s executive director.
Poverty pushes youth into crime, Okoro added.
“Most folks in slums such as Mathare are not able to earn enough to buy a decent meal, and kids who are under 5 are twice as likely to be malnourished,” he said. “One of the other major challenges affecting young people is gangs, and the promise of making a quick buck.”
The farmers of Vision Bearerz know this well.
“When you are born from this land, there is not much you have inherited, so you have to make it yourself,” said Ben Njoki, 28, whose face tattoos are reminders of a gang-affiliated past. “You have to use violence.”
In 2017, not long after Kariaga’s brother was killed, Njoki and other young men made a plan to change. More than a dozen people they grew up with had been killed, and they realized they would follow if they did not find an alternative to crime, said Moses Nyoike, 32, the chair of Vision Bearerz.
To keep busy, the group began collecting garbage and would split profits from trading vegetables, buying produce in another county and reselling it locally. They noticed a gap in the supply of vegetables to Mathare, and with permission from authorities they cleaned up a garbage dump and began planting.
Polluted soil, and water rationing, made it a tough start. Then, inspired by a TikTok account that showcased farming in a Colombian slum, Vision Bearerz tried their hand at hydroponics. With the help of an NGO that supports community enterprises, Growth4Change, they were able to get materials and training in urban farming methods.
Today, Vision Bearerz grows vegetables, raises pigs and farms tilapia in a small pond. They sell a portion of what they produce, with revenue also coming from running a car wash and public toilet.
With the earnings, the group buys maize flour to make ugali, a dough-like staple food, and beans, which supplement produce from their farm in weekly lunches for children.
Vision Bearerz also runs outreach programs to warn against drug use and crime, and has sessions where women teach girls about feminine health.
“The life I was living was a lie. It didn’t add up to anything. We just lost people. Now, we are winning people in the community,” Njoki said.
Davis Gichere, 28, another founding member, called the work therapeutic.
Challenges remain. Joining Vision Bearerz requires a pledge to leave crime behind, and there have been instances of recidivism, with at least one member arrested. Lingering criminal reputations have led to police harassment in the past, and finding money to buy food for Saturday feedings is a weekly struggle.
Funding cuts across the development space, including the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, make the prospect of new financing dim.
At least one other group in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, Human Needs Project, does similar work of urging youth away from crime and addressing food insecurity through urban farming.
It's a model that can be scaled up or copied elsewhere, said Okoro of CFK Africa.
“The future of development is locally led organizations," he said, noting they are best suited to understanding the needs of their communities.
Kariaga still feels the pain of his brother’s death, but is proud of his new job.
“Farming can change the world,” he said, a silver-capped tooth glinting in the sun.
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In Spain, a homelessness crisis unfolds in Madrid's airport
MADRID: Every morning at 6 a.m., Teresa sets out in search of work, a shower and a bit of exercise before she returns home. For around six months, that has been Terminal 4 of Madrid’s international airport.
Teresa, 54, who didn’t want her full name to be used because of safety concerns, is one of the estimated hundreds of homeless people sleeping in the Spanish capital’s airport amid a growing housing crisis in Spain, where rental costs have risen especially fast in cities like Madrid, the country's capital, and Barcelona.
She and others sleeping at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport — the third-busiest airport in Europe in 2023, according to Eurostat — described a situation where for months, authorities have neither helped them find other living arrangements nor have they kicked them out from the corners of the airport that they have occupied with sleeping bags unfurled on the floor as well as blankets, shopping carts and bags.
Soon, things could change.
Limits on entry
Spain’s airport operator AENA this week said that it would start limiting who can enter Madrid’s airport during low-travel hours by asking visitors to show their boarding passes. AENA said that the policy would take effect in the next few days, but didn't specify exactly when. It said that exceptions would be made for airport workers and anyone accompanying a traveler.
Teresa, a Spanish-Ecuadorian who said she has lived in Spain for a quarter-century, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she hadn't heard of the new policy. She and her husband would be forced to sleep outside on park benches and other public spaces if they aren’t allowed back in.
“We can’t make demands. We’re squatters,” Teresa said, using a controversial term common in Spain. “Squatters in what is private property. We are aware of that. We want help from authorities, but not a single one has come here.”
Political blame game
For months, a political blame game between officials at different levels of government has meant that the homeless encampments in the airport have largely gone unaddressed. In recent weeks, videos on social media and news reports of the airport's homeless population put a spotlight on the issue.
Madrid’s city council on Thursday said that it had asked Spain’s national government to take charge and come up with a plan to rehabilitate every homeless individual sleeping in the airport. Spanish airports are overseen by AENA, a state-owned publicly listed company. A city council spokesperson said that Madrid's city government had recently called for a meeting with officials from AENA, the regional government of Madrid and several national ministries that declined.
“Without them, there is no possible solution,” said Lucía Martín, a spokesperson for Madrid’s city council division of social policies, family and equality. She said that the national ministries of transport, interior, inclusion, social rights and health declined to participate in a working group.
A day earlier, AENA accused Madrid’s city authorities of providing inadequate help and said that the city government's statements about the unfolding situation confirmed its “dereliction of duty” and abandonment of the airport’s homeless individuals.
“It's like a dog chasing its tail,” said Marta Cecilia Cárdenas of the long list of authorities she was told could help her. Cárdenas, a 58-year-old homeless woman originally from Colombia, said that she had spent several months sleeping in Madrid's airport.
Exact numbers are unknown
It’s not known how many people are sleeping in Madrid’s airport, through which 66 million travelers transited last year. Spain’s El País newspaper reported that a recent count taken by a charity group identified roughly 400 homeless people in the airport, many of whom, like Teresa, had previously lived in Madrid and were employed in some capacity.
AP wasn't able to confirm that number. Madrid city council officials, meanwhile, said that the Spanish capital's social service teams had helped 94 individuals in April with ties to the city, 12 of whom were rehabilitated into municipal shelters, addiction treatment centers or independent living.
Word of mouth
Teresa said she had heard about sleeping in the airport by word of mouth. Before she lost her job, she said she lived in an apartment in Madrid’s Leganés neighborhood, earning a living taking care of older people.
She currently earns 400 euros ($450) per month, working under the table caring for an older woman. With the earnings, Teresa said she maintains a storage unit in the neighborhood that she used to live in. Though the work is sporadic, she said it was still enough to also cover fees for the gym in which she showers daily, pay for transportation, and purchase food.
Over the last decade, the average rent in Spain has almost doubled, according to real estate website Idealista, with steeper increases in Madrid and Barcelona. Spain also has a smaller public housing stock than many other European Union countries.
Hope for the future
Teresa said that she hopes to find a job soon and leave the airport, whatever authorities may force her to do in the coming days and weeks. She and her husband keep to themselves, avoiding others sleeping in the brightly-lit hallway dotted with sleeping bags who were battling mental health problems, addiction and other issues, she said.
“You end up adjusting to it a bit, accepting it even, but never getting used to it,” Teresa said over the constant din of airline announcements. “I hope to God that it gets better, because this is not life.”
Russian attack on civilian bus in Ukraine kills 8
DUBAI: A Russian attack hit a bus with civilians in Ukraine's Sumy region, killing at least eight people and injuring five, the head of the military administration of the region in Ukraine's northeast said on Saturday.
"Passengers have been injured," Ihor Tkachenko, head of Sumy's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. "Medics and rescuers have been urgently sent to the scene'"
The attack came hours after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years.
