Negotiators said Friday there were no results to report after the first day of talks between representatives for ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s government to discuss the future of the breakaway region.

In a statement, the separatists said they were negotiating the withdrawal of their troops and, “and to ensure the return to their homes of the citizens displaced by military aggression.” The statement, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), said they agreed to meet again soon, but did not specify when.

The two sides did agree to allow humanitarian aid into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, where the estimated population of about 120,000 people are said to be suffering from shortages of food and other basic necessities. Convoys of trucks from both Armenia and Azerbaijan carrying humanitarian goods were seen entering the region Friday.  

The Russia-mediated talks in Yevlakh, Azerbaijan, come a day after local fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to lay down their arms to end an offensive by Azerbaijan’s forces.

The U.N. Security Council held its own talks about the situation Thursday. Representatives from Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations during the meeting, with Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Ararat Mirzoyan accusing Azerbaijan of launching an unproved attack and of “ethnic cleansing.”

Azerbaijan Foreign Affairs Minister Jeyhun Bayramov countered, calling the offensive “counterterror measures designed to disarm illegally armed forces in the region.”

Members of the council urged both sides to resolve their issues through diplomacy.

Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets in the Armenia capital, Yerevan, for the third day Friday. The protesters are calling on the government to protect Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign for his handling of the crisis. Police said several arrests were made. 

Azerbaijan said it launched its operation Tuesday in response to landmine explosions that killed four soldiers and two civilians in the region. Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev used a televised address Wednesday to claim victory, saying Azerbaijan had restored the region’s sovereignty.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region is entirely within Azerbaijan but is populated largely by ethnic Armenians and had been under ethnic Armenian control since 1994, until parts of it were reclaimed by Azerbaijan during a war in 2020.

Along with Russia, the EU and the United States have an interest in the region and have held talks that are expected to continue, according to Mary Glantz, senior adviser on Russia and Europe Center at the United States Institute of Peace.

“The security of both sides and maintaining some sort of peace between those populations going forward is going to be a key issue [for] the international community — not just Russia and Turkey, but the EU and the United States,” Glantz told VOA’s Azerbaijan Service.

The security council will be convening to discuss the ongoing issues in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which, Glantz hopes, will be able to reach some sort of plan to ensure peace going forward.

“The military conquering of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan is just a piece of it,” she said. “Reintegrating the actual populations — having them live together side by side, the ethnic Azerbaijanis and the ethnic Armenians — is going to be an ongoing process.”

Some information for this story provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

The Asian Games are an attention grabber. For starters, they involve more participants than the Summer Olympics. Organizers say more than 12,000 will be entered when the opening ceremony takes place Saturday in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. That is more than the 10,500 expected for next year’s Paris Olympics.

The giant numbers are partly due to the staggering array of events with many regional specialties, sports, and games you won’t find in the Olympics. And there’s also cricket, which appears headed to the Olympics as soon as 2028 in Los Angeles, and certainly for 2032 in Brisbane, Australia.

And there’s squash, which has tried several times for Olympic recognition.

The regional fare includes dragon boat racing, sepaktakraw — sometimes called “kick volleyball — wushu, a Chinese martial art, and kabaddi, a popular contact sport on the Indian subcontinent. There is also the non-Olympic martial art of ju-jitsu, and kurash, a form of wrestling popular in central Asia.

To this, add a long list of what organizers call “mind sports” from bridge to chess to xiangqi (Chinese chess) to esports.

Of course, there are the old standbys seen in every Olympics like track and field, swimming, or volleyball — and the usual grandiose opening and closing ceremonies. Nine sports will offer qualification spots for the Olympics — archery, artistic swimming, boxing, breaking, hockey, modern pentathlon, sailing, tennis, and water polo.

However, most of the 481 events offer a chance for smaller delegations to win medals, which is often impossible at the Olympics.

China won almost 300 overall medals at the last Asian Games in Indonesia in 2018. At the bottom of the table, Syria and Nepal won a lone medal each. Bhutan and Bangladesh were among nine delegations that didn’t win any.

China will dominate the medal table as it has for the last 40 years, followed by Japan and South Korea — Asia’s other powers. The vast region stretches from Lebanon on the Mediterranean, through central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, to North Korea with organizers saying 45 nations or territories are entered.

Organizers have said 191 participants from North Korea will be on hand. North Korea closed its border early in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic and skipped the Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed a year until 2021. The Asian Games were also pushed back a year from 2022 because of the pandemic.

According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, the last time North Korean athletes appeared in an international sports competition was January 2020, when North Korea competed in the Asian Football Confederation’s under-23 soccer championship.

If you like political intrigue, there may be plenty of it.

The self-governing island of Taiwan will be on hand in China, which claims the democracy as a breakaway province that it has vowed to reclaim. Known as the Republic of China, the island is officially listed as Chinese Taipei in the Olympics and Asian Games and marches under a white flag adorned with the Olympics rings. Its red, blue and white flag is not allowed.

Taiwan, with only 23.5 million, is a relative sports power in the region and finished seventh in the overall medal standings in Indonesia.

The games also begin amid an open power struggle between International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a long-time IOC member who is often described as the “kingmaker” who helped Bach win the IOC presidency in Buenos Aires in 2013.

The Switzerland-based IOC openly intervened in July to invalidate the presidential election of the Olympic Council of Asia. It has also suspended Sheikh Ahmad from the IOC.

The election was ostensibly won by Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the younger brother of Sheikh Ahmad. The elder sheikh is the former 30-year president of the OCA, an organization that was created by his father.

The IOC says it will continue to recognize Randhir Singh of India as interim president of the OCA until new elections are held. Bach will attend the opening ceremony in Hangzhou and is sure to have talks with Singh.

The biggest event of the games might be a possible India vs. Pakistan gold-medal game in men’s cricket on Oct. 7, which would be one of the most-watched global sports events all year. It comes just as cricket’s world cup is also under way.

China will again dominate diving, and several of China’s top swimmers — fresh from the world championships two months ago in Fukuoka, Japan — will shine. The field in gymnastics is weakened since the world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, clash with the Asian Games.

The biggest winner at the Asian Games might be South Korea esports star Lee Sang-hyeok, who is also known as “Faker.” If he wins gold he will be granted an exemption from military service.

Tottenham Hotspur soccer forward Son Heung-min also bypassed a 21-month military stint because of a government exemption when South Korea won the gold medal in soccer at the 2018 games in Indonesia — although Son still had to do three months of basic training. 
…

Afghanistan’s Taliban have pledged “concrete steps” to “neutralize” activities of militants plotting terrorist attacks against neighboring Pakistan, diplomatic sources told VOA on Friday.

The assurance was given in a bilateral meeting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi hosted Thursday with a high-level Pakistani delegation in Kabul, the sources privy to the talks said.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan, led the delegation including senior military officials, among others. The visit came amid an upsurge in deadly attacks against security forces in Pakistan.

The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has claimed responsibility for much of the violence. Islamabad maintains TTP leaders and fighters sheltering in Afghanistan have intensified cross-border attacks since the Taliban reclaimed power in Kabul two years ago.

Hundreds of Pakistani police and soldiers have died in almost daily TTP attacks in the last year.

The sources told VOA that “the emphasis” of Thursday’s talks was on the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban. “The Afghan side was told that the TTP’s use of Afghan territory against Pakistan has been a serious concern” for Islamabad.

The Kabul authorities “assured concrete steps to neutralize TTP activities,” the sources added.

The meeting also decided to hold “regular consultations” to review the security situation along the nearly 2,600-kilometer border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

While Pakistani officials have not released any details of the talks, Muttaqi’s office quoted him as stressing the need for both countries to refrain from making public statements that fuel mutual mistrust.

“No one will be allowed to spoil the relations between the two countries,” the Taliban chief diplomat said. The statement on X, formerly Twitter, did not mention the TTP, nor did it refer to Kabul’s alleged pledge about curbing the group’s activities.

The Taliban deny allegations they are allowing anyone to use Afghan soil to threaten other countries.

Pakistani officials have previously claimed they shared with Taliban authorities “video evidence” and bodies of suspected Afghan Taliban fighters who joined TTP militants in recent high-profile “terrorist” attacks and were killed by security forces.

The United States has designated the TTP a global terrorist organization.

The group’s leadership has publicly pledged allegiance to Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban. The TTP emerged in Pakistani border areas in 2007 and fought alongside the Taliban against U.S.-led NATO troops in Afghanistan.

“The group posing the greatest threat to the region’s stability is the TTP. We have seen a very significant increase in attacks directed at Pakistan,” Tom West, the U.S. special representative on Afghanistan, told a seminar in Washington last week.

“They [the TTP] became allies of the Taliban during the war. They were financial supporters, logistical supporters, and operational allies as well. I think the ties between them are quite tight,” West said.

All American and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, just days after the then-Taliban insurgents took control of the country, ending nearly 20 years of U.S. involvement in the Afghan war.
…

India suspended visa services for Canadian citizens on Thursday and asked Canada to reduce its staffing in India, as tensions between the two countries grew.

Canadian citizens who do not currently hold visas will not be able to travel to India until visa services resume.

India has also asked that Canada reduce its diplomatic presence in the country, a move that Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi called an issue of parity as Indian staffers in Canada are outnumbered by Canadian staff members in India.

India also has warned its citizens to practice caution when traveling to Canada, as the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi cited “growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes.”

Relations between the two countries have been strained since Monday, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited “credible allegations” that India was involved in the killing in June of Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb.

While Trudeau has said he does not want to provoke or have problems with India, he stated that Canada is “unequivocal about the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.” He has asked India to cooperate in the investigation of Nijjar’s death.

India has been viewed by many in the international community as a vital counter to China’s growing international influence, which has caused the reluctance of many Canadian allies to weigh in on this issue.

Canada and India have generally had a cordial relationship reliant on trade and security, though India has accused Canada of harboring Sikh separatists and people India considers terrorists.

Canada has not presented any evidence in the killing, and Trudeau has stated the country will let the full investigation run its course.

“As a country with a strong and independent justice system, we allow those justice processes to unfold themselves with the utmost integrity,” he said.
…

The official panel responsible for organizing elections in Pakistan announced Thursday the much-awaited national parliamentary polls will take place in the last week of January, confirming a delay of about two months and ending uncertainty about the fate of the electoral process.

In a brief statement, the Election Commission of Pakistan, or ECP, defended the decision, saying it needed more time to redraw nationwide constituencies following the latest population census.

“The final list of the new constituencies will be published on November 30, and the elections will be held in the last week of January 2024 after a 54-day election program [or campaigning],” the ECP said, without giving the exact date for the vote.

The elections in Pakistan were due to be held within 90 days, in line with the constitution after the outgoing parliament completed its five-year term on August 9 and then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolved his government.

A caretaker government, led by Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, has since been installed to supervise the vote in the South Asian nation of about 241 million people.

Kakar told a Thursday event at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York that his government was determined to facilitate “free, fair and transparent elections” in Pakistan.

“We’re committed to abiding by the principles of democracy that are enshrined Pakistan’s constitution. My government will work diligently to ensure that the people of Pakistan are fully represented in the government that would be formed,” he said.  

The caretaker prime minister delivered the public talk on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.

The ECP announcement comes as nuclear-armed Pakistan struggles to tackle deepening economic, political and security challenges.

The political turmoil erupted in April 2022 when a parliamentary no-confidence motion removed then-Prime Minister Imran Khan from power.

The ousted Pakistani leader and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party have since been calling for early elections in the country, denouncing the no-confidence vote as illegal and accusing the politically powerful military of orchestrating it.

Thousands of PTI members, including senior leaders, have been arrested since a military-backed crackdown on the party began in May.

Khan was convicted of controversial graft charges and sentenced to three years in jail early last month.

A high court suspended the sentence, but the 70-year-old former prime minister remains in custody over accusations of leaking contents of a classified diplomatic cable, known as a cipher, for political gains.

Khan says that the cipher proves the United States collaborated with the Pakistani military and Sharif to topple his government, charges Washington and Islamabad have denied.

The cricket star-turned-deposed Pakistani leader remains the most popular politician in Pakistan, and his party is the largest national political force, according to public polls.

Militant attacks have also dramatically surged in the country, killing nearly 600 people since the start of the year, raising security concerns ahead of the upcoming vote.

The deteriorating security and lingering political crisis have hampered efforts to tackle one of Pakistan’s worst economic crises in decades, with inflation rising to record levels.

A last-minute bailout package from the International Monetary Fund in July helped Islamabad avert a default on its external debt servicing.

But the IMF linked the $3 billion loan agreement to much-needed and long-delayed economic reforms in Pakistan, such as removing subsidies on power and fuel prices and forcing the wealthy class to pay taxes.

Rising fuel and power prices have triggered anti-government protests, adding to the popularity of Khan’s party, according to political observers.
…

Canada’s High Commission said Thursday it would “adjust” the number of its diplomats in India after threats on social media against staff, as a diplomatic row with New Delhi escalates.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has demanded India treat with “utmost seriousness” allegations that Indian agents played a role in the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver.

The fallout prompted diplomatic expulsions and a forceful denial from India, which said any suggestion it played a role in Nijjar’s killing was “absurd.”

“In light of the current environment where tensions have heightened, we are taking action to ensure the safety of our diplomats,” Canada’s mission said in a statement.

“With some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms, Global Affairs Canada is assessing its staff complement in India,” it added.

“As a result, and out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to temporarily adjust staff presence in India.”

Earlier on Thursday, India’s official visa processor in Canada said it had been told to stop handling applications.

Shortly after the announcement was splashed across Indian media, BLS International removed the notice from their website. There was no immediate comment from India’s foreign ministry.

The suspension of visas comes a day after India’s foreign ministry said it was concerned for the safety of its citizens in Canada because of “politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence”.

“Threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda,” a ministry statement said Wednesday.

“Indian nationals are therefore advised to avoid traveling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents.”

The advisory did not name specific cities or locations for Indians to avoid.

Nijjar was shot dead by two masked assailants outside the Sikh temple he presided over in Surrey, an outer suburb of Vancouver.

An activist for the creation of a Sikh state known as Khalistan, Nijjar was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.

He had denied those charges, according to the World Sikh Organization of Canada, a nonprofit organization that says it defends the interests of Canadian Sikhs.

The Indian government accuses Ottawa of turning a blind eye to the activities of radical Sikh nationalists who advocate the creation of an independent Sikh state to be carved out of northern India.

 
…

The Indian Parliament has taken a substantial step toward gender equity as the Lok Sabha, parliament’s lower house, passed the Women’s Reservation Bill, which sets aside 33% of the seats in the lower house and state assemblies for women.

The bill was introduced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and was passed 454 to 2.

It now needs to be passed by the Rajya Sabha, parliament’s upper house, as well as half of India’s 28 state legislatures, which is considered likely.

If passed, the measure will not be implemented in time for the 2024 elections. But it will be in place for the elections in 2029, after India’s census is completed, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Amit Shah, minister of home affairs.

According to Shah, four attempts have been made by three Indian governments to enact similar legislation but were unsuccessful.

The legislation allows for only women to contest 33% of the parliament’s lower house seats for 15 years with the ability for it to be extended by parliament.

Prior to the bill, Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had committed to nominating women to 33% of the seats in the upcoming 2024 election.

Women currently have 15.1% representation in parliament, despite making up 48% of India’s population. The international average for parliamentary representation of women is 24%, according to Arjun Ram Meghwal, India’s law and justice minister.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

India on Wednesday cautioned its citizens, especially students, planning to visit or living in Canada “to exercise utmost caution” after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that India’s government may have been involved in the assassination of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil.

“Threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda,” an Indian foreign ministry statement said. “Given the deteriorating security environment in Canada, Indian students in particular are advised to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant.”

Indian nationals made up around 40% of Canada’s international student body last year, the most of any country, according to the Canadian Bureau of International Education.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied what Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau called “credible allegations” that Indian government agents are linked to the murder of outspoken Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June. The relationship between Canada and India has broken down, with both nations having expelled one another’s diplomats.

It’s unclear what evidence Canadian intelligence officials are investigating, but Indian leaders maintain their government is innocent.

“We do not go around doing these things,” A.S. Dulat, a former head of India’s international espionage operations, told the Press Trust of India. “We do not go around assassinating people — let me make this very clear.”

New Delhi has pointed to the growth of anti-Indian rhetoric, “politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada.” Those claims fall in line with Modi’s long-standing accusations that Canada is harboring terrorists who want to turn the Indian state of Punjab into an independent nation called Khalistan.

Prior to his death, Nijjar was wanted in India in connection to extremist killings, though Canada denies that he had ever perpetrated acts of terrorism in either country.

India worries that pro-Khalistani political activity in Canada might spark the movement’s second-coming at home. Modi’s government has repeatedly urged Canada to crack down on separatists to no avail.

Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside the Indian state of Punjab, with about 770,000 people reporting Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census.

Some information is from Reuters.
…

The United Nations said Wednesday that Afghanistan’s Taliban had committed more than 1,600 human rights violations during arrests and detentions of people, including women, and it urged the de facto authorities to cease the abuses.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, has documented the violations in its first report on the treatment of detainees since the Taliban reclaimed power two years ago, saying nearly half of the violations were acts of custodial torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

The report described as “systemic” the use of torture and “ill-treatment” by police and the General Directorate of Intelligence, or GDI, in places of detention and prisons nationwide.

The Taliban renamed the official Afghan spy agency GDI after returning to power in August 2021. UNAMA attributed nearly 60% of the violations to the spy agency.

The reported abuses occurred between January 1, 2022, and July 31, 2023, across 29 of the 34 Afghan provinces. The UNAMA said it had documented the violations through its verifications of over 800 cases, including more than 130 in-depth interviews with Afghan males and females having been in Taliban custody.

The UNAMA report details methods of torture authorities used to extract confessions or other information, saying detainees were subjected to severe pain and suffering through physical beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, stress positions, and forced ingestion of water, as well as blindfolding and threats.

The report noted that 24% of the victims were journalists or civil society members, 21% were former Afghan government members and 44% were individuals with no particular affiliation. The rest included those affiliated with arms groups and people detained in order to extract information.

It also documented the death of 18 detainees, including former Afghan security forces and opposition fighters, while the rest’s association was unknown.

“The personal accounts of beatings, electric shocks, water torture, and numerous other forms of cruel and degrading treatment, along with threats made against individuals and their families, are harrowing,” said Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. “I urge all concerned de facto authorities to put in place concrete measures to halt these abuses and hold perpetrators accountable.”

The Taliban have denied the UNAMA allegations. In a response attached to the report, the foreign ministry in Kabul insisted security institutions were carrying out their work lawfully and shared details of the steps they had taken to uphold the rights of detainees.

The Interior Ministry-led police department identified 21 cases of human rights violations, and they were under investigation, the Taliban said.

“Fortunately, Sharia (Islamic religious, social, and cultural values), which have been approved to protect and respect fundamental and Islamic rights, prohibit the torture of people even for the purpose of obtaining the truth,” the Taliban office of prison administration was quoted as saying.

The UNAMA report noted that the Taliban had introduced some measures to monitor abuses in detention centers.

“Although there have been some encouraging signs in terms of leadership directives as well as an openness among many de facto officials to engage constructively with UNAMA and allow visits to prisons, these documented cases highlight the need for urgent, accelerated action by all,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the mission’s chief in Kabul.
…

The new flare-up of hostilities in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is raising the possibility of geopolitical change in the region, as some in Armenian society say they feel betrayed by what they see as the inaction of Russian peacekeepers. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
…

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday that the United States should prove its “goodwill and determination” to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact as months of indirect talks between the long-time foes have led nowhere.

“By exiting the JCPOA, the United States violated the agreement and the principle of good faith. America should demonstrate its goodwill and determination,” Raisi said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Tehran and six world powers.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on that deal in 2018, arguing it was too generous to Tehran, and restored harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to gradually violate the agreement’s nuclear limits.

After taking office in January 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden tried to negotiate a revival of the nuclear pact under which Iran had restricted its nuclear program in return for relief from U.S., European Union and U.N. sanctions.

But months of nuclear talks have stalled since last September, with both sides accusing each other of demanding excessive concessions.

“America must build trust to demonstrate its good intentions and genuine willingness to fulfill its commitments and conclude the path,” Raisi said.

U.S. and European officials have been searching for ways to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities since the breakdown of indirect American-Iranian talks a year ago.

To cool tensions, Tehran and Washington reached a Qatar-mediated deal last month, which resulted in swapping five detainees each on Monday and involved releasing $6 billion of Tehran’s funds in South Korea.

Further straining already difficult ties, the United States and its Western allies have imposed sanctions on Iran over its handling of months of protests sparked by the death in custody of young Iranian Kurdish women Mahsa Amini.

Immediately after Iran’s Raisi began to deliver his speech, Israel’s envoy to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, marched out of the General Assembly hall while waving Amini’s picture.

“I left the speech to make it clear that the State of Israel stands by the Iranian people,” said Erdan, according to a statement sent to Reuters by Israel’s mission to the United Nations.

Iran and Israel, which Tehran refuses to recognize, have been locked in a shadow war for decades, with mutual allegations of sabotage and assassination plots.
…

President Joe Biden is turning Washington’s gaze to Central Asia — a region the West has long been accused of overlooking — in an effort to strengthen ties with the landlocked region bordered by Russia and China.

On the sidelines Tuesday of the United Nations General Assembly, Biden met with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The former Soviet states have continuing security ties with Russia and growing economic and diplomatic ties to China — and great cultural and historical significance as the main arteries of the Silk Road, the ancient network of Eurasian trade routes that connected the East and West for 1,500 years.

Biden described this meeting of the C5+1 diplomatic platform — held for the first time at this level — as “a historic moment, building on years of close cooperation.”

“Today, we’re taking our cooperation to new heights,” Biden said, noting that efforts would include strengthened counterterrorism cooperation and increased U.S. security funding in the region, new business connections with the U.S. private sector, and “the potential for a new critical minerals dialogue.”

None of the other five leaders spoke during the group’s brief interaction with reporters after their meeting.

Analysts say the attention is long overdue.

“No U.S. president has ever visited Central Asia,” Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, told VOA via email. “The U.S. has never taken the region seriously in its own right.”

Eric Green, former senior director for Russia and Central Asia at the National Security Council, told VOA’s Uzbek Service that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted many countries to reconsider their diplomatic ties.

“This meeting is a recognition of two key factors: First, the changing geopolitical environment in this region following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Green told VOA via email. “This has prompted all countries, especially those bordering Russia, to reassess their political, economic and security postures, and I think there is an interest in diversification and balance.

“The second factor is the progress at regional integration within Central Asia. This is evidenced by an increased tempo of meetings at all levels and discussions about common challenges such as water, energy, climate and trade.”

And the time is right, defense analysts say.

“Central Asia’s souring relations with Russia and growing skepticism of Chinese influence have created a window of opportunity for the United States to bolster its image through greater long-term investment in the region,” said Hunter Stoll, a defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, on the RAND blog.

“Because the United States is unlikely to outspend China or even Russia, its approach needs to be deliberate and focused on areas where it can see the greatest return on investment.”

‘Face time’

Kadyr Toktogulov, a former Kyrgyz ambassador to the U.S., attended the inaugural meeting of the diplomatic grouping in 2015 in the ancient city of Samarkand, in modern-day Uzbekistan.

“I’m very encouraged by the progress that C5+1 has made, to come to the presidential level within just eight years,” he told VOA from Prague. “I think it’s quite remarkable.”

“Face time with the U.S. president is always a big deal,” he added. “And actually, it’s a pretty hard currency when it comes to Central Asian republics’ engagement with both Russia and China.”

The region’s desire for greater global recognition was clear on the floor of the U.N. on Tuesday, as Biden and other world leaders spoke.

“I am convinced that the time has come to start an inclusive, full-scale, and systemic dialogue between Central Asia and the U.N.,” said Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Turkmenistan’s 41-year-old president. He added that his nation would offer to host the inaugural conference.

‘A lot more to do’

Berdimuhamedow claimed a landslide victory in a 2022 poll that international observers questioned for its freedom, fairness and transparency. He followed the 15-year tenure of his father, a harsh authoritarian who once won a presidential poll by an astonishing 98% against eight other candidates.

The father-son pair followed the independent nation’s first post-Soviet leader, who memorialized himself with a rotating, gold-plated statue of himself in the capital and renamed cities and months after himself and family members.

Rights groups urged Biden to use the meeting to emphasize human rights. All five nations have a documented history of credible, serious allegations of abuses.

These include a harsh government crackdown on Kazakh political protesters in 2022, current moves toward more repressive laws by Kyrgyz authorities, and the general pall over human rights and free expression in Turkmenistan — a nation so isolated, repressive and so deeply steeped in a cult of personality around its ruling dynasty that it has been nicknamed “the North Korea of Central Asia.”

“They should seek guarantees on fundamental standards of the rule of law and human rights,” said Iskra Kirova, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Biden should ask for explicit steps to end politically motivated prosecutions, suppression of free speech and impunity for torture and police brutality.”

Biden did not mention human rights in his comments, but the White House readout of the meeting said he “welcomed his counterparts’ views on how our nations can work together to further strengthen the Central Asian nations’ sovereignty, resilience, and prosperity while also advancing human rights through our C5+1 partnership.”

Toktogulov noted that all five nations have secular governments, are relatively stable and cooperated with the U.S. during its involvement in Afghanistan.

“There’s certainly a lot more to achieve and to do in terms of addressing human rights, concerns and some of the troubles — in some republics more than others,” he said.

“But I think it’s the engagement and this constant dialogue that would actually help the republics of Central Asia and the governments of Central Asia to pay closer attention to the issues of democracy and human rights, and actually do something meaningful on those issues.”

For now, Toktogulov said, the key is more engagement.

“I would like to see a U.S. president to finally visit Central Asia, or perhaps one of the next presidential summits could be held in Central Asia,” he said.

In his closing words Tuesday to the world leaders, Biden appeared to hint at that.

“I look forward to seeing you soon,” he said. “Possibly in one of your countries.”
…

Hundreds of women in Afghanistan say the United Nations should not recognize the Taliban government until women’s access to work and education is restored, according to a new survey.

About 46% of the 592 Afghan women who spoke to U.N. surveyors in July said the world body should not recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan “under any circumstances.”

Half of the survey respondents said that any recognition of the Taliban government should hinge on tangible improvements in women’s rights, including their rights to education and work.

Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have shuttered secondary schools and universities for girls, leaving countless young women without access to education, and have enforced sweeping restrictions on women’s employment.

The Islamist regime has also imposed myriad other restrictions on women’s social rights such as access to sports and entertainment sites prompting the U.N. and human rights organizations to call Afghanistan a country under “gender-apartheid.”

“They [survey responders] expressed concern that recognition would only encourage the de facto authorities to continue becoming stricter in their policies and practices against women and girls,” the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report on Tuesday.

The Taliban’s appeals for international recognition have met with resounding calls for change. Many countries have demanded that the regime abandon its misogynistic policies, form an inclusive government, and respect human rights.

However, Taliban officials contend that their “Islamic Emirate” is inclusive and respects human rights, albeit within the framework of Islamic Sharia law.

“Steps toward normalization, I think, are not going to be possible. And I think there will remain remarkable unity among the international community until and unless we see a significant change in their [Taliban] treatment of the population,” Thomas West, United States’ Special Representative for Afghanistan, said last week.

“We will not give up until Afghan girls’ rights to education and women’s rights to work are restored,” Toor Pekai, the mother of Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, told VOA Afghanistan service in an online interview on Monday.

Worsening indicators

The U.N. survey has also revealed remarkable setbacks in women’s health, income and social influence under the Taliban rule.

“Women consulted frequently describe their lives as that of prisoners living in darkness, confined to the home without hope of a future,” states the UNAMA’s report.

Most of the women surveyed, 80%, reported a drop in their ability to undertake income-generating activities.

In July, the Taliban banned women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan, depriving some 4,000 women of income.

This loss of income has had a profound impact on women’s social and familial roles, diminishing their influence in household decision-making.

“Sixty-nine percent reported that feelings of anxiety, isolation and depression had grown significantly,” the U.N. report says.

The plight of Afghan women is further exacerbated by a deepening humanitarian crisis in the country and a sharp reduction in humanitarian funding.

A U.N. appeal for $3.227 billion for 2023 has received less than 28% of the required funding as of September 19. This shortfall has forced aid agencies to cut essential food aid and health care services, affecting millions of vulnerable Afghans, including women and children.
…

An unprecedented allegation by one leading democracy essentially accusing another of carrying out a political assassination on its soil is causing significant concern among key allies of both nations.

Officials in Washington and London are assessing the ramifications after Canada publicly tied India’s government to the killing of a Sikh leader three months ago. Canada on Monday announced that in response, it had expelled the top Indian intelligence official in Canada. India on Tuesday retaliated by ordering a senior Canadian diplomat to depart the country.

“We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau,” said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. “We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada’s investigation proceed, and the perpetrators be brought to justice.”

The United States is urging India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation, according to a senior State Department official.

India’s government says any allegations of involvement by its officials in acts of violence in Canada are “absurd and motivated.”

“The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate,” Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday.

The allegations, however, “have the potential to cloud out other strategic challenges Canada faces, such as foreign interference by China and Russia. The timing comes less than one year after Canada’s release of an Indo-Pacific strategy which highlighted the aspirations for greater partnership with India,” noted Jonathan Berkshire Miller, director of foreign affairs, national security and defense at Canada’s Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Canadian officials have not revealed what evidence they have linking India to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.

“I fear that this incident, regardless of the veracity of Ottawa’s accusation, will have a generational impact on Canada’s relations with India. The damage has been done with the very public loss of face for Delhi,” Miller told VOA. “On the other hand, if this is credible and definitive evidence points to Delhi’s direct involvement, it is an egregious act that needs to be called out and reprimanded. There are still many questions about how closely India is linked to this.”

A Canadian source is quoted by Reuters saying, “we’ve been working with the U.S. very closely, including on the public disclosure yesterday,” adding that Canadian evidence implicating India would be revealed “in due course.”

When contacted by VOA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined comment.

British officials say they are in touch with their Canadian counterparts about the matter.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities,” said a government official in London.

India has repeatedly accused Canada of harboring “Khalistani terrorists and extremists” who are considered a threat to Indian national security.

Canadian officials have now canceled an economic mission to Mumbai next month. Officials in Ottawa and New Delhi acknowledged on Tuesday that Canadian-Indian trade talks are on hold.

Nijjar was shot dead by two masked gunmen on June 18 in a Vancouver suburb outside a Sikh temple, of which he was the president. Police said it was a targeted killing and have sought a third suspect who they say helped the assassins flee.

The 45-year-old native of Punjab state in India ran a plumbing business in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Indian officials had branded him a terrorist and charged him in connection with targeted killings in his native state.

Canadian officials say Nijjar had never been accused of any crimes in Canada and had peacefully advocated for a referendum in Punjab to establish an independent state of Khalistan.

Sikh separatist groups, for decades, pursued such autonomy. The Indian government labeled such activities as terrorism. It has been an especially sensitive matter for years in Canadian-Indian relations, as Canada is home to the largest number of Sikhs outside India’s Punjab region.

In 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland after departing Canada for India via London. All 329 passengers and crew members on board died. Authorities concluded it was a terrorist act carried out by a pro-Khalistan group. One suspect was convicted in 2003.

The targeting of the civilian aircraft followed a period of violence in India. Khalistani militants violently took over the Sikh religion’s holiest site in 1984. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered military commandos to respond, which left hundreds of militants and pilgrims dead. The prime minister was subsequently assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. That sparked widespread violence in which thousands of Sikhs were killed. India’s ruling Congress Party was seen as complicit in the killings.

There are 55 interlinked Kashmiri and Khalistani groups currently operating within the United States, according to a 2021 report by the Hudson Institute.

“Sikhs always feel hurt” because of that history, Jesse Singh, the founder and chairman of Sikhs of America, said on Tuesday during a Hudson panel discussion on terrorism and other regional security challenges.

Singh added that the Khalistan movement is not a significant among Sikhs in North America these days, but the issue does retain more resonance among the diaspora compared to those in India who have moved on.

Sikhs compose the world’s fifth-largest religion and nearly 2% of the population of Hindu-majority India with most of India’s Sikhs living in Punjab where their religion is the dominant faith.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “to do more to win the Sikh psyche back,” according to Singh.

Sikhs have long had an outsized role in India’s military and as athletes and entrepreneurs. They were also prominent in India’s independence struggle against the British.

Chief National Correspondent Steve Herman was VOA’s South Asia bureau chief, based in New Delhi, in 2007-2010. VOA’s National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
…

Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that six of its citizens had been killed by land mines in two separate incidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and blamed “illegal Armenian armed groups” for laying the deadly mines.

Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has an overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population and broke from Baku’s control in the early 1990s after a war. Azerbaijan recaptured swathes of land in and around it in a 2020 war.

Baku said four interior ministry staff had been killed when their truck was blown up by a mine near a tunnel construction site. Another mine had killed two civilians, also in a truck, it said.

There was no immediate response from the ethnic Armenians authorities in Karabakh whom Azerbaijan wants to disband to allow it to re-integrate the territory. Armenia said on Monday that accusations that its own armed forces had placed mines on Azerbaijani territory were false.

The landmine incidents occurred a day after badly needed food and medicine was delivered to Karabakh along two roads simultaneously, a step that looked like it could help ease mounting tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Ties remain severely strained, however.

Azerbaijan’s defense ministry on Tuesday accused “illegal Armenian armed groups” of jamming the GPS navigation of a passenger jet flying from Tbilisi in Georgia to Baku.

Ethnic Armenians in Karabakh called the allegation “an absolute lie” designed to distract attention from what they called “the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the illegal blockade” of Karabakh by Baku.

That was a reference to months of Azerbaijani restrictions on the Lachin corridor — the only road linking Armenia with Karabakh — which had until the last few days not allowed in aid on the grounds that the route was purportedly being used for arms smuggling.

Armenia’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Azerbaijan’s diplomatic stance looked like it was preparing the ground for a military escalation.

Both sides say they remain committed to settling their differences via a peace deal.
…

India has rejected allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government has links to the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader as “absurd and motivated” and expelled a Canadian diplomat amid spiraling tensions between the two countries.

India’s action came hours after Canada expelled an Indian diplomat. 

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had campaigned for an independent Sikh homeland, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia. He had been designated as a “terrorist” by India.

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said in parliament on Monday that Canadian security agencies have been “pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between the agents of the government of India” and the killing of Nijjar.

“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” he said.

Trudeau said he had raised the issue of the murder and the allegations of Indian government involvement in it with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit in New Delhi and had asked for India to cooperate in the investigation.

Responding to his comments, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement that Modi had dismissed these accusations when they were raised by Trudeau. “Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected.”

The statement said, “we are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”

The Indian foreign ministry underlined India’s concerns that Canada provides a safe haven to Sikh “extremists.”

According to the statement, “such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Urging the Canadian government “to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,” New Delhi said it remains a matter of concern that “Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements.”

India’s expulsion of a Canadian diplomat came a day after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Ottawa had expelled India’s intelligence chief in Canada in apparent concerns over Nijjar’s killing.

Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia, had publicly campaigned for the creation of Khalistan, the name given by activists to an independent homeland for Sikhs that they want carved out of India’s northern state of Punjab.

Demands for Khalistan led to a bloody insurgency in India in the 1980s and early 1990s and the death of thousands of people, including many top officials. But the movement has lost steam and has little support in Punjab now. 

The cause of Khalistan remains a rallying cry, though, among some sections of the Sikh diaspora in countries like Britain and Canada, which have sizable Sikh populations – Canada has the largest Sikh population outside India’s Punjab state.

Groups that support the creation of an independent Sikh homeland in these countries have angered the Indian government and New Delhi has been urging their governments to rein in what it calls Sikh “extremists.”

Nijjar was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020.  Promoting the cause of Khalistan has been outlawed in India.

According to reports, Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death. Indian authorities had also announced a cash reward last year for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.

The United States has expressed concern over the allegations made by Trudeau. “We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadian investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Britain and Australia have also expressed concern over the accusations.

Meanwhile, the intensifying diplomatic row between India and Canada has also cast tensions over trade negotiations between the two countries, which have been put on hold. 

After Canada postponed a trade mission that was due to arrive in India next month, India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, told news website Firstpost, “We have given the trade dialogue with Canada a pause. We need to make sure that geopolitically and economically we are on the same page.”   
…

Proceedings from Pakistan’s Supreme Court were broadcast live on Monday by state television for the first time, giving an unprecedented view into the workings of an institution that has historically had a huge impact on the country’s politics.

The move marks the beginning of the tenure of new Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa as Pakistan’s top judge.

Isa, 64, was sworn in as chief justice on Sunday after he became the most senior judge of the court on the retirement of his predecessor Justice Umar Ata Bandial. Isa’s first move as the top judge was to open proceedings for live broadcast.

“It is a majority consensus decision to telecast live,” Isa said at the start of proceedings shown live by state-run broadcaster Pakistan Television. Previous attempts to broadcast proceedings live had been blocked by the court.

The broadcast was shown uninterrupted by all major Pakistani channels.  

Adding to the interest of the proceedings was the nature of the case, which pertains to legislation that curtails the discretion of the chief justice to take up any legal matter directly, commonly known as suo moto action, and his powers to entrust cases to his fellow judges.

The legislation passed by parliament earlier this year had pit the outgoing coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with Isa’s predecessor.

Supreme Court judges retire automatically upon reaching the age of 65, and the next most senior judge is elevated as the chief justice. There is no set tenure for a chief justice.

Isa’s elevation has garnered nationwide interest given his reputation as a maverick judge and his hard-hitting judgements criticizing the role of the country’s powerful military in politics.

The military has ruled Pakistan for over three decades of its 76-year history, and wields enormous influence in politics, including making and breaking civilian governments. The judiciary has historically legalized military rule and, critics say, helped the country’s generals remove elected leaders.  

Political parties and analysts say army generals are trying once again to strengthen their grip over country’s governance under a caretaker government led by Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar, who comes from a pro-military party.

Isa has given several landmark judgements during his judicial career, including a 2019 ruling that posed scathing questions about the role of the military and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency in brokering a deal between Islamists and the then government.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was close to the then chief of the ISI Faiz Hameed, attempted to have Isa removed as a judge on charges of financial impropriety in 2018 – a charge that was thrown out in 2019 for want of evidence by his fellow judges.
…

The United Nations secretary-general Monday renewed his demand for Afghanistan’s Taliban to allow teenage girls to attend high school. 

“This is an unjustifiable violation of human rights that inflicts long-lasting damage on the entire country,” Antonio Guterres said on X (formerly Twitter). “Girls belong in school. Let them back in,” he added. His statement marks two years since the de facto rulers imposed an education ban. 

The Taliban seized power from an internationally backed government in August 2021 and have since imposed sweeping restrictions on Afghan women’s access to education and work. They have banned girls from school beyond sixth grade, making Afghanistan the only country in the world with restrictions on education for females.

Guterres told reporters last week that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan “is absolutely central to all concerns” and would be on the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly session starting Monday in New York.

Education Cannot Wait, the U.N. global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, denounced the ban as a violation of universal human rights.

“In all, 80% of school-aged Afghan girls are currently out of school – that’s 2.5 million girls denied their right to the safety, protection, opportunity of education – their inherent human right,” the agency said.

The Taliban have imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, in the impoverished war-ravaged South Asian nation, ordering most female government employees to stay home and banning Afghan female aid workers from working for aid groups in a country where 97% of the population needs humanitarian assistance.

Women are prohibited from visiting public parks, gyms, or bathhouses, and a close male relative must accompany them for long road trips. 

The Taliban have defied international calls for a reversal of their bans on women, saying their policies are aligned with Afghan culture and Islamic law. The treatment of Afghan women has primarily blocked the de facto authorities’ efforts to win legitimacy for their government in Kabul. 

Muslim scholars from other Islamic countries have disputed and criticized Taliban restrictions, saying Islam does not prohibit women from receiving an education or having a public life. 

This month, a delegation from the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, visited Kabul to discuss bans on women. They “held several meetings with Afghan scholars and (Taliban) officials on issues of utmost importance to the organization such as tolerance in Islam, girls’ education and women’s work,” according to a post-visit OIC statement.

Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, welcomed the OIC’s engagements in a statement last week, stressing the need to sustain the campaign. 

Speaking at a seminar in Washington, he said, however, that Afghans would have to work collectively to push the Taliban to reverse their repressive policies, especially those targeting female members of the society. 

“If a change has to occur on allowing women to return to secondary schools, girls’ secondary schools, and then to university, it’s going to come from inside the country,” the U.S. envoy stressed. 

“If there is a shift on this set of issues, it will not be as a result of foreign pressure; it would be because Afghans have called for this shift, and the Taliban would do it because it is in the best interest of the country domestically,” West added.
…

Badly needed food and medicines were delivered to Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday along two roads simultaneously, a step that could ease mounting tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had sent trucks via the Lachin corridor leading from Armenia into the mountain enclave from the southwest, and the Aghdam road from Azerbaijani government-held territory to the northeast.

“We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian aid will finally receive much-needed support in the coming days,” said Ariane Bauer, ICRC’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

“People are queuing hours for bread,” she said, adding that she hoped aid convoys would continue “not just today but in the weeks to come, so that we can regularly get aid to those who need it.”

She said the deliveries had been made possible by agreement between the rival authorities.

Azerbaijan had virtually cut traffic from Armenia since December, alleging it was being used to smuggle arms. That triggered food shortages in Karabakh and aggravated tensions with Yerevan.

In a statement on Facebook, the Karabakh administration said around 23 tons of flour as well as medical and hygiene products had arrived in the region.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had agreed to the ICRC shipments, and that it was ready to ensure the parallel use of the two roads.

Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has an overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population that broke from Baku’s control in the early 1990s after a war, relying on support from Armenia through the Lachin corridor.

In another war in late 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured swathes of land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, establishing effective control over the corridor.

Baku has insisted that Karabakh must reopen an access route from Azerbaijani territory that has been blocked since 1988, and earlier this month a single Russian aid truck entered Karabakh along that road.

Monday’s delivery fulfilled the other side of an agreement between Yerevan and Baku, but wider tensions remain.

The two countries frequently exchange fire along their closed and heavily fortified border and Armenia has in recent weeks repeatedly accused Azerbaijan of massing troops around Karabakh, an allegation Azerbaijan has denied.

The Armenian state news agency Armenpress said on Sunday that one person in Karabakh had been wounded by firing from Azerbaijani positions. Azerbaijan accused Karabakh forces of building fortifications near the front line and said it had taken “urgent measures” to stop them from doing so.
…

Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, has written a letter to his Taliban counterpart in Afghanistan, stressing the need to address the security and economic challenges facing both countries.

Kakar’s letter to Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund comes amid persistent tensions over Islamabad’s complaints that Kabul is not doing enough to prevent cross-border “terrorist” attacks being planned on Afghan soil.

While discussing the letter’s contents Sunday, a Pakistani official told VOA it was written to thank Akhund for his recent “felicitation message” to Kakar after he assumed office last month.

The official, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media publicly, said that Kakar conveyed “our security concerns” and underlined the need to jointly address them to allow both countries to expand economic and trade cooperation.

“Enhanced regional trade and connectivity remains vital for the prosperity of our peoples. We must work assiduously to achieve these shared goals,” the Pakistani prime minister wrote. 

VOA reached out to the Pakistani information minister for comment on the reported letter sent to the Taliban prime minister but did not get a response immediately, nor have Taliban authorities in Kabul shared any reaction with the media.

Pakistan has experienced a resurgence in militant violence since the Taliban reclaimed power two years ago, when the United States and NATO allies withdrew all their troops after nearly two decades of foreign military involvement in the South Asian nation. 

Officials in Islamabad say that the Taliban takeover encouraged fugitive leaders and fighters of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, to move to the Afghan side of the border and plot increasingly deadly attacks with “greater operational freedom” against Pakistani security forces. 

Hundreds of Pakistanis, mostly police and soldiers, have died in almost daily attacks by TTP and Baluch insurgents in the last year. Northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Baluchistan provinces bordering Afghanistan bear the brunt of the violence. The Baluch insurgents have been fighting for the independence of Baluchistan from Pakistan.

Taliban authorities deny that Afghan soil is being used to threaten other countries, including Pakistan, and have urged Islamabad to avoid blaming Kabul for its internal security challenges.

Speaking to VOA last week, Kakar did not rule out the possibility of cross-border military action or drone strikes against suspected TTP bases in Afghanistan.

“Wherever we believe that action is required to protect our territory and people, we will take it,” the prime minister said, declining to discuss operational details.

Pakistani officials say they have shared a list of suspected Afghan Taliban fighters who joined TTP militants in launching recent cross-border “terrorist” attacks, including a raid on security outposts in the northern Chitral district. 

The TTP claimed responsibility for mounting the assault that the Pakistani army said had killed four soldiers and 12 assailants.

A Pakistani security official who requested anonymity told VOA that around 1,000 heavily armed militants, including many Afghans, participated in the cross-border Chitral attack. He said that if the Pakistani military hadn’t detected the “concentration and movement” of the militants on the Afghan side beforehand, they would have faced significant losses during the raid.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, is an offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban. The United States has listed the group as a global terrorist organization. The United Nations estimated in its latest report that at least 4,000 TTP members are active in Afghanistan.

The landlocked, war-torn country heavily relies on Pakistani roads and seaports to conduct trade with other countries. Earlier this month, Islamabad closed a main Afghan border crossing for passengers and commercial truck convoys for nine days over security and terrorism concerns, stranding thousands of vehicles and travelers on both sides.

The Torkham border gate was reopened for normal traffic on Friday after officials said they had received assurances from the Taliban that they would not allow Afghan soil to be used for terrorist attacks against Pakistan.
…

The sentencing of two prominent human rights activists to prison terms in Bangladesh has triggered shock and outrage among global rights campaigners who called their court trial “politically motivated” and said that the two activists were paying the price for exposing serious human rights violations by government forces.

A court in Dhaka on Thursday sentenced Adilur Rahman Khan, 63, and Nasiruddin Elan, 57 — secretary and director of Bangladesh’s leading human rights organization Odhikar — to two years each in prison in a criminal case related to a fact-finding report they prepared on the extrajudicial killing of Islamic group protesters in Dhaka in 2013.

Reacting to Thursday’s ruling, Angelita Baeyens, vice president of international advocacy and litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, said that it was a “sad day for the people of Bangladesh, whose rights Adil and Elan have fought so hard and so courageously to protect.”

“They are two of the most widely respected human rights advocates worldwide. They are being punished for speaking truth to power,” Baeyens told VOA.

The Odhikar fact-finding report documented that security forces killed at least 61 people, including children, during an action to disperse a protest on May 6, 2013. The government put the death toll at 13.

Charging that Odhikar compiled a “distorted” fact-finding report on the 2013 incident, the prosecution filed a criminal case against Khan and Elan the same year.

After the publication of the report, Khan and Elan were arrested in August 2013, before being released on bail some weeks later. Both were out on bail for 10 years until being sent to prison Thursday, following the verdict in the case.

After the pronouncement of Thursday’s verdict, public prosecutor Nazrul Islam Shamim said that the Odhikar report carried “false information.”

“We are not satisfied with the judgment. We will move the High Court seeking an increase in the jail terms,” Shamim said.

When the two activists were being taken from the court to Dhaka Central Jail, Khan told reporters that they had been denied justice.

“We will appeal the verdict in the higher court,” said Khan, who is himself a Supreme Court lawyer.

‘Prosecution failed to prove the charges’

The lawyer for the two activists, Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan, told VOA that if the trial had been conducted through a fair process, Khan and Elan would have been acquitted.

“The prosecution completely failed to prove the charges against the two accused. The accused did not commit any crime at all,” Bhuiyan said. “I believe that they will be acquitted after we move to the higher court.”

Odhikar, one of Bangladesh’s top human rights organizations, is globally known for its work in Bangladesh and cooperates closely with United Nations bodies and other international rights groups. Its reports are often cited in the U.S. State Department country reports.

Odhikar has reported on thousands of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, cases of torture in custody and other human rights violations committed by the security forces while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been in office.

Last year, the government accused Odhikar of spreading “propaganda against the state by publishing misleading information” on its website and canceled the group’s operating license.

Thursday’s verdict comes at a crucial time, ahead of the country’s general election in January. The opposition political parties and dissidents are reportedly facing a crackdown in Bangladesh now, and several Western nations, including the U.S., have expressed concerns over the political tensions in the country.

Ruling triggers global condemnations

The ruling against Khan and Elan has triggered a wave of condemnation from rights activists around the world.

In a joint statement, 39 international rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Amnesty International, urged the Bangladesh authorities to “quash their convictions, and end all reprisals” and immediately release Khan and Elan.

“We stand with Khan and Elan and urge the authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally, as they have been detained solely for their human rights work. The authorities should reverse their convictions,” the statement said.

In a Thursday statement, the International Federation for Human Rights said that the conviction of Khan and Elan was “based on politically motivated charges” and aimed “to intimidate human rights activists in the country.”

Human rights campaigner Saad Hammadi, a Global Governance Fellow at the Canada-based Balsillie School of International Affairs, said that the imprisonment of Khan and Elan “not only sends a chilling message to others about the harsh consequences they could face for speaking out, but also shows a lack of the government’s appetite to protect the rights of critical voices.”

“Successive governments in Bangladesh have adopted repressive measures to protect themselves and their political interests. The Bangladeshi authorities can and should change this course for the benefit of human rights in the country,” Hammadi told VOA.

Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, former liaison officer of Hong Kong-based rights group Asian Legal Resource Centre, said that “legally speaking, there are many things extremely wrong with the trumped-up case” against Khan and Elan.

“The Sheikh Hasina regime has been using the criminal justice system as a political tool to imprison dissidents and prominent HRDs [human rights defenders] for giving voice to the voiceless people of the country,” Ashrafuzzaman told VOA.

“The judges and prosecutors who have been engaged in serving the regime’s agenda of imprisoning the HRDs in a politically motivated case must be ashamed of their actions.”

RFK Human Rights’ Baeyens said that the very open targeting of the “brave rights defenders” by the highest levels of the government, is a “big blow for everyone who believes in justice, democracy, and fundamental freedoms.”

“The world cannot keep silent as Hasina’s regime silences critical voices and erodes the little that remains of democracy in Bangladesh,” Baeyens said.
…

Authorities in India are scrambling to contain a rare outbreak of Nipah, a virus spread from animals to humans that causes deadly fever and has a high mortality rate. Here is a look at what is known so far:

What is the Nipah virus? 

The first Nipah outbreak was recorded in 1998 after the virus spread among pig farmers in Malaysia. The virus is named after the village where it was discovered. 

Outbreaks are rare but Nipah has been listed by the World Health Organization — alongside Ebola, Zika and COVID-19 — as one of several diseases deserving of priority research because of their potential to cause a global epidemic. 

Nipah usually spreads to humans from animals or through contaminated food, but it can also be transmitted directly between people.  

Fruit bats are the natural carriers of the virus and have been identified as the most likely cause of subsequent outbreaks. 

Symptoms include intense fever, vomiting and a respiratory infection, but severe cases can involve seizures and brain inflammation that results in a coma. 

Patients have a mortality rate of between 40% and 75% depending on the public health response to the virus, the WHO says.

There is no vaccine for Nipah.

What has happened during previous outbreaks? 

The first Nipah outbreak killed more than 100 people in Malaysia and prompted the culling of 1 million pigs to try to contain the virus.  

It also spread to Singapore, with 11 cases and one death among slaughterhouse workers who had come into contact with pigs imported from Malaysia. 

Since then, the disease has mainly been recorded in Bangladesh and India, with both countries reporting their first outbreaks in 2001. 

Bangladesh has borne the brunt in recent years, with more than 100 people dying of Nipah since 2001.  

Two early outbreaks in India killed more than 50 people before they were brought under control. 

The southern state of Kerala has recorded two deaths from Nipah and four other confirmed cases since last month.  

Authorities there have closed some schools and instituted mass testing. 

This marks Kerala’s fourth recorded spate of Nipah cases in five years. The virus killed 17 people during the first instance in 2018.  

The state has stamped out previous outbreaks within weeks through widespread testing and strict isolation of those in contact with patients.

Are animal-to-human viruses becoming more frequent? 

Having first appeared thousands of years ago, zoonoses — diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans — have multiplied over the past 20 to 30 years. 

The growth of international travel has allowed them to spread more quickly. 

By occupying increasingly large areas of the planet, experts say, humans also contribute to disruption of the ecosystem and increase the likelihood of random virus mutations that are transmissible to humans. 

Industrial farming increases the risk of pathogens spreading among animals while deforestation heightens contact among wildlife, domestic animals and humans. 

By mixing more, species will transmit their viruses more, which will promote the emergence of new diseases potentially transmissible to humans. 

Climate change will push many animals to flee their ecosystems for more livable lands, a study published by the scientific journal Nature warned in 2022. 

According to estimates published in the journal Science in 2018, there are 1.7 million unknown viruses in mammals and birds, with 540,000 to 850,000 of them having the capacity to infect humans. 
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The Pentagon’s Central Command has ordered interviews of roughly two dozen more service members who were at the Kabul airport when suicide bombers attacked during U.S. forces’ chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, as criticism persists that the deadly assault could have been stopped.

The interviews, ordered by General Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, were triggered in part by assertions by at least one service member injured in the blast who said he was never interviewed about it and that he might have been able to stop the attackers.

The interviews are meant to see if service members who were not included in the original investigation have new or different information.

The decision, according to officials, does not reopen the administration’s investigation into the deadly bombing and the withdrawal two years ago.

But the additional interviews will likely be seized on by congressional critics, mostly Republican, as proof that the administration bungled the probe into the attack, in addition to mishandling the withdrawal.

Some families of those killed and injured have complained that the Pentagon hasn’t been transparent enough about the bombing that killed 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. servicemen and women.

U.S. Central Command’s investigation concluded in November 2021 that given the worsening security situation at the airport’s Abbey Gate as Afghans became increasingly desperate to flee, “the attack was not preventable at the tactical level without degrading the mission to maximize the number of evacuees.”

The Pentagon has said that the review of the suicide attack turned up neither any advance identification of a possible attacker nor any requests for “an escalation to existing rules of engagement” governing use of force by U.S. troops.

Central Command plans to speak with a number of service members who were severely wounded in the bombing at the Abbey Gate and had to be quickly evacuated from the country for medical care. They represent the bulk of the planned interviews, but a few others who weren’t wounded are also included. Officials also did not rule out that the number of interviews could grow as a result of those initial conversations.

“The purpose of these interviews is to ensure we do our due diligence with the new information that has come to light, that the relevant voices are fully heard and that we take those accounts and examine them seriously and thoroughly, so the facts are laid bare,” Central Command spokesperson Michael Lawhorn said in a statement.

Officials on Friday began informing family members of those killed in the bombing as well as members of Congress about the latest plan. Kurilla has asked for an update in 90 days.

In emotional testimony during a congressional hearing in March, former Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews told lawmakers that he was thwarted in an attempt to stop the suicide bombing. He said Marines and others aiding in the evacuation operation were given descriptions of men believed to be plotting an attack before it occurred.

He said he and others spotted two men matching the descriptions and behaving suspiciously, and eventually had them in their rifle scopes, but never received a response about whether to take action.

“No one was held accountable,” Vargas-Andrews told Representative Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “No one was, and no one is, to this day.”

The March hearing was set up to examine the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal. Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out. Kabul’s fall turned the West’s withdrawal into a frenzy, putting the airport at the center of a desperate air evacuation by U.S. troops.

In April, President Joe Biden’s administration laid blame on his predecessor, President Donald Trump, for the deadly withdrawal. A 12-page summary of the results of the “hotwash” of U.S. policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war asserts that Biden was “severely constrained” by Trump’s decisions.

It acknowledges that the evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan should have started sooner but blames the delays on the Afghan government and military, and on U.S. military and intelligence community assessments.

The administration has refused to release detailed reviews conducted by the State Department and the Pentagon, saying they are highly classified.

A review by U.S. Inspector-General for Afghanistan John Sopko concluded that actions taken by both the Trump and Biden administrations were key to the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and military, before U.S. forces completed their withdrawal in August 2021.

That includes Trump’s one-sided withdrawal deal with the Taliban, and the abruptness of Biden’s pullout of both U.S. contractors and troops from Afghanistan, stranding an Afghan air force that previous administrations had failed to make self-supporting, the review concluded.
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Afghanistan’s Taliban have detained 18 staffers, including an American, from a nonprofit group for allegedly preaching Christianity.  

The Afghan-based International Assistance Mission (IAM) confirmed Friday that Taliban authorities had twice raided its office in central Ghor province this month and taken away the staff. The charity, registered in Switzerland, said one foreigner was among those detained, but did not reveal that person’s nationality. 

“We are unaware of the circumstances that led to these incidents and have not been advised of the reason for the detention of our staff members,” an IAM statement said.  

“The well-being and security of our colleagues are paramount to us, and we are doing everything possible to ensure their safety and secure their swift release,” it said, adding that the detainees have been transferred to the Afghan capital of Kabul. 

Local media quoted provincial government spokesman Abdul Wahid Hamas as saying several women, including an American, were among the detainees. They were taken into custody on charges of “propagating and promoting Christianity” in Afghanistan, he added.

The IAM says on its website that the nonprofit group has been working in Afghanistan only to improve lives and build local health, community development and education capacity. “We are a partnership between the people of Afghanistan and international Christian volunteers, and we have been working together since 1966.” 

The Taliban have imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, since seizing power from a U.S.-backed Afghan government in Kabul two years ago. They have barred teenage girls from schools beyond the sixth grade nationwide and ordered most female government employees to stay home.  

The Taliban have also banned women from working for aid organizations in impoverished Afghanistan. Women are not allowed to visit public parks, gyms or bathhouses, and a close male relative must accompany them for long road trips. 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in New York this week that “the question of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan is absolutely central to all concerns and will be one of the issues that will be very much in the agenda” of the General Assembly session this month.
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