The Islamic State (IS) terror group has said that they will attack Shia Muslims everywhere, Khaama Press reported.

The group's Al-Naba weekly has published the warning on Saturday, which adds that Shia Muslims will be targeted in their homes and centre.

The warning came a day after the terror group's Khorasan branch (IS-K) carried out the twin bombings inside the Shia mosque in Kandahar, that claimed the lives of 63 people while injuring 83 others.

Friday's attack took place exactly after a week when another Shia mosque in Kunduz city was hit by a suicide bombing which claimed the lives of at least 50 people.

The IS-K had claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest since the US forces left Afghanistan at the end of August.

Saturday's warning has especially threatened Shia Muslims living in Afghanistan, and the IS added that they cooperate and support Iran and other countries against the IS-K.

The IS-K is now the biggest threat that threatens the Taliban government after they took over Afghanistan.

In the meantime, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has purportedly said that their fighters will be deployed to man the security of mosques, especially of the Shia Muslim ones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned of IS fighters entering Afghanistan from Iraq and Syria and added that there were presently up to 2,000 affiliates in the north of the war-torn nation.

Iranian and Pakistani military commanders have agreed to cooperate in manufacturing military vessels and submarine maintenance, state media reported.

In a visit to Pakistan Navy's shipyards in the port city of Karachi, Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, visiting Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, was briefed on the process of building warships, boats and submarines, Xinhua news agency quoted the state media report as saying.

The military officials of the two neighbours agreed to work together on the construction and maintenance of ships and submarines, according to the report.

The two sides also agreed to share experiences in various naval fields to fight against drug trafficking and terrorism, as well as exchange students.

According to a similar report by Iran's official IRNA news agency, the military officials of Tehran and Islamabad also stressed for regional cooperation for ensuring the security in the region.

In the meantime, Baqeri drew upon the importance of maritime security at the common sea borders by conducting joint exercises.

(Courtesy: IANS)

The Second UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference, which brought together more than 100 countries along with thousands of experts, activists and business leaders, concluded with a call to accelerate progress towards achieving sustainable transport that would result in major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and in improving the lives of millions of people.

At the conference participants agreed that without a profound shift to sustainable mobility, achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals -- already off-track -- would be impossible.

The three-day conference, hosted by China and concluded on Saturday, came at a critical juncture, just over two weeks before COP26 in Glasgow where the world will address the climate emergency, and as the world stands on the cusp of a transport revolution -- driven in part by the Covid-19 pandemic -- that requires sound direction.

Speaking at the opening of the conference virtually, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted: "Covid-19 has pushed an estimated 120 million people into extreme poverty, 160 million into hunger, and set back education for around 100 million children. We are further from realizing the Sustainable Development Goals on climate, ocean, and biodiversity than we were when they were agreed six years ago."

Warning that the door on climate action was closing, he called for the decarbonization of all means of transport, in order to get to net-zero emissions by 2050 globally.

More specifically, the Secretary-General specifically called for phasing out the production of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035 for leading manufacturing countries, and by 2040 for developing countries; for zero emission ships to become the default choice, and commercially available for all by 2030, in order to achieve zero emissions in the shipping sector by 2050; and that companies start using sustainable aviation fuels now, in order to cut carbon emissions per passenger by 65 per cent by 2050.

The conference concluded with the Beijing Statement, which called for adopting integrated, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral approaches, supported by greater international cooperation.

In his remarks to the conference, China's President Xi Jinping committed to establishing a Global Innovation and Knowledge Center for Sustainable Transport as a contribution to global transport development.

Countries participating in the conference said the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the important role that the transport sector plays in building communities and supporting livelihoods, impacting the movement of both freight and people.

The pandemic caused job losses and a disruption to global supply chains. As a result, communities and countries that depend on tourism experienced huge losses in revenue.

Connectivity is also an issue. Over one billion people worldwide still lack adequate access to an all-weather road, especially in developing countries, including countries in special situations.

In Africa, 450 million people, more than 70 per cent of the total rural population, remain unconnected to transport infrastructure and systems. Transport tailpipe emissions alone are linked to almost 400,000 deaths and in addition to human loss and suffering, road traffic accidents cause billions of dollars of associated costs which amounts, in many countries, to three per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The transition to e-mobility -- transport that is resilient, safe, affordable and green -- can improve lives and have a positive impact on the environment.

From bike sharing and carpooling to improved public transit and the increased use of electric vehicles and buses powered by renewable energy, countries, businesses and communities are stepping up efforts to transition to more environmentally friendly modes.

"We have the opportunity now to capture the innovation and technology that can revolutionize transport," said conference Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

"But these new technologies have to work for everyone. We have the solutions, and now we need the global cooperation to ensure that sustainable transport will be the engine that powers our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement."

However, challenges remain. While some member states have made some initial steps to address emissions from shipping and aviation, for example, current commitments are not enough to meet the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement.

Countries in special situations, remote rural communities and vulnerable groups, risk being left behind as the number of new and emerging transport-related technologies increase.

More than $2 trillion of transport infrastructure investments will be needed each year until 2040 to fuel economic development. There is also a need for stronger policies on road safety measures and regulations on the import of new and used vehicles.

(Courtesy: IANS)

The Islamic State (IS) terror group on Saturday claimed responsibility for the bombings inside a mosque in Afghanistan's Kandahar city, which claimed the lives of 47 persons and injured 90 others, a local official has confirmed.

The official from Kandahar's Cultural and Information Directorate confirmed the updated death toll to Xinhua news agency.

In a statement, the IS claimed responsibility and said that two assailants were involved in the deadly attacks which took place on Friday inside the Bibi Fatima Shia mosque in police district one (PD1) when hundreds of worshippers were offering prayers.

Witnesses told TOLO News that three back-to-back explosions hit the mosque, one of the biggest in Kandahar city.

The Taliban government has condemned the attack.

Zabihullah Mujahid, deputy minister for the Ministry of Information and Culture, called it a "major crime".

The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan said that those behind the incident should be brought to justice.

Friday's attack came exactly after a week when another Shia mosque in Kunduz city was hit by a suicide bombing which claimed the lives of at least 50 people.

The IS-K, a local branch of the IS, had claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest since the US forces left Afghanistan at the end of August.

Following the Taliban takeover, the security situation in Afghanistan has remained calm yet uncertain.

A series of bombings were launched by the IS affiliated militants in recent weeks.

On Thursday, a Taliban district police chief was killed and 11 people were wounded when a vehicle came under attack in Kunar province.

(Courtesy: IANS)

India and the US have said they would reinvigorate action against terrorism-financing, tax evasion and money laundering after a high-level meeting on economic and financial partnership led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

"We continue to strengthen our cooperation in tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism through increased information sharing and coordination," they said in a joint statement after the Eighth US-India Economic and Financial Partnership (USIEFP) meeting on Thursday in Washington, which was also attended by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das.

The meeting of the financial chiefs was the latest in a series of consultations by leaders of the two countries before and after last month's summit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden as New Delhi and Washington draw closer.

Leaders in defence and foreign affairs have met in the two countries in recent weeks.

In thier joint statement, Sitharaman and Yellen stressed "the importance of fighting financial crimes and on the effective implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards to protect our financial systems from abuse".

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the Paris-based 49-member international organisation that fights terrorism financing and money laundering.

Among the countries that it monitors for the financing of terrorists is Pakistan, which it has placed on its grey list of nations with lax controls on or inadequate safeguards against terrorists getting funds, but the joint statement made no mention of Islamabad.

Sitharaman and Yellen SAID their countries looked forward to continuing to share information for tackling offshore tax evasion.

They also took up the issue of tax avoidance by multinational companies, which is not necessarily illegal but results in revenue losses for some countries because others have low corporate tax levels to attract companies to situate themselves there.

India and the US would work together for the early adoption of last month's agreement by the G20 grouping of major economies on taxing multinational corporations, they said.

They called it a "significant accomplishment for updating the international tax architecture" to make it "more stable, fairer, and fit for purpose for the 21st century".

"We should work together and with other partners at the technical level in order to expeditiously implement Pillars 1 and 2 by 2023," they said referring to two of the elements in the agreement on taxation agreed to by 136 countries last month.

Pillar 1 would allow the countries where large multinationals earn their profits and have business activities to tax them and Pillar 2 WILLset a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent.

The US and Indian finance chiefs said they would continue to discuss having a full reciprocal arrangement for an Inter-Governmental Agreement under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that would require individuals and financial institutions having account holdings in the other country to report them to tax authorities in both countries.

With Biden's high priority for action against global warming, Sitharaman and Yellen's climate finance was the highlight of their meeting "reflecting our respective commitments to driving urgent progress in combatting climate change and the critical role of climate finance in achieving this shared global goal".

They said that that they "reaffirmed the collective developed country goal to mobilise $100 billion annually for developing countries from public and private sources" for climate change mitigation actions.

"We are continuing our successful collaboration on attracting more private sector capital to finance India's infrastructure needs, which will support growth in both countries."

Following a meeting with officials from the US and the European Union (EU), a Taliban delegation has urged the two sides to lift sanctions on the Afghan Islamic Emirate and allow banks in the country to "operate normally", the media reported.

According to a statement issued by the Taliban-led government's Foreign Ministry, the delegation led by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held talks with the officials in Doha on Tuesday. TOLO News reported.

Muttaqi said that the payment of civil servants' salaries and the resumption of unfinished economic projects were his government's top priority.

"In this regard we urge world countries to end existing sanctions and let banks operate normally, so that charity groups, organisations, and the government can pay salaries to their staff with their own reserves and international financial assistance," TOLO News quoted the Minister as saying.

"Weakening the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly affect the world in the security sector and economic migration from the country."

Some of the topics discussed during the meeting were the current situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule; relations with other countries; prevailing economic difficulties; humanitarian assistance; and resumption of incomplete development projects, the Ministry statement said.

Besides the meeting on Tuesday, the Taliban delegation and the US side also met during the weekend in the Qatari capital.

This was the first time that the two sides met in-person following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August after American forces withdrew from the country after 20 years.

(Courtesy: IANS)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has told the military that he was not on board with the decision to change the Director-General of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hameed, Friday Times reported.

Senior Pakistan journalist Najam Sethi said on a TV show that the prime minister's position on the matter has led to a standoff, which is why the notification has not been signed.

After the announcement from ISPR, there was no confirmation from the PM House and this delay was unusual. It has emerged that the decision has resulted in tensions between the PM and the military, the report said.

Sethi said that the announcement about Lt Gen Faiz Hameed's posting as Peshawar Corps Commander and General Nadeem Anjum's appointment as the new DG ISI should have come from the Prime Minister's house because as per usual, Prime Minister appoints the DG ISI.

That the press release announcing the same came from Rawalpindi not Islamabad was fishy, Sethi said.

Also unusual was Lt Gen Faiz Hameed's presence in the national security committee meeting called by the Pak PM. His transfer orders were issued but Gen Faiz attended the meeting as the DG ISI.

Sethi also said that a deadlock of this nature between civil and military leadership often takes the parties to a point of no return, suggesting that this episode may affect civil-military relations.

Nothing substantial came out of the national security meeting, the report said. Both ISPR and the PM House are silent.

According to Sethi, some cabinet members also got involved to ease the tensions, but the deadlock remains as of now, the report said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the caretaker Taliban government in Afghanistan said on Monday that talks with the US will continue if necessary.

Over the weekend, a Taliban delegation led by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, met a US inter-agency delegation in Doha, Qatar, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The Two-day dialogue between the delegations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) and the US went well. Political issues were discussed in detail during the meeting and full implementation of the Doha agreement was considered by the Islamic Emirate as the best way for resolving problems," the Ministry said in a statement.

The American representatives, according to the statement, said that the US will give humanitarian assistance to Afghans and will provide facilities for other humanitarian organisations to deliver aid.

"Humanitarian assistance should not be linked with political issues," the statement noted.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IAE) has welcomed US assistance and it will cooperate with charitable groups in delivering humanitarian assistance, and will facilitate principled movement of foreign nationals, the statement said.

"Detailed discussions were held during the meeting about all relevant issues. And efforts should be exerted to restore diplomatic relations to a better state.

"The meeting in which talks were candid was considered a good opportunity of understanding" and it was agreed that such meetings will continue to be held in the future if necessary," the Ministry statement added.

The meeting marked the first in-person gathering between officials of the US and the Taliban since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of August which led to the Taliban to completely take over the country.

The Taliban government's statement came just hours after the US State Department said that the talks were "candid and professional".

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a readout on Sunday that the American delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns, safe passage for US citizens, other foreign nationals, and Afghan partners, as well as human rights and humanitarian assistance issues.

Price noted that "the US delegation reiterating that the Taliban will be judged on its actions, not only its words".

The Taliban delegation also urged the US side to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan's airspace and not to interfere in its affairs, he said, stressing the focus was on humanitarian aid and the implementation of all provisions of the Doha Agreement concluded between the two sides in February 2020.

The State Department said on Friday that the meeting in Doha "is a continuation of the pragmatic engagements" between two sides but not "granting recognition or conferring legitimacy" to the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in mid-August and announced an interim government in early September.

(Courtesy: IANS)

Taiwan will not bow to pressure from China and will continue its democratic way of life, as tensions over the island continue, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday. "The more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China," the BBC quoted Tsai as saying.

Her speech on Taiwan's National Day came after China's President Xi Jinping vowed to "fulfil reunification". Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state, while China views it as a breakaway province. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve unification, the BBC report said.

China has sent a record number of military jets into Taiwan's air defence zone in recent days. Some analysts said the flights could be seen as a warning to Taiwan's president.

Tsai said Taiwan was "standing on democracy's first line of defence". The island could not be forced to take "the path China has laid out for us", which she said did not offer freedom, democracy or sovereignty

China's military flights into Taiwan's air defence zone had seriously affected national security and aviation safety, she said, and the situation was "more complex and fluid than at any other point in the past 72 years".

Taiwan would not "act rashly" but would bolster its defences, she said.

She repeated an offer to talk with Chinese leaders on an equal footing, a suggestion Beijing, which brands her a "separatist", has so far rejected, the report said.

Tsai was re-elected by a landslide last year on a promise to stand up to Beijing.

Her speech was followed by a flypast of Taiwanese fighter jets.

Thousands of Afghans have received humanitarian assistance within a week from September 27 to October 3 across the country, a UN agency has announced.

In the northeastern region, over 173,000 vulnerable people received food assistance in Baghlan, Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan said in a report.

"All health facilities are open in Kunduz and Baghlan provinces, but most are not fully functioning mainly due to shortage of medical supplies," Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying.

In the north, a total of 54,796 vulnerable people received food for one month under a World Food Programme (WFP) seasonal livelihood support program in Jawzjan and Sari Pul provinces.

On September 30, 3,150 displaced people by conflict from Jawzjan, Samangan and Balkh provinces in July and August received food in Mazar-i-Sharif city, capital of Balkh.

A total of 232 vulnerable conflict-affected people in Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Nimroz and Zabul provinces were identified to receive food, relief items, water and hygiene supplies.

In the east, 3,548 people received emergency outpatient health services and 45 children were vaccinated for polio and measles.

In the central part of the country, some 2,030 people in the country's capital of Kabul received cash to return back to their places of origin.

Following the Taliban's takeover in August, the security situation remained generally calm across the country.

According to the OCHA, millions Afghans have been deeply affected by decades of conflict and displacement, chronic poverty, the Covid-19 pandemic, a severe drought, a failing health system and an economy on the brink of collapse.

(Courtesy: IANS)

A US delegation will travel to Doha over the weekend to meet senior Afghan Taliban representatives, the State Department has announced.

It will be the first in-person meeting between the US and the Taliban since America's withdrawal from Afghanistan in August and the latter's takeover of the war-torn nation.

"This meeting is a continuation of the pragmatic engagements with the Taliban on issues of US vital national interest," Xinhua news agency quoted a Department spokesperson as saying to reporters on Friday night.

The spokesperson noted that it is "not about granting recognition or conferring legitimacy".

The key priorities of the meeting are "the continued safe passage out of Afghanistan of US and other foreign nationals and Afghans to whom we have a special commitment who seek to leave the country and holding the Taliban to its commitment not to allow terrorists to use Afghan soil to threaten the security of the US or its allies", according to the spokesperson.

US officials in the meeting will also press the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls, form an inclusive government, and allow humanitarian agencies free access to areas of need, the official added.

According to media reports, the American delegation will include officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the US Agency for International Development.

But US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, who has for years spearheaded Washington's dialogue with the Taliban in the Qatari capital and been a key figure in peace talks, will not be part of the delegation, TOLO News reported.

Meanwhile, Acting Foreign Minister Amirkhan Motaqi, who is leading the Afghan Taliban delegation comprising cabinet officials, left for Doha on Friday night.

(Courtesy: IANS)