Category World News

Pakistan and Afghanistan have traded blame for brief cross-border fighting, as delegations from both countries met in Turkiye for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire following deadly clashes last month.

Thursday’s talks in Istanbul are intended to finalise a truce approved on October 19 in Qatar that ended a week of deadly clashes between the South Asian neighbours, which killed dozens of people, including soldiers and civilians, and wounded hundreds of others.

Security issues are at the heart of their dispute, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harbouring groups such as the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), which is accused of launching attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban government in Afghanistan denies these allegations.

“While the third round of negotiations with the Pakistani side has begun in Istanbul, unfortunately, this afternoon Pakistani forces once again opened fire on Spin Boldak, causing concern among the local population,” Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday.

The city of Spin Boldak is located in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

“The Islamic Emirate’s forces, out of respect for the negotiation team and to prevent civilian casualties, have so far shown no reaction,” Mujahid said on X.

Pakistan denied the accusation, pinning the blame on Afghanistan.

“We strongly reject claims circulated by the Afghan side regarding today’s incident at the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting posted on X. “Firing was initiated from the Afghan side, to which our security forces responded immediately in a measured and responsible manner.”

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban authorities, told the AFP news agency that “we don’t know the reason” for the Pakistani fire.

Ali Mohammed Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, said the firing was brief. Residents told AFP it lasted 10-15 minutes.

Pakistan confirmed that calm had been restored.

Negotiations in Istanbul reached an impasse last week when it came to finalising ceasefire details, with each side accusing the other of not being willing to cooperate.

Both sides also warned of a resumption of hostilities in case of failure.

Despite the ceasefire, all important border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain closed to trade and civilian movement. The crossings were shut on October 12, though Pakistan has partially reopened two of those to allow Afghan refugees to return home.

Host Turkiye said at the conclusion of last week’s talks that the parties had agreed to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to maintain peace and penalise violators.

Fifty civilians were killed and 447 others wounded on the Afghan side of the border during clashes that began on October 9, according to the United Nations. At least five people died in explosions in Kabul that the Taliban government blamed on Pakistan.

A Dutch appeals court has dismissed an attempt by human rights organisations to stop the Netherlands from selling weapons to Israel.

Ten pro-Palestinian NGOs had filed a lawsuit accusing the Dutch state of doing too little to prevent what they described as “genocide” in Gaza with a “clearly unlawful” foreign policy towards Israel.

They urged judges to impose a blanket ban on weapons exports to Israel, a ban on exporting military dogs, and a ban on trading in the occupied territory.

A Dutch court rejected their case last year, saying the state has some leeway to decide its policies and courts should not rush to step in.

The NGOs had cited a January 2024 order to Israel by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. The UN’s top court said it was plausible that Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention.

On Thursday, the Hague Court of Appeal dismissed the groups’ appeal, saying that, although “there is a serious risk that Israel will commit genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza,” the Dutch government has “considerable discretion” to determine foreign policy and issues of national security.

In a written ruling, the court said it could not order a blanket ban because the plaintiffs had not shown the government was routinely failing to consider whether exported arms or dual-use goods would be used to violate rights.

The court also ordered the organisations to pay legal costs.

“While it is plausible that there is a risk of genocide and serious human rights violations, it is not, in principle, up to the court to prescribe to the State what measures must be taken to prevent this,” said the court in a statement.

The group of NGOs were hoping the lawsuit would force the Dutch to stop sending weapons and trained police dogs to Israel and cut economic ties with businesses operating in occupied Palestinian territory. They argued that the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide.

However, while the court in The Hague said Thursday that the Netherlands did have that obligation under the Genocide Convention — noting there was “a grave risk” that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza — it ultimately ruled the Dutch government already did enough to discourage companies from working in occupied Palestinian territory.

The Dutch government has denied it violated the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II.

“Every cooperation is cautiously weighed,” government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis said during a hearing last year.

The Dutch government says it has halted most arms exports to Israel and only allows parts for defence systems, such as the Iron Dome.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,875 Palestinians and wounded 170,679 since October 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and more than 200 others taken captive.

The London university where British political commentator and journalist Sami Hamdi completed his studies has called for “full transparency and due process” regarding his detention in the United States.

In a statement published on Wednesday, SOAS University of London said it was “deeply concerned” by reports of Hamdi’s detention, adding that “there is no indication that Mr Hamdi has violated any laws”.

“We urge the US authorities to ensure full transparency and due process in Mr Hamdi’s case, and to uphold his fundamental right to freedom of expression and movement.”

Hamdi, 35, was stopped at San Francisco international airport in California on October 26 and detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Hamdi’s detention as “a blatant affront to free speech”, attributing his arrest to his criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed at least 68,875 Palestinians and wounded 170,679 since October 2023.

Hamdi, who was completing a speaking tour in the US discussing Israel’s war on Gaza, had addressed a CAIR gala in Sacramento, California, the previous evening and was due to speak at another CAIR event in Florida.

He was unaware at the time that his visa had been revoked by US authorities two days before his detention.

Hamdi’s detention has led to a legal battle, with his lawyers filing emergency petitions against his detention, and his wife Soumaya and civil society groups demanding that the United Kingdom government take action.

Soumaya told Al Jazeera that the US government has still not provided any evidence “as to why they feel the need to revoke his visa. And therefore they are treating him as an overstayer”.

She said the incident raises an important question: “Has the United States become a country now where a British citizen travelling on a valid visa can be detained at will? Because that is really scary.”

Soumaya said she believed her husband had been targeted by the US authorities because “he’s become extremely effective at galvanising support for Palestinian rights. Sami has been able to bring people together across the political spectrum, not just within Muslim communities.”

She also said her husband’s arrest should be of concern to “everybody who values the right to freedom of speech, everybody who values the right to receive facts from journalists and for journalists to be able to report on news without being persecuted”.

“If they [US authorities] are able then to treat Sami in this way, it’s only a matter of time before they start to treat US citizens like that too.”