KABUL, 16 July 2021, (TON): A senior Afghan government official said “Afghan security forces have retaken control of a major southern border crossing with Pakistan that the Taliban briefly captured, but the Taliban dismissed that saying they still held the town.

Taliban fighters captured the Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing, the second most important crossing on the border with Pakistan and a major source of revenue for the Western-backed government in Kabul.

But Afghan forces retook the area's main market, the customs department and other government installations in the border town a few hours later, a senior government official in the southern province of Kandahar, where the crossing is located.

the official said “government forces, who had initially fallen back to minimise civilian and security personnel losses, were conducting clearing operations.”

He warned that the threat remained high as Taliban fighters outnumbered Afghan security forces in the area.

But Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said his forces still held the border post.

ISLAMABAD, 16 July 2021, (TON): Islamabad and Moscow have struck a deal for the construction of the PakStream Gas Pipeline after lengthy deliberations.

Federal Energy Minister Hammad Azhar tweeted “The Govt of Pakistan and Russia have agreed upon and signed ‘Head of Terms' of the project.”

He added that shareholding and corporate structure finalised. This project has been suffering from delays since 2015 but effective progress made.”

A 12-member Russian delegation, headed by Department of Foreign Economic Cooperation and Fuel Markets Development Deputy Director AA Tolparov, arrived in Islamabad for talks on the project.

Russia nominated its official company Pakstream Limited, which negotiated with Pakistan's Inter State Gas System (ISGS) for the terms.

Both companies reached consensus on the “Heads of Terms” and on shareholding agreement with Pakistan’s share of 74% and Russian share of 26%.

The present government has signed an LNG deal with Qatar to import 200 mmcfd of gas initially in the beginning of next year that would be enhanced to 400 mmcfd in the coming years. At present, Pakistan is importing 500 mmcfd of gas from Qatar.

Hence, Pakistan needs one more gas pipeline to transport this imported gas to Punjab province. However, despite this, the country has no legal framework to recover the price of imported gas from domestic consumers.

WASHINGTON, 16 July 2021, (TON): Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman will travel to Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Mongolia from July 18 to July 25.

In Tokyo, the Deputy Secretary will meet with Japanese officials to discuss a broad range of issues, including combating the climate crisis and enhancing global health security.

Deputy Secretary Sherman, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo, and ROK First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong Kun will hold a joint meeting to discuss trilateral cooperation on pressing shared challenges, including regional security issues such as the DPRK, as well as climate change and global health.

The Deputy Secretary will then travel to Seoul for meetings with ROK officials and a strategic dialogue with ROK First Vice Foreign Minister Choi to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation on shared priorities, including the climate crisis.

From Seoul, the Deputy Secretary will travel to Ulaanbaatar to meet with Mongolian officials to reinforce our Strategic Partnership and discuss our shared values of democracy and human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and respect for traditional cultural identity and practice.

KABUL, 16 July 2021, (TON): Government officials in a western Afghan province said they had negotiated "an indefinite ceasefire" with Taliban to prevent further attacks on a city by the Islamist insurgents even as Afghan forces were battling to retain control.

The governor of Badghis province Husamuddin Shams told Reuters that the ceasefire was mediated by tribal elders, a move that comes after Taliban fighters secured complete control over all districts in the province.

Shams said "10 tribal elders had taken the responsibility of ceasefire, so they first talked to the Taliban, and then talked to the local government and both side reached a ceasefire."

The Taliban reached an agreement with the tribal elders to move to the outskirts of Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis.

Taliban spokesman denied they had agreed to a ceasefire but said they he left the main city of Badghis to avoid civilian casualties.

The development comes after an Afghan government negotiator said “the Taliban had offered a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of 7,000 insurgent prisoners.”

ISLAMABAD, 16 July 2021, (TON): The military said “security forces have rescued five workers of a private cellular company who were abducted by terrorists nearly three weeks ago in Kurram tribal district.”

The labourers were rescued in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) which came two days after a young captain and a sepoy were martyred in a gunfight with terrorists during an earlier attempt to free the abductees.

According to a statement issued by the military’s media wing, 16 labourers working at a mobile tower site in Kurram tribal district were abducted by unknown terrorists on June 26.

A day later, 10 of them were released while the body of the eleventh was found in the region.

The ISPR said “to rescue the remaining five abducted labourers, security forces launched a series of intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the highly inhospitable terrain under extreme weather conditions.”

It added “the terrorists were continuously tracked and pursued.”

ISLAMABAD, 15 July 2021, TON: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi talked to his Chinese counterpart and told him that preliminary investigation into the bus tragedy near Dasu hydropower project in the Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not a consequence of a terrorist attack. Earlier Shah Mahmood Qureshi met Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Council of Foreign Ministers in Dushanbe on Wednesday; Qureshi said the initial probe showed that the incident was not a terrorist attack. However, Yi stressed the immediate arrest of and severe punishment for perpetrators in case the incident was a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, Chinese Embassy Statement said, “At around 7 am on 14th July local time, a Chinese company's shuttle bus carrying working staff on the Dasu Hydropower Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province was hit by blast on its way to the construction site. Up to now, 9 Chinese citizens and 3 Pakistani citizens were unfortunately dead and some injured. Investigation to the incident is underway.

The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan launched the emergency plan immediately, contacted the Pakistani military, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and other relevant parties, and requested Pakistan to carry out rescue and treatment in the first place, and strengthen security protection for the Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan , and investigate the incident thoroughly. The Pakistani military has instantly organized rescue and dispatched helicopters to transfer the injured.

The Chinese Embassy expresses its deep condolences to the victims and sympathy for the injured, and will do its best with Pakistan to properly deal with the aftermath.

The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan reminds Chinese citizens, enterprises, and projects in Pakistan to stay on alert, pay close attention to the local security situation, strengthen security protection, take strict precautions, and stop going out unless necessary.”

WASHINGTON, 15 July 2021, (TON): The administration of President Joe Biden has announced it has invited United Nations racism and human rights envoys to visit the United States as the treatment of minorities in the country continues to face scrutiny.

In the Tuesday announcement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would also issue standing invitations to all UN envoys, known as special rapporteurs, who compile information on race and discrimination, and report back to the international organisation.

Blinken said the administration had already offered an official visit to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues.

Blinken said in a statement “as the President has repeatedly made clear, great nations such as ours do not hide from our shortcomings; they acknowledge them openly and strive to improve with transparency.”

He added that the Biden administration, which took office in January amid a continuing racial justice movement sparked by the police killing of unarmed Black citizens, sought to “lead by example” and “give new hope and motivation to human rights defenders across the globe”.

There are dozens of UN special rapporteurs, including many who cover human rights in specific countries.

But there are also a number who handle broader rights-related issues, including torture, xenophobia, extreme poverty, the treatment of women and girls, Indigenous peoples, and environmental discrimination.

Blinken also welcomed the adoption of a resolution by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to address racism directed against Africans and people of African descent.

COLOMBO, 15 July 2021, (TON): Ho Thi Thanh Truc, the Ambassador of Viet Nam in Colombo, paid a courtesy call on State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya at the Foreign Ministry premises on 13 July, 2021.

While reiterating on the long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries, State Minister Balasuriya noted that the main focus of the Government of Sri Lanka is on economic development, tourism and building trade ties with countries in the Southeast Asia region.

Considering the close religious ties between the two countries, State Minister Balasuriya underscored the importance of rejuvenating cooperation between temple-to-temple connections and expressed the willingness to connect with the Viet Nam Buddhist temples to share the religious and cultural interests between the two countries.

During the meeting, Ambassador Truc explained the steps taken by the Viet Nam Government to introduce the organic farming in Viet Nam and expressed willingness to share those experiences with Sri Lanka. Currently, MoU on Agricultural Development Cooperation between two countries are in full swing.

Further, State Minister Balasuriya explored the possibility of furthering ties in the IT sector of Sri Lanka and Viet Nam and agreed to give a road show in Colombo Port City where Viet Nam investors would get the opportunity to invest in areas such as IT and Software.

KABUL, 15 July 2021, (TON): Taliban on Wednesday said they have gained control over an important trade route linking Pakistan with southern Afghanistan, hours after Afghan forces surrendered the critical transit point to the Islamist hardline insurgent group.

Afghan government officials were not immediately available to confirm the fall of a town in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province situated next to the Durand Line border with Pakistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson in a statement said "the Mujahideen have captured an important border town called Wesh in Kandahar."

He said "with this, the important road between (Spin) Boldak and Chaman and Kandahar customs have come under Mujahideen control.”

Afghan government data shows about 900 trucks cross the frontier each day, linking Pakistan with Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian nations.Shafiqullah Attai, the chairman of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment in capital city of Kabul, said the Taliban in recent weeks have taken control of Islam Qala and Turghundi in Herat province, ShirKhan Bandar in Kunduz and Abu Naser Farahi border port in Farah province.

WASHINGTON, 15 July 2021, (TON): An administration official said that the Biden administration is set to begin evacuations of Afghan interpreters and translators who aided the U.S. military effort in the nearly 20-year war.

The Operation Allies Refuge flights out of Afghanistan during the last week of July will be available first for special immigrant visa applicants already in the process of applying for U.S. residency, according to the senior administration official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Joe Biden has faced pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to come up with a plan to help evacuate Afghan military helpers ahead of next month's U.S. military withdrawal. The White House began briefing lawmakers on the outlines of their plans last month.

The evacuation planning could potentially affect tens of thousands of Afghans. Several thousand Afghans who worked for the U.S, plus their family members, are already in the application pipeline for special immigrant visas.

The Biden administration has also been working on identifying a third country or U.S. territory that could host Afghans while their visa applications are processed.