Germany once again returns a group of Afghans to Afghanistan
Despite protests and criticism, the German government has once again deported a number of Afghan citizens to their country. The forced repatriation of Afghan refugees and migrants has been going on since December 2016.
The German news agency reported on Wednesday, August 28, citing Kabul airport officials, that a plane from Germany carrying 31 deported Afghans landed at the airport at 9 a.m. local time.
This is the 27th mass deportation of Afghan citizens from Germany since December 2016. So far, a total of 645 people have been returned to Afghanistan against their will.
The forced repatriation of Afghan citizens to their country has faced widespread criticism. Critics believe that Afghanistan is not a safe country given the increasing activity of extremist Islamists such as the Taliban and the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group, which are claiming a number of victims every day.
As the 27th group of Afghan refugees were forced to return to Kabul, Reuters news agency reported, citing local officials, that at least 14 pro-government forces were killed by Taliban militants on Wednesday.
It is also said that several civilians were injured in an attack by Taliban forces on a government military checkpoint in Herat province in southern Afghanistan.
The number of civilian casualties in military conflicts in Afghanistan has been rising in recent months. The United Nations estimates that 1,500 civilians were killed or injured in July alone.
July, the bloodiest month in Afghanistan
According to the United Nations, this was the bloodiest month in Afghanistan since May 2017. Accordingly, the number of civilian casualties in July was almost half of all those killed in the first half of 2019.
About ten days ago (August 17), a suicide attack on a wedding ceremony in a Shiite area of Kabul killed 63 people and injured more than 180. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
So far, Taliban representatives and the US government have held many talks to reach a political solution to end the crisis in Afghanistan.
The ninth round of talks began last week, after which both sides expressed optimism about reaching an agreement in the near future. Despite the talks, the Taliban has not stopped its military operations.
US and Taliban on the verge of a final agreement
On Tuesday, September 25, at the end of the fifth day of the new round of talks between US representatives and the Taliban in Qatar, the AFP news agency reported, quoting Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the extremist Islamists, that the talks between the two sides were being finalized.
The final agreement between the United States and the Taliban is expected to pave the way for direct talks between the Islamists and the central government of Afghanistan. The United States has announced its readiness to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after the agreement with the Taliban is finalized.
At the same time, Washington has postponed the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan until the Taliban fulfills commitments, including not cooperating with the Al-Qaeda network and other terrorist groups, adhering to a ceasefire, and stopping military operations.
The forced return of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers from Germany has drawn widespread domestic and international criticism. Dominik Bartsch, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Berlin, urged the German government on June 16 to make the implementation of the policy of returning Afghan refugees to Afghanistan subject to a case-by-case review. He believes that large parts of Afghanistan, including Kabul, are not safe for deported Afghan refugees.
Source: DW
