India repatriates a 13-year-old Afghan boy who hid in a plane’s landing gear
An Afghan boy arrived in New Delhi from Kabul hiding in the landing gear of a plane. Indian authorities immediately sent him back. Taliban flatly refuse Trump’s demand for a return of the Bagram Air Base, while ordinary Afghans are still dealing with the effects of a devastating earthquake that struck the country in late August, made worse by cuts to humanitarian aid and new restrictions imposed by the Islamic Emirate.
Kabul (AsiaNews) – While international media are once again focusing on Afghanistan following US President Donald Trump's demand for a return of the Bagram Air Base, a 13-year-old Afghan boy arrived in India hiding in the landing gear of a plane.
The child landed in New Delhi on Sunday morning and told airport security personnel that he was originally from Kunduz and had landed on a Kam Air flight from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
After a series of calls, Indian authorities repatriated the boy the same day on the same airline. India is not a signatory to the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees.
Last week, during his visit to the United Kingdom, President Trump told at a press conference that the United States’ pullout from Afghanistan was a “total disaster”, blaming former Democratic President Joe Biden for it, while forgetting that he was the one who signed the agreement with the Taliban in 2020 for the withdrawal of US troops.
Last Saturday, the US president wrote on Truth social that if the Taliban did not return Bagram, which is located north of Kabul, to those who built it, “BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!”
The US leader claims the base was built by the Americans; in fact, the Soviets built Bagram in the 1950s and then used it in the 1980s during their war against the mujahideen.
In 2001, following the US invasion, it was captured by British special forces. Once installed, the Americans added swimming pools, spas, and fast-food restaurants like Burger King and Pizza Hut.
Explaining the reasons why he wanted the base, the US president cited the fact that “it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.” This appears to be a reference to Lop Nur, a site in Xinjiang where China tests, but does not make, nuclear weapons.
In any case, it would be an operation that would require thousands of soldiers and an airlift over Pakistan, as well as the violation of the agreement that Trump himself had signed with the Taliban whose response was not long in coming.
Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff of the Taliban Ministry of Defence, stated that “a deal over even an inch of Afghanistan’s soil is not possible. We don't need it."
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Al Arabiya that the government will “never agree to bargain away or hand over any part of our country”. Speaking about “bad things” that could happen if they refuse, he noted that Afghanistan “experienced 'bad things' for 20 years under US occupation."
While Taliban and US political leaders clash over Bagram Air Base, ordinary Afghans are still coping with the aftermath of the latest earthquake, which killed at least 2,200 people, according to official figures.
Several humanitarian groups have emphasised that the overnight quake on 31 August was the first catastrophe the country has faced since Trump cut US international aid in January of this year.
The United Nations reports that international humanitarian aid had already been reduced by 50 per cent when the earthquake shook Afghanistan's eastern provinces.
Local health workers confirmed that the halt to US funding had a very tangible impact on their ability to provide care to hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors, including 212,000 children, according to UNICEF.
Officials at the Nangarhar Regional Hospital, which provides health services in five eastern provinces, reported treating more than 950 injured people in the first 72 hours after the earthquake.
Of these, 541 had to be admitted to a hospital with a capacity of 650, while other victims had to be moved to health facilities that were inactive or lacked the basic equipment to treat the injured.
Furthermore, due to the US financial withdrawal, the United Nations had to reduce its fleet of helicopters for air rescue, leaving the burden of transportation to Taliban authorities.
The situation has been compounded recently by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued an order to block Internet connections in several provinces of the country to “prevent immorality”.
For many girls and young women, the Internet was the only way left to try to get an education after the Taliban imposed a series of bans on women over the past four years.
At the same time, Akhundzada banned books written by women in all universities across Afghanistan. Now many fear that the Taliban may eventually cut off Internet access for everyone else altogether.
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06/05/2010
09/09/2008
