Taliban Ban Covid Vaccine in East Afghanistan's Paktia Province, Claims Report

The Taliban have issued orders to ban the vaccine against COVID-19 in east Afghanistan’s Paktia. According to Afghanistan-based radio and television channel Shamshad News, the Taliban have put up a notice against the use of vaccines in the region, which was captured last week. The insurgents allegedly removed Nishan Sahib from a gurudwara in the province when they took control.

Meanwhile, a video on Facebook shows Taliban leaders celebrating their gain at the residence of Afghan warlord Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum in Sheberghan of Jowzjan after the provincial capital in the country’s north was captured last week. In the video, Taliban leaders can be seen partying in a huge hall belonging to Dostum.

The Taliban who continue to blitz through provinces in Afghanistan and are currently less than 80 km away from Kabul, the peace negotiations committee is drawing up a new plan which will see the complete ouster of President Ashraf Ghani’s government.

Top sources told CNN-News18 that the new formula is being worked out for an immediate ceasefire in Afghanistan. In this peace formula, the Ghani administration will have to step down.

An interim government will be formed with the Taliban, warlords, and some present representatives. This formula will be shared with all parties concerned only after due deliberation, they added.

As it is still in its nascent stage, the plan hasn’t been shared with any stakeholder – neither the Taliban nor the Afghan government.

The government has now effectively lost control of most of the country, following an eight-day blitz into urban centres by the Taliban that has also stunned Kabul’s American backers.

The first wave of the offensive was launched in early May after the United States and its allies all but withdrew its forces from Afghanistan, with President Joe Biden determined to end two decades of war by September 11.

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