Sources Report 'Pakistani Artillery Attacks' On Sarkani District Of Kunar Province

Burchett had previously warned of a terrorist attack on the United States using financial aid to the Taliban.

"Today, I introduced the 'No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act' to ensure US tax dollars are not funding the Taliban," the lawmaker wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.

If the bill passes, Burchett said, the US State Department would be required to create and implement a policy to counter any foreign aid to the Taliban.

Second, the bill would require the US government to report on the cash assistance programme in Afghanistan and how Washington is preventing the Taliban from accessing the aid.

In the third step, the bill calls for reporting from the Afghanistan Trust Fund and the Taliban-controlled Central Bank.

The congressman said that it was strange that "bills like this" should be introduced in the House to prevent aid to terrorists.

Burchett had previously warned against the use of US financial aid to Afghanistan by terrorist groups, saying that "the next terrorist attack will be funded by the American people".

He made the remarks on Tuesday in response to a question from Trump adviser Elon Musk about whether American taxpayer money would end up in the hands of the Taliban.

Burchett wrote on X, "Yes, we do. The next terrorist attack (in the United States) will be 100 percent funded by the American taxpayer."

Earlier, he had sent a letter to Donald Trump, who will officially begin his term as president of the United States in 10 days, calling for an immediate halt to the transfer of cash to the Taliban.

Burchett had said that the United States should not fund its enemies abroad. "Paying $40 million a week to our enemies is an insult to those who have served in the military," he said.

The United States has provided more than $2 billion in aid to organisations in Afghanistan over the past three years. The US State Department says that the aid is only for relief and charity programmes and for ordinary Afghans who are struggling with famine, hunger and food shortages.

Critics say that the aid is turning the wheel of the Taliban government's machine and are calling for it to stop. However, the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations consider the suspension of aid in Afghanistan catastrophic and call for increased financial assistance from donor countries.

Based on these findings, the two asylum seekers were likely members of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service.

The findings of Der Spiegel and Insider have shown that several people have been in contact with the GRU and are living in Germany as Afghan refugees.

One of the suspects, a 27-year-old Afghan who came to Germany from Russia last spring, is now living as an asylum seeker awaiting deportation in the German state of Brandenburg.

The second suspect, an Afghan, has been living in Lower Saxony, Germany, as an asylum seeker awaiting deportation since the summer of 2023. They have not yet been deported from Germany because of the situation in Afghanistan.

According to the findings of these two media outlets, Russian intelligence agents have been recruiting people in Afghanistan since 2015 and then providing them with Russian visas and other required documents.

In addition to the two Afghan suspects, a third Afghan asylum seeker, believed to be a member of the Russian intelligence network, was arrested in April by the German Federal Police near the Polish border.

The suspects are believed to have been part of a Russian military intelligence programme aimed at weakening the former Afghan government and supporting armed groups.

Earlier, Insider magazine revealed in an exclusive report that the Russian military intelligence provided financial support to the Taliban during the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan.

The publication's findings show that Russia paid the Taliban an average of $200,000 to kill each US or coalition soldier.

They claim that with the Taliban's policies, there is no room left for research, scientific and academic activities in Afghanistan.

The letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Afghanistan International, states that the Taliban has recently dismissed all professors at private universities and suspended a number of them from their jobs.

According to the letter, the Taliban has asked all professors to pass a religious exam to be re-elected in coordination with the group.

These university professors said that all the professors whose jobs have been suspended and dismissed have national and international scientific articles to their name. They said that this policy of the Taliban is in fact a continuation of the unification and transformation of universities into religious schools.

According to these university professors, the Taliban's goal is to dismiss all professors and replace them with people of their choice so that they can propagate their ideology.

The protest letter to the United Nations stressed that the Taliban's policy was "the last dagger that was stabbed in the coffin of Afghan universities".

Expressing concern over the current situation, they told the United Nations that there is no room left for research and scientific and academic activities in Afghanistan.

According to them, the Taliban has problems with modern education and educated people, and they are trying to confront them with hostility.

The university professors said that they are currently facing serious threats, including charges, endless interrogations, death threats and other dangers, and have been forced to flee the country for their safety.

These university professors said that they do not want to be forgotten and seek to continue their scientific and civil activities outside Afghanistan.

At the same time, they expressed hope that the host countries would trust their professional and academic experiences and provide opportunities to continue working abroad.

In August last year, on the third anniversary of the Taliban's takeover, the Diplomat magazine wrote in an article that the group has "reshaped" Afghanistan's higher education system and seeks to "remake" Afghan society.

In March 2024, the Taliban's Ministry of Higher Education took exams from 51,000 graduates of religious schools in the provinces to award master's degrees to those who passed the exam.

The court wrote that the indicted included three women and four men who were convicted on various charges.

The Taliban's Supreme Court on Thursday, January 9, wrote that these individuals were sentenced to 20 to 39 lashes and sentenced to one to four years in prison.

The court said that a defendant in Muqur district of Ghazni was sentenced to flogging on charges of "immorality" and a person in central Paktia was sentenced to flogging for public robbery.

In a separate statement, the court said that the criminal court of the group in Allahsai district of Kapisa had sentenced five people, including three women, to flogging on charges of running away from home and having sexual relations outside of marriage.

The Taliban court stated that these individuals were flogged in the courtyard of local courts, in the presence of officials, court clients, and the general public.

On Monday, the court also reported that a man had been flogged in public for allegedly kidnapping a woman in Zabul province. The Taliban's Supreme Court said that the man was sentenced to 39 lashes and one year in prison.

Despite the objections of international human rights organisations, the Taliban has continued to flog defendants in public across Afghanistan. The group considers the execution of the flogging sentence to be an order of "Islamic law”.

Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, said that the arbitrary and night-time arrests of Afghan migrants by Islamabad police were part of Pakistan's "larger discriminatory policy" against Afghans inside the country.

Pant also said that making the No Objection Certificate (NOC) mandatory for Afghan refugees in Islamabad would impose heavy obligations on them along with the existing documents.

According to Amnesty International, Pakistan has repeatedly and "arbitrarily" implemented policies that have exacerbated the fragility of Afghan refugees and caused thousands of people to return to Afghanistan.

Amnesty International has confirmed that Pakistan has taken steps to detain asylum seekers with valid residency documents and visas.

According to the organisation, the actions of Pakistani authorities have put Afghan refugees at greater risk.

The organisation stressed that asylum seekers have the right to a fair trial and protection against forcible return under international law, regardless of what documents they have.

Amnesty International called on Pakistan to abide by its obligations under international law and take immediate action to secure the release of detained migrants.

The statement quoted the Joint Action Committee for Refugees as saying that Pakistan has detained more than 800 Afghan refugees in Islamabad since January 1.

In the past week or so, Afghans in various parts of Islamabad have reported that police are searching and detaining migrants "house by house".

The migrants have sent several images to Afghanistan International showing the presence of police forces around the Afghan refugees' residences in Islamabad.

In recent months, Pakistan has increased the pressure on Afghan refugees in an unprecedented way.