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Taliban fighters in Kabul fired warning shots and beat protesters demonstrating against the militant group on Tuesday, as unrest broke out in cities across the country.
Eyewitnesses in Kabul told The National that several women were injured after taking part in the protests.
“They shot at us and beat protesters. They beat the people taking the videos and even the journalists,” said one of the protesters, who said his name was Haider.
Several women were among those injured in the clashes, he added.
“I don’t know how many were injured but I saw women who were bleeding,” he said.
“One woman took off her headscarf to use it to stop the bleeding of another protester and was also beaten by a Taliban fighter who called her immodest,” he said.
Afghan news channel Tolo News reported that one of its video journalists, Waheed Ahmadi, was detained by Taliban fighters while covering Tuesday’s protests in the capital.
“Our colleague Waheed Ahmadi, who has covered many frontlines over the years, is arrested by the Taliban in Kabul for filming an Afghan women's protest. I call on the Taliban to release our colleague asap,” Lotfullah Najafizada, the head of Tolo news, said on social media.
The mass protests erupted in Balkh, Daikundi and Bamyan provinces late on Monday and continued into Tuesday.
Afghans at the rallies chanted anti-Taliban as well as anti-Pakistan slogans, demanding the withdrawal of Pakistani intelligence officials who arrived in Kabul on Saturday.
Chants of “death to Pakistan” and “Azadi [freedom]” echoed across central and west Kabul on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies have often been accused of sheltering and supporting the Taliban.
Many Afghans saw the arrival in Kabul of Faiz Hamid, the head of Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, at a time when the Taliban was struggling to form a government, as proof of Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan’s conflict.
In a video shared with The National by one woman protesting against the Taliban, she shouts:
“We are not here to ask for a job or even the right to work. We are here to fend the blood of our youth. We are here to defend our country from Pakistan. Why is Pakistan interfering? Why has their chief of ISI been here for six nights. Why are they in my land?”
Taliban would like to believe that the foreigners took the freedoms and rights with them, but they did not – those values are our own, and they live within us
Haider
Other women The National spoke to voiced similar anger.
Masouma, 20, said: “All we want is freedom. It is our inalienable right.
“How is it that in just a matter of days, I can no longer write what I want, or listen to music or walk the streets of my Kabul? My whole future was snatched away.”
'The future that was once so bright, now seems so dark'
For some protesters, it was worth risking Taliban reprisals to stand up for their rights.
Haider, in Kabul, said he was protesting because being “silent is a constant death. It is better to embrace death once while raising our voices, but we can’t keep dying over and again by staying quiet against injustice”.
Most of those taking to the streets, he said, were younger than 30.
“This is the generation that was betrayed and abandoned by their international allies. The Taliban would like to believe that the foreigners took the freedoms and rights with them, but they did not — those values are our own, and they live within us,” he said.
After seeing Taliban fighters filming the protests and photographing some of the demonstrators, Haider said he feared there will be retribution.
“I realise that they will use these to come after us later. But we can’t remain silent either,” he said, as he left to join another protest in a different part of the city.
Masouma said she and her fellow protesters supported the resistance in Panjshir — the last bastion fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“I can relate to the resistance in Panjshir because they are also fighting for freedom. One of the conditions their movement seeks is equal rights for women,” she said.
Many of Masouma’s friends were forced to flee the country as the Taliban took over.
But she stayed behind, hoping to make a difference.
“I wanted to pursue my further study in counter-terrorism and extremist groups, and now we are surrounded and suppressed by them. The future that was once so bright, now seems so dark,” she said.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
