BERLIN/KABUL/ISLAMABAD (own report) – The German government is deporting Afghans to Kabul in defiance of warnings about the dire human rights situation they will face. It is also ignoring the recurring flare-ups in military hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the end of February, Berlin pushed ahead with its third deportation flight. The direct flight to the Afghan capital and was arranged after months of negotiations between German authorities and the Taliban. The negotiating process began with the diplomatic accreditation of two Taliban officials. They were appointed to the Afghan Consulate General in Bonn last October. This was immediately followed by two German officials visiting Kabul. At the same time, the German government is moving forward with its plan to end, “as far as possible”, the acceptance of refugees who served as Afghan local staff, primarily with the Bundeswehr. As for deportations, the most recent took place on the very day that the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalated into war. The Pakistani Air Force attacked targets in Kabul and elsewhere. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of deploying terrorist groups against Pakistan and claims that India is weaponising the Afghan Taliban as proxies in the long-running conflict between the two countries. Read more

BERLIN/ISLAMABAD (Own report) – The European scramble for liquified natural gas (LNG) threatens to cause a breakdown in the energy supplies of numerous countries in southern Asia and other regions of the world, according to reports from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and various other countries. Pakistan, for example, can no longer purchase LNG from the spot market, because “every single molecule that was available in our region” has been purchased by Europe, Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister, Musadik Malik said. His government has long since been forced to ration electricity, reduce business hours and, at times, even curtail supplies to some of its industries. The export industry, which had recently been expanding, is now facing serious setbacks. The same holds true for Bangladesh, where – due to LNG shortage – its population must cope with power cuts and its industry with painful production losses. Similar reports are coming out of Thailand and other countries. This is caused by the fact that European states – seeking to deprive Moscow of the revenues from its gas sales – are buying up LNG at the expense of poorer nations. Read more