Authorities say the vaccination will continue until all people get inoculated.
US military officials: Qaeda, Daesh could rebuild in Afghanistan
While testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Milley said the terrorist threat from Afghanistan is less than it was on 9/11 but that “the conditions could be set for a reconstitution of al-Qaeda and/or Daesh.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also agreed with Milley during his own testimony. According to Austin, “there is clearly a possibility” for the terrorist groups to regenerate now that U.S. forces have left the country.“Al Qaeda has been degraded over time,” Austin said. “Now, terrorist organizations seek ungoverned spaces so that they can train and equip and thrive and, and so, there is clearly a possibility that that can happen here, going forward.”
The Taliban promised the Trump administration in February 2020 that it would not allow terrorist organizations to use the country as a launching pad for attacks if the U.S. withdrew its forces.
However, defense officials are less-than-certain that the Taliban will honor its promise.
Austin said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the U.S. will have to return to Afghanistan. During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee one day earlier, Austin noted that the military could monitor and conduct strikes against the terrorist groups from bases far away, if necessary. General Kenneth McKenzie, CENTCOM commander, also spoke before Congress. He said it’s “yet to be seen” whether the U.S. can deny al-Qaeda and Daesh the ability to use Afghanistan to launch attacks.
US President Joe Biden has been harshly criticized for his handling of Washington’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden has pinned the blame on his predecessor, saying he inherited a bad agreement from Trump.
Iran Pres. Urges Implementation of Smart COVID-19 Management Plan
Ebahim Raeisi underlined the importance of observing health protocols in controlling and containing the COVID-19 disease, urging people to abide by the protocols.
He also underlined the need to expedite the process of public vaccination, especially for school and university students.
“Public immunization is required to remove coronavirus restrictions. Accordingly, medical personnel should receive the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as they are prone to danger,” he explained.
The president added discussions are underway at the National Coronavirus Task Force on gradually opening schools and removing coronavirus restrictions for many businesses.
Bahrainis protest Israel FM visit to the Persian Gulf country
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrived Manama on Thursday to inaugurate Tel Aviv’s embassy.
An Israeli foreign ministry statement said Lapid, who had been invited by his Bahraini counterpart, will inaugurate the Israeli embassy in Manama on Thursday and is “expected to sign a list of bilateral agreements”.
“This will be the first official visit by an Israeli minister to (Bahrain),” the statement added.
After Lapid landed, Bahrain carrier Gulf Air launched its first direct flight between Manama and Tel Aviv.
Following negotiations spearheaded by former US President Donald Trump, the United Arab Emirates, followed quickly by Bahrain and Morocco, last year became the first Arab states in decades to normalise relations with Israel.
The deals enraged the Palestinians, who felt a betrayal of their national cause. They saw it as an abandonment of a longstanding commitment in the Arab world not to normalise relations with Israel until there was progress in resolving the decades-long occupation of Palestinian land.
Israel had earlier reached peace treaties with neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
Protesters burned tyres on the outskirts of Manama early Thursday, sending clouds of black smoke into the air, and the hashtag #BahrainRejectsZionists in Arabic was circulating on social media.
Extra security was stationed on the route to the airport and no Israeli flags were visible on main roads. Opposition activists have called for further protests later on Thursday.
Since the normalisation agreements, known as the Abraham Accords, were signed, ties have expanded between Israel and its new Gulf partners, notably including direct flights and economic deals.
Lapid is the main architect of the Israeli coalition government that removed ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who signed the Abraham Accords.
Lapid has also visited the UAE and Morocco since becoming foreign minister in June.
The Israeli delegation to Bahrain arrived in earlier this week and joined the country’s tiny Jewish community in marking the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said it was the first time in over 75 years that the community could mark the holiday in its synagogue.
“The fact that we could celebrate it yesterday was a very joyful event for us and for the community as well,” he added.
Iran Army to Stage Drills in Northwest of Country
Commander of the Ground Force of the Iranian Army Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari said armoured, artillery, drone and electronic warfare units backed by choppers of the Aviation Unit of the Army will take part in the maneuvers.
He noted the drills are aimed at honing Army troops’ combat skills, adding part of the equipment and combat capabilities of Army units will be displayed during the exercises.
Israeli troops kill 3 Palestinians in separate incidents
Israeli forces early Thursday killed a Palestinian youth and injured two others in the village of Burqin, southwest of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to medical sources and eyewitness.
A medical source at Khalil Suleiman Government Hospital identified the slain Palestinian as 22-year-old Alaa Zyoud, a resident of the village of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.
Eyewitnesses stated that a large Israeli military force surrounded a house in al-Matalla area, located between the two villages, while undercover forces, known as Musta’ribeen in Hebrew, gunned down Zyoud in the vicinity of the house and injured two others.
They added that the forces prevented paramedics from providing first aid to Zyoud until they made sure he died.
The injuries, who remained unidentified, were rushed to a hospital for urgent treatment.
Earlier this week, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians from Burqin village and three others from the Jerusalem-district village of Bidu.
Later on Thursday, Israeli police killed a Palestinian woman near al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem, according to local sources.
The source added that the Israeli police opened intensive fire at 30-year-old mother-of-three Israa Khuzaimia purportedly for attempting to carry a stabbing attack near Bab al-Silsila, one of the gates leading to Al-Aqsa, killing her.
The circumstances surrounding the alleged stabbing attempt remain unclear and largely based on the Israeli version of events.
Israeli has been criticized for its reflexive use of lethal force and “extrajudicial killings” when Palestinian alleged attackers no longer pose an immediate threat. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that circumstances surrounding such killings over the past months remain disputed.
Video footage for similar alleged attacks appear to disapprove Israeli military claims, showing alleged Palestinian attackers did not even attempt to carry out any attacks. Some footage showed Israeli forces manipulating the crime scene following such killings.
Israeli forces has also shot dead a Palestinian bird hunter east al-Bureij refugee camp in the central besieged Gaza Strip. Forthy-one year-old Mohammad Abdul-Karim Ammar was shot dead while he was hunting birds by the Israeli forces stationed at Gaza’s eastern frontier, east of the camp.
Medical sources at Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah city confirming that Ammar was dead when he arrived at the hospital.
Two million Palestinians live the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a punishing and crippling Israeli blockade for 12 years and repeated onslaughts that have heavily damaged much of the enclave’s infrastructure.
Gaza’s 2-million population remains under “remote control” occupation and a strict siege, which has destroyed the local economy, strangled Palestinian livelihoods, plunged them into unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty, and cut off from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and the wider world.
Gaza remains occupied territory, having no control over its borders, territorial waters or airspace. Meanwhile, Israel upholds very few of its responsibilities as the occupying power, failing to provide for the basic needs of Palestinian civilians living in the territory.
“5th peak of Covid has ended in most of Iran”
The statement came after West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan provinces said the Covid spike came to an end there.
The Health Ministry also said hospitalizations are down in all provinces. It however warned that any laxity in health protocols could cause infections to spike again.
The end of the fifth Covid peak pushed down the number of cities marked red from 29 to 16. The highest daily Coronavirus death tally happened on September 30 when 542 people died.
Authorities attribute the decrease in the new Covid cases to vaccine imports and production at home that accelerated the vaccination process countrywide. They hope to inoculate all citizens in a matter of months.
Covid-19 has so far killed 120,428 people in Iran since the start of the pandemic some two years ago.
Another COVID-19 Vaccine Cargo Arrives in Iran
The shipment contains some 6 million doses of vaccines, said IRCS’s Secretary General Mohammadhassan Qosian.
“In the last week of September, two cargos containing a total of 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were imported into the country by the IRCS. Both 6-million-dose consignments included the Sinopharm vaccines and are intended for individuals under 17 years of age,” he said.
He added the IRCS has imported more than 52 million doses of coronavirus vaccines since mid-spring this year.
He noted the IRCS is the main importer of vaccines in Iran.
So far more than 37.7 million people in Iran have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 16.7 million have received the second dose as well, bringing the total number of jabs to over 53.8 million.
US general warns of terror groups resurgence in Afghanistan
Milley warned on Wednesday of a “real possibility” that al-Qaeda or Daesh could rebuild in Afghanistan as early as spring 2022 in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal.
While testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Milley said that the terrorist threat from Afghanistan is less than it was on 9/11 but that the conditions could be set for a reconstitution of al-Qaeda and/or Daesh.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin agreed during his own testimony, saying “there is clearly a possibility” for the terrorist groups to regenerate now that U.S. forces have left the country, which was taken over by the Taliban.
“Al Qaeda has been degraded over time,” Austin stated, adding, “Now, terrorist organizations seek ungoverned spaces so that they can train and equip and thrive and, and so, there is clearly a possibility that that can happen here, going forward.”
“Our goal is to maintain a laser-like focus on this so that it doesn’t happen,” he continued.
The Taliban promised the Donald Trump administration in February 2020 that it would not allow terrorist organizations to use the country as a launchpad for attacks if the U.S. withdrew its forces. However, defense officials are less-than-certain that the Taliban will honor its promise.
Austin said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the U.S. will have to return to Afghanistan.
“While I won’t rule anything out, I would just say it’s not preordained that we will go back or have to go back into Afghanistan again,” he noted, adding, “But if we do, the military will provide good credible options to be able to do that and to be effective.”
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee one day earlier, Austin noted that the military could monitor and conduct strikes against the terrorist groups from bases far away, if necessary.
“Over-the-horizon operations are difficult but absolutely possible,” he said.
General Kenneth McKenzie, CENTCOM commander, stated during the hearing on Tuesday that is it “yet to be seen” whether the U.S. can deny al-Qaeda and Daesh the ability to use Afghanistan to launch attacks.
“We could get to that point, but I do not yet have that level of confidence,” he added.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has pledged to prevent the groups from rebuilding to a point where they could attack Americans or the United States.
Algeria, Morocco furious over French visa restriction plan
Morocco and Algeria have expressed their dismay at France’s decision to reduce the number of visas granted to nationals from Maghreb countries.
France on Tuesday announced it would sharply reduce the number of visas granted to people from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, accusing the former French colonies of not doing enough to allow illegal immigrants to return.
The move prompted Algiers to summon French ambassador Francois Gouyette and hand him “a formal protest” on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the visa reduction caused “confusion and ambiguity as to its motivation and its scope”.
In neighbouring Morocco, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told reporters the French decision was “unjustified” and “does not reflect the reality of consular cooperation in the fight against irregular migration”.
Unlike its neighbours, Tunisia has not reacted officially, but many of its citizens displayed their concern Wednesday in front of the offices of TLS Contact, the only private company authorised to receive applications for France.
On Tuesday, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told Europe 1 radio that it was “a drastic decision, and unprecedented, but one made necessary by the fact that these countries are refusing to take back nationals who we do not want or cannot keep in France”.
The station reported French President Emmanuel Macron took the decision a month ago after failed diplomatic efforts with the three North African countries.
