A team of Indian experts will soon visit Afghanistan to advance the ongoing cooperation between the two countries under the world chemical weapons watchdog’s mentorship and partnership programme, a top Indian diplomat has said.

Addressing a conference of State Parties of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), India’s ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative of India to OPCW Venu Rajamony said India condemns the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances.

As per the Economic Times report, Hague-based OPCW is an international organization which came into force in 1997 to implement and enforce the terms of the international treaty, which prohibits the use, stockpiling or transfer of chemical weapons by signatory States. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.

“All perpetrators of such abhorrent acts must be held accountable. At the same time, all investigations into alleged use of chemical weapons should be impartial, objective and conducted strictly in accordance with the Convention. The impartiality and integrity of the OPCW should be preserved under all circumstances,” Rajamony said.

“All perpetrators of such abhorrent acts must be held accountable. At the same time, all investigations into alleged use of chemical weapons should be impartial, objective and conducted strictly in accordance with the Convention. The impartiality and integrity of the OPCW should be preserved under all circumstances,” Rajamony said.

He said Indian experts will soon visit Afghanistan as part of cooperation between the two national authorities, under the OPCW national authority mentorship/partnership programme, the Indian embassy said in a statement.

The programme facilitates visits between the national authorities who are at different stages of national implementation.

The Chief Executive and Afghan Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah says the Independent Election Commission (IEC) is operating under the instruction of certain electoral team and the outcome of their work has no legitimacy.

The leader of “Stability and Partnership” on his Facebook page on Wednesday warned, “If the IEC does not return to a lawful way, than the outcome will be on the IEC and those who encouraged them.”

Abdullah has emphasized that he will use every legal, legitimate and peaceful measure to prevent the creation of a fake government and believes that nothing can stop the legitimate demand of the people.

He stressed that he does not have any illegal and unlawful demand from IEC and wants the legitimate demands of the people to be responded positively.

“In 2014, some people dominated people’s lives under every circumstances; the 2014 will not be repeated again,” CE insisted.

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) says the two civil activists of Logar province will be transferred from National Directorate of Security (NDS) to the commission.

A commissioner of AIHRC, Muhammad Naeem Nazari told Reporterly that a delegation of the human rights commission is in NDS and the two detainees have not been transferred to the commission so far.”

“The Human Rights Commission’s position prompted the reactions of ambassadors and the president to respond to the matter. A decision was made that the two civil activists will be released. Our colleagues are in NDS, but so far the two detainees have not been released,” Naeemi said.

In the meantime, a human rights defender at the Amnesty International, Horia Mosadeq said in a tweet that by releasing a video of the two activists, NDS provided grounds for Local residents to take revenge from the activists.

She added that NDS with its unprofessional act has put the lives of the two activists at serious risk to justify their unlawful detention.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $52.5 million grant for the Afghanistan Gas Project that will provide sustainable supply of natural gas to independent power producers in Northern Afghanistan.

The World Bank in a press release said that this project is one element of the World Bank Group’s broader support for improved energy access in Afghanistan, as part of an ongoing commitment to help developing countries extend access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy for their citizens.

“By investing in critical gas infrastructure and developing a strong foundation for good governance in the gas sector, the project will improve Afghanistan’s energy supply, which is currently critically low, and contribute to poverty reduction,” said Henry Kerali, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan.

The press release said that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum will lead the overall implementation of the project in close coordination with other government agencies, including the Afghanistan Gas Enterprise, and the Afghanistan Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that over 375,800 people in Afghanistan have left their homes this year due to fighting with many of these people remained displaced across the country.

OCHA in a statement said that around 75,000 of the 245,000 people displaced in the country’s west in 2018 by drought and other factors are still living in displacement sites, yet to return home.

“In 2019, displacement due to ongoing conflict and natural disasters is continuing to drive humanitarian needs in Afghanistan,” the statement said.

According to the statement, close to 401,400 people have returned from neighboring countries to Afghanistan so far; this year including 387,500 from Iran, and 22,900 from Pakistan.

The Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Bardar and the group’s lead negotiator has met the Iranian foreign minister, Jawad Zarif in Tehran.

The spokesman of Taliban’s office in Qatar, Suhail Shahin in a tweet said, “During the meeting, both sides discussed about a peaceful resolution for Afghanistan issue and the peace process.”

According to Shahin, the Iranian officials have expressed their desire to maintain close ties with the Afghan people.

This is the second time of Taliban-Iran meeting since US-Taliban peace negotiations had broken down in September.

A U.S. civilian was killed Sunday in an attack on a United Nations vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, the US State Department said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday identified the aid worker as Anil Raj, a U.S. citizen from San Francisco.

Five other aid workers were wounded in the attack in the Afghan capital.

Pompeo told reporters that attacks targeting U.N. personnel helping the Afghan people are “unconscionable.”

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but both Taliban and the IS-K group are active in the capital and have repeatedly claimed previous attacks.