ECOCIDE

“Water is a weapon of war” against Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria

On Nov 4, 2021

Factions loyal to Turkey in northern Syria are using the waters of the Khabur River as a weapon of war to put pressure on the areas controlled by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration, according to a report by the Dutch peace-building organization Pax.

The report found that the so-called “Syrian National Army”, in which the pro-Ankara factions are affiliated, created dams on the Khabur River, which passes through several villages in northeastern Syria before continuing to the south and pouring into the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor Governorate (east).These factions, with the support of Turkish forces, control large border areas in northern Syria after military attacks targeting mainly the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization.

The PAX report, which relied on field work and satellite imagery, found that these species placing berms on a main river at a time when the region faced the driest summer is “an unequivocal example of the use of water as a weapon of war.”

The report showed that the three dams exacerbated the repercussions of the severe drought in the region.
“The effect of the intense heat has been amplified by limited amounts of rain, which means that farming communities have less water than ever before and when they need it most,” he added.Pictures published by Pax showed the three dams, and the first dam was built on May 22 this year.

The Khabur River stretches for 320 kilometers and is a tributary of the Euphrates. It originates in Turkey and passes through Al-Hasakah Governorate, which is the food basket of Syria.

According to the report, thousands of families were deprived of access to water due to the construction of dams, in a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

The report states, “This could be a deliberate measure used by the ‘Syrian National Army’ (factions) with the aim of starving the civilian population and/or causing its forced displacement as a method of warfare.”

In its recommendations, the organization urges the international community to urge Turkey to ensure that all civilians have access to the Khabur waters.

SOURCE: Middle East.in-24

Killing the Khabur: How Turkish-backed armed groups blocked northeast Syria’s water lifeline

On Nov 4, 2021

The suffering of rural communities across northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is being amplified by Turkish-backed armed groups. Already struggling with severe climate change-linked drought, these areas have experienced even more severe water shortages since May, when  the Syrian National Army (SNA) built three earth dams in areas under their control, cutting off the vital Khabur river 80 kilometers northwest of Hasakah city. New research by PAX, conducted through interviews on the ground and satellite imagery, has shown the depth and consequences of the dam construction on the lives and livelihoods of Syrian farmers.

The summer of 2021 was one of the hottest ever recorded in northeast Syria. The impact of the extreme heat was magnified by very limited rainfall, which meant agricultural communities had less water than ever at their time of greatest need. According to humanitarian agencies, over 12 million Syrians currently face dire consequences from lack of rain and water in the Euphrates River.

For farmers in and near the Khabur valley, the impact of these shortages was further compounded by the blockage of the river, the Euphrates’ largest tributary and a historically non-seasonal waterway. During fieldwork carried out along the M4 highway in September 2021, PAX interviewed farmers and pastoralists around Tel Tamer, many of whom were struggling with intense water scarcity. The cutting of the river’s flow came at a time of severe drought and high diesel prices, which are preventing many farmers from operating their pumps. With no irrigation, vast tracts of agricultural land are being left fallow. 

This is the latest instance in which water has been used as a weapon of war during the conflict in Syria, adding a new unpredictable challenge to farmers’ lives. Since the incursion in parts of northeast Syria by Turkish forces and Turkish-backed armed groups, populations in the area face serious challenges around access to water. Starting in October 2019, the SNA disrupted the water flow from the Alouk Water Station to Tel Tamer and Hasakah on over 20 occasions, leaving close to a million people without access. The lack of rain in Spring 2021 also resulted in lower water levels, as Turkey limited the release of water from its dams into the Euphrates River at the border, with a recorded 70% decrease in water levels in Syria, that has severe consequences for communities depending on it. 

Talking with Abu Gabriel, a 70 year old Assyrian farmer who has been living his whole life in the village of Tall Maghas on the Khabur River, he tells us that most of the people have left the village in recent years. Artillery shelling from the SNA against villages and positions along the M4 is ongoing, driving farmers away from their land. When asked about the water situation, the farmer then mentioned how in May, the SNA blocked the river by building dams.  The increase in rainfall from previous years had boosted agricultural production, but soon crop fires, partly from the shelling, destroyed large parts of the harvest in 2019-2020. This put Abu Gabriel in a precarious position, spending most of his savings planting seeds last year. However, nothing grew as the expected rain never came. “There is no year that we don’t have fear because of the fires and the war. The land will be a desert”, he explained with desperation in his voice. Behind his farm, we walked to the dried out Khabur, a testament to the aforementioned story. 

As of October 2021, the area north and west of Tel Tamer forms part of the frontline between the US-backed SDF, which control most of the northeast, and the Turkish-backed SNA, who have held a swathe of northern Syria since 2019. But the SNA continues to try to make in-roads into the northeast. Local civilians see the blocking of the river as part of a wider strategy to destabilize the Kurdish-dominated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).

PAX acquired high-resolution satellite imagery from Airbus and Planet, showing three dams being constructed along the Khabur river in SNA-controlled territory, and a third one in mid-October in an SDF-held area. The first dam was built on May 22nd, south of the village of Tall al Assafir. It was followed on May 27th by a dam 8 km north of the town of As Safih. A third was constructed only a few hundred meters north of the first dam at the town of Al Manajeer on June 1st.  

From late May to early October 2021, the water flow was halted in the river. Downstream from the southernmost dam, 60 communities along the river bank and over 20 more nearby (up to 4 km) depend on its water. Ongoing monitoring showed that on October 6th, the dams were broken and water flowed southward, but it was stopped in the SDF-controlled area at the town Tal Kharita.  

Dam(n)ing the Khabur River

With lower rainfall and less influx of water, all agricultural areas along the Khabur faced water shortages, be it in SNA- or SDF-controlled areas. This was likely a main driver to start blocking the rivers in SNA areas in order to retain water for irrigation. The building of the southernmost dam in late May 2021 at Tall Al Assafir resulted in roughly 80km of river being blocked and communities downstream lacking access to water from the Khabur. A dam constructed later at As Safir added another 20km of blockage with limited flow towards the southern dam, further adding up to 110km of blocked water flows. In total, 53.7% of the Khabur water flow between Turkey and Hasakah City was dammed.

From the southernmost dam at Tall Al Assafir to the Hasakah Lake, the river is estimated to be 95.3 km long. From Tall Al Assafir to Hasakah City along the Khabur River, it is 78.8 km. The estimated area of the Khabur River floodplain from Hasakah City up to the Turkish border is 143 km2. Forty-seven percent of this area was benefited by retaining water while the other 52.6% of the floodplain up to Hasakah City had less water availability. On average the floodplain is around 2 km wide. Floodplain irrigation happens within this area seasonally and depends on water pulses.

Based on Openstreetmap data, within the study area there are 138 populated areas corresponding to towns, villages and hamlets.Of these locations, 46 (33%) are located upstream from the southernmost dam – considered the ‘benefited’ area of the floodplain, while the other 84 locations (66%) are in the section of the river where there was less water availability due to the blackages upstream. Looking just at the populated areas within the floodplain, 31 (53%) lie where water was available, while 58 (65%) lie where water was not running and/or not present in the river bed. At the moment there is no clear population data in these villages. However, there is at least anecdotal evidence that some small villages were abandoned after the 2019 incursion and following ongoing shelling that posed direct risks to farmers. The majority of the villages further downstream are still populated by farmers and livestock keepers. 

The most compelling evidence of the lack of water is the dry river bed. Using the NDWI index (Normalized Difference Water Index) also helps to identify soil moisture distribution in a scene. In the NDWI image below , higher moisture is detected around the blocked river, highlighting the river floodplain upstream from the dams. This is opposite to the natural behaviour described by Beven & Kirbi (1979), where higher moisture is downstream, accumulating at flatter and lower terrains. Though the vegetation growth in these areas seems to be normal in this area compared with previous years, this could be a starting point to further investigate the consequences of the water blockade. 

A more detailed analysis could include a time series approach on NDVI or even soil moisture maps or measurements. This would show where vegetation changes in relation to moisture along the river and influence-area. It is important to clearly identify the extent of land that is actually irrigated or ‘benefited’ by the river water. That would define the influence area and the study area to monitor. Surveys with farmers on well levels or ground water monitoring stations could also give more detail on the relation of groundwater recharge in relation to river levels and interventions, such as blocking its flow and storing water temporarily. A yield survey in both the dry and wet floodplain for this year should also show the impact of water availability in the area. Further surveys could also study how productivity and water availability have differed in the past.

The Khabur, a source of fertility

With historic mentions by ancient Greek writers and the Bible, the Khabur river and its valley have been an important water source in the region. While starting in Turkey, the 320 kilometer long river gets its main source of water from the springs at the border town of Ras-al Ain and flows towards Al Hasakah, where it flows towards the Euphrates in Deir ez Zor. The Khabur and its main branches from the border with Turkey to the Hasakah lake is 206 kilometers. Traditionally, the floodplains along the river were used for cultivation of various crops through irrigation from the river. The resulting plentiful agriculture in the area made this region an important part of Syria’s breadbasket. 

The type of agricultural practices have changed over the last fifty years due to newly built dams and irrigation projects. Low rainfall in Spring 2021 indicated that heavy drought was coming, as outlined by Immap in their May 2021 Crop Monitoring and Food Security Update. It included satellite analysis of vegetation growth in the north-east of Syria, as seen here: 

Source: @Immap, May 2021 

The lack of rainfall linked with the climate crisis is also predicted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s recent publication on precipitation analysis in Syria to have severe consequences, putting the country on a trajectory to become a climate-security hotspot. Future droughts will increase in frequency and become more severe, creating more problems for agriculture and communities as water levels decline, both in rivers and groundwater sources. 

A small break-through

In late September, satellite imagery showed an increase in bodies of water north of the dams at Tall al Asafir, indicating that more water was coming in from either the sources at Ras al Ain or more upstream in Turkey. In early October 2021, a rupture was seen at the dam and water started flowing again into SDF-controlled areas. At the time of writing, it is not known what caused this dam break. The river started filling again all the way south of Tel Tamer, but stopped at the town of Quraytah and has not progressed since. This still leaves 34 kilometers of the river and 23 communities towards Hasakah without direct access to the Khabur’s water, further compounding the humanitarian and livelihood problems of thousands of people in that area.

A violation of international humanitarian law? 

The blockade of the Khabur River’s water flow by the Turkish-backed SNA during a period considered to be Syria’s most dry summer in history will have serious consequences for the population downstream.Taking into account both climatic conditions and further limitations of water coming in from the shutdown of Alouk water station, as well as limited flow into the Euphrates, the Khabur is an indispensable source for the survival of the civilian population. With over 84 towns and villages lacking access to water, there would likely be thousands of households struggling with water access caused by the deliberate building of dams stopping the flow of water essential for household and agricultural use. Thus, the blockade is an extreme measure that resulted in denying the civilian population of their sustenance. Under International Humanitarian Law, included in the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol I (Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts), attacks on ‘objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population’, (including water infrastructure), is prohibited. These concerns were further expanded in the Geneva List of Principles on the Protection of Water Infrastructure under Principle 12 and in Rule 10 of  the ICRC’s Guidelines on Protection of the Environment in Armed Conflict. Both documents outline how ‘‘rendering useless’’ water infrastructure — in this case the blockade of water in a river — would fall under this category. Similarly, the 2004 Berlin Rules on Water Resources of the International Law Association under Article 51 provides that “in no event shall combatants attack, destroy, remove, or render useless waters and water installations indispensable for the health and survival of the civilian population if such actions may be expected to leave the civilian population with such inadequate water as to cause its death from lack of water or force its movement”. The scope of this provision covers the construction of water installations such as dams that block access to water indispensable for the survival of the civilian population.

In the case at hand, a non-state armed group, SNA, which controls an area, is cutting off essential water supplies to the civilian population. This could be a calculated measure employed by the SNA with the intention of starving the civilian population and/or bringing about their forced displacement as a method of warfare. These methods of warfare constitute violation of the rules of international humanitarian law. In this regard, customary International Humanitarian law prohibits: ‘‘the use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare’’ (Rule 53) and ‘‘attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population’’ (Rule 54).

It should be mentioned that Turkey has a military presence in Northern Syria and collaborates with the SNA. This would invoke Turkey’s obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. Thus, Turkey must exert its influence, to the degree possible, to stop such violations by the SNA and any armed group with which it collaborates.

Moreover, this case also raises issues related to the violation of fundamental human rights such as the right to water, the right to food and the right to life. The blockade of the Khabur River has extensive negative impacts on the human rights of the civilian population of north-east Syria. These human rights complement the prohibition of rendering useless water indispensable to the survival of the civilian population under international humanitarian law. SNA arguably has such obligations under human rights law towards the civilian population in the areas it has established de facto control and has replaced the national authority.

Recommendations

Blocking a main river that a whole region depends on during the most dry summer ever recorded in the region will undoubtedly have severe humanitarian and socio-economic consequences. This type of action is a clear-cut example of using water as weapon of war, violating international humanitarian law and international human rights law, exacerbating already existing climate-linked impacts. Tens-of-thousands of people require access to water for personal use and to sustain their livelihoods as farmers or keeping livestock. Current forecasts on climate-linked environmental changes paint a bleak picture on future rainfall patterns that will likely see more frequent and severe droughts in the region. Water scarcity is already resulting in a drop in groundwater levels from (illegal) well-digging and this is expected to increase. 

We call upon the responsible parties, including the Syrian National Army and the Turkish government to:

• Immediately remove all dams in the Khabur River halting the blockade of water downstream.
• Respect international legal obligations on protection of civilian infrastructure, as protected under the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol I.
• Commit to peaceful dialogue over solutions relating to climate-linked degrading natural resources.

We call upon the the international community to:

• Proactively engage with Turkey to ensure civilians have access to the river’s water.
• Develop a strategy for the region on cross-boundary water challenges linked climate-change linked developments that affect surface and groundwater, soil and vegetation growth.
• Call upon the Human Rights Council and the Commission of Inquiry to include the blockages of rivers in their situation monitoring and systematically include violations of access to water in their reporting and raise this with relevant authorities.
• Call upon the UN Security Council should ensure it is briefed regularly on the water insecurity impacts facing civilians in Syria and other conflict-affected areas  during its monthly briefings on the humanitarian situation, and ensure the participation of civil society organisations in the briefings and reporting mechanisms.

 

 

SOURCE: PAX

SOHR: Israel launches missile attack near Syria’s Damascus

Attack reportedly resulted in some material damage but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

On Nov 3, 202

Israel has launched an aerial attack with a number of missiles targeting an area on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus, Syrian state TV said early on Wednesday, citing a military source.

Syrian state news agency SANA confirmed the raids and said they caused only material damage.

“The Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression with a number of missiles,” the news agency quoted a military source as saying, naming the targeted area as Zakia.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the targets were army positions and arms depots belonging to Iran-backed fighters.

Last Saturday, Israeli also fired missiles towards the suburbs of the Syrian capital, although they were intercepted by Syria’s air defences.

On October 14, an Israeli air raid on Iranian positions in central Syria also killed nine fighters allied to the Syrian government.

The attacks came days after Syria accused Israel of carrying out an attack in the country’s south.

Israel, alarmed by Iran’s growing regional influence and military presence in Syria, has launched hundreds of attacks in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

The attacks on Syria usually happen during the night.

Israel has acknowledged it is targeting bases, weapon convoys and facilities linked to Iran-allied militias, such as the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group.

It is also targeting arms shipments believed to be bound for the group.

Hezbollah is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the civil war.

Democrat Ed Gainey Declares Victory, Becoming Pittsburgh’s First Black Mayor

Gainey declared victory over Republican Tony Moreno, saying, "This is our city. This is our time."

By Jessica GuayNovember 3, 2021 at 8:00 am


By: KDKA-TV News Staff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Democrat Ed Gainey has declared victory as Pittsburgh’s next mayor

Gainey gave a speech with family and supporters by his side, making history as the city’s first Black mayor. At that time, 67.66% of precincts were reporting with 38,151 votes for Gainey and 15,207 votes for Moreno.

Republican Tony Moreno conceded shortly after.

“Look at the image that we are showing our children. I want our children to see what a city for all looks like. I want our children to see that we don’t separate by divided lines, but we as one community, we as one city are here for them,” Gainey said.

He said that Pittsburgh could be safe and affordable, and he promised police-community relations that “don’t erode or divide, but unifies and multiplies.”

He ended by saying, “When Pittsburgh show up, we blow up.”

Mayor Bill Peduto congratulated Ed Gainey. “I look forward to working with you and your team on a progressive transition for the betterment of all of Pittsburgh. Here’s to the next chapter. Do great things!” Peduto tweeted.

In an upset, Gainey defeated incumbent Peduto in May.

Both Pittsburgh mayoral candidates cast their ballots Tuesday morning. As their campaigns came to a close, both tried to convince last-minute voters to buy into their campaigns.

It was still dark as Moreno cast his ballot at Destiny of Faith Church in Brighton Heights. A couple of hours later, Gainey cast his ballot at the Paulson Recreation Center in Lincoln-Lemington.

After both voted, they went to polling locations to drum up support.

If Moreno would have won, he would have also made history as the city’s first Republican mayor since the 1930s.

COP26 | We’ll lead even if you don’t, Indian schoolgirl tells world leaders
PTI
GLASGOW, NOVEMBER 03, 2021 

Earthshot Prize finalist Vinisha Umashankar speaks during the World Leaders' Summit "Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment", at the COP26 Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow gathers leaders from around the world, in Scotland's biggest city, to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming. | Photo Credit: AP

Vinisha Umashankar from Tamil Nadu was part of the “Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment” session attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A 15-year-old Indian schoolgirl, whose solar-powered ironing cart project was the finalist of Prince William’s inaugural Earthshot Prize, addressed the World Leaders’ Summit of the COP26 conference in Glasgow with a clarion call for them to act and save the planet.

Vinisha Umashankar, who is from Tamil Nadu, was part of the “Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment” session attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just before he left for New Delhi on Tuesday evening.

She invited world leaders, international organisations, civil society, and business leaders to stand with her generation and back the innovations, solutions and projects working to repair the planet and join the next generation in taking action.

“We, the Earthshot Prize Winners and finalists, are proof that the greatest challenge in the history of our Earth is also the greatest opportunity. We lead the greatest wave of innovation humanity has ever known,” said Umashankar.

“We chose not to complain, but take actions that will make us wealthier and healthier. We chose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Rising to these challenges will shape a new generation. A generation that will build a better world for all of us and generations to come,” she said.

“We won’t wait for you to act. We will lead even if you don’t. We’ll build the future, even if you are stuck in the past. Please accept my invite. I assure you won’t regret it,” she added.

Umashankar had made the shortlist cut of the 1 million pounds Earthshot Prize within the “Clean Our Air” category with her concept of a solar-powered clean alternative to the charcoal-powered street irons that press clothes for millions of Indians each day.

Earlier, she joined the Indian winner in the category, Vidyut Mohan, for a meeting with Prime Minister Modi.

“It was such an honour meeting the Prime Minister, who was very curious about my winning agricultural waste recycling project and had some very encouraging words about scaling this up to help farmers all over India,” said Mohan, the co-founder of Takachar which was named the winner of the prize last month for its cheap, small-scale, portable technology that converts crop residues into sellable bio-products.

“The prize means a lot as it gives the project a global scale and also offers us access to crucial support and funding,” said Mohan, with reference to his 1mn pounds win.

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, joined the winners and finalists at the World Leaders’ Summit, hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson where Heads of State and Government leaders assembled over Monday and Tuesday to deliver national plans to tackle climate change.

“Our Finalists are bursting with energy, ideas and ambition, so please expect many of them to come knocking on your doors! Their ingenuity is amazing. Their potential is off the charts. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the real superstars in this room today,” Prince William said in his address to the summit.

Earlier on Tuesday, Global Advisor to the Earthshot Prize Winners, Michael R. Bloomberg, hosted an Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Assembly reception in the Green Zone of COP26.

This was the first time the finalists met with some of the Global Alliance, an unprecedented network of philanthropists, NGOs and some of the world’s biggest companies and brands representing 3.6 million employees globally that together will help support and scale the innovative and ground-breaking solutions developed by all 15 finalists.

On Wednesday, the winners participated in an interactive event for local Scottish school students, to be interviewed by young climate champions representing Generation Earthshot, an educational initiative at the COP26 climate summit.

With the conclusion of the World Leaders’ Summit segment of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the focus now shifts to the nearly 200 countries’ negotiating teams to thrash out a global agreement by the end of the summit on November 12.

Europe can expect ‘Lucifer’ 50C heatwaves every three years - Met Office warns

By Chelsea Rocks
Wednesday, 3rd November 2021, 8:53 am
UpdatedWednesday, 3rd November 2021, 8:56 am



The Met Office has revealed new analysis which suggests Europe can expect “Lucifer” heat waves every three years, as climate change continues to affect weather patterns

Temperatures of nearly 50°C will be felt across many countries every 36 months, in what was previously a one-in-10,000-year event.

‘Impossible without human induced climate change’

While people across the UK have been grateful for the hotter summers, the analysis suggests life threatening temperatures are being brought about by man made climate change.

The summer of 2021 was Europe’s hottest on record, as average temperatures in 2021 were almost 1°C higher than the 1991-2020 average.

The Uk’s national weather service has claimed this rise would have been “impossible without human induced climate change.”

This August, the south of England experienced record temperatures during the ‘Lucifer’ heatwave, and a new European temperature record of 48.8°C was set in Syracuse, Sicily.

The record been Athens’ 1977 record by 0.8, a rate of change which would only occur every 10,000 years if nature was not destroyed by human interaction.

‘More severe weather’

BBC’s Panorama will explore the changing weather systems in an hour-long documentary on 3 November, as COP26 gets underway in Glasgow.

The programme will delve into the Met Office research, which concluded that without dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in addition to those already pledged at COP26, near 50C temperatures could become a yearly occurrence by 2100.

It also found Europe can expect extreme, near-50°C heatwaves every three years in the immediate future.

“Our analysis shows that what is now a one in three-year event would have been almost impossible without human induced climate change. This is another example of how climate change is already making our weather extremes more severe,” said Met Office climate attribution scientist Dr Nikos Christidis.

Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University said: “If we let warming proceed and we cross not just 1.5°C but 2 or 3°C we will very clearly exceed our ability as a civilisation to provide the resources, the space, the food and the water for now nearly eight billion people on the face of this planet.”

While South European countries such as Greece and Italy could hit 50C, temperatures in the UK could exceed 40°C on a “regular basis” even in a best-case scenario of just 1.5°C of global warming.

The UK recorded its record temperature of 38.7°C in July 2019, and although 2021 wasn’t record-breaking, it did record as the ninth warmest on record.

Global finance pledge could mean $100 trillion for the climate. Now for the hard part


By Charles Riley, CNN Business

 Wed November 3, 2021


London (CNN Business)Banks, insurers, pension funds, money managers and other finance firms with $130 trillion in assets have signed up to tackle the climate crisis, swelling the ranks of a coalition led by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
More than 450 companies across 45 countries have now committed to achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) announced Wednesday at the COP26 summit.

The coalition controls over 40% of global banking assets, and its organizers predict it can deliver $100 trillion of finance over the next three decades — more than $3 trillion a year — to accelerate the transition to net zero carbon emissions.

Nigeria is oil rich and energy poor. It can't wait around for cheaper batteries

"We now have the essential plumbing in place to move climate change from the fringes to the forefront of finance so that every financial decision takes climate change into account," said Carney, the UN special envoy for climate action and finance.

GFANZ signatories have committed to science-based targets, including achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, delivering their share of 50% emission reductions this decade, and reviewing targets every five years. All firms will report their progress and financed emissions annually.

The coalition's potential and the scale of assets controlled by its members are simply huge. To put it into context, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Monetary Fund last year called for governments to invest $3 trillion over three years in tech and infrastructure to cut 4.5 billion metric tons out of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2023 and put the world on a path to achieving the Paris climate goals.
But net zero commitments made by companies often include loopholes, lack transparency and don't include enforcement mechanisms to ensure they follow through.

"We need to ensure that commitments that have been made are tracked and held to account. Ensuring the integrity of these commitments over time is fundamental to actually making a difference and we now need to focus resolutely on the quality of promises made by financial institutions, not just their quantity," said Ben Caldecott, director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group at the University of Oxford.
The problem is recognized at the highest levels. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier this week at COP26 that "there is a deficit of credibility and a surplus of confusion over emissions reductions and net zero targets, with different meanings and different metrics."

Guterres said he would establish a group of experts that would propose "clear standards to measure and analyze net zero commitments."

Still funding oil and gas
When it comes to GFANZ, funding for fossil fuels is a major point of contention.

Here to stay or gone in 30 years? Inside the fight over the future of the oil industry

The IEA has said that fresh oil and gas development must stop if the world is going to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis. But commitments made by GFANZ members do not require them to stop financing fossil fuel projects, according to climate advocacy group Reclaim Finance.

In the six years since the Paris agreement, the world's 60 biggest banks have poured nearly $4 trillion into the fossil fuel industry, according to the group.

"More than $130 trillion in [assets under management] and not a single rule to prevent even one dollar from being invested in the expansion of the fossil fuel sector. Once again, the financial sector is willing to puff itself up with hot air commitments instead of enacting the concrete cuts in oil, gas and coal financing we really need," said Lucie Pinson, executive director of Reclaim Finance.

Mark Carney speaks to a TV crew in Glasgow on Nov. 3, 2021.

Carney and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has joined GFANZ as co-chair, wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday that business are addressing climate change for reasons beyond altruism — they have significant exposure to climate risks, and they can make money off the race to clean energy.

But they also acknowledged that companies may attempt to claim green credentials while continuing to contribute to climate change.

"There's no off-the-shelf plan for reaching net zero, and the methods for doing so will vary widely by industry. Nor are there universally accepted benchmarks for defining progress, which raises the risk of 'greenwashing,' " wrote Carney and Bloomberg.

"These are crucial challenges that must be addressed as companies begin to turn their pledges into plans. Success will depend largely on industry coordination and public accountability," they added.

COACHES ABUSE

Chicago Blackhawks Hold Settlement Talks With Former Player’s Attorney

By Jay Cohen | November 4, 2021Print Articl

The Chicago Blackhawks held settlement talks Tuesday, Nov. 2 with an attorney for a former player who is suing the team after he accused an assistant coach of sexual assault in 2010 and the team largely ignored the allegations.

The sides met for about an hour, according to Susan Loggans, who represents former first-round pick Kyle Beach. Loggans also is part of a second lawsuit against the team by a former high school student whom Brad Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan.

Loggans said she explained her basis for a settlement during the meeting, and the Blackhawks’ attorneys “listened and discussed issues they feel affect this matter.”

“The meeting was respectful and cordial for each side,” she said. “But each side had different viewpoints. It was decided that an opportunity may exist to move forward. However, both parties will meet with their clients and meet again in the near future.”

Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz and CEO Danny Wirtz, Rocky’s son, have asked to meet with Beach, but Loggans said he “wants to see a little bit more about how they’re going to treat the settlement issue before he makes his decision.”

The Blackhawks said as late as mid-May that Beach’s allegations lacked merit. But an independent review, commissioned by the team in response to the two lawsuits and released last week, showed the organization badly mishandled Beach’s allegations that he was assaulted by Aldrich during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup run. Aldrich told investigators the encounter was consensual.

Former federal prosecutor Reid Schar, who led the investigation, said his law firm found no evidence that Rocky or Danny Wirtz were aware of the allegations before Beach’s lawsuit was brought to their attention ahead of its filing. But the report noted that many top executives were aware of the claim, and there was no evidence that the team took any action for about for three weeks.

The NHL fined Chicago $2 million for “the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response” to Beach’s allegations. Commissioner Gary Bettman has faced questions about the punishment in comparison to past fines for teams, and Donald Fehr, the leader of the NHL players’ association, has been criticized over the union response.

After Bettman spoke to the media Monday, Nov. 1, the team apologized for saying Beach’s allegations lacked merit. “It is clear now that our organization did not do the right thing,” it said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

31 October Tornadoes Breaks Oklahoma Monthly Record

November 4, 2021

A total of 31 tornadoes last month was a record-high for October in Oklahoma dating to 1950, according to the National Weather Service.

The previous high for October, the fifth most active month for tornadoes, was 27 in 1998, according to weather service records. Those records show that March-June are the four most active months for twisters in Oklahoma.

“It’s unusual, not quite as unusual as people might think” to see October tornadoes, according to weather service meteorologist Phil Ware. “It’s really not that different than in the springtime. You’re getting clashes of airmasses again.”

Weather conditions in autumn, however, are typically drier, limiting the instability storms need to form and strengthen into powerful tornadoes, Ware said.

The most powerful of last month’s tornadoes was an EF2 that struck Oct. 10 near Anadarko with wind speeds of 113-157 mph (182-253 kph). The twister was one of 17 recorded in the state that day as strong storms also spawned tornadoes and severe weather in parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

Another 13 tornadoes were recorded on Oct. 12-13, and one was recorded on Oct. 27.

No deaths were reported from the October Oklahoma twisters.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Climate-Fueled Disasters Spur UN Plan to Fund Weather Forecasting in Vulnerable Nations

By Andrea Januta and Kanupriya Kapoor | November 4, 2021

INSURANCE JOURNAL


GLASGOW – As climate change triggers deadly heatwaves, droughts and floods, three U.N. agencies on Wednesday rolled out funding plans to improve weather forecasting in vulnerable countries.

The initiative, announced at the U.N. climate summit, aims to plug gaps in weather monitoring and data collection so developing countries can better prepare for possible climate-fueled disasters.

Over the next decade, organizers at the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) plan to boost weather monitoring in 75 small island nations and least-developed countries that have done little to cause the climate crisis but face the biggest and costliest impacts.

“We have to invest in weather and climate services,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told conference attendees. “Without observations we are not able to provide good services.”

“In modeling we say that if you put junk in your forecasting models you are getting junk out. Unfortunately that’s the situation in several developing countries and also several island state countries,” he said.

Improving rain forecasts, for instance, can help farmers manage their fields, communities manage water resources or governments plan for food imports when yields look likely to falter. They can also allow people to prepare for possible flooding.

For the Red Cross in Burkina Faso, such forecasts – when they exist – are crucial to the aid organization’s budget and procurement planning, Red Cross climate scientist Kiswendsida Guigma said.


But in many places, there is a “huge gap” in accuracy and detail, Guigma said. “We don’t have very dense networks of instruments collecting data, and (there is) a lack of human and technical capacity.”

The new initiative, called the Systematic Observations Finance Facility, is led by the WMO, the U.N. Development Programme and the U.N. Environment Programme and falls under global plans to provide $100 billion a year in climate financing to poorer nations.

Failure by rich nations to meet this 2020 goal has earned wide rebuke in Glasgow. On Tuesday U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said the world might meet that goal by 2022.

Improving weather data can also help with longer-term predictability around climate change, said Lars Peter Riishojgaard, director of the WMO’s Earth System Branch.

“If you’re a rural economy with subsistence farming, you need to know: Can people have their livelihoods where they are right now, or do they need to pick different crops?” Riishojgaard said. “If you can’t predict it, you can’t adapt to it.”

Disappearing Data

In recent years, weather data for Africa has declined as readings from weather balloons equipped with observation equipment – known as radiosondes – decreased by about half between 2015 and 2020.

Radiosonde data, which unlike satellite data is collected at various atmospheric altitudes, is crucial for both weather predictions and climate modeling. Lack of investment, security conflicts and other problems have prevented African countries from floating new balloons, said Columbia University climate scientist Tufa Dinku.

“There is almost no data outside the roads, outside the towns and cities,” he said. And “if you think about it, agriculture doesn’t happen in towns or cities.”

That has left African farmers and herders struggling to plan ahead, even as the rates of temperature increase in the continent’s south have been among the world’s fastest.

Madagascar, off Africa’s southeast coast, has this year suffered from a crippling famine that scientists say is caused by climate-fueled drought.

More than a million people face extreme hunger in the island nation that has produced less than 0.01% of the carbon-dioxide emissions causing global warming, according to the Global Carbon Project.

Globally, weather-related natural disasters have increased five-fold over 50 years, the WMO said. More than 91% of associated deaths have occurred in developing countries.

Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama told attendees at the initiative’s rollout that climate-driven superstorms, rising seas, and changing weather patterns are the “new norm” in the Pacific. He added that 13 cyclones have struck the island nation since 2016.

“Disaster readiness and disaster resilience are two sides of the same coin,” Bainimarama said. “They both depend on robust weather and climate data.”

(Reporting by Andrea Januta in New York, Kanupriya Kapoor in Singapore and Katy Daigle in Glasgow; additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Janet Lawrence, Barbara Lewis and David Gregorio)

Photograph: In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, houses are surrounded by floodwaters brought about by Typhoon Vamco inundate Cagayan valley region in northern Philippines on Sunday Nov. 15, 2020. Typhoon Vamco swelled rivers and flooded low-lying areas as it passed over the storm-battered northeast Philippines. 

Photo credit: Ace Morandante/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP.

Coal in Crosshairs as UN Climate Summit Brings Raft of Clean Energy Pledges

By Kate Abnett and Simon Jessop | November 4, 2021

INSURANCE JOURNAL


GLASGOW – Government representatives at the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow on Thursday will turn their focus to tackling the global economy’s addiction to fossil fuels with a raft of new pledges aimed at curbing production and use of oil, gas and coal.

Planned announcements are meant to help speed a transition to cleaner forms of energy that scientists and world leaders say are needed quickly to slash greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

But the pledges could also highlight lingering divisions between wealthy nations pushing for a swift end to the dirty fuels of the industrial revolution, and poorer developing countries that rely on coal and other fossil fuels to grow.

Among the announcements, Poland, Vietnam, Chile and other countries are expected to pledge to phase out coal-fueled power generation and stop building new plants in a deal the COP26 summit’s British hosts said would commit 190 nations and organizations to quit the fuel.

It was not immediately clear if the deal would involve countries like China, India, Indonesia and Turkey, which have numerous new coal power developments planned. In September, China said it would stop funding overseas coal plants, although the pledge did not cover domestic projects.


Separately, at least 19 countries plan to commit at the summit on Thursday to stop public financing for fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of next year, according to two people familiar with the talks.

More countries also may join the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, led by Denmark and Costa Rica. That effort commits members to phasing out fossil fuel production within their own borders, but it will not formally be launched until next week.

A main aim of the COP26 talks is to secure national promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions mostly from coal, oil and gas, that are sufficient to keep the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. How to meet those pledges, particularly in the developing world, is still being worked out.

Coal fires around 37% of the world’s electricity, and a cheap, abundant local supply means the fuel dominates power production in countries including South Africa, Poland and India.

U.N. climate envoy Mark Carney said meeting international climate goals could cost around $100 trillion over the next three decades, and called on the finance industry to raise private money to complement what states can do.

On Wednesday, banks, insurers and investors with $130 trillion at their disposal pledged to prioritize combating climate change. World leaders this week also pledged to stop deforestation by the end of the decade and cut emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane.

(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; editing by David Gregorio)

Kaiser Workers Set to Strike in Georgia This Week

November 3, 2021Twee LinkedIn Print Articl

Health care workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities in Georgia have voted to strike over Kaiser’s changes in pay and benefits.

The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1996 voted over the last week to authorize the work stoppage. By law, the union must give the employer 10 days notice, so a strike may not begin until later this week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

The health workers have balked at Kaiser’s plan to implement a two-tiered system that would give new hires much lower pay and benefit levels. Workers also have called for higher cost-of-living increases over the next several years to help ensure more nurses will be on staff as the state faces a shortage of nurses during the coronavirus pandemic, the news site reported.

Kaiser has said that its workers already are at the top of pay and benefit levels.

The number of workers set to go on strike is not clear. Kaiser has 26 locations in Georgia. The labor union said it represents 2,450 employees, although not all of those are members of the union.

Canada Employers Shed Unvaccinated Workers With Legal Challenges Expected

By Steve Scherer | November 4, 2021

INSURANCE JOURNAL


OTTAWA – Canadian employers are firing or putting on unpaid leave thousands of workers who refused to get COVID-19 shots, squeezing an already tight labor market and raising prospects of potentially disruptive legal challenges.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised vaccine mandates as a central part of his successful campaign for re-election in September, setting a precedent that has spread from the public to the private sector.

Benefits of Vaccine Mandates Outweigh Workers’ Comp Costs of Vaccine Injuries

The mandate for federal workers is one of the world’s strictest, and the government has extended it to federally regulated spaces, which include airports, and to air and rail travelers.

Across Canada, hospitals, banks, insurers, school boards, police and some provincial administrations are now implementing similar policies for current and future hires.

Unvaccinated workers whose livelihoods are on the line – in a country where more than 83% of the eligible population over 12 years old have had their shots – are flooding labor lawyers with calls.

Air Canada and WestJet airlines alone, where well over 90% of staff are vaccinated, are suspending hundreds who are not, and demanding that new hires get inoculated. Toronto transit agencies are likewise putting hundreds on unpaid leave and reducing some services.

Ottawa Hospital, the capital’s largest and where more than 99% of staff are fully vaccinated, put on unpaid leave 186 people who failed to prove they were. Services will not be cut, however, said spokeswoman Michaela Schreiter.


While the unvaccinated have some hopes of collecting severance pay or employment insurance, the legal advice that many are getting is that simply not wanting the shot is not grounds for a lawsuit.

“Most people are really unhappy because they want to … force the employer to change the policy,” said Paul Champ of Champ & Associates in Ottawa, whose firm has fielded 20 to 30 calls a day from unvaccinated workers. “I’ve been very clear to people that that’s not going to be successful.”

Only strict religious or medical exemptions are being accepted by most employers, who have a right to impose health and safety conditions in the workplace, Champ said.

Jobs Squeeze

However, to avoid losing thousands of nurses and other medical staff and being forced to cut services, the Quebec provincial government on Wednesday dropped its previously announced inoculation requirement for healthcare workers, and Ontario said it would not introduce one.

“Implementing a province-wide vaccine mandate for hospital workers can negatively impact the care patients receive,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement, underscoring the way the mandates can exacerbate a labor shortage.

Some 64% of firms say they are facing more intense labor shortages than a year ago, which are preventing more businesses from meeting growing demand, the Bank of Canada said last month.

The jobs market will face added pressure beginning Nov. 15, when as many as 20,000 unvaccinated federal workers – out of some 300,000 – are due to be put on unpaid leave.

“Departments and agencies will assess operational needs … and are focused on ensuring that there is no noticeable impact on service,” said Genevieve Sicard, a spokeswoman at Canada’s Treasury Board, which oversees the civil service.

The Treasury Board said it had no knowledge of a legal challenge yet, though that seems only a matter of time.

“There are a lot of people willing to take this to the end because they can see the loss of one person’s rights are a loss of everyone’s rights,” said Stacey Payne, founder of Feds for Freedom, a group of federal employees who say the mandates infringe on their privacy and freedom.

Unions could have some success in challenging vaccine mandates for people who work from home and do not interact with others, said Daniel Lublin, founding partner of Whitten & Lublin in Toronto.

The mandates are “a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said. .”.. And the problem I have with that is that Canadian employment laws always look at context.”

Workers also have a legal argument for severance pay or for employment insurance, lawyers said. Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough has argued that those who lose their jobs because they refuse to get vaccinated should not collect employment insurance.

“A lot of people were playing this out to the wire to see if companies were actually going to fire them,” said Lublin. “If they do get fired, I do think that they’re going to fight it.”

(Additional reporting by Julie Gordon; editing by John Stonestreet and Jonathan Oatis)
Copyright 2021 Reuters. 

Report Sounds Alarm Over Workers With Long-Term COVID-19 Symptoms

By Jim Sams | November 1, 2021

INSURANCE JOURNAL

About 10% of people who contracted COVID-19 continue to suffer persistent symptoms months later, creating the potential for millions of people to suffer functional impairment for extended lengths of time, according to a report released by the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

The report, written by Paradigm Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Choo, says COVID long-haulers are anxious and irritable. They can’t sleep, break out in rashes, suffer blurry vision and chest pain and are constantly thirsty. Researchers have identified 21 symptoms that have persisted as long as nine months after the initial infection.

“This is both sobering and alarming,” the report says.

As of Oct. 25, 45 million Americans had contracted COVID-19. Many of those cases became workers’ compensation claims, especially in the nine states that have created presumptions in favor of injured workers who claim they contracted the disease at the workplace.

NCCI is not the first organization to warn about the potential for COVID-19 to cause long-term health impacts. Dr. Claire Pomeroy, an infectious disease expert and president of the Lasker Foundation, wrote in a July article published by Scientific American that the nation should be prepared for a “tsunami of disability” caused by long-COVID.

Also in July, the Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance that informed employers that people struggling with long-haul COVID are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, meaning employers may have to provide reasonable accommodations to allow them to continue working.

Choo’s report for NCCI, citing published studies, says that 81% of people who contracted COVID-19 suffered only mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, with only 5% suffering severe symptoms. Of the people who had severe symptoms, 76% had at least one symptom six months later, the most common being fatigue, muscle weakness, and sleep difficulties.

Even more alarming, 10% of all people who contracted COVID-19 suffered symptoms more than three weeks later, according to another published study.

The National Institutes ascribed a new term for the syndrome — post-acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2, or PASC. Researchers have identified several “symptom groups” that impact the cardiovascular system, pulmonary, endocrine and auto immune systems, as well as mood disorders and sleep disorders.

The report says PASC symptoms usually diminish in three to six months, but sometimes last as long as nine months.

“The frustrating reality is that the constellation of symptoms experienced by those with PASC for extended periods of time can significantly delay their ability to return to work and/or their prior level of function and impair quality of life,” the report says.

Choo’s report is the first of two analyses that NCCI is planning to release on the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on workers’ compensation insurers. Spokeswoman Christine Pike said NCCI will report on trends in medical treatments and associated costs next spring or summer.

POST-FORDISM

Smartphone giant Xiaomi to begin production in Pakistan next year

It trails behind Samsung and Apple

SAMAA | Samaa Web Desk - Posted: Nov 2, 2021 

Photo: AFP

Report by Wakil-ur-Rehman

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is collaborating with Air Link Communication for manufacturing mobile phones in Pakistan by January next year, SAPM on Production Abdul Razzak Dawood said Tuesday.

He said that the government’s policy had started yielding results and the domestic production of advanced mobile phones was a radical achievement.

According to Dawood, initial estimates put annual production target between 2.5 and 3 million mobile phone units. “Industrial facilities are being set up in the Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Estate near Kot Lakhpat in Lahore and production is set to start in January next year, employing at least 3,000 people,” Dawood said.

Xiaomi, he said, was one of the world’s largest mobile phone tech company.

Providing more details, he said that Select (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Air Link Communication, would jointly manufacture mobile phone sets in Pakistan.

Air Link Communication is one of the country’s largest retail and distribution company, assembling and selling mobile phones and accessories.

Recently, the company scooped Rs6.43 billion, after floating its IPO in the Pakistan Stock Exchange or PSX by selling 90 million shares to institutional and individual investors.

The government has already introduced a comprehensive policy regarding domestic production of mobile phones while the PTA issued a code of conduct regarding setting up manufacturing units for mobile phone devices.

Subsequently, at least 26 companies had so far been issued licenses for manufacturing mobile phones in the country.

Xiaomi is already marketing several brands in Pakistan, including Redmi, Poco and MI. It is also marketing other accessories as well as TV sets and smartwatches.

Market expert believe that most mobile phone manufacturing firms view Pakistan as a vast potential market, focusing on local production, assembly and distribution.

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Pakistan is a smartphone exporter now

Xiaomi’s share of the global smartphone market grew by 83% year-on-year in the quarter ending June, as per Canalys, a research firm.

In a recent report, Xiaomi exported 52.8 million units during this period, making it one of the world’s top-selling brand behind Samsung and Apple.

Former Afghan commanders, intelligence officers make perfect ISIS recruits

Some doing it for the money, some for survival

SAMAA | Samaa Web Desk - Posted: Nov 3, 2021 |

Afghan special force commando unit officers and soldiers attend a graduation ceremony at the military academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 31, 2021. Photo: AFP

When Afghan Taliban took over Kabul in mid August this year, everyone was skeptical they would be able to consolidate power and do what they could not last time they were in power: take control of Panjshir Valley – the home of the late Afghan Jihad commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Surprisingly, in just three weeks, Qari Fasihuddin, Deputy Commander of the Military Commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, became the first Taliban leader in history to set foot in Bazarak, the provincial capital of Panjshir.

With the fall of Panjshir, the anti-Taliban resistance came to an end, giving the Taliban regime a free hand.

The Taliban formed interim government, announced amnesty for all government employees and asked them to resume work, allowing girls to attend school though with restrictions amid bunch of other measures to portray itself as a moderate in order to get world’s acceptance.

Overwhelmed with success and negotiating the maze of international diplomacy, the Taliban probably did not take into consideration the threat in the shape of the local ISIS offshoot Khorasan

.

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of the August 26 suicide bomb, which killed at least 175 people, including 13 US troops, at Kabul airport. Photo: AFP

Since the Taliban take-over, ISIS-Khorasan (often referred as ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the country, including the ones targeting Friday prayers, imambargahs. The biggest so far, has been the August 26 attack outside the Kabul Airport. Over 170 Afghans and 13 US soldiers were killed that day.

Now, the Wall Street Journal has reported that former members of the Afghan intelligence agencies and elite military units are joining the only resistance that they see can challenge the writ of the Talibam: ISIS-K.

A former commander of the Afghan military’s weapons and ammunition depot in Gardez, Paktia, was killed in a clash with the Taliban. He had joined ISIS-Khorasan, the report says, quoting an Afghan official who knew deceased.

The defection to ISIS is fuelled by mixed feelings of abandonment and fear.

Former personnel of Afghan forces feel let down by their former US patrons who just packed up and left for their country.

A US aircraft fly from the Kabul airport. Photo: AFP

Some men are opting to work with the terrorist outfit as they fear persecution by the Taliban. A former Afghan official said some of the former Afghan intelligence and military officials he knew joined ISIS after the Taliban raided their homes and asked them to appear before the country’s new authorities.

And in some cases, it’s all about money. ISIS-K offers handsome amounts of cash to new recruits.

The Afghan forces were cash-strapped and were not paid for months when the US forces left in August. This was one of the reasons for the lukewarm resistance that the Taliban faced from the Afghan National Army and other forces.

Even American officials were aware of this. US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told a Senate briefing last month that they knew that the Afghan forces had not been paid for months. Kahl said that they were broadly aware. He admitted that the US administration’s “visibility to exact conditions were highly degraded”.

Now ISIS is acquiring expertise in intelligence-gathering and warfare techniques with the addition of former members of the Afghan intelligence and elite force commandos joining its ranks. This would probably strengthen its ability to contest Taliban supremacy.

What is worrying, for both the Taliban and the US, is that there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed former Afghan intelligence officers, soldiers and police personnel who are living in constant fear despite the amnesty announced by the Taliban, They fear someone might come for them. And this is could push them into the folds of ISIS-K, creating a monster that have the potential to target not only Afghan Taliban but also the US.

For the US, the biggest worry comes from the statement of Colin Kahl that it will take the Islamic State in Afghanistan only six to 12 month to acquire the capacity to attack the West and allies.