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EU: Will invite the Taliban

The Taliban will be invited to Brussels for talks on deportations to Afghanistan, the European Commission announced on Monday evening.

According to sources to the AFP news agency, a letter will be sent to Kabul “shortly” to arrange the meeting, which is being coordinated together with Sweden.

No date has been set and the Taliban’s trip to Brussels will be preceded by two trips to Afghanistan by European officials.

In April, Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) told TT that the Swedish government had been pushing the EU to get deportations to Afghanistan and had been asked to stand as a “co-signatory” together with the Commission.

A “technical meeting” took place as early as January, according to a spokesperson for the European Commission.

Deportations to Afghanistan have been difficult to implement, according to Forssell. The initiative has also been met with harsh criticism from the opposition. 

Sources: The United Arab Emirates has attacked Iran in secret


The United Arab Emirates has attacked Iran in secret, sources with insight tell the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal.

This includes an attack on an oil refinery on the Iranian island of Jazireh-ye Lavan that was not publicly announced. It took place in early April, around the time the ceasefire was supposed to come into effect. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks.

The United Arab Emirates, which has been one of Iran's main targets during the war, has thus played a more active role than has been known. Neither the country's State Department nor the US defense headquarters, the Pentagon, want to comment on the information for The Wall Street Journal.

The wealthy Gulf state has a well-equipped military, equipped with Western fighter jets and radar systems.
 

Hospital evacuated in Haiti – over 40 shot

Doctors Without Borders is forced to evacuate one of its hospitals in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince due to the escalating violence.

In just twelve hours, the organization's staff have treated over 40 people with gunshot wounds, writes Doctors Without Borders in a press release.

More than 800 people have sought shelter at the hospital in the Cité Soleil area, but as a result of the chaos, the facility has been closed indefinitely.

"One of our security guards was hit by a stray bullet inside the hospital grounds," says Davina Hayles, head of the Haiti operation, in a comment.

"It is impossible for us to provide care when there is shooting. A hospital where staff are not safe cannot function."

Haiti has been severely affected by violent crime for many years, and large parts of the country are controlled by armed gangs.