ISLAMABAD: The Taliban Saturday appealed to Afghanistan’s private sector to help people fleeing Pakistan’s mass deportation drive.
Pakistan is arresting and expelling all foreigners it says are in the country illegally, but the policy mostly affects Afghans because they are the biggest group of undocumented foreigners in the country.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Kabul urged Afghanistan’s private sector to step forward and help.
Afghans forcibly expelled from Pakistan are facing the worst situation of their lives, with no opportunities, the ministry said.
“The ministry invites the private sector to take action because of the profound humanitarian disaster caused by the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of the poor and needy. It is the duty of Islam and Afghans to stand up for their fellow countrymen.”
Afghanistan is overwhelmed by challenges, including years of drought, a beleaguered economy and the aftermath of decades of war. Millions are already internally displaced, raising concerns among the humanitarian community about the impoverished country being unable to support or integrate those leaving Pakistan.
Taliban social media accounts have shown senior officials at the Torkham border, in eastern Nangarhar province, shaking hands with returning Afghans and welcoming them home. Temporary camps are providing people with food, shelter, and health care, according to Taliban authorities.
As many as 250,000 Afghans left Pakistan before an Oct. 31 deadline to leave voluntarily expired. Tens of thousands are heading to border areas fearing detention and deportation as Pakistan security forces go door-to-door searching for undocumented foreigners.
Aid agencies have scrambled teams to border areas, describing chaotic and desperate scenes among returning Afghans.
People told Save the Children they have nowhere to live or money to pay for food, rent or transport after crossing the border. Some Afghan children born in Pakistan are in Afghanistan for the first time, the agency said.
The deportation drive marks a spike in tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban.
Pakistan says Afghans are responsible for carrying out suicide attacks in the country and accuses the Taliban of harboring such militants. The Taliban deny the allegations.
On Friday, senior Taliban figures again condemned Pakistan for its anti-migrant crackdown. They called the policy cruel and one-sided and demanded that Afghans be treated with respect and dignity.
The Taliban’s acting defense minister in Kabul, Muhammad Yaqoob Mujahid, issued a warning to Pakistan.
“Pakistan should face the consequences of its actions and reap what it sows,” he said. “What is going on right now will have a negative impact on relations between both countries.”
Taliban appeal to Afghan private sector to help those fleeing Pakistan’s mass deportation drive
https://arab.news/54zak
Taliban appeal to Afghan private sector to help those fleeing Pakistan’s mass deportation drive
- Pakistan is arresting and expelling all foreigners it says are in the country illegally
- The policy mostly affects Afghans being biggest group of undocumented foreigners
Pakistani-born surgeon appointed chief AI officer at world’s first engineering-based medical school
- Dr. Adil Haider named inaugural chief AI officer at Carle Illinois College of Medicine
- Appointment underscores push to embed artificial intelligence in medical training and care
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani-born surgeon-scientist and academic leader Adil Haider has been appointed the inaugural Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, a US medical school designed from its inception to integrate engineering, medicine and data science, the institution said in a press release this week.
Carle Illinois, jointly operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Carle Health, is widely described as the world’s first engineering-based medical school, with a curriculum that embeds computational thinking, systems engineering and innovation into physician training. The appointment reflects a growing push by academic medical institutions to formally embed artificial intelligence into education, research and clinical practice.
“By establishing the role of chief AI officer, Carle Illinois is signaling that artificial intelligence is not peripheral, but foundational to the future of medicine,” CI MED Dean Mark Cohen was quoted as saying in a press release on Wednesday.
“Dr. Haider brings a unique combination of academic rigor, clinical expertise, and entrepreneurial experience. His leadership will help ensure that AI at Carle Illinois is innovative, ethical, and meaningfully improves health outcomes, transforming our clinical, research, innovation, and educational missions for the future.”
In the newly created role, Haider will lead the strategic vision, development and responsible deployment of artificial intelligence across the medical college, focusing on AI-enabled medical education, translational research and clinical innovation, according to the statement.
In addition to his academic role, Haider will also serve as medical director for research informatics at Carle Foundation Hospital, where he will work to align AI-driven research with real-world clinical practice across the Carle Health system.
“I am honored and excited to join Carle Illinois College of Medicine at such a pivotal moment,” Haider said. “There is no other institution intentionally designed to bring engineering, medicine, and data science together in this way. The opportunity here is not simply to adopt AI, but to define how it should be built, governed, and deployed to improve human health.”
Haider joins Carle Illinois after serving for more than six years as dean of the Aga Khan University Medical College in Pakistan, where the institution expanded its research funding, entered global rankings and secured multiple international accreditations, including ACGME-International and AACME.
He previously held senior academic and clinical leadership roles in the United States, including at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Johns Hopkins University, where he worked as a trauma surgeon and outcomes researcher.
Haider has also founded two health technology companies. His startup Doctella was later acquired by Masimo, while Boston Health AI, a clinical intelligence platform he founded more recently, operates in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.
At the University of Illinois, Haider will also serve as a visiting professor in the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, further linking medical education with advanced computing and data science.
