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Afghanistan: Lost in Translation

To mark the upcoming US withdrawal from its longest ever war in Afghanistan, the New York Times interviewed soldiers who served there a decade ago. One reminisced about seeing two fellow soldiers killed by an IED blast and how he struggled with what he’d seen upon return to the States. Perhaps more interesting was the soldier’s comment that all the Afghan local leadership he helped to secure territory for had subsequently been assassinated.
The crescendo of violence in the country is already beginning to tick up with three months left until the official departure of the world’s most powerful military from the country. Last week Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in a provincial capital about 120 kilometres from Kabul, officials and witnesses said, prompting the defence minister to take charge of a counteroffensive. A mortar bomb fired by the Taliban struck a wedding ceremony in a province north of the Afghan capital, killing at least six people including women and children, officials said on Sunday.
The death toll from the barbaric early May attack on a girls school in Kabul eventually reached 85 and a subsequent survey revealed that 52% of young people in Afghanistan stated that they don’t feel safe and secure at school or university. As the days count down towards the US and wider NATO withdrawal let us remember that Afghanistan already has the second highest numbers of refugees worldwide with tens of thousands internally displaced.
Against such a grim forecast was the double edge story of countries like the US and the UK doing the right thing by allowing those Afghans who worked closely with them to emigrate to the West. US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Mark Milley explained that a "significant" number of interpreters and other employees could be targeted by Taliban militants. As many as 18,000 Afghan nationals have applied for US visas to immigrate to the US under a special programme.
From a UK perspective this would mean evacuating more than 3,000 people. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace explained that “With Western powers leaving Afghanistan, the threat is increasing and has increased, including targeted attacks by the Taliban. This is allowing people a route to the United Kingdom for safety, the people who supported the British armed forces and the British government over many, many years in Afghanistan who feel they are in danger and it's absolutely right that we stand by those people”.
I say again that this is entirely the right thing to do but with so little time left until the US departure the test will be how quickly the bureaucracy and logistics can move to made good on good intentions. The other edge of these announcements however, are that they of course don’t bode well for what American and British policy makers expect to happen next in the country.
Parallels are regularly drawn between Afghanistan and Vietnam, where the US evacuated some 125,000 allied Vietnamese after the fall of Saigon in 1975. A week ago Australia announced it would be shutting its embassy in Kabul. Officials in Canberra talked of "an increasingly uncertain security environment" in the country. Meanwhile “the Taliban is likely to make gains on the battlefield” and the prospects for a peace deal are “low”, a bleak US intelligence report issued in April said.
Will Afghanistan move from being a ‘graveyard of empire’ to just a worsening failed state in a world that suddenly appears more replete with them than ever? Many are of course asking the question ‘was it worth it?’ But too often that question is only aimed at Western audiences and policy makers, with Afghans themselves seemingly bit part players in the story of their own country.
Many lessons will be learnt from Afghanistan for sure. Former Obama foreign policy adviser, Ben Rhodes, wrote recently that “ the forever war has been a 40-year enterprise at war with itself, demonstrating the fallacy of thinking these days that you can engineer events in far-away countries through force”. These are critical learnings indeed, but the more focused question for Afghans is who will survive the next period to be order to create and reflect on the country’s history to come.

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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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