Page 26 - Afghanistan

Afghan Taliban asks Pakistan govt to pursue peace talks with TTP: Report

The Afghan Taliban has asked the Pakistan government to initiate another round of negotiations with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan terror group, with a top leader in Kabul telling Islamabad that it should prefer peace over war, a media report said on Saturday. Pakistan's latest efforts aimed at seeking action against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) by Kabul could not make headway, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Pakistan dispatched its special envoy to Kabul this week on a three-day trip to convey a clear message that Afghanistan's Taliban-led interim government will have to take decisive action against the TTP, blamed for a number of major terror attacks in the country. Ambassador Asad Durrani met with Afghanistan's Acting Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi and other officials during his trip. But the Afghan Taliban told him after a series of meetings that Pakistan should pursue the path of peace ...

Taliban uses tasers to break up Afghan women protesting beauty salon ban

Dozens of Afghan women protested a beauty salon ban on Wednesday after the Taliban ordered their closure nationwide. Security forces used fire hoses, tasers and shot their guns into the air to break up the protest. The Taliban said earlier this month they were giving all salons in Afghanistan one month to wind down their businesses and close shop, drawing concern from international officials worried about the impact on female entrepreneurs. The Taliban say they are outlawing salons allegedly because they offer services forbidden by Islam and cause economic hardship for grooms' families during wedding festivities. The ruling came from the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment. In a rare sign of public opposition to Taliban orders, dozens of beauticians and makeup artists gathered in the capital of Kabul to protest the ban. W

China increases Afghanistan investment but faces terrorism challenges

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs position paper on Afghanistan stated that China would "do its best" to support Afghanistan's reconstruction and development

Banned salons because they offered forbidden services: Afghan Taliban

Women's beauty salons were banned in Afghanistan because they offered services forbidden by Islam and caused economic hardships for grooms' families during wedding festivities, the Taliban said Thursday. The explanation came days after the group confirmed they were giving all salons in the country one month to wind down their businesses and close shop, drawing concern from international officials worried about the impact on female entrepreneurs. The ruling is the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment. In a video clip released Thursday, Sadiq Akif Mahjer, the spokesman for the Taliban-run Virtue and Vice Ministry, listed a series of services salons offered that he said went against Islam. Those included eyebrow shaping, the use of other people's hair to augment a woman's natural hair and the application of makeup, which would interfere with the ablutions required befo

Taliban bans women's beauty salons in Afghanistan, gives 1 month to wind up

It's the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment

India donates 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan amid crisis

The 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat reached the Herat city of Afghanistan on Tuesday, United Nations World for Food Programme (UNWFP) said in a tweet

Over 130,000 Afghan refugees will require re-settlement in Pakistan: UNHCR

In the 'Projected Global Resettlement Needs Assessment for 2024', UNHCR anticipates a 20 per cent increase in global refugee resettlement needs for the next year

Earthquake of 4.1 magnitude, 150 km depth jolts Afghanistan, no casualties

An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 struck the Fayzabad region in Afghanistan on Thursday, reported National Centre for Seismology (NCS).The depth of the quake was reported at 150 km.According to NCS, it took place at 17:05:05 (IST) and the epicentre of the earthquake was found to be at Latitude- 36.85 and Longitude- 71.18, respectively."Earthquake of Magnitude:4.1, Occurred on 29-06-2023, 17:05:05 IST, Lat: 36.85 & Long: 71.18, Depth: 150 Km, Location: 62km ESE of Fayzabad, Afghanistan," the NCS stated in a tweet.Further details are awaited, and no reports of material damage or casualties are known as of yet.This is the second earthquake incident in Afghanistan's Fayzabad region in one week.On June 26, an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 struck the southeastern region of Fayzabad.

Since Taliban takeover, over 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks: UN

The United Nations said Tuesday it has documented a significant level of civilians killed and wounded in attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover despite a stark reduction in casualties compared to previous years of war and insurgency. According to a new report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, since the takeover in mid-August 2021 and until the end of May, there were 3,774 civilian casualties, including 1,095 people killed in violence in the country. That compares with 8,820 civilian casualties including 3,035 killed in just 2020, according to an earlier U.N. report. The Taliban seized the country in August 2021 while U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from Afghanistan after two decades of war. According to the U.N. report, three-quarters of the attacks since the Taliban seized power were with improvised explosive devices in populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets, the report said. Among those killed w

Since Taliban's takeover, more than 1,000 civilians were killed, says UN

The United Nations said Tuesday it has documented a significant level of civilians killed and wounded in attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover despite a stark reduction in casualties compared to previous years of war and insurgency. According to a new report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, since the takeover in mid-August 2021 and until the end of May, there were 3,774 civilian casualties, including 1,095 people killed in violence in the country. That compares with 8,820 civilian casualties including 3,035 killed in just 2020, according to an earlier U.N. report. The Taliban seized the country in August 2021 while U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from Afghanistan after two decades of war. According to the U.N. report, three-quarters of the attacks since the Taliban seized power were with improvised explosive devices in populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets, the report said. Among those killed w

Afghanistan responsible for 80% of illicit opium production: UN Report

Whereas, in a separate report, UNODC said that Afghanistan is home to an estimated 3.5 million drug users, which account for nearly 10 per cent of the total population

Taliban leader claims women provided with comfortable, prosperous life

The supreme leader of the Taliban released a message on Sunday claiming that his government has taken the necessary steps for the betterment of women's lives in Afghanistan, where women are banned from public life and work and girls' education is severely curtailed. The statement from Hibatullah Akhundzada was made public ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday, which will be celebrated later this week in Afghanistan and other Islamic countries. Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, rarely appears in public or leaves the Taliban heartland in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province. He surrounds himself with other religious scholars and allies who oppose education and work for women. In his Eid message Akhundzada said that under the rule of the Islamic Emirate, concrete measures have been taken to save women from many traditional oppressions, including forced marriages, "and their Shariah rights have been protected. Moreover, necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half o

Women's public presence in Afghanistan totally erased by Taliban: UN

Irene Khan said in a report that women's rights groups play an important role in the struggle for gender equality and in promoting the agency of women

On terror firma

Shahbaz Taseer's book is a gripping account of his abduction by Islamic militants in Lahore and years of captivity under the Taliban in Afghanistan-a nightmare from which he miraculously emerged alive

Taliban's treatment of Afghan women may amount to gender apartheid: UN

An United Nations expert on Monday said the Taliban's treatment of Afghanistan's women and girls may amount to gender apartheid

Restrictions on women, girls should be removed in Afghanistan: UN

They demanded that the 9international community should closely monitor human rights violations in Afghanistan and pressurize the Taliban to alter their conduct

Pak-Afghan rift widens after Taliban minister trashes Durand line as border

New Delhi, June 19: The Taliban administration's Defence Minister Maulvi Muhammad Yaqub Mujahid has said that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, called the Durand Line, is merely a 'line'

Hundreds of Afghans languish in Albania in a prolonged US visa process

Almost two years since he fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban takeover, Firooz Mashoof is still haunted by the memory of his last day in Kabul the bus that took him to the airport, getting on a packed plane and taking off as gunfire echoed across the city. The last thing I saw were the mountains around Kabul and the dreary sunset as the Qatar Airways took off, he said. Today, thousands of miles from his homeland, the 35-year-old photojournalist and former employee of the Afghan soccer federation, is languishing in warm and sunny Albania. With each passing day, his anxiety grows over the delay in the promised US visa, casting a shadow on his dreams of a new beginning in America. For hundreds of others like him, it's an emotional roller coaster. Some try to find work and live with a semblance of normalcy but the concern and fear for families back home permeates their days even in welcoming Albania. They are hopeful, despite the prolonged bureaucracy, and look to a new life. In

Taliban seeks further aid from UN for Afghan people in different fields

Hanif while describing the humanitarian aid as vital but not enough, said that the United Nations should launch development projects in Afghanistan

UN in talks with Taliban over handover of education programmes, classes

As per UNICEF, it had received assurances from the Taliban's Education Ministry that its community-based classes, which educate 500,000 students, would continue while they discussed the matter