Page 32 - Afghanistan

Political turmoil in Afghanistan, Myanmar impacting Indian projects: MEA

India-backed projects have suffered setbacks in Afghanistan and faced numerous challenges in Myanmar due to the current political and security situations in these countries, the Ministry of External Affairs has informed a parliamentary panel. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs chaired by BJP MP P P Chaudhary noted that there has been a reduction in allocation in aid to Afghanistan. In an action taken report tabled in Parliament last week, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has noted the parliamentary panel's observations and will work towards addressing them. India's development partnership with Afghanistan includes more than 500 projects spread across each of its 34 provinces and in various sectors. "Several proposals in this regard are already under process. Due to the political and security situation in Afghanistan, projects implementation has suffered setbacks," the ministry said in the report. Responding to the parliamentary committee's observation

UN Rights chief urges Taliban to drop work restriction on Afghan women

The United Nations' human rights chief on Tuesday decried increasing restrictions on women's rights in Afghanistan, urging the country's Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately. He pointed to terrible consequences of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organisations. Last week, Taliban authorities stopped university education for women, sparking international outrage and demonstrations in Afghan cities. On Saturday, they announced the exclusion of women from NGO work, a move that already has prompted four major international aid agencies to suspend operations in Afghanistan. No country can develop indeed survive socially and economically with half its population excluded," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk said in a statement issued in Geneva. "These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but, I fear, pose a risk beyond Afghanistan's borders. This latest decree by the de f

Devastating for Afghan people: Blinken on Taliban banning women from NGOs

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced grave concerns over the Taliban regime's decisions to ban women from jobs in Afghanistan.Taking to Twitter, Blinken posted, "This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people. Women are central to humanitarian operations around the world."The Ministry of Economy under the caretaker Taligan regime on Saturday ordered all national and international non-government organisations to suspend the jobs of women employees until further notice, Afghan news agency TOLO News reported.Citing the spokesperson for the Taliban, Abdul Rahman Habib, TOLOnews said Afghanistan's Ministry of Economy (MOE) warned that any organisation, which does not implement the order, will lose the MoE licence.US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, in response to the temporary job ban on women, said the Islamic Emirate (the caretake Taliban regime in Afghanistan) has forgotten its real responsibilities to its people."The Taliban's decree barring women ..

EU condemns Taliban's ban on women working for NGOs over dress code issue

The European Union condemned the Taliban's ban on women working for NGOs and said that it was assessing the impact of its aid in Afghanistan

Military bases had $260 million in damages from Afghan evacuation

Military bases that housed tens of thousands of Afghan refugees in the US incurred almost USD 260 million in damages that in some cases rendered buildings unusable for troops until significant repairs to walls and plumbing are made, the Pentagon's inspector general found. Over the last two weeks of August 2021, the US Air Force managed the largest humanitarian evacuation in its history, airlifting 120,000 people from Afghanistan in just 17 days. The bulk of those passengers were Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, and US aircraft delivered tens of thousands of those Afghans initially to bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Italy, Bahrain and Germany. After processing, many of the refugees were flown to eight military bases in the US, where many were housed for months as they awaited visa processing and resettlement; the last Afghan refugee left military housing in February. The refugees were housed at Fort Bliss, Texas; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey; Fort McCoy

Blinken raises concerns over China's Covid surge, Taliban and Ukraine war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concern over the surging Covid cases in China, the Taliban banning women from universities and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war

UN calls for restoration of university rights for Afghanistan women

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous has called for the restoration of Afghan women's right to higher education after the Taliban-run administration banned female students from university

India 'closely monitoring' security situation in Afghanistan, UNSC told

'We are deeply concerned at the unfolding humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. In response to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people'

US condemns Taliban's restrictions on women's education in Afghanistan

The United States has condemned the recent decision of the Taliban with regard to imposing restrictions on education of women in Afghanistan. The United States condemns the Taliban's indefensible decision to prevent Afghan women from receiving a university-level education, White House NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Tuesday. This deplorable decision is the latest effort by Taliban leadership to impose additional restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan and prevent them from exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, he said. As a result of this unacceptable stance to hold back half of the population of Afghanistan, the Taliban will be further alienated from the international community and denied the legitimacy they desire, Watson said. The United States is in touch with our partners and allies on this issue. We will continue to take steps to advance our shared efforts to support Afghan women and girls and provide robust humanitarian support to the people

India discusses opium poppy cultivation, Taliban-Al-Qaida relations at UNSC

India on Tuesday (local time) raised concerns over Opium poppy cultivation, Taliban-Al-Qaida relations and erosion of human rights at a United Nations Security Council briefing on Afghanistan

Taliban bar women from university education in Afghanistan despite promises

Female students have been banned from private and public universities in Afghanistan effective immediately and until further notice, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday in the latest edict cracking down on women's rights and freedoms. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women's and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. The Taliban were ousted in 2001 by a U.S.-led coalition for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and returned to power after America's chaotic departure last year. The decision was announced after a government meeting. A letter shared by the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashmi, told private and public universities to implement the ban

Death toll of oil tanker blast mounts to 19 in Afghanistan, says official

The death toll from an oil tanker blast in a tunnel in Afghanistan's eastern Parwan province reached 19, Deputy to Provincial Health Directorate Abdullah Afghanmal said

UNGA postpones decision on Afghanistan and Myanmar assembly seats

The UN General Assembly has postponed the decision on whether representatives of the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and Myanmar's military junta can take their countries' seats in the 193-member world body. The UN Credentials Committee had before it two communications concerning the representation of Afghanistan at the 77th session of the general assembly, indicating different individuals as representatives to the current session. The first was dated September 6 this year from the Charge d'affaires of Afghanistan to the United Nations in New York. The second was dated September 17 in 2022 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. The committee also had before it two communications concerning the representation of Myanmar at the 77th session of the General Assembly, indicating different individuals as representatives to the 77th session of the assembly. The first was dated August 19 in 2022 from the Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations in New York

China urges citizens to leave Afghanistan post attack on Chinese hotel

China on Tuesday advised its citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country "as soon as possible", following a coordinated attack by Islamic State militants the previous day on a Chinese-owned hotel in the heart of Kabul. The Chinese advisory appeared to be a setback for Afghanistan's Taliban rulers who seek foreign investments in hopes of halting the downward spiral of the Afghan economy since their takeover of the country more than a year ago. The militant Islamic State group - a key rival of the Taliban - claimed responsibility for the attack Monday afternoon on Kabul Longan Hotel, which left three assailants dead and at least two hotel guests injured as they tried to escape by jumping out of a window. Plumes of smoke rose from the 10-story building in the central Shar-e Naw neighbourhood, according to images posted on social media as the attack unfolded. Residents reported explosions and gunfire. Taliban forces rushed to the area and blocked all roads leading to the site. Khalid

79% households in Afghanistan suffer water shortage, shows survey

Drought and a scarcity of water have become a new difficulty for ordinary people to contend with in these challenging economic times

6 killed, 17 injured in Pakistan's Balochistan as Afghan forces open fire

At least six Pakistani nationals were killed and 17 others injured on Sunday when Afghan border troops resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate fire across the border into Balochistan's Chaman district, the army said. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, heavy weapons including artillery and mortars were used in the firing by Afghan forces. The Afghan Border Forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery and mortar onto the civilian population, it said in a statement. Six Pakistani civilians were killed and 17 others injured in the firing, it said. The injured have been shifted to a local hospital, and the police have cordoned off the area, according to Samaa TV. Pakistan's border forces have responded through retaliatory firing, the statement said. The Pakistan government has approached Afghan authorities in Kabul to highlight the severity of the situation and demanded strict action to av

Afghan girls allowed to take high school graduation exams, says Taliban

Afghan girls will be allowed to take their high school graduation exams this week, an official and documents from the Taliban government indicated Tuesday even though they have been banned from classrooms since the former insurgents took over the country last year. According to two documents from the Taliban ministry of education, obtained by The Associated Press, the decision applies to 31 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces where the winter school break starts in late December. Ehsanullah Kitab, head of the Kabul education department, said the exams would take place on Wednesday. He provided no other details and it was not clear how many teenage girls would be able to take the exam. One of the documents, from the Kabul education department, said the exams would last from 10 am to 1 pm. A second document, signed by Habibullah Agha, the education minister who took office in September, said the tests would be held in 31 Afghan provinces. The three excluded provinces Kandahar, Helmand

Roadside bomb kills 6 people in north Afghanistan, says Taliban official

A roadside bomb went off near a bus with government employees during rush hour on Tuesday morning in northern Afghanistan, killing six people, a Taliban official said. Mohammad Asif Waziri, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the police chief in Balkh province, said the bombing in Mazar-e Sharif, the provincial capital, also wounded seven people. The bomb was placed inside a cart by the side of the road and detonated when a bus belonging to the Hiaratan gas and petroleum department was taking employees to work. Separately, at least six people were wounded when a bomb exploded at the money exchange market in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, according to Abdul Basir Zabuli, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the provincial police chief. Zabuli said the bomb was planted near the market and that the wounded were in stable condition, according to a hospital report. An investigation was underway, he added. No one claimed responsibility for the bombings i

6 killed as roadside bomb goes off in North Afghanistan: Taliban official

A roadside bomb went off near a bus with government employees during rush hour on Tuesday morning in northern Afghanistan, killing six people, a Taliban official said. Mohammad Asif Waziri, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the police chief in Balkh province, said the bombing in Mazar-e Sharif, the provincial capital, also wounded seven people. The bomb was placed inside a cart by the side of the road and detonated when a bus belonging to the Hiaratan gas and petroleum department was taking employees to work. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province and a rival of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has increased its attacks since Taliban takeover in 2021. Images posted on social media from the scene show a damaged bus and another vehicle, along with several carts and fruit stalls lying scattered by the roadside following the explosion. The bus was later towed away.

Terrorist networks in Afghanistan a matter of concern: NSA Ajit Doval

India's National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval in a conference termed the existence of terrorist networks in Afghanistan as a matter of concern