Page 10 - Taliban

UN agency warns of Afghans dying in winter if they don't get proper shelter

The UN refugee agency has warned that Afghans could die in harsh winter conditions if they don't get adequate shelter once they cross the border from Pakistan. Almost half a million Afghans have left Pakistan since early October, when the Islamabad government announced it would arrest and deport foreigners it said were in the country illegally. The overwhelming majority of them are from neighboring Afghanistan, though Islamabad insists the policy doesn't target a specific nationality. The forced returns are piling pressure on Afghanistan and aid agencies, which are providing the bulk of essential services like health care. Freezing temperatures are setting in and conditions at the border remain dire. Many Afghan returnees are vulnerable, including women and children, who could lose their lives in a harsh winter if left without adequate shelter, the U.N. refugee agency said in a report published Friday. People arriving at the border are exhausted and require urgent assistance as well

Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan: UN

The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the UN mission in the country said on Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation. The UN mission, highlighting the Taliban's failures in upholding rights' obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees' rights. People who speak out in defense of human rights face arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said. We pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders, many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental tenet

Taliban's education policies harm boys as well as girls in Afghanistan: Rpt

The Taliban's abusive educational policies are harming boys as well as girls in Afghanistan, according to a Human Rights Watch report published Wednesday. The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from secondary school and university, but the rights group says there has been less attention to the deep harm inflicted on boys' education. The departure of qualified teachers including women, regressive curriculum changes and the increase in corporal punishment have led to greater fear of going to school and falling attendance. Because the Taliban have dismissed all female teachers from boys' schools, many boys are taught by unqualified people or sit in classrooms with no teachers at all. Boys and parents told the rights group about a spike in the use of corporal punishment, including officials beating boys before the whole school for haircut or clothing infractions or for having a mobile phone. The group interviewed 22 boys along with five parents in Kabul, .

Malala urges world to confront Taliban's 'gender apartheid' against women

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has said that the world needs to recognize and confront the gender apartheid against women and girls imposed by the Taliban since they seized power in Afghanistan more than two years ago. She urged the international community on Tuesday to take collective and urgent action to end the dark days in Afghanistan. Yousafzai was awarded the peace prize in 2014 at the age of 17 for her fight for girls' education in her home country, Pakistan. She is the youngest Nobel laureate. Two years earlier, she survived an assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban a separate militant group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban when she was shot in the head on a bus after school. The 26-year-old activist spoke to The Associated Press after delivering the annual Nelson Mandela lecture in Johannesburg on the 10th anniversary of the death of South Africa's anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate. Yousafzai is also the youngest person to give the lecture, .

China formally accords diplomatic recognition to Afghanistan's Taliban govt

China has become the first country to confer diplomatic status to a Taliban-nominated official as Afghanistan's Ambassador to Beijing, thereby formally recognising the Taliban-run administration as a legitimate government in Kabul. As a long-standing friendly neighbour of Afghanistan, China believes that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing on Tuesday when asked whether China recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Earlier reports from Kabul said China has given Bilal Karimi, a Taliban nominee the status of Ambassador and he has submitted his credentials to the foreign ministry here. China along with Pakistan and Russia maintained its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of American troops from the war-ravaged country. While maintaining close contact with the Taliban interim administration,

Afghanistan to open embassy in India, highlights commitment to boost ties

"In this regard, Afghanistan is pleased to announce its intention to open an Afghan embassy in India," the Afghan Embassy in India posted on X

Afghan embassy in New Delhi will be functional in few days: Taliban govt

The Afghan embassy in New Delhi will resume operations in the next few days, Deputy Foreign Minister in the Taliban set up, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, has said. Stanikzai told Afghan broadcaster RTA that officials at the Afghan consulates in Hyderabad and Mumbai have visited the embassy following instruction from Kabul. The Taliban leader said Afghanistan wants good relations with the neighbouring countries. His comments about resuming operations at the Afghan embassy came days after the mission under the control of Ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its permanent closure, citing "persistent challenges from the Indian government". Mamundzay, appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul, has been out of India for the last few months. On Friday, the embassy announced its permanent closure. The diplomats at the embassy appointed by the previous government had announced on September 30 too that the mission is ceasing its operations from October 1, alleging a "lack

Pakistan carried out 'widespread abuses' against Afghan refugees: Report

"Pakistani officials have created a coercive environment for Afghans to force them to return to life-threatening conditions in Afghanistan," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch

2 killed, 10 injured in suicide blast targeting security forces in Pakistan

At least one person was killed and 21, including 13 security personnel, injured in a suicide bombing by a TTP-splinter group targeting a security forces convoy in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. An explosives-laden tri-wheeler hit the security forces convoy on its way to Bannu from the North Waziristan district near the Azad Mandi in Bannu Cantonment on Sunday, police said. The bombing killed a pedestrian and injured 13 security personnel and eight civilians. Those injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital, Bannu. The condition of three security personnel is stated to be critical, according to the police. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing. This comes after Pakistan's security forces killed eight terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the province on Sunday, according to the military's media wing.

Turkey delivers 500 tonne aid for Herat earthquake victims in Afghanistan

The provided assistance includes essential items such as food, clothing, spices, hygiene products, blankets, and tents, Khaama Press reported

Afghanistan embassy announces closure in New Delhi, issues statement

Despite "limitations in resources and power", the Afghan embassy said it has worked "tirelessly for their betterment and in the absence of a legitimate government in Kabul"

Online violence against Afghan women surged this year due to curbs: Report

The London-based Afghan Witness Organisation published the results of their most recent study on the rise in online violence against campaigners for women's rights on Monday

Over 4 ,00,000 Afghans return home from Pak following crackdown on migrants

More than 400,000 Afghans returned to their home country following the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners in the country, Pakistani authorities said Monday. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, confirmed the number and told The Associated Press that the majority have been using the border crossings of Torkham and Spin Boldak to return home. An estimated 1.7 million Afghans had been living in Pakistan when authorities announced its nationwide crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or else get arrested. However, Pakistani officials said the other 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees need not worry as only people without proper documentation were sought after. In the 1980s, millions of Afghans fled to neighboring Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers witnessed a spike after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan also introduced

Taliban min attends meet in Pak despite tensions over expulsions of Afghans

A Cabinet minister from Afghanistan's Taliban-led government attended a trade meeting in Pakistan despite tensions over the expulsion of Afghans living in the country illegally, officials said Wednesday. Around 300,000 Afghans have returned home since last month, when Pakistan launched a nationwide crackdown on undocumented foreigners. The crackdown mainly affects about 1.7 million Afghans who fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of their country and after the Taliban takeover in 2021. The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan has denounced the crackdown. However, this week the Taliban government sent Commerce and Industry Minister Nooruddin Azizi to Islamabad for a meeting of commerce and trade ministers from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Aziz met separately with Pakistani officials to discuss trade issues and the expulsion of Afghans. In a statement on X, previously known as Twitter, the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said the three sides agreed to expand trade, .

Nearly 400,000 refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pak in past two months

The Afghan nationals, who are currently detained in Pakistan, raised concerns about their situation. Afghan nationals said that they are facing severe challenges, TOLO News reported

Over 3,000 migrants return to Afghanistan from Turkey in last 20 days

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has provided monetary support to 3,083 of these persons, with a total aid of 36,996,000 Afghanis, reported Khaama Press

Satisfaction level of Afghan women for freedom lowest in world: Survey

As per the Gallup survey, 17 per cent of women in Afghanistan said that they are treated with respect. The survey also stated that women in Afghanistan live in suffering

Taliban criticises Pak's decision to deport Afghan immigrants from country

Kharoti, in an interview with TOLO News, added that Pakistan should treat Afghan immigrants responsibly and allow them to return to the country of their own volition

Pak decides not to back Taliban after it fails to rein in TTP group: Report

In a major policy shift, Pakistan has decided not to support the Afghan Taliban's case at the international level or extend any other assistance following Kabul's failure to neutralise the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group, according to a media report on Thursday. At the same time, Islamabad will no longer extend any special privileges to the interim Afghan Taliban government in a move that suggests a deterioration in relations between the two neighbours, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban and is also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan. Pakistan had hoped that the Afghan Taliban after coming to power would stop the use of their soil against Pakistan by expelling the TTP operatives, but they have apparently refused to do so at the cost of straining ties with ...

Terror cases in Pak up 60% since Taliban took over Afghanistan: PM Kakar

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said on Wednesday that terror attacks in Pakistan rose 60 per cent and suicide bombings by 500 per cent after the Taliban came to power in neighbouring Afghanistan, lamenting at Kabul's failure to stop the use of its soil for terrorism. The hardline Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 bringing to an end the government in Kabul when the army, trained and equipped by the US and allies, melted away with a speed that surprised even the rebels. "After the establishment of the interim Afghan government in August 2021, we had a strong hope that there would be long-term peace in Afghanistan. [] Strict action would be taken against Pakistan-opposing groups, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and they would absolutely not be allowed to use Afghan soil against Pakistan," Kakar said at a press conference in Islamabad. "But unfortunately, after the establishment of the interim Afghan govt, there has been a 60 per cent ...