Page 11 - Taliban

Afghan farmers lose income of more than $1 bn after Taliban banned poppy

Afghan farmers have lost income of more than USD 1 billion from opium sales after the Taliban outlawed poppy cultivation, according to a report from the UN drugs agency published on Sunday. Afghanistan was the world's biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. They pledged to wipe out the country's drug cultivation industry and imposed a formal ban in April 2022, dealing a heavy blow to hundreds of thousands of farmers and day labourers who relied on proceeds from the crop to survive. Opium cultivation crashed by 95 per cent after the ban, the report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said. Until 2023, the value of Afghanistan's opiate exports frequently outstripped the value of its legal exports. UN officials said the strong contraction of the opium economy is expected to have far-reaching consequences for the country as opiate exports before the ban accounted for between 9-14 per cent of the national .

Afghan PM appeals Pakistan to not 'expel Afghans in an undignified manner'

"If their (Pakistan) reason is to expel undocumented migrants only, then why are they humiliating the refugees, stealing their property, and destroying their houses?" he added

Pakistan's Mianwali Training Air Base attacked; 3 gunmen killed in response

According to reports, the Islamist terror group Tehreek-e-Jihad has taken responsibility for the attack on the Mianwali Air Force base

Taliban asks nations hosting Afghan refugees not to forcefully deport them

The Taliban spokesperson said Afghans have been forced to migrate to various countries due to the wars over the past 45 years in Afghanistan

UN, int'l community urged to condemn, halt Pakistan deportation of Afghans

The United States, the United Nations and the international community have urged by an Indian diaspora body to condemn and halt deportation of over a million Afghans from Pakistan, and appealed to the IMF to stop its financial aid to Islamabad. Condemning Pakistan's decision in this regard, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) said this is illegal and the international norms. "The Islamic Republic of Pakistan's planned forced deportation of Afghan refugees, who had fled under duress from the brutal Taliban rule, is not only illegal under international law but could also trigger a massive humanitarian crisis," said Khanderao Kand, chief of policy and strategy at FIIDS. "It was always known since the times of Osama Bin Laden that Pakistan worked very closely with the Taliban as it's proxy to have a grip over Afghanistan. Now Pakistan seems frustrated at its weakening control over the Taliban, he said. FIIDS said that Pak is trying to do the exact things to Afg

Pakistan shuts Afghan schools as deadline for deportation approaches

The Pakistani government initiated an extensive crackdown on the estimated 1.7 million Afghans residing in the country without legal status, leaving them until October 31 to leave or face mass arrests

Over 8,000 Afghan refugees forced to return from Pak as deadline nears

The Taliban-led Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation of Afghanistan on Saturday announced that approximately 7,910 Afghan migrants have returned to their country from Pakistan

More than 5,000 Afghan migrants have returned from Pakistan, Iran: Taliban

According to the Taliban-appointed border official in Islam Qala Herat, among these migrants, 3591 people, including families have arrived in China, forcibly and voluntarily

Taliban benefiting from international aid via fraudulent NGOs: US watchdog

The watchdog for US assistance to Afghanistan has warned that the Taliban are benefiting from international aid through the establishment of fraudulent nongovernmental organisations. The Taliban have exerted greater control over national and international NGOs since seizing power in August 2021. They have barred Afghan women from NGO work and sought to push out foreign organisations from the education sector. A report from the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, found that the Taliban benefit from American-funded education programming through the generation of tax revenues and from more nefarious methods like the establishment of fraudulent NGOs and extorting and infiltrating existing NGOs to obtain or direct international donor aid. Taliban spokesmen weren't immediately available for comment on Monday. In May, a SIGAR report highlighted the Taliban's interference with NGO work in Afghanistan. The economy ministry, which supervises the sector, ..

Explosion rocks Takhar province in Afghanistan, investigation underway

Additionally, domestic media outlets have reported hearing ambulances in the area, although more details are awaited about the explosion

Afghanistan: 7 killed, 15 injured in suicide attack at mosque in Baghlan

Reports have claimed that Taliban members arrived at the spot following the explosion

Over 90% of people killed by Afghanistan quake were women and children: UN

More than 90 per cent of the people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday. Taliban officials said Saturday's earthquake killed more than 2,000 people of all ages and genders across Herat province. The epicentre was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to U.N. figures. Women and children were more likely to have been at home when the quake struck in the morning, said Siddig Ibrahim, the chief of the UNICEF field office in Herat. When the first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion, and they ran into their homes, he said. Hundreds of people, mostly women, remain missing in Zenda Jan. The Afghanistan representative for the United Nations Population Fund, Jaime Nadal, said there would have been no gender dimension to the death toll if the quake had happened at night. At that time of the day, men were out in the

EU Parliament condemns 'gender apartheid policy' of Taliban in Afghanistan

They also condemned the increase in human rights violations in Afghanistan, particularly arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture by former security forces

Unjust, unfair: Taliban on Pakistan's decision to expel Afghan refugees

The Taliban's acting minister urged the Pakistani people and clerics to stop such "violent" actions against Afghan refugees in the country

Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy: White House

The Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy, the White House has said. We've not recognised them as a governing power in Afghanistan. They want that. They want legitimacy. Then they need to meet their commitments, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday. I mean, how can you effectively govern, how can you effectively have a useful economy when basically half your workforce, all women, are prohibited from being a part of that process? So, we're going to keep holding them accountable for their commitments, he said in response to a question. Asked if this means that the US will not have any conversation with the Taliban, he replied, Of course not. We're still working to try to get our allies and partners in Afghanistan out. That takes conversation. It takes dialogue. But it's important to the United States to keep meeting our word to the people who hel

Afghanistan has shut its embassy in India from October 1; here's why

The Afghan embassy has cited 'lack of support from the host government' to effectively carry out its duties as a reason for the suspension of all operations, barring emergency consular services

C5+ Germany meeting highlights need for inclusive govt in Afghanistan

"The cabinet of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is comprised of all tribes and representatives and the rights of all citizens including women have been ensured in the country," Mujahid said

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Decision to shut down Afghan embassy not because of India: Former envoy

Underlining the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, Bhaswati Mukherjee noted that the decision was triggered by internal Afghan politics

Global acceptance of Taliban depends on respecting women's rights: US Envoy

According to Amiri, officials delivered a clear message: The Taliban must respect Afghan and women's rights to be part of the international community, according to Khaama Press