Page 13 - Taliban

UN urges Taliban govt to stop torture, protect rights of detainees

The United Nations said on Wednesday it has documented more than 1,600 cases of human rights violations committed by authorities in Afghanistan during arrests and detentions of people, and urged the Taliban government to stop torture and protect the rights of detainees. Nearly 50 per cent of the violations consisted of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said. The report by the mission's Human Rights Service covered 19 months from January 2022 until the end of July 2023 with cases documented across 29 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. It said 11 per cent of the cases involved women. It said the torture aimed at extracting confessions and other information included beatings, suffocation, suspension from the ceiling and electric shocks. Cases that were not considered sufficiently credible and reliable were not included in the report, it said. The Taliban have promised a more moderate rule than during their previous period

Afghanistan among countries with 'worst educational conditions': Report

Malik noted that education in Afghanistan has been damaged by the "state actors and armed non-state actors", adding that new barriers to education in Afghanistan are still challenging

Afghan drivers criticise fuel price hike, call on Taliban to pay attention

"A lot of northern oil used to be imported to Kabul, now that Salang highway is closed, the imports have decreased," said Shafiq a fuel seller

'Afghanistan headed to civil war with Taliban splitting into factions'

Two years after the US forces abruptly left Kabul, Afghanistan is headed towards a civil war, the Taliban is now riddled with factionalism, and the country is fast becoming a safe haven for foreign terrorists, a former Afghan commander has said. I believe that the situation in Afghanistan is very critical and dangerous and it's going in a dangerous direction, which could be a civil war again, or which could be a split to Afghanistan because you see that in last two years Afghanistan has been controlled by the terrorists and it has fallen into terrorist hands, Lt. Gen. Haibatullah Alizai, who was chief of staff for the army at the time the capital city of Kabul fell to Taliban in August 2021, told PTI in an interview. Alizai currently lives in the US and has recently launched an initiative to unite Afghans outside the country. Expressing his deep dissatisfaction over the current situation in Afghanistan, the former Afghan commander blames the Biden administration for abruptly leaving

US military equipment left in Afghanistan now in militant hands: Pak PM

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister claimed on Monday that US military equipment left behind during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan has fallen into militant hands and ultimately made its way to the Pakistani Taliban. The equipment which includes a wide variety of items, from night vision goggles to firearms is now emerging as a new challenge for Islamabad as it has enhanced the fighting capabilities of the Pakistani Taliban, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, have over the past months intensified attacks on Pakistan's security forces. They are a separate militant group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban. The Taliban overran Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the last weeks of their chaotic pullout from the country after 20 years of war. In the face of the Taliban sweep, the US-backed and trained Afghan military crumbled. There is no definite information on how much US equipme

840,000 Afghans who applied for US resettlement programme still waiting

More than 8,40,000 Afghans who applied for a resettlement programme aimed at people who helped the US war effort in Afghanistan are still there waiting, according to a report that lays out the challenges with a programme intended to help America's allies in the two-decade long conflict. The report released Thursday by the State Department's inspector general outlines steps the department took to improve processing of special immigrant visas for Afghans. But two years after the US pullout from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power, challenges remain. The visa programme was started in 2009 to help Afghans who worked side-by-side with Americans and faced significant risks for doing so. A similar programme exists for Iraqis. Both programmes have been plagued by criticism that cases move much too slowly, leaving applicants in dangerous limbo. And since the US left Afghanistan the number of people applying for the visas has skyrocketed. According to the report, there were a .

'Help us play again': Afghanistan's female cricketers plead with ICC

Just over two years ago, Firooza Amiri was an 18-year-old batter for the Afghanistan women's cricket team, ready to take on the world if given the chance. But just like that, her world and that of millions of others in her country changed forever. Forced to flee with her family when the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, Amiri and her family first traveled to Pakistan and then were evacuated to Australia, She still lives in Australia, along with most of her 25 teammates. Now, looking for their place in international competition, they are pleading with the International Cricket Council and the Afghanistan cricket authorities to give them a place to play, despite the Taliban's ban on women in sport and education. Yeah, unfortunately two weeks ago was the two-year anniversary of the Taliban and our BLACK DAY, Amiri said in a message to The Associated Press, accentuating two words in capital letters. Amiri and her family were from the oasis city of Herat, then the .

Taliban say they have signed mining contracts worth $6.5 bn in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban government said it signed seven mining contracts Thursday amounting to USD 6.5 billion in investment, in the biggest such round of deals since seizing power two years ago. The seven contracts are with locally based companies, many of whom have foreign partners in countries including China, Iran, and Turkiye. They include the extraction and processing of iron ore, lead, zinc and gold in four provinces: Herat, Ghor, Logar and Takhar. A statement on the contracts from Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund gave few details, but said they would create thousands of jobs and significantly improve the economic situation of the country. Any figures given for the deals could be misleading unless they lead to fully realized mining operations on the ground, which could take years, said Javed Noorani, an expert in Afghanistan's mining sector. The Taliban know Afghanistan has minerals and this is cash, but it's not easy cash, Noorani t

Over 200 fmr officials, security forces killed since Taliban takeover: UN

More than 200 extrajudicial killings of former Afghan government officials and security forces have taken place since the Taliban took over the country two years ago, according to a UN report released on Tuesday. The groups most targeted by the Taliban have been former army, police and intelligence forces, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. UNAMA documented at least 800 human rights violations against former Afghan government officials and security forces between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and the end of June 2023. The Taliban swept across Afghanistan as US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after two decades of war. The US-trained and backed Afghan forces crumbled in the face of the Taliban advance and former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Individuals were detained by the de facto (Taliban) security forces, often briefly, before being killed. Some were taken to detention

India supplied 47,500 MT of wheat to Afghanistan since Taliban's takeover

Besides sending wheat, India has also been consistently providing medical and food assistance using land routes bordering Pakistan and the Chabahar Port in Iran

Hamid Karzai urges Taliban to reopen schools, universities for girls

Karzai urged all to educate their children, including girls. He called on the Taliban to open schools for girls and promote nationwide education for true independence

Over 15 million people suffer from food insecurity in Afghanistan: Report

It further stated that 2.7 million people in Afghanistan are facing famine, reported TOLO News

Taliban believe their rule open-ended, ban on female education to continue

The Taliban view their rule of Afghanistan as open-ended, drawing legitimacy from Islamic law and facing no significant threat, their chief spokesman said in an interview marking the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of the country. He also indicated a ban on female education will remain in place. Zabihullah Mujahid brushed aside any questions from The Associated Press about restrictions on girls and women, saying the status quo will remain. The ban on girls attending school beyond sixth grade was the first of what became a flurry of restrictions that now keep Afghan women from classrooms, most jobs and much of public life. The Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021, as US and NATO forces withdrew from the country after two decades of war. To mark the anniversary, Tuesday was declared a public holiday. Women, largely barred from public life, didn't take part in the festivities. In the southern city of Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban, military personnel

Amid Afghanistan-Iran water dispute, Taliban prepares suicide bombers

After two decades fighting the US, Taliban leaders now find themselves sparring with neighbors as the realities of global warming hit home

Amid humanitarian crisis, UN to cut aid to 21 million in Afghanistan

The 3.2 billion US dollar plea to aid almost half of the Afghan population has received less than 25 per cent of its funding more than halfway through the year

UN official criticizes ban on women's education in Afghanistan by Taliban

Garnier in a press conference said the UN and the international community's pressure on Taliban is "critical" owing to the country's restrictions on girls' education

Taliban-run Afghanistan calls for removal of sanctions in meeting with US

Taliban-appointed acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Muttaqi on Saturday left Kabul for Qatar to meet with US special envoy for Afghanistan

Taliban bans beauty salons in Afghanistan despite UN concern, protests

The Taliban announced Tuesday that all beauty salons in Afghanistan must now close as a one-month deadline ended, despite rare public opposition to the edict. Sadiq Akif Mahjer, spokesman for the Taliban-run Virtue and Vice Ministry, did not say whether it would use force against salons that do not comply. 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. The Taliban said it decided to ban beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam and caused economic hardship for the families of grooms during wedding festivities. Its earlier announcement of a one-month deadline for salons to wind down their businesses led to a rare public protest in which dozens of beauticians and makeup artists gathered in Kabul, the capital. Security forces used fire hoses and tasers and shot their guns into the air to break up the protest. The ban also drew concern from

Beauty salons banned for neglect of guidelines: Afghanistan's ministry

Following ban on women's beauty salons in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue said they were banned because they neglected to bring into effect the guidelines provided by the ministry

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 ...