Page 15 - Taliban

Taliban appoints new Afghan ambassador, MEA says no formal notice received

There are also concerns about how India would react if a Taliban-approved dispensation at the Afghan Embassy in Delhi were to act against Afghans in India

Afghanistan facing catastrophic food crisis, says World Bank report

Afghanistan is among one of the seven countries which face a catastrophic level of food crisis, the World Bank highlighted in its report, Khaama Press reported

Taliban asks Pakistan to observe tolerance in Ex- PM Imran Khan case

Taliban government has expressed its dismay at civil war-like situation in Pakistan. The two Islamic nations share a 2,640-km long boundary

China pulls off its Afghan investment gambit after a delayed start

China is ready to help Afghanistan realise self-reliance, peace, stability, development and prosperity at an early date, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang

UN report urges Afghanistan's Taliban to end floggings, executions

A UN report on Monday strongly criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions, lashings and stonings since seizing power in Afghanistan, and called on the country's rulers to halt such practices. In the past six months alone, 274 men, 58 women and two boys were publicly flogged in Afghanistan, according to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA. Corporal punishment is a violation of the Convention against Torture and must cease, said Fiona Frazer, the agency's human rights chief. She also called for an immediate moratorium on executions. The Taliban foreign ministry said in response that Afghanistan's laws are determined in accordance with Islamic rules and guidelines, and that an overwhelming majority of Afghans follow those rules. In the event of a conflict between international human rights law and Islamic law, the government is obliged to follow the Islamic law, the ministry said in a statement. The Taliban began carrying out such

China's Belt and Road initiative to enter Afghanistan in Taliban victory

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met in Islamabad on Saturday and pledged to work together on Afghanistan's reconstruction process

UN assistance mission repeats commitment to stay in Afghanistan amid crisis

As the humanitarian crisis continues to persist in war-torn Afghanistan under Taliban rule, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has reaffirmed its commitment to stay TOLOnews reported

Expects Taliban to fulfil promise of inclusive government: Russian Minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said they expect "Taliban leaders" to fulfil their promises of forming an inclusive government

UN experts warn Taliban restrictions on women may amount to femicide

Taliban restrictions on Afghan women and girls may amount to femicide if they are not reversed, a team of U.N. experts warned on Friday. Since they seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have barred women from most jobs and workplaces, and girls can't go to school beyond the sixth grade. Woman are also banned from public spaces and must cover themselves from head to toe outside the home. In a statement released Friday, the U.N. experts accused Afghanistan's Taliban authorities of the "most extreme forms of misogyny" and said there could be multiple preventable deaths that may amount to femicide if the restrictions are not reversed. The restrictive measures and bans imposed by the Taliban have caused international condemnation and outrage, but the Taliban have shown no sign of willingness to lift them. The U.N. experts also said the Taliban are imposing their interpretation of Islam, which appear not to be shared by the vast majority of Afghans. They expressed alarm

Security Council unanimously slams Taliban ban on UN women workers

Ahead of an international meeting convened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on dealing with the Taliban, the UNSC in a rare show of unanimity has voted unanimously to condemn Taliban

Watchdog for US aid to Afghanistan warns money could be flowing to Taliban

The watchdog for US assistance to Afghanistan warned lawmakers Wednesday that American aid to the country could be diverted to the Taliban as he accused the Biden administration of stonewalling his efforts to investigate. Unfortunately, as I sit here today I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer, we are not currently funding the Taliban, John Sopko, the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction, testified to the House Oversight Committee. Nor can I assure you that the Taliban are not diverting the money we are sending for the intended recipients, which are the poor Afghan people. The stunning disclosure by Sopko comes as House Republicans are using the power of their new majority to hold the Biden administration accountable over its handling of the chaotic US withdrawal in August 2021. It also comes a week after the White House publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the so-called hotwash of US policies around the ending of the nation's longest .

Ready to leave Afghanistan if can't convince Taliban to let women work: UN

The UN has said it is ready to withdraw from Afghanistan in May if it cannot convince the Taliban to permit local women to work for the organization, the head of the UN Development Program said

Taliban bans video games, music, foreign films in Afghanistan's Herat

Earlier this month, also in Herat, the Taliban closed restaurant gardens for women and families

No obstacles for United Nations to function in Afghanistan: Taliban

The Taliban's chief spokesman said on Wednesday there are no obstacles for the UN to function in Afghanistan, after they barred Afghan women from working at the global body. Last week, the country's Taliban rulers took a step further in the restrictive measures they have imposed on women and said that female Afghan staffers employed with the UN mission can no longer report for work. The ban is being actively enforced by the country's intelligence agency, which reports to the Taliban's leadership in Kandahar. The UN says it cannot accept the decision, calling it unlawful and an unparalleled violation of women's rights. It says women are crucial for the delivery of life-saving aid to millions of Afghans, and has instructed its national staff, male and female, to stay at home. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban-led government's chief spokesman and part of the supreme leader's inner circle, denied authorities were to blame for Afghanistan's many crises. The decision to bar Afghan women f

Taliban bans women from entering restaurants with gardens in Herat

The Taliban on Monday barred entry of families and women into restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Herat province, Afghanistan, reported Fox News.The decision came after religious clerics complained of mixing genders in such places. Afghan officials said that the curbs have been brought in place because of gender mixing or because women allegedly are not wearing the hijab. So far, the ban is applicable to restaurants with green spaces in the Herat province only.The outdoor dining ban only applies to establishments in Herat, where such premises remain open to men. Baz Mohammad Nazir, a deputy official from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue's directorate in Herat, denied media reports that all restaurants were off limits to families and women, dismissing them as propaganda, reported Fox News.He said it applied only to restaurants with green areas, such as a park, where men and women could meet. "After repeated complaints from scholars and ordinary people, we set limits and closed ..

Taliban ban restaurant gardens for families, women in Herat, says official

The Taliban have banned families and women from restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Afghanistan's northwestern Herat province, an official said Monday. The moves followed complaints from religious scholars and members of the public about mixing of genders in such places, he said. It was the latest in a slew of restrictions imposed by the Taliban since they took power in August 2021. They have shut girls out of classrooms beyond sixth grade and women from universities, most types of employment, including jobs at the United Nations. They are also banned from public spaces such as parks and gyms. Authorities say the curbs are in place because of gender mixing or because women allegedly are not wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, correctly. The outdoor dining ban only applies to establishments in Herat, where such premises remain open to men. Baz Mohammad Nazir, a deputy official from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue's directorate in Herat, denied media reports that all .

Biden review blames Trump for 'chaotic' 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal

A U.S. review led by the National Security Council of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan largely lays the blame on former President Donald Trump, saying President Joe Biden was severely constrained" by the decisions of his predecessor. The White House on Thursday publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the so-called hotwash of U.S. policies around the ending of the nation's longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions during some of the darkest moments of Biden's presidency. The administration said most of the after-action reviews, which were transmitted privately to Congress on Thursday, were highly classified and would not be released publicly. President Biden's choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor, the White House summary states, noting that when Biden entered office, the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been

UN Women chief Sima Bahous condemns Taliban ban on its female Afghan staff

"We will not replace our female workforce with men," she added

Taliban bans Afghan female employees of UN from work in eastern province

Female Afghan employees of the United Nations have been banned from working by Taliban authorities in eastern Afghanistan, UN officials said on Tuesday. The UN mission expressed serious concern after its female staffers were prevented from reporting to work in Nangarhar province. We remind de facto authorities that United Nations entities cannot operate and deliver life-saving assistance without female staff, the world body said in a tweet. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment and it wasn't immediately clear whether the ban extended beyond Nangarhar province. Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during its previous stint in power, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing power in 2021 as US and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan after two decades of war. Girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade and women are barred from working, studying, travelling without a male companion, and even going to parks. Women mus

Taliban terrorist attack in Pakistan kills 4 policemen, injures 6

Taliban terrorists opened fire at a vehicle ferrying security forces in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least four policemen, including an officer, and wounding six others. The terrorists attacked the police mobile van in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The vehicle was on its way to the Saddar police station when it came under the attack, police said. Four policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), were killed and six others were injured in the attack, they said, adding that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Lakki Marwat police spokesperson said the attack was launched in the early hours of Thursday, resulting in an exchange of fire between the police and the terrorists. During the gunfight, six policemen were injured, he said. A police statement said that the militants were equipped with advanced and heavy weaponry, the Dawn newspaper reported. The police were on alert a