Page 18 - Taliban

25 militants killed in Pak army raid on detention centre; one hostage dies

After talks failed to resolve a two-day standoff, army commandos stormed the centre on Tuesday. Ten soldiers, including three officers, were also wounded

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

2 killed as Pak Taliban militants take hostages at counter-terrorism centre

At least two policemen were killed when Pakistani Taliban militants dramatically seized a counter-terrorism centre and took some people as hostages in Pakistan's troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, prompting authorities to put the Army's special forces on alert on Monday as they initiated negotiations with the terrorists. The standoff began on Sunday when an arrested militant who was being interrogated at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station inside the Bannu Cantonment snatched an AK-47 from the police and opened fire. He then freed other suspects being held at the building and they took control of the compound. They also took several policemen hostage. The situation is still tense 21 hours after the incident as a military operation is going on, officials said. Two policemen were killed in the incident, sources said. Several others were reported injured. Akram Khan Durrani, a former chief minister of the province, and sitting provincial minister Malik Shah Muham

One killed as Taliban militants take hostages in northwest Pakistan

At least one policeman was killed and many others were injured when Pakistani Taliban militants seized a counter-terrorism centre and took some people hostage in the Bannu district of Pakistan's troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. One of the militants, who had been arrested and being interrogated at Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station inside the cantonment, on Sunday snatched an AK-47 from the police and opened fire. He then freed other suspects being held at the building who took control of the compound. They also took several policemen hostage. The situation is still tense 17 hours after the incident as a military operation is going on. The body of one policeman killed in the shooting has been shifted to a local hospital in Bannu. Akram Khan Durrani, a former chief minister of the province, and sitting provincial minister Malik Shah Muhammad have reached Bannu to initiate talks with the militants. Both Durrani and Muhammad hail from Bannu. Militants have demand

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

Kabul hotel frequented by Chinese attacked; three gunmen killed

Two foreigners were injured while trying to escape by jumping from the hotel balcony, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter

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.

Al-Qaeda India, Tehrik-e Taliban Pak leaders get global terrorists tag

'Biden administration is committed to ensuring that terrorist groups do not use Afghanistan as a platform for international terrorism'

10 killed in bombing of religious school in north Afghanistan: Taliban

A Taliban official says at least 10 students were killed Wednesday when a bomb blast hit a religious school in northern Afghanistan. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor says several others were wounded in the blast at the madrassa in Aybak, capital of the northern Samangan province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group has been waging a campaign of violence that escalated since the Taliban took power in August 2021. IS has carried out bombings targeting in particular Afghanistan's Shiite Muslim minority but has also targeted Sunni mosques and madrassas, especially ones connected to the Taliban. The Taliban and the Islamic State group both adhere to a hard-line ideology but are bitter rivals.

Pakistani Taliban ends months-long cease-fire with govt, vows new attacks

The Pakistani Taliban on Monday ended a months-long ceasefire with the government in Islamabad, ordering its fighters to resume attacks across the country, where scores of deadly attacks have been blamed on the insurgent group. In a statement, the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said it decided to end the five-month-old cease-fire after Pakistan's army stepped up operations against them in former northwestern tribal areas and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. Pakistan and the TTP had agreed to an indefinite cease-fire in May after talks in Afghanistan's capital. There was no immediate comment from the government or the military. The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but are allies of the Afghanistan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan more than a year ago as the US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened TTP, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding in ...

Taliban calls out UN Security council to permanently end all travel bans

"An isolating approach would not work and there should be less of a gap between the Islamic Emirate and the world," Taliban's Deputy Spokesperson Bilal Karimi said

Taliban becoming more defiant, embracing policies of the past: US envoy

Taliban are becoming more defiant in embracing the policies of the past, US special envoy Rina Amiri has said, condemning the reports of public flogging in eastern Logar province, amid the growing concern over the human rights situation in Afghanistan."This is both appalling and a dangerous sign that the Taliban are becoming more defiant in showing the world that they are embracing the policies of the past. It didn't end up well before & it will once again take the country on a perilous path," US envoy Amiri said in a tweet.Media reports on Thursday said that three women and eleven men, who were charged with moral crimes were publicly flogged in Logar province."Fourteen people, including three women were lashed in the presence of scholars, authorities and people ... for different sins including adultery, robbery and other forms of corruption in a football stadium in Logar (province)," the Supreme Court said on Twitter, as quoted by Reuters.Earlier this month, Taliban supreme ...

Australian minister links mine blasting of rock shelters to Taliban

An Australian minister likened a mining company blasting ancient rock shelters to the Taliban's destruction of giant Buddha carvings and vowed Thursday to improve protections of Indigenous cultural heritage. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said Rio Tinto acted lawfully in 2020 when it destroyed two rock shelters in Juukan Gorge in Western Australia state that had been inhabited for 46,000 years. She said Australia's laws would be updated to prevent such destruction of Indigenous sacred sites happening again. It is unthinkable that any culture would knowingly destroy Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids or the Lascaux caves in France, Plibersek told Parliament. When the Bamyan Buddhas were destroyed in Afghanistan, the world was rightly outraged. But that's precisely what occurred in Juukan Gorge, she added. Two 1,500-year-old giant Buddhas carved into a cliffside in the Bamyan Valley in Afghanistan were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 because the statues were considered to be

19 people lashed in northeast province for adultery, theft: Afghan official

Nineteen people in northeastern Afghanistan were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home, a Supreme Court official said Sunday. The announcement underscored the Taliban's intention of sticking to their strict interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia. It appeared to be the first official confirmation that lashings and floggings are being meted out in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts. After they overran Afghanistan last year, the Taliban initially promised to be more moderate and allow for women's and minority rights. Instead, they have restricted rights and freedoms, including a ban on girl's education beyond the sixth grade. On Thursday, a Taliban spokesman said they are committed to implementing all Sharia laws. A Supreme Court official, Abdul Rahim Rashid, said 10 men and nine women were

Afghan Taliban group will continue to stick to strict Islamic law: Official

The Taliban will stick to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, a spokesman said on Thursday, underscoring the group's intention to continue hard-line policies implemented since they took over the country more than a year ago. During their previous years in power in the late 1990s, the Taliban carried out public executions, floggings, and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts. After they overran Afghanistan in August 2021 as American and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war, the Taliban initially promised to be more moderate and allow for women's and minority rights. Instead, they have cracked down heavier on rights and freedoms. Women are banned from parks, funfairs, gyms, and most forms of employment. They are ordered to cover themselves from head to toe. Girls are forbidden from going to school beyond sixth grade. There are also clampdowns on music and the media. According to Taliban spokes