Page 5 - Taliban

Monitoring Afghanistan situation, held talks with Taliban: India to UNSC

India told the UN Security Council that it has discussed with the Taliban regime various issues pertaining to bilateral relations and the "special" people-to-people ties has been the "foundation" of Delhi's present day engagement with the country. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said Monday at the UN Security meeting on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that in the beginning of this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai. The two sides discussed various issues pertaining to bilateral relations as well as regional developments. The Afghan side appreciated and thanked Indian leadership for continuing to engage and support the people of Afghanistan. It was decided that India would consider engaging in development projects in the near future in addition to the ongoing humanitarian assistance programs, Harish said in the Council. The January .

Taliban claim Afghan women's rights protected as UN condemns various bans

The Taliban issued a message on International Women's Day, saying Afghan women live in security with their rights protected, even as the UN condemned ongoing employment and education bans. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade, most employment, and many public spaces. Last August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws that ban women's voices and bare faces outside the home. The Taliban's chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released a statement on his official X account, without specifically mentioning International Women's Day, which is celebrated on March 8. He said the dignity, honour, and legal rights of women were a priority for the Islamic emirate, the term used by the Taliban to describe their government. Afghan women lived in security, both physically and psychologically, he added. In accordance with Islamic law and the culture and traditions of Afghan society, the fundamental rights of

US effort to retrieve weapons in Afghanistan would improve security: Pak

Pakistan said on Thursday that any effort by the US to retrieve the leftover weapons in Afghanistan would help to improve the security of the region. Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said in response to a question at a weekly press briefing that the US left its weapons in Afghanistan and Pakistan supported the idea that the US can try to get its weapons back. Our concern is that those weapons have been found to being used by terrorists in their operations inside Pakistan. We have flagged it. If the US can make any efforts to get those weapons back, it would be helpful for the overall regional security environment, he said. Khan also said that Pakistan's security cooperation with the US has been an ongoing process along with counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation. To a question, he said that the effort of Pakistani law enforcement agencies against terrorists, including against ISKP (Islamic State (Khorasan Province), resulted in significant successes, including t

Donald Trump thanks Pakistan during address to US Congress: Here's why

Trump announced the arrest and imminent extradition of the suspect, Sharifullah, who was involved in the 2021 Kabul airport bombing

Govt to allow ambassador-level Taliban post to counter China: Report

Najib Shaheen, a diplomat in his early 30s at the Afghan embassy in Doha, is the main contender for the ambassador-level role in New Delhi, according to officials familiar with the discussions

Afghan women's group hails ICC's decision to arrest Taliban leaders

An Afghan women's group on Friday hailed a decision by the International Criminal Court to arrest Taliban leaders for their persecution of women. The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials, including the leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade. In a statement, the Afghan Women's Movement for Justice and Awareness celebrated the ICC decision and called it a great historical achievement. We consider this achievement a symbol of the strength and will of Afghan women and believe this step will start a new chapter of accountability and justice in the country, the group said. The Taliban government has yet to comment on the court's move. Also Friday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said it was a tragedy and travesty that girls remain deprived of educatio

Taliban release 2 Americans held in Afghanistan in prisoner exchange

A prisoner swap between the United States and Afghanistan's Taliban freed two Americans in exchange for a Taliban figure imprisoned for life in California on drug trafficking charges, officials said Tuesday. The deal came as President Joe Biden, who oversaw the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, handed power over to returning President Donald Trump. The Taliban praised the swap as a step toward the normalisation of ties between the US and Afghanistan, but that likely remains a tall order as most countries in the world still don't recognize the militants' rule. The Taliban's Foreign Ministry in Kabul confirmed the swap, saying two unidentified US citizens had been exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment in 2008. The family of Ryan Corbett, one American held by the Taliban, confirmed he had been released in a statement. Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the US-backed governmen

Taliban deputy tells leader no excuse for education bans on women, girls

A senior Taliban figure has urged the group's leader to scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls, saying there is no excuse for them, in a rare public rebuke of government policy. Sher Abbas Stanikzai, political deputy at the Foreign Ministry, made the remarks in a speech on Saturday in southeastern Khost province. He told an audience at a religious school ceremony there was no reason to deny education to women and girls, just as there was no justification for it in the past and there shouldn't be one at all. The government has barred females from education after sixth grade. Last September, there were reports authorities had also stopped medical training and courses for women. In Afghanistan, women and girls can only be treated by female doctors and health professionals. Authorities have yet to confirm the medical training ban. We call on the leadership again to open the doors of education," said Stanikzai in a video shared by his official account on the social platform X.

Biden talks to families of Americans held by Taliban, no deal reached yet

President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with relatives of three Americans the US government is looking to bring home from Afghanistan but it was unclear from the call if a deal to bring them back that is now on the table could be completed before the he leaves office next week. Biden's call with family members of Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi took place in the waning days of his administration as officials try to negotiate a deal that could bring them home in exchange for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the US-backed government, was abducted by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip and Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken by the Taliban's intelligence services in December 2022 while traveling through the country. Officials believe the Taliban is still holding both men as well as Habibi, an Afghan American businessma

Taliban seeks India's support: Request visas for Afghan patients, students

Afghanistan urges India to resume visas for trade, education, and healthcare. Complexities include non-recognition of the Taliban, security concerns, and limited consular services

Taliban hails India as 'significant partner' after high-level talks

Over a million Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran since 2023, emphasising the scale of displacement. India has pledged additional support for their rehabilitation and healthcare

US lawmaker reintroduces bill to end Pakistan's major non-Nato ally status

Initially introduced by Biggs in January 2019, the bill has been reintroduced in every subsequent Congress but has not advanced legislatively in any attempt

In first high level engagement with Taliban, foreign secy meets Afghan FM

In the meeting, India's foreign sceretary Vikram Misri underlined India's historic friendship with the Afghan people and the strong people to people contacts between the two countries

Biden administration negotiating with Taliban to exchange detainees: Report

Biden's administration is seeking the return of three Americans seized in 2022 - Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi - in exchange for Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani

Pak Taliban says will hit Pakistan Army where it hurts: Its business empire

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has threatened to target the Pakistani military's commercial interests, naming specific businesses, in response to last month's air strikes in Afghanistan

Taliban vs Pakistan: Why are they fighting?

Tensions are escalating along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border following deadly clashes between Afghan Taliban forces and Pakistan’s military. Watch the video to know the reason behind the conflict.

Stop employing women or face closure: Taliban's diktat to all Afghan NGOs

The Taliban says it will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups in Afghanistan employing women. It comes two years after they told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they didn't wear the Islamic headscarf correctly. In a letter published on X Sunday night, the Economy Ministry warned that failure to comply with the latest order would lead to NGOs losing their license to operate in Afghanistan. The ministry said it was responsible for the registration, coordination, leadership and supervision of all activities carried out by national and foreign organisations. The government was once again ordering the stoppage of all female work in institutions not controlled by the Taliban, according to the letter. In case of lack of cooperation, all activities of that institution will be cancelled and the activity license of that institution, granted by the ministry, will also be cancelled. The Taliban have already barred women from many jobs and mos

Days after Pak airstrike, Afghan Taliban targets several points in Pakistan

The statement, which was released by Taliban did not directly specify that Pakistan was hit, but said the attacks were conducted "beyond the "hypothetical line"

Pakistani air strikes in Afghanistan missed TTP targets? Find out here

TTP-linked social media accounts claim all their commanders, including the media cell head, are alive and unharmed, refuting Pakistani security officials' assertions

Pak airstrikes kill 46 in Afghanistan; mostly women, children: Taliban

Pakistan's airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official said Wednesday. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, said that six people were also wounded in the Paktika province bordering Pakistan. This comes a day after Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that Tuesday's operation was to dismantle a training facility and kill insurgents in the province of Paktika in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, in a statement, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed that 50 people, including 27 women and children, have died in the strikes. Residents in the area told an AP reporter over the phone that at least 13 people were left dead, adding that the death toll could be higher. They also said the wounded were transported to a local hospital. Pakistan has not commented on the .