Page 6 - Taliban

Rashid Khan calls on Taliban to reevaluate restrictions on Afghan women

Khan's call for change has resonated with many, as his influence continues to inspire discussions about the future of Afghanistan, particularly in terms of women's rights and access to education

EU condemns Taliban's reported suspension of medical education for females

The European Union on Thursday condemned the Taliban for violating human rights and women's access to education after media reports that the Taliban's leader has ordered private and public institutions to stop providing medical courses for women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban have neither confirmed the order nor responded to the media reports. The Public Health Ministry spokesman was unavailable for comment. In September 2021, a month after they returned to power, the Taliban stopped schooling for girls after grade six. They banned women from university in December 2022. Medical education, like nursing and midwifery, was one of the few ways they could continue their learning in classrooms. The BBC and others reported that five institutions across Afghanistan said the Taliban had instructed them to close until further notice, and women training as midwives and nurses were ordered not to return to classes Wednesday. The EU said the Taliban's latest reported decision represent

Violence rages in Pakistan's Kurram; 107 dead in a week despite ceasefire

At least 107 people have been killed in a feud between communities in the Kurram district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including 52 due to the attack on a convoy on November 21

Taliban's anti-begging laws: Afghan women detail rape, torture in prison

Afghan women detained under the Taliban's anti-begging laws describe horrific abuse, including rape and forced labor, after being arrested for begging to feed their children

Taliban detained journos over 250 times in Afghanistan since takeover: UN

In a reply accompanying the report, the Taliban-led foreign ministry denied having arrested that number of journalists and added that those arrested had committed a crime

India takes tentative steps toward improving ties with Taliban-led govt

India closed its embassy in Kabul in August 2021 and has since then limited its engagement with the country to providing occasional humanitarian aid

Taliban appoints Ikramuddin Kamil as acting consul in Mumbai Afghan mission

The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported. It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India. There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. "He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said. The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said. Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said. He is expected to facilitate consular

Afghanistan attends UN climate talks for first time since Taliban's return

Afghanistan's first delegation at United Nations climate talks since the Taliban's return to power in 2021 has arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday in a bid to garner support for climate action in the climate-vulnerable nation. Matuil Haq Khalis, who's head of the country's environment protection agency, told The Associated Press that Afghanistan is among the worst affected nations by climate change and needs the world's support to deal with extreme weather like erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flash floods. All the countries must join hands and tackle the problem of climate change, said Khalis, speaking through a translator. Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with a recent assessment by climate experts ranking it the sixth most climate vulnerable country in the world. In March this year, northern Afghanistan was hit by heavy rains resulting in flash floods, killing over 300 people. Climate scientists have found that extreme rainfall has gotten 25 pe

Govt official meets Afghan minister, offers use of Chabahar Port for trade

In a significant move, an Indian delegation met Afghanistan's acting Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob and offered the use of Chabahar Port in Iran to businesses in his country, and also discussed extending humanitarian assistance to Kabul. The delegation was led by J P Singh, the Joint Secretary of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division in the External Affairs Ministry. During a weekly media briefing here, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said that apart from Mohammad Yaqoob, the delegation also met with former President Hamid Karzai and other senior ministers, along with the heads of UN agencies. "They had discussions on India's humanitarian assistance, also how the Chabahar Port can be utilised by the business community in Afghanistan for transactions and for export and import and any other thing that they would like to do," Jaiswal said in response to a question. India does not recognise the Taliban regime that has been ruling Afghanistan since 2021. I

Fed up with Pakistan, China may take matters into its own hands. Here's how

Chinese workers in Pakistan have been targeted by terrorist attacks twice within six months, prompting Beijing to raise security concerns at the highest diplomatic levels, but to little avail

Afghan women banned from hearing other women's voices in new Taliban rule

Taliban's latest decree further limits women's freedom by barring them from reciting prayers aloud, even in the presence of other women

China may offer Taliban tariff-free trade to get closer to its resources

Selling Afghanistan's lithium, copper and iron deposits to the world's biggest commodities buyer would help Taliban prop up their ailing economy, which United Nations says has 'basically collapsed'

Law enforcement agencies kill 10 TTP militants in Pakistan's Punjab

At least 10 militants from banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group were killed by law enforcement agencies in Punjab province of Pakistan on Thursday, police said. "A covert operation was launched in the hilly Malakhel area of Mianwali city based on intelligence reports about the presence of 10 to 15 terrorists. A fierce exchange of gunfire ensued between the police and the terrorists," a CTD spokesperson said. During the exchange, 10 terrorists were killed while all CTD and Elite Force officers and personnel remained unharmed, the spokesperson added. Punjab Inspector General of PoliceUsman Anwa praised the CTD team, the Mianwali police chief, and their forces for their significant success against the terrorists. The Punjab Police is on high alert and we will not rest until we crush the nefarious plans of these terrorists, Anwar said. The spokesperson said the terrorists were planning a large-scale sabotage in Punjab. A search operation is ongoing in the area and efforts to

Survivors grapple with aid cuts, Taliban a year after massive Afghan quake

People had just seconds to flee their homes when the terrifying sound of earth cracking open reverberated across western Afghanistan's Herat province. Nobody knows for sure how many people died in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Oct 7, 2023, or in the strong aftershocks that followed. The Taliban government estimated that at least 4,000 perished. The UN gave a far lower figure of about 1,500. Survivors stopped counting, exhausted after digging through dirt to save their loved ones or bury them. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory. It was also another major challenge for the Taliban since they seized power in 2021, a test of their readiness to lead a country beset by economic hardship, isolation, devastation from decades of war, and vulnerability to shocks like earthquakes and climate change. At that time, the government really cooperated in transporting patients and the dead, said Ismatullah Rahmani, from the quake's epicenter in Zinda Jan ...

'Cats freer than Afghan women': Meryl Streep calls for global action at UN

Hollywood actor Meryl Streep's remarks come in the wake of the Taliban's latest set of restrictive laws, which were introduced in late August

Pakistani Taliban deny attacking convoy of foreign ambassadors in northwest

The Pakistani Taliban on Monday denied involvement in a bombing attack on a police convoy that was escorting foreign ambassadors in the country's restive northwest, as authorities said they were still trying to determine who was behind the attack, which killed a police officer. The ambassadors and senior envoys were traveling on Sunday to the Swat Valley, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, when the attack occurred in Malam Jabba, one of Pakistan's two ski resorts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, denied detonating the improvised explosive device that hit a police vehicle accompanying the convoy. One police officer was killed and four others were wounded in the attack, which drew strong condemnation from Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other officials. The envoys were

Taliban suspends polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, says UN

The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the U.N. said Monday. Afghanistan is one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped. The other is Pakistan. News of the suspension was relayed to U.N. agencies right before the September immunization campaign was due to start. No reason was given for the suspension, and no one from the Taliban-controlled government was immediately available for comment. A top official from the World Health Organization said it was aware of discussions to move away from house-to-house vaccinations and instead have immunizations in places like mosques. The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That's up from six cases in 2023. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is aware of the recent policy discussions on shifting from house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns to site-to-site vaccination in parts of ..

Afghanistan's Norway embassy is closing this week: Statement from mission

Afghanistan's Norway embassy is closing, the country's second diplomatic mission to announce closure this week. The move comes months after the Taliban said they no longer recognise diplomatic missions set up by the former, Western-backed government, including the one in Norway. In a statement on the social media platform X, the embassy announced the closure would take place on Thursday. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, like many other political and consular missions of Afghanistan, will continue its activities with the values of human rights, pluralism and peace, despite the many difficulties and limited resources, the embassy statement said. The embassy premises would be handed over to Norway's Foreign Ministry, according to the statement in Dari. The UK government said on Monday that the London embassy would close on September 27, following the dismissal of its staff by the Taliban authorities in Kabul. Britain does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate

8 Afghan Taliban soldiers killed in border clash with Pak forces, 16 hurt

At least eight Afghan Taliban soldiers, including two key commanders, have been killed in a fierce clash with the Pakistani security forces in the border region near the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The exchange, which was reported in the Khurram border district of the province over the weekend, also injured 16 Afghan Taliban soldiers. The Afghan side attacked a Pakistani checkpost with heavy weapons in the Palosin area on the Pak-Afghan border on Saturday morning, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting sources. We have reports about heavy losses on the other [Afghan] side. So far, eight Afghan Taliban have been killed, and 16 others have sustained injuries in retaliatory firing by the Pakistani forces, sources said, adding that two key' commanders were also killed. There was no official word on the incident from the Pakistan military's media wing - the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). This is not the first time Afghan troops have opened fire on Pakistani security for

Will keep engaging with stakeholders in Afghanistan, including Taliban: UN

Notably, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan had expressed deep concern on August 25 regarding the new morality law imposed by Afghanistan's de facto authorities