Page 7 - Taliban

UN to engage with Taliban in Afghanistan despite new laws limiting women

The United Nations will continue to engage all stakeholders in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, a U.N. spokesman said, even though Afghanistan's rulers issued a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public and severed ties with the U.N. mission after it criticized them. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric in New York defended the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, and its head Roza Otunbayeva, who said that the new laws provided a distressing vision for Afghanistan's future. She said last week the laws extend the " already intolerable restrictions on the rights of women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. The laws were issued after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. The Taliban had set up a ministry for the " propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice after seizing power in 2021. They say the laws are based on their interpretation of Sharia law. The ministry

Taliban silences Afghan women with new laws, bans public speaking

The new regulations of Taliban govt also ban publishing images of living beings, playing music, transporting solo female travellers, and mingling of unrelated men and women

Taliban has deprived 1.4 mn Afghan girls of schooling through bans: Unesco

The Taliban have deliberately deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, a UN agency said Thursday. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with bans on female secondary and higher education. The Taliban, who took power in 2021, barred education for girls above sixth grade because they said it didn't comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. They didn't stop it for boys and show no sign of taking the steps needed to reopen classrooms and campuses for girls and women. UNESCO said at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the takeover, an increase of 3,00,000 since its previous count in April 2023, with more girls reaching the age limit of 12 every year. If we add the girls who were already out of school before the bans were introduced, there are now almost 2.5 million girls in the country deprived of their right to education, representing 80 per cent of Afghan school-age girls, UNESCO said.

Olympic bans: A list of countries that were excluded from past Games

In the 2024 Paris Olympics, Russia and Belarus have been banned from participating in the games due to the Ukraine war. But they are not the first to face such a ban.

TTP largest terror group in Afghanistan, could turn extra regional: UN

The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remained the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan and greater collaboration between al-Qaeda and the terror group could transform it into an extraregional threat, according to a UN report. The 15th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the Taliban and other associated individuals and entities said that the TTP remained the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, with an estimated strength of 6,0006,500 fighters. The report said that one member state expressed concern that greater collaboration between TTP and al-Qaeda could transform TTP into an 'extraregional threat'. It said that al-Qaeda's support of TTP includes the sharing of Afghan fighters for its "tashkils - in this context, military staffing or a formation and training camps in Afghanistan. Training provided by al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has resulted in TTP shifting tactics and high-profile attacks against hard targets. One interlocut

Hookahs, haircuts, and human rights: UN report details Taliban's crackdown

A UN report revealed that the Taliban's morality police have severely restricted human rights, creating a pervasive 'climate of fear and intimidation', particularly among women and girls

Taliban's morality police intimidating Afghans, instilling fear: UN

The Taliban's morality police are contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans, according to a UN report published Tuesday. Edicts and some of the methods used to enforce them constituted a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the report said. The Taliban set up a ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice after seizing power in 2021. Since then, the ministry has enforced decrees issued by the Taliban leadership that have a disproportionate impact on women and girls, like dress codes, segregated education and employment, and having a male guardian when they travel. The punishments attached to non-compliance with instructions and decrees are often arbitrary, severe and disproportionate, said the report from the UN Mission in Afghanistan. Sweeping bans with a discriminatory effect on women have been introduced. Human rights violations, as well as the unpredictability of enforcement measures, contribute to a climate of fear and

Pak PM raises terrorism concern, urges global engagement with Taliban

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and called for meaningful engagement with the Afghan Taliban government. Shahbaz, who arrived in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, represented Pakistan at the SCO meeting where leaders and diplomats from countries including China, India, Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan have gathered to discuss economic and security cooperation. The prime minister, during his address, emphasised the importance of maintaining peace in the region as a precondition for economic development, Dawn News reported. Achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan is a lynchpin to this common objective, he said, adding that the international community "meaningfully engage with the Afghan government to meet their genuine economic and development needs. Sharif also said the Afghan Taliban must also take concrete measures to

Pakistan holds 'good' meeting with Afghan Taliban amid strained ties

Pakistani diplomats held a "good" meeting with the representatives of Afghanistan's Taliban-led interim government in Qatar this week during which they discussed bilateral and regional issues, in what was seen as an effort to ease tension and mend strained ties between the two neighbours. The Afghan Taliban delegation, which was in Qatar's capital of Doha to attend a UN-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan this week, was hosted over a dinner by the Pakistani mission in Qatar on the sidelines of the conference, the Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief Taliban government spokesman who headed the delegation to Doha, described his meeting with Pakistani diplomats as "good" and expressed the hope for developing "positive relations with Pakistan, the paper said. "We had a good meeting with the special representative of Pakistan, Asif Durrani, and the ambassador and consuls of the country in Qatar, Mujahid wrote on X on Tuesday. I am grateful for their hospitality and hop

UN meeting with Afghan Taliban not recognition of their govt, says official

A United Nations-led meeting held in Qatar with the Taliban on increasing engagement with Afghanistan does not translate into a recognition of their government, a UN official said on Monday. The gathering on Sunday and Monday in Qatar's capital of Doha with envoys from some two dozen countries was the first time that representatives of the Afghan Taliban administration attended such a UN-sponsored meeting. The Taliban were not invited to the first meeting, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said they set unacceptable conditions for attending the second one, in February, including demands that Afghan civil society members be excluded from the talks and that the Taliban be treated as the country's legitimate rulers. Ahead of Doha, representatives of Afghan women were excluded from attending, paving the way for the Taliban to send their envoys though the organisers insisted that demands for women's rights would be raised. I would like to emphasise that this meeting and this ..

Taliban attends UN meeting for the first time in Doha, What happened at the meet?

The UN recently held talks with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. This was the first time that Taliban authorities attended a UN-sponsored meeting.

Women's rights will be raised at UN meeting with Taliban, says official

The UN political chief who will chair the first meeting between Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and envoys from about 25 countries answered sharp criticism that Afghan women have been excluded, saying Wednesday that women's rights will be raised at every session. Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo stressed to a small group of reporters that the two-day meeting starting Sunday is an initial engagement aimed at initiating a step-by-step process with the goal of seeing the Taliban at peace with itself and its neighbours and adhering to international law, the UN Charter, and human rights. This is the third UN meeting with Afghan envoys in Qatar's capital, Doha, but the first that the Taliban are attending. They weren't invited to the first and refused to attend the second. Other attendees include envoys from the European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the United States, Russia, China and several of Afghanistan's neighbours, DiCarlo said. The Taliban seized power in .

Taliban's delegation to attend UN-led meeting in Qatar on Afghanistan

The Taliban on Tuesday confirmed their delegation will attend an upcoming UN-led meeting in Qatar on Afghanistan after the organisers said last week that women would be excluded from the gathering. The meeting on June 30 and July 1 is the third UN-sponsored gathering on the Afghan crisis in the Qatari capital of Doha. The Taliban were not invited to the first and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said they set unacceptable conditions for attending the second meeting, in February, including demands that Afghan civil society members be excluded from the talks and that they be treated as the country's legitimate rulers. On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry in Kabul said the chief Taliban government spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, will lead the Taliban delegation at the two-day meeting, starting Sunday. The ministry said the strategy for the Doha gathering was discussed at a meeting chaired by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that touched on several topics, including international

Pakistani Taliban announces 3-day cease-fire on Eid al-Adha holiday

A key Pakistani militant group behind scores of gun and bomb attacks on Sunday announced a rare cease-fire with security forces during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha will be celebrated in Pakistan on Monday amid a surge in violence. The cease-fire announcement would allow worshippers to attend Eid prayers at mosques and open areas without fear of attacks by militants. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is a separate group from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, said in a statement it decided to announce a cease-fire on the demand from the Pakistani people. TTP said its fighters would defend themselves if acted by security forces. TTP has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021, when the US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years. This is the second time that TTP has announced a cease-fire, after 2021. That cease-fire ended in 2022. Since then, the Pakistan

Amnesty Int'l urges Taliban to reopen secondary schools for Afghan girls

A month after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the group reopened schools that were shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Taliban publicly flogs 63 including women accused of crimes; UN condemns it

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Wednesday condemned the public flogging of more than 60 people, including more than a dozen women, by the Taliban in northern Sari Pul province. At least 63 people were lashed on Tuesday by Afghanistan's de facto authorities, UNAMA said in a statement on social platform X. The U.N. office condemned corporal punishment and called for respect for international human rights obligations. Taliban's supreme court in a statement confirmed the public flogging of 63 people including 14 women who had been accused of crimes including sodomy, theft and immoral relations. They were flogged at a sports stadium. The Taliban, despite initial promises of a more moderate rule, began carrying out severe punishments in public executions, floggings and stonings shortly after coming to power again in 2021. The punishments are similar to those during the Taliban's previous rule in the late 1990s. Separate statements by the supreme court said a man

Emirati leader meets Taliban official facing $10 mn US bounty for attacks

The leader of the United Arab Emirates met on Tuesday with an official in the Taliban government still wanted by the United States on an up-to USD 10 million bounty over his involvement in an attack that killed an American citizen and other assaults. The meeting highlights the growing divide internationally on how to deal with the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 and since have barred girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and otherwise restricted women's role in public life. While the West still doesn't recognise the Taliban as Kabul's government, nations in the Mideast and elsewhere have reached out to them. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, met Sirajuddin Haqqani at the Qasr Al Shati palace in the Emirati capital, the state-run WAM news agency reported. It published an image of Sheikh Mohammed shaking hands with Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister who also heads the Haqqani network, a powerful network within the group .

16 people killed in floods in Afghanistan's Baghlan, Badakhshan provinces

According to local officials in these provinces, 500 houses have been completely or partially destroyed in the floods

Restrictions on Afghan girls will increase child marriages by 25%: UN

According to the two-page brief, the continuation of restrictions by Taliban on women and girls will impact child marriages by an increase of 25 per cent, increase early childbearing by 45 per cent

Flash floods due to heavy rains kill 68 people in western Afghanistan

Flash floods from heavy seasonal rains in the province of Ghor in western Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people, a Taliban official said on Saturday, adding the death toll was based on preliminary reports and might rise. Dozens others remain missing, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for Ghor's provincial governor. He also said the province suffered significant financial losses after thousands of homes and properties were damaged and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land destroyed following Friday's floods, including the capital city Feroz Koh. Last week, the UN food agency said the unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of floods on May 10th. Survivors have been left with no home, no land, and no source of livelihood, the World Food Organisation said. Most of Baghlan is inaccessible by trucks, said WFP, adding that it is resorting to