Page 8 - Taliban

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

Timeline: 21-year-long effort by India to set up port in Chabahar

Monday's agreement is expected to finally realise efforts by India to gain a strategic foothold in the region

Pak, US discuss regional security threat posed by IS group, local Taliban

Pakistani and US officials have held their latest talks in Washington on how to expand cooperation in tackling the threat posed to regional security by an affiliate of the Islamic State group and the Pakistani Taliban, Pakistan's foreign ministry said Monday. A joint statement said Pakistani diplomat Haider Shah and the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, chaired the weekend talks. The talks occurred amid a surge in militants attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and an Afghan branch of the Islamic State group. The TTP is an ally of the Afghan Taliban that seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan's military recently said a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in March was planned in Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan citizen. Kabul has denied the charge.

'Attack controlled from Afghanistan': Pak on death of 5 Chinese engineers

An attack on a convoy in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 26 led to the death of five Chinese engineers

Over 23 million Afghans in dire need of humanitarian aid in 2024: UNAMA

Despite a decline in violence, Afghanistan continues to grapple with significant humanitarian challenges, as emphasised by UNAMA

iPhones to currency exchange: Some biz making money out of Taliban rule

Phones, Islamic books and currency exchange. Some businesses are making money out of Taliban rule

Gunman kills 6 inside Shiite mosque in western Afghanistan, says Taliban

A gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan, opening fire and killing six people as they were praying, a Taliban official said Tuesday. Local media reports and a former president of Afghanistan said the mosque was targeted because it was a place of worship for members of the country's Shiite Muslim minority. According to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Taliban Interior Ministry, the attack happened on Monday night in the district of Guzara in Herat province. He said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that an investigation was underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded another worshipper, and the attacker fled the scene. Local media reported that the mosque's imam was among those killed. I strongly condemn the attack on the Imam Zaman Mosque, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on X. I consider this terrorist act against all religious and human standards. The Islamic State group's affiliate in ...

Taliban working to attract tourists to Afghanistan despite challenges

Around 30 men are crammed into a Kabul classroom, part of the debut student cohort at a Taliban-run institute training tourism and hospitality professionals. It's a motley crew. One student is a model. Another is 17 and has no job history. The students vary in age, education level and professional experience. They're all men Afghan women are banned from studying beyond sixth grade and they don't know anything about tourism or hospitality. But they are all eager to promote a different side of Afghanistan. And the Taliban are happy to help. Afghanistan's rulers are pariahs on the global stage, largely because of their restrictions on women and girls. The economy is struggling, infrastructure is poor, and poverty is rife. And yet, foreigners are visiting the country, encouraged by the sharp drop in violence, increased flight connections with hubs like Dubai, and the bragging rights that come with vacationing in an unusual destination. The numbers aren't huge they never were but ..

Process underway to 'appoint' special representative for Afghanistan: UN

The Taliban regime opposes the appointment of a new special representative for Afghanistan and believes that with the presence of UNAMA, this is an unnecessary move, reported Khaama Press

Cenbank under Taliban control 'prohibits' online currency exchange

The prohibition of online currency exchanges has been put in place under the Taliban's supervisory and security administration, according to Khaama Press

Suicide bomber attacks bank in Afghanistan, 3 killed and 12 other injured

A suicide bomber carried out an attack on Thursday at a private bank in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, officials said. All of the victims were people who had gathered at the branch of New Kabul Bank to collect their monthly salaries, said Inamullah Samangani, head of the government's Kandahar Information and Culture Department. Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the Taliban Interior Ministry, also confirmed the attack but couldn't provide more details. He said it was being investigated. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Islamic State group's affiliate, a major Taliban rival, has conducted previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country. Kandahar city is a spiritual and political centre for Afghanistan's rulers because the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, is based there and his decisions on major issues are implemented by authorities

Pak targets suspected Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan, tensions rise

Pakistani airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan early Monday, two days after insurgents killed seven soldiers in a suicide bombing and coordinated attacks in the northwest, two security officials said. There was no immediate comment by Pakistan's military, and the Taliban government in Afghanistan denounced the strikes, which are likely to further increase tension between the neighboring countries. Two Pakistani security and intelligence officials said the airstrikes were carried out in Khost and Paktika provinces bordering Pakistan. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the record. The officials provided no further details, and it was unclear whether jets went deep inside Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban also confirmed Monday's strikes in a statement. Chief Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that Pakistan's airstrikes in Barmal disti

Pakistan carries out airstrike in Afghanistan Taliban retaliates

Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan on March 18, killing eight people. Watch the video to know more.

UN special representative calls on Taliban to reverse restrictions on women

The Taliban has restricted media freedoms and banned women from public places like parks and gyms