Taliban | Business Upturn

Taliban executes two convicted murderers in Afghanistan stadium

Aishi Saha — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:21:41 +0000

In a disturbing display of justice, Taliban authorities carried out public executions of two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan. The executions, which took place in Ghazni city, were witnessed by thousands of spectators.

Supreme Court official Atiqullah Darwish announced the executions after reading aloud death warrants signed by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Both men were killed by multiple gunshots to the back.

The victims, identified as Said Jamal and Gul Khan, were found guilty of knife murders in separate incidents in September 2017 and January 2022, respectively. Despite offers for last-minute reprieves and opportunities for the families of the victims to carry out the executions themselves, security forces ultimately carried out the sentences.

The executions mark a grim continuation of the Taliban’s imposition of Islamic law since returning to power in 2021. Under the Taliban’s strict interpretation of sharia, capital punishments such as public executions and corporal punishments are enforced as part of their justice system.

Despite efforts to establish a new judicial system under previous governments, complaints of corruption, bribery, and slow justice delivery persisted. The Taliban’s resurgence has seen a return to harsh punishments reminiscent of their rule from 1996 to 2001, including public executions and floggings for various crimes including theft, adultery, and alcohol consumption.

The executions of Jamal and Khan are the latest in a series of death penalties imposed by the Taliban since their return to power. It underscores the challenges faced by Afghan society under Taliban rule, particularly concerning human rights and justice.

International condemnation of such executions has been widespread, with calls for the Taliban to respect fundamental human rights and adhere to international standards of justice. The executions serve as a reminder of the urgent need for the international community to engage with the Taliban to address concerns regarding human rights and governance in Afghanistan.

As Afghanistan navigates its future under Taliban rule, the spectre of public executions highlights the ongoing struggles for justice and human rights in the war-torn nation.

Taliban may soon punish divorced Afghan women with “Adultery” as marriage law is changed

News Desk — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 09:01:28 +0000

Women in Afghanistan are highly oppressed under the Taliban regime and tortures against them continue as thousands of women are under the threat of being punished since the Taliban have declared divorce illegal in the land.

Thousands of women who divorced their husbands according to the policy of the previous government and remarried may be subject to punishment on grounds of adultery since their second marriage becomes invalid due to the cancellation of their divorce.

Several women who had to wait for years to escape from abusive marriages are on a run again due to this new rule under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

In conversation with many Afghani women, they revealed that they were mentally tormented and physically abused by their husbands but due to the allowance of the previous government, they could stand before a judge in court and get a divorce without the mutual consent of their husbands.

One of them recalls how her stepfather sold her into marriage at the age of 13 to support his drug habit, the young Afghan woman fought for years to escape from her abusive husband. She eventually ran away from his home, divorced, and remarried however the new policy has threatened her to run away once more.

There are several other Afghani women had been interviewed but their identities have to be concealed for security purposes. According to former lawyers and judges, since 2021, marriage laws have been twisted to mostly suit divorced husbands, especially the ones who have ties with the Taliban.

The Taliban regime since taking over in 2021 has made several alterations to the marriage laws in the country which has deteriorated the condition of women largely. Taliban rule has greatly restricted their access to education and employment, banned them from public parks, and mandated ultraconservative dressing for females.

According to the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, as per Islamic Law, it is mandatory for both parties to be present before the court to get a divorce. A one-sided divorce will be considered null and void under the new rule.

Anand Mahindra discusses the Taliban’s ban on women attending university as “soul-crushing”

News Desk — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 06:39:29 +0000

As Taliban officials in Afghanistan restricted female students from attending institutions, Indian businessman Anand Mahindra has branded the news ‘soul-crushing’.

On Twitter, the Mahindra Group chairman stated that his primary way of giving back to society has been to assist women’s education. The M&M chairman described the Taliban’s prohibition on women’s higher education as “soul-crushing,” adding that it is a gradual and terrible death of the intellect.

“All my life, my main mode of giving back to society has been supporting women’s education. So, to me, this news is soul-crushing. The murder of people through war & violence is immediately bloody & shocking. But this is also murder—a slow & cruel murder of the mind,” Anand Mahindra wrote.

Female university students in Afghanistan were turned away this week after the Taliban-led administration announced that women would be barred from pursuing higher education.

Despite initially pledging a more moderate government that respected women’s and minorities’ rights, the Taliban has widely enforced their rigid interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia.

They have barred girls from middle and high school, and women from most jobs, and compelled them to wear full-body coverings in public.

Since retaking control in Afghanistan 16 months ago, the Taliban has gradually returned to their uncompromising stance against women’s education and freedom.

They believe that these regulations are consistent with their understanding of Islam, despite the fact that Afghanistan is the only Muslim country that forbids girls from attending school.

The Taliban barred women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms, and public baths last month.

On August 13, hardline Islamists attacked women protestors yelling “food, labour, and freedom” and fired into the air to break up a rally outside Kabul’s education ministry.

The action is almost guaranteed to stymie the Taliban’s efforts to gain international recognition for their administration and help from potential donors at a time when Afghanistan is in the grip of a deteriorating humanitarian catastrophe. The international world has asked Taliban officials to reopen schools and let women to use public spaces.

All Muslim countries, including Turkey, Qatar, and Pakistan, have voiced dissatisfaction with the university ban and requested authorities to retract or reconsider their decision.

Taliban prohibits Afghan girls from attending university

Aryan Jakhar — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 17:25:24 +0000

In a letter sent to all public and private universities on Tuesday, the ministry of higher education said that the Taliban leadership had placed an indefinite ban on Afghan girls attending university.

“You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by Minister for Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem.

The directive was confirmed by the ministry’s spokeswoman, Ziaullah Hashimi, who also tweeted the letter, in a text message to AFP.

The ban on higher education was enacted less than three months after thousands of girls and women across the nation took university entrance tests, with many of them hoping to pursue professions in engineering and medicine.

Universities were compelled to adopt new regulations following the country’s takeover by hardline Islamists in August of last year. These regulations included gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, and women were only allowed to be taught by older men or women professors.

The majority of adolescent girls in the country are already prohibited from attending secondary schools, significantly restricting their access to higher education.

Taliban militants seize a police station and take hostages in Northwest Pakistan

Aryan Jakhar — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 05:54:53 +0000

According to media reports, Taliban terrorists grabbed hostages at a police station in Pakistan’s northern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.

According to a Pakistani police official, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members infiltrated the Bannu cantonment in the restive region and liberated imprisoned terrorists.

They then took possession of a section of the compound, holding Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) security employees hostage.

“It’s not clear if the terrorists attacked from outside, or if they snatched the ammunition from staff inside” when being interrogated following their capture, according to Bannu police spokesman Muhammad Naseeb.

According to police, there is a hostage situation at the CTD installation. The Pakistan Army promptly sent troops, and the compound was surrounded by security forces.

Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, special assistant to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information, stated the situation is under control.

In a video posted from within the CTD facility, Taliban terrorists stated that nine police officers were kidnapped and sought safe passage to Afghanistan by air in order to free the captives.

According to a PTI report, the event occurred hours after terrorists stormed a police station in Lakki Marwat, which borders the South Waziristan tribal territory, early Sunday morning, killing four police officers and injuring many more.

Last month, the TTP violated a ceasefire agreement reached with the Pakistani government in June, ordering its militants to carry out terrorist assaults across the country.

Pakistan and Taliban at odds after Durand Line clash

Pranay Maniar — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 12:08:23 +0000

Last year Taliban ousted the US-backed Ashraf Ghani-led Afghan regime right after the US-led coalition completed its withdrawal from the two-decade-long war against the Taliban.

The hostile takeover of Afghanistan was celebrated and cheered by the Pakistan side as they expected the Taliban to become their allies and make Afghanistan a Pakistani client state.

However, to Pakistan’s disappointment, both groups have had tensions heightened lately due to the recent skirmishes at their border, which is known as the Durand line.

The Durand line is the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It has its roots back when the subcontinent was ruled by the British. The British drew this line after the second Anglo-Afghan war in 1880. This line divided the Pashtun lands and left them in two different countries. Since the inception of this line, no ruling afghan government including the Taliban has recognised this line as the border with Pakistan.

There have several points of contention that Pakistan and the Taliban have had lately. One was the peace talks between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP enjoys support and patronage from the Afghan Taliban.

The peace talks involved the Pakistani army and the government and representatives of the TTP, and the Pakistani side agreed to release TTP prisoners in return for a ceasefire.

TTP is a terrorist group that has been at odds with the Pakistani establishment and has carried out over 3000 attacks killing over 2500 security personnel since its inception in 2007. This group had also carried out the infamous Peshawar school attacks that killed 132 children.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa seems to have realised his mistake in pressing ahead with talks despite the continuous recalcitrant attitude of TTP leaders quite late as after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader, Zawahiri, TTP leader Omar Khalid Khorasrecently, made it quite clear even to Bajwa that the talks had no future.

Khorasan terrorists attack Afghanistan Gurdwara, 2 dead; India condemns attack

United News of India (UNI) — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 09:31:58 +0000

Kabul/New Delhi, June 18: Terrorists belonging to the Islamic State Khorasan faction on Saturday morning attacked the revered Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul with bombs and gunfire, leaving an elderly Sikh gentleman and an Afghan guard dead. Sikh leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that all the terrorists were neutralised by Afghan soldiers and the Gurdwara is now under Afghan police control.

He said in tweets that all the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus trapped inside were evacuated from the Gurdwara. Two persons who were injured have been sent to hospital, while one Afghan guard, Ahmad, was also killed.

Savinder Singh, a 60-year-old Afghan Sikh, was killed in the attack. He was a native of Ghazni province, while his family resides in Delhi.

In tweets, Sirsa said: “All the terrorists that attacked Gurdwara Karte Parwan Sahib neutralised by Afghan soldiers.

“Gurdwara Sahib now under Afghanistan Police control.”

Later, he tweeted that one Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, was brought out.

“S. Gurnam Singh, President of Gurdwara Karte Parwan, Kabul rescued one saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji Maharaj. Two saroop are still there inside Gurdwara premises.”

Visuals of the attack scene showed debris and gaping holes in the gurdwara due to the bombings.

“Heartwrenching visuals of Gurdwara Karte Parwan Sahib post terror attack.

The damage done is beyond repair. One person Savinder Singh lost his life! A feeling of helplessness among minority Sikhs,” Sirsa said.

Sirsa said: “My heart goes out to the family of Savinder Singh; a Sikh who was killed today in Gurdwara Karte Parwan terror attack. Minority Sikhs have been facing multiple problems in Afghanistan & this terror attack has shattered their hopes of peace and harmony for Sikhs in Kabul.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar condemned the Kabul gurdwara attack in the strongest terms.

“The cowardly attack on Gurudwara Karte Parwan should be condemned in the strongest terms by all.

“We have been closely monitoring developments since the news of the attack was received. Our first and foremost concern is for the welfare of the community.”

Afghan leader Amrullah Saleh who is living outside the country said in a tweet that the attack is by the Haqqani network of terrorists: “Can’t find lethal enough words to express condemnation of the heinous terrorist attack against the Gurdwara in Kabul targetting preaceful Sikh citizens of Afghanistan. With ISI backed Haqqani ruling Kabul and LeT/Jaish roaming free a fair investigation can’t be expected. Attack has all halmarks of Haqqani.”.

The Indian government said it is deeply concerned at the reports and is closely monitoring the situation.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a statement said: “We are deeply concerned at the reports emanating from Kabul about an attack on a sacred Gurudwara in that city.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and waiting for further details on the unfolding developments.”

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh voiced deep concern over the attack.

“Deeply concerned to hear about the news of an attack at a Gurdwara Sahib in Kabul, Afganistan. Praying to Waheguru Ji for the safety of all the devotees & citizens stuck inside the premises.

Urge the MEA to look into this matter & ensure the safety of all devotees.”

Activist and president of the Indian World Forum, Puneet Singh Chandhok in a tweet said “Sawinder Singh #Sikh aged around 60 Yrs S/o late Kishan Singh and native of Ghazni has been killed during the brutal attack in #Kabul earlier today at gurdwara. His cremation will take place later there today and his family resides in New Delhi. God bless #afghan #minorities.”

Harjinder Singh, president Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Amritsar – the premier body of the Sikhs – strongly condemned the attack. He has written a mail to the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure the safety and security of Sikhs /Hindus in Afghanistan.

According to social media, the attack took place at 8.30 am.

The terrorists detonated a bomb near the gated entrance of the Gurdwara and then stormed the building, with more bomb attacks. Black smoke was seen billowing in the air, and the gurdwara premises was on fire.

Habib Khan, an Afghan, tweeted: “A complex terrorist attack targeted a Gurdwara in Baghebala area of Kabul city. The neighborhood is home to Afghan Hindu and Sikh communities. So far, three blasts are heard in the area and heavy gunshots continue. No word on casualties at this stage.”

Earlier, Chandhok said that alarming reports were coming from Kabul and “unknown armed assailants have entered Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul”.

“I just spoke to Gurnam Singh, President, Gurdwara Karte Parwan. He was weeping and alleged that the assailants have killed all residing inside the Gurdwara. As per him the militants belong to ISIS,” he said.

Chandhok requested the Government of India to immediately repatriate the Afghan minorities from there without any further delay.

“They are waiting for e-visa since six months.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Business Upturn staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

USA takes control over Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington DC

News Desk — Wed, 18 May 2022 18:07:13 +0000

The United States on May 17 has taken control of Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington and the country’s consulates in New York, Beverly Hills and California, the Department of State has said.

The Department of State has claimed sole responsibility for the security. And maintenance of the diplomatic missions effective on Monday. And would not allow anyone from entering them without its permission. Until ant further clarification is provided by the Department of State .

The US government has clarified that they do not recognize the present Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. They have denied of having any diplomatic relations with the Taliban government.

The US had moved out their military assets last year which helped the Taliban to easily takeover Afghanistan.

The Department of State’s Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) has assumed sole responsibility for ensuring the protection and preservation of the property of the referenced missions.

The missions were seen at the Afghan embassy in Washington, and consular posts in Little Neck, New York, and Beverly Hills, California.

Though the officials have said that step does not signal any change in U. S. policy towards Afghanistan and that it did not affect the Afghan mission by the United Nations. However, these current steps taken suggest further developments to be in expectation.

Taliban dissolves Human Rights Commission

United News of India (UNI) — Tue, 17 May 2022 08:15:09 +0000

Islamabad, May 17: The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has dissolved the Human Rights Commission among the five major departments of the previous civilian government. Besides Human Rights Commission, High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), last headed by former Afghan president Abdullah Abdullah, was dissolved. The other departments removed by the regime include National Security Council. Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution (ICOIC). And the General Secretariats of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House) and Mishrano Jirga (Upper House). According to Khaama News Agency. According to reports, the country could have a budget deficit of 44 billion Afghanis in this fiscal year. And decision on dissolving the key departments may have come in this regard. Since the takeover of Kabul, the Taliban had assured to the world that their rules would be moderate but till now several diktats have been issued for women and girls.

Taliban makes burqa mandatory

United News of India (UNI) — Sat, 07 May 2022 12:29:47 +0000

Kabul, May 7: Taliban on Saturday issued a statement making wearing of full body covering attire like burqa or hijab compulsory for a adult women while in public, media reports said. If a woman was found not covering her face outside her home. Her father or closest male relative would be summoned. And initially advised to make the woman follow the orders. If the woman is found repeating the “offence” eventually her male guardians would be imprisoned. Or fired from government jobs, read the statement from Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Khaama News Agency quoted the Taliban statement saying that the mandate has been adopted. “in order to avoid provocation when meeting men who are not Mahram”. Full body covering attire like blue burqa and Chadari was a feature of Taliban’s previous extremist rule from 1996 to 2001.

Taliban calls for peaceful approach to end conflict between Russia & Ukraine

Vineet Jain — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 13:18:44 +0000

On Friday, the Taliban administration in Afghanistan posted a statement on Twitter asking for an end to the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suggested that the crisis be handled by “dialogue and peaceful means.”

The message, which was made public, stated “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and expresses concern about the real possibility of civilian casualties. The Islamic Emirate calls for restraint by both parties. All sides need to desist from taking positions that could intensify violence.”

The statement ended by urging “parties to the conflict to pay attention to safeguarding the lives of Afghan students and migrants in Ukraine.”

Statement concerning crisis in #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/Ck17sMrAWy

— Abdul Qahar Balkhi (@QaharBalkhi) February 25, 2022

The Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US soldiers from the nation after a 20-year campaign following the 9/11 attacks.

Meanwhile, at least 198 people have been killed and over 1,000 have been injured in Ukraine’s most recent fighting. According to NetBlocks, an internet blockage monitoring service, internet access in Ukraine has been severely impacted, particularly in the country’s southern and eastern regions where violence has spilt into the streets.

So far, on the 3rd day of the assault, Russian soldiers have taken Melitopol in southern Ukraine. In addition, Moscow has conducted synchronized cruise missile and artillery assaults on many towns in the neighbouring nation, including Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets PM Modi, says”We perceive India as a great power”

Aviyukta Adlakha — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 13:59:48 +0000

After the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and PM Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House on Monday, December 6, Putin expressed his pleasure on the relations between India and Russia and said, “We perceive India as a great power, a friendly nation, and a time-tested friend. The relations between our nations are growing and I am looking into the future.”

He highlighted the fact that despite of changes happening in the world and the emerging geopolitical equations, India and Russia’s friendship has remained constant. With a similar belief, PM Narendra Modi said, “Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, there is no change in the pace of growth of India-Russia relations. Our special and privileged strategic partnership continues to become stronger.” he also mentioned that India’s friendship with Russia is truly a unique and reliable model of interstate friendship.

Focus is likely to be paid to terrorism during the 21st annual India-Russia summit due to the security situation in Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban, as it’s a common threat to both countries. According to the sources, both countries have been working closely on the threats of issue of terrorism, their financing, and the flow of arms and drugs trade.

Taliban likely to resume secondary schools for girls, reports a senior UN official

Cheryll Jain — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 11:10:05 +0000

Executive Director Omar Abdi, a senior official at the United Nations, stated on Friday that the Taliban has affirmed that it will resume senior secondary education for Afghan girls “very soon.” During a talk between Abdi and the Taliban minister of Education, it was revealed that the Taliban is drafting ‘a framework’ to allow girls to attend schools and receive an education above grade six.

After Abdi’s visit to Kabul last week, he reported that five provinces in Afghanistan have already approved girls to attend senior secondary schools. These provinces are Balkh, Jawzjan and Samangan in the northwest, Kunduz in the northeast and Urozgan in the southwest regions of Afghanistan

The framework mentioned by the Taliban’s Education Minister will only be published “between a month or two,” Abdi confirmed. Recalling the dire status of education in the country, Omar Abdi stated that “millions of girls of secondary school age are missing out on education for the 27th consecutive day,” adding that each passing day is a day “lost for those girls that are out of school.”

The status of education for girls under the Taliban’s regime has been a global matter of concern since its takeover of Afghanistan earlier this year. During the Taliban’s previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996-2001, girls and women were denied the right to education and were restricted from working and engaging in public life.

Observing the previous record of the Taliban in relation to the treatment of women under its regime, it has been increasingly scrutinised and pressured by international authorities and humanitarian organisations to ensure women’s rights to education and work.

During his visit to the country, Abdi has reiterated the importance of educating girls in every meeting, urging the authorities “to let girls resume their learning.” He stated that educating women was crucial for women and the country as a whole.

Ever since the Taliban takeover, the number of children out of school has increased to 4.2 million, out of which 2.6 million are girls. Abdi also asserted that efforts need to be made to overcome opposition from conservatives and get girls to attend secondary schools even after the Taliban authorises it.

However, he said the authorities he had held conversations with ascertained that the framework being drafted for the purpose will convince more parents to send their girls to school as it will address various matters of concern such as separating boys and girls and providing female teachers for female students etc.

US calls first-ever meeting with Taliban at Doha ‘candid and professional’

Ayisha Farah — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 05:40:21 +0000

On Sunday, the United States said the first-ever face-to-face meeting between senior officials of the U.S. and the Taliban since the organisation was restored to power in Afghanistan was candid and professional. The U.S. emphasises that the Taliban will be judged by their actions and not by their words.

During the weekend talks at Doha, Qatar, State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said the U.S. delegation concentrated on security and terrorism matters and safe passage for U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, and Afghans. They also discussed issues on human rights, which includes the participation of women and girls in all phases of Afghan society.

He stated that the two sides also addressed “the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people.” “The discussions were candid and professional with the U.S. delegation reiterating that the Taliban will be judged on its actions, not only its words,” Price said in a statement.

It did not reveal if any agreements were made. On Saturday, Al Jazeera quoted Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister saying the Taliban representatives requested the U.S. to lift a ban on the Afghan central bank reserves.

It also stated that the minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Washington would grant the Afghans of the COVID-19 vaccines and that there were discussions on opening a new page between both the countries. On Friday, Officials of the Biden administration told Reuters that the U.S. delegation will pressure the Taliban to release abducted American Mark Frerichs.

Another significance is holding the Taliban to their responsibility to disable Afghanistan from becoming Al Qaeda’s haven or other extremist groups again. In August, the Taliban took control over Afghanistan, after almost 20 years after they were evicted during the U.S. invasion for not handing over Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.

The U.S. officials stated that the weekend meeting was a sequence of “pragmatic engagements” with the Taliban and “not about granting recognition or conferring legitimacy” to the organisation.

U.S. officials say they remain in contact with dozens of Americans and legal permanent residents who want to leave Afghanistan, and there are thousands of U.S. allied Afghans under the risk of Taliban persecuting present in the country.

Western countries continue to grapple with challenging choices as severe humanitarian crises rise heavily in Afghanistan. They are in the process of working out with engaging with the Taliban without granting legitimacy that it seeks while assuring humanitarian aid is passing through the country.

Taliban’s new guidelines for Afghan Journalists create concerns for press freedom

Ayisha Farah — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 08:57:09 +0000

Worries grow at the developing restrictions the Taliban government has set on the news media in Afghanistan after officials declared a new structure of rules for journalists that critics say open the door for censorship and oppression.

Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi, interim director of the Government Media and Information Center and a Taliban spokesperson, revealed 11 commands for journalists this week. Afghanistan’s once lively media industry has fallen since the Taliban took control last month. Many Afghan journalists left the country, fearing suppression and brutality from the organisation. Dozens more are still hiding and seeking a way out of Afghanistan.

According to local media, more than 100 local media companies and radio stations around the country have ceased functioning, have been shut down, seized by the Taliban, or driven out of business for lack of funding. Some of the most notable publications have had to discontinue print operations and now publish online during the country’s sharp economic downturn.

A US-based press freedom group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, has centred on the emergency response to support Afghan reporters and track brutality against journalists by the Taliban. “Journalists are just frightened,” said Steven Butler to NYT, who runs the organisation’s Asia program. He said the organisation had been getting hundreds of emails from journalists asking for help.

In early September, the Taliban gathered demonstrators and journalists reporting protests against the new government in Kabul, reducing them to abuse in congested jails, according to journalists who witnessed. Photos revealed the backs of two detained journalists covered with wounds and gashes from being beaten with cables, provoking an international objection.

Several Afghan journalists and media workers interviewed by The New York Times earlier this month detailed living with a sense of anxiety and self-censorship while grappling with presenting news despite the Taliban delivering little information.

The new rules declared by the Taliban have done little to soothe the agitation of media members and advocates for journalists. Another press freedom group, Reporters Without Borders, termed the rules “spine-chilling” in a statement on Thursday and cautioned that although some of them, such as calls for honesty and balance, might seem fair, as a whole, the rules were “extremely dangerous because they open the way to censorship and persecution.”

In its statement, the group noted that while some conditions were similar to the contents in Afghanistan’s national media law, the Taliban had abandoned any mention of complying with international criteria and press freedom organisations.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane touches down at Kabul airport, the first commercial foreign flight to land since the Taliban takeover

News Desk — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 08:45:03 +0000

On Monday, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane carrying a handful of passengers touched down at Kabul airport, the first global commercial flight to land since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan on August 15.

“There has been rarely anyone at the aircraft, round 10 people… perhaps extra personnel than passengers,” stated an AFP journalist aboard the flight from Islamabad. A PIA spokesman stated on the weekend that the airline was eager to renew ordinary commercial offerings, however, it changed too quickly to mention how often flights among the 2 capitals might operate.

Kabul airport changed into critically broken in the course of a chaotic evacuation of extra than 120,000 humans that ended with the withdrawal of US forces on August 30.

The Taliban were scrambling to get it running once more with technical help from Qatar and different nations. Qatar Airways operated numerous charter flights out of Kabul last week, carrying typically foreigners and Afghans who ignored out at the evacuation. An Afghan airline resumed home offerings on September 3.

Taliban: Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in gender-segregated universities

News Desk — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:08:23 +0000

On Sunday, the higher education minister in the new Taliban government said Women in Afghanistan are allowed to study in universities, including at post-graduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory as per the report by AP.

The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, announced the new policies at a news conference on Sunday, several days after Afghanistan’s new rulers formed an all-male, all-Taliban government. Haqqani said, “the female university students would be required to wear a hijab but did not elaborate on whether this only meant a compulsory headscarf or also mandatory face coverings.”

The world has been watching closely to see how the Taliban might act differently as when it was last in power from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban imposed harsh rules and often punished people with public floggings, amputations, and executions. According to the Taliban, they have changed their behaviour towards women, but it was also seen in recent days that they have used violence against women who were protesting for their equal rights.

Haqqani said the Taliban did not want to turn the clock back 20 years. “We will start building on what exists today.” However, female university students will face restrictions under the Taliban, including a compulsory dress code. Gender segregation will also be enforced, he said. “We are not going to allow boys and girls to study together, We will not allow co-education,” Haqqani said the subjects being taught in universities would also be reviewed but did not elaborate.

ISI chief General Faiz Hameed held a meeting attended by multiple nations, including China and Russia for “lasting peace and stability”

News Desk — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 05:27:01 +0000

On Saturday a meeting was being organized in Islamabad by Pakistan’s intelligence chief General Faiz Hameed, the director-general of the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) along with intelligence heads of multiple nations, including China and Russia, in which the evolving situation in Afghanistan was being discussed.

The meeting, held by the director-general of the ISI, certainly took place and it was attended by the intelligence chiefs of China, Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Views were being shared regarding the measures needed for “lasting peace and stability” in the region by the members present in the meeting.

After the Taliban’s lightning-fast offensive won the militant’s control of the state machinery in the war-torn land, Pakistan has been seen looking to get engaged in the situation which developed in Afghanistan. Among widespread opinion for its ‘proxy war’ in Afghanistan, a special significance in light of the debilitating political and economic scenario in Kabul has been now taken on by the Pakistani intelligence chief’s meeting with his counterparts in other countries.

“The participants of the occasional meet acknowledged that Afghanistan ‘should not be left alone’ to deal with its problems. The development takes a compelling outlook for Afghanistan experts and political observers, many of who believe that it was, in fact, Islamabad which was behind the Taliban’s aggressive advance against the erstwhile Ashraf Ghani government’s forces in August. They also say Islamabad has been assisting the Taliban on all possible fronts, hoping to cut a piece of the pie in the new regime,” said the Pakistani news channel SAMAA TV.

Recently a visit has been done by the ISI chief Hameed to Afghanistan who met with the Taliban leadership in Kabul to talk over the issues. After the Visit, it was seen that the Taliban has announced their interim government a hardline all-male cabinet let done the group’s earlier promises to be comprehensive and adequate to a measure.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asks to avoid an economic meltdown that would spark a “catastrophic” situation for the Afghans

News Desk — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 06:14:28 +0000

According to the reports by Reuters, on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked, to avoid an economic meltdown that would spark a “catastrophic” situation for the Afghan people and be a “gift for terrorist groups” for an introduction of cash into Afghanistan.

The remarks came by Antonio Guterres after his special representative on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons gave a warning to the security council on Thursday that the cutting of billions of dollars in international Afghan assets to keep them out of Taliban hands would automatically spark “a severe economic downturn.”

All countries were also requested by the U.N. chief to go in with the Taliban and deliver the same message that the Afghan people should live in peace under an inclusive government that respects basic human rights including for women and girls, and Afghanistan should not be a sanctuary for terrorism anymore and should play a constructive role in international relations.

The United States facilitated the departure of 21 American nationals and 11 Green Card holders, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday in a statement, “As part of our ongoing commitment, today we facilitated the departure from Afghanistan of 21 US citizens and 11 Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs).” Guterres said to the reporters, “At the present moment the UN is not even able to pay its salaries to its own workers.”

Guterres has been speaking with International Monetary Fund Cheif Kristalina Georgieva telling the reporters it was an important thing to agree on waivers or implement to get money into Afghanistan. Taliban was being blocked by IMF from accessing some $440 million in new emergency reserves.

“We need to find ways to avoid a situation that would be catastrophic for the people and, in my opinion, a source of instability, and an action, gift for terrorist groups still operating there,” Guterres said.

Al Qaeda and the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan, are present in Afghanistan. Guterres said he had been speaking with International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva, telling reporters it was essential to agree on waivers or mechanisms to get money into Afghanistan. The IMF has blocked the Taliban from accessing some $440 million in new emergency reserves.

The international programs to get cash into war-torn Yemen could reproduce in Afghanistan is being hoped by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, Monthly cash payment to some 1.5 million of the poorest families through a program funded by the World Bank is made by the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, in Yemen.

Whereas the UN is working to make sure that it continues to compassionate work in Afghanistan, where at least 18 million people around half the country’s population already need to be helped.

“Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country,” India in the UNSC

News Desk — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 07:33:52 +0000

Calling the situation in Afghanistan “very fragile”, India has stated that it is important that the Taliban stick to its commitment not to allow the use of the Afghan soil for terrorism, together with terror groups designated under Security Council resolution 1267 that lists Pakistan-based outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

On Thursday at the UN Security Council Debate on Afghanistan India’s Permanent Representative to UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti said, “as Afghanistan’s neighbour, India was privileged to preside over the adoption of a substantial and forward-looking product of the Council during its presidency of the 15-nation UN body last month.”

The resolution on Afghanistan “took into account some of our collective concerns, in particular on terrorism, where it has noted the commitment of the Taliban not to allow the use of the Afghan soil for terrorism, including from terrorists and terrorist groups designated under Resolution 1267.”

Tirumurti said to PTI, “the Security Council resolution has underlined that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts. As witnessed from the deplorable terrorist attack at Kabul airport last month, terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to Afghanistan. It is, therefore, important that commitments made in this regard are respected and adhered to.”

Under the 1267 Sanctions regime, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed as well as Haqqani Network prohibited terror entities under UNSC resolution 1267 (1999) are also listed as global terrorists.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a news conference in Kabul that, Taliban’s meanwhile government is being led by Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, chief of the Taliban’s powerful decision-making body ‘Rehbari Shura’ and he will be the PM, and his deputy in the “new Islamic government” will be Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

“In particular, UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2593 on Afghanistan clearly sets out the Council’s expectations on a range of critical and immediate issues,” said Tirumurti.

Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of citizens: White House

News Desk — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 05:44:45 +0000

As a chartered Qatar Airways flight from Kabul landed in Doha on Thursday, the White House stated that the Taliban had been businesslike and expert of their facilitating the departure of American residents and others from Afghanistan.

“The Taliban had been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American residents and lawful everlasting citizens on constitution flights from HKIA. They have proven flexibility, and that they had been businesslike and expert in our dealings with them on this effort. This is a wonderful first step,” Emily Horne, Spokesperson of the National Security Council, the White House stated.

She stated that the United States authorities facilitated the departure of US residents and lawful everlasting citizens on a chartered Qatar Airways flight from Hamid Karzai International Airport. “We can affirm that flight has correctly landed in Qatar. We are deeply thankful to the continuing efforts of Qatar in facilitating the operations at HKIA and assisting to make certain the protection of those charter flights,” she stated.

“We had been operating intensely throughout the United States authorities to make certain the accuracy of the happen and the secure departure and transit of the aircraft, and today’s secure flight is the end result of cautious and difficult international relations and engagement,” she further added.

The US, she stated, will maintain those efforts to facilitate the secure and orderly journey of American residents, lawful everlasting citizens, and Afghans who laboured for the United States and desire to go away from Afghanistan. “Because there may be an ongoing terrorist chance to, operations of this nature, we can now no longer be sharing information of those efforts earlier than humans are correctly out of the country,” she noted.

So far, the United States has delivered more than 6,000 American residents and lawful everlasting citizens domestic to America under Operation Allies Welcome thus far.

Actress Somy Ali hails the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai on International Literacy Day

Shubham Rai — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 03:38:49 +0000

Bollywood actress Somy Ali known for films like Anth, Andolan, Agnichakra and her affair with Salman Khan is currently in the news for her statement on International Literacy Day. On 8th September the world celebrated International Literacy Day to raise awareness about the importance of education in transforming society. The actress shared her views on education and its importance and lauded the Nobel Peace Laureate, Malala Yousafzai for her efforts in empowering women. Talking Malala Somy Ali said, “When I think of education and its significance, I think of Malala Yousafzai. To be actually shot in the head solely for wanting girls to pursue an education is a concept so bizarre to me that it appalls and infuriates me to no end,”

Later she talks about the importance of education and of the teachers that impart education to us. “Yes, one learns real life lessons from experiences and from deception, yet, without knowledge or education, there is no chance of progression towards a career or being successful. Be it a textbook, a memoir, or a novel, books are a key part of our existence. And, for me personally, teachers or professors should be worshipped for the career they chose,”

She seemed worried and helpless about the current situation of Afghanistan being captured by the Taliban. She added, “Having said that, with the recent developments pertaining to Afghanistan, my heart is shattered as to what the girls and women’s plight will be because of those barbaric Taliban. They have already removed women from workplaces, and this is just the beginning,”

Hasan Akhund to lead new Afghanistan government, Abdul Ghani Baradar to be deputy leader

News Desk — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 15:49:30 +0000

On Tuesday, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced members of the “acting” government, saying that it will be led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund while the group’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy Afghan leader.

New ministers of Afghanistan:

Taliban’s deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani will be the interior minister.
Amir Khan Muttaqi has been appointed as Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister.
Mullah Yaqoob was appointed as acting Defense Minister in the new Afghan government.
Political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai will be the acting deputy foreign minister.

Mujahid added further, “the heads of various other ministries will be appointed soon, and all groups have been represented in the cabinet.”

According to Taliban spokesperson Afghanistan had “gained freedom,” stressing that “only the will of Afghans” will be applicable in the country. Mujahid pointed out, “After today, no one will be able to interfere in Afghanistan.”

In response to a question, the spokesperson said the country will now be called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. From the end of August, since the United States-led evacuation was completed, the Taliban was expected to announce a new government. The Taliban had been in contact with various countries and their envoys had visited Afghanistan.

An “inclusive” government has been promised to represent Afghanistan’s complex ethnic makeup — though women are unlikely to be included at the top levels. Whereas the Taliban has to face a series of major issues to address, including looming financial and humanitarian crises as they transition from a rebellion group to governing power.

Haqqani and Baradar rebut each other to form government in Kabul

Sneha Sengupta — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 06:32:25 +0000

The Haqqani Network, endorsed by Pakistan have negligible interest in forming a government in Afghanistan, however, the group is keenly looking forward to a conservative Sunni Pashtun coming into power. The stance is going in contradiction from the statement made by Mullah Baradar who wanted to transfigure it into a transitional inclusive government for Doha’s community. This is leading to a scuffle over forming power in Kabul under the Haqqani group’s guidance and leadership against Mullah Baradar and his commitments made during the Doha peace talks.

Having absolute backing from its promoter country, Pakistan, the Haqqanis supports the idea of a Taliban government as per the theory of medieval theocracy. “The HQN has told Baradar to back off as they won Kabul and have dominant control of the Afghan capital. Mullah Yaqoob is still in Kandahar and there is utter confusion over government formation with ultra-conservative traditional Taliban elements who do not want to give up filial ties with Al Qaeda coming to the fore,” said a Kabul observer according to Hindustan Times.

Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the chief promoter of Taliban and Director General of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is in Kabul to settle the conflicting strategies that go in accordance with the Haqqani Network. Ambiguous reports shows that the appointment of Pakistani Army personnel in mufti to serve the anti-resistance proceedings in the Panjshir Valley have begun.

In association with China and Russia, the Taliban network is forging the Panjshir resistance and fighting without international aid. As most neighbouring Central Asian Republics are approaching for peace and tranquillity with the Sunni Islamist network as stated and stamped by Moscow.

Taliban fighters fired weapons into the air in celebration, 17 Killed in Kabul

News Desk — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 12:07:11 +0000

On Friday night, the Taliban fired guns into the air to celebrate gains on the battlefield in Panjshir province, which still remains under the control of anti-Taliban fighters. After Taliban fighters fired weapons into the air in celebration. At least 17 people have been killed in Kabul.

One Taliban commander quoted by saying “By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are in control of entire Afghanistan. The troublemakers have been defeated and Panjshir is now under our command.” Taliban fighters had taken Panjshir Valley the final holdout is in search to seize Afghanistan said Sources of the Taliban to news agency Reuters on Saturday.

However, resistance leaders Ahmad Massoud, who is leading the rebels denied the claim to Reuters by saying, “News of Panjshir conquests is circulating on Pakistani media. This is a lie.”

As per the TOLO news report, former president Hamid Karzai in a statement has asked the Taliban and the “resistance front” in Panjshir to stop the fighting and resolve their issues through talks.

The group’s co-founder and head of political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar would lead the new government in Afghanistan. Whereas senior positions in the government would be held by the co-founder of the Taliban, Mullah Omar’s son Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai. The religious matter and governance will be seen by the Taliban’s supreme religious leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Taliban sources said to other news.

China has advantage in Taliban ruled Afghanistan with Pak support

News Desk — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 11:07:22 +0000

Today, the Director-General of ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed reached Kabul seemingly to assist in Taliban government formation after sorting out internal differences between the Mullah Yaqoob and Kabulites led Kandaharis under Sirajuddin Haqqani.

The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was asked this week whether the Taliban was the enemy, the Joe Biden’s assistant said, “It was hard to put on a label on it, partly because we (US) are yet to see what they will be now that they are in complete control of Afghanistan.”

Under the 1267 UNSC committee including the projected president of the Emirates, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and more than 120 of its top leaders are listed as global terrorists. The democratic world is dealing with a strange situation in the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan where the ruling Taliban is neither a UN nor a US-designated terrorist entity. All global terror entities under the UN 1267 committee and US State Department, the al Qaeda, Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have sworn allegiance (bayat) to the Taliban and its supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akundzada. When engaging the Taliban without breaking its policy of not negotiating with terrorists and terror organizations the democratic world is playing with semantics. By throwing the moral principles book out of the window, countries like China and the United Kingdom have sought the support of the mentor of Pakistan to engage the Taliban.

The Pakistani super spy Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, DG, ISI, reached Kabul today, as the Taliban holding the announcement of the new Afghan government. According to Kabul watchers, Gen Hameed will help the Taliban leadership to shed their differences and announce the government soon. Last July in China It was Rawalpindi, which had facilitated the meeting of Mullah Baradar and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

This year the real gainer of the military is China, a true practitioner of real Politics as it engages junta in Myanmar and Taliban in Afghanistan. On the other hand, the democratic world is still hoping that the Sunni Islamist group will give them an inclusive government window to legitimize.

As India has its pro-China regimes on the eastern and western borders, this poses a real threat to the country. As the Taliban affiliate groups trying to create internal trouble in Kashmir and the hinterland, India is faced with the Chinese increasing its already large footprint to Afghanistan and Central Asia through its friends in Russia and Iran.

By openly seeking economic ties with China rather than question them on the treatment of Sunni Uighurs in Xinjiang the Taliban has actually thrown the western calculations in the trash bin. On August 31, the Al Qaeda statement talked about liberating so-called Islamic lands all over the world including Palestine, Maghreb, Syria, and Kashmir but did not utter a word about the Xinjiang Uighurs. So the theory that Taliban 2.0 would turn against China due to unpleasant force in Xinjiang is stillborn.

It is quite visible that China will extend its Belt Road Initiative to Afghanistan and exploit its Lithium and Copper resources in return for infrastructure development by liking it to CPEC. This will allow China to not only move out Afghan minerals from Gwadar port in Balochistan but also through the Karakoram Highway. It will also have a close look at the left US military equipment including Black Hawk helicopters, IED proof all-terrain vehicles, tactical drones, area weapons, and body armor for reverse engineering.

Pakistani deep state will be used by China as a trump card in its engagement with the Taliban as the entire leadership of the Sunni Pashtun Islamists including Mullah Akhundzada, Mullah Yaqoob, and Sirajuddin Haqqani has been nurtured and nourished by Rawalpindi. As described by UK Chief of Defence Staff Gen Nick CarterThe British, who brokered a peace deal with the US in favor of the Taliban boys, are playing the same Pakistan card.

Google locks Afghan government accounts as Taliban seek emails: Source

News Desk — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 07:10:17 +0000

Google, which specializes in Internet-related services and products has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners, as per sources.

As per the report, the databases of Biometric and Afghan payroll might be exploited by the new rulers of the Taliban to tack their enemies.

On Friday in a statement, Alphabet Inc’s Google stopped short of confirming that Afghan government accounts were being locked down, “taking temporary actions to secure relevant accounts” as the company was monitoring the situation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban are seeking to acquire former officials’ emails, told one employee of the former government to Reuters.

The Taliban had also asked the employee to preserve the data held on the servers of the ministry he used to work during late last month.

The employee said, “If I do so, then they will get access to the data and official communications of the previous ministry leadership.”

“I did not act in accordance with them and have since gone into hiding. Reuters is not identifying the man or his former ministry out of concern for his safety” the employee added.

According to the Publicly available mail exchange records, The ministries of finance, industry, higher education, and mines, and some two dozen Afghan government bodies used Google’s servers to handle official emails. Google was also used by Afghanistan’s office of the Presidental.

Information regarding employees of the former administration, ex-ministers, government contractors, tribal allies, and foreign partners could be provided by Commandeering government databases and emails.

Chad Anderson, a security researcher with internet intelligence firm DomainTools who helped Reuters identify which ministries ran which email platform, citing reports of reprisals against government workers he said, “It would give a real wealth of information, by just even having an employee list on a Google Sheet is a big problem.”

Microsoft Corp’s email services were also used by several Afghan government agencies, including the ministry of foreign affairs and the presidency but it isn’t clear what steps if any, the software firm is taking to prevent data from falling into the hands of the Taliban, showed the mail exchanger records.

Whereas Microsoft declined to comment anything.

“The Taliban’s attempt to control U.S.-built digital infrastructure was worth keeping an eye on. Intelligence has drawn from that infrastructure, maybe far more valuable to a fledgling government than old helicopters,” said Anderson.

Fierce fighting in Panjshir; the final holdout against Taliban control – hangs in the balance

News Desk — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 06:58:24 +0000

The fate of Afghanistan’s Panjshir valley -the final holdout from Taliban control- persists the balance as serious fighting continues from each side. Even once the Taliban claimed that it’s taken “full control” of Afghanistan by capturing Panjshir, the Resistance fighters aforesaid they’re battling and have denied the capture.

The Resistance includes former Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan force members, and native militias. each side is claiming to own gained the higher hand. Saleh has additionally laid-off claims that he had fled, however has said that this scenario was “difficult”, the BBC reported.

The Resistance – which has former Afghan force members and native militias – is LED by local social group leader Ahmad Massoud. His father with success fought the Soviets who invaded within the 1980s, and also the Taliban in the 1990s. In a very video message sent to the BBC, Saleh, a former vice-president of Afghanistan, aforesaid there had been casualties on each side. He said, “There is not any doubt we tend to are in a troublesome situation. We tend to are below invasion by the Taliban”.

Further, he added- “We won’t surrender, we are standing for Afghanistan.” He said he was sharing the video to assure those reports suggesting that he had left the country were false. The fighting in Panjshir is rumoured to own left a whole bunch dead. The valley, north of the capital Kabul, Afghanistan’s smallest province and also the just one to not have fallen to the Taliban.

The normal anti-Taliban defence is home to somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 folks and is hidden behind mountain peaks in a sturdy position. Ali Nazari, an advocator for the National Resistant Front (NRF) fighters, told BBC World News that the rebels had pushed the Taliban on the back foot. “There are run out a number of hundred Taliban who is trapped and that they are running out of munitions and they are negotiating terms of surrender right currently,” he said.

However, Taliban officers are claiming to end within the area, with one commander telling a number one media outlet: “By the grace of God Almighty, we tend to are up to a speed of entire Afghanistan. The troublemakers have been defeated and Panjshir is now below our command.” The Taliban once usurping Afghanistan is now in control of the remainder of the country and are expected to announce a replacement government within the coming back days.

On Friday the European Union and the UK joined the United States in oral communication they’re going to cope with the religionist group, however won’t acknowledge them as Afghanistan’ government. The EU also aforesaid it had been about to re-establish a diplomatic presence in the national capital to administer evacuations and make sure that a new Afghan government fulfills commitments on problems together with security and human rights. however, its foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said any engagement would be subject to strict conditions and would solely be to support the Afghan people.

Mullah Baradar to lead new Afghanistan government: Taliban sources

News Desk — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 14:05:13 +0000

The head of the Taliban’s political office, Mullah Baradar will lead the new government in Afghanistan. On Friday, said three sources from the Islamist group.

Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who will take senior positions in the government, three sources said.

“All the top leaders have arrived in Kabul, where preparations are in final stages to announce the new government,” on the state of being anonymous one Taliban official told Reuters.

According to Souces, all the religious matters and governance within the framework of Islam will be defined by the Taliban’s supreme religious leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada.

While the Taliban have spoken of their desire to form a government with everyone’s agreement, a source close to the terrorist movement said the meantime government now being formed would consist solely of Taliban members.

The government would comprise 25 ministries, with a consultative council, or shura, of 12 Muslim scholars, the source added.

The source said, “Also being planned within six to eight months is a Loya jirga, or grand assembly, bringing together elders and representatives across Afghan society to discuss a constitution and the structure of the future government.”

All the sources expected the meantime government’s cabinet to be finalized soon but no one exactly knows when. As some sources are saying it would be settled later on Friday while others felt it would take until the middle of next week.

Naseeruddin Shah shares video message for those celebrating the victory of Taliban, says ‘celebrations of the barbarians is no less dangerous’

News Desk — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 06:37:12 +0000

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah took to social media platform and shared a video speaking criticizing, “sections of Indian Muslims celebrating the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan,” and deemed it rather dangerous for a developing society. In the video he brought out the distinction between ‘Hindustani Islam’ and what is practiced in other parts of the world.

As the videos of Taliban’s new dominant and restrictive rule towards Afghans are coming up, the actor said, “Even as the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is a cause for concern for the whole world, celebrations of the barbarians by some sections of Indian Muslims is no less dangerous,” He also urged people who are celebrating the oppressive and non-democratic rule to wait and question themselves,” if they want a reformed, modern Islam (jiddat pasandi modernity), or live with the old barbarism (vaishipan) of the past few centuries.”

Absolutely! 💯
Taliban is a curse! pic.twitter.com/Bs6xzbNZW8

— Sayema (@_sayema) September 1, 2021

Naseeruddin Shah didn’t balk from stating it frankly that Taliban is a curse and stated the difference between ‘Hindustani Islam’ and what is what is believed and practiced in the rest of the world. As debates are taking place on whether the new changes in Afghanistan are the new ways of the world or whether a situation raised because of political negligence, the actor added, “May God not bring a time when it changes so much that we cannot even recognize it” He mentioned his own personal belief in god and quoted, “I am an Indian Muslim and as Mirza Ghalib said years ago, my relationship with God is informal. I don’t need political religion.”

Taliban came to power in Afghanistan on August 15 even before US troops withdrew from the nation. The capital Kabul was seized and while the Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani fled the capital, the country was under oppressive and dominant e Times of IndiaTaliban rule.

Ready to launch strikes against ISIS-K in Afghanistan, says UK

News Desk — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 07:21:38 +0000

The UK is “ready” to launch strikes at the ISIS-K terror network in Afghanistan after the Pentagon revealed that there are at least 2,000 fighters of the outfit in the war-torn country.

The Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, dubbed Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K, had claimed responsibility for the deadly twin blasts at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul of which 169 Afghans and 13 American soldiers were killed on Thursday.

On Monday, Britain’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, told Daily Telegraph newspaper that the UK could be involved in strikes against ISIS-K.

Air Chief Marshal Mr Wigston said, “The UK stands united with our coalition partners in mourning those killed by Daesh’s (ISIS) horrific attack at Kabul airport and in our unwavering collective resolve to combat Daesh networks, by all means, available, wherever they operate.”

“If there’s an opportunity for us to contribute, I am in no doubt that we will be ready to. That will be anywhere where violent extremism raises its head and is a direct or indirect threat to the UK and our allies. Afghanistan is probably one of the most inaccessible parts of the world, and we’re able to operate there,” Wigston added.

Logistics for airstrikes, raising questions about where Royal Air Force (RAF) jets would be based, how they would refuel and how targets would be identified on the ground have been examined by the UK government officials, according to the newspaper.

“Ultimately what this boils down to is that we’ve got to be able to play a global role in the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh (ISIS), whether it’s strike, or whether it’s moving troops or equipment into a particular country, at scale, and at speed,” said Mr Wigston.

On Tuesday asked to reflect on the comments, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “while he would not go into “operational details”, the UK retains the right to exercise “self-defence” and that must include “in relation to terrorist groups operating from abroad”.

Mr Raab is among the signatories of a joint statement issued by the US-led coalition that previously targeted ISIS in Syria and Iraq, vowing to “draw on all elements of national power – military, intelligence, diplomatic, economic, law enforcement” to crush the terror group.

“The UK needs to face the “new reality” in Afghanistan and work with other nations to exercise a “moderating influence” on the Taliban and hold it to its pledge of safe passage for those who want to leave,” said the Minister.

“over 5,000 UK nationals were among more than 17,000 people evacuated by the UK from Afghanistan and that UK national still there were in the “low hundreds,” he added.

UK government does not recognize some claims that the UK asked for a gate at Kabul airport to be left open to assist its evacuations hours before last week’s suicide bombing – despite US military leaders wanting to close it to minimize the risk, restated Mr Raab.

Mr Raab told the BBC, “We did everything we could once we were alerted to the threat before the explosion took place to mitigate the risk.”

On Monday evening, in a draft resolution adopted under India’s presidency, the United Nations Security Council urged the Taliban to let people leave the country, and not to allow it to become a base for terrorism.

The resolution, drafted by the UK and France, was passed with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions – China and Russia.

On August 15, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan two weeks before the US’ complete troop withdrawal on August 31 after a costly two-decade war. This forced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country to the UAE.

In a matter of days, the Taliban insurgents suddenly attacked across Afghanistan and captured all major cities as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the US and its allies melted away.

Thousands of Afghan nationals and foreigners have run away from the country to escape the new Taliban regime and took shelter in different nations, including the US and many European nations, resulting in total chaos and deaths.

Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal meets senior Taliban leader in Doha

Shivya Kumar — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 05:20:24 +0000

Deepak Mittal an Indian Ambassador held a meeting in Qatar on Tuesday with a senior leader of the Taliban community in Doha. As per the statements launched by the Indian foreign ministry, it is the first-ever official meet between the two sides.

“Today, Ambassador of India to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the head of Taliban’s Political Office in Doha. The meeting took place at the Embassy of India, Doha, at the request of the Taliban side,” the statement said.

The core member of the number two Taliban negating committee Stanekzai is given the third position as a leader in accountability of other leaders in Qatar. Stanekzai has traded in the Indian military academy in Dehradun for many years starting from the early 1980s. Earlier he was taking part in foreign relations but now he is not part of the decision-making team in Kabul.

“Discussions focused on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan. The travel of Afghan nationals, especially minorities, who wish to visit India also came up,” the Indian foreign ministry said.

“Ambassador Mittal raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner,” the Indian statement said.

“The Taliban Representative assured the Ambassador that these issues would be positively addressed,” the statement added.

The meeting was held after 15 days the Taliban took over Kabul. It was also aligned after the US military troop completely retread back. The last US troop is said to have left Afghanistan on Monday.

As per reports, it was being said New Delhi was in touch with Taliabns but there was no official report. It was the senior official of Qatar — Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani – confirming that officials from New Delhi had met Taliban representatives in Doha.

Previously India was dicey about contacting Pakistan backed with Taliban. Though Pakistan bacon Taliban has encountered to be very interested in India as it would provide Islamabad with a very negotiable administration.
India’s association with the Taliban has come to rise with other counties such as Iran, Russia and China besides the US and the UK. With the US retreating, it forces all the economic counties to see Taliabns as a rising force currently in Afghanistan.

“According to the Ministry, the request to meet came from the Taliban side and it wouldn’t have made sense not to respond,” said former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal who noted that Stanekzai had recently made some positive comments vis a vis India.

The reference was to Stanekzai saying in a speech over the weekend that “India is very important for this subcontinent. We want to continue our cultural, economic and trade ties with India like in the past” – among other things.

With the US leaving Afghanistan, “India has no choice but to deal with the Taliban,” Sibal said adding that the “contract that has been made is for pragmatic reasons.”

“It does not amount to an establishment of normal relations or reopening of the embassy as conditions for doing business with the new government in Kabul is outlined in the UNSC statement,” he said pointing to references to abstain from reprisals and allowing Afghan women their rights in a resolution passed overnight Tuesday by the Security Council.

“As a first step this is pragmatic and necessary to protect our national interest,” Sibal said adding that there was “some way to go before India and others decide when to establish normal relations with a new government in Kabul.”

Afghanistan: Islamic State takes responsibility for rocket attack on Kabul airport

Sneha Sengupta — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 14:18:17 +0000

Nasher News stated on its Telegram network regarding the rocket shots fired at Kabul airport saying, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Kabul airport on Monday. “By the grace of God Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate targeted Kabul International Airport with six Katyusha rockets,” it added. A U.S. official said, anti-missile defences intercepted as many as five rockets fired at Kabul’s airport early on Monday.

Earlier today, rockets shots were fired on Kabul’s international airport on Monday after the U.S. delayed implementing its full military withdrawal from Taliban occupied Afghanistan. Reuters reported no recorded casualties post-attack and said no clarity about who fired the rockets, however adding that the Islamic State has ushered responsibility.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki averred in an official release that President Biden had been briefed on “the rocket attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport” (HKIA). “The President was informed that operations continue uninterrupted at HKIA, and has reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground,” Psaki added.

U.S. Central Command spokesperson, Capt. Bill Urban joined in with his views stating the officials that, “know” that the strike “disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat” to Kabul’s airport. He further mentioned that Pentagon is “aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike” and that officials were investigating this further.

The US president Joe Biden has launched another alert of warning claiming another terrorist attack on the Kabul Airport within the next 24 to 36 hours

Shivya Kumar — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 07:25:32 +0000

According to sources, the current condition of Afghanistan remains very troubled, with final evacuation accounted for 31 August. Numerous countries like Spain and UK have been said to rescued the residents of their country from Afghanistan. Estimates claim that about 1000 citizens have to be taken away before the troops are a retreat from the Kabul Airport. Finally, as the end of the longest initialisation is coming to an end of the US military, around 2000 individuals have driven away from the Kabul Airport in the last 24 hours. The evaluation claims that around 113500 individuals were rescued by the US militants since august 14.

The US president Joe Biden has launched another alert of warning claiming another terrorist attack on the Kabul Airport within the next 24 to 36 hours. The US embassy has also conjured the US citizens to evacuate the airport areas as soon as possible, due to an upcoming attack. As per the reports, the situation of Afghanistan continues to be at high risk, with a conflict of terror among the residents of the country. Biden quoted that he got the surveillance report of an estimated attack by the US commanders located in Afghanistan currently.

Stay tuned with us as we bring the latest updates on Afghanistan crisis.

Former Afghan envoy claims Pakistan’s involvement in Taliban’s birth to counter India

Shivya Kumar — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 06:15:25 +0000

A former Afghan envoy quoted that in an attempt to counter India, Pakistan has given rise to the Taliban.

Mahmoud Saikal, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan and Ambassador to the UN and Australia on Saturday tweeted, “According to @P_Musharraf, Pakistan gave birth to the Taliban to counter Indian action against it. @ImranKhanPTI believes the Taliban have broken the shackles of slavery. @SMQureshiPTI & @YusufMoeed are currently busy lobbying the world to engage with the Taliban.”

Mr Saikal also quoted The Sun in the Sky a paper title that collaborates the status between Pakistan’s ISI and Afghan agitators as written by Matt Waldman Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

The Afghan envoy also said in his tweet that a proper policy implementation and regulatory negation with Pakistan can help to implement peace and security globally.

Ties between ISIL-K, Taliban and al-Qaeda have been allocated as per UN reports.

The 12 reports by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN states that Al-Qaeda presides between the Afghanistan and Pakistan border. It also evaluates that a large number of Al-Qaeda supporters are in terms with the Taliban scattered in different regions of Afghanistan.

The group’s leader, Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri is also said to have accommodation between the Afghanistan and Pakistan region.

The Taliban reigns over Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent from the Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz Province. The members of this allegiance consist of Afghan and Pakistan royals and also people from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. With its current leader Osama Mahmood.

Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent having the leader Asim Umar has about 5000 Taliban prisoners were rescued by the Afghan government under Doha agreement in 2020.

“Couldn’t be real” : Afghan film director, Shahrbanoo Sadat on seeing Taliban troops in Kabul

Shubham Rai — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 17:49:38 +0000

Since the Taliban captured the capital city of Afghanistan on, Kabul things have gone berserk. The terrorist group Taliban gained control over Kabul on 15th August 2021 after the former Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Situations have gone worse with every single day. Several videos surfaced online of rush and chaos all over the Kabul Airport as people went to catch any flight to flee Afghanistan. This resulted in a stampede where some of them even lost their lives.

Not only common people but also Afghan celebrities left the country to save them from the havoc which the Taliban would cause. One of them was Afghan Filmmaker, Shahrbanoo Sadat who left for Dubai with her family along with a group of French people. She revealed the scenes which left her in shock when she witnessed the Taliban entering Kabul. She described, “we saw Taliban cars with white flags … and … we’re running,” Sadat told Reuters in an interview. “And that was for me like a moment of a movie that couldn’t be real because I was in the middle of Kabul.”

Talking about the fear and chaos at the Kabul airport she said, “(The Taliban) wanted to (make people queue) which was impossible because the crowd was pushing from all directions and Taliban were walking with cables and with guns and with even with (an) RPG,” But she was worried about people who couldn’t flee the country and now had to suffer the wrath of Taliban. She added, “I was lucky but this is not the situation for many people,” she said, referring to the crowds stranded at the airport. “They do not speak English, they are not a filmmaker, they don’t have any international friends and their life is in danger.”

Afghanistan: ISIS-K claims responsibility for twin blasts at Kabul airport

Shivya Kumar — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 06:56:22 +0000

US military to help out the Afghani residents to escape from the terrors of the Taliban rule. On Friday the Afghanis encountered a bomb attack after an Islamic state suicide ended up killing around 85 people alongside 13 US soldiers at the gates of the Kabul Airport. As per the reports, two blasts and gunfire was experienced on Thursday evening outside the airport. According to journalist videos dozen of dead bodies laid on the road. The estimates reports state that 72 Afghan citizens, 28 Taliban and 13 US officials were killed.

Islamic State (ISIS), an enemy of the Taliban as well as the West, said one of its suicide bombers targeted “translators and collaborators with the American army”. U.S. officials also blamed the group and vowed retribution.

General Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said U.S. commanders were on alert for more attacks by Islamic State, including possible rockets or vehicle-borne bombs targeting the airport.

“We’re doing everything we can to be prepared,” he said, adding that some intelligence was being shared with the Taliban and that he believed “some attacks have been thwarted by them.”

The US forces to evacuate the state by August 31 as a date given by President Joe Biden. Who claims that Biden has achieved its original goal by entering the country in 2001 and disclosed Qaeda militants and prevent the reoccurrence of September 11 attacks on the United States

“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said during televised comments from the White House.

A U.S. Central Command spokesperson said 18 soldiers wounded in the attack were “in the process of being aeromedical evacuated from Afghanistan on specially equipped C-17s with embarked surgical units”.

“We have lost more people than the Americans in the airport blast,” a Taliban official said, adding that the Taliban was “not responsible for the chaotic evacuation plan prepared by foreign nations”.

The United States would go ahead with departures regardless of the danger of additional assaults, McKenzie said, noticing that there were as yet about cycle 1,000 U.S. residents in Afghanistan.

The speed of departure flights had sped up on Friday and American visa holders had been permitted to enter the air terminal compound, said a Western security official positioned inside the air terminal.

In the previous 12 days, Western nations have cleared almost 100,000 individuals. In any case, they recognize that thousands will be left behind when the last U.S. troops leave toward the month’s end.

A few Western nations said the mass transport of regular folks was reaching a conclusion and declared their final soldiers had left the country.

Pakistan is second home for Taliban: Zabihullah Mujahid

Sneha Sengupta — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:27:53 +0000

On August 24, the Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid held a press conference, a landmark briefing to the media by the Taliban leader after its takeover in Afghanistan. He told the press that Pakistan is like a ‘second home’ for the association and henceforth it shall not engage in activities on Afghan soil that goes against the interest of its neighbouring country.

“Afghanistan shares its borders with Pakistan. We are traditionally aligned when it comes to religion. So we look forward to further deepening of ties with Pakistan,” Mujahid said. He further added that “Pakistan had no role to play in the Taliban’s bid to capture Afghanistan, and has never interfered in their affairs.”

While addressing the ARY News, Mujahid averred that Afghanistan wanted to maintain good ties with all countries, including India. “We hope that India devises its policy keeping the interests of Afghans in mind,” he said. Zabihullah Mujahid further added that Pakistan has no role to play in Taliban’s offensive to capture Afghanistan, saying the neighbouring country has never “interfered” in their affairs.

He focused on the ties between India and Afghanistan and asserted that “Afghanistan wants to maintain good ties with all countries, including India.” He also appealed India and Pakistan to resolve differences. “We hope that India will take into account the interests of Afghans when formulating policies,” he added.

“Afghanistan and Pakistan share a border. When it comes to religion, we are traditionally linked, and the people of both countries mingle. As a result, we are looking forward to strengthening our connections with Pakistan. ” quoted Pakistan-based ARY News by stating Mujahid’s words.

On the probability of terrorist movements emerging in Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman averredImage , “We have previously stated that our soil will not be utilised against any other country. In this regard, our policy is crystal clear. ISIS does not have a presence in Afghanistan. ”

Afghan reporter REJECTS reports of his death, says ‘I was beaten by Taliban’

Vandana Nampoothiri — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 06:56:34 +0000

Ziar Khan Yaad, reporter of Afghanistan’s leading news channel Tolo News on Thursday clarified that reports of his deaths were false and that he was beaten by Taliban for unknown reasons. The false report about this death was first published on Tolo News website.

“I was beaten by the Taliban in Kabul’s New City while reporting. Cameras, technical equipment and my personal mobile phone have also been hijacked. Some people have spread the news of my death which is false. The Taliban got out of an armored Land Cruiser and hit me at gunpoint,” the reporter tweeted.

https://twitter.com/ziaryaad/status/1430769985702535170?s=20

“I still don’t know why they behaved like that and suddenly attacked me. The issue has been shared with Taliban leaders; however, the perpetrators have not yet been arrested, which is a serious threat to freedom of expression,” he further added.

Speaking about the latest incident of violence against journalists in Afghanistan, Parviz Aminzadeh, deputy head of the Parwan Journalists’ Association told Tolo News that Kabul has been a source of concern for journalists ever since Taliban seized control of the country. Journalists in Afghanistan have urged officials to investigate the matter.

Ahmadullah Wasiq, the deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission told Tolo News, “The Kabul Command has assured that it is investigating this” and further added that if there is a problem for journalists, they will try to address it.

This is not the first instance of attack against journalists. Last week, a relative of a DW journalist was killed by Taliban while raiding his house. In July, Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed by the insurgent group in Kandahar.

Taliban Controlled Afghanistan: Afghan Singer Aryana Sayeed Recalls Her ‘heartbreaking’ Kabul Airport Escape

News Desk — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 08:43:13 +0000

Aryana Sayeed, Afghan Pop-Star, who recently managed to flee from the country, recalled her experience of ‘absolute chaos’ at the Kabul airport.

Several images and videos since the insurgence in Afghanistan have shaken the world to its core; Brutal force used on protestors, Women being harrowed for smallest of things, people asking for help to media personnel’s and showing their documents and certificates to have a slim chance to escape the country.

Aryana Sayeed calls herself ‘lucky’ that she had a UK passport and was able to flee the country. During her 24th August interview with NDTV she recalled her ‘heartbreaking’ experience of ‘absolute chaos and people pleading to get out of the country’.

“The day I had the flight out of Kabul, the Taliban were already all over the place. It was horrifying to see thousands rush to the airport… There was absolute chaos at the airport. Children were crying, people piled on top of each other. There was no space, no air to breathe. It was heartbreaking” Ms. Sayeed said describing the scene of her escape.

Scene outside #Kabul airport.

Thousands of Afghans standing in sewage outside gates.

Tens of thousands still coming here in a desperate attempt to flee the country and escape Taliban rule.

Courtesy photo. pic.twitter.com/BaJENITAeM

— Frud Bezhan (@FrudBezhan) August 24, 2021

She also remembered a woman with a baby in her hand rushing towards her as she was about to board the plane, “She was screaming and crying and she gave me the baby, as I was about to go inside, asking me to take the baby with me.”

“But I thought how can I separate a baby from its mother? I asked the soldier if we can take both of them with us. But, unfortunately, the soldiers could not,” she said, crying and adding that she than handed the baby back to the mother.

Taliban has made many promises, the group’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said last week that women will have rights but stressed at every point that it will be in accordance with Islamic Law.

Over the future prospect of women under Taliban law, The singer said, “I do not believe the Taliban. I am sure they will go back to reality and who they are. I hope the world can hold them accountable for what they are saying, In the hands of Taliban, there will be no future for Afghan women.”

With teary eyes she also said that she is, “disappointed because Afghanistan has been let down by the world.” She also added by the end of the interview that, “India is completely opposite to Pakistan for us. Pakistan is trying to spread terrorism in Afghan while India is helping bring peace, harmony and love.”

India has so far evacuated 800 people from unstable conditions of Taliban held Afghanistan.

Afghan refugees protest outside UNHCR office in New Delhi

Shivya Kumar — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 06:50:22 +0000

As the terror of the Taliban increases in Afghanistan, the refugees rescued by the Indian authorities were left at the onset of trouble and started to protest outside the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees in Vasant Vihar on August 23.

The refugees revolted outside the UN office with support letters and asking the officials to move to other countries for better advancements. The crowd shouted slogans like “We want future”, “We want justice”, “No more silence” and held banners with quotes saying “UN Geneva help Afghan Refugees” and “Issue resident visas to all Afghan refugees”. These migrants protested outside the organisation of international affairs to seek their help.

The protesters continued their revolts until late afternoon which was formulated by the Afghan Solidarity Committee. The people came from Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, Bhogal, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad.
The supporters wore a blue armband to regulate their request while women and children sang Afghan songs. Most of the individuals who were said to be protesting came to India 10 years and still hadn’t received the entitlement of refugees due to some complex official structure.

India isn’t a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. Starting in 2019, Afghans represented about 33% of the almost 40,000 evacuees enrolled in India, as indicated by the UN refugee organization however this figure avoids those not enlisted with the UN.

Calls for formal acknowledgement as outcasts in India have strengthened as of late, as expectations for a get back held by a huge number of Afghan evacuees were run by the Taliban’s incredibly quick takeover of the country. Many Afghans dread the Taliban will eradicate the additions, particularly for ladies, accomplished in a long time since the US-drove attack in 2001.

At the point when the aggressor bunch ran the country in the last part of the 1990s, they forced a brutal understanding of Islamic law, driving a sequestered life for some, especially ladies and young ladies who were illegal from schooling and most employment.

The Taliban currently try to introduce themselves as a more moderate power, offering absolution to the individuals who battled them and proclaiming the privileges of ladies would be respected under Islamic law however for some nonconformists, the greatest dread stayed the fate of ladies and children.

Taliban asks all ‘western forces’ to leave Afghanistan by August 31

Vandana Nampoothiri — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 06:27:57 +0000

In a Sky News interview on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman and negotiator Suhail Shaheen said that there will be consequences if the US delays withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan by August 31.

He said that “there would be consequences” if the US or UK asks for more time for the evacuation process.

Meanwhile, UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Sunday said that he will convene G7 leaders on Tuesday for urgent talks on the situation in Afghanistan. “It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis, and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years.” He said in a tweet.

I will convene G7 leaders on Tuesday for urgent talks on the situation in Afghanistan. It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 22, 2021

Speaking about the G7 meeting, US President Joe Biden said in a press statement on Monday, “”Our first priority is to complete the evacuation of our citizens and those Afghans who have assisted our efforts over the last 20 years – but as we look ahead to the next phase, it’s vital we come together as an international community and agree on a joint approach for the longer term.”

He also said that he called a meeting to coordinate the response to the “immediate crisis” and “to reaffirm our commitment to the Afghan people, and to ask our international partners to match the UK’s commitments to support those in need.”

The G7 meeting will be built on Biden’s call with leaders like Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, and Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Only good friend we have is India : Afghan pop star Aryana Sayeed after she escaped Kabul following Taliban’s capture

Shubham Rai — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 05:17:06 +0000

Since the Taliban captured Kabul it’s all gone crazy and scary in Afghanistan. Videos were surfaced online showing citizens of Afghanistan fleeing the country in any way possible. Flights were stacked with people like cargoes, some even clung to the wheels of aircraft. One of such people evacuating the country was the famous Afghan pop star, Aryana Sayeed. On Instagram, she revealed of taking a US Cargo to Doha and then a commercial flight to Istanbul back home. She was one of the lucky Afghans who were successful in leaving the country, many even lost their lives in the stampede at Kabul Airport.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝝠𝗥𝗬𝝠𝗡𝝠 𝗦𝝠𝗬𝗘𝗘𝗗 👑 آریانا سعید (@aryanasayeed)

Aryana had insane popularity in Afghanistan as a singer and composer. She was the judge of a singing reality show, Afghan Star. On successful evacuation, while speaking to ANI she expressed her love for India and how India has been a true friend of Afghanistan in difficult times. She said, “On behalf of entire Afghanistan, I want to express my utmost gratitude to India and I want to say thank you. Over the years we’ve realized that the only good friend amongst the neighbourhood we have is, India.”

During the conversation with ANI, she described Pakistan as the safe haven of the Taliban and accused them of interfering in Afghanistan politics. She added, “very time our govt would catch a Talib, they’d see identification & it’d be a Pakistani person, it’s very obvious that it’s them. I do blame them and I hope that they back off and don’t interfere in the politics in Afghanistan anymore.”

Taliban claims of retaking power in 3 northern districts captured by Afghan militias

News Desk — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 13:30:04 +0000

Taliban forces have recaptured three districts in northern Afghanistan that fell to local militia groups last week, a spokesman said on Monday.

The districts of Bano, Deh Saleh, Pul e-Hesar in Baghlan province were taken by local militia groups in one of the first signs of armed resistance to the Taliban since their seizure of the capital Kabul on Aug 15. By Monday, Taliban forces had cleared the districts and were established in Badakhshan, Takhar, and Andarab near the Panjshir valley, according to the Twitter account of spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Forces loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, have established themselves in the Panjshir valley, a mountainous area northwest of Kabul which resisted the Taliban before 2001.

Massoud, whose forces include remnants of regular army and special forces units, has called for negotiations to form an inclusive government for Afghanistan but has promised to resist if Taliban forces try to enter the valley.

Late on Sunday, the Taliban’s Alemarah information service said hundreds of fighters were heading towards Panjshir but there has been no immediate confirmation of any fighting.

Zabihullah Mujahid said the Salang Pass, on the main highway running from southern Afghanistan to the north, was open and enemy forces were blockaded in the Panjshir valley. But his statement suggested that there was no fighting for the moment. “The Islamic Emirate is trying to resolve the problems peacefully,” Zabihullah said.

Firefight broke out at Kabul airport between Afghan soldiers and unknown attackers, says Germany military

Vandana Nampoothiri — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 08:47:45 +0000

German Military on Monday said on Twitter that a firefight broke out between Afghan soldiers and unknown attackers. In the attack, an Afghan security soldier was killed and three others were wounded.

Heute Morgen um 04.13Uhr MESZ kam es am North Gate des Flughafens #Kabul zu einem Feuergefecht zwischen afghanischen Sicherheitskräften und unbekannten Angreifern. Eine afghanische Sicherheitskraft wurde dabei getötet, drei weitere verwundet. pic.twitter.com/4FLILE1NVA

— Bundeswehr im Einsatz (@Bw_Einsatz) August 23, 2021

The military also said that US and German forces were also involved in the battle and that German soldiers were unharmed.

According to CNN, a sniper outside the airport had fired at Afghan guards inside the facility and they had returned fire but U.S. forces had fired back at the Afghan guards. Two NATO officials told Reuters that the situation is under control all airport gates had been closed.

The firefight comes a day after seven people were killed in crowds near Kabul airport as thousands thronged to the airport to fly out of Afghanistan to escape Taliban rule.

A Taliban official told Reuters that foreign nations have not sought to extend the August 31 deadline to leave the country.

According to Sky News, tens of thousands of Afghans gathered at the airport where several people were crushed against the barricades.

Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15 ending a 20-year-old war with the USA. Nations have been trying to evacuate diplomats, foreign citizens and Afghans from the country, a process President Joe Biden described as “hard and painful.”

US Sikh Body claims around 260 people needs to be evacuated from Kabul Gurudwara

Sneha Sengupta — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 07:52:53 +0000

Around 260 Sikhs have taken shelter at Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul and seeking evacuation, a US Sikh body averred Sunday. “There are more than 260 Afghan citizens left at Gurudwara Karte Parwan in Kabul including women and over 50 children. This includes three newborns with one born yesterday,” United Sikhs said in a statement.

Till now, only India has sent aid for the evacuation of Afghan Sikhs after the capture of the country by the Taliban insurgents.

“We are in communication with governments in the United States, Canada, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Tajikistan, Iran and the United Kingdom among others,” the United Sikhs averred.

We are also in communication with international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations trying to support rescue efforts in Afghanistan. In addition, our teams are communicating with companies that can execute rescue efforts on the ground in Afghanistan,” it asserted.

According to the United Sikhs, the 10-kilometre drive to the international airport in Kabul from Gurdwara Karte Parwan through various checkpoints is one of the biggest challenges in the rescue efforts. Few Afghan minority members have unsuccessfully attempted to make this trip last week, it said.

“We are ready to go to the airport, but we fear the cancellation of evacuation flights from the Kabul airport. This is our only chance to take out the women, children, elderly, and infants from the country. Once current authorities capture the whole country it will be the end of our community,” averred Surbeer Singh from Jalalabad, a refuge at the Gurdwara.

Mike Pompeo slams Joe Biden for mishandling Afghanistan evacuation process

Vandana Nampoothiri — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 11:22:57 +0000

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday criticized President Joe Biden for his handling of the Afghanistan evacuation process calling it a “debacle of significant proportions.”

“Today, what President Biden said frankly made it worse. I didn’t hear a single thing from him today that would have given comfort to those families. There’s still no plan to get these Americans back. I didn’t hear a single thing that would give comfort to the very allies you spoke about,” he said in the Sean Hannity Show aired on Fox News.

He further added that the president did not say anything that would frighten the Taliban and make them believe that the “administration will post any cost on the group for their activities”.

“This is a debacle of significant proportions. We haven’t seen anything like this, the United States, in an awfully long time. America has the tools to fix this, our military could certainly figure out a way to go get these folks back and to destroy some of these billions of dollars in equipment that we left behind, but it’s going to take American resolve and leadership, and President Biden has refused to show this for the entire time,” he added.

On August 17, Joe Biden in a televised speech declared that he is planning to withdraw US troops from the country after 20 years. “After 20 years I have learned the hard way that there was no good time to withdraw US forces.”

He also blamed the Afghan administration for the current chaotic situation as many leaders including President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

Taliban co-founder reaches Kabul to unsettle Afghan government

Sneha Sengupta — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 13:58:02 +0000

Fitch Solutions said on Friday that “Afghanistan’s economy could shrink by as much as 20 per cent this year and its currency may slide further than it already has following the Taliban’s takeover.”

“It is likely that the economy will contract sharply this year,” Anwita Basu, head of Asia Country Risk at Fitch Solutions – the analysis and research arm of Fitch Group – told Reuters. “Countries facing similar circumstances like Myanmar and Syria have seen their GDPs collapse by around 10-20%, which can’t be ruled out for Afghanistan too.”

Till then, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has raised concerns over the ongoing distorted situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured the country after a brisk discussion.

“UNDP joins the call of millions of Afghans and others around the world for peace, respect for human rights, and access to development assistance for all in Afghanistan– irrespective of their gender, religion, ethnic background, professional affiliation or political beliefs,” UNDP averred in a statement.

The Taliban established their sudden take over across the country as U.S.-led forces went back, incidentally coinciding with what German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday said was the “breathtaking collapse” of the Afghan army. Since the attack, thousands have gathered in the Kabul airport, to evacuate themselves to safer places. Western nations are therefore ramping up the evacuation pace to migrate the stranded people from Afghanistan.

Reports of abduction of Indians in Afghanistan is fake: Government sources

Sneha Sengupta — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 13:52:02 +0000

The reports of abduction of about 150 Indian citizens are false and all of them are safe, reported by CNN News18 by mentioning the top government sources.

Amidst the takeover by the Taliban over Afghanistan, reports appeared that around 150 Indian citizens were abducted by the Taliban insurgents from outside the airport gates of Kabul on August 21.

Zaki Daryabi from Etilaatroz and presently working for Kabul Now, has claimed that Indians were abducted from the airport in Kabul. But he said that they were safe and kept in a garage near the airport. “All #Indians are safe, and the people who took them collecting their passports and checking them and investigating. a source told @Etilaatroz abductors told them that all will move back to the #kabulairport. now they are in a garage close to the #kabulairport (sic),” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, fourteen people were arrested from across Assam for alleged social media posts supporting the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, police said on the day. The arrests were made on August 20 night and they have been booked under different sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, IT Act and CrPC, a senior police officer averred.

“We were on alert and monitoring social media for inflammatory posts,” the officer said. Two people each were arrested from Kamrup Metropolitan, Barpeta, Dhubri and Karimganj districts, police said. One person each was arrested from Darrang, Cachar, Hailakandi, South Salmara, Goalpara and Hojai districts, they said.

Deputy Inspector General Violet Baruah said the Assam Police is taking stern legal action against pro-Taliban comments on social media that are harmful to national security.

Afghanistan: IAF C-130J lifts 85 Indians from Kabul

Vandana Nampoothiri — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 08:48:36 +0000

An Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft on Saturday took off from Kabul with 85 Indians, as part of the evacuation process that commenced after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, ANI reported.

“An Indian Air Force C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians. The aircraft landed in Tajikistan for refuelling. Indian government officials are helping in the evacuation of Indian citizens on the ground in Kabul,” sources told ANI.

IAF had already evacuated 180 Indians from Afghanistan. Earlier, India had also rescued consulate members from Kandahar, before the Taliban took control of the city. The Indian officials from the Kandahar consulate had later stationed themselves in the Kabul embassy and were overseeing work from there, ANI reported.

Panic gripped people as the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15. Soon after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country to ‘avoid bloodshed. People in a desperate attempt to flee the country clung to a US military plane.

Taliban in their first press conference after taking control of the country said that they will not inflict any harm on embassy officials and foreign citizens. They also declared a ‘general amnesty’ for government officials who were urged to return to the offices. They also assured that women’s rights will be protected.