8am: Local sources in Faryab say that unknown gunmen have killed two people, including a Taliban fighter, in this province. It is said that this Taliban fighter had gone to the Arab-Aqsa area of Pashtunkot district for fun with a teenager who was a student at a religious school. Click here to read more (external link).
Pakistan will harm if it imposes further punishment on Imran Khan, former US envoy warns
Khalilzad
Khaama: In a series of tweets, Khalilzad noted, “There are indications that Pakistan’s parliament, which is controlled by the governing coalition, might ask the Supreme Court to disqualify Imran Khan from running for election and even prohibit PTI in the next few days.” Khalilzad said, “The government appears to have decided to set up Imran Khan as enemy number one of the State. Such steps will only deepen Pakistan’s political, economic, and security crises. Already, some countries have suspended planned investments”, he said. He further warned Pakistani politicians that amid political chaos, political polarization, and violence, intends to punish PTI may worsen the current situation in the country. Click here to read more (external link).
Strong Earthquake Rattles Pakistan, Afghanistan
AP: A magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled much of Pakistan and Afghanistan on March 21, killing at least two people and sending panicked residents fleeing from homes and offices. More than 100 people were brought to hospitals in the Swat valley region of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in a state of shock, Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency services told the Associated Press. Click here to read more (external link).
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Updates
Picking Up The Pieces
Destroyed Buddha Statue
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: The recent past has not been kind to Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic heritage. Will history repeat itself under the new Taliban government? Just months before the Taliban was ousted from power in 2001, the hard-line Islamist group took a wrecking ball to Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic history. That spring, the Bamiyan Buddhas that had stood tall for more than 1,400 years were reduced to rubble over the course of a few weeks after Taliban fighters blasted them with artillery before finishing them off with dynamite. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan: the national women’s football team that isn’t
DW: Afghanistan’s former internationals continue to play football together — in Australian exile. The sport’s global goverining body, FIFA, has so far denied them recognition as the Afghan national team. The team is “like a second family in a strange country,” defender Fatima Mursal Sadat tells DW. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan Girls Going Back to School is ‘Primary Concern’, Says Former President
Hamid Karzai
Khaama: In an interview with Canada’s CBC TV, the former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, said on Monday that allowing girls to return to school is the Afghan people’s ‘primary concern’. He said banning women’s education is a very serious issue for Afghanistan and the children in our country. He emphasized that “education is the foundation of a country’s well-being, not only for Afghanistan but for every other society as well, and our effort has been intensely increased to bring back our girls to school, not only secondary and high school, but university and the workplace as well, said Karzai.” Click here to read more (external link).
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No Support for Victims of Badakhshan Earthquakes from Aid Agencies
8am: Insecurity, economic hardship, and political instability in Afghanistan are compounded by natural disasters that affect the country and its people annually. Badakhshan province in the northeast has experienced a number of severe earthquakes over the past three months, resulting in the destruction of homes and the loss of life. Those whose homes were destroyed or who lost family members in the earthquakes have yet to receive assistance from any aid agency and are in need of help. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – March 21, 2023
Lebanon and Afghanistan named unhappiest countries in the world
Ariana: According to the annual World Happiness Report, Afghanistan (ranked 137) and Lebanon (ranked 136) are the two unhappiest countries. According to the survey, Finland remained in the top position for the sixth year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel, and the Netherlands. In contrast, Afghanistan and Lebanon remained the unhappiest countries, preceded by Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Congo. Click here to read more (external link).
UNICEF: 800,000 Women and Girls Are Malnourished in Afghanistan
8am: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan has said that acute malnutrition among women and teenage girls in Afghanistan has increased by 50 percent. On Monday, UNICEF published a videotape of Ziva Moreira, nutrition consultant of UNICEF’s South Asia regional office, saying that the number of these mothers and teenage girls reaches more than 800,000. It should be mentioned that with the Taliban’s domination of Afghanistan, unemployment and poverty in this country spread in an unprecedented manner. Click here to read more (external link).