Afghanistan International: Documents reviewed by Afghanistan International indicate that members of the Taliban have cooperated in the legal proceedings leading to a request for the arrest of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, its chief justice. It remains unclear what ranks and positions these Taliban members hold or how they
Amu: A group of unidentified hackers has carried out a rare cyberattack on Taliban databases, leaking documents from 21 ministries and government agencies. The leaked records, published online, suggest that the Taliban has imprisoned approximately 1,400 women and more than 16,000 men. According to the documents, Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has also banned overseas academic
Tolo News: Alan Pughsley, a former senior commander of the British police, has criticized the slow pace of the investigation into war crimes committed by the UK’s special forces in Afghanistan. Alan Pughsley, who was responsible for investigating “Operation Northmoor” conducted by British special forces in Afghanistan in 2014, stated that a three-year delay in
Amu: Local sources alleged that Abdullah Sarhadi, the Taliban governor of Bamiyan, coerced and threatened members of the Shia community in the province to denounce the ICC’s actions. According to reports, Sarhadi contacted several Shia elders in Bamiyan, instructing them to publicly condemn the ICC prosecutor’s request. Click here to read more (external link).
Michael Hughes: Restrictions on gender expression are, sadly, a daily occurrence in most countries around the world, including the United States. President Donald Trump, in fact, in an executive order on his first day in office declared the U.S. government would only recognize the sex assigned to a person at birth. Tragically, this is where
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal and RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi January 24, 2025 Afghan rights groups have applauded the International Criminal Court’s announcement that it is seeking arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials for allegedly persecuting Afghan women and girls, an accusation the Taliban-run Foreign Ministry called “baseless.” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement on January 23 that
Afghanistan International: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Thursday said that he was seeking arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women, a crime against humanity. Karim Khan said that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Taliban’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and the group’s Supreme Court’s chief justice
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 19, 2025 Islamabad — A senior Taliban leader has publicly criticized his government’s policy of prohibiting female education in Afghanistan, calling it a “personal choice” rather than an interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. The rare public rebuke from Sher Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban deputy foreign minister, comes amid persistent international
Afghanistan International: According to research by Afghanistan International – Pashto, detainees at the Taliban’s intelligence Agency prisons are subjected to 31 different types of torture during their custody. This research is based on interviews with 38 individuals who had been detained and tortured by the agents of the Taliban’s intelligence agency. It also includes data
Tolo News: The Russian foreign ministry has accused Britain and other NATO member states of concealing war crimes and imposing restrictions on investigating war crimes committed by their forces in Afghanistan. Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that existing evidence demonstrates brutal actions by NATO member states against Afghan civilians. She said: