Afghanistan International: The protesters told Afghanistan International that mining workshops belonging to low-income individuals have been shut for about a month, while sites linked to powerful figures continue to operate. They alleged that those workshops had obtained permission to extract minerals by paying bribes to the Taliban. According to the protesters, the situation has left
The Guardian (UK): Students are required to attend religious lectures and pray in public every day, sometimes for two hours at a time, says Hashmat. The lectures are about Islam, conduct and obedience. They are not optional. In some cases, he says, they are held during time that would otherwise be used for regular academic
Afghanistan International: Sources in Badakhshan told Afghanistan International that Taliban army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat is trying to persuade dissident commander Juma Khan Fateh to travel to Kabul for further talks with the group’s leadership. According to the sources, Fitrat and his delegation have been holding talks with Fateh in Faizabad since Sunday in an effort
Amu: Abdullah Rahimi, a former deputy director of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security in Ghor province, was shot dead while attending evening prayers at a mosque near his home in the Taywara district of Ghor on Saturday, according to local sources. Rahimi is the third former member of Afghanistan’s security forces reported killed in Ghor
NPR: Across Afghanistan, smartphones have become part of a fragile support system. Families use them to consult doctors remotely, arrange transport to distant clinics, send photos of wounds and symptoms, ask relatives for money, document abuse and reach schooling that is no longer available in person to many girls and women. That fragile network is
Amu: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that militant groups are crossing into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Afghanistan to carry out attacks, as senior Pakistani officials renewed pressure on the Taliban over a worsening security dispute between the neighboring countries. Speaking during a visit to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, Sharif said militants were
Afghanistan International: The Taliban on Friday, July 10, again detained several women on Herat for allegedly failing to comply with the group’s dress code. Sources said two Taliban morality police patrol vehicles took several women to an undisclosed location. Sources told Afghanistan International that at least two patrol vehicles belonging to the Taliban’s Ministry for
Afghanistan International: A new survey suggests around 75 per cent of respondents are dissatisfied with the Taliban. Some participants identifying themselves as lower-ranking Taliban members also criticised corruption, nepotism and appointments within the group. Zawia News published the survey on Tuesday under the title, How satisfied are you with the Taliban, and to what extent
8am: Several Kabul residents are complaining about the repeated release of thieves detained by the Taliban. They say that detained individuals are released after a short period and resume their criminal activities. According to residents, these individuals are released in exchange for payments made to the Taliban, and in some cases, individuals affiliated with the
Afghanistan International: Taliban official Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi dismissed Donald Trump’s remarks about retaking Bagram Air Base, saying the former US president would regain the base “only in his dreams”. He said Bagram would remain under Taliban control. Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the Taliban’s deputy minister for publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, made the