8am: With the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan, students’ interest in continuing their education under the rule of this group has significantly declined. Sources from public universities confirm that around 50% of students have dropped out. According to these sources, even science-related disciplines have faced more than a 50% dropout rate. One informed source states that in one university, the number of students in mathematics and physics programs has dwindled to just five. At the same time, sources confirm that there is currently an imbalance between student enrollment and the availability of faculty and specialized staff in universities. If the situation persists, universities will soon be emptied of students, with only Taliban-affiliated clerics remaining in these institutions. Students cite an uncertain future, lack of financial resources, concerns over job opportunities, the Taliban’s strong support for religious school clerics, and the group’s disregard for modern knowledge and expertise as reasons for their dropout. Some students have also left due to Taliban threats and retaliatory actions against themselves and their families, leading them to migrate. Click here to read more (external link).
Khalilzad Cautions Anti-Taliban Leaders Against Pakistani Intelligence Influence
Khalilzad
Afghanistan International: Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, has responded to reports of meetings between Pakistani intelligence officials and Afghan political leaders in Türkiye, warning them against becoming pawns of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Khalilzad stated that Pakistan’s security apparatus is likely attempting to use these leaders as leverage in negotiations with the Taliban to extract concessions, only to abandon them later—an experience some have faced in the past. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – February 3, 2025
Pakistan sets deadline for Western nations to relocate Afghan allies
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 3, 2025
Islamabad — Pakistan has decided to deport thousands of Afghan nationals if Western countries, including the United States, do not relocate them as promised for resettlement abroad by the end of March, officials confirmed Monday.
The individuals in question took refuge in Pakistan after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, primarily seeking shelter from potential retribution due to their affiliations with the U.S. and NATO forces.
Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan recently reported that “almost 80,000” Afghans have so far been “taken by various countries for resettlement, and around 40,000 are still in Pakistan.” They reportedly include an estimated 15,000 Afghans to be approved for resettlement in the U.S.
Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif led a meeting in Islamabad to discuss the status of nearly three million Afghan refugees residing in the country, including documented and undocumented refugees, economic migrants, and those who are awaiting resettlement to a third country.
A post-meeting document seen by VOA on Monday outlines a multi-stage repatriation plan, requiring authorities to move “Afghan nationals bound for 3rd country resettlement” out of the Pakistani capital and adjacent garrison city of Rawalpindi by March 31, 2025. It did not elaborate.
Sharif directed the foreign ministry “to ensure coordination with foreign [diplomatic] missions for their relocation, including to their intended destinations, failing which they will also be repatriated to Afghanistan.”
The U.S. and allied troops withdrew from Afghanistan just days after the Taliban swept back to power in Kabul three-and-a-half years ago. The withdrawal ended a nearly two-decade-long U.S. involvement in the Afghan war, with coalition forces also evacuating tens of thousands of Afghan allies with a pledge to resettle them abroad. Many of them were airlifted and transported to Pakistan temporarily.
Last month, new President Donald Trump’s administration announced the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admission Program, saying the pause was intended to assess whether reinstating the program serves the interests of Washington. The announcement further complicated the Afghans’ already slow and complex relocation process.
Under the Pakistani plan, Sharif has also directed authorities to immediately relocate all legal Afghan migrants, including those without residential permits, from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and repatriate them to Afghanistan. Although specific figures were not provided, official estimates indicate that the number of migrants with legal status in Pakistan exceeds 800,000 holding the Afghan Citizen Card, or ACC.
The official document outlining the deportation stages emphasized that no public announcement should be made regarding the planned deportations of Afghans, and it “shall be ensured that they do not return once repatriated.”
Pakistani authorities have already forced more than 800,000 undocumented Afghans out of the country since launching an official crackdown on foreign immigrants lacking documents or visas in late 2023.
Pakistan is home to more than one million Afghans recognized by the United Nations as lawfully registered refugees, holding a Proof of Registration, or POR, card. The Sharif government has granted POR cardholders permission to remain in Pakistan until June 30, 2025. These families primarily consist of those who escaped decades of war, persecution, and the previous Islamist Taliban regime in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
The majority of the lawful refugees are either born or raised in Pakistan and are hesitant to return to a country that feels unfamiliar to them, according to officials from the U.N. refugee agency.
Moreover, the U.N. says that years of conflicts, natural disasters, and deepening economic troubles after the Taliban takeover have worsened a long-running humanitarian crisis in poverty-stricken Afghanistan. Aid agencies estimate that more than half of the Afghan population require some assistance, which is a significant factor in discouraging refugees from returning home.
The Taliban’s sweeping restrictions on Afghan women’s access to employment, education, and public life at large, in line with their strict interpretation of Islamic law, have also deterred refugee families from leaving Pakistan.
Senior Taliban Official Warns Against Blind Obedience To Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai
Afghanistan International: Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, has urged officials within the group not to follow their leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, in a manner that accords him a “prophetic or divine status.” In a newly released audio recording, Stanekzai called on Taliban members to refrain from “worshipping” their leader. The exact timing of the remarks remains unclear, but in the recording, he encourages Taliban officials to reject orders that contradict Islamic teachings. Addressing Akhundzada directly, he stated: “We cannot destroy our country for your sake.” Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Taliban’s ban on door-to-door polio vaccinations linked to surge in cases: AAN
Child getting polio drops (file photo)
Amu: The Taliban’s decision to ban door-to-door polio vaccinations in Afghanistan has contributed to a rise in reported cases of the disease, according to a new report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN). The report states that after twice pausing the national polio vaccination program in 2024, the Taliban resumed the campaign for children under five in late October but restricted vaccinations to mosques and village centers, rather than allowing health workers to visit homes. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – February 2, 2025
Afghanistan’s Muay Thai fighter defeats Chinese opponent in Bangkok tournament
Amu: Afghanistan’s Muay Thai fighter Qahraman Shaheen secured a victory over Wang Yu of China in a bout held in Bangkok, Thailand. The fight, which took place Saturday night, ended with Shaheen overpowering his opponent with heavy strikes. Click here to read more (external link).
AFF Claims Responsibility For Attack On Taliban In Takhar
Afghanistan International:.On Sunday, 2 February, the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that its fighters had attacked the entrance gate of the Taliban police headquarters in Takhar the previous evening. According to the group, five Taliban members were killed, and three others were injured in the attack. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban decry US claims about frozen Afghan assets
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 1, 2025
ISLAMABAD — Taliban officials denounced Saturday claims that the United States could regain custody of Afghanistan’s frozen central bank funds, warning that any such action would be “unacceptable.”
The Taliban-led Ministry of Economy issued the warning in response to the latest quarterly report released to the U.S. Congress on Friday stating that the government in Kabul is not recognized by Washington and has been subjected to economic sanctions.
In August 2021, when Taliban insurgents retook control of the country just days before the withdrawal of all American and NATO troops, then-President Joe Biden froze about $7 billion in assets that were held in the U.S. by the Afghan central bank. Additionally, European countries froze around $2 billion.
Washington subsequently transferred half of the frozen funds, amounting to $3.5 billion, to a newly established “Afghan Fund” in Switzerland. That fund is intended to support humanitarian assistance in impoverished Afghanistan while ensuring that the Taliban cannot access the money, but no payments have since been released.
The remaining $3.5 billion was retained in the U.S. to fund potential compensation for ongoing court cases against the Taliban, brought by families of the September 11, 2001, attack victims.
“With accrued interest, the fund has now grown to nearly $4 billion,” said the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in its report to Congress on Friday. “As part of the current review of foreign assistance, the administration and the Congress may want to examine returning these funds to the custody and control of the U.S. government,” it added.
“The Taliban want these funds even though they have no legal right to them since they are not recognized by the United States as the government of Afghanistan, are on the U.S. Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, and are under U.S. and U.N. sanctions,” the SIGAR stressed.
The agency referred to President Donald Trump’s order issued after his inauguration last month, which suspended almost all foreign aid for three months pending a review to determine what aligns with his “America First” policy.
The de facto Afghan ministry dismissed the objections, saying freezing central bank assets has undermined their national economy. It renewed Kabul’s call for the international community to return the more than $9 billion to the central bank, saying it belongs to the Afghan nation and can play a critical role in ensuring monetary and economic stability.
“Any action by the United States regarding the allocation, use, or transfer of these reserves is unacceptable,” the Taliban statement warned.
The SIGAR report argued that Washington has spent more than $3.7 billion in Afghanistan since withdrawing its troops from the country, saying most of that money went to U.N. and partner agencies delivering humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. It noted that another $1.2 billion remains available in the pipeline for possible disbursement.
However, the Taliban disputed the assertions and claimed that U.S. spending had no significant impact on the Afghan economy.
SIGAR said that the United States remains the largest donor to Afghanistan, where millions of people need humanitarian aid, according to U.N. assessments.
“While this assistance may have staved off famine in the face of economic collapse, it has not dissuaded the Taliban from taking U.S. citizens hostage, dismantling the rights of women and girls, censoring the media, allowing the country to become a terrorist safe haven, and targeting former Afghan government officials,” the U.S. agency wrote in the report.
Since retaking power three-and-a-half years ago, the hard-line Taliban have banned girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and suspended female university education across Afghanistan. Women are prohibited from visiting public places, such as gyms and parks. They must wear face coverings in public and have a chaperone for road or air travel.
The Taliban defend their policies, saying they are aligned with Islamic law, or Sharia, and Afghan culture, dismissing international criticism as an interference in the country’s internal affairs.
The sweeping restrictions on Afghan women and other human rights concerns, as well as the Taliban’s alleged ties with terrorist groups, have deterred the international community from granting legitimacy to the de facto Afghan government.