Tolo News: Minaret of Jam in Ghor province has been listed among cultural heritage sites of the Islamic world by the The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, referred to as (ICESCO). The Minaret of Jam’s isolated location may have prevented the monument from intentional destruction for nearly 900 years.
The minaret is believed to have been built between 1163 and 1203 during the reign of the Ghurid sovereign Ghyias-ud-Din. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 98 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,607 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The Health Ministry says the cumulative total of cases is 52,428, total of reported deaths is 2,195, and total recoveries is 41,901. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban militants (file photo)
Tolo News: Religious scholars and influential clerics from Afghanistan’s western provinces on Tuesday said that the Taliban’s narrative of establishing an Islamic political system in Afghanistan should not obstruct the peace process in the country. “The war is no longer justified, it has no meaning now, we must surrender to peace. The war is imposed on us by others, we all know it, the entire nation know about it, no one supports this war, even the Taliban do not want it, because this war has been imposed on the Taliban too, the government does not support it as well,” said Mawlavi Khudadad Saleh, the head of Herat Clerical Council. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban fighters (file photo)
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 29, 2020
ISLAMABAD – Afghanistan’s radical Taliban has angrily reacted to a rare fashion show held recently in Kabul, where young girls and boys, mostly in Western clothes, took part in the ramp walk.
In a commentary published on its official website, the Islamist insurgent group condemned last week’s event as a demonstration of “obscene Western culture” that “trampled all religious and Afghan values.”
Fashion shows are not uncommon in the war-ravaged country, but they have always featured male and female models in loosely fitted traditional Afghan dresses. The Taliban statement vowed to defend all religious and national cultural values.
“The aspirations of the proponents and viewers of the modeling show will be destroyed, God willing,” it warned.
Organizers of Saturday’s private show said it was arranged to select “Mr. and Miss Afghanistan 2020” from a group of 60 participants.
“The youth should be trained and introduced to the modeling world, as well as to TV and (the) movie industry in Afghanistan,” Afrasiab Arabzada, a show organizer, told the local TOLO television channel.
The Taliban introduced a harsh Islamic governance system in the country during its five-year-rule from 1996 to 2001. The group banned music and barred girls from receiving an education and women from working outdoors.
The controversy over the fashion show comes as the Taliban and representatives of the Afghan government are due to resume peace talks in Qatar on January 5, after a break of three weeks.
The two Afghan warring sides, however, announced before pausing the process on December 14 that they had agreed on the rules for conducting future negotiations.
Members of Kabul’s negotiating team have since been quoted by the Afghan media as claiming the Taliban’s ideology and views have not changed.
“The Taliban have the same views they had 25 years ago about women, music, arts, elections, freedom of speech and human rights,” a recent TOLO TV report quoted unnamed government negotiators.
The Taliban denies it opposes education for girls or intends to undermine women’s rights.
The so-called intra-Afghan peace talks are a crucial outcome of the agreement the United States signed with the Taliban in February this year, aimed at ending nearly two decades of war.
The Taliban has promised to reduce violence and negotiate a political power-sharing deal with Kabul to end four decades of hostilities in Afghanistan. The Taliban is also bound under the deal to fight terrorism on Afghan soil and renounce ties with al-Qaida.
In return, all U.S. and allied troops are required to leave the country by May 2021. In recent days, however, Afghan and U.S. officials have criticized a sustained spike in insurgent violence as a threat to the peace process.
Top Afghan security officials Tuesday told the Afghan Senate that the Taliban had launched more than 18,000 attacks, including suicide bombings and targeted killings, in the last 10 months.
They also accused the insurgents of being behind a string of attacks that targeted and killed high-profile civil society activists, journalists and government officials in recent weeks.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the allegations as “enemy propaganda” to malign his group.
He told VOA that the number of insurgent attacks in 2020 was the lowest since the beginning of the war.
“Unlike the past, we have not carried out big attacks and bombings in (Afghan) cities, including Kabul, in the outgoing year,” Mujahid said. “However, in areas where the fighting is taking place, we are only defending ourselves against enemy aggression or taking defensive measures to stop them from establishing bases in our (Taliban) areas.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 29, 2020
Reporters without Borders (RSF) says 50 people were killed this year in connection with their journalistic work, with Afghanistan and Pakistan being among the most dangerous countries for media professionals.
The vast majority of those killed globally were deliberately murdered because they researched topics such as corruption, organized crime, or environmental issues, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said in a report published on December 29.
Seven media workers were killed while reporting on demonstrations.
In total, at least 937 people have been killed because of or in the course of their journalistic work over the past decade.
The total number of journalists killed this year was lower than the 53 reported in 2019, although RSF said fewer journalists worked in the field this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The watchdog, which has compiled annual data on violence against journalists around the globe since 1995, said 84 percent of those killed this year were “deliberately targeted” for their work, compared to 63 percent in 2019.
“For several years now, Reporters Without Borders has noted that investigative journalists are really in the crosshairs of states, or cartels,” said RSF Editor-in-Chief Pauline Ades-Mevel.
Mexico remained the most dangerous country for media professionals, with eight killed. Those who research the links between drug traffickers and politicians are particularly at risk.
Six media representatives were killed in Iraq, without anyone being punished or even seriously investigated. Three of them were killed by a shot to the head fired by unidentified gunmen while they were covering protests.
In war-torn Afghanistan, those responsible for the killing of five media workers also remain unknown.
RSF noted an increase in targeted attacks on media workers in the country in recent months even as peace talks between the government and Taliban are ongoing.
“While none of these killings have been claimed, Afghan civil society members continue to denounce a campaign of terror against those who criticise religious obscurantism,” it said.
December was marked by the “execution-style murder” of Malalai Maiwand, an anchor for Enikas TV and representative of the Centre for the Protection of Afghan Women Journalists, in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.
Four other journalists were killed by car bombs and explosions, including Mohammad Ilyas Dayee, who worked for RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, known locally as Radio Azadi.
Four journalists were killed in both India and Pakistan in 2020.
RSF cited the case of Pakistani reporter Zulfiqar Mandrani, whose body was found in May with two gunshot wounds to the head and evidence of torture across his back.
The group said he was “probably murdered for investigating the activities of a local drug trafficker with links to a police officer.”
In addition, RSF said hundreds of journalists died from COVID-19 across the world, but the watchdog could not determine how many of them were infected as a result of their work.
However, it said the coronavirus killed at least three people due to a lack of medical care after they were believed to have contracted it in prisons in Egypt, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
RSF also highlighted the case of Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was executed in December following “an unfair trial.”
“Although executions are common in Iran, it was the first time in 30 years that a journalist has been subjected to this archaic and barbaric practice,” it said.
Related
Ariana: Habibullah Rafi, a well-known Afghan writer and member of the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan, said he has discovered a 400-year-old book on the history of Pashtuns.
He said the 600-page book was found in Germany with the cooperation of Afghans in that country. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 183 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,961 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The Health Ministry says the cumulative total cases is 52,330, the number of total reported deaths is 2,189, and the total number of recoveries is 41,801. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 28, 2020
Afghan police say two explosions in the capital Kabul have killed at least one person and wounded more than a dozen others.
One blast targeted employees of the National Statistics Authority who were in a minibus in the Guzargah neighborhood.
Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said the explosion on December 28 killed one person and wounded at least 13 others. He said the bomb had been planted on a bicycle.
Earlier, a magnetic “sticky” bomb attached to a police vehicle went off in the Kolola Pushta area of the city, Faramarz said, but caused no casualties.
He said investigations had been launched into both attacks.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack.
Kabul has been hit by a spate of bomb blasts and targeted killings in recent months.
The attacks come as peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, have been suspended until early next month.
Based on reporting by AP and dpa
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