Horrific Murder Of Teenage Girl Again Puts Spotlight On Afghanistan’s ‘Honor’ Killings

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By Nemat Ahmadi and Frud Bezhan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 7, 2020

BADAKHSHAN, Afghanistan — Afghan girls and women who have relationships with men outside marriage are often the target of brutal punishments — including public floggings, prison, and even death.

One teenage girl who is believed to have broken that social norm paid the ultimate price this week when her brother killed her after she ran away from home with her boyfriend.

The shocking incident was just the latest case in Afghanistan of so-called “honor” killings: the murder of women for allegedly dishonoring the family, such as eloping with men or committing adultery.

‘Stabbed To Death’

Police said Nazela, an 18-year-old woman, was strangled with electric wire and then stabbed to death in the Baharak district of the northeastern province of Badakhshan on May 1.

Noor Agha Naderi, the district governor of Baharak, told RFE/RL that the victim had rejected a marriage proposal to another man that had been arranged by her family.

Naderi said she ran away from home and took refuge at the district police headquarters with her boyfriend. But just two days later, her brother picked her up from the station and assured police that nothing would happen to her.

Within an hour, she was dead.

“Unfortunately, when she arrived home, her brother stabbed her to death,” said Naderi. “The brother fled to a Taliban-controlled area.”

Authorities believe the victim’s brother escaped to Jurm district, which is controlled by the Islamic militant group, making it difficult for law enforcement to apprehend him.

The Taliban controls and contests parts of Badakhshan, a remote, mountainous province bordering Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan.

Naderi said the police officials who released the victim, knowing that she was in danger, have been suspended and are under investigation.

Arefa Nawid, the head of the provincial office of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), blamed police for mishandling the case.

She said police should not have released the woman and instead should have transferred her to a women’s shelter.

“This happened because of [the police],” Nawid told RFE/RL.

The victim’s boyfriend has been placed under police protection.

‘Moral’ Crimes

So-called “moral offenses,” including adultery or even running away from home, are not considered crimes under the Afghan Criminal Code. But hundreds of women and girls have nevertheless been imprisoned after being convicted of “immorality” by courts dominated by religious conservatives.

In some rural areas, where Taliban militants exert considerable influence, residents often view government bodies as corrupt or unreliable and turn to Taliban courts to settle disputes.

The Taliban courts employ strict interpretations of Shari’a law, which prescribes death, or in other cases public flogging, for men or women found guilty of having a physical relationship outside marriage.

The woman’s own family is often behind the punishments, in some cases shunning the woman or handing her over to authorities for prosecution. In the worst cases, the woman’s own relatives can carry out the killings.

Spate Of Killings

Nazela’s story is all too common in Afghanistan, where violence against women is widespread.

Despite women making significant inroads since the end of Taliban rule in 2001, domestic abuse remains routine and forced or arranged marriages are the norm.

In recent years, there has been a spate of chilling public punishments of Afghan women accused of moral crimes.

In 2019, the AIHRC recorded nearly 4,700 cases of violence against women in Afghanistan, an 8 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The AIHRC recorded the murders of 238 Afghan women in 2019, with 96 labeled as honor killings. This was a slight decrease compared to 2018. Often the murders are not reported and perpetrators go unpunished.

In May 2019, female journalist Mena Mangal was killed in the capital, Kabul, just days after getting a divorce from her abusive husband.

In 2017, an 18-year-old woman in the eastern province of Nuristan who had been forced by her family to marry a man against her wishes ran away with her boyfriend.

An armed mob stormed a police station where the couple had sought refuge and killed them.

In October 2015, 19-year-old Rokhsana was stoned to death by Taliban militants in the central province of Ghor after being accused of having premarital sex.

In November 2015, a 26-year-old Afghan woman died of her injuries after being publicly lashed, also in Ghor. She had been accused of running away from home.

And in August 2016, also in Ghor Province, a young man and woman found guilty of having sex outside marriage were publicly lashed.

Adultery has also resulted in several cases of women being stoned to death in areas controlled by the Taliban in recent years.

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

171 New Coronavirus Cases in Afghanistan, Total 3,563

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday announced that in the past 24 hours 171 positive cases have been recorded across the country, and the country total is 3,563. The total number of reported recoveries in the country is 468, and total deaths is 106. Click here to read more (external link).

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Ministry of Education launches distance learning website

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Ariana: The Ministry of Education has launched a distance learning website for school students, an alternative plan for education service delivery during the pandemic in Afghanistan. The ministry said Thursday that it has launched the online education services as the lockdown continues across the country. “This website is accessible from today and the educational programs have been uploaded in audio and video formats,” said Mirwais Balkhi, the Acting Minister of Education. Click here to read more (external link).

Khalilzad meets Taliban in Qatar, to visit India, Pakistan

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Khalilzad

1TV:US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has met with Taliban deputy leader Mullah Baradar in Qatar, the group said on Thursday. Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for Taliban’s political office in Doha, said that they discussed quick release of prisoners, launch of intra-Afghan talks and full implementation of their deal. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghan Spy Agency Says ‘IS-Haqqani’ Cell Busted In Kabul

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RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
May 6, 2020

KABUL — Afghanistan’s intelligence agency says it has busted a joint “terrorist” cell of the Islamic State (IS) group and the Haqqani network, a powerful Taliban faction.

Five members of the cell were killed and eight others arrested when security forces stormed two hideouts of the group in Kabul and the Shakar Dara district, some 25 kilometers north of the capital, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said on May 6.

It said in a statement that the cell had carried out “major attacks” in Kabul, including a March 25 assault on a Sikh temple that left at least 25 worshippers dead.

The attack was claimed by the Afghan affiliate of the IS, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP).

The joint IS-Haqqani cell was also behind a rocket attack during President Ashraf Ghani’s swearing-in ceremony on March 9, according to the NDS.

The intelligence agency said the members of the cell also killed several Afghan officials and fired rockets at Bagram Airfield, the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan, located north of Kabul.

Afghan officials have long accused the Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, of carrying out attacks claimed by or blamed on the IS.

The ISKP has been active in the war-torn country since 2015, fighting the Taliban as well as Afghan and U.S. forces.

With reporting by AFP

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Iran dismisses US claim about mistreatment of Afghan migrants as bitter joke

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Press TV
May 6, 2020

Tehran has dismissed as a “bitter joke” US claim of Iranian border guards’ involvement in the tragic deaths of a number of Afghan migrants near the border, saying a “war criminal” and “state sponsor of terror” is in no position to level such allegations.

Last week, some claims surfaced in media reports that Iranian border guards had tortured and thrown as many as 57 Afghans into the Hari River (Harirud) in western Herat Province to prevent their illegal entry into Iran.

The Khaama Press News Agency said at least 23 of them drowned in Harirud. The Afghan Foreign Ministry later said it had launched a probe into the claims.

Tehran has roundly rejected the claims, saying the incident took place on the Afghan side of the border and Iranian forces had no role in the incident.

Reacting to the news, US Acting Assistant Secretary for South Asia Alice Wells took to Twitter on Tuesday and described as “horrifying” Iran’s “cruel treatment and abuse of Afghan migrants alleged in these reports.”

Responding to the US later on Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry posted a tweet on its English-language page to denounce Washington’s stance.

“What happened to Afghan nationals in Herat is tragic and unrelated to Iran, but the US regime’s allegation against Iran is a ‘bitter joke.’ The regime is a war criminal in Afghanistan and the state sponsor of terrorism across the globe,” read the tweet.

It hailed Tehran’s “strong ties” with Kabul, saying the Islamic Republic “leads the way to help” Afghan leaders set aside their election-related differences and form an all-inclusive government.


Iran spends eight billion dollars on Afghan migrants every year in various sectors.

According to the latest official figures, 951,142 Afghan refugees reside in Iran. In addition to the refugees, there are around 2.5 million Afghan nationals living in Iran, inclusive of passport holders and undocumented Afghans.

The UN refugee agency has, on numerous occasions, praised Iran for hosting Afghan refugees for more than four decades.

Tehran has repeatedly complained that countries which caused the displacement of Afghans must accept responsibility and help cover the costs.

Washington invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban-run government in 2001 on the pretext of fighting terrorism following the September 11 attacks.

The Taliban, however, never stopped their attacks, citing foreign military presence as one of the main reasons behind the continued militancy.

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U.S. Says Taliban Not Living Up To Commitments

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Esper

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 6, 2020

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said the Taliban is not living up to its commitments as militant violence is increasingly threatening a fragile deal signed with Washington this year.

After extended talks in Qatar, the Taliban and the United States signed an agreement on February 29 for reduced violence and a move toward talks with the Afghan government aimed at ending the 18-year conflict, but attacks by the militants have increased since then.

“I don’t think they are,” Esper told reporters on May 5 when asked if the Taliban were living up to their commitment.

Esper said he believed the Afghan government was also not living up to its commitment.

The Afghan government was not part of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban, but the deal called for Kabul to release 5,000 Taliban fighters as a confidence-building measure ahead of intra-Afghan talks.

Esper said the Afghan government and the Taliban “both need to come together and make progress on the terms that [are] laid out.”

Progress on advancing to discussions between the Taliban and the Afghan government has been delayed, partially by the political feud between President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, who both claim to be Afghanistan’s rightful leader following September’s disputed election.

The Taliban has stepped up violence, with an increasing number of attacks in the 45 days since signing the deal, which paves the way for a U.S. troop drawdown.

The United States is continuing its drawdown of forces in Afghanistan, which are expected to reach about 8,600 troops this summer.

The violence in the war-damaged nation has coincided with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

A recent report from the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction warned that the spread of COVID-19 could derail the stalled peace efforts.

Afghanistan has registered 2,704 coronavirus infections and 85 fatalities, but there are fears the actual number could be much higher.

On May 4, the Taliban called on the Afghan government to speed up the release of prisoners amid the rapidly spreading outbreak.

“In the last 3 days, our 300 prisoners were released from the Kbl Adm. [Kabul administration] prisons which we welcome,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted.

“However, it is not enough — the process should be expedited so the prisoners be saved from the Coronavirus and the way be paved for an earliest inception of intra-Afghan negotiations,” Shaheen wrote.

The Afghan government so far has released about 750 Taliban inmates from jails, according to the Office of National Security Council (ONSC).

The agreement also provides for the militants to release 1,000 Afghan security force members.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and tolonews.com

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

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COVID-19 Not Affecting Afghan Border Fencing, Pakistan Army Says

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By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 5, 2020

ISLAMABAD – Officials in Pakistan say a unilateral construction effort has erected a robust fence along “more than 70%” of the country’s roughly 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan, and the coronavirus pandemic has not hampered the work.

Pakistan has reported a relatively low number of cases of COVID-19, with more than 21,500 infections and nearly 500 deaths.

The army-led, roughly $500 million project to secure the largely porous and historically open frontier was launched in 2017, and officials expect it to be finished by the end of this year or by summer 2021.

The fence has been installed along more than 85% of the border in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and almost 70% percent in southwestern Baluchistan province, according to the information shared with VOA by the military’s media wing, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The pair of three-meter-high mesh fences, a couple of meters apart, are filled and topped with coils of razor wire, running through rugged terrain and snow-capped mountains as high as 12,000 feet. Additionally, hundreds of new outposts and forts, equipped with modern surveillance gadgetry, also are being built.

Chief military spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikhar told a local news channel Monday night the coronavirus-related lockdown has not affected the border security project.

“The fencing activity has not stopped. The stretch of Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is near completion and the work is speedily underway on the stretch in Baluchistan,” Iftikhar told Pakistani ARY news channel in an interview broadcast.

Officials maintain the fence would go a long way in addressing concerns of Pakistan and Afghanistan stemming from illegal crossings and militant infiltration.

Afghan officials are opposed to Pakistan’s border security measures because Kabul disputes the 1893 British colonial era demarcation, what Afghans still refer to as the Durand Line. Islamabad rejects the objections and maintains Pakistan inherited the international frontier after gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The United States also has hailed Pakistan’s border security measures and U.S. officials told lawmakers during recent Congressional hearings that Washington “sees the Durand Line as the internationally recognized boundary.”

The border fencing in a traditionally lawless border region followed years of sustained counter-militancy operations, killing thousands of militants and pushing many others into volatile border provinces of Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military says it has effectively “dismantled” terrorist infrastructures in the area, leading to improved security and a sharp reduction in militant attacks in the country.

One of the border districts, North Waziristan, however, has experienced a spike in attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent months, fueling concerns militants are trying stage a comeback in their former stronghold.

The ISPR dismissed those concerns and explained the violence stemmed from ongoing “intelligence-based” security operations to clear remaining “terrorist hideouts” and “sleeper cells” in the district.

The media wing insisted capacity issues apparently have prevented Afghanistan from adequately manning the border, particularly in its eastern and southeastern provinces, which encouraged fugitive militants and those linked to Islamic State to establish bases there and plot cross-border attacks against Pakistan.

Islamabad maintains its security and ensuing diplomatic efforts helped Washington in negotiating and signing the landmark agreement with the Taliban February 29 toward ending nearly 19 years of war in Afghanistan.

In return for a withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from the country, the deal seeks Taliban counterterrorism assurances and engagement in negotiations with other Afghan groups to end decades of hostilities in the country.

The proposed intra-Afghan peace dialogue has been delayed, though, because of a slow-moving prisoner swap between the Taliban and the Afghan government and stepped up insurgent attacks.

The Pakistani foreign ministry Sunday described the U.S.-Taliban agreement as a “significant step forward” and a “historic opportunity” toward opening intra-Afghan peace negotiations. It called for a reduction in violence by all parties to the conflict, saying it is “pivotal” in advancing peace in Afghanistan.

“For its part, Pakistan will continue to support a peaceful, stable, united, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan, at peace with itself and its neighbors,” according to the statement.

Pakistani officials take credit for arranging and facilitating the U.S.-led Afghan peace process. Taliban leaders and their families have lived among several million Afghan refugees that are still hosted by Pakistan.

Islamabad also had recognized the Taliban government in Kabul in the mid-1990s, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, before the Islamist group was ousted from power by a 2001 U.S.-led military invasion of Afghanistan for sheltering al-Qaida leaders.