Forbes: Simply put, Afghanistan women’s cricket remains extremely bleak. But on Thursday, many miles away in Melbourne, hard-bitten expatriates will take the field will pride. Click here to read more (external link).
Kabul clerics call for inclusive Government, criticize Kandahar-Centric Taliban Rule
Khaama: The Council for the Protection of Jihadi Values held a meeting in Kabul where they strongly criticized the Taliban for monopolizing power, particularly by the Kandahari faction, and called for an inclusive government. A council member stated that in addition to Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, 12 Taliban cabinet ministers are from Kandahar province, highlighting a concentration of power. Mahmoud Hassan, the former head of Hajj and Religious Affairs in Panjshir, warned the Taliban during the conference that the current situation they have created is uncontrollable and urged for immediate reforms. The council emphasized that the monopolization of power by the Kandahari Taliban faction is unjust and discriminatory. They demanded that other provinces and ethnic groups be represented in governance. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan women take scholarship tests offered by Pakistan
By Muska Safi and Roshan Noorzai
VOA News
January 27, 2025
WASHINGTON — It took Susan Salih about eight hours to travel from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Peshawar, Pakistan, to take a scholarship exam the Pakistani government offers to Afghan students.
Salih, 25, and a group of other young Afghan women who took the exam at the Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar told VOA that despite being able to take the test online, they traveled, accompanied by family members, to sit for the exam in person “to not miss the opportunity.”
“I hope this will pay off at least for those girls who now have the chance [to pursue their higher education],” said Salih, who could not pursue her dream of a post-graduate degree in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned women from attending universities in 2022.
Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission said about 5,000 young women were among 21,000 applicants for the 2,000 scholarships announced for Afghan students.
These scholarships are part of the 4,500 Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarships for Afghan Students, the commission said.
The Pakistan government said the undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships are fully funded, covering tuition fees, hostel dues, and living, book and travel allowances.
Tests for the scholarships took place in-person and online on Saturday and Sunday in Peshawar and Quetta.
Muhammad Waqar Khan, senior project manager at the Higher Education Commission, said students will be “short-listed” for scholarships based on merit.
“After this [the tests], we will conduct interviews” with those students, Khan said.
Pakistani officials earlier told VOA on the condition of anonymity that the Taliban agreed to let female students pursue higher education in Pakistan, provided that their male guardians are granted visas to accompany them.
But the Taliban, who seized power of Afghanistan in 2021, denied Monday that they reached any “conditional agreement” regarding the scholarships.
The Taliban have “no agreement with Pakistan or any other country regarding scholarships for girls. … Such unfounded claims are propaganda by certain malicious groups against the Islamic Emirate,” said a statement posted on the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education website.
The Taliban banned women from traveling long distances without a chaperone, working with the government and nongovernment organizations, and going to public baths, beauty salons and public parks.
Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission said the scholarships aim to “strengthen [the] bilateral relationship” between the two countries.
Salih said these scholarships offer Afghan women hope.
“We want to be a beacon of hope for those still in Afghanistan,” said Salih, adding that “even in tough times and with many limitations, there is always hope and a path forward.”
Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
Stanekzai Leaves Afghanistan After Taliban Leader Issues Arrest Warrant, Says Sources
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai
Afghanistan International: Afghanistan International sources reported that Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, has left Afghanistan after Hibatullah Akhundzada issued an exit ban and arrest warrant against him. According to these sources, Yaqoob Mujahid, the Taliban’s defence minister, provided the conditions for his immediate visit to Dubai. A well-informed source in Kabul said that after Abbas Stanekzai harshly criticised Hibatullah Akhundzada for banning girls’ education, the Taliban leader ordered Abdul Haq Wasiq, the head of intelligence, to arrest Stanekzai and ban him from leaving the country. Click here to read more (external link).
UN report: Armed attacks, explosions kill 18 in Afghanistan over three months
Amu: Eighteen people, including 14 civilians, were killed and 61 others injured in seven armed attacks and explosions across Afghanistan in the last quarter of 2024, according to a quarterly report from the United Nations. Among the casualties, 55 of the injured were civilians. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 27, 2025
Afghanistan’s Omarzai named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
Afghanistan International: Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai has been named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year following a brilliant performance through 2024. With his right-arm pace bowling and multifaceted batting game, the 24-year-old helped propel the Afghanistan team to a new level. He also enjoyed a strong year in T20Is and franchise cricket, but it was in ODIs where he proved most influential. Click here to read more (external link).
Tensions Rise As U.S., Taliban Exchange Threats
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 27, 2025
Tensions between Washington and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are rising a week into President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened on January 25 to place a bounty on Taliban leaders if the United States determines the group has imprisoned American citizens.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on [Al-Qaeda leader Osama] Bin Laden,” Rubio wrote on X.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting interior minister, is currently the only senior member of the group on the FBI’s most wanted list. However, dozens of Taliban officials are sanctioned by the United Nations.
Rubio’s comment came days after the Taliban released two Americans in exchange for a member of the Taliban serving a life sentence in the United States on drug and terrorism charges.
The Taliban’s first formal response to Rubio came on January 27, with Suhail Shahin, the group’s ambassador to Qatar, claiming that it was the Taliban’s policy to resolve issues peacefully through dialogue.
However, he warned in a statement to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, “in the face of pressure and aggression, the jihad [struggle] of the Afghan nation in recent decades is a lesson that everyone should learn from.”
The Taliban fought U.S. and NATO troops for nearly 20 years until its return to power in 2021 following a chaotic and bloody withdrawal of foreign forces.
A U.S. Department of Defense report in 2022 said around $7 billion dollars worth of military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan during the withdrawal, which were subsequently seized by the Taliban.
Ahead of his inauguration on January 21, Trump warned that if the Taliban did not return U.S. military equipment, he would cut future financial assistance to Afghanistan.
The Taliban has not publicly responded to Trump, but a source told Radio Azadi that the group “will not give even a single bullet back to the United States.”
Since the withdrawal of foreign forces, the United States has channeled around $3 billion through the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations to help humanitarian programs in Afghanistan.
Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Related
U.S. May Put Bounty On Taliban Leaders Over Hostages, Rubio Says
Rubio
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 26, 2025
The United States may place a bounty on the top leaders of the Taliban, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on January 25 after finding out that the group may be holding more American hostages in Afghanistan.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported,” Rubio said on X.
“If this is true, we will have to immediately place a very big bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on bin Laden,” he added, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader and mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bin Laden was killed in 2011 by the U.S. military in a nighttime raid in Pakistan.
U.S. officials and media confirmed earlier this week the release of two Americans held in Afghanistan in exchange for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
The two Americans who were set free were not identified by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, but according to U.S. media reports and family members, they were Ryan Corbett and William McKenty.
No mention was made of two other U.S. citizens — George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi– who have been held by the Taliban since 2022. It was unclear whether these were the hostages that Rubio referred to.
The member of the Taliban who was released was Khan Mohammed, who had been sentenced to two life terms in 2008. The Afghan Foreign Ministry said his release came “as a result of long and fruitful negotiations” between Afghanistan and the United States.
A member of the new administration of President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington that the deal was brokered by President Joe Biden’s team before he left office on January 20.
Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban — which seized power in Kabul in mid-2021 — as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement on January 21 that the Trump administration “will continue to demand the release of all Americans held by the Taliban, especially in light of the billions of dollars in U.S. aid they’ve received in recent years.”
Rubio’s bounty comment came two days after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said that he has requested warrants for the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
Karim Khan announced that he is seeking arrest warrants for the alleged persecution of Afghan women and girls, an accusation the Taliban-run Foreign Ministry called “baseless.”
In a statement, Khan said based on evidence collected thus far in an investigation reopened in October 2022 there were grounds to believe Akhundzada and Haqqani “bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds.”
Mir Abdul Wahid Sadat, head of the Afghan Lawyers Association, told RFE/RL, that the ICC decisions and actions “have strong consequences” and said Khan’s announcement was “a big threat to the Taliban.”
With reporting by Reuters