Khaama: According to Bakhtar News Agency on Monday, January 13, the hyena had been captured in the Kashkot area of Khogyani district, Nangarhar, by local nomads to prevent potential harm. After being handed over to the department, it was set free in its natural habitat. Hyenas are rare in Afghanistan and are primarily found in the desert and arid regions, especially in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country. Click here to read more (external link).
As Land Mines Kill More Afghans, Deminers Face Funding Crisis
Deminer (file photo)
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and Abubakar Siddique
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 12, 2025
Shah Agha is one of more than 100,000 Afghans living with injuries caused by land mines. He lost his leg to a mine during the anti-Soviet war in the 1980s in his native Kunduz Province in northern Afghanistan. In 2015, another unexploded weapon injured him again.
“My life is miserable,” he told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. “I am always in need of help.”
Noor, who goes by only one name, lost both his legs to a mine blast. The Kabul resident says disabled Afghans cannot access education, jobs, or even move freely.
“Both our society and the government do little to give us our rights,” he said.
Agha and Noor are among the hundreds of Afghans killed and maimed every year by land mines left behind during more than four decades of war.
Mine-clearing agencies in Afghanistan, one of the most mine-infested countries globally, now fear an even larger number of Afghans will soon become victims of land mines.
Calls To End Aid
They say the clearing of killer munitions that still litter large swaths of Afghanistan could soon stop amid calls to end aid to the country ruled by the extremist Taliban group.
Ahead of his inauguration this month, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticized Washington’s assistance to Afghanistan.
The United States is the leading donor for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in the country after the final U.S. military withdrawal from the country in August 2021.
“Deaths and injuries, especially among children and women, will increase,” Shahabuddin Hakimi, head of the Mine Detection Center (MDC), an Afghan demining NGO, told Radio Azadi.
Since 1989, over 45,000 Afghans have been killed by land mines, according to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). Deminers have so far cleared over 3,000 square kilometers of some 14 million pieces of unexploded ordnance, including 764,000 antipersonnel mines and more than 33,460 anti-vehicle mines.
Casualties ‘Set To Increase’
UNMAS estimates land mines still threaten more than 1,700 communities spread across Afghanistan, where over 1,200 square kilometers of territory still needs to be cleared of unexploded munitions.
Hakimi said that a decline in funding has forced the MDC to cease nearly 80 percent of its operations during the past year.
He says the lack of demining has already increased the number casualties from land mines to 60 per month. In previous years, Afghans suffered an average of 50 mine-related casualties per month — one of the highest rates in the world.
“These casualties are set to increase this year as refugees return from Iran and Pakistan and internally displaced populations return to their homes,” Hakimi said.
An estimated 2 million Afghans have been forced to return from neighboring Pakistan and Iran, which have been hosting millions of Afghans since the decadelong Soviet invasion of their country that began in December 1979.
The end of fighting after the Taliban’s return to power has prompted hundreds of thousands more displaced Afghans to return to their homes across the country.
Last year, 455 Afghan civilians were killed or injured by 234 land mine blasts, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. These include 359 children, indicating they constitute nearly 80 percent of the victims of explosive hazards.
“Currently, mine action is among the most underfunded sectors in Afghanistan, said a spokesperson of the HALO Trust, a British charity and one of the leading demining groups in Afghanistan.”[The country] no longer has the resources needed to stem the problem.”
The spokesperson said that, over the past two years, funding for mine action has halved, forcing demining groups to dramatically reduce their workforce.
Today, only 3,000 of the 15,000 Afghan deminers working before the Taliban returned to power are still clearing dangerous explosives. According to the HALO Trust, more than 40 percent of Afghan deminers lost their jobs over the past two years.
“The country is facing a paradox of reduced donor support and increase in humanitarian need and rising poverty,” the spokesperson said.
Humanitarian Crisis
According to the UN, Afghanistan has one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with more than half of its 40 million population in need of assistance.
Yet the Taliban’s restrictions on women and new humanitarian crises elsewhere have prompted Western donors to cut aid to the country.
Kabul lost all its development assistance, which funded most of its government expenses after the Taliban toppled the pro-Western Afghan Republic.
The country is now in danger of losing more humanitarian aid. On January 7, Trump accused President Joe Biden of paying “billions of dollars to essentially the Taliban in Afghanistan.”
In a letter to the U.S. president-elect on January 2, Republican Congressman Tim Burchett urged him to stop cash aid to Afghanistan, some of which he alleged was going to the Taliban.
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.
Is 2025 The Year Chinese Investments Take Off In Afghanistan?
After a year of unprecedented trade and breaking ground on high-profile mining projects in 2024, there’s new momentum for Beijing’s growing role in Afghanistan and deepening ties with the Taliban. But can the hard-line group finally calm China’s longstanding security concerns and unleash a wave of much-needed investment?
Malala Yousafzai asks Muslim leaders to reject Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women openly
Malala Yousafzai
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
January 12, 2025
ISLAMABAD — Nobel Peace Prize laurate Malala Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders Sunday not to “legitimize” Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, accusing them of being the “perpetrators of gender apartheid” and calling for accountability.
Yousafzai spoke at the closing session of a Pakistan-hosted international summit on girls’ education in Muslim communities around the world, sharply criticizing the hardline Taliban government for imposing sweeping curbs on Afghan women’s access to education and employment.
“For the past three-and-a-half years, the Taliban have ripped away the right to learn from every Afghan girl. They have weaponized our faith to justify it,” the education activist stated.
“The Taliban are explicit about their mission. They want to eliminate women and girls from every aspect of public life and erase them from society,” she said. “Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. They cloak their crimes in cultural and religious justification.”
The Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as Sharia, that the United Nations has labeled as “gender apartheid.”
Afghan girls are entirely banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Women are prohibited from public and private workplaces except for a few departments, such as health, immigration, and police.
The Muslim World League, or MWL, co-hosted the two-day conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, bringing together ministers, education officials, and scholars from nearly 50 Muslim-majority countries and representatives from the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.
“I have a message for everyone in this room,” Yousafzai said. “As Muslim leaders, now is the time to raise your voice and use your power. You can show true leadership; you can show true Islam,” she told the gathering.
“Afghan women and girls must be free to shape their own future. The very loudest champions of their cause must be fellow Muslims, leaders such as yourselves,” she added. Yousafzai sought a united voice from Muslim scholars to openly challenge and denounce the Taliban’s “oppressive laws.”
Taliban officials did not immediately comment on the criticism. They vehemently defend their governance, saying it is aligned with Sharia and culture in Afghanistan.
A conference declaration issued Sunday condemned “extremist ideologies” and religious edicts, known as fatwas, that are rooted in cultural norms obstructing girls’ education as a “grave misuse of religious principles to legitimize policies of deprivation and exclusion.”
The declaration noted that anyone who rejects or opposes Islamic principles mandating equal education for men and women “is considered outside the framework of the Islamic Ummah’s (Islamic world’s) concepts and cannot be regarded as part of it. “It is essential to disavow their ideology, whether they are an individual, an institution, or an entity—public or private,” the statement said.
The multi-page declaration did not mention Afghanistan, the only country where girls are banned from seeking secondary school education and beyond.
Pakistani officials said that the Taliban government in Kabul had been formally invited to attend the global summit, but Islamabad did not receive a response.
Speaking at the opening session on Saturday, Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, the MWL secretary-general, stressed that men and women must acquire education as mandated by Islam.
“The Islamic world is united in its belief that those who oppose women’s education are misguided and do not represent true Islam,” Al-Issa responded when asked if the outcome of the summit could encourage the Taliban to relax restrictions on Afghan women and girls.
Nonetheless, the Saudi scholar clarified that the gathering in Islamabad was not directed at any specific community or country.
“We have simply tried to address the concerns of those who oppose women’s education and conveyed our message that there are no restrictions in Islam regarding education for girls,” Al-Issa stated, without naming the Taliban.
Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, attended the summit, telling a panel that leaders of Islamic countries need to support Afghan girls.
“I really call on all these ministers … who came from all over the world, to offer scholarships, to have online education, to have all sorts of education for them. This is the task of the day,” she said.
No country has recognized the Taliban government primarily over its curbs on Afghan women and girls.
While the United States and the West at large have refused to engage with the de facto Afghan leaders diplomatically and relocated their embassies from the country, neighboring and regional countries, including China, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, have retained their diplomatic missions in Kabul and maintain close contacts with the Taliban.
Related
Tolo News in Dari – January 12, 2025
Afghanistan names squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Ariana: Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Sunday announced the national team’s squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to be played from February 19 to March 9 this year in Pakistan and UAE. Afghanistan’s prolific top-order batter, Ibrahim Zadran, who was away from action due to an ankle injury, has returned to the squad. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban to grant Bachelor’s, master’s degrees to thousands of madrasa students and clerics
Amu: The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has announced plans to award bachelor’s degrees to 11,000 madrasa students and master’s degrees to 15,000 clerics. The ministry stated that examinations for granting these degrees will be held across 31 provinces. However, many citizens and experts have criticized the move as an injustice to Afghanistan’s educational system, arguing that it undermines academic standards. Click here to read more (external link).
Deportation Of Afghans Sparks Rare Outrage In Tajikistan
By Farangis Najibullah, Alisher Zarifi and Mullorajab Yusufzoda
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 11, 2025
Tamkin Mehrabuddin and her sister were preparing lunch in their home in Tajikistan when police officers knocked on their door.
The two Afghan women were ordered to accompany them to a police station in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital. Instead, they were driven for nearly three hours to the border and forced back to their homeland.
“My sister was crying, and we pleaded with the officers not to send us back to Afghanistan,” said Mehrabuddin, whose brother was also deported from Tajikistan.
The 24-year-old said she and her sister both had valid visas to reside in Tajikistan, adding that their residency documents were confiscated by the police the day before their deportation.
Mehrabuddin and her sister are among the scores of Afghans who have been deported in recent weeks from neighboring Tajikistan, which is home to some 10,000 Afghans. Her brother, who lived separately from them, was also deported.
The deportations have triggered anger in Tajikistan, an authoritarian country where criticism of the authorities is rare.
No Official Reason
Many of the deportees were abruptly summoned by the police and expelled without any due process, despite having temporary visas or documents showing they have been registered as refugees.
The move has triggered fear that they could face possible retribution in their homeland, which has been under the Taliban’s repressive rule since 2021, although no country has formally recognized the extremist group’s government.
Afghanistan’s consulate in Tajikistan’s eastern city of Khorugh, which represents the Taliban-led administration in Kabul, said that around 60 Afghans were expelled from Tajikistan in December.
“They had their documents in order, and I don’t know what the reason for their expulsion was,” said a consulate officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Nusratullo Mahmadzoda, a spokesperson for Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry, said he was not aware of the deportations, adding that foreigners are deported if they “do not follow immigration rules.”
But the Dushanbe office of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said at least 37 of the Afghans deported had refugee status.
Police Harassment
Tajikistan, which shares a border of around 1,300 kilometers with Afghanistan, is home to documented and undocumented Afghan migrants and refugees.
Some have lived in the Central Asian country for decades, while others fled there after the Western-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized power in 2021.
Most of Tajikistan’s Afghan community live in the town of Vahdat, which is on the outskirts of Dushanbe.
Tajikistan is seen by many Afghans as a transit country from where they hope to reach the West.
“My sister and I lived in Dushanbe for two years before moving [abroad],” said Leena, a 25-year-old Afghan who only gave her first name.
Leena worked as a waitress in a coffee shop but said she “did not see any future” for herself in Tajikistan.
“Tajik police often harass Afghans to extort bribes,” she said. “A police officer in our neighborhood in Dushanbe knew where I lived and would blackmail me with a deportation threat to get money.”
Roya Hafizi moved to Tajikistan with her husband and five young children in 2020. Last month, her husband and several other Afghans were taken to a police station.
“Later my husband called me from the border to say that he was being deported,” said Hafizi. “My husband is an ordinary worker. We don’t harm anyone and haven’t committed any crime.”
Hafizi’s husband was the family’s sole breadwinner, and his deportation has left the family with no source of income to buy food or pay rent.
Tajikistan usually does not provide income support and welfare benefits to refugees and migrants.
Possible Retribution
In a statement issued on December 7, the UNHCR office in Dushanbe expressed “grave concern” over the forcible return of Afghans and urged the Tajik government to halt the deportations and uphold its “obligations to protect those fleeing persecution.”
Some Tajik have taken to social media to criticize the move.
Tajikistan and Afghanistan have deep linguistic, cultural, and historical ties, and Tajiks have called on the authorities to better protect Afghans.
Social media users have been particularly critical of the deportation of Mehrabuddin, a graduate of the Technological University in Dushanbe.
On social media, Mehrabuddin had recently complained of “psychological abuse” at the hands of her husband, an Afghan who was living in Tajikistan. Her allegations prompted the Tajik authorities to launch an investigation.
Some Tajiks on social media said Mehrabuddin could face torture or death in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has severely curtailed women’s rights.
Other Tajik social media users recalled how tens of thousands of Tajiks took refuge in Afghanistan during Tajikistan’s civil war in the 1990s.
Taliban officials did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
Tajikistan had previously come under criticism by the UNHCR for deporting scores of Afghans in 2021 and 2022.
The latest expulsions come as Afghan migrants and refugees are under increased pressure in neighboring countries.
Iran has vowed to deport millions of Afghans in the Islamic republic. Pakistan, meanwhile, has deported nearly 800,000 since late 2023.
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.
National Resistance Front Hopes US President-Elect Trump Will Support Overthrow Of Taliban
Donald Trump
Afghanistan International: Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, says he hopes the new US administration led by Donald Trump will support the resistance to topple the Taliban. Nazary called on Trump to consider the National Resistance Front as a partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. Meanwhile, Taliban officials have said that they are ready to expand relations with the United States after Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Click here to read more (external link).