8am: Women in remote districts of Badakhshan province report that they cannot access healthcare services or female doctors for gynecological and obstetric issues during the cold season. They say the situation worsens as temperatures drop and roads become impassable. Click here to read more (external link).
Life under Taliban rule
Khaama: According to the announcement posted on the consulate’s X/ Twitter account, passport issuance will begin on Monday, November 11. On Sunday, November 10, the consulate stated, “The distribution of passports by the Afghanistan Consulate General in Mumbai will start from November 11, 2024, to meet the needs of Afghan citizens.” Click here to read more (external link).
Amu: Afghanistan clinched a 2-1 victory in their One Day International series against Bangladesh, winning the decisive final match by five wickets in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan initially took the lead in the series with a 92-run win in the first match but lost the second by 68 runs, setting up a decisive third match. This series was hosted by Afghanistan at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE. Click here to read more (external link).
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
November 10, 2024
Turkish authorities deported 325 Afghan migrants over the past two days, the Taliban’s Refugees and Repatriations Ministry said on November 10. According to the ministry, the International Organization for Migration will provide the equivalent of 150 euros to each of the deported migrants. In recent months, Turkey has intensified raids to detain and expel Afghan migrants, most of them undocumented. About 600 Afghan nationals were detained in police raids in Istanbul in September and were transferred to detention centers.
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 10, 2024
Islamabad — The Taliban in Afghanistan sent its representatives to Azerbaijan on Sunday to attend a major United Nations climate change conference, marking the first such participation since they seized power three years ago.
State-run Afghan media reported that Muti-ul-Haq Khalis, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, is leading the Taliban’s “technical” delegation, which is expected to have observer status instead of full participation.
The U.N. Climate Change Conference, commonly called COP29, is scheduled to start Monday in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, and will run until November 22.
The Taliban have been excluded from recent international climate change talks because no country has recognized them as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, nor have they been permitted to take the country’s seat at the U.N. General Assembly.
Poverty-stricken Afghanistan is ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis. It has recently encountered severe weather-related disasters like flash floods and prolonged droughts.
Flash flooding earlier this year killed more than 350 Afghans, damaging close to 8,000 homes and displacing more than 5,000 families besides destroying crops and agricultural land. U.N. agencies report that the recent extreme weather in Afghanistan exhibits all the signs of the escalating climate crisis.
Taliban authorities have sought to participate in U.N. climate summits, arguing that their political isolation should not prevent them from joining international climate talks and discussing the challenges facing their country.
Host Azerbaijan invited the Afghan environment agency officials to COP29 as observers, enabling them to “potentially participate in periphery discussions and potentially hold bilateral meetings,” the Reuters news agency quoted a diplomatic source familiar with the matter as saying.
The Taliban’s restrictions on the freedoms of Afghan women have primarily deterred the world from formally engaging with their government. They have prohibited girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade and suspended female students from universities since regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021, when the United States and NATO troops left the country.
The Islamist leaders have enacted laws requiring Afghan women to cover their bodies and faces in public. Additionally, these laws prohibit women from undertaking long road or air trips unless accompanied by a male guardian.
The Taliban say their governance is in line with their interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia and reject international calls for reversing restrictions on women as an interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan International: Local Taliban sources in Kunar informed Afghanistan International that the terms “follower” and “non-follower” are widely used in the region. The Taliban accuse “Ahl-e-Hadith” and Salafi groups of affiliations with ISIS..According to local sources, these groups have criticised the Taliban for perceived lapses in fully enforcing the Quran and Hadith, accusing the group of blind adherence. The sources further indicated that, in an effort to limit ISIS’s influence, the Taliban have imposed restrictions on the activities of Ahl-e-Hadith seminaries in Kunar. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The visit of a senior Indian diplomat to Kabul and his meeting with Taliban officials—described by Indian media as a “significant development”—has reignited discussions about New Delhi’s role in Afghanistan’s politics. Although India did not sever all relations with the Taliban upon their rise to power, it has kept them at a level that can hardly be described as ideal. With the fall of the Afghan republic, the general perception was that India had lost the game in favor of Pakistan. This perception didn’t seem entirely unrealistic in the early days of the Taliban’s rule. Pakistan’s ISI openly acted as a power broker, resolving the deadlock in the Taliban’s cabinet formation, allowing the Pakistani military to flaunt its influence over India more than ever. But as time passed, it became clear that Islamabad had viewed the situation overly optimistically. The belief that Pakistan’s military had won both the political and military game in Afghanistan proved mistaken, as New Delhi was unlikely to easily abandon the scene. Gradually, Taliban officials openly expressed their desire to improve relations with India, and India’s embassy in Kabul resumed its operations. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Sirajuddin Haqqani
8am: Haqqani’s purpose in building this monument is to keep the culture of suicide bombing alive in Afghanistan. The Taliban, particularly the Haqqani faction, cannot tolerate the idea of letting this banner of suicide attacks fall. Even if they were recognized officially, they would still keep the flag of suicide bombing raised, as they view this tactic as the easiest way to intimidate or defeat their enemies. Over the past twenty years, suicide bombings have proven effective for the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).