Ariana: The Afghan embassy in Norway has confirmed it will close its doors on Thursday, September 12, at the request of the Norwegian government. The announcement comes just a day after the embassy in London announced it had been given notice by the British government to close by September 27. Both embassies were being run by diplomats appointed by the former republic government. Click here to read more (external link).
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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
September 9, 2024
Islamabad, Pakistan — The United Nations rights chief expressed his “abhorrence” Monday at the recent promulgation of “so-called morality laws” in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan that silence women or order them to cover their faces and bodies in public.
Volker Türk told a U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva that the new laws were implemented alongside bans on Afghan girls attending secondary school, prohibiting female students from accessing university education, and severely curtailing women’s access to public life and employment opportunities.
“I shudder to think what is next for the women and girls of Afghanistan. This repressive control over half the population in the country is unparalleled in today’s world,” the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner stated.
Türk denounced the morality laws as outrageous and amounting “to systematic gender persecution.” He warned that the intensifying curbs on women are “propelling Afghanistan further down a path of isolation, pain, and hardship.” It would also jeopardize the country’s future by “massively stifling its development,” he added.
Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of Afghan human rights, also spoke and informed Monday’s session in Geneva that the Taliban had lately barred him from visiting the country to conduct assessments in line with his mandate.
He added that the morality law “marks a new phase in the ongoing repression of respect for human rights” since the Taliban regained control of the country three years ago.
The 114-page, 35-article law enacted by the Taliban last month outlines various actions and specific conduct that the Taliban consider mandatory or prohibited for Afghan men and women in line with their strict interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia.
The restrictions prohibit Afghan women from traveling without a male guardian, require them to be silent in public, enforce mandatory covering of females from head to toe, including their faces, and forbid eye contact between women and unrelated men.
The law empowers the Taliban’s contentious Ministry for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice to enforce it strictly.
Ministry enforcers are ordered to discipline offenders, and penalties may include anything from a verbal warning to fines to imprisonment for offenses such as adultery, extramarital sex, lesbianism, taking pictures of living objects, and befriending non-Muslims.
Taliban leaders did not comment on Monday’s U.N. assertions, but they have rejected previous international criticism of the morality laws.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, recently stated that “non-Muslims should educate themselves about Islamic laws and respect Islamic values” before rejecting or raising objections to them. “We find it blasphemous to our Islamic Sharia when objections are raised without understanding it,” he said.
No country has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan, citing human rights concerns, particularly the harsh treatment of women.
“Any normalization of engagement with the de facto authorities must be based on demonstrated, measurable, and independently verifiable improvements in human rights,” Bennett stressed in his speech Monday, urging the Islamist Taliban to reverse current policies.
Nadeem
Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education and a close ally of Hibatullah Akhundzada, has repeatedly called for the killing and revenge against the country’s citizens through fatwas. Most recently, he labeled social media users as “apostates,” asserting that all infidels worldwide have gathered on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) to support infidels in Pashto. This statement has sparked increased concern among citizens, who fear that the Taliban will use accusations of apostasy to arrest and execute their opponents. Reports from international human rights organizations indicate that over the past three years, the Taliban have engaged in widespread acts of revenge and repression against the population. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
September 9, 2024
Islamabad — Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said Monday that a roadside bomb explosion injured at least 10 people, including anti-polio vaccinators and police personnel escorting them.
The bombing in the South Waziristan district near the border with Afghanistan targeted a convoy carrying polio workers and their guards on the opening day of a nationwide immunization campaign.
Area security and hospital officials reported that three health workers and six security personnel were among the victims. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the violence in a region where security forces are fighting militants linked to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban.
Last week, Pakistan reported its 17th wild poliovirus case of the year from Islamabad, saying it paralyzed a child and marked the first infection in 16 years in the national capital.
Pakistani health officials said in the lead-up to Monday’s polio campaign that it is designed to vaccinate more than 33 million children under five in 115 districts nationwide.
Muhammad Anwarul Haq, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, stated that the immunization drive would primarily focus on districts where “the virus has been detected and the risk of continued transmission and spread is really high.”
Haq encouraged all parents and caregivers to ensure their children get vaccinated, lamenting that “parents have not always welcomed and opened their doors to the vaccinators when they visit their homes.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan, which reported nine paralytic polio cases so far in 2024, are the only two remaining polio-endemic countries globally. Polio immunization campaigns have long faced multiple challenges in both countries, such as security and vaccine boycotts, dealing setbacks to the goal of eradicating the virus from the world.
Afghanistan International: Rasoul Mousavi, an Iranian diplomat, has commented on the closure of Afghanistan’s embassy in London, stating that the shutting down of Afghan embassies in Europe is a step towards closer relations between European governments and the Taliban. Mousavi predicted that these countries would eventually agree to allow consular services of the embassies to operate in coordination with the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).
Massoud
8am: It is true that the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan lacks support from Moscow and Tehran and is aware of their weaknesses and limitations. However, if given a long-term choice, it would prefer them over the U.S., even though it understands that Washington could play an influential role in transitioning Afghanistan from Taliban rule to a democratic order. Therefore, it is possible that the National Resistance Front viewed the invitation for its leader to the U.S. as a kind of “political trap,” intended to distance him from Russia and Iran, especially given that there is no indication of a change in the West’s stance toward the Taliban. To ensure that McCaul’s request does not go unanswered and to dispel any notion that the National Resistance Front depends on Iran and Russia, a middle path has been chosen: sending a standard delegation to Washington. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: As a result of clashes between the forces of the Islamic Emirate and the Pakistani military, two people, including a woman, have been killed, and eleven others injured. Local residents reported that since Wednesday evening of last week, intermittent clashes between the Islamic Emirate forces and the Pakistani military have been ongoing in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost province. According to them, a large number of families along the Durand Line have migrated to nearby areas. Click here to read more (external link).
Khaama: Wahed Nazhand, an Afghan mixed martial artist based in Germany, defeated his opponent, Max Hendanagic from the Czech Republic, within the first round of their match. The fight occurred on Saturday night, September 7, under Germany’s “Octagon MMA” organization. Nizhand won by overcoming Hendanagic with a submission move early in the first round. Click here to read more (external link).
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