Over 286,000 afflicted with respiratory diseases since winter across Afghanistan: WHO
Ariana: The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that since the beginning of 2024, more than 286,000 individuals have been afflicted with respiratory diseases across Afghanistan, among whom 668 have lost their lives. According to WHO, the increase in the number of individuals afflicted with respiratory diseases is due to cold weather conditions, affecting mostly children. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban’s Second Strike: Women’s Beauty Salons Ordered to Shut Down Again Amidst Ongoing Restrictions
8am: On Saturday, February 24th, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice of the Taliban issued a written notice to all proprietors of women’s beauty salons, granting them one month to cease their activities. Click here to read more (external link).
Locals Say Ibrahim Sanjrani Fort in Nimroz Needs Repair
Tolo News: Cultural activists in Nimroz said that the ancient fort Ibrahim Khan Sanjrani in this province’s Chakhansur district is at risk of deterioration. This castle is believed to have a 400-year history. According to provincial officials, the majority of the historical castles and monuments in this province date back to the ancient Sistan era. Click here to read more (external link).
Families Demand Release Of 39 Afghans Detained In Turkey
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
February 23, 2024
The families of 39 Afghan citizens detained in Turkey after they reportedly tried to reach Europe on a migrant route have called for the release and the safe return of their relatives.
The Afghan migrants were hiding inside a truck carrying boxes of tissue when they were arrested in the Çilimli district of the northwestern Duzce Province, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported on February 22.
All 39 Afghans were taken to the Immigration Department, and the truck driver was also arrested on charges of human trafficking, Anadolu reported.
Their relatives said they were attempting to reach Europe via Turkey to seek better opportunities.
The father of one of the Afghans detained in Turkey told Radio Azadi that he told his son he didn’t have money for the journey, but he left anyway and reached Turkey after staying in Iran for a month.
The man, who identified himself as Sediqullah, a resident of Nangarhar, said he now has sent his 18-year-old son money so he can return to Afghanistan.
His son is among a wave of migrants who are fleeing Taliban persecution and a country that is reeling from one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Some Afghans who have been detained by the Turkish police in the past claim that they were tortured by the security forces during their detention.
“They electrocuted, tortured, and brutalized the Afghans,” said 23-year-old Rahman Heydari, an Afghan who was recently deported from Turkey.
Earlier this month, Abdul Rahman Rashid, the Taliban’s deputy minister of refugees, said some 1,600 Afghans currently languish in Turkish prisons. He said that Ankara has released more than 600 Afghans, who returned to their country.
Last year the number of Afghans deported by Turkey was in the thousands. In November alone the number was 4,000. The number of Afghans expelled by Turkey was even higher in 2022 when Ankara deported 50,000 back to their country.
According to the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, Turkey hosts one of the largest refugee communities worldwide, with some 3.6 million Syrians and more than 300,000 people from other countries, the majority of whom are Afghan.
In a 2022 report, global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch criticized Ankara for routinely pushing tens of thousands of Afghans — many of whom are undocumented — back to its border with Iran or deporting them directly to Afghanistan “with little or no examination of their claims for international protection.”
Neighboring Iran and Pakistan forced more than 1 million Afghans to return to their country in the past year.
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
The SAS fought a dirty war in Afghanistan
The Spectator (UK): The SAS blocked UK visas for Afghan special forces soldiers, perhaps fearing that they would be able to produce evidence incriminating the SAS in the shooting of unarmed civilians. That was the striking implication of a BBC Panorama investigation this week – with the Ministry of Defence confirming that it is undertaking a review of 2,000 cases where Afghan applications were blocked by the SAS. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – February 23, 2024
Afghanistan A cricket team to tour Sri Lanka in April
Ariana: Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Friday announced that the nation’s A team is scheduled to play five One Day matches and one four-day match against Sri Lanka from April 28 to May 14. Afghanistan A will arrive in Sri Lanka on April 25 and kick off their tour with a One Day match against the Sri Lanka A side on April 28. Other four One Day matches are scheduled to be played on April 30, May 3, May 5, and May 7. Following the One Day matches, a one-off four-day match is slated to be held from May 11 to May 14. The venues for these matches are yet to be confirmed. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Sports News
Afghanistan: Archaeological sites ‘bulldozed for looting’
BBC News: Dozens of archaeological sites in Afghanistan have been bulldozed to allow systematic looting, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. They say their analysis of satellite photos provides the first definitive photographic evidence that looting patterns that began under the previous government have continued since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Ancient settlements dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age – some earlier than 1000BC – are among those they say have been damaged. Most of the sites identified are in northern Afghanistan’s Balkh region, which more than two millennia ago was the heartland of Bactria. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Non-Combatant Murder Spree Persists: Taliban Gun Down Resident of Maidan Wardak Province in Kabul
8am: According to reliable sources cited by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, the victim, identified as Elyas, was brutally gunned down by Taliban fighters on the evening of Tuesday, February 20, in the vicinity of Kabul’s sixth security district. Elyas hailed from the Husay-e Dowum Bahsud district in Maidan Wardak province, and his funeral took place yesterday. It’s imperative to note that since their resurgence, the Taliban have perpetrated numerous killings across the nation, employing various pretexts. Click here to read more (external link).