Taliban militants (file photo)
8am: Several Shia Muslims in Afghanistan say that nearly five years into Taliban rule, religious restrictions on their community have gradually intensified. According to them, these restrictions now extend beyond Muharram mourning ceremonies and have come to encompass shrines, religious rituals, and even certain matters of jurisprudence. These Shia Muslims add that the Taliban impose restrictions on Muharram observances every year, take down mourning banners from homes, and, in some cases, detain those who resist such measures. Click here to read more (external link).
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The Guardian (UK): It explicitly allows children to be given in marriage at any age. It also forces women whose husbands are missing to wait until they are presumed dead before they can be separated. Part of the code that addresses abusive or neglectful husbands allows a wife to petition the court if her husband is unjust or withholds financial support. But the same article states that judges and arbiters “cannot, solely on the woman’s request and without the husband’s consent, grant divorce”. 
Amu: Amnesty International has called on the European Union and its member states to abandon plans to deport Afghan nationals and halt talks with Taliban on migrant returns, saying that Afghanistan remains unsafe and that any cooperation on deportations would violate international human rights obligations. In a statement issued Tuesday, the organization urged European governments to end efforts aimed at expanding deportations to Afghanistan and to discontinue readmission discussions with Taliban. 
Amu: Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said that holding talks with Taliban representatives in Brussels on migrant returns would be “an insult to Afghans, especially women.” Bennett made the remarks while endorsing a statement by Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, who criticized a new European Union regulation designed to accelerate the deportation of migrants and asylum seekers. 
Afghanistan International: According to the sources, the arrests were carried out on the orders of Abdul Hakim Sharei, the Taliban’s justice minister. They said those detained are being held in a private detention facility operated by the minister within the Ministry of Justice compound. 
Khaama: Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghan to travel to space, has died in Germany at the age of 67 after a prolonged battle with cancer, family members said on Sunday. A relative told media that Momand had been suffering from illness for some time and was diagnosed with cancer. Funeral arrangements and memorial ceremonies will be announced later by his family. He is survived by two daughters and a son.