Taliban militants dancing (file photo)
8am: As crime rates increase in Kandahar province, sources report that some Taliban fighters are involved in thefts in this province. On Tuseday, April 11, a Taliban audio message was sent to members of the group’s fighters, where it was revealed that one of their members had stolen valuables from several women in the fifth district of Kandahar city. Click here to read more (external link).
Khaama: Taliban forces killed Akmal Ameer, a prominent anti-Taliban commander, along with his eight comrades in the Parwan province of Afghanistan. Akmal was a former commander of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) who had joined the National Resistance Front (NRF) after the fall of the previous government. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
8am: According to the Directorate of Public Health of Taliban in Zabul province, an outbreak of measles in this province has resulted in the death of two children and the infection of 17 others. It is worth noting that several days ago, another 10 children in Zabul died due to the measles disease. This comes as officials from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Zabul province had previously stated that they would cover 13,000 children under the measles vaccine. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
April 11, 2023
ISLAMABAD — The United Nations has warned that the Taliban’s “unlawful” ban on its female staff in Afghanistan could push the world body to cease operations in the country.
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, issued the warning Tuesday, days after the fundamentalist authorities barred Afghan women employees from working for the mission in the improvised nation reeling from years of war and prolonged drought.
The statement reiterated the U.N.’s “unequivocal” condemnation of the restriction, saying the global organization cannot comply with it as it is against international law and the U.N. charter.
“Through this ban, the Taliban de facto authorities seek to force the U.N. into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people, and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold,” the UNAMA stressed.
The mission’s chief, Roza Otunbayeva, has initiated a review of UNAMA operations in the country that could continue until May 5, the statement said.
“U.N. national personnel — women and men — have been instructed not to report to U.N. offices, with only limited and calibrated exceptions made for critical tasks.”
During the review period, the U.N. office in Kabul would conduct necessary consultations, make required operational adjustments, and accelerate contingency planning for all possible outcomes, the statement said.
“It should be clear that any negative consequences of this crisis for the Afghan people will be the responsibility of the de facto authorities,” the UNAMA cautioned.
The Taliban have not publicly commented on the restriction since it went into effect a week ago (April 4).
The United Nations has nearly 4,000 staff members in Afghanistan, of which about 3,300 are Afghan nationals. Among them are about 400 Afghan women and 200 international female staffers.
The ban on U.N. female staff is the latest in a series of restrictions the Taliban have imposed on Afghan women since reclaiming control of the country in August 2021.
The curbs have severely impacted women and girls’ participation in public and daily life. Afghan women have been banned from accessing higher education and many government jobs and public spaces. Girls are also not allowed to attend school beyond sixth grade.
On December 24, 2022, the Taliban banned Afghan women from working with domestic and international aid groups but did not include the United Nations at that time. Some international nongovernmental organizations suspended their work after the decree.
The de facto authorities have ignored calls to lift the curbs and dismissed criticism of their governance, saying it is in line with Afghan culture and Islamic law or Shariah.
The global community has refused to grant legitimacy to the men-only Taliban administration, primarily over human rights concerns and the treatment of women.
The United States and the international community at large have linked the legitimacy issue to the removal of restrictions on women and respect for human rights of all Afghans.
John Kirby, the U.S. national security council coordinator for strategic communications, reiterated to reporters last week that Washington does not recognize the Taliban as an official government in Afghanistan.
“If they want to be so recognized — at least by the United States — if they want to be seen as legitimate, then they need to own up to the promises they made about how they were going to govern that country and how they were going to treat their own people, including women and girls,” Kirby told reporters last week.
Afghanistan is one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies. The United Nations says 28.3 million people, two-thirds of the population, need humanitarian assistance.
Six million people are on the brink of famine. A $4.6 billion humanitarian appeal for this year is just over $200 million funded.
Taliban War on Afghan Women
Khaama: An earthquake of 4.6 magnitudes jolted the Hindu Kush region, 30 km Jurm district of Badakhshan, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, reported by US Geological Survey. According to the US Geological Survey, the tremor of 4.6 magnitudes occurred at 8:07 am local time on Tuesday with the epicentre of the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, 30 km Jurm district of Badakhshan. This is the fifth earthquake within the past seven days in the northeast province of Afghanistan Badakhshan. No causalities have been reported so far. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Local sources in Faryab province report that as a result of the Taliban shooting at a checkpoint in the city of Maimana, the center of this province, one person was killed and another was injured. Taliban checkpoints have victimized many people throughout the country. Click here to read more (external link).
VOA Afghan Service
April 10, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Taliban have released two Afghan activists at a time when the United Nations and human rights watchdogs have raised alarms over the increase in arbitrary detentions in Afghanistan in recent months.
Nargis Sadat, a women’s rights defender, and Zakaria Osuli, a university lecturer and author, were released on Monday after being detained separately for more than two months by the Taliban.
The Taliban have not commented on why the two were detained or released.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, in a tweet on Monday welcomed their release but voiced concern over the Taliban’s use of arbitrary detentions against Afghan activists.
“We continue to engage with de facto authorities on cases but are dismayed by lack of information provided, despite ongoing requests. We call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained. No Afghan should be detained for exercising their freedom of expression,” wrote UNAMA.
Last month, Amnesty International reported that the Taliban have been targeting critics for “unlawful detention.” The rights group said in most cases detainees have “no legal remedy or access to their families.”
“Amnesty International is calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism in Afghanistan at the earliest opportunity, with a focus on evidence preservation to pursue international justice,” stated Amnesty International’s press release.
On March 27, the Taliban arrested Matiullah Wesa, an advocate of girls’ education and the founder of PenPath, a community network campaigning for education in Afghanistan.
The Taliban said Wesa was arrested in Kabul for what they called “suspicious” activities.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA that Wesa “had secret and open meetings without informing the [Taliban] government. He also had connections abroad and was getting instructions from abroad. Therefore, he must have been brought for questioning and interrogation.”
Wesa’s brother, Attaullah Wesa, who went into hiding after his brother was arrested, rejects the Taliban’s claims.
“Our activities — pictures and videos of the activities of PenPath and our team are public. Our meeting with the international community, our people and authorities are not secret,” Attaullah Wesa told VOA.
Human Rights Watch has called on the Taliban to release Matiullah Wesa and other activists in detention.
Sahar Fetrat of Human Rights Watch told VOA that “Human Rights Watch demands the immediate and unconditional release of Matiullah Wesa and all those arrested.”
Human Rights Watch reported that in recent months the Taliban have increased their crackdown on dissent.
“In recent months they have increasingly targeted their critics for arrest, including civil society activists, human rights defenders, and women protesters,” Human Rights Watch stated in a press release on March 29.
AP: The UN food agency said on April 10 that it urgently needs $800 million for the next six months to help Afghanistan, which is at the highest risk of famine in a quarter of a century. Aid agencies have been providing food, education, and health care to Afghans in the wake of the Taliban takeover and the economic collapse that followed. But distribution has been severely impacted by a Taliban edict last December banning women from working at national and international nongovernmental groups. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
8am: According to local sources in Khost, a former government military member named Mohammad Anwar committed suicide after being released from Taliban prison in the province. Sources say that Anwar, who was an employee of the National Directorat of Security in the previous government, ended his life by drinking poison in Matun, center of the Khost province, on Sunday, April 9. Information from sources suggests that Anwar’s limbs were broken due to Taliban torture during his imprisonment in Khost province. Click here to read more (external link).