Hamid Karzai
8am: The Taliban regime did not permit Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, to travel to Germany, sources confirm. It is still not clear why the Taliban prevent Karzai from traveling abroad. Click here to read more (external link).
VOA News
October 22, 2022
Zheela Noori
Roshan Noorzai
WASHINGTON — Germany’s announcement that it will take in 1,000 at-risk Afghans with their families from Afghanistan will be challenging, an Afghan lawyer says, because it is becoming increasingly difficult for Afghans to leave Afghanistan.
In a joint statement, the German Foreign and Interior ministries announced the new humanitarian admission program on Monday.
“The plan is to approve around 1,000 Afghans at particular risk, along with their family members from Afghanistan for admittance every month,” said the statement.
“It is going to be very challenging,” said Abdul Subhan Misbah, former deputy head of Afghanistan’s Lawyers Union who has been involved in the efforts to evacuate judges and prosecutors from Afghanistan, adding that “it is not clear who would be included, and it won’t be easy to take people out of Afghanistan that is ruled by the Taliban.”
The German government said that the new program would evacuate at-risk women’s and human rights activists, former government officials, and civil society members. The program also includes those persecuted in Afghanistan because of their gender, sexual orientation, and/or religion.
Misbah said that many employees of the former government and members of civil society want to leave their country.
“Most of the people want to leave,” he said. “What are the criteria based on which people will be admitted? How are they going to help those at risk to get out of Afghanistan? These questions have to be answered.”
Besides the problems they face to get passports and visas, he said, Afghans must travel to a third country because there are no direct flights from Afghanistan to Germany.
“It should be something that the German government has to negotiate with neighboring countries to facilitate the process,” Misbah said.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Christopher Burger, told VOA that his government is working with the neighboring countries to help with the process.
“We will continue to work through all channels available to us in order to assure safe passage to the people that we want to bring to safety,” he said.
Germany has admitted 26,000 Afghans since Kabul fell and the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Burger said to implement the new program, German authorities would work with organizations already on the ground and involved in helping at-risk individuals leave the country, but the German government would make the final decision on who is the “most vulnerable and most in need of admission to Germany.”
Local contractors
Burger said the program will continue until October 2025 and does not include 12,000 former German contractors who are “officially granted admission” to Germany but are still in Afghanistan.
“Simply, we are not able to bring people outside the country. They do not have a passport,” Burger said. “We are working with the neighboring countries on achieving that.”
He added that a “larger group” of Afghans had “some sort of association” with German organizations in Afghanistan and “are still in the proceedings to be recognized as former German contracts.”
Axel Steier, the founder of the German-based civil society organization Mission Lifeline, told VOA that his organization runs several safe houses for those who worked with the German government.
He added that these local contractors fear for their lives.
Steier said that “the Taliban want to kill them, and [we are] keeping them into safe houses and waiting for a decision from the German government to take them in.”
Difficult to leave
The German government said that Afghans who have left Afghanistan would not be considered under the new humanitarian admission program.
“So, this is a big issue,” said Steier, adding that many at-risk Afghans left Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power. Most of the individuals are staying in Pakistan, Iran or Tajikistan and are unable to return to Afghanistan.
He added that it is difficult for people to get passports and visas to leave the country.
“And for both, you need a lot of money. Because you can get a passport only if you pay $1,200 to $1,500,” he said. “Also, it is very difficult to get [a] visa for Iran. At the moment, it costs $500.”
“For people who are poor … [and have no] money for stuff like a passport or visa, it is almost impossible to come [to Germany],” Steier said.
Mohammad Nabi
Ariana: Speaking after the match, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said: “It’s not the best start to the tournament for us but we tried our best. We didn’t get a good enough total on the board in the first innings and everyone knows England are one of the best T20 teams in the world. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: A top NRF commander and 9 men under his command were killed in Badakhshan province. Sources told Hasht-e Subh on Friday (October 21st) that 21 Taliban fighters were killed and 7 others were wounded in the clashes against National Resistance Front (NRF) forces in Arghanchkhah, Ragh, Yiftal Bala and Sheewa districts. Sayed Bahruddin Agha, a senior NRF commander, was surrounded by the Taliban and killed along with 9 people under his command on Thursday (October 20th). Click here to read more (external link).
More Resistance News
Imran Khan
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 21, 2022
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s election authorities Friday disqualified populist former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding public office for allegedly concealing his assets, prompting his supporters to stage nationwide protests and fueling political turmoil in the country.
The ruling alleges that the former cricket star turned politician had made a “false statement and incorrect declaration” about his assets before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Khan “consequently ceases to be a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan [the lower house of parliament] and his seat has become vacant accordingly,” the ECP said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders denounced Friday’s decision as politically motivated and vowed to challenge it in a high court, alleging the election commission transgressed its jurisdiction under pressure from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government.
Khan’s supporters took to the streets across major Pakistani cities to protest his disqualification, blocking major highways and clashing with police. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The case against the former prime minister centered upon a government department known as “Toshakhana”—which literally means “treasure house”—where gifts received by Pakistani leaders during foreign state visits are stored and displayed.
Khan sold several expensive gifts, including luxury watches, he had received and retained, but he allegedly did not report the earnings to the ECP. The hugely popular former leader maintained the earnings in question had been included in his income tax returns and denied any wrongdoing
Recipients are legally allowed to retain gifts above a certain value on payment of 50% of the value, a discount Khan raised from 20% while in office.
His lawyers argued “the election commission is not a court, therefore they can’t give a declaration to disqualify anyone.”
The former prime minister was ousted in a vote of no-confidence in April. He has long asserted, without evidence, his removal was orchestrated by the United States in collusion with Sharif and the powerful Pakistani military, which influences politics from behind the scenes.
Both Washington and Islamabad deny this.
More than 130 PTI lawmakers, the largest group in the lower house of parliament, also resigned en masse in April over the ouster of their leader. Khan’s popularity has since surged, and tens of thousands of his supporters have turned out at his nationwide anti-government rallies to call for fresh elections in Pakistan.
Khan’s party has swept subsequent national and provincial by-elections. In the latest round of the election last Sunday, he himself contested seven of the eight National Assembly seats up for grabs and won six of them, underscoring his popularity across the country of about 220 million people.
He has threatened to march with hundreds of thousands of supporters on the national capital, Islamabad, to force the Sharif government into holding early general elections for allegedly ruining the national economy and foreign policy.
Khan has long accused Sharif and his family members, as well as leaders of his major coalition partner, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), of siphoning billions of dollars to offshore accounts from kickbacks and commissions they received while previously in power.
Sharif and PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan’s current foreign minister, reject the corruption charges.
“The election commission delivered justice in the Toshakhana reference. The nation has seen that the post of prime minister has been made a source of personal income through corrupt practices,” Sharif tweeted Friday while commenting on the ruling against Khan.
“He who would spread lies about alleged corruption of his political opponents has been caught red-handed,” Zardari wrote on Twitter.
The election panel in its decision also directed officials “to initiate legal proceedings and take follow-up action” against Khan.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah vowed later at a news conference the government would immediately abide by the ECP direction and launch court proceedings against the ousted prime minister.
Friday’s developments come as Pakistan’s economic troubles have deepened following this year’s catastrophic floods. Analysts say increased political instability will likely add to the challenges facing Sharif and his coalition government in addressing rising inflation and balance of payments amid Pakistan’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
Tolo News: The Association of Obstetric Gynecology expressed concern about the lack of female medical doctors specialized in gynecology and obstetrics in some provinces of the country. Members of the association meeting at a symposium on capacity-building for female doctors in Kabul called on the Ministry of Public Health to create more opportunities for female doctors to travel and learn in foreign countries. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban militant (file photo)
HRW: Three Afghan women detained for protesting Taliban abuses described torture and other severe mistreatment in custody, Human Rights Watch said today. The women said they were wrongfully detained with their families, including small children. They experienced threats, beatings, dangerous conditions of confinement, denial of due process, abusive conditions of release, and other abuses. The authorities assaulted and administered electric shocks to detained male relatives. The women’s description of their experiences sheds light on the Taliban’s treatment of women protesters in custody and the Taliban’s efforts to silence the protest movement. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The Taliban fighters have attacked the two villages of Behsud district in Maidan Wardak province, injuring eight civilians and putting on fire three residential homes, local sources said. The Taliban accused the residents of these villages of having weapons and brutally tortured them, as well as they also launched house searches operation and dug inside several homes for the purpose of finding weapons. Click here to read more (external link).
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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
October 20, 2022
The Taliban allowed thousands of Afghan girls and women to take university entrance exams last week.
But the militant group has banned them from applying for many courses, including journalism, engineering, economics, and many social and natural sciences.
The move has limited the career prospects of many women and forced some to give up on their dreams.
It is the latest restriction on female education in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. The militants have banned girls above the sixth grade from attending school. They have also imposed strict gender segregation in universities.
Some of the girls and women allowed to take the exams had graduated from school just before the Taliban takeover. Others who participated were in the final year of school when the militants banned secondary-school education for girls.
Fatima, a 20-year-old from the northern province of Parwan, had long dreamed of becoming a reporter. But when she was told that she could not study journalism, she left the exam. “I was heartbroken and disillusioned, so I walked away,” Fatima, whose full name has not been disclosed to protect her identity, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
Some women have also complained that they are no longer allowed to apply for courses in universities outside their home province, further limiting their options.
Shamila, a high-school graduate from the northeastern province of Kunduz, wanted to study medicine. But since the course is not available in universities in Kunduz, she has been forced to ditch her dreams of becoming a doctor.
“I was saddened and shocked to discover that I could not choose the course that I wanted,” she told Radio Azadi. “No one has been able to explain to us why we are deprived of studying our preferred subjects.”
While women are restricted in what and where they can study, men are free to apply for any course or university.
Abdul Qadir Khamush, the head of the examinations division in the Taliban’s Higher Education Ministry, told Radio Azadi that 150,000 students took the university entrance exams between October 13-15, with 35 percent of them women.
RFE/RL was unable to verify the figures provided by the Taliban. But teachers and students have said that in some provinces the number of women who took the exams this year dropped by as much as 90 percent compared to 2021.
Around 180,000 students took the exams last year, which were held just before the Taliban seized power in August. Some 30 percent of them were women.
The number of women taking the university entrance exams is expected to fall dramatically next year if the Taliban maintains its ban on education for teenage girls. This year, the militants offered an exemption for girls in the last year of school.
Khamush, the Taliban official, said they were not allowing women to apply for certain courses because they could not arrange separate classes for men and women in some universities. He told the BBC that some courses were closed to women because there was a lack of interest.
Few women have accepted that explanation.
An 11th-grader in Parwan, who did not want to reveal her name, fears that she will not even be allowed to take the university entrance exams. “My dreams will just remain dreams,” she told Radio Azadi.
Since seizing power, the Taliban has imposed a raft of restrictions on women and girls, including on their appearance, access to work and education, and freedom of movement. The rules are reminiscent of the Taliban’s first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, when the group deprived women of their most basic rights.
Women and girls have taken to the streets to protest the Taliban’s restrictions on their lives. Last month, schoolgirls, women, and even Afghan elders demonstrated their support for girls’ education in social media posts and street protests across the country, in a rare display of defiance under the Taliban.
More recently, a deadly suicide bombing on September 30 that killed dozens of girls and women in Kabul triggered some of the largest and most sustained protests against Taliban rule.
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