First Person: ‘We are the hope, we are the power keeping Afghanistan together’

·

Mahbouba Seraj

UN: Mahbouba Sera, one of the world’s most prominent women’s rights activists, chose to stay in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, to witness what was happening to her country, and to work for a society that benefits all of its people In 24 hours a democracy we worked for over a 20-year period crumbled. The first thought I had in mind was what is going to happen to the women of Afghanistan? What were we going to do? 15 August was the day the women of Afghanistan started to become non-human, the day when we knew there was no place for women’s rights anywhere anymore. Click here to read more (external link).

Mawlawi Mehdi Killed by Taliban in Herat, Sources Say

·

Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid

8am: Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid has been killed by the Taliban in Herat province after being arrested. Intelligence sources confirm to Hasht-e Subh that Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid, the former commander of the Taliban, was arrested and executed on Wednesday (August 17th) in the third Kamana brigade, in the village of Boonyad in the Kohsan district of Herat province. According to the sources, brigade Mehdi Mujahid was planning to travel to Iran while being arrested by the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Taliban Fighters Torture a Young Man in Takhar Province

·

Taliban fighters (file photo)

8am: Local sources in Takhar say that the Taliban tortured a young man from Badakhshan province. Local sources in Takhar province said that the Taliban severely beat up a Badakhshani youth in the Chah-e Ab district of Takhar province on Tuesday (August 17th). This young man, who had a manual job, was tortured for no reason by the people affiliated with Ghullam Hossain known as “Jendi”, one of the Taliban commanders in Takhar’s Chah-e Ab district. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Fires 30 Female Employees in Jawzjan

·

8am: Local sources in Jawzjan told Hasht-e Subh on Tuesday (August 16th) that these women worked in the governor’s office, finance office, municipality, agriculture department and rural development department. Sources add that the women met with the Governor of Jawzjan after their removal, but the governor’s answer was that government offices do not need their service anymore. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Taliban Denies Detention of Its Forces in Panjshir

·

Tolo News: Local officials in Panjshir province denied the reports that Islamic Emirate [Taliban] forces have been detained by the Resistance Front in the province.  The provincial governor’s spokesman, Abubakar Sediqqi, confirmed that a number of rockets hit some areas of Dara district but denied casualties to Islamic Emirate forces and the fall of a village to the Resistant Front. There have been many reports earlier about the armed conflicts in Panjshir, but the Islamic Emirate has denied them. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Interview: Former U.S. envoy Khalilzad on leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban

·

Khalilzad

Axios: Zalmay Khalilzad was tasked by two U.S. presidents with negotiating an orderly U.S. exit from Afghanistan. Instead, one year ago, Kabul collapsed, the U.S. mounted a frantic evacuation, and the Taliban took total control. What he’s saying: “It’s very unfortunate that we couldn’t get a political agreement before the Taliban moved in,” Khalilzad tells Axios in a phone interview. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan makes progress toward polio eradication

·

Child getting polio drops (file photo)

Ariana: One year on from Afghanistan’s transition of power in August 2021, the polio eradication programme in Afghanistan has made critical gains – but the job is far from finished. Wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan is currently at its lowest level in history. Fifty six children were paralysed by wild poliovirus in 2020. In 2021, the number fell to four. This year to date, only one child has been paralysed by the virus, giving the country an extraordinary opportunity to end polio, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. Click here to read more (external link).