The Economic Times (India): When the Taliban seized Kabul 10 months ago, Abdul Ahad Habibi was Afghanistan’s first secretary at the permanent mission in Geneva looking after its affairs in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Even after the change of guard, the Afghan diplomat with three of his colleagues continued to stay back in the Swiss town, claiming that they were the real representatives of Afghanistan. While talking to ET, Habibi terms Taliban as “barbarians” who have been on a killing spree… Click here to read more (external link).
UNFPA: As the country continues to face an unprecedented crisis that has greatly impacted on its health system, health facilities are striving to ensure that reproductive health services remain accessible to women, including those suffering from obstetric fistula. These women include Aisha*, a 35-year-old mother of three from Ghazni province, who has had five expensive but unsuccessful surgeries to repair her fistula. Since having the fistula 12 years ago, Aisha lived in shame and was despised even by her own family. 
Ariana: For the first time the Chamber of Industries and Mines, as well as a center for processing and selling gem stones and minerals have been established in Badakhshan province. “Badakhshan is one of the richest provinces in the world. In the past, people knew little about Badakhshan. Badakhshan has ruby and lapis lazuli, but you should know that in Badakhshan there are more expensive things which other countries do not have,” said Rahimullah Samandar, executive director of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. 
8am: The Taliban on Tuesday (June 14th) reprimanded those women who were shopping without having their mahrams – male companions – after entering a market in Herat. Local sources told Hasht-e Subh that the Taliban had ordered shopkeepers that no women were allowed to enter the market without a mahram to prevent sin and prostitution, stressing that shopkeepers did not have the right to talk to women who appear in public without a mahram. 
Nikkei: Resistance forces in Afghanistan are challenging the country’s Taliban rulers, prompting them to send reinforcements to the northeast. The anti-Taliban National Resistance Front is vowing to “liberate” the country from the Taliban’s “doctrinarian rule,” and is employing guerilla-style tactics, especially in the Panjshir Valley region about 100 km northeast of Kabul. While experts say the loosely knit group has had little success so far, they see it complicating life for the Taliban. A recent United Nations Security Council report said that according to one member state, the Taliban considers the NRF to be a greater threat than ISIS-K — the Islamic State group’s regional affiliate — though it acknowledged this is a matter for debate. 
Xinhua: Afghanistan’s central bank would inject 11 million U.S. dollars into the local market in a bid to strengthen the national currency, afghani, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) said on Sunday. The DAB was requesting all eligible banks, foreign exchange and monetary service providers to participate in the auction scheduled on Monday, according to a DAB statement. 