Tolo News: The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the organization will start the coronavirus vaccination campaign in Afghanistan in June. According to WHO, more than five million people in Afghanistan will benefit from the vaccine in this campaign. The COVID-19 vaccination campaign is planned in Afghanistan for June 2022, covering 34 provinces and targeting more than 5 million in the adult population aged 18 years and above, WHO tweeted. Click here to read more (external link).
UN Observer Says Taliban Policies Making Afghan Women Invisible
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 26, 2022
ISLAMABAD — A senior United Nations observer Thursday expressed serious concern about the “erasure of women from public life” across Afghanistan since the Islamist Taliban seized power in August.
“Afghanistan is facing a plethora of critical human rights challenges that are having a severe impact on the population,” Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, told a news conference in Kabul at the end of his 11-day maiden trip to the country.
“I urge the authorities to acknowledge the human rights challenges that they are facing and to close the gap between their words and their deeds,” he stressed.
The insurgent-turned-ruling group’s male-only government has suspended Afghan girls’ secondary education, prevented most female employees from returning to government jobs, barred women from traveling alone, ordered them to cover up fully in public, including their faces, and strongly advised them to stay at home.
Bennett said the policies “fit the pattern of absolute gender segregation and are aimed at making women invisible in society.”
“The de facto authorities have failed to acknowledge the magnitude and gravity of the abuses being committed, many of them in their name and their responsibility to address them and protect the entire population,” Bennett noted.
The U.N. expert met with Taliban leaders, members of Afghan civil society, including women human rights defenders, journalists, minorities and victims of human rights violations.
The U.N. expert spoke on a day when Taliban forces in Kabul reportedly disrupted a women’s protest that called for the reopening of girls’ schools.
“Civil society space and media freedom is critical for a peaceful society in which rights are respected,” Bennett said.
Bennett said he was able to visit a prison, hospitals, schools and mosques in several places in the Afghan capital, and northern Mazar-i-Sharif, as well as southern Kandahar cities.
Bennett noted the Taliban had extended their invitation for him to access the entire country and to visit sensitive locations “in a crucial commitment to ensure that transparent monitoring can be undertaken.”
The international community has not recognized the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, saying the issue would come under consideration only after the Islamist group adheres to its pledges to protect the human rights of all Afghans, especially those of women.
The Taliban seized power from the Western-backed former government in August when the last U.S.-led international forces withdrew from the country after almost 20 years of war with the Islamist group.
“The Taliban stands at a crossroads. Either the society will become more stable and a place where every Afghan enjoys freedom and human rights, or it will become increasingly restrictive,” Bennett cautioned. He will present the findings of his first report to the September session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
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Taliban Raids, Tortures and Harasses the Residents of Paryan in Panjshir
Taliban militants (file photo)
8am: According to sources, the Taliban fighters have detained and tortured more than 20 residents of the Kereptab area in the district, including elders, farmers, shepherds, and children, and taken them all to their bases for further investigation and possible torture. As reported, the Taliban rebels have shot dead the dogs and livestock and have burnt down houses into ash. Click here to read more (external link).
Clashes in Panjshir: NFR Forces Kill Nine Taliban Fighters in an Ambush
8am: Local sources in Panjshir province have reported that nine Taliban fighters have been killed in an ambush laid by National Resistance Front forces. According to sources, the fighting took place on Thursday in Kotal-e-Arezoo and Ghazdi Sang, Anaba district of Panjshir province. According to sources, about 200 Taliban forces who were trying to attack the military bases of the National Resistance Front in Anaba district were ambushed by the forces of the Front on the way. Sources emphasize that as a result of this clash that started this morning (Thursday 26, 2022), nine Taliban are killed so far. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – May 26, 2022
Afghanistan’s Taliban step up coal exports to boost local budget
Reuters: The hardline Islamist movement is now banking on its natural resources to survive. Landlocked Afghanistan has large mineral and fossil fuel deposits, most of them untapped. One Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan had increased coal imports from Afghanistan and could be importing up to 500,000 tonnes per month. Click here to read more (external link).
Fifteen civilians killed in Balkh and Kabul explosions
Ariana: Fifteen people were killed and more than 30 were injured in Wednesday’s explosions in Kabul and Balkh – all of which were civilians. The survivors of the victims of these blasts have meanwhile called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to arrest and punish the perpetrators of these incidents. Among the victims in the Mazar-e-Sharif explosions were women, officials confirmed. The injured are being treated at a district hospital in Balkh province, and many of the injured have lost body parts, officials stated. Click here to read more (external link).
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A Taliban Vehicle Targeted by Magnetic Roadside Mine in Panjshir
8am: Sources in Panjshir province have reported that a Taliban military vehicle was targeted by a magnetic roadside mine in Astana area of Bazarak district in the province. The vehicle was targeted on Tuesday, May 24. As a result of this incident, the Taliban rebels have suffered casualties, but the exact number is not yet reported. Click here to read more (external link).
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Former CENTCOM commander skeptical of counterterrorism strategy for Afghanistan
Votel
Washington Examiner: The U.S. military is in a precarious position as it attempts to deter terrorism in Afghanistan without a presence in the country and limited help in the region, according to a former U.S. Central Command leader. Gen. Joseph Votel, who served as the head of CENTCOM from March 2016 to March 2019, expressed doubt about the military’s planned reliance on over-the-horizon strikes as a counterterrorism strategy in an interview with the Washington Examiner. Click here to read more (external link).
Tajikistan to host regional security summit on Afghanistan
Ariana: Tajikistan is scheduled to host a regional security summit on Afghanistan on Thursday and Friday this week. The meeting will be held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and will be attended by representatives from countries in the region. The meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and will be attended by India’s national security adviser and representatives from Russia, China, Iran and Central Asian countries, Indian media reported, but it is unclear whether Pakistan will send a delegation to this meeting or not. Click here to read more (external link).