8am: The Department of Virtue Promotion in Balkh province has instructed the faculties of Balkh University to not permit students to enter the university with smartphones. According to the announcement, the violators will be punished in accordance with Sharia law. Click here to read more (external link). Related Kabul International Airport: Taliban Forbid Unaccompanied Women
8am: The year 1400, which is now close to an end, was full of dark shaded images that will be recorded in the history as Dark Year of the 1400s. On the occasion of welcoming the New Year of 1401, Mazar-e-Sharif, with a long history of hosting tourists and guests from across the country on
8am: Local sources in Balkh confirm that a resident, named Haji Esmat was shot by Taliban forces at a checkpoint on Thursday evening while he was returning home from work. “He died in the hospital later that evening,” the victim’s relatives told Hasht-e Subh by confirming his death. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Afghans have meanwhile called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to allow Nowruz celebrations to go ahead. We “urge the government of Islamic Emirate to mark the Nowruz festival as it was marked in the past years,” said Mohammad Asif, a resident of Mazar. IEA officials meanwhile said that there are two Eids
Tolo News: Earlier human rights watchdogs expressed concerns over the house-to-house searches in Afghanistan. There have been reports of house-to-house searches on Wednesday in the province of Balkh. Click here to read more (external link). Related Human Rights Watch: Afghans Destroy Identifying Documents as Taliban Search Homes
8am: Sources in the traffic department of Balkh province told Hasht-e Subh that about 30 employees of the department had left their jobs after not receiving their seven-month salaries. Sources confirmed that of the 30 traffic police officers, 26 had gone abroad to work and four others had started personal work. Most people who work
The Guardian (UK): Mazar, in the 1990s, was the most secular, socially liberal of Afghan cities. In the first two decades of the 21st century, it was dominated by warlords whose militias had defeated the Taliban. During this time, money surged into the city. And yet, last August, Mazar fell to the Taliban even before
8am: With the Taliban taking control of the country, employment opportunities reached a record low. Women are the main victims of this problem in Afghanistan. The Taliban have multiplied their problems by imposing severe restrictions on women’s right to work and education. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Amanuddin Mansoor, commander of the air force, said the pilots who were trained and serving under the former government and who fled the country should return and they will be recruited back into the air force. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Mohammad Nader Alemi, a psychiatrist and head of the mental health department of Mazar-e-Sharif hospital, was killed after being abducted and held for two months. Balkh doctors said Alemi had worked as a psychiatrist for 40 years and was the founder of the first private psychiatric hospital in Balkh. Click here to read