8am: The Ministry of Higher Education, under Taliban control, has hindered the travel of around 500 male students to Russia. Scholarship recipients for Russian universities report that they have been accepted at various academic levels, and it has taken about six months for their study visas to be issued. However, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the acting head of the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education, is now expressing concerns about the faith of these students, telling them that they are going as Muslims but will return as communists. According to these students, Nadeem has informed them that they “cannot invite others to Islam and must tell the Russians that their religion is false.” The students further claim that this ministry had recently confiscated their passports and academic documents, stating that all students must undergo an ideological examination before being granted permission to travel. They add that the ministry initially conducted belief examinations on the students but has now retracted its stance, referring the matter to Mullah Habibullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the group. Click here to read more (external link).
Related