The Taliban vowed to change Kabul. The city may be starting to change the Taliban.

Rick Noack
The Washington Post
February 19, 2024 

KABUL — More than two years after Taliban fighters streamed into the Afghan capital, seizing power here and vowing to cleanse the country of Western decadence, many of them have come to embrace the benefits of urban life.

Some spend their weekends in the city’s theme parks. Some watch cricket matches on large outdoor screens. Others are filling their Facebook pages with skyline selfies or buying self-help books published in the West. Most mornings, Kabul’s English schools are crowded with Taliban soldiers and employees in camouflage jackets, who appear as eager as other students to study abroad.

As the Taliban continues to change Kabul, some here have started to wonder if the city may also have begun to remake the Taliban.

“In many ways, they’ve been transformed,” said Abdulrahman Rahmani, 50, a former fighter who helped the Taliban conquer Kabul in 1996 and then again in 2021, speaking during a recent visit to Kabul’s zoo to see the lions.

Some of the Taliban fighters now regret the material success they sacrificed to wage their armed campaign. Just the other day, Rahmani recalled, another Taliban soldier told him he was sad because he and his brother had given up their schooling. “If we had studied, we’d be sitting in offices now,” he told Rahmani.

There are no signs that these changes have resulted in a softening of the Taliban’s repressive policies, in particular the campaign against women’s rights. And no doubt, for many of the fighters who in 2021 sped into the Afghan capital on the backs of pickup trucks, this city of about 5 million people is a disappointment. They say urban life is lonelier, more stressful and less religious than they had imagined.

Some of the Taliban fighters had grown up here before departing for rural Afghanistan to join the insurgency. Others never left and supported the Taliban as informants. But for most of the men who overtook the Afghan capital, the city’s bright lights were unfamiliar, and Kabul posed a challenge full of seductions.

Rahmani dreams that one day Kabul will become the Afghan equivalent of Dubai, the glitzy commercial hub in the United Arab Emirates. “Once the economic problems are solved, things will change massively,” he said.

Some Taliban members are already developing expensive taste. While officials in the new government initially went shopping for motorbikes, they are now increasingly interested in shiny Land Cruisers, vendors say.

City life already appears to have left a mark on Taliban soldier Abdul Mobin Mansor, 19, and his comrades. They agree that reliable internet access, for one, is of increasing importance to them.

They say they have gotten hooked on several television series that are best consumed in high definition. Their favorites are Turkish crime drama “Valley of the Wolves” and “Jumong,” a South Korean historical series about a prince who must conquer far-flung lands.

Mansor said he still prefers the countryside, where he might eventually return. “But I very much hope that there will be electricity and other modern facilities by then,” he said.

Some soldiers, like Hassam Khan, 35, say they can hardly imagine having to move back. Khan said he initially struggled to adapt to the city. He said he felt that Kabul residents feared him, and his eyes hurt when he stared at a computer for too long. But access to electricity, water, English classes and computer science lessons have changed his mind. “I like this life,” he said.

Some Afghans who had opposed the Taliban takeover say they have noticed a difference, too. Tariq Ahmad Amarkhail, a 20-year-old glasses vendor, said he has a growing feeling that the Taliban “is trying to adopt our lifestyle.”

“They came from the mountains, couldn’t understand our language and didn’t know anything about our culture,” said Amarkhail.

When they arrived, he said, they condemned jeans and other Western clothes and destroyed musical instruments. But when Amarkhail and his friends recently drove up to security checkpoints with music playing inside the cars, Taliban soldiers simply waved them through, he said. While Western civilian clothes have become a rare sight on Kabul’s streets, some residents were surprised to see the Taliban embrace military uniforms that bear striking similarities with those worn by their former enemies.

In interviews, over half a dozen younger and older regime employees cited access to education as a primary reward for their struggles. “When we conquered Kabul, we vowed to become a better version of ourselves,” said Laal Mohammad Zakir, 25, a Taliban sympathizer who became a Finance Ministry employee. He said he had signed up for an intensive English course to be able to study abroad one day.

Not all are tempted by the big city.


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Zabihullah Misbah and his friend Ahmadzai Fatih, both 25, were among the first fighters to rush into Kabul in 2021. Misbah still primarily associates Kabul with “bad things” such as adultery. “You’re more connected to God when you’re in the village,” he said. With fewer distractions there, “one is mostly busy with praying.”

Social bonds in villages are tighter, Misbah said, and life there feels less lonely.

“When you pursue jihad, it puts you at ease,” said Fatih. “But when we arrived here, we could not find peace.”

While many Afghans fled Kabul during the Taliban takeover, it has turned back into the congested capital it once was. It can take hours to cross the smoggy city from one side to the other.

Mansor and his friends acknowledged that the toxic air and the separation from their families in rural Afghanistan are making them reconsider city life. “Those who brought their families here are happier than we are,” said Mansor, who has yet to find a wife. Rent in the city is expensive and apartments too small, he said.

When the Taliban’s soldiers need an escape, they climb a hill in the center of Kabul, where the new regime has installed a gigantic Islamic Emirate flag, or they head to the Qargha Reservoir on the city’s outskirts, where they snack on pistachios in their pickup trucks.

Kabul residents who fearfully watched the Taliban arrive in 2021 said they hope that the number of former fighters who are embracing big-city life will outweigh those who are repulsed by it and the Taliban will become more moderate.

Many women say they haven’t noticed such an evolution. Universities remain closed to them, and girls above grade six are barred from school. From the secluded city of Kandahar, the Taliban’s top leadership has turned Afghanistan into the world’s most repressive country for women, the United Nations says.

“The Taliban won’t change,” said Roqya, 25. Sales in her women’s clothing market stall dropped abruptly last month after the Taliban-run Ministry of Vice and Virtue temporarily detained women over dress code violations, she said.

“None of the girls dared to go outside alone anymore,” said Roqya, who completed a bachelor’s degree in physics just before the takeover. When no one is looking, she still reads science books behind her counter.

The Taliban has big plans for postwar reconstruction, but restrictions on women could become the primary obstacle. Many foreign donors have abandoned the country in protest during the past 2½ years. Private investors remain scarce.

 

Could the lure of expensive skyscrapers, imposing new mosques and pothole-free roads eventually push the Taliban to compromise, as some Afghans hope?

In recent months, the Taliban has moved ahead with plans to resume work on a model city on the outskirts of Kabul, which was first conceived more than a decade ago under the previous U.S.-backed government but was never built.

“We will name it Kabul New City,” said Hamdullah Nomani, the Taliban-run government’s minister of urban development.

Construction executive Moqadam Amin, 57, said early discussions between his company and the new government suggested that the Taliban wanted a less ambitious project with lower-cost housing options. But the Taliban now appears to have thrown its backing behind the glitzy original plans, which envision the construction of high-rise buildings, schools, universities, pools, parks and shopping malls.

If Kabul’s “New City” is ever finished, its construction may take decades. For now, the designated property is accessible only on makeshift roads, lined by brick-stone factories and lone real estate agents who sit on carpets in the sand.

Rick Noack is The Washington Post’s Afghanistan bureau chief. Previously at The Post, he was the Paris correspondent, covering France and Europe, and an international affairs reporter based in Berlin, London and Washington

The Taliban vowed to change Kabul. The city may be starting to change the Taliban.
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UK special forces blocked resettlement applications from elite Afghan troops

Elite Afghan commandos who fought alongside the British military have had their applications to relocate blocked by UK special forces despite evidence that they had served alongside them in dangerous missions against the Taliban.

Documents leaked and shared with BBC Panorama show that Britain’s secretive special forces were given a veto power over resettlement, prompting claims that hundreds of Afghan veterans have been left in limbo or danger in their native country.

In some cases, the documents show Ministry of Defence officials tried to challenge the reasons for rejection, but were told they could not do as so as a decision on whether or not to sponsor resettlement by the British military unit was deemed final.

The Ministry of Defence is already conducting a review, but there are also accusations of a conflict of interest at a time when a public inquiry is investigating the conduct of the SAS in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

Members of the Afghan 333 and 444 units, known as the Triples, who are in the UK could in theory be asked to give evidence if they were present on contentious SAS night raids, where it is alleged 80 civilians were killed in cold blood in Helmand province between 2010 and 2013.

“At a time when certain actions by UK special forces are under investigation by a public inquiry, their headquarters also had the power to prevent former Afghan special forces colleagues and potential witnesses to these actions from getting safely to the UK,” one former UK special forces officer told the BBC.

On Tuesday, the public inquiry will hear evidence from Johnny Mercer, the minister for veterans’ affairs, who is expected to say that he believed there were credible war crimes allegations against British forces and that it was a mistake to shut down the Operation Northmoor military police investigation in 2019.

Previous sessions of the inquiry have heard allegations that 11 Afghans were shot dead in their sleep in two night raids in 2011 and 2012, part of a broader policy of policy of “executing Afghan males of fighting age” when they posed no immediate threat to SAS soldiers.

It is also examining whether there was a subsequent cover-up of the events, including why the contents of an SAS email server were deleted in 2016, in such a way its contents could not be recovered, without being passed to the Royal Military Police as had been promised by the military.

The Afghan 333 commando unit was created originally at the request of the UK Foreign Office to oppose narcotics production while the 444 was established with the support of the Ministry of Defence as a counter-terror force. Both regularly fought alongside British forces, and were at times directly paid by the UK.

But while about 400 Triples veterans were brought to the UK shortly after the hasty western withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, dozens or more cases have subsequently been rejected in what lawyers representing them believe amounted to a blanket ban.

Earlier this month, James Heappey, the armed forces minister, announced there would be a review of outstanding resettlement claims because there had been “demonstrated instances of inconsistent application”. The review team would be independent of original decision makers, he told the Commons.

Labour estimates that 200 Afghans, former members of the units, face imminent deportation from Pakistan to Afghanistan. At least six members of the Triples are reported to have been murdered by the Taliban since the withdrawal from Kabul, said Luke Pollard, a junior shadow defence minister.

Documents relating to the public inquiry have been collated at a new website, Unredacted, which seeks to create a new public resource of national security material. It includes three briefings summarising the work of the inquiry so far.

Sam Raphael, a professor of international relations at the University of Westminster, which is behind the new web archive, said it aimed to “provide the fullest public account to date of the UKSF operations involving suspicious killings and the extent to which senior UKSF personnel had knowledge” of the allegations.

The Ministry of Defence said it did not comment on the SAS or other special forces. An MoD spokesperson said: “We are conducting an independent, case-by-case review of all applications from former members of Afghan specialist units, which includes applications from the Triples. This review will consider all available evidence, including that provided by third parties.”

UK special forces blocked resettlement applications from elite Afghan troops
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Taliban’s conditions to attend UN meeting ‘unacceptable’, Guterres says

Al Jazeera
Published On 19 Feb 2024

The Taliban has set unacceptable conditions for attending a United Nations-sponsored meeting about Afghanistan in the Qatari capital, Doha, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says.

“I received a letter [from the Taliban] with a set of conditions to be present in this meeting that were not acceptable,” Guterres said at a news conference on Monday.

“These conditions denied us the right to talk to other representatives of Afghan society and demanded a treatment that would, to a large extent, be similar to recognition,” the UN chief added.

The two-day meeting which ended on Monday in Doha brought together member states and international envoys to Afghanistan to discuss an array of issues facing the country. But the Taliban didn’t attend because its demands were not met.

The Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021 after United States and NATO forces withdrew following two decades of war.

However, no country recognises it as Afghanistan’s government, and the UN has said that recognition is almost impossible while bans on female education and employment remain in place.

The biggest point of contention between the international community and the Taliban are the bans imposed on women and girls.

Since it retook power, it has ordered women to cover up when leaving home, stopped girls and women from attending high school and university, and banned them from parks, gyms and public baths.

The Taliban insists the bans are a domestic matter and reject criticism as outside interference.

Guterres said it was essential to revoke the restrictions.

In January, Taliban chief spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the UN preoccupation with Afghan women was unwarranted and dismissed its concerns.

“Afghan women wear hijab of their own accord,” he said on X. “They don’t need to be forced. The Vice and Virtue Ministry hasn’t forced anyone [to wear hijab] either.”

Another point of contention is the appointment of a UN special envoy in the country, which the Taliban opposes.

On Monday, Guterres said there needed to be “clear consultations” with the Taliban to have clarification of the envoy’s role and who it could be to “make it attractive” from the Taliban’s point of view.

He said it was in the Taliban’s interests to be part of the consultations.

Many governments, international organisations and aid agencies have cut off or severely scaled back their funding for Afghanistan in response to the Taliban policies, causing a serious blow to the country’s struggling economy.

“One of our main objectives is to overcome this deadlock,” Guterres said, explaining that a roadmap needed to be created in which “the concerns of the international community” and the concerns of the “de facto authorities of Afghanistan” are taken into account.

Lotfullah Najafizada, CEO of Amu TV, an international media outlet, told Al Jazeera the Taliban made a strategic mistake by not attending the talks.

“I think it is very important also for the Taliban to understand where the world stands. At the moment the world has planned to go ahead without the Taliban, which is not something that they expected,” he said.

“I think it is very important for the international community to build consensus and deal with the Taliban with one voice.”

The meeting in Doha also aimed at a more coordinated response to tackle issues in Afghanistan.

Guterres said there had been discussion of a “contact group”, with a “limited number of states able to have a more coordinated approach in the engagement with the de facto authorities”.

He said this could include permanent members of the UN Security Council, neighbouring countries and relevant donors but it would be “up to member states to decide how to create it”.

“I believe it would be a way to have coherence in the way the international community is engaging with the de facto authorities of Afghanistan,” he said.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
Taliban’s conditions to attend UN meeting ‘unacceptable’, Guterres says
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13 People Lashed for Illicit Affairs in Bamiyan: Governor

Speaking in an interview with TOLOnews, Abdullah Sarhadi said that five women were among those lashed.

The governor of Bamiyan province said that 13 people in the province have been lashed for having illicit affairs and fleeing home. 

Speaking in an interview with TOLOnews, Abdullah Sarhadi said that five women were among those lashed.

“There exists a Sharia Nikah [marriage], all Muslims are obliged to do Sharia Nikah. They [those punished] were involved in having illicit affairs and fleeing homes,” said Abdullah Sarhadi, the governor of Bamiyan.

Answering a question about the demolition of Buddhas of Bamiyan in 2001, Sarhadi said that the Buddhas were demolished based on the decree of the leader of the Islamic Emirate at that time.

“If the prophet Ibrahim allowed idols we would also. We are not idolaters and idolaters do not live in Afghanistan. Why should we allow idols?” said Abdullah Sarhadi, governor of Bamiyan.

Sarhad added that the local governance is trying to provide employment opportunities for people in the province and that a number of businesspeople have also been consulted with for this purpose.

“We want to see people stand on their feet. We have asked organizations to work in way so that people can get self-reliant. A bag of flour and can of cooking oil will do no good, people will turn into beggars,” said Abdullah Sarhadi, governor of Bamiyan.

The Bamiyan provincial governor said that the ban on women to go to Band-e-Amir is a provisional issue and that women have been denied access to the national park due to their incompliance with Hijab.

13 People Lashed for Illicit Affairs in Bamiyan: Governor
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Critics Say Doha Meeting Lacked De Facto Authorities, Opposition

In the meantime, Afghanistan’s Journalists Center also criticized the absence of journalists in the meeting. 

The second Doha meeting on Afghanistan reportedly did not include either representatives of the Islamic Emirate nor its political opponents.

Coordinating international engagement on Afghanistan and reintegrating Afghanistan into the international system were the objectives of the meeting.

Political analysts questioned the effectiveness of the meeting as neither representatives of Kabul nor its opponents were present in the meeting.

“I am not sure that the meeting will be fruitful because the Afghanistan government was not present in the meeting. In every meeting, if representatives from the current government do not take part, the meetings will not be efficient,” said Moeen Gul Samkanai, head of Afghanistan’s Haq and Adalat party.

In the meantime, Afghanistan’s Journalists Center also criticized the absence of journalists in the meeting.

The center in a statement said that not inviting civil activists from inside Afghanistan indicates the indifference of the international community in its support of Afghan journalists.

Some members of Afghanistan’s civil society that are based abroad have been invited to Doha meeting which we appreciate. But not inviting civil activists from inside Afghanistan despite the matter having been discussed with UNAMA, shows the indifference of the international community, the UN in particular, towards supporting the media community inside the country, reads part of the statement of the AFJC.

Some said the question about the selection criteria for such meetings is still unclear.

“Most of the talks in the meeting were held among the UN colleagues. As per my understanding, the UN has been in contact with the participants. I’m not sure if there is any mechanism to select people for such meetings. Human rights activists and those who have been active in media were part of the meeting. Because all issues are somehow related to politics and governance in Afghanistan,” said Nasir Ahmad Andisha, the permanent representative of Afghanistan to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Representatives from over 25 countries participated in the meeting.

Mahbouba Saraj, Shah Gul Rezayee, Mitra Mehran and Lotfullah Najafizada were representing Afghanistan’s civil society in the meeting, and they also met with the UN chief and envoys of countries.

Critics Say Doha Meeting Lacked De Facto Authorities, Opposition
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Second Doha Meeting on Afghanistan Ends in Qatar

The UN chief asked for an inclusive government that represents all ethnicities in the country.

The second Doha meeting on Afghanistan ended with a press briefing of the UN Secretary-General on Monday.

In the press conference, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the Islamic Emirate did not participate because they did not want the UN to talk with representatives of Afghanistan’s civil society and demanded treatment that would be similar to recognition.

“In fact, I received a letter with a set of conditions to be present in this meeting that were not acceptable. These conditions first of all denied us to talk to other representative of the Afghan society and demanded a treatment that would to a large extent be similar to recognition,” said Antonio Guterres.

The UN chief asked for an inclusive government that represents all ethnicities in the country.

“We want an Afghanistan in peace, peace with itself and in peace with its neighbors, able to assume the commitments and the international obligations of a sovereign state, and at the same time, doing so in relation to the international community, the other countries, its neighbors, and in relation to the rights of its own population …

We want to see an Afghanistan whose government includes Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazara, Pashtun and all ethnic groups,” said the UN chief.

The UNSG has also called for revoking the decrees that ban women and girls from going to secondary and tertiary schools and universities.

“The respect of human rights and in particular the rights of women and girls. We can see that this is essential to revoke the decisions that do not allow girls to be in secondary and tertiary schools,” the secretary-general said.

In the meantime, the UNSC is expected to hold a meeting on Afghanistan on February 26.

The Chargé d’Affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq told TOLOnews that the upcoming meeting will be about the UNSC resolution 2721 regarding Afghanistan.

The second Doha meeting on Afghanistan was aimed at implementing the recommendations of UN special coordinator’s independent assessment to reintegrate Afghanistan into the international system and to appoint a new UN envoy for Afghanistan.

Second Doha Meeting on Afghanistan Ends in Qatar
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Diplomats Discuss Afghanistan on Sidelines of Doha Meeting

Representatives of regional countries reportedly discussed how the Afghan people should not be “taken hostage” by international relations.

Various nations’ special representatives for Afghanistan, along with other diplomats, activists and officials, met and discussed the situation in Afghanistan on the sidelines of the UN-convened Doha meeting.

The representatives of Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Norway, the European Union countries, the United Kingdom, Russia, Switzerland and China discussed regional cooperation, collective security and stability in Afghanistan in their meetings.

The Iranian ambassador and special representative to Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that he met with the special representatives of Britain, Pakistan, Iran, Switzerland and Russia for Afghanistan and discussed the “common agreements” and the process that will ensure the security, stability and welfare for the people of Afghanistan.

“We need to build closer relations with the regional countries, our neighbors and with international organizations, especially Europe and the United States, this is for our good,” said Mohammad Sangar, an international relations analyst.

“International programs at the international level are being held in two stages, the first stage is the fringe meetings, which aim to determine the agenda, determine the members and determine the framework of decision-making principles,” said Shaker Hayat, a political analyst.

Representatives of regional countries reportedly discussed how the Afghan people should not be “taken hostage” by international relations.

The UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennett wrote on X that he did not participate in the 2nd meeting of Special Envoys in Doha but he expressed his hope that the Doha meeting will lead to a “series of meaningful and inclusive meetings among key stakeholders that always prioritize discussions about human rights, particularly women’s rights, as core to the way forward in Afghanistan.”

The Doha meeting was held following the approval of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution in December 2023. In the resolution of the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres requested the appointment of a special representative to Afghanistan in order to reintegrate the country with the international community.

Diplomats Discuss Afghanistan on Sidelines of Doha Meeting
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Over 35,000 Schools, Madrasas Operating in Country: Ministry

Officials at the ministry said that they are committed to providing balanced modern and religious education for people all over the country.

The Ministry of Education of the Islamic Emirate said that 18,000 schools and over 17,000 madrasas [religious schools] are operating across the country. 

Officials at the ministry said that they are committed to providing balanced modern and religious education for people all over the country.

“The leadership of the ministry has always tried to concentrate on forgotten areas of Afghanistan where people were deprived of their rights. We are committed to provided balanced educational services to the deprived areas,” said Mansour Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education.

Hamza said that over 15,000 teachers have been recruited in the current solar year (1402).

“The curriculum until grade sixth has been amended and the ministry’s curriculum committee is working on the curriculum for upper classes,” said Mansour Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, students called for the standardization of the quality of education and that facilities be provided for schools.

“The Ministry of Education should provide education opportunities for people and should focus on those who are deprived of learning,” said Muhammad Akhtar, a student.
“Education quality is not high in the country, the ministry should start quality programs to increase the quality of education in the country,” said Wahidullah Amirzai, a student.

According to information from the Ministry of Education, nearly 11 million students are pursuing education inside the country, while around 5,000 are studying abroad.

Over 35,000 Schools, Madrasas Operating in Country: Ministry
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‘broke.af’ goes offline as Afghan web domains suspended amid payment dispute

By

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – More than 100 Afghan websites have been suspended after a French internet services firm failed to make payments to the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Communications, officials said this week, a blow to mischievous internet users who used the “.af” appended to Afghan web domains to give their sites an edgy feel.
Country-specific domains — like Canada’s .ca or France’s .fr — are typically used by individuals or organizations in that country, but some — such as Tuvalu’s .tv or Libya’s .ly — also see wide use internationally because they can be used to create unique or evocative domains like “twitch.tv” or “bit.ly.”
Afghanistan’s .af once had a cult following because in American parlance the initials can also stand for “as fuck,” an earthy phrase meaning “very” or “extremely.”, opens new tab Scores of sites with names such as “sexy.af” and “awesome.af” were registered between 2015 and 2021, according to records maintained by internet intelligence firm DomainTools.
The double-entendre does not appear to have anything to do with the recent suspensions.
Afghan Ministry of Communications and IT spokesperson Enayatullah Alokozai said 150 domains ending in .af and registered through the Paris-based Gandi had been suspended pending the clearance of roughly $17,000 in back payments.
Gandi’s CEO, Arnaud Franquinet said the number of domains was likely closer to 100. He told Reuters that international sanctions on the Taliban and Afghanistan’s shaky banking situation had made it difficult to settle the debt.
“Given the context, it’s hard to get the green light to make all the payments,” Franquinet said. “We’re working on it, but it takes a while.”
The disappearance of .af domains drew attention in the tech community earlier this week, opens new tab after software developer Erin Shepherd, the co-creator of a small, gay-friendly social media space “queer.af” published a message from the Afghan Communications Ministry announcing the domain’s suspension.
Shepherd said they knew the domain, which they registered in 2018, was not long for the world after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021 and vowed to rule according to their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Same-sex relationships were criminal offenses in Afghanistan even before the Taliban took over, but many LGBT Afghans and advocates have said fear has grown and many felt forced to flee the country since their return to power as foreign forces left.
“It’s a fun domain but we knew it was from Afghanistan and we knew political things could change,” Shepherd said.
Another Gandi customer, Chicago-based tech worker William Lieurance, said his website “broke.af” went offline around the same time. It was no big loss; he said he registered the site in 2016 “after one too many Miller High Lifes” but had never got around to turning it into what he at one point envisioned as a tongue-in-cheek guide to financial literacy for millennials.
“The lesson I’ve taken is that registering a domain is not the same as owning a domain,” Lieurance said.
The status of other Afghan sites including sexy.af and awesome.af was unclear. Many appeared to no longer be active or simply had not been renewed. Messages sent to sexy.af and awesome.af’s old registrants were not returned.
In a conversation over WhatsApp, Alokozai, the Taliban spokesperson, said the content of the various domains was irrelevant to the suspensions. If the payment was made, he said, “this problem will be solved.”

Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Daniel Wallis

‘broke.af’ goes offline as Afghan web domains suspended amid payment dispute
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Majority of Afghan women against Taiban recognition: UN

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recently conducted a survey among Afghan women, shedding light on their apprehensions concerning the potential recognition of the Taliban.

Interviews with 745 women from all 34 provinces revealed that nearly 67% of respondents fear that recognizing the Taliban could worsen the already precarious situation of women’s rights in the country.

According to the survey’s findings, a significant portion of Afghan women, approximately 32%, are open to the idea of recognizing the Taliban only if all imposed restrictions on women are entirely lifted.

Interestingly, the report highlights varying degrees of opinion among Afghan women regarding the conditions for recognizing the Taliban. While 25% of respondents are in favour of recognition after the removal of some existing restrictions, another 28% firmly oppose any recognition under any circumstances, emphasizing the gravity of the situation for women in Afghanistan.

A separate survey conducted by UNAMA in July 2023 revealed that an overwhelming 96% of Afghan women prefer any recognition of the Taliban to be contingent on significant improvements in the situation of women.

The report also highlights the Taliban’s introduction of 50 decrees directly targeting women’s rights, according to the United Nations. This alarming statistic underscores the systematic challenges Afghan women face and the urgent need for international attention and action to protect their rights and freedoms.

The Taliban’s arbitrary detentions instill fear in Afghan women, with 57% afraid to go outside without a male relative. Only 1% believe they influence community decisions. Women oppose Taliban recognition without lifting restrictions. They seek international support to address Taliban oppression, emphasizing the need for women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Majority of Afghan women against Taiban recognition: UN
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