Suicide Bomber Hits Taliban’s Political Base in Southern Afghanistan

March 21, 2024 Current News Articles

By Ayaz Gul

Voice of America

March 21, 2024

ISLAMABAD — A rare suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, known as the Taliban’s political headquarters, killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen early Thursday.

Taliban authorities said the victims had gathered outside the officially run New Kabul Bank to receive their salaries when a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body.

Witnesses and local officials reported that the wounded were taken to a local hospital, with some sustaining serious injuries. A Taliban Interior Ministry spokesperson in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said the attack was under investigation.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing.

The reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, lives in Kandahar, the historical birthplace of his fundamentalist group, and effectively governs Afghanistan from there.

The men-only Taliban government in Kabul merely implements decrees that Akhundzada routinely issues from Kandahar. He rarely leaves the city.

Akhundzada has banned Afghan girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade and has barred many women from public and private workplaces and public life at large.

The Taliban waged an insurgency and reclaimed power in August 2021 when the United States-led foreign forces withdrew from the country after 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war.

The de facto rulers have effectively suppressed or cornered Afghan opposition groups, but a regional affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group, known as IS-Khorasan or Daesh, routinely plots and claims attacks targeting members of the Taliban and the country’s minority Shiite community.

US State Dept Accuses Trump Admin of Disorder in Afghan Withdrawal Process

March 21, 2024 Current News Articles

Sodaba Nazhand

Tolo News

21 March 2024

Patel called the US withdrawal from Afghanistan the right decision and emphasized that it has made the United States stronger.

The U.S. State Department has accused the Donald Trump administration of disorder in the process of the complete withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

The deputy spokesman for the US Department of State, Vedant Patel, said that the Trump administration had no plan for the evacuation of American citizens and their Afghan allies.

He added: “You have to remember that President Biden made the decision to end this war and has repeatedly said it was the right thing to do and today our nation is stronger as a result and as part of the robust intense inter agency process and America’s longest war. The decision was made to keep an embassy and diplomatic presence in Kabul following the withdrawal of US combating troops.”

At the same time, the Islamic Emirate accused the United States of killing Afghan citizens.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, told TOLOnews: “The Americans had invaded Afghanistan, they occupied it, they killed people. When the oppression and occupation ended, that was a good day for Afghanistan, and the country’s benefit was in it.”

Some analysts also assessed the consequences of the end of the war and the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in this manner.

“It was very good that the US left Afghanistan because this war cost Afghanistan dearly in human terms, and today we are left with a shattered economy,” Tariq Farhadi, an international relations analyst, told TOLOnews.

“The people suffered, the region became unstable, the world became unstable, and the fate of the terrorist is unknown, who had been financing the terrorist for forty years,” said Yousuf Amin Zazai, a political analyst.

The twenty-year presence of foreign forces in the country ended on August 31, 2021, with the departure of the last American soldier from Afghanistan. According to reports, this conflict cost America two trillion dollars, and 2,460 American military personnel were killed in this battle, with over 21,000 others wounded.

Institutions React to Unjustifiable Educational Ban in Afghanistan

March 21, 2024 Current News Articles

Hadia Ziaei

Tolo News

21 March 2024

Amnesty International, in a statement, has said that the “Taliban” must cease using cynical excuses to advance their discriminatory agendas.

Amnesty International and UNAMA have said, concurrent with the start of the new academic year in Afghanistan, that the denial of education to girls in the country is indefensible and a violation of fundamental educational rights.

The organization added, “Today is the start of the new school year in Afghanistan but girls above grade six are banned from education. This is unjustifiable and in violation of fundamental human rights to education. The Taliban must allow girls of all ages to attend school and stop using cynical pretexts to further its discriminatory agenda.”

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office, in response to the continued closure of school doors, has called education essential for peace and prosperity, urging the current authorities of the country to end this prohibition.

UNAMA said: “As Afghanistan’s new school year begins, it is now more than 900 days since girls aged 12+ have been barred from attending school & university. UNAMA urges the de facto authorities to end this unjustifiable and damaging ban. Education for all is essential for peace & prosperity.”

Concurrently, the United States Department of State has deemed respect for the rights of Afghan women and girls vital for the continuation of the United States’ efforts in Afghanistan.

Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State said: “We have been clear that girls should have never been blocked from going to school in the first place, advancing respect for the rights of Afghan women and girls is critical to US efforts in Afghanistan.”

“Because I was heartbroken at home, I came to a sewing course. If schools were open for girls, I would have graduated last year,” Sonya, a tenth-grade student, told TOLOnews.

“In these three years, the international community has only reacted on paper, and Afghan girls no longer trust these theatrical reactions of the international community and are not reassured by them. The Taliban must respect and provide the right to education for girls for the growth and development of Afghanistan,” Lamia Shirzai, a women’s rights activist, told TOLOnews.

The lack of access to education for girls beyond the sixth grade has faced domestic and international reactions for over two years; however, the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly said that the prohibition on girls beyond the sixth grade attending schools is not permanent.

Azerbaijan Embassy Opens in Kabul: Islamic Emirate

March 21, 2024 Current News Articles

Sodaba Nazhand

Tolo News

21 March 2024

Afghanistan’s school year starts without more than 1 million girls barred from education by Taliban

March 20, 2024 Current News Articles

BY RAHIM FAIEZ

Associated Press

March 20, 2024

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The school year in Afghanistan started Wednesday but without girls whom the Taliban barred from attending classes beyond the sixth grade, making it the only country with restrictions on female education.

The U.N. children’s agency says more than 1 million girls are affected by the ban. It also estimates 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons.

The Taliban’s education ministry marked the start of the new academic year with a ceremony that female journalists were not allowed to attend. The invitations sent out to reporters said: “Due to the lack of a suitable place for the sisters, we apologize to female reporters.”

During a ceremony, the Taliban’s education minister, Habibullah Agha, said that the ministry is trying “to increase the quality of education of religious and modern sciences as much as possible.” The Taliban have been prioritizing Islamic knowledge over basic literacy and numeracy with their shift toward madrassas, or religious schools.

The minister also called on students to avoid wearing clothes that contradict Islamic and Afghan principles.

Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, said they were trying to expand education in “all remote areas in the country.”

The Taliban previously said girls continuing their education went against their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, and that certain conditions were needed for their return to school. However, they made no progress in creating said conditions.

When they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, they also banned girls’ education.

Despite initially promising a more moderate rule, the group has also barred women from higher education, public spaces like parks, and most jobs as part of harsh measures imposed after they took over following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the country in 2021.

The ban on girls’ education remains the Taliban’s biggest obstacle to gaining recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.

Although Afghan boys have access to education, Human Rights Watch has criticized the Taliban, saying their “abusive” educational policies are harming boys as well as girls. The group, in a report published in December, said there has been less attention to the deep harm inflicted on boys’ education as qualified teachers — including women — left, and inclusion of regressive curriculum changes as well as an increase in corporal punishment have led to falling attendance.

Afghanistan; The Focus of Discussions in Global Meetings in 1402

March 20, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

20 March 2024

The United Nations Security Council also held at least seven meetings on Afghanistan in 1402.

More than twenty global meetings were held in 1402 Solar year regarding Afghanistan, many of them not attended by any representative of the Islamic Emirate.

The formation of an inclusive government, preventing the use of Afghanistan’s soil against other countries, combating narcotics, and observing human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, were demands that were consistently raised in these meetings; demands that, according to the Islamic Emirate, are all being observed in Afghanistan.

The EU-Central Asia meeting in Kazakhstan, the Oslo Forum in Norway, the Shanghai meeting hosted by India, the Astana meeting in Kazakhstan, the Samarkand meeting in Uzbekistan, the Moscow format meeting in Kazan, and the Herat security meeting in Tajikistan were among the important meetings regarding Afghanistan.

Asif Ali Durani, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, stated in one of these meetings concerning peace in Afghanistan: “Pakistan believes that by engaging with the current authorities in Afghanistan, we can help bring peace to this country and tranquility to the people of Afghanistan.”

The representative of the Islamic Emirate was present in some of these meetings, including the Moscow format, the Oslo Forum, and Samarkand.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Acting Foreign Minister, said in one of these meetings: “My country, Afghanistan, after more than four decades of invasions by foreign countries, war, and chaos, as it steps towards security and stability, faces sanctions for employing human rights.”

Alongside these meetings, meetings of the political opponents of the Islamic Emirate were also held abroad, where the situation in Afghanistan was discussed in various aspects. The “Afghanistan between Past and Future” meeting in Moscow and the Vienna meeting in Austria were among the important meetings of the political opponents of the Islamic Emirate this year.

The conduct of these meetings was not without reaction. Some officials of the interim government, including Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Political Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the Acting Minister of Defense, called the organization of such meetings abroad biased and a conspiracy against Afghanistan.

The first Doha meeting on the situation in Afghanistan was held in this year, lasted two days, discussed important issues including human rights in the country.

The second Doha meeting was also held in the month of Dalw (18-19 February 2024). The meeting was supposed to appoint a Special Representative of the United Nations for the implementation of recommendations of the independent assessment by the United Nations Special Coordinator with the goal of reintegrating Afghanistan into the United Nations; however, at the end of this meeting, António Guterres added that they would also consult with the Taliban for appointing this representative; an issue that remains unclear.

Guterres said at the end of this meeting to reporters: “We want an Afghanistan that is at peace with itself and its neighbors, and an Afghanistan that is capable of fulfilling international commitments.”

The United Nations Security Council also held at least seven meetings on Afghanistan in 1402.

The Security Council meeting on the independent assessment of the United Nations Special Coordinator in Qaws (December 2023), the Security Council meeting on the outcomes of the Doha meeting and the appointment of a Special Representative in Hoot (March 2024), the Security Council meeting on the United Nations Secretary-General’s quarterly report in Hoot (March 2024), the subsequent Security Council meeting on the extension of UNAMA’s mission, the Security Council meeting on the extension of the mandate of the Monitoring Team on sanctions against the Islamic Emirate, the Security Council meeting on children and conflict in Afghanistan, and the Security Council meeting on ISIS and Afghanistan were held during this year.

Nevertheless, these meetings could not pave the way for addressing the current challenges in Afghanistan.

1402; A Challenging Year for Afghan Migrants in Neighboring Countries

March 20, 2024 Current News Articles

Sodaba Nazhand

Tolo News

20 March 2024

In this year, more than 1.7 Afghan migrants were expelled from Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and some other regional countries.

The expulsion of Afghan migrants from Pakistan was one of the significant events of 1402 (solar year).

After the deterioration of relations between Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan announced that it would expel all illegal Afghan migrants from the country.

In this year, more than 1.7 Afghan migrants were expelled from Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and some other regional countries.

According to statements from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations, this year, “1.2 million migrants returned to the country from Iran, 500,000 migrants from Pakistan, and 13,000 migrants were forcibly returned from Turkey.”

Abdul Rahman Rashid, the deputy minister of Refugees and Repatriations, said: “Since the beginning of the month of Hamal until now, which is the end of Hoot (solar calendar), 1.7 million migrants have returned.”

Since the start of Hamal (solar calendar) till now, 1.7 million migrants have returned to the country.

In 1402, the interim government of Pakistan, with its strict policies and unprecedented action, gave 1.7 million migrants, most of whom were Afghans, until the twelfth of Mizan (solar calendar) to leave the country.

Sarfaraz Bugti, the Interior Minister of the interim government of Pakistan, on the 12th of Mizan (solar calendar), said: “We have given a deadline to illegal migrants until the first of November to voluntarily return to their countries. If they do not leave by the given deadline, we will deport them. After the first of November, no one can enter Pakistan without a passport.

From October 10 to October 31st, Afghans are allowed to stay with an electronic ID, and after that, they can enter Pakistan with a passport and visa.”

Despite the demands of the Islamic Emirate and some international bodies to reconsider this decision of Pakistan, the country did not stop the forced expulsion of migrants.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, on the 13th of Aqrab (solar calendar), said that Pakistan speaks of its policies towards refugees and asylum seekers and respecting them. It is clear that we want to see all countries do whatever they can to help refugees and asylum seekers, and this definitely includes our Pakistani friends concerning Afghans who want to flee this country.

An action that faced harsh reactions from officials of the Islamic Emirate and representatives of some countries and the United Nations.

The deputy prime minister for political affairs, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, on the 23rd of Dalw (solar calendar), said: “Our request from all countries is not to force migrants to return forcibly in the winter season and other emergency situations, especially in conditions where they have not gathered their belongings and have not settled their accounts.”

Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the Acting Minister of Defense, on the 13th of Mizan, said: “This decision is unjust and unfair. We ask Pakistan, its citizens, respected scholars, and political leaders to stop these authorities who are terrorizing and brutalizing Afghans like this.”

In addition to Pakistan, another neighbor of Afghanistan, Iran, also expelled more than 1.2 million Afghan migrants, having the highest expulsion rate of Afghan migrants. The mistreatment of these migrants was another issue they complained about.

“They beat us badly. They hit us with iron. They broke my legs,” said Sarwar, an Afghan migrant.

“It had been almost four months since I had gone there, and they treated us poorly until they expelled us,” said Sayed Hassan, another Afghan migrant.

According to the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations, 7 million Afghan migrants live in neighboring countries, and nearly one million others live in European countries, with 3 million migrants in Pakistan, 3 million in Iran, one million in countries like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and some other neighboring countries, and one million more in European countries.

The ministry also reports that “nearly 7,000 Afghan migrants in Iran, nearly 6,000 Afghan migrants in Pakistan, and nearly 1,600 migrants in Turkey are imprisoned.”

An Afghan prisoner in Pakistan on the 20th of Hoot (solar month), said: “We and other Afghans in Pakistani prisons are facing very bad conditions here. Some Afghans have been in prison for six months, and some for ten months, but their fate is unclear.”

The continued detention and forced expulsion of migrants in neighboring countries and the region led to the issue of Afghan migrants being discussed at the margin and center of some global meetings.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, on the 24th of Qaws (solar calendar), said: “As you know, for more than 45 years, Iran has been the host of the longest refugee situation and currently, after the political changes in Afghanistan in 2021, my country hosts the largest refugee population in the world.”

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate, on the 5th of Jadi (solar calendar), said: “We raised the issues that migrants are facing. In some matters, they promised that they would solve the problems. In the political sector, our embassy and consulates are active.”

At the same time, Pakistani media outlets, with their latest reports quoting the Interior Ministry, have announced the second stage of the operation to expel Afghan migrants from the country until the 27th of Hamal of the year 1403 (solar calendar).

It remains to be seen what the fate of Afghan migrants will be in the coming Solar year.

Going to School; Dream of Girls That Did Not Come True in 1402

March 20, 2024 Current News Articles

Hadia Ziaei

Tolo News

20 March 2024

Various institutions and countries also emphasized the resumption of girls’ education in Afghanistan in the year 1402.

Female school and university students from across the country protested until the last days of 1402 (solar year) for the reopening of schools and universities and for access to a brighter future in the country; however, no positive result was achieved.

Various institutions and countries also emphasized the resumption of girls’ education in Afghanistan in the year 1402.

Mariam, one of the students who criticized the closure of schools in the month of Hamal of the year 1402 (first month of the solar calendar), raised the question: “If a girl cannot study and become a doctor, to whom should a sick woman turn?” She said, “Why are schools closed to girls? When there is no female doctor, should a sick woman go to a male doctor?”

The closure of educational institutions’ doors to girls in this year has always faced reactions from countries and global institutions.

Markus Potzel, the UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan, said: “I think that the de facto authorities in Afghanistan should let girls go to school beyond grade six. They should let girls go to university. They should let women work for international NGOs, national NGOs, and for UN organizations. And they should let women participate in social life. If this happens, I can imagine that Afghanistan would be integrated into the international community again, and international donors would also rethink and probably reinforce engagement with Afghanistan.”

Thomas West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, also spoke about the restrictions imposed on women in Afghanistan: “As we engage with the Taliban, we need to keep women and girls’ issues front and center when we talk about other things — it is their families that are bearing the brunt of that dislocation.”

Some officials of the Islamic Emirate also declared their support for girls’ education in the country.

Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Political Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “I say once again that the door to knowledge should not be closed and should not discriminate. We need everything, and we need men and women in every field.”

On the 29th of the month of Saratan 1402 (solar calendar), the Kankor exam for the year 1401 was held without the presence of girls among 24,000 candidates in eleven provinces, raising further concerns among female students.

Hadia Mohammadi, a school graduate at that time, said: “We also want to participate in the exam and build our future. Please let girls study too.”

On the 24th of the month of Sunbula (solar calendar), a global foundation under the name “Education Above All” said that Afghanistan is on the list of countries in the worst educational situation.

Maleiha Malik, Executive Director of Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC), said: “There are some persistent countries that come in that list —Afghanistan was on that list persistently. And in Afghanistan attacks on education all sides not only state actors, but also armed non state actors were prevalent. And I think what happened particularly with the media is that the armed non-state actors became more prominent, and it was hard sometimes to see that state parties were also causing massive destruction. The new barriers to education in Afghanistan are still challenging.”

The acting Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadim, during a trip to Tatarstan, Russia, in the month of Jauza of 1402 (solar calendar), sought support for the education sector in Afghanistan and asked neighboring countries to send staff to Afghanistan.

Nadim added in that meeting: “We expect friendly countries to support higher education in Afghanistan by sending professional cadres there or, in their own countries, by providing scholarships to train professional cadres.”

The Acting Minister of Education, Habibullah Agha, in the month of Mizan (solar calendar), promised to provide better educational opportunities for students in the country.

Habibullah Agha, said: “The Ministry of Education is dedicated to providing its educational services in the areas of religious and modern education in all parts of Afghanistan in a balanced manner.”

Although girl students were not allowed to go to school this year, the Ministry of Education announced in the month of Dalw (solar calendar) that more than 35,000 schools and madrasas are active across the country, and thousands are engaged in education.

Mansour Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, added: “The leadership of the Ministry of Education has strived to provide services completely to places that were deprived of education and had their rights taken away, and the Ministry of Education is 100% committed to providing balanced educational services to remote areas.”

Mansour Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said: “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 provide balanced educational services to the deprived areas.”

The academic year in the cold provinces of the country started on the first day of the month of Hoot (solar calendar) without the presence of girls.

Nevertheless, there is still no hopeful news about the reopening of schools to girls beyond grade six and the reopening of universities to female students.

Fighting With Pakistan Displaces Hundreds in Dand-e-Patan, Paktia

March 20, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

20 March 2024

Residents of Dand Patan in Paktia stated that the recent clashes have resulted in significant financial and human loss.

After Pakistan’s air strikes in Khost and Paktika and clashes between the forces of the Islamic Emirate and Pakistan’s border guards in the Dand-e-Patan district of Paktia, nearly 500 families in Dand-e-Patan have now been forced to leave their homes.

The area of Setia in Dand Patan district was targeted by rocket attacks on Monday, resulting in the death of two civilians and injuring seven others, including women and children.

“Unfortunately, as a result of a tank shell fired by Pakistani forces hitting a vehicle, one person was martyred,” said Miakhil, a resident of Dand-e-Patan district.

“He went to take his children outside, a mortar struck, killing him and injuring his daughter and son,” said Gulal Khan, a resident of this district.

A number of these families, ask for security and for both sides to resolve their problems through dialogue.

“Many shells were fired, targeting civilian houses, not governmental organizations. Whenever there is a conflict Pakistan targets people’s houses,” said Miraj Khaksar, a resident of Dand-e-Patan.

“Injustice has been done to us all our lives. If there are people on that side of the line, they are Muslims, and they are always being shot at, and people on this side of the line are always suffering too,” said Jarnail Mangal, a resident of Dand-e-Patan.

Officials of Dand-e-Patan district said that in the counterattacks, the forces of the Islamic Emirate targeted the centers of the Pakistani border forces, but the Pakistani forces fired rockets at civilian houses.

“The cause of the war was that many outposts of the Islamic Emirate forces were attacked. The Islamic Emirate considered the general public and did not fire blindly,” said Ziauddin, the deputy of Dand-e-Patan district’s governor.

Recently, the Ministry of Defense announced in a statement the visit of the Deputy Chief of Army Staff to the Dand-e-Patan district of Paktia. The ministry said that the Islamic Emirate is not in favor of war, but if fired upon, security forces will respond.

Afghanistan schools restart, with girls barred for third year running

March 20, 2024 Current News Articles

THE HINDU

AFP

March 20, 2024, 12:28 pm

Taliban authorities barred girls from secondary school in March 2022, after surging back to power in mid-2021 and ousting the Western-backed government.

“Schools in Afghanistan opened for the new academic year on March 20,” the Education Ministry said, with girls banned from joining secondary-level classes for the third year in a row.

Taliban authorities barred girls from secondary school in March 2022, after surging back to power in mid-2021 and ousting the Western-backed government. The Education Ministry announced the new school year on Tuesday, a day before the start of the Afghan calendar’s new year.

“The new school year… will start in all provinces with the ringing of the school bell at a ceremony” in Kabul, the announcement said. Women journalists were expressly forbidden from covering the ceremony in an invite issued to media outlets.

The Taliban government has imposed an austere interpretation of Islam, with women bearing the brunt of curbs the United Nations has labelled “gender apartheid”. Government universities also recently started the new academic year, but women have been blocked from attending since December 2022.

By Ayaz Gul

Taliban authorities barred girls from secondary school in March 2022, after surging back to power in mid-2021 and ousting the Western-backed government.

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