Page 2 - Afghanistan

At least 25 killed in days of clashes between Shiites, Sunni Muslims in Pak

At least 25 people have been killed in days of clashes between armed Shiites and Sunni Muslims over a lingering land dispute in northwest Pakistan, officials said. The clashes which started over the weekend in Kurram, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan continued on Wednesday. Officials said dozens of people from both sides have been wounded since Saturday. Kurram has been a scene of sectarian violence in recent years. Authorities said they were trying to prevent the land dispute from turning into sectarian violence in the restive northwest, where extremist groups from the two sides have a strong presence. Barrister Saif Ali, a spokesman for the provincial government, said authorities with the help of tribal elders were trying to defuse tension and both sides had agreed to a cease-fire following peace talks in Kurram. Shiite Muslims make up about 15 per cent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of

'Cats freer than Afghan women': Meryl Streep calls for global action at UN

Hollywood actor Meryl Streep's remarks come in the wake of the Taliban's latest set of restrictive laws, which were introduced in late August

Pak protests after Afghan diplomats remain seated during national anthem

Pakistan on Tuesday conveyed their strong protest to the Afghanistan authorities over the disrespect to the country's national anthem by Afghan diplomats who continued to remain seated when it was being played at an event. The disrespect of the host country's national anthem is against diplomatic norms, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement. "This act of Acting Consul General of Afghanistan is reprehensible. We are conveying our strong protest to the Afghan authorities both in Islamabad and Kabul, she said. The Peshawar-based Afghan Consul General Mohibullah Shakir and his deputy remained seated on their seats when the Pakistan national anthem was being played at the event held in connection with the 12th Rabi ul Awal, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. The Afghan diplomats were invited by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Afghan Consulate Peshawar issued a clarification, saying th

Taliban suspends polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, says UN

The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the U.N. said Monday. Afghanistan is one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped. The other is Pakistan. News of the suspension was relayed to U.N. agencies right before the September immunization campaign was due to start. No reason was given for the suspension, and no one from the Taliban-controlled government was immediately available for comment. A top official from the World Health Organization said it was aware of discussions to move away from house-to-house vaccinations and instead have immunizations in places like mosques. The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That's up from six cases in 2023. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is aware of the recent policy discussions on shifting from house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns to site-to-site vaccination in parts of ..

Gunmen kill 14 people in Afghanistan's Shiite-majority area; 6 wounded

Gunmen killed 14 people in a Shiite-majority area in central Afghanistan, the Taliban said on Friday, in one of the deadliest attacks in the country this year. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility before the Taliban acknowledged the shootings, which took place Thursday and targeted people as they travelled between the Shiite-majority provinces of Ghor and Daikundi. A machine gun was used in the assault, the IS group said. It gave a higher death toll than the Taliban.

5.8-magnitude earthquake jolts Pakistan, tremors felt in Delhi NCR

Delhi earthquake: After Afghanistan, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake has shaken Pakistan. Tremors felt in many Northern regions of India, including Delhi NCR

GOP gives highest honour on 13 troops killed during Afghan withdrawal

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday posthumously presented Congress' highest honour the Congressional Gold Medal to 13 US service members who were killed during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, even as the politics of a presidential election swirled around the event. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation to honour the 13 US troops, who were killed along with more than 170 Afghans in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate at Kabul's Airport in August 2021. President Joe Biden signed the legislation in December 2021. On Tuesday, the top Republican and Democratic leaders for both the House and Senate spoke at a somber ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, hailing the lives and sacrifices of the service members. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the lawmakers gathered to ensure the sacrifices of all our servicemembers were not in vain. We must care for them and their families and defend the values of freedom and democracy they so nobly fought for,

Afghanistan's Norway embassy is closing this week: Statement from mission

Afghanistan's Norway embassy is closing, the country's second diplomatic mission to announce closure this week. The move comes months after the Taliban said they no longer recognise diplomatic missions set up by the former, Western-backed government, including the one in Norway. In a statement on the social media platform X, the embassy announced the closure would take place on Thursday. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, like many other political and consular missions of Afghanistan, will continue its activities with the values of human rights, pluralism and peace, despite the many difficulties and limited resources, the embassy statement said. The embassy premises would be handed over to Norway's Foreign Ministry, according to the statement in Dari. The UK government said on Monday that the London embassy would close on September 27, following the dismissal of its staff by the Taliban authorities in Kabul. Britain does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate

US Congress honours 13 troops killed during Afghanistan withdrawal

House Speaker Mike Johnson is hosting a ceremony Tuesday to posthumously present Congress' highest honour the Congressional Gold Medal to 13 US service members who were killed during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, even as the politics of a presidential election swirl around the event. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation to honour the 13 US troops, who were killed along with more than 170 Afghans in a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate near Kabul's Airport in August 2021. President Joe Biden signed the legislation in December 2021. The top Republican and Democratic leaders for both the House and Senate are expected to speak at Tuesday's ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. The event is taking place against the backdrop of a bitter back and forth over who is to blame for the rushed and deadly evacuation from Kabul. Johnson scheduled the ceremony just hours before the first debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. House Republicans

8 Afghan Taliban soldiers killed in border clash with Pak forces, 16 hurt

At least eight Afghan Taliban soldiers, including two key commanders, have been killed in a fierce clash with the Pakistani security forces in the border region near the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The exchange, which was reported in the Khurram border district of the province over the weekend, also injured 16 Afghan Taliban soldiers. The Afghan side attacked a Pakistani checkpost with heavy weapons in the Palosin area on the Pak-Afghan border on Saturday morning, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting sources. We have reports about heavy losses on the other [Afghan] side. So far, eight Afghan Taliban have been killed, and 16 others have sustained injuries in retaliatory firing by the Pakistani forces, sources said, adding that two key' commanders were also killed. There was no official word on the incident from the Pakistan military's media wing - the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). This is not the first time Afghan troops have opened fire on Pakistani security for

Islamic radicals want to make B'desh another Afghanistan: Activist Nasreen

Expressing concern that Bangladesh might go the Afghanistan way, writer-activist Taslima Nasreen has said that Islamic radicals are brainwashing and indoctrinating youths to make them "anti-India, anti-Hindu and pro-Pakistan". Nasreen said she and others had initially supported the students' movement in Bangladesh against an "autocratic government". However, the recent actions like violence against Hindus, targeting of journalists and the release of "terrorists" from jails showed it was not a students' movement but was "planned and funded by Islamic jihadis", she said. "When students protested against the quota system in July, we supported them... people who believe in women's rights, human rights and freedom of expression. "Sheikh Hasina was an autocrat who always encouraged fundamentalists and curbed freedom of expression. People were angry with her, she told PTI in an exclusive interview. She said they had hoped that a fair election would be conducted to democratically form a n

6 killed, over 13 injured after suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital

Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others. The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief. The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment. A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Islamic State group's affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has carried out previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years. Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1

Will keep engaging with stakeholders in Afghanistan, including Taliban: UN

Notably, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan had expressed deep concern on August 25 regarding the new morality law imposed by Afghanistan's de facto authorities

UN to engage with Taliban in Afghanistan despite new laws limiting women

The United Nations will continue to engage all stakeholders in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, a U.N. spokesman said, even though Afghanistan's rulers issued a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public and severed ties with the U.N. mission after it criticized them. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric in New York defended the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, and its head Roza Otunbayeva, who said that the new laws provided a distressing vision for Afghanistan's future. She said last week the laws extend the " already intolerable restrictions on the rights of women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. The laws were issued after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. The Taliban had set up a ministry for the " propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice after seizing power in 2021. They say the laws are based on their interpretation of Sharia law. The ministry

Kalpataru gets notice from Afghan govt for not submitting tax declarations

Kalpataru Projects International Ltd on Tuesday said it has received a tax notice from the Afghanistan government for non-submission of certain declarations. In an exchange filing, the company said, "The branch office through its consultant... received certain tax challans from the Ministry of Finance, Afghanistan Revenue Department with the demand of payment of tax liability, additional tax and fine, due to non-submission of certain declarations for FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22." The notice was received on August 26, it said. The authority has demanded tax liability of AFN 8,774,153 (Rs 104.59 lakh), additional tax of AFN 12,150 (Rs 0.14 lakh) and fine of AFN 166,401 (Rs 1.98 lakhs), Kalpataru Projects International Ltd said. The branch anticipates this additional tax and fine may be waived off by the Ministry of Finance once the payment towards the tax liability is discharged, it said. Last week, the company also received a tax notice from the GST authority in India. The authority

Trump to criticise Harris over Afghan war withdrawal in Guard speech

In a speech Monday to National Guard soldiers in Michigan, former President Donald Trump is expected to promote his foreign policy record and tie Vice President Kamala Harris to one of the Biden administration's lowest points: the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. The speech coincides with the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 100 Afghans. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is set to appear at 2 p.m. Eastern time at the National Guard Association of the United States' 146th General Conference & Exhibition in Detroit. Since Biden ended his reelection bid, Trump has been zeroing in on Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, and her roles in foreign policy decisions. He specifically highlights the vice president's statements that she was the last person in the room ...

US still hunts attackers who killed Americans during Afghanistan exit

President Joe Biden promised the day of the attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport that we will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.

Airlines fly over Afghanistan as Middle East becomes greater risk

The carriers mostly stopped transiting Afghanistan, which lies on major routes between Asia and Europe

Taliban silences Afghan women with new laws, bans public speaking

The new regulations of Taliban govt also ban publishing images of living beings, playing music, transporting solo female travellers, and mingling of unrelated men and women

Taliban has deprived 1.4 mn Afghan girls of schooling through bans: Unesco

The Taliban have deliberately deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, a UN agency said Thursday. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with bans on female secondary and higher education. The Taliban, who took power in 2021, barred education for girls above sixth grade because they said it didn't comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. They didn't stop it for boys and show no sign of taking the steps needed to reopen classrooms and campuses for girls and women. UNESCO said at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the takeover, an increase of 3,00,000 since its previous count in April 2023, with more girls reaching the age limit of 12 every year. If we add the girls who were already out of school before the bans were introduced, there are now almost 2.5 million girls in the country deprived of their right to education, representing 80 per cent of Afghan school-age girls, UNESCO said.