Page 8 - Afghanistan

Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis deepens amid economic downturn: UNICEF

The report highlights that the economic downturn has led to an increased demand for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan

Afghan schoolgirls finishing sixth grade in tears under Taliban rule

Bahara Rustam, 13, took her last class at Bibi Razia School in Kabul on December 11 knowing it was the end of her education. Under Taliban rule, she is unlikely to step foot in a classroom again. In September 2021, a month after US and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan following two decades of war, the Taliban announced that girls were barred from studying beyond sixth grade. They extended this education ban to universities in December 2022. The Taliban have defied global condemnation and warnings that the restrictions will make it almost impossible for them to gain recognition as the country's legitimate rulers. Last week, UN special envoy Roza Otunbayeva expressed concern that a generation of Afghan girls is falling behind with each day that passes. Last week, an official in the Education Ministry said Afghan girls of all ages are allowed to study in religious schools known as madrassas, which have traditionally been boys-only. But Otunbayeva said it was unclear if there was

Children in Afghanistan remain highly vulnerable to grave violations: UN

The report, which was released on December 22, 2023, said that children's access to basic services was "disrupted due to protracted conflict, displacement, extreme poverty and food insecurity

Over 1 mn Afghan children facing severe malnutrition, says WHO chief

Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed Ministry of Public Health said that the number of malnourished mothers and children in the country has slightly increased compared to past years

At UN meet, India calls for inclusive government structure in Afghanistan

Describing the situation in Afghanistan is still one of concern, India has said the formation of an inclusive and representative government structure, combating terrorism, and preserving the rights of women, children, and minorities in Afghanistan is an immediate priority for it. Addressing a Security Council meeting on the topic of Situation in Afghanistan' on Wednesday, India's Permanent Representative at the UN Ruchira Kamboj said that as a contiguous neighbour to Afghanistan, a friend to its people and as a country with direct stakes in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan, India was still concerned over the situation in the country. Our common and immediate priorities include providing humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people, formation of an inclusive and representative government structure, combating terrorism and drug trafficking, and preserving the rights of women, children, and minorities, Kamboj said. India has not yet recognised the Taliban set-up and has bee

India reaffirms unwavering commitment to Afghan people: Kamboj tells UNSC

She highlighted the ongoing concerns about the situation in Afghanistan, expressing particular worry about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions exacerbated by natural disasters

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Women survivors of gender-based violence being jailed by Taliban: UN Report

The UNAMA office added that before the re-establishment of the Taliban, there were 23 shelters for the protection of women survivors of gender-based violence in country, none of which are now active

India's approach to Afghanistan continues to be guided by historical ties

In the past two years, some Afghan diplomats have left India as they obtained residency in third countries but the remaining diplomats have taken over the responsibility for continued functioning of the diplomatic missions of that country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, he said India's approach to Afghanistan continues to be guided by its historical relations, friendship with its people and relevant UN resolutions. "The diplomatic presence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in New Delhi and the Consulates of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Mumbai and Hyderabad continue to function in India," he said in his reply. "During the past two years, some Afghan diplomats have left India since they obtained residency in third countries. However, the remaining Afghan diplomats based in India have taken over the responsibility for the continued diplomatic functioning of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan," he ...

Police headquarter comes under attack in Pakistan; 2 policemen killed

At least two policemen were killed and as many as injured after militants attacked a regional police headquarters in a former Taliban stronghold in northwest Pakistan on Friday, three days after terrorists killed 23 soldiers in the same region. The attack occurred at the Police Lines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district, the Dawn newspaper reported. A terrorist blew himself up in a suicide bomb and that the huge attack was thwarted, the newspaper quoted Tank District Police Officer Iftikhar Shah as saying. He said that all contingents present in the Police Lines were evacuated safely and that a search operation was underway after alerts of the presence of more militants in the area. The attack was claimed by a new militant group, Ansarul Jihad. The attack comes days after at least 23 soldiers were killed and more than 30 others injured after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a newly formed militant group that is an affiliate of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliba

Taliban sending Afghan women to prison for protection, says UN report

Taliban officials are sending Afghan women to prison to protect them from gender-based violence, according to a UN report published Thursday. Before the Taliban seized power in 2021, there were 23 state-sponsored women protection centers in Afghanistan where survivors of gender-based violence could seek refuge. Now there are none, the UN report said. Officials from the Taliban-led administration told the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan that there was no need for such shelters or that they were a Western concept. The Taliban sends women to prison if they have no male relatives to stay with or if the male relatives are considered unsafe, the report said. Authorities have also asked male relatives for commitments or sworn statements that they will not harm a female relative, inviting local elders to witness the guarantee, it added. Women are sent to prison for their protection akin to how prisons have been used to accommodate drug addicts and homeless people in Kabul, the repor

Afghan envoy to UN emphasises importance of women's education, work

In the statement of the UDHR conference, the international community was asked to take necessary measures in the area of human rights violations, especially women's rights in Afghanistan

UN agency warns of Afghans dying in winter if they don't get proper shelter

The UN refugee agency has warned that Afghans could die in harsh winter conditions if they don't get adequate shelter once they cross the border from Pakistan. Almost half a million Afghans have left Pakistan since early October, when the Islamabad government announced it would arrest and deport foreigners it said were in the country illegally. The overwhelming majority of them are from neighboring Afghanistan, though Islamabad insists the policy doesn't target a specific nationality. The forced returns are piling pressure on Afghanistan and aid agencies, which are providing the bulk of essential services like health care. Freezing temperatures are setting in and conditions at the border remain dire. Many Afghan returnees are vulnerable, including women and children, who could lose their lives in a harsh winter if left without adequate shelter, the U.N. refugee agency said in a report published Friday. People arriving at the border are exhausted and require urgent assistance as well

Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan: UN

The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the UN mission in the country said on Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation. The UN mission, highlighting the Taliban's failures in upholding rights' obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees' rights. People who speak out in defense of human rights face arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said. We pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders, many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental tenet

Taliban's education policies harm boys as well as girls in Afghanistan: Rpt

The Taliban's abusive educational policies are harming boys as well as girls in Afghanistan, according to a Human Rights Watch report published Wednesday. The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from secondary school and university, but the rights group says there has been less attention to the deep harm inflicted on boys' education. The departure of qualified teachers including women, regressive curriculum changes and the increase in corporal punishment have led to greater fear of going to school and falling attendance. Because the Taliban have dismissed all female teachers from boys' schools, many boys are taught by unqualified people or sit in classrooms with no teachers at all. Boys and parents told the rights group about a spike in the use of corporal punishment, including officials beating boys before the whole school for haircut or clothing infractions or for having a mobile phone. The group interviewed 22 boys along with five parents in Kabul, .

Malala urges world to confront Taliban's 'gender apartheid' against women

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has said that the world needs to recognize and confront the gender apartheid against women and girls imposed by the Taliban since they seized power in Afghanistan more than two years ago. She urged the international community on Tuesday to take collective and urgent action to end the dark days in Afghanistan. Yousafzai was awarded the peace prize in 2014 at the age of 17 for her fight for girls' education in her home country, Pakistan. She is the youngest Nobel laureate. Two years earlier, she survived an assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban a separate militant group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban when she was shot in the head on a bus after school. The 26-year-old activist spoke to The Associated Press after delivering the annual Nelson Mandela lecture in Johannesburg on the 10th anniversary of the death of South Africa's anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate. Yousafzai is also the youngest person to give the lecture, .

China formally accords diplomatic recognition to Afghanistan's Taliban govt

China has become the first country to confer diplomatic status to a Taliban-nominated official as Afghanistan's Ambassador to Beijing, thereby formally recognising the Taliban-run administration as a legitimate government in Kabul. As a long-standing friendly neighbour of Afghanistan, China believes that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing on Tuesday when asked whether China recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Earlier reports from Kabul said China has given Bilal Karimi, a Taliban nominee the status of Ambassador and he has submitted his credentials to the foreign ministry here. China along with Pakistan and Russia maintained its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of American troops from the war-ravaged country. While maintaining close contact with the Taliban interim administration,

US officials to visit Pakistan in Dec to discuss Afghanistan, other issues

Islamabad has been continuously blaming Kabul for rising terrorist attacks and usage of Afghan oil to carry out attacks in its neighbouring country

Pakistan sends back around 402,312 'illegal' Afghans to their homeland

"Thousands of Afghans are returning to their homeland on a daily basis through Chaman and Torkham borders, thanking Pakistan for its generosity," Radio Pakistan reported

Pakistan's SC hears petition on deportation of Afghans born in country

Pakistan's top court opened a hearing on Friday on a petition by human rights activists seeking to halt the forceful deportation of Afghans who were born in Pakistan and those who would be at risk if they were returned to Afghanistan. The deportations are part of a nationwide crackdown by the government in Islamabad that started last month on Afghans who are in Pakistan without papers or proper documentation. Pakistan claims the campaign does not target Afghans specifically, though they make up most of the foreigners in the country. Pakistan has long hosted about 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation. In addition, more than half a million people fled Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power in August 2021, in the final weeks of US and NATO pullout. Since Islamabad launched the crackdown in October, giving Afghans until the end of the month to go back or face arrest, hundreds of thousands have returned home, many in Pakistan-organised ...