Exert Diplomatic Pressure on Taliban for Girls’ Education, Activists Urge Leaders

So far, no person or group has taken responsibility for the murder of Saqib. However, Salafist clerics, who are said to have similar religious views as that of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), have been mysteriously killed in the eastern provinces, especially Nangarhar.

Earlier, the Taliban had been blamed for being involved in the killing of Salafi clerics. However, Saqib had pledged allegiance to the Taliban leadership. Taliban officials in Nangarhar say that Saqib was killed by circles that want to create rifts between the Taliban and Salafi clerics.

Sardar Wali Saqib had gained fame as a religious scholar in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan, the main exporter of wheat to Afghanistan, has imposed restrictions on its exports due to the war in Ukraine.

According to the ICRC Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens are unemployed due to food insecurity and inflation in the country. Reports show that drought has also affected the production of wheat inside Afghanistan.

The increase in the price of basic food items due to the low production of agricultural products, such as wheat, has limited people's access to food.
The war in Ukraine has also affected prices of food items in the Afghan market.

According to the statistics of ICRC, since June 2021, the price of wheat flour has increased by 68%, edible oil by 55%, fertilizer by 107%, and fuel such as diesel by 93% inside Afghanistan.

Incidences of flash flooding increased in the past week with in the east, south, south-east, and central regions of the country. The heavy rains have damaged or destroyed around 2,900 houses, a tenfold increase since the last reporting period, and also disrupted livelihoods.

OCHA said that the affected families need emergency shelter, non-food items, food and water, sanitation, and hygiene support.

Critical civilian infrastructure such as roads and bridges have also been impacted. The rains have caused land to slide, exposing unexploded ordnance from four decades of war and conflict, which are transported into several villages of Paktia. This risk will increase as heavy rains continue, OCHA said. Reportedly, the controlled explosions of the mines helped prevent further casualties, OCHA said.

Twenty people have been reported dead in Uruzgan; six in Ghazni; seven in Nuristan; three in Paktia and three in Zabul.

During a press conference, Kanaani said that they had asked the Taliban to provide a positive response to Iran’s efforts of holding joint meetings in order to provide security at the borders between the two countries.

He added that currently talks with the Taliban regarding border security is in progress. Without divulging details, Kanaani also announced that presently both the countries are discussing an agreement of cooperation.

He emphasized that the border areas should have an atmosphere of peace and friendship, based on the interests of both the countries.

Recently, Taliban members have been involved in clashes with Iranian border guards several times over the past few months. Earlier, an Iranian border guard had been killed too during such a clash. The Iranian government had announced that their border guard was killed by armed rebels, but credible sources had said that he lost his life in a clash with Taliban forces.

“It feels beyond belief that we could be having a conversation in 2022 about whether girls should be allowed to study. The world should listen to Afghan women and do more to end this shocking abuse,” said Sahar Fetrat, assistant women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Heela Yoon, an activist and founder of Afghan Youth Ambassadors for Peace, said, “Afghan women are half of the society, and if they don’t have education, I don’t think we can contribute much to the prosperity of the country.”

Fetrat has urged diplomats, donors, and the UN to engage with Afghanistan in a meaningful manner. She said that the UN and international community must have concrete plans on how to respond if the Taliban maintain their draconian position. “I want the international community to look at the full picture and see girls’ education situation in light of the women’s rights and human rights situation in Afghanistan,” added Fetrat.

The assistant women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch also said that the world should not send out mixed messages to the Taliban. She said that flying Taliban delegations in private jets and meeting with them in different countries with smiling pictures and hopeful messages do not help the people of Afghanistan.

Tamana Ayazi, a filmmaker who was also interviewed, said, “Closing the school doors will not help the people of Afghanistan… even Taliban, will regret this later.”

On September 18, 2021, a month after taking over the country, the Taliban ordered the reopening of boys’ secondary schools, but made no mention of girls’ secondary schools. This was interpreted as a ban on girls’ secondary education. On March 21, 2022, the Taliban pledged to reopen all schools on March 23, but on that date, they closed girls’ secondary schools again. Afghanistan currently remains the only country where girls are forbidden from attending secondary schools.