Over 19 Million Afghans Face Acute Food Insecurity, Says ICRC

Protestors called for the end of civilian killings in Panjshir. The protestors had gathered at an undisclosed location in order to maintain their security and stated that women and girls in Panjshir have no protection.

According to their statement, the Taliban has not fulfilled its promise to provide security and members of this group are acting arbitrarily in Panjshir and other provinces.

The statement added that “people aren’t raising their voice as they fear they might lose their lives”.

Protestors called “these crimes” shameful and said that supporting Taliban is a crime against humanity.

There has been no update regarding the condition of the retired colonel since Monday, his family stated, adding that they are concerned about him.

Colonel Adina Mohammad Azad, who had retired two years ago, had been detained when he was heading to Pul-e-Khumri city from Andarab district.

Azad has served at different posts in Afghanistan’s National Army, including as a senior commander of 209 Shahin Corps and director of intelligence of 217 Pamir Corps.

Azad's family said that he had been living as a civilian since the past two years.

Taliban had announced general amnesty after their takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, but they haven’t been committed to this promise. There have been many arrests, killings, and forced disappearances of people who opposed the Taliban and were former government employees.

Human rights organizations said that with the announcement of the amnesty, the group has used it as an opportunity to trap former employees of the government.

In the audio files, it has been said that at least 26 prosecutors have been killed.

In the latest case, local sources from Khost province said that Momtaz Shirzai, a prosecutor of the former government’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and a teacher at a private university in Khost province, had been murdered on Saturday, July 16.

On Friday, July 15, Shirzai was kidnapped by unidentified men in Khost province. Earlier too, he had been imprisoned by the Taliban for 10 days, after the group’s takeover.

In the audio files that have been sent to Afghanistan International, some of the prosecutors expressed concerns over targeted assassination of Afghan prosecutors.

A female prosecutor said, “due to threats and chasing by criminals and Taliban,” she can’t reveal her name. She added that her colleagues have been fired despite having Masters and PHD degrees and having professional experience.

She said that “being a female” has been brought up as one of the reasons for the dismissal of the prosecutors. The prosecutor added that having experience of working in the previous government was also among other reasons for the dismissal.

She emphasized that the Taliban’s guards weren’t allowing female prosecutors to enter their offices.

In these files, it has been said that the Taliban used administrative employees of the AGO’s office till the time they got their own employees and then, they fired them.

This group of prosecutors said that administrative employees of the attorney general, are currently facing unemployment, assassination, force disappearance, arbitrary arrests and are taking refugee in other countries.

Prosecutors say that collective dismissal of prosecutors will weaken rule of law, will lead to more injustice and weakening of the justice system.

The female prosecutor added that her colleagues have been receiving threats from Taliban prisoners who have been released. Her colleagues are “being assassinated or are disappearing everyday”, she said.

Another prosecutor said that since they had checked criminal cases and had asked the court for their punishment in the light of law, the Taliban are hostile towards prosecutors, now that they are in power.

According to Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-controlled media group, 390 people have been infected with cholera in the past 24 hours in the capital city and two other districts of Zabul province.

Taliban’s health officials said that mobile health teams have been deployed to the affected areas.

Cholera cases have increased in Zabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces in the past few months. Cholera is a type of infection in the intestine, which is mostly caused due to drinking contaminated water.

After Pakistan, Qatar, China, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Russia, Turkey is the seventh country to accept diplomats from the Taliban.

During the past week, a number of Taliban officials, including Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Deputy Foreign Minister of the group, participated in the celebration of Turkey's Independence Day at the country's embassy in Kabul.

Earlier, Turkey had a military presence in Afghanistan within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and was one of the few countries that kept its embassy open in Kabul even after the Taliban takeover of the capital city in August 15, 2021.

Although the Taliban has pushed extensively to receive international recognition, so far, no country has agreed to recognize the group as a legitimate state.

The formation of an inclusive government, and commitment to human rights, and women rights are some of the preconditions of many countries for the recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.