Former Official of Istiqlal Hospital Murdered in Kabul

According to him, universities across Afghanistan are still completing their last semester courses.

Due to the backlog, no new admissions can be granted.

Last year, due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country, the entrance examination for Afghanistan universities had been held with after a six-month delay.

Officials of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban have not announced any specific date for the national entrance examination.

A source from the Ministry of Higher Education said that due to the Taliban's gender segregation policy in universities, classes, and facilities for attracting new students have also been limited.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, said that Ministry of Defense of the Taliban has called on the group’s forces stationed at the border and advised them to avoid conflict.

Kazemi also stressed that a joint committee will be formed to prevent such clashes in the future.

On Sunday, Taliban forces and Iranian border guards have clashed in Darwish area of Kang district of Nimroz province, too.

Local sources told Afghanistan International that two members of the Taliban were killed in the border clash on July 31.

The border commander of the Taliban confirmed the death of one of his men, but the governor of Hirmand city in Iran's Sistan and Balochistan province said that the conflict between the Iranian border guards and the Taliban in Nimroz ended without casualties.

According to the Taliban, most of the floods took place in Shahr-e-Safa, Daychopan and Arghandab districts.

The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported yesterday that roads were destroyed in Zabul because of recent floods.

Reports from Ghazni and Kandahar also say that floods have caused casualties in these provinces in the last 24 hours.

According to a Taliban statement, the two sides talked about bilateral relations, transit and cooperation in the agricultural sector.

Muttaqi and Uktamovich also discussed the start of the construction of the railway project spanning across Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The meeting took place on the sixth day of the Taliban delegation’s visit to Uzbekistan. The Taliban delegation led by Muttaqi had reached Tashkent on July 24.

Earlier on Tuesday, Muttaqi had addressed an international conference on Afghanistan in Tashkent with a focus on the achievements of the Taliban government over the past eleven months.

This conference ended on Tuesday, but the Taliban delegation did not return to Kabul.

On Friday, Tashkent hosted a two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

The foreign ministers of China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan participated in the meeting.

Although Muttaqi was not present at the SCO meeting, he met with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China on the sidelines of the event.

On July 25, a delegation of Pakistani clerics led by Mufti Taqi Usmani arrived in Kabul. It was reported that the clerics’ visit to Kabul was aimed at convincing the Pakistani Taliban to cease fighting against Pakistan.

The Pakistani delegation had travelled to Kabul at the invitation of the Afghan Taliban. They met with Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and held meetings with the leaders of the Afghan Taliban.

The delegation returned to Pakistan on Friday. Mawlana Tayeb, an influential cleric from tribal areas of Pakistan, who was also a member of the delegation, said, "In our meeting with the Afghan Taliban, we emphasized that they should reopen girls' schools, so that they can be educated. I gave them an example and said that I am also a mullah, but my niece is currently serving as a general in the Pakistani army."

Life under the reign of Taliban has become difficult for Afghan women. They have lost the right to work, and education, among other things.

So far, the Taliban has not paid attention to the demands of domestic and international stakeholders to reopen girls' schools. It has been more than 315 days since Afghan girls above grade six have been denied the right to go to school.

However, Tayeb stated that the Taliban said that girls' schools will be reopened soon. "The Taliban appreciated our proposal to reopen girls' schools and assured us that they will soon reopen girls' schools and colleges, so that women can study according to Sharia law," he said.