The Pakistan foreign ministry has criticised recent remarks of Abbas Stanikzai, Taliban’s deputy foreign minister and called it "against the spirit of friendly relations". Stanikzai had said that Islamabad allows US drones to enter Afghanistan airspace for financial incentives.
Stanikzai had criticised Pakistan after the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concerns about the activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
The Taliban's foreign ministry had dismissed Sharif’s remarks as baseless and had emphasised that there will be no such attacks waged against other countries from Afghanistan.
However, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, said that they have noted the statement of the Taliban’s foreign affairs official with concern and urged the Taliban to “take necessary steps to address international expectations and concerns”.
Female students at the Talim wa Tarbia University held a demonstration on Saturday and chanted the slogan "Security is our right”. These students demanded that the genocide of Hazaras in Afghanistan must be stopped.
The demonstrators also chanted slogans against the "enemies of knowledge and wisdom”. No further details about the number of demonstrators and the Taliban’s behaviour with the protesters has been reported so far.
Earlier on Saturday several other women, who had participated in a demonstration in Kabul on Saturday, said that the Taliban members beat them up and dispersed the rally through aerial firing.
The demonstration was held on Saturday, against the Hazara Shia genocide, in District 6 of Kabul.
Video clips from Kabul obtained by Afghanistan International show the Taliban members involved in aerial shooting to disperse the protesters. Other pictures show bruised women, and protesters, due to the violent beatings of the Taliban members.
Several women, who had participated in a demonstration in Kabul on Saturday, said that the Taliban members beat them up and dispersed the rally through aerial firing. The demonstration was held on Saturday, against the Hazara Shia genocide, in District 6 of Kabul.
Video clips from Kabul obtained by Afghanistan International show the Taliban members involved in aerial shooting to disperse the protesters. Other pictures show bruised women, and protesters, due to the violent beatings of the Taliban members.
Earlier too, several Afghan women who had gathered in front of the Iranian embassy in Kabul on September 29 to protest had been dispersed by the Taliban through aerial firing.
According to media reports around 25 Afghan women had staged the protest on Thursday. Women protesters carried placards that read, "Iranians have stood up, now is our turn" and "Say no to dictatorship from Kabul to Iran”.
Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential Iraqi Shia cleric, reacted to Friday's suicide attack in Kabul, and blamed the Taliban for the attacks against the Hazara-Shia community. Al-Sadr questioned the Taliban and asked, "What kind of government is this which cannot protect its people?"
Al-Sadr said in a statement that he considers the Taliban to be fully responsible for the current attacks on Shias in Afghanistan.
The influential Iraqi Shiite cleric emphasised "it is not unlikely that in the future, attacks will be waged even against Sunni and moderate Afghan brothers who do not abide by the beliefs of the Taliban”.
Al-Sadr stressed that the Taliban is an extremist government, and they are behind terror attacks against mosques, worshipers, and Muslims in Afghanistan.
Al-Sadr’s statement has been issued after at least 23 people have been killed and 35 others have been injured in Friday's attack on the Kaaj educational center in the Hazara-Shia dominated area of western Kabul.
Moqtada al-Sadr said that he urged Saudi Arabia to intervene in Afghanistan's issues.
Stating that the security situation in Afghanistan remains complicated, particularly in Kabul, Dejan Panic, Acting Country Director for Emergency, said that they continue to receive injuries from gunshots, shrapnel, stab wounds, mine explosions and IEDs on a daily basis.
The hospital stated that this is the 11th mass casualty attack in the last two months and the 21st this year causing casualties. Panic added, “In the last two months alone, we had to activate extraordinary emergency procedures following explosions and attacks.”
It has admitted more than 16,000 patients in its hospitals in Kabul, Lashkar-Gah, and Anabah since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the hospital stated.
The Emergency Hospital in Kabul on Friday also stated that they received 22 patients, including 20 women following the suicide attack at the Kaaj educational centre in the Hazara-majority Dasht-e-Barchi area.
Panic added, “The victims are all between 18 and 25 years old, and most of them were in the classroom to take an exam. One person was already dead on arrival and another died after being admitted.”
During the Taliban rule in the past and the reign of the previous government of Afghanistan, western Kabul, a predominantly Hazara ethnic community population center, has been under constant targeted attacks by terrorist groups.
The latest reports from Kabul indicate that at least 23 people have been killed and 36 others have been injured in the attack at the Kaaj educational center.
Witnesses said that the victims were taken to several hospitals. The Taliban had previously confirmed that at least 19 people had been killed and 27 others had been injured in the attack in Kabul. However, witnesses said that the number of victims was higher than what the Taliban announced.
According to the witnesses, the suicide attacker first shot at the security guards of the Kaaj educational center where the explosion took place and then, blew himself up among the female students.
According to witnesses, most of the victims were female high-school students of the Hazara ethnic community.
The suicide attack on an educational center in Kabul has been globally condemned. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), United States, Norway, Iran, and several rights activists and politicians have condemned this attack.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, called the explosion an attack on the future of Afghanistan. Bennett, who has repeatedly criticised the killing of Shiites and Hazaras in Afghanistan, called for an end of the attacks on Hazaras and Shiites.
UNAMA confirmed that many civilians had been killed in this attack. The UN office in Afghanistan stated that the attack took place in an area with a majority of Hazaras and Shiite residents and said that Afghanistan's security is getting worse.
Karen Decker, the Charge d'affaires of the US Embassy for Afghanistan, strongly condemned the attack and said that targeting a room full of students taking exams is shameful.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway has also strongly condemned the attack on the Kaaj educational center. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the attack took place in a predominantly Hazara area and many teenage boys and girls were killed and injured.
The Taliban too have reacted to this attack and Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesperson, said that they consider the attack a "horror". However, Shahrazad Akbar, the former chairwoman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, responded to the Taliban spokesperson’s comments and said that the Taliban is promoting the culture of waging suicide attacks as a holy act.
During the Taliban rule in the past and the reign of the previous government of Afghanistan, western Kabul, a predominantly Hazara ethnic community population center, has been under constant targeted attacks by terrorist groups.
The latest reports from Kabul indicate that at least 23 people have been killed and 36 others have been injured in the attack at the Kaaj educational center.
Witnesses said that the victims were taken to several hospitals. The Taliban had previously confirmed that at least 19 people had been killed and 27 others had been injured in the attack in Kabul. However, witnesses said that the number of victims was higher than what the Taliban announced.
According to the witnesses, the suicide attacker first shot at the security guards of the Kaaj educational center where the explosion took place and then, blew himself up among the female students.
According to witnesses, most of the victims were female high-school students of the Hazara ethnic community.
