Death toll in September 30 Attack in Western Kabul Increases to 53, Says UNAMA

Oct 3, 2022, 14:20 GMT+1

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced that the number of casualties in the attack at the Kaj educational center in Kabul has increased to 53 killed of which 46 are girls. According to UNAMA, the number of injured people has increased to 110.

UNAMA confirmed that its human rights department continues to document the crimes in Afghanistan.

UNAMA announced the updated statistics of Friday’s deadly attack in western Kabul, while female students held demonstrations in Kabul, Herat, Bamiyan and Balkh to protest against the genocide of Hazaras of Afghanistan.

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Twitter Campaign #StopHazaraGenocide Garners 1 Million Tweets

Oct 3, 2022, 13:53 GMT+1

A Twitter campaign started with the hashtag "#StopHazaraGenocide" has been tweeted more than a million times on the micro-blogging site. The campaign had been started by Hazara rights activists after a suicide attack on an educational center on September 30 in western Kabul.

Supporters of the campaign have urged the international community to recognize that a genocide is currently underway against the Hazara Shia community in Afghanistan.

So far, many politicians, rights activists, artists, and members of the Hazara ethnic community have joined the Twitter campaign.

Sarwar Danesh, the former vice-president, supported the campaign and said that terrorism will eventually be rooted out of Afghanistan.

Shukria Barakzai, the former ambassador of Afghanistan in Norway, joined the campaign and wrote on her Twitter account that the campaign could be a sign of national unity of Afghans.

The Twitter campaign supporters believe that Hazaras of Afghanistan have been systematically targeted and are facing genocidal killings.

Elif Shafak, the Turkish-British novelist, too joined the campaign and called the Hazaras of Afghanistan a wanted minority group.

Farhad Darya, a famous Afghan singer, has called for a week of national mourning for the victims of September 30 attack on Hazaras in western Kabul.

In recent years, attacks on Hazaras, especially on their educational centers, have increased. Islamic State-Khurasan has taken responsibility for most of the attacks.

More than 40 students died and over 100 others were injured in the September 30 attack.

Human rights groups have repeatedly announced that after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, members of the Hazara and Shia community of Afghanistan have been systematically attacked.

Taliban Shutdowns Websites of 2 Media Platforms in Afghanistan

Oct 3, 2022, 12:01 GMT+1

Taliban announced on Monday that the group has shut down the websites of Hasht-e-Sobh daily and Zawia News in Afghanistan on charges of what they called “spreading false propaganda”. The two media platforms had been active on domain names registered in Afghanistan.

Earlier, Hasht-e-Sobh daily in a statement had announced that the Ministry of telecommunications of the Taliban had deactivated the domain of the daily’s website.

The newspaper confirmed that it had been using the 8am.af domain for the past 15 years.

The newspaper added that it is online through a different domain name and address now.

Taliban Beat Up Afghan Women Who Held Demonstration in Balkh Against Hazara Genocide

Oct 3, 2022, 09:54 GMT+1

Several girls and women protested in Mazar-i-Sharif city on Monday against the genocide of Hazara Shia community members. These female protesters marched on the streets despite the Taliban’s efforts to prevent the protest through the presence of heavily-armed fighters.

Local sources told Afghanistan International that demonstrations had been underway in front of the city’s main court office, and the protesters had been chanting "justice, justice".

Meanwhile, sources from Balkh province said that the Taliban had locked female university students in the province's dormitories and classrooms to prevent their demonstrations.

A student said that the Taliban had confiscated and broken mobile phone devices of many pupils to prevent the publishing of video clips from the scene on social media.

The Taliban members suppressed the women's demonstrations in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Sources said that the Taliban locked up a number of protesting women in a house and "transferred" many others to an unknown place.

Earlier, according to social media announcements, demonstrations were supposed to be held at Balkh Central University on Monday morning.

Over the past two days, female students in Kabul, Herat and Bamiyan universities have held protests against the Taliban.

These students chanted slogans about the right to education, and preventing the genocide of Hazara Shia community.

Pakistan Lambasts Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister’s Accusations of Financial Incentives

Oct 1, 2022, 13:22 GMT+1

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 University Students Hold Demonstrations in Kabul

Oct 1, 2022, 10:40 GMT+1

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.