Shekay District in Badakhshan Not Under NRF Control, But Local Taliban Officials Captured

Earlier, NRF officials had claimed that they had captured Shekay district and arrested its local officials.

However, Afghanistan International sources confirmed that NRF forces ambushed the district officials on Monday night and arrested them.

The sources said that NRF forces had transferred the captured Taliban local officials to "Dargak" area and released them after two hours.

Meanwhile, a video which had been published on social media on Monday night showed that Mawlawi Akram, the Taliban district governor for Shekay district of Badakhshan province, had been held captive by the NRF forces.

Mawlawi Akram said that the NRF forces had not treated him inappropriately.

On the other hand, NRF forces had been heard in the video confirming that they would release Mawlawi Akram and all the Taliban prisoners without any harm.

On Monday evening, conflicting news about the fall of Shekay district had been published on social media.

Sibghatullah Ahmadi, the spokesperson of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, announced on his official Twitter account that Shekay district had been captured by the NRF forces.

However, Abdul Nafi Takor, the spokesperson of the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, immediately reacted to the news and denied the claims that Taliban forces had fled the area.

Female University Students in Kapisa Protest Against Hazara Genocide

Oct 4, 2022, 10:41 GMT+1

Local sources said that female students of Al-Biruni University in Kapisa province marched on the streets on Tuesday to protest the Hazara genocide in Afghanistan. In a video that has been obtained by Afghanistan International these female university students chanted for unity.

Sources from Kapisa province said that the Taliban members have been violent in dispersing the students.

Over the past three days, protests by female students from Talim wa Tarbia University in Kabul expanded to universities in Herat, Bamiyan, Daikundi, Balkh, Kapisa and Panjshir provinces.

These demonstrations have been held to call for an end to the Hazara genocidal killings in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, protests against killing of Hazara community members have been held in several countries around the world.

The protests have been held after the September 30 attack on an educational center in Kabul in which 53 people have been killed and over 100 have been injured.

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.

Meanwhile, a Twitter campaign which started with the hashtag "#StopHazaraGenocide" has been tweeted more than a million times on the micro-blogging site.

The attack, wherein victims have all been students, has also faced a strong reaction globally.

Along with Afghan artists, politicians, and cultural activists, well-known figures such as Elif Shafaq, the well-known Turkish-British novelist have joined the campaign to call for a stop to the genocide of Hazara community in Afghanistan.

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.

•