Taliban Gives 3-Day Eviction Warning to 400 Families In Takhar, Say Local Sources

The report highlighted Taliban’s systematic attacks on the rights of women and girls and the use of violence, including torture and other ill-treatment, and enforced disappearances.

It added that despite the Taliban’s initial promise to respect women’s rights within the Islamic framework, women and girls’ rights have been under attack and the policies, regulations and decrees of the de facto authorities have denied and violated the human rights of women and girls in the country, including rights related to public participation, education, free movement, peaceful assembly and expression.

While noting that enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment by members of the de facto authorities, are some factors adding to the worsening condition of women and girls in the Afghan society, the statement said that economic and social conditions also directly undermine the rights of women and girls, ranging from a crumbling economy to increased rates of child, early and forced marriage.

“Ten interviews by Amnesty International with Afghan women’s rights activists both inside and outside the country over the past six months suggest that women are subject to an increasing number of human rights violations and that the space for political dialogue with Taliban leaders on the issue is shrinking. Many prominent women leaders have been arrested or harassed, and others have fled abroad,” the report said.

The report also cited activists who have been at protests where journalists described to Amnesty International of being attacked for reporting on human rights violations, and the de facto authorities have taken steps to try to undermine accounts of abuse of women and girls on social media.

The report also highlighted how following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, women have been excluded from political decision-making at almost every level and no women have been granted leadership positions in the Taliban government and none were invited to the Taliban’s Grand Council, also known as the Afghanistan Ulema Grand Council, which was convened in Kabul.

Amnesty International said that the ongoing violations of women and girls’ rights is continually worsening.

Amnesty International called on the Taliban to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of women and girls to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and take immediate steps to guarantee the right to work, the right to movement, the right to political participation and other human rights.

It also called on the group to revoke the ban on girls attending secondary schools and remove restrictions on female students and teachers at all levels, including restrictions on clothing, conduct, and gender segregation of students and teachers.

The global organisation also urged the international community to send a clear message to the Taliban that their current policies towards women and girls are not, and never will be, acceptable, through their actions against Taliban leaders.

It asked the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution, including a set of concrete steps, to take in response to the situation of systemic violations of women and girls’ rights in Afghanistan – including targeted sanctions and travel bans against Taliban members implicated in these human rights violations.

Eyewitnesses told Afghanistan International that many Taliban officials were present inside the mosque.

Takor did not provide details about the nature of the explosion and the possible casualties.

Takor said that investigation is underway and he will share more details of the explosion later.

Eyewitnesses told Afghanistan International that many Taliban officials had been present inside the Interior Ministry’s Mosque at the time of the blast.

So far, there are no details about the nature of the explosion and the possible casualties from this incident.

According to the photos published on social media, ambulances can be seen inside the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior.

The Taliban have not officially reacted to the reports.

“The Taliban must restore full online access to Hasht-e Subh Daily and Zawia News,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi in Frankfurt, Germany. “More than ever, Afghans and the world need to know what is happening in Afghanistan. The Taliban must stop suppressing the media.”

The statement added that CPJ contacted the Taliban ministry spokesperson Anayatullah Alokozay for comment about the shutdowns via messaging app, but did not receive any response.

In August, CPJ had published a special report about the media crisis in Afghanistan that shows a rapid deterioration in press freedom over the last year, marked by censorship, arrests, assaults, and restrictions on women journalists.

On October 3, the Taliban’s Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology said it had shut down the websites of Hasht-e Subh Daily and Zawia News due to “false propaganda” against the Taliban, according to a tweet from the ministry’s spokesperson Anayatullah Alokozay.

Both the outlets confirmed that the Taliban had deactivated their website domain names. However, Hasht-e Subh Daily has since resumed operations online under a different domain name. Zawia News said it would continue to report on the website of its parent company, Zawia Media.

After a deadly attack on the Kaj educational center in western Kabul, Afghan citizens have condemned it widely and have demanded an end to targeted attacks on Hazaras.

In the past week, female students in Herat, Bamiyan, Balkh, and Kapisa universities have protested in response to a suicide attack on the educational center and supported the "Stop Hazara Genocide" social media campaign.

Hazara activists launched a Twitter campaign with the #StopHazaraGenocide hashtag and have urged the world to recognise the genocide of the Hazaras in Afghanistan.