No Security Or Development in Afghanistan, Says Iranian Official

The former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan, in a statement, stressed that such a behaviour increases hatred and disgust towards the perpetrators.

On Friday, Afghanistan International accessed video documents that indicated that the tombstone of Ahmad Shah Massoud has been destroyed for the third time under the Taliban regime.

He urged the Taliban to "identify the perpetrators and punish them”.

Abdullah, who had been a close aide to Ahmad Shah Massoud during the 1990s, has also criticised the Taliban's violent behaviour against female protesters in Badakhshan and Kabul.

Several female students of Badakhshan University had protested in front of the province’s university last week, with the slogan "Education is our right".

In Kabul, a gathering of women rights activists had been suppressed on November 2 while the Taliban detained five of the activists.

Abdullah emphasised that respect for leaders, well-known national personalities of ethnicities and women have been part of the traditions of the people of Afghanistan and no consideration of them divides the people further.

At the same time, Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, the former Jihadi commander, also condemned the destruction of the tombstone of Ahmad Shah Massoud and considered it "a horrible act and against religious values”.

Previously, the tombstone of the commander of the anti-Taliban coalition was destroyed at least twice. However, in a press conference in Kabul, the Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that rumours about the destruction of the tombstone of Ahmad Shah Massoud by the group's forces are "a lie”.

Mujahid added that the Taliban does not allow its forces to "offend" anyone.

Many Afghan citizens have too reacted strongly after the destruction of the tombstone of Ahmad Shah Massoud and called such behaviour, ethnocentric.

Before the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the tomb of Ahmad Shah Massoud was guarded by Afghan security forces and he was recognised as the National Hero of Afghanistan. With the Taliban's domination of Afghanistan, Taliban members have settled in the area near his tomb.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, the former defense minister of Afghanistan, was one of the staunch opponents of the Taliban in the 1990s. During that time, the Taliban could not capture Panjshir province due to Masoud's resistance.

This year, less number of students had appeared for the exam as compared to previous years.

In 2021, when the Taliban had not taken over Afghanistan and not put restrictions of education of girls, the girls had topped the Kankor exams.

According to the NEA, a student from Herat province secured the first rank in the year's entrance exam.

With the Taliban assuming control of Afghanistan, schools for girls above the sixth grade were closed across the country, and no female student graduated from Afghanistan’s schools in the last year. In fact, apart from Taliban restrictions, girls have also faced terrorist attacks while studying. A suicide bombing rocked an educational center where preparations were on for the entrance exams in an area of the discriminated Shia Hazara minority in Kabul in September. Around 53 people were killed and 110 wounded in the attack, most of them girls and young women.

Kankor is an entrance exam for universities in Afghanistan. Every year, hundreds of thousands of high school graduates take this exam to continue their studies at public, governmental, or private universities.

After an unprecedented difficult economic year filled with environmental disasters including droughts, earthquakes, and floods, the situation of many Afghans is expected to worsen, the WFP said.

According to the UN organisation, millions of Afghans have difficulty in coping with another harsh winter.

The UK said that it has given 286 million pounds in aid to the people of Afghanistan in 2022.

The World Food Programme stressed that it has provided food and livelihood support to 21.9 million people since the beginning of 2022.

WFP added that it has already prepared 150,000 tons of food in strategic locations across Afghanistan.

The Taliban Deputy Prime Minister also said that the group seeks to "further develop their relations" with Qatar.

Although Qatar does not recognise the Taliban's regime, the country enjoys close relations with the group and hosted the US-Taliban talks in Doha.

While international organisations call Afghanistan unstable, Abdul Kabir in his meeting with the Qatari official stressed that Afghanistan is safe. He called the return of several former Afghan officials to the country a sign of security in Afghanistan.

The organisation stated that orphan children and widows have been among the most vulnerable Afghan groups, who are often unable to eat even one meal a day.

According to ICRC, about 20 million people in Afghanistan lack access to nutritious food, and more than 24 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

ICRC stressed that the worsening crisis in Afghanistan has been driving millions of people into extreme poverty, with many being forced to eat scraps or pick waste to avoid starvation.