Sources told Afghanistan International that former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has left the country for the first time since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021. According to the sources, Karzai’s destination will be Germany.
In the picture that Afghanistan International received, former finance minister, Omar Zakhiwal, is accompanying the former Afghan president on this trip.
Karzai has been on an unannounced travel ban for the past year in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday that Islamabad has no plans to shut down operations of the country’s embassy in Kabul. According to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, Islamabad has no intention to withdraw its diplomats from Afghanistan too.
Pakistani officials said that they are in contact with the Taliban and security measures have been stepped up to protect the embassy.
In the meantime, Pakistan’s foreign ministry has summoned the Charge d'Affaires of the Taliban embassy in Islamabad to express its concern over the attack the country’s embassy in Kabul.
The ministry's statement said that the Charge d'Affaires of the Taliban embassy has been told that the attack on Pakistani diplomats in Kabul has been "a very serious security breach."
The Pakistani chief of mission in Kabul was attacked by gunmen on Friday. He has not been harmed, but his bodyguard has been seriously injured.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the Taliban to immediately release women rights activist Zarifa Yaqoobi. UNAMA added that even one month since their arrest, families of the imprisoned female activists have not been allowed to meet them.
According to UNAMA, there is no clear information about the charges and the reasons for the arrest of these activists.
Last month, the Taliban arrested other women's rights defenders in Kabul too.
Since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, Afghan women have constantly come to the streets and protested against the strict policies of the Taliban.
However, in most cases, the Taliban's response to the demands of women protesters has been resorting to violence, assaults, and arrests.
After the arrest of Yaqoobi and other civil activists in Kabul, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that these activists had been taking orders from outside Afghanistan to echo the trust deficit between the Afghan citizens and the Taliban.
Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan called Kabul "the most important foreign capital" to Islamabad. Sadiq said that Pakistan will provide the necessary resources to strengthen the security of its diplomats in Kabul.
Mohammad Sadiq’s stance comes after gunmen attacked the Pakistani embassy in Kabul on Friday.
Sadiq said that Israr Mohammad, the guard of the Pakistani embassy who has been injured in the Friday’s attack, has been transferred to a hospital in Peshawar.
Mohammad Sadiq praised the "courage and sacrifice" of this Pakistani embassy guard, calling him a "true Mujahid".
Sadiq stressed that the diplomats of his country work in Afghanistan in extremely challenging conditions and the most important priority of his country is to ensure the security of its diplomats.
The armed attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul has come to end. Sources said that the attackers had targeted the Pakistani chief of mission in Afghanistan. Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has demanded an immediate investigation into Friday's attack.
He has also condemned the assassination attempt on the country’s chief of mission in Kabul and urged for actions against the perpetrators of the attack.
Sources told Afghanistan International that because of the attack, a security guard of the Pakistani embassy has been injured and transferred to a hospital.
Sharif has emphasised that a security guard of the Pakistani embassy risked his life to protect the embassy official. He has prayed for the recovery of the guard.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the shooting took place from a building close to the Pakistani embassy in Karte Parwan area of Kabul.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Rina Amiri, US Special Representative for Women's Affairs, has met with representatives of Uzbekistan, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and Indonesia and discussed situation of Afghan women. Amiri added that the stakeholders consider Afghan girls’ education a necessity.
According to Amiri, she has held discussions with members of the House of Representatives and ambassadors of these countries, as well as with an official of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Despite repeated requests from the international community, including several Islamic countries and human rights organisations, the Taliban have refused to reopen girls' schools.
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 Afghanistan, it has been more than a year since secondary and high schools have been closed to Afghan girls. Afghan women protesters have often gathered in front of several schools and protested against the closures of secondary and high schools for girls. The women protesters held placards with the slogan “education without fear”.
In the fall of last year, authorities allowed Afghan girls to enroll in primary schools and universities and promised to resume secondary education at the start of the new school year March 23. But that day, as high school girls streamed into classrooms, officials reversed course and postponed classes indefinitely until “a comprehensive plan has been prepared according to sharia and Afghan culture.”
Last month, they allowed female students who were in 12th grade before the republic’s collapse to take the university placement exam known as the Kankor — but blocked off majors they deemed inappropriate for young women to pursue, including economics, engineering, journalism and veterinary medicine.