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.
Sources said on Friday that two armed men attacked, Hizb-e-Islami leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's office. Confirming the attack, Hizb-e-Islami officials said that the attack took place during Friday prayers and the attackers had been killed before reaching the target.
According to sources, Hekmatyar has not been injured in the attack.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the attackers tried to enter the party’s mosque in Darulaman Area in District 6, but were confronted by Hekmatyar’s guards. The guards have killed both the armed men.
Hizb-e-Islami, issued a statement saying that Hekmatyar and other leaders of the party have not been harmed in the attack.
According to Hizb-e-Islami two bodyguards of Hekmatyar have been injured in the attack. However, according to Afghanistan International sources, one of the bodyguards of the Hizb-e-Islami leader has been killed and another one has been injured in the attack.
In a statement released on Thursday, the US State Department designated three leaders of Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and one leader of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).
The statement added that United States is committed to using its full set of counterterrorism tools to counter the threat posed by terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan.
Osama Mehmood, emir of AQIS; Atif Yahya Ghouri, deputy emir of AQIS; Muhammad Maruf, responsible for AQIS’ recruiting branch and Qari Amjad, deputy emir of TTP, who oversees operations and militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, had been mentioned in the executive order by the State Department.
“All property and interests in property of those designated that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and all U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them,” the statement added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The US will continue to use all relevant tools to uphold our commitment to see to it that international terrorists are not able to operate with impunity in Afghanistan.”
The Taliban Supreme Court announced that the group has flogged another 15 men and six women in Kabul in public. The Taliban flogged these people for various charges including sexual relations, theft, running away from home, and drinking alcohol.
Atiqullah Darwish, an official of the Taliban Supreme Court, said that punishment is a mercy in Islam.
After a decree attributed to Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, the group resumed punishments such as flogging and hand amputation.
In recent weeks, the Taliban flogged several Afghan citizens in Logar, Bamiyan and Takhar provinces on various charges.
Several countries have condemned the Taliban’s resumption of punishments in public.
Earlier, the European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan had said that he was horrified by the public flogging of 14 men and women by the Taliban in Logar province.
The German embassy in Afghanistan also called the Taliban's flogging of people "a heinous violation of human dignity".
Human rights groups have asked the international community to consider the issue of human rights, especially women's rights, as a condition for ties with the Taliban.
The Taliban, however, have defended flogging in public and said that they act according to Sharia law.
