The counterterrorism department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan announced that on Saturday, the department’s forces killed four members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) near the borders with Afghanistan.
Pakistani media reported that two other terrorists managed to cross the border and escaped from the area.
Pakistan has not provided more details about the operation.
Karen Decker, the Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy for Afghanistan, called on the Kandahari leaders of the Taliban to join the global efforts to deliver dignity, freedom, and justice for all Afghans. Decker added that the US advocates for the rights of all Afghans.
The US diplomat stressed that she has engaged with several Afghan human rights activists on Friday. According to Decker, these human rights defenders are championing access to education, the right to work, and the protection of Afghanistan’s diverse population, and they are the bravest people she has known.
The US embassy’s statement about human rights in Afghanistan comes when the United Nations is celebrating the annual International Human Rights Day on December 10.
Many of the basic rights of Afghan people, especially girls and women, are being violated by the Taliban restrictions on an everyday basis.
The United Nations in Afghanistan urged the Taliban to reverse restrictions they have introduced which violate the basic rights of Afghans, especially those of women and girls.
On this year’s Human Rights Day (December 10), the UN also asked Taliban to live up to the commitments listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Afghanistan is a signatory.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and those who assume to govern have an immense responsibility as duty-bearers to each and every man, woman and child,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
The UN statement noted that despite announcing a general amnesty for former government officials and security force members and despite promising a more lenient approach towards women and girls in Afghanistan, there has been a marked deterioration of the population’s enjoyment of their basic human rights and freedoms.
UN added that the Taliban is responsible and accountable for the deteriorating situation because have limited dissent by cracking down on protests and curbing media freedoms.
The global organisation also reiterated their call for the release of Zafira Yaqobi and four other women’s right activists who remain in Taliban custody despite being in jail for more than one month now after their arrests in Kabul on 3 November.
The United Nations also stated that corporal punishments such as public floggings constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and urged for abolishing the death penalty.
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that Afghan women and girls have been excluded from almost all areas of life under the Taliban reign. Turk told reporters on Friday that the continued exclusion of Afghan women and girls is unprecedented.
After their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban imposed severe restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan.
The group has deprived Afghan women and girls of many of their rights. Among others, the Taliban has closed down secondary and high schools for Afghan girls and have restricted women’s presence at amusement parks, stadiums, and women's bathrooms.
The Taliban has also ordered that Afghan women can’t travel alone and should be accompanied by a male relative. On the other hand, the Taliban dismissed a large number of women working in government institutions and many women lost their jobs due to the strict policies of the group in the private sector.
Afghan women have repeatedly protested against the strict laws of the Taliban for more than a year, but they have faced repression, detention, and torture by the group.
Despite the pressures from human rights organisations, the Taliban has not stopped their strict rule against women in Afghanistan.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published photos of the group's snipers shooting at the Pakistani embassy in Kabul. An ISIS magazine released images of the attack on Pakistan’s chief of mission in Kabul, in which one of the embassy’s guards had been injured.
The Charge d'Affaires of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul was shot at from a building adjacent to the embassy on December 2, however, he was not injured. ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, Pakistani officials said that they were investigating the attack.
Hours after the attack, the Taliban had announced the arrest of a suspect from a building near the Pakistani embassy.
This attack was met with many domestic and international reactions.
Soon after the attack, the Pakistani embassy announced that it will continue to operate in Kabul.
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) announced that terrorist threats, arms, and drug smuggling from Afghanistan are potential threats to Central Asia. CSTO members agreed that to cooperate closely, they need to review the situation in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, the 36th meeting of the Afghanistan Working Group was held within the framework of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CSTO.
Representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been present at the meeting, too.
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
Representatives of member countries called the situation in Afghanistan dire and approved their work plan for 2023 regarding Afghanistan. The details of this programme have not been announced.