USAID Asks Implementing Partners to Avoid Entering Into MoUs With Taliban, Says SIGAR

RSF and 14 French media outlets, with whom Behboudi has worked, issued a statement asking for his immediate release.

In a joint statement issued by 16 French media organisations, it was stated that on 15 January, Behboudi’s mobile phone called the assistance unit at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and no message was left. According to RSF, it is impossible to know whether it was Behboudi who called or whether one of his jailers used his phone.

According to the information obtained by Reporters Without Borders, Behboudi has been arrested by the Taliban after entering Afghanistan, when he was trying to obtain a media work permit.

After he spent 11 days in one of the Taliban prisons in Kabul, this group accused him of "spying" and transferred him to another prison.

AIHRC in a statement called on the European Union to engage with the Taliban and work towards the release of Delawarzai.

The commission also expressed concern about the safety of the family members of Delawarzai and demanded clear measures to provide them with life without fear.

Elaha Delawarzai, a student of Kabul Medical University, released a video clip on August 30, 2022, and alleged that Saeed Khosty, the former spokesperson of the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, "raped" and "forcibly" married her.

In the video, Delawarzai revealed how she had been tortured and her family being pressured by Taliban members.

Delawarzai’s family said that almost three months back, she managed to escape to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, but soon had been kidnapped by the Haqqani network of the Taliban and is now in a Taliban prison in Kabul.

Along with the Taliban’s foreign minister, the Qatar special envoy met with the group’s Interior Minister and Director of the General Directorate of Intelligence in Kabul.

His visit to Kabul comes after the publication of an Italian TV’s report about Qatar's role in the fall of the previous government.

According to Qatar State News Agency, Qahtani emphasised on the right of women and girls to education and work and said that the people of Afghanistan should be granted access to all their rights.

Although the Taliban has said that the ban on women's education is temporary, representatives of foreign governments have continuously asked the group to reopen educational centers for girls and women.

The special representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar has said that Doha "continues its efforts to facilitate the conditions for reaching a comprehensive political consensus so that security and stability prevail in Afghanistan”.

A statement from the Taliban’s foreign ministry has not given further details about the Taliban’s viewpoints during the meetings with the Qatari envoy.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson of the Taliban’s foreign ministry, said on Twitter that political cooperation, improvement of relations, and humanitarian aid had been discussed during the meeting.

Taliban officials have repeatedly said that they have formed an inclusive government with representation from various provinces of Afghanistan.

After taking power in Afghanistan in late 2021, the Taliban has appointed commanders and mullahs associated with the group in senior government positions. The group has not yet invited any political party or figures from other Afghan sides to include in their government in Afghanistan.

Recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that the severe cold weather in Afghanistan has put the lives of millions of people at risk.

ICRC also stressed that more humanitarian aid is needed to prevent the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan. The Red Cross said that many people cannot afford to keep warm due to economic challenges.

This year, Afghanistan is experiencing the coldest winter in recent decades. In some provinces, the temperature has reached minus 30 degrees Celsius.

The Taliban officials have requested for humanitarian support from international organisations for the victims.

He also cited security problems as the reason for the process to be stopped.

He clarified that just as he had stopped sermons for a while during the COVID-19 quarantine time, “now we are facing another Corona”. He emphasised that "certainly Corona is very dangerous”.

Hekmatyar said that for this reason, we must take serious measures.

The leader of Hizb-e-Islami had been delivering a sermon every Friday at his residence in district six of Kabul.