Only Child From Afghan Family of 9 Survives Boat Tragedy in Southern Italy

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan announced that more than 20 victims are Pakistani citizens.

According to the Italian authorities, there are 12 children among the victims.

The boat, which had been carrying refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, had left Turkey in the past week.

According to the Italian authorities, about 200 refugees had been on board, of which 81 people have been rescued and about 30 people are still missing.

The German Embassy in Afghanistan said that after the recent tragedy in Bulgaria where 18 Afghan refugees have died, another human tragedy has been the sinking of the boat in Italy where several Afghan citizens have lost their lives.

According to reports, the wooden boat sank on Sunday after hitting a rock.

Taliban Announces Taking Over of Afghan Consulate General in Istanbul

Feb 27, 2023, 14:22 GMT+0

A Taliban foreign ministry official has announced that the Afghan consulate in Istanbul has been handed over to the group. Zakir Jalali, an advisor to the Taliban foreign ministry, said that Gulmat Khan Zadran, a Taliban representative, has taken over the consulate there.

Sources told Afghanistan International last week that the Turkish government plans to hand over the consulate general of Afghanistan in Istanbul to the Taliban.

Taliban representatives have been present at the Afghan embassy in Ankara over the past few months. Recently, the group has also dismissed three diplomats of the former Afghan government in the Afghan embassy in Ankara.

During this week, it is the second Afghan diplomatic mission that the has been handed over to the Taliban.

On Sunday, the Islamic Republic of Iran officially handed over the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the representatives of the Taliban.

Diplomatic representatives of the Taliban are also present in a number of other Afghan embassies including in Pakistan, China and Russia.

Iran Rejects Handing Over Afghan Embassy to Taliban

Feb 27, 2023, 13:02 GMT+0

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran denied handing over of the Afghan embassy to the Taliban in Tehran. The Iranian foreign ministry stressed that the recent development is part of the internal affairs of the embassy.

Iranian officials deny the handover of the Afghan embassy, while the Taliban representatives have taken control of the affairs in Tehran.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic has also emphasised that it has not received any documents or equipment belonging to the Afghan Embassy in Tehran.

The former diplomats in the Afghan embassy in Tehran had said that they have handed over the key of the embassy premises to the ministry of foreign affairs of Iran.

Taliban diplomats officially started their work at the Afghan embassy in Tehran on Sunday.

Dozens of diplomats and employees of the Afghan embassy in Tehran stopped working in protest against the Islamic Republic's decision to hand over the embassy to the Taliban.

Taliban officials have repeatedly announced their control over the embassy since Sunday and said that their representatives have been sent from Kabul to Tehran to run the embassy affairs.

The Iranian decision over the handover of Afghan embassy to the Taliban has been met with wide ranging reactions. Among others, the National Resistance Front called it "questionable" and the National Resistance Council for Salvation of Afghanistan called it "contrary to the national interests of Afghanistan".

Also, several Afghan immigrants in Iran have protested against the Iranian government’s decision.

Even the Iranian daily, Jomhori Islami, Tehran edition, wrote on Monday that entrusting the Afghan embassy to "a terrorist group" whose rule is temporary is very dangerous.

Staged Protest Infront of UN Offices for Three Weeks, Say Afghan Immigrants

Feb 27, 2023, 10:18 GMT+0

Several Afghan immigrants in Islamabad said on Monday that they have staged a protest in front of a United Nations-affiliated office for the past three weeks. These immigrants said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has not processed their cases.

According to the immigrants during the past three weeks, they have not received any response from the UN.

Following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in August 2021, thousands of Afghan citizens fled to neighbouring countries to protect their lives.

Groups of these asylum seekers, temporarily staying in neighbouring countries, have sent their asylum requests to the embassies of Western countries and UN offices.

Taliban Sends 7 Members To Tehran As Part of Takeover of Afghan Embassy

Feb 27, 2023, 09:03 GMT+0

Zakir Jalali, an adviser to Taliban's foreign minister announced on Monday that seven diplomats of the group have left Kabul airport for Tehran. Jalali said that the Taliban’s foreign ministry sent these diplomats to avoid any delay in the Afghan embassy’s activities in Tehran.

Taliban diplomats officially started their work at the Afghan embassy in Tehran on Sunday.

Meanwhile, dozens of diplomats and employees of the Afghan embassy in Tehran have stopped working in protest against the Islamic Republic's decision to hand over the embassy to the Taliban.

Also, a number of Afghan immigrants in Iran protested against the Islamic Republic's decision to accept Taliban diplomats at the Afghan embassy in Tehran.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) has also criticised the decision of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

US Secretary of State, UN Secretary General Discuss Violation of Human Rights by Taliban

Feb 25, 2023, 13:05 GMT+0

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, and Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, discussed Afghanistan on Friday. The two sides talked about the needs of the Afghan people in the face of continuous repression and human rights violations by the Taliban.

The United States and the United Nations have repeatedly criticised the Taliban's restrictions on women over the past few months.

US and UN officials have said that the Taliban's ban on the right to education and work of Afghan girls and women violate human rights and has harmful consequences on the country's economic situation.

According to UN estimates, two-thirds of Afghanistan's population currently needs humanitarian aid.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Afghanistan needs 4.6 billion dollars for humanitarian aid in 2023.

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