Amnesty International Annual Report Highlights Rule of Fear Under Taliban in Afghanistan

Mark Adams, the spokesperson of the Olympic Committee, said that Afghan sports officials have discussed with the governing authorities the issue of access of women and girls to sports and are waiting for the Taliban’s decision.

The committee had previously expressed concern about the banning of women and girls' access to sports and urged the Taliban to lift the restrictions.

It is not yet clear what the committee's next steps will be if the situation for female athletes in Afghanistan does not change.

In the video released by the NRF spokesperson on Twitter, exchange of gun fire can be seen, but the location of the gun fight has not been identified.

The spokesman of the National Resistance Front added many Taliban members had been killed by the NRF.

The Taliban has not yet reacted to this news so far.

At least six people had been killed and several others had been injured in the attack near the Taliban's Foreign Ministry. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

In their statement, the members of the UNSC emphasised on the need to hold the perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors of these " of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice”.

The council called on all states to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

The UNSC statement reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever, and by whomsoever committed.

The UN Security Council consists of five permanent members and ten non-permanent members who get elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term.

The United States of America, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

The French foreign ministry stressed that it supports the efforts of the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA) to release Wesa from the Taliban prison.

The French Foreign Ministry has emphasised that "no society can improve positively by denying women's rights”.

However, Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed that Wesa had been holding rallies without informing the Taliban government. He claimed that Wesa held open and secret meetings with circles outside Afghanistan and received orders from outside the country.

Pro-Taliban Twitter users have also published photos of Matiullah Wesa attending meetings with Western officials and stressed that Wesa had been working for the right to education for girls at the behest of foreign circles.

Matiullah Wesa has been working for the cause of opening of schools and education for girls in remote areas of Afghanistan for more than ten years, and in this regard, he has met with several organisations and officials.

He had just returned from a trip to Europe, during which he had met many European officials to put pressure on the Taliban to reopen girls' schools in Afghanistan.

Earlier, during a meeting with Tomas Niklasson, the European Union's special representative for Afghanistan, Abdul Kabir had stressed on the Taliban’s commitment to forming an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

The Taliban continues to echo the formation of an inclusive government while representatives of many countries have continuously stressed that the Taliban government represents a single ethnic group of Afghanistan.

In their meetings with the Taliban officials, the United Nations officials and representatives of the international community have emphasised that an inclusive government should be formed in Afghanistan.

Hamid Karzai, the former president who recently visited London, has also repeatedly said that a national dialogue is needed for the future of Afghanistan.

The deputy prime minister of the Taliban has held several meetings with the representatives of the Shia Hazara community members and has repeatedly said that the group will take necessary measures to resolve the challenges of the Shia Hazara members.

Even in a statement issued on Wednesday about the meeting of the Hazara Shia members with the Taliban deputy prime minister, Abul Kabir has stressed that there is no ethnic prejudice under the Taliban and the group will address the Bamiyan people’s challenges.

However, the Taliban’s actions against the Shia communities have been proven otherwise. In one of the cases, the Taliban shut down the offices of Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyaz and Ayatollah Mohaqiq Kabuli in Ghazni province in early 2022.