Taliban Detains Local Civil Activist in Badakhshan

The Taliban-controlled news agency which first reported the news has not provided further details about the number of unemployed Taliban members.

Following the collapse of the previous Afghan government's army and police, the Taliban announced that the group is forming a new army of 110,000 soldiers.

The group has quickly trained its fighters to form the new army and from time to time announces the training of various units of their army.

Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban has gradually removed employees of the previous Afghan government from government institutions and appointed their own members.

The Taliban ministry of information and culture also asked the General Directorate of Intelligence and other organisations of the group not to interfere in media affairs without knowledge of the Commission on Media Violations.

Khairullah Khairkhah, the Minister of information and culture of the Taliban, said that they have drafted a new strategy for the development of the ministry's activities. No further details were provided about this strategy.

The Taliban has announced this new strategy with a focus on the media sector even though the group has been accused of persecuting journalists and members of the press in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had announced that in 2022 alone, more than 200 Afghan journalists had been threatened by the Taliban.

The Taliban intelligence agency, the ministry of promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, and the ministry of interior affairs of the Taliban have been involved in detentions and threats against journalists in Afghanistan.

However, the ministry of information and culture of the Taliban has announced an agreement with these ministries as part of its new strategy.

It has been said that the relevant security agencies of the Taliban should inform the Commission on Media Violations and the ministry of information and culture of any decision they take regarding media personnel and journalists in Afghanistan.

On Friday, the Tajikistan foreign ministry had issued a statement announcing that a memorandum of cooperation had been signed between the heads of the delegations of Tajikistan and the UK.

The memorandum outlines a commitment to continue constructive dialogue to strengthen relations on issues of mutual interest between London and Dushanbe. However, no further details had been provided about any additional agreements made during the meeting.

The discussions are considered significant given Tajikistan's proximity to Afghanistan and the security concerns in the region.

In a statement on Saturday, AIHRC referred to Amnesty International's annual report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan and urged national and international organisations to implement the recommendations suggested by the human rights group.

Earlier, Amnesty International had reported that the Taliban has widely and systematically killed and tortured Afghan citizens.

The watchdog group added that former Afghan government soldiers, former officials, armed members of the resistance groups, and ISIS members have been the main victims of the Taliban's cold-blooded killings.

AIHRC has also mentioned the detentions of Zakaria Osuli and Rasul Parsi, university professors; Narges Sadat, a women's rights activist; Musa Shaheen, a local singer; Mortaza Behboudi, Afghan French journalist; Sayed Mohammad Hosseini, a cultural activist; and Matiullah Wesa, an education activist, who remain in the Taliban prison.

The commission has asked the Taliban for the immediate release of these activists.

The Sunni preacher added that the current era is not the like the time of Rashidun Caliphs and urged the Taliban to update their views according to the current era.

Mawlawi Abdul Hamid said, "It is not hundred or two hundred years ago. It is not the era of the Rashidun Caliphs...This era has its own needs. Today, when someone talks about Islam, he must present Islam in the present time and [according] to what is stated in the Quran, and not based on the fatwa of an Islamic school a thousand years back”.

Mawlawi Abdul Hamid emphasised that the "jurisprudents" of the past in Islam had issued fatwas based on the conditions during their time. According to him, "If Imam Abu Hanifa was alive today, he would have changed hundreds of his fatwas. The world has changed."

This Iranian cleric stressed that he is disappointed that Afghan women and girls have been forced to flee Afghanistan for Europe and neighbouring countries to continue their education. He added that in Islam it has been emphasised that men and women should pursue both religious and modern education.

Abdul Hamid also spoke about the rights of other ethnic and religious groups under the Taliban regime. He said that the Taliban should include all ethnic and religious groups in their regime. He said that no ethnic group should feel discriminated against under the Taliban reign in Afghanistan.

The Iranian Sunni preacher urged the Taliban to pay special attention to the Hazaras and Shiites and said, "They (Shiites) should not feel that they are deprived of their rights because of their religious differences from the rest of Afghans."