Taliban’s Commission Orders Ministry of Defense to Recruit Unemployed 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."

The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency report did not provide further details about Abdul Kabir's comments on elections. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has not yet commented on the meeting with the Taliban deputy prime minister.

In this meeting with Otunbayeva, several other senior officials of this group, including Khairullah Khairkhah, the Minister of Information and Culture of the Taliban, and Anas Haqqani, brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Minister of Interior of this group, were also present.

The Taliban’s deputy prime minister speaks about believing in elections, while the Taliban seized power by force in 2021 and has no domestic or international legitimacy.

On the other hand, the Taliban constantly asks the people to pledge allegiance to the leader of this group and obey the orders of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.

In practice, after taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban abolished all elected institutions, including the election commissions of Afghanistan.

The Taliban rejects the system based on elections and people's votes, and last year, to gain legitimacy, they organised a Loya Jirga in Kabul through which they received a "pledge of allegiance" from their supporters.

In the past one and a half years since their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban has abolished the Parliament, the provincial councils, the Ministry of State for Parliamentary Affairs, as well as the Afghan Constitution.

The Taliban has also revoked the license of political parties and denied women and girls basic rights to education, work, and travel.