Unknown Armed Men Kill Afghan Singer in Eastern Afghanistan
Sources told Afghanistan International that on Monday, an Afghan singer, Muslim Nuristani, and his brother had been killed by unknown armed men in the Mandol district of Nuristan province.
Sources told Afghanistan International that on Monday, an Afghan singer, Muslim Nuristani, and his brother had been killed by unknown armed men in the Mandol district of Nuristan province.
According to the sources, after the Taliban imposed a ban on music in Afghanistan, Nuristani continued to live as an ordinary citizen in his village in Nuristan province.
Relatives of the singer said that he had "no personal enmity”, and the motive behind his murder is still unclear.
The local Taliban authorities have not reacted to the news of the murder of the Afghan singer.
Muslim Nuristani appeared in local media inside Afghanistan before the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and performed local songs of Nuristan province.
Arezoo Ahmadi, a female Afghan jujitsu fighter who won a gold medal on Sunday at the international jujitsu competition in Karachi, Pakistan, has been arrested by the Pakistani police.
Ahmadi has been arrested in the city of Khairpur in the province of Sindh when she was on her way to Islamabad.
In an audio clip that Ahmadi sent to Afghanistan International on Tuesday, she said that despite the fact that she had the UN refugee documents, the Pakistani police arrested her, and she has been in the custody of the Pakistani police for five hours.
The 7th International Jiu-Jitsu Competition was held in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday. Athletes from Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States, and Canada participated in these competitions, and Ahmadi, an Afghan female jujitsu fighter, was able to win the gold medal.
Arezoo Ahmadi participated in this international competition on behalf of the Afghan refugee team living in Pakistan and succeeded in the 48 kg weight category and became the champion.
Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the Taliban’s deputy governor of Badakhshan, has been killed in a car explosion in Faizabad city, on Tuesday. Taliban’s director of information and culture in Badakhshan said that the attack has also wounded six others.
Moezuddin Ahmadi, the director of information and culture of Badakhshan, confirmed to Afghanistan International that the attack took place on Tuesday morning when the deputy governor was on his way to the Taliban’s provincial court.
Ahmadi stressed that investigation into this attack is currently ongoing.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Taliban’s deputy governor in Badakhshan province.
Ismael Yoon, the owner of Zhwandoon TV, criticised the Taliban in an unprecedented manner on Monday. Yoon said that those who have lived in Pakistan for years have become the rulers of Afghanistan.
According to Yoon, the Taliban want to turn the Zhwandoon TV headquarters into a religious school.
In a press conference, he emphasised that the reign of those who have lived in Pakistan for many years is “detrimental” to the people of Afghanistan because the current rulers mistreat the citizens of Afghanistan.
Yoon said that if his TV station stops operation, around 60 people will lose their jobs.
Ismael Yoon, who has always been accused of supporting the Taliban, said that those who had destroyed bridges, have been appointed as the ministers in charge of public works, and those who destroyed the electricity pylons became minister of water and electricity, but those who served Afghanistan have been accused of treason.
Yoon who is also a lecturer at Kabul University said that “this is the sad destiny of Afghanistan for fifty years now”.
Yoon also said that Zhwandoon TV has been built on government land that was leased to him by the former government "to promote Afghan culture”.
The owner of the TV station added that the Taliban have now asked him to pay $18,000 in rent to the group, otherwise, he has to vacate the property.
Ismail Yoon and his TV station have been controversial names in Afghanistan's public space for the past twenty years. Many have accused him of inciting hatred and creating rifts between Afghanistan's ethnic groups.
He recently told the Taliban leaders that he would give 95 marks for the performance of the Taliban in providing security in Afghanistan.
Sources said that during his recent meeting with the Taliban leader in Kandahar, Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar, discussed the release of American prisoners, Afghan women, and the fight against ISIS.
The Taliban leader’s response to Al-Thani during the meeting has not been clear yet.
A Qatari official, who is aware of the discussions of the bilateral meeting between the Taliban and Qatar, said on the condition of anonymity, that the meeting with the Taliban leader has been considered highly important.
The exact number of foreign and American hostages in Afghanistan is not known, but American officials have previously said that "several American citizens" are in detention in Afghanistan.
The situation of Afghan women under the Taliban has been highly deteriorating with severe restrictions imposed by the group on Afghan women’s right to work, education, and social life.
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has also carried out deadly attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban has taken power in August 2021, which has left heavy casualties. Most of ISIS' attacks have been focused on the Hazara-Shia community, Sufis, diplomatic missions, and the Taliban forces.
Our sources said that in the meeting between the Prime Minister of Qatar and the leader of the Taliban last month, the two leaders discussed amending the Doha agreement and adding new points to it.
Earlier, it had been reported that the Qatari Prime Minister conveyed a message from the US officials to the Taliban leader.
Based on our source, the Qatari Prime Minister suggested that the issue of women’s rights and the fight against terrorism had to be added to the Doha Agreement. However, in the Doha Agreement, it is stated that "It [the Taliban] will prevent any group or individual from threatening the security of the United States and its allies, will prevent their recruitment, training, and financing, and in accordance with its obligations in this agreement, will not host them." However, there are no details about the proposed counter-terrorism issues that has been discussed with the Taliban leader to be added to the Doha agreement
In the meantime, the Prime Minister of Qatar did not discuss the Taliban recognition with Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s leader. The Qatari official said that in the meeting with the Taliban leader, the stance of Al-Thani regarding the issue of recognition of the Taliban was very similar to the position of the United States and the international community, which repeatedly said the precondition for recognition of the group is that the Taliban should respect the fundamental rights of women and minorities.
The mood of the meeting between the leader of the Taliban and the Prime Minister of Qatar has been evaluated as positive, and Akhundzada has said that he is open to negotiations with the international community.
The United States has already officially negotiated with the Taliban group in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, at least twice, in which representatives of the US State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the United States International Development Agency were present.
The first meeting between the representatives of the US and the Taliban was held on June 29 and 30, 2022 in Doha, where Thomas West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, expressed concern about the continued activities of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan. In this meeting, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister of the Taliban headed the Taliban delegation.
The US officials, including West met, with the Taliban defence minister, Mullah Yaqub Mujahid, on December 7, 2022, in the United Arab Emirates. In the meeting, the two sides discussed financial aid to Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban and the fight against terrorist groups.
Apparently, Al-Thani’s meeting was not the first meeting of the Taliban leader with a foreign delegation. According to reports, he has already met the senior representatives of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who discussed the establishment of the 40,000-man army based on the advice of the Iranian delegation. On the other hand, it is said that the Taliban leader also regularly meets four senior officers of Pakistan intelligence services.
Qalandar Ebad, the Taliban’s Minister of Public Health, asked Iran to establish a serum production factory in Afghanistan. Ebad discussed the Taliban’s need in the health sector with the director of Iran’s Export Authority.
According to the Taliban’s Public Health Ministry, on Sunday, the two sides discussed how to develop ties in the medicine and medical technologies sector.
During the meeting, Ebad emphasised on strengthening business deals between Afghanistan and Iran.
According to a statement of the Ministry of Public Health of the Taliban, the director of Iran's export Authority stressed on the commercial relations between the two countries and said that the Islamic Republic is ready to cooperate in establishing a serum production factory after the necessary assessments.
Earlier, Majid Sadeghi Dolatabadi, Iran's Consul General in Nangarhar had promised that the Islamic Republic will build a diabetes treatment center in Jalalabad.
The Islamic Republic does not recognise the Taliban, and despite the tensions and border skirmish between Iran and the Taliban forces, Tehran has continued ties with the Taliban.