Social Media Users Blasts Taliban Senior Official Who Called Twitter “Free Speech Hub”

On Tuesday, the Taliban asked other Islamic countries to reconsider their engagement with Sweden too.

In a statement, the Taliban stated that with the permission of the Swedish government, Quran was burned in the country, which insulted the beliefs of Muslims.

The group said that the “Islamic Emirate ordered” Sweden to stop all its activities in Afghanistan until Sweden apologises to Muslims for its "sinister act".

After protests in Islamic countries, the government of Sweden called the burning of the Quran in this country "anti-Islamic" and condemned it.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that burning Quran and any other holy book is insulting and disrespectful and a clearly provocative act. The statement added that expressing racism, xenophobia, and intolerance has no place in Sweden and Europe.

Meanwhile, the person who burned the Quran had received permission from the Swedish police, but burning the Quran near a mosque caused the police to start an investigation saying that this action might cause concern for an ethnic group.

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Sunday, in an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia, called for collective measures to prevent the burning of the Quran in the future.

Durrani urged Taliban officials not to complain about the issue to the Pakistani government.

This is for the first time that a senior Pakistani official has confirmed the use of the country’s airspace for the US’ over-the-horizon attack in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the US targeted Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the al-Qaeda network, and several other targets of the terror group in Kabul and Ghazni provinces.

The United States also conducts surveillance operations in Afghanistan's airspace. Taliban officials, including the group's defence minister, have said several times that Afghanistan's airspace has remained "occupied”.

The Taliban have publicly asked Pakistan to prevent the US unmanned aircraft from crossing that country's airspace into Afghanistan's airspace.

However, in an interview with "Pashto 1" TV channel, Durrani said that the UN resolution to suppress the al-Qaeda network has been applicable.

Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan said that the whole world is committed to the 1367 and 1373 UN resolutions. That’s why, he stressed that “we [Pakistan] should not be blamed”.

This senior Pakistani diplomat added that the same resolutions allowed the US to attack Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former leader of the al-Qaeda network in District 10 of Kabul, and Osama bin Laden, the founder of the terror group in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Durrani emphasised that the Taliban has not been a proxy force of Pakistan in Afghanistan. He stressed that "every Afghan is a free man”.

Officials of the former Afghan government accused the Pakistani government of being dishonest in the Afghan peace process and of supporting the Taliban to continue terror and insurgency in Afghanistan.

However, Durrani said, "The solution to Afghanistan's problem was not in the hands of Pakistan, but I ask them, what did you do for the interests of Pakistan? They facilitated India and another front appeared against us and India was giving money to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani and Baloch fighters.”

On Monday, WPF announced on Twitter that it urgently needs one billion dollars to continue operations.

The organisation added that WFP is the “last lifeline” for the most vulnerable families, including widows and women-led households.

Recently, WFP told media outlets that this year, about 15 million people across Afghanistan need food support.

The UN agency stressed that it can help only about five million people in need of food in Afghanistan.

According to UN reports, after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the number of people in need of food aid has increased rapidly and reached 21 million in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban came to power, international aid to Afghanistan was cut off, and unemployment and poverty spread across the country rapidly.

At least three sources from the teacher training centers also confirmed the news of the closure of the directorate of teacher training.

These sources, who spoke to Afghanistan International on the condition of anonymity fearing reprisal from the Taliban, provided a copy of the “Appointment Guideline" of the Taliban’s Ministry of Education.

Apparently, the “guideline” has been revised and approved by the Taliban’s directorates of education in Kabul and the provinces. Along with other issues, the document stated that the teacher training centers have been removed from the organisational structure of the Taliban’s Ministry of Education.

The “guideline”, however, stated that the staff members of these centers could be appointed to vacant positions in the schools and religious seminaries of the Taliban.

However, sources who spoke to Afghanistan International said that the staff members of the teacher training centers are concerned that with the closure of the directorate, more than 4,000 professional and experienced teachers and staff members of the directorate will lose their jobs.

According to Shaheen, both sides talked about the importance of engagement and humanitarian aid.

Earlier, Dickson had said on Twitter that Doha remains an important hub for engagement with Afghanistan.

The meeting between Shaheen and the UK Charge d’Affairs for Afghanistan was held on Sunday after Dickson returned from his visit to Kabul.

During his visit to Kabul, Robert Dickson had met with the Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and the group’s higher education minister Nada Mohammad Nadim.

During the meeting with Dickson, Muttaqi had asked for the UK’s engagement with the Taliban.

However, London has repeatedly said that the policies of the Taliban, especially the violation of women's rights, have isolated the group.