Taliban Prevents Disclosure of Its Leader’s Decree About Prohibition of Jihad in Pakistan

Aug 7, 2023, 10:35 GMT+1

Reliable sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, has issued a decree which announced Jihad in Pakistan as forbidden (Haram).

Sources said that the Taliban group is worried about domestic reactions and does not want to publicise the decree.

Islamabad asked the Taliban to publicise the decree in order to prevent the attacks of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its Afghan supporters.

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Islamic Republic’s Border Guards Arrest Over 150 People At Iran-Afghanistan Joint Border

Aug 7, 2023, 09:13 GMT+1

Parviz Ghasemzadeh, the commander of the Zabul border regiment in Iran, announced that the country's border guards had arrested 156 Afghans at the joint borders of Iran and Afghanistan.

According to Ghasemzadeh, these people wanted to enter Iran "illegally".

Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday that these Afghans have been identified and arrested from the borders of Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran.

The commander of Zabul border regiment said that those who enter Iran illegally will be expelled from the country.

Ghasemzadeh added that Iran's border guards will deal with the illegal movement and residence of unauthorised foreigners in Sistan and Baluchistan province seriously.

After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, thousands of Afghan citizens fled to neighbouring countries, including Iran.

However, the authorities of the Islamic Republic deport thousands of Afghans from Iran every week because they do not have valid residence documents.

Some Iranian officials have said that the number of Afghans living in Iran is about five million people, but others have estimated this figure to be seven million.

Killed Four Taliban Members in North of Kabul, Claims NRF

Aug 5, 2023, 14:52 GMT+1

The National Resistance Front (NRF) announced the killing of four members of the Taliban in an ambush on Friday night at Moradbeg Fort, Shakar Dara District of Kabul.

The statement said that the NRF fighters attacked five members of the Taliban who were crossing the area.

It has been claimed that because of the NRF fighters’ attack, one member of the Taliban had been injured, and four others were killed.

The Taliban has not reacted to NRF’s statement.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Massoud, is one of the military fronts which fights against the Taliban since the fall of Kabul in August 2021.

FORUM-ASIA Calls For Lifting of Restrictions on Rights of Shias, Hazaras Under Taliban

Aug 5, 2023, 12:40 GMT+1

Considering the recent restrictions by the Taliban on Shia religious practices in Afghanistan, FORUM-ASIA has called for urgent and concerted international action to protect Afghanistan’s Shia and Hazara community.

In a statement, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said that it stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.

The statement stressed that the Shia community of Afghanistan—whose members are predominantly Hazaras—are facing systematic discrimination, targeted attacks, marginalisation, persecution, and harsh restrictions by the Taliban.

The Taliban has imposed bans on the Shias’ and Hazaras’ freedom of religion or belief. In addition, the Taliban is responsible for the forced displacements and disappearances of Shia Hazaras, their exclusion from humanitarian aid, as well as arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings of civilians across Afghanistan, it stated.

The statement stressed that the Taliban had banned the Shia Hazaras from organising, participating in, and practising Muharram ceremonies (Shia religious mourning events) across the country and even, raided the Muharram processions and opened fire on Shia mourners, killing and injuring Shia civilians.

“The situation of massive and systematic human rights violations against the Shia community is extremely alarming. Such callous and organised persecution of the Shia community is fundamentally linked to the complete denial of their freedom of religion or belief–a bleak situation that necessitates global condemnation. International solidarity with the Shia Hazaras and other ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan has never been more important and necessary,” said Mary Aileen Bacalso, FORUM-ASIA Executive Director.

It called for an immediate end to the systematic attacks against the Shia Hazaras, which bears the hallmarks of a genocide.

It urged the Taliban to immediately lift the imposed restrictions on the fundamental rights of the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls and marginalised communities such as Shia Hazaras, including their freedom of religion or belief; freedom of expression; and rights to access education, information, work, travel, and peaceful assembly and association.

The rights group also called for the group to preserve religious diversity and protect marginalised groups at risk, particularly women and girls; the Shia Hazaras; Sikhs; Hindus; and Sufis.

The rights body also urged international stakeholders to support the establishment by the UN Human Rights Council of an international investigative and accountability mechanism to collect, preserve, and document evidence on all human rights violations in Afghanistan.

The statement stressed that the Taliban has also abolished all legal mechanisms for upholding human rights and the rule of law in Afghanistan. They removed legal provisions and national events dedicated to Shia Hazaras, hence putting the community at further risks of persecution.

It also added that vulnerable ethnic and religious communities can be protected by providing them with feasible protection measures such as humanitarian visas and resettlement opportunities for the most persecuted groups such as the Shia Hazaras.

Pro-Taliban Islamist Politician Asks for Strong Relations Between Pak & Taliban

Aug 5, 2023, 10:44 GMT+1

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, called for strong relations between Pakistan and the Taliban and a common strategy "to eliminate terrorism".

Fazal-ur-Rehman said that people are not satisfied with the results of Pakistan’s military operations in tribal areas of the country.

On Friday, during a press conference in Peshawar, Rehman said that instead of targeting innocent people, the government agencies should hold talks with the country’s politicians to resolve the issues.

Following a deadly suicide attack in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that targeted a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam conference, the party's leader held a tribal jirga in Peshawar. In this jirga, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman expressed concern about the "recent terrorist attacks" and called for finding the perpetrators of the attack.

The leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam said, "The Jirga asks for effective steps to restore law and order." Maulana Fazal-ur Rehman emphasised the importance of strong bilateral relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.

Last Sunday, a suicide attack targeted the conference of the party led by Fazal-ur-Rehman, as a result of which 63 died and 200 others had been injured.

At the Qawmi Jirga in Peshawar, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, said that the ongoing bloodshed and violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan is not a social or cultural phenomenon, but the result of proxy wars launched by international powers for their interests.

Following Legal Land Dispute, Taliban Arrests Four Villagers In Bamiyan

Aug 4, 2023, 15:11 GMT+1

Following a land dispute between the nomads (Kuchis) and the Hazaras, Taliban has once again arrested four people from a village in the Punjab district of Bamiyan province.

Local sources told Afghanistan International that the men had been arrested after they protested against the decision of the Taliban to hand over the land of Hazaras to the nomads.

Earlier, these four people were arrested when they contacted the office of Abdullah Sarhadi, the Taliban governor in Bamiyan to pursue the legal land dispute with the nomads.

On Thursday, a Taliban delegation visited the Poshte Gharghari village in Punjab district and announced the decision of the Taliban that the lands in the village should be given to the nomads.

According to a video recording from this meeting received by Afghanistan International, the residents of the area told the Taliban delegation that the group’s commission decided unfairly in favour of the nomads without visiting the area last year. They said that they do not accept the decision of the commission to resolve the conflicts of nomads and villagers.

According to this video, a local resident who is a party to the land dispute said to the Taliban delegation, "You want to hand over my centuries-old inherited land to the nomads, morally and conscientiously, this is not right."

After this resident's criticisms, a member of the Taliban said in this meeting, "I am not a judge, I know that the land belongs to you."

This local resident emphasised that he would complain to the Taliban governor in Bamiyan and to the Taliban leadership to pursue this dispute legally.

Local sources said that after the residents protested the decision of the Taliban, the group’s members arrested four people including Ewaz Danish, Ali Hossein Bakshi, Mohammad Gholami, and Anwar Mohammadi, and transferred them to the Punjab District Police Command.