Difference In Taliban Leaders’ Eid Messages Indicate Tension Amongst Group Members

The organisation provided the documented report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, who is expected to present a report to the UN General Assembly.

In addition to Afghanistan, the report also addresses violence against women in Mali and Haiti, as well as the exploitation of children in sports in Japan and gender testing of women athletes.

HRW’s report focuses on the deprivation of women's access to sports. The report highlights that the situation in Afghanistan has pushed some female athletes into hiding, compelling them to destroy evidence regarding their sporting activities, including medals and sports attire, due to fear of the Taliban.

Some female athletes in exile are seeking to compete in international competitions as representatives of Afghanistan. This initiative arises in protest against the prohibition on women's sports participation in Afghanistan's international competitions.

The Taliban, which oversees the Afghanistan Olympic Committee, prohibits women athletes from representing the country.

Human Rights Watch is calling for sanctions against the Afghanistan Olympic Committee, backed by funding from the International Olympic Committee, for its refusal to allow women's sports participation.

The Afghanistan Olympic Committee faced sanctions between 1999 and 2003 for its ban on women's sports, resulting in Afghan teams being excluded from international Olympic events.

Additionally, HRW’s report highlights a serious incident of violence against Afghan women in sports during the previous administration.

In 2019, The Guardian reported on sexual harassment of female athletes by Keramuddin Karim, the former head of the Afghanistan Football Federation. Subsequently, the Attorney General of Afghanistan issued an arrest warrant for him, but he was never arrested.

FIFA also found Karim guilty of sexual harassment and mistreatment of Afghan women footballers. The organisation imposed a USD 1,000,000 fine on Karim and permanently barred him from any involvement in football-related activities.

So far, the Taliban has not taken any legal action to address the sexual harassment allegations against the former head of the Afghanistan Football Federation. Instead, a Taliban official in Kabul met him in 2022.

Amiri expressed gratitude to Japan for its support of education and development in Afghanistan during the meeting at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

She wrote on X social media platform that she looks forward to continuing discussions on expanding opportunities, especially for Afghan women.

Amiri also mentioned that she has discussed the current situation in Afghanistan with Akiko Horiba, Director of the Asia Peace Initiative Department in the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

According to a source, the Taliban subjected women to "degrading and humiliating treatment”.

The reliable source told Afghanistan International that the Taliban harassed and mistreated women despite their adherence to the hijab and the presence of a male guardian.

The source further remarked, "Taliban officials had very contemptuous behaviour and resorted to insults and vulgar language, particularly directed at women."

Gulghondi Hill, situated north of Kabul near Charikar city in Parwan province, traditionally attracts families during the spring season and on Eid and Nowruz occasions.

The Taliban have enforced a ban prohibiting women from visiting parks and recreational areas. They also prevented women from entering Gulghondi Hill last spring.

The state-controlled news agency under Taliban control released a report on Thursday stating that another "ISIS member" was arrested during this operation.

No further information regarding the identities of these individuals has been released yet.

Quoting officials from the Taliban's press office in Kunar province, Bakhtar News Agency reported that the operation was launched on Wednesday night in the Dewgal Valley of Choki district.

Two firearms were discovered and confiscated during the confrontation.

According to Hekmatyar, Afghans and people around the world believe that the dollar packages coming from the US is the price of buying Afghanistan's airspace.

However, he emphasised that "we must prove this accusation wrong”.

He referred to the American dollar packages as "poison bags" and said that "sinister intentions" are hidden behind them.

The leader of Hezb-e-Islami urged the Taliban to refuse the cash packages from the US because, in his view, this money does not validate "our faith and integrity”.

In a statement released on Wednesday, from addresses close to Hekmatyar, it has been stated that US unmanned aircrafts continue to roam the Afghan airspace and carry out reckless attacks, and the Taliban are powerless to control them.

Request for Compensation from the US

In his new statement, Hekmatyar wrote that the Taliban should have demanded compensation from the US in the Doha Agreement for the destruction of Afghanistan and the killing of one million Afghans.

According to him, instead of such a demand, it has been stated in the Doha Agreement that "US will assist in the reconstruction of Afghanistan”.

He further added that any kind of political interaction with America must be conditional on paying compensation.

Siege of the US Embassy and Expulsion of American Diplomats

In his Eid message, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also stated that if the US does not end the "occupation of Afghanistan," the embassy of the country in Kabul should be besieged, and all Americans, including embassy staff, should be expelled from Afghanistan.

This is while the US has not confirmed the reopening of its embassy in Kabul in official statements.