13,000 People Arrested by Taliban's Morality Police In Past Year

As per the statement, the aim of the book distribution by the group's Information and Culture Department in Kandahar is to take an examination of the school and school students.

The Taliban have already held an exam in some provinces of Afghanistan. The book "Emirate Studies" contains manipulated and propaganda information about leaders and past issues in Afghanistan.

By publishing and distributing this book, the Taliban is trying to change the public opinion about this group and give people morphed information.

This comes at a time when Afghan schools are facing a shortage of textbooks.
Since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban government has closed girls' schools above the sixth grade, banned girls from going to university, and imposed severe restrictions on women.

Mohibullah Mokhlis, Director of the Ministry's Planning and Audit, said that the authorities also destroyed 30,000 "immoral films".

The one-year report of the ministry was presented by officials during a press conference on Tuesday, August 21.

Mokhlis said that the activities of 25,647 IT (informational technology) workers have been suspended due to the distribution of "vulgar movies" that were active in cities.

The ministry officials said that they had reformed the broadcast of print, audio, and other media by 90 percent. They did not elaborate on the process of reformation.

They announced the seizure of 13,250 psychedelic pills last year and said that the ministry had also closed 25 shops which sold alcoholic drinks.

The announcement of the destruction of musical instruments in the country comes even as the group has banned music across the country. The Taliban have declared playing, listening and producing music illegal and forbidden in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's Directorate of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Parwan Province announced on Monday that it had set fire to "hundreds of musical instruments" that it had collected over the past year . The Taliban's governor's office in Parwan urged people not to use musical instruments at weddings.

The Taliban's Directorate of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Nimroz province had also announced on July 29 that it had set fire to 700 musical instruments and hookahs in the province.

The Taliban said that these statements are not true and are an attempt to "confuse public opinion”.

The ministry even lambasted Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani and stated that the threats voiced by Durrani are actually originating from Pakistani soil.

Asif Durrani had previously warned that another 9/11-style attack could emerge from Afghanistan. The Taliban's Foreign Ministry statement read, "The dangers and problems that he [Asif Durrani] has attributed to Afghanistan, in fact, have the possibility of coming from Pakistan."

Zia Ahmad Takal, the Taliban's deputy foreign ministry spokesman, claimed on Tuesday, that the Taliban government has completely suppressed ISIS. "If ISIS hideouts on the other side of the Durand Line are destroyed, the threat of the group can be completely eliminated," he added.

The statement stressed that the issue of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is an internal matter of Pakistan and requires an internal solution.

The Taliban's deputy spokesman wrote that as a diplomat, Durrani should not make "provocative" statements in the media that harm relations between the two countries. He stressed that the Taliban government has proven its good faith in the past.

A Taliban-affiliated website accused Lemar of using a pseudonym to "incite" people against the Taliban through his writings.

The exact date of Lemar’s arrest remains unclear. Some websites and Taliban-affiliated users claim that 'Abid Lemar' is a pseudonym.

They released an audio recording of a forced confession and a photo of a man named Khitabullah Bangash, who they say is from Laghman and resides in Nangarhar province.

Lemar’s posts were popular among Pashto-speaking users on social media, where he often expressed sharp and sometimes humorous criticism of the Taliban. It appears that the Taliban used technical means to identify his real identity and location.

The Taliban have taken control of Lemar’s Facebook account and have published posts against him.

The Taliban closely monitors social media and have arrested activists from this space. In March, the group arrested Homayun Afghan, a YouTuber, and four of his colleagues in Kabul, although they were later released. However, Hura Sadat did not have the same fate.

A report by Zan Times revealed that contrary to the Taliban's claims, the cause of Hura Sadat's death, a female YouTuber, was not poisoning. According to Zan Times, sources disclosed that Sadat was killed last year due to torture during her detention by the Taliban.

Hura Sadat began her YouTube channel a few months before the Taliban took over the country, gaining popularity with her entertaining video clips. Even after the Taliban returned to power, she continued to bravely produce content, garnering thousands of followers.

Zan Times also disclosed that Sadat and her two sisters were arrested by the Taliban on July 13 last year on charges of "moral corruption”. While they were released on August 10, a friend of the sisters revealed to Zan Times that they had been severely tortured because of their YouTube activities.

This marks the team's second climb of the year.

The group, consisting of 11 men and six women, reached the 5,671-meter summit of Damavand, the tallest volcanic peak in the Middle East, after a two-day ascent.

The climb was conducted under the guidance of Baqer Sharifi and Ahmad Hosseini, with oversight from Mohammad Valizadeh, the head of mountaineering teams for Afghan immigrants in Iran.

The climbers carried the message "Education and sports are the right of Afghan women," underscoring their solidarity with those who have been deprived of these fundamental rights in Afghanistan.