Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Chief Minister Discusses Peace With Taliban Official

The organisation said that since the Taliban came to power in August 2021, ISIS has claimed responsibility for at least 17 attacks against Hazaras, in which more than 700 people were killed and wounded.

Referring to the shooting of 14 Hazaras in Daikundi claimed by ISIS, the Human Rights Watch said that ISIS-K has killed and wounded thousands of Hazaras and other religious minorities since its emergence in Afghanistan in 2015.

In 2021, Human Rights Watch said that it concluded that ISIS-K attacks and other targeted attacks against the Hazara community amounted to crimes against humanity.
On Friday, the organisation recalled that Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, called for an investigation into ISIS attacks in Afghanistan.

"The recent attack underscores the urgent need for the Taliban to take effective measures to protect all at-risk communities in Afghanistan, including Hazaras and other Shia Muslims," Human Rights Watch wrote.

The organisation also stressed that countries with ties to the Taliban should call for better support for at-risk communities and support the establishment of a mechanism to respond to international crimes in Afghanistan.

Survivors and families of victims need support in their quest for justice, Human Rights Watch said.
The UN Human Rights Council should also heed the call of Afghan and international human rights groups to establish a comprehensive international mechanism to hold violators accountable in Afghanistan.

ISIS-K said in a statement on Thursday that it had killed 15 civilians in Daikundi.

Just a few months after the Taliban came to power, ISIS threatened to kill Shiites from Baghdad to Khorasan.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said at a press conference that António Guterres stressed on the protection of civilians in Afghanistan.

He said at the press conference on Friday that Guterres offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the attack.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also expressed sympathy with the families of the victims in a statement on Friday and called for the Taliban's investigation and accountability in this regard.

At least 14 people were killed and four others wounded in Thursday's armed attack on Hazara civilians in the village of Qarodal, an area between Ghor and Daikundi provinces.

Hours after the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that 15 people were killed in the attack.

In a statement, the NRF said that they attacked a Taliban patrol in the Hodkhel area of the city. Earlier, two local sources in Kabul had reported an explosion in the area.

The NRF added that a vehicle ferrying Taliban members was also destroyed in the attack, and no NRF personnel were harmed.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the incident.

A video clip released by media outlets associated with the National Resistance Front captures the sound of an explosion.

In order to counter the Taliban's interference, Afghanistan International has started its satellite broadcast on another frequency.

Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), wrote on the social media network X that the Taliban's jamming of Afghanistan International TV broadcasts "shows their fear of a free media" and a direct attack on freedom of expression and people's right to access information. Nabil added that the Taliban has now resorted to censorship instead of listening to criticism.

Nabil called Afghanistan International a "key voice and a vital platform" for Afghans and a platform to strengthen voices inside Afghanistan. Despite the Taliban's efforts to silence independent media, Afghans will have access to accurate information as the free media fights, he said.

In response to the Taliban's action against Afghanistan International TV's broadcasts, Daoud Naji, head of the political committee of the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), said that the use of jamming to suppress the media is "a sign of the Taliban's extreme fear" of voices and protests that have gone beyond the level of society and ordinary people and have now reached the Taliban's inner layers.

Naji added that media outlets operating in Afghanistan under the Taliban's control cannot comply with any of the media standards due to the fear of the group.

The head of the political committee of the Afghanistan Freedom Front emphasised that the use of technology for censorship is a failed experiment that has not yielded results in other countries.

On the other hand, Abdullah Khanjani, head of the political office of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, said that the exiled media, especially Afghanistan International TV, is one of the most important achievements after Afghanistan fell into the pit of ignorance and regression.

Abdullah Khanjani stressed that the Taliban has suffered from a content crisis and their systematic attacks on Afghanistan International TV are a sign of the Taliban's psychological failure in public opinion and the group's moral decline in the public psyche.

According to this letter, Durrani's tenure ended on Tuesday, September 10.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif named Asif Durrani as his special envoy for Afghanistan in June last year, and Durrani held that position for about a year and three months.

This veteran Pakistani diplomat, who is fluent in Persian and Pashto, travelled to Kabul several times during his mission and met with Taliban officials. During his mission, he also participated in meetings of representatives of the countries of the region hosted by the United Nations in Doha.

Pakistan's relations with the Taliban were tense during Durrani's tenure due to the spread of insecurity in Pakistan and border disputes.