Female Clinic Employee Kidnapped, Murdered In Badakhshan
A female employee of a clinic in Badakhshan's Jurm district was kidnapped last week and murdered after being raped, local sources told Afghanistan International.
A female employee of a clinic in Badakhshan's Jurm district was kidnapped last week and murdered after being raped, local sources told Afghanistan International.
A local source accused a Taliban member of kidnapping and killing the woman after she rejected his marriage proposal.
Nooria worked as a cleaner in this clinic and had lost her husband. Sources said that she had refused to remarry her husband's brother, which angered the alleged accused. According to them, this person is a member of the Taliban group.
Local sources claimed that Nooria’s brother-in-law kidnapped her from her home on September 30 and murdered her after raping her.
The health worker’s body was found near her home on October 7 after about a week.
Local Taliban officials in Badakhshan have not yet commented on the incident.
Following a deadly attack on a Taliban base in the village of Mohammad Baig Khel in Panjshir province, Taliban intelligence forces have arrested a number of local residents and launched house-to-house search operations in the province.
Local sources in Dara district told Afghanistan International that after the attack on Friday evening, October 4, the Taliban's intelligence put severe pressure on the residents of the area.
According to sources, the Taliban's intelligence agency had arrested some local people, some of whom were released through the mediation of influential people. However, sources say that six people, including the principal of Mirza Shahid School and a tribal elder of Tundkho village, are still in Taliban custody.
According to sources, these people were arrested by the Taliban from their homes in the past 48 hours and transferred to an unknown location.
According to sources, "After the attack on the Taliban base, Dara district is completely surrounded by the Taliban. House-to-house search operations are continuing, and the roads leading to the district have been blocked."
The Taliban’s operations happened after an attack in the Dara e Abdullah Khel in which a number of Taliban forces were killed and wounded. The National Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the attack and announced the number of Taliban casualties at 13 dead and two wounded.
"The attack was carried out at 6:25pm on Friday by the brave forces of the National Resistance Front against the Taliban in the village of Mohammad Baig Khel, Panjshir," the statement said.
The National Resistance Front described the attack as one of the deadliest attacks for the Taliban in recent months. However, the Taliban claimed that the explosion of a gas balloon resulted to injuries of six of their forces.
On October 7, the Taliban government wrote in a statement that the United States "invaded Afghanistan with great cruelty and terror" on this day. Twenty-three years ago, the US-led counterterrorism coalition invaded Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks.
The Taliban said in a statement on Monday, that thousands of Afghans were killed, wounded and homeless following the "occupation" of Afghanistan by the United States.
The statement also said that the US invasion of Afghanistan caused severe damage to the country's economy, and that the US "kept its puppet slaves dominating the Afghans".
During their first rule in the 1990s, the Taliban implemented strict rules similar to those of their current administration in Afghanistan.
At the time, the group sheltered then-al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and after the 9/11 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan at the head of a counterterrorism operation.
The invasion of Afghanistan by the United States and its allies led to the overthrow of the Taliban regime at the time, the formation of a transitional government, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
The Taliban fought against the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and foreign forces for 20 years, and thousands of civilians were killed in the group's attacks on cities.
Nearly 20 years later, in February 2020, the United States signed the Doha Agreement with the Taliban after several rounds of negotiations, which many observers and a number of US officials believe led to the weakening of the former Afghan government.
Following this agreement, foreign forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan.
The Taliban returned to power on August 15, 2021, following the escape of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. According to international organisations, the human rights situation in the country has gradually deteriorated after the Taliban's victory. The Taliban has been accused of establishing gender apartheid in Afghanistan and violating ethnic rights extensively.
The Taliban government wrote in its statement that the Afghans under the leadership of this group defeated "America”.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called on the Taliban to respond to the needs and demands of the Afghan people, including the reopening of girls' schools, instead of interfering in the country's internal affairs.
The Taliban had previously asked Islamabad to hold talks with the protesters.
In a statement on Monday, October 7, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry rejected recent statements by the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, calling them "baseless".
The Taliban's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Sunday called on the Pakistani government to negotiate and reach an understanding with the pro-Imran Khan protesters about their "legitimate demands". The Taliban also called on the Pakistani government to deal with the protesters' grievances in a "reasonable" and "realistic" manner.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that the Taliban should focus on resolving their internal problems instead of interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs. "The Taliban should prioritise inclusive [government formation] and respond to the needs and aspirations of their people, including the right of women and girls to education," the ministry statement said.
The ministry stressed that the Taliban has restricted the rights of Afghan women and girls through a misinterpretation of religion.
In the statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry once again accused the Taliban of supporting and harbouring terrorist groups and called on the group to fulfil its obligations to the international community.
The Taliban, which has cracked down on dozens of civil movements in Afghanistan over the past three years, on Sunday advised Islamabad not to ignore demonstrations by Imran Khan's supporters because "refusing to negotiate complicates matters".
The Taliban are encouraging the Pakistani government to reach an understanding and negotiate with the protesters, while it itself has violently suppressed dozens of peaceful civil movements in various cities of Afghanistan over the past three years. In the past three years, various cities in Afghanistan have witnessed demonstrations whose voices were not heard by the Taliban.
Most of these demonstrations have been held in response to the ban on women's right to education and work, widespread human rights violations, repression and deprivation of power by ethnic groups, non-payment of pensioners' salaries, and widespread poverty. Over the past three years, the group has imprisoned hundreds of peaceful protesters, civil society activists, journalists, human rights activists, and political opposition figures.
Reports by human rights organisations show that the Taliban has used violence against their opponents in prisons. In the past three years, there have been several reports that show that some opponents of the Taliban have died under torture in the group's prisons.
Mohammad Karami, the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan province, announced that an agreement had been reached during a meeting with Taliban officials to set up a new border crossing in the Gamshad area.
The Iranian official had travelled to Kabul at the invitation of Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban's Minister of Industry and Commerce.
Mohammad Karami has said that trade between the Islamic Republic and the Taliban will be significantly strengthened in the near future.
The governor of Sistan and Baluchestan told IRNA news agency on Sunday, October 6, about his visit to Kabul, "During this visit, agreements were reached for joint investments as well as the reopening of the second border in the Gamshad region of Sistan."
The Taliban's Ministry of Industry and Commerce also announced on Sunday that Nooruddin Azizi met with Mohammad Karami, the governor of Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, and Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's ambassador to Kabul, to discuss "the implementation of the promises of Abdul Ghani Baradar's visit to Tehran”.
The ministry's statement said that the two sides discussed the Chabahar port and that a technical committee consisting of officials from both sides has been appointed to further discuss and implement the agreements.
In addition, the Taliban's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation also announced that Hamidullah Akhundzada, the acting minister of this ministry, in a meeting with Mohammad Karami, the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran, discussed "the development of transportation, transit relations and increasing the transfer of goods through Chabahar port”.
The Taliban’s governor in Khost said on Sunday that Islamic law is applied first in government institutions and then, in society.
Abdul Qayyum Rouhani added that a special committee will be appointed to implement the Taliban's orders and laws throughout the country.
Some men's hair salons in Khost and Paktia provinces told Afghanistan International that the Taliban has imposed a fine of 10,000 afghanis for cutting hair in a modern style.
The group warned the owners of such salons that if they violated the law, their shops would be closed for a month.
The emphasis of Taliban officials on the implementation of Islamic laws in the light of the Sharia law desired by this group is not new.
Previously, the Taliban had forced employees of all government institutions to perform prayers, sport beards, and wear the clothing desired by the group.