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Discrepancies Arise Over Publication Of Photos Among Taliban Officials

Oct 23, 2024, 11:12 GMT+1

As per an examination of Taliban’s institutions on social media by Afghanistan International, it has come to light that the group’s governor in Khost did not publish pictures of his meeting.

However, his deputy has published pictures of his meetings.

Some local journalists in Khost told Afghanistan International that the governor does not allow them to come to his meetings with cameras and videos. However, Mahboob Shah Qanet, the deputy governor, has good relations with journalists and invites them to meetings with cameras.

Neda Mohammad Nadim, the Taliban's Minister of Higher Education banned journalists from taking photos and videos during a meeting at Sheikh Zayed University in Khost province.

The Taliban governor's office in Khost published only pictures of the buildings of Sheikh Zayed University and a jihadi madrassa along with reports of these meetings on social media.

Abdul Qayyum Rouhani, the Taliban's governor in Khost, is a close associate of Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah. Mehboob Shah Qanet, the deputy governor of Khost, is close to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister.

Earlier, it was reported that the Haqqani network is in favour of publishing photos and images, contrary to Hibatullah's opinion.

According to an investigation by Afghanistan International, pictures of the meetings of Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban's Minister for the Promotion of Virtue, during his last visit to Nangarhar have not been published on the social media pages of the Nangarhar Media Office.

However, on Tuesday, Azizullah Mustafa, the deputy governor of Nangarhar, attended the vaccination campaign meeting and posted pictures of him in several consecutive meetings on social media.

During his visit to Laghman yesterday, Khalid Hanafi did not allow journalists to attend the meeting with cameras, and the pictures of the meeting were not published on the social media pages of Laghman province.

However, images of several visits to Laghman by Taliban governor Sheikh Sher Ahmad Haqqani have been published by the Laghman Provincial Media and Communications Office.

The Taliban's new law banning the use of images of individuals in the media has sparked discontent among sections of the Taliban.

A source close to the Taliban told Afghanistan International that individuals linked to the Haqqani network, which controls many propaganda centres, oppose the new restrictions on the media, seeing the move as an attempt to isolate the group.

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Taliban Casualties Have Doubled, Claims NRF’s Political Head

Oct 23, 2024, 10:17 GMT+1

Abdullah Khanjani, the head of political affairs of the National Resistance Front (NRF) has claimed that the Taliban's casualties in the first six months of this year have doubled as compared to the same period last year.

In an interview with Afghanistan International, Khanjani said that the operations of this front have increased by 25% during this period.

However, he declined to provide exact figures regarding Taliban’s casualties. So far, no independent source has confirmed this claim of the official of the National Resistance Front.

In recent weeks, two major anti-Taliban groups have said that they have attacked Taliban bases and outposts in the cities of Kabul, Herat, and Ghor. The National Resistance Front and Afghanistan Freedom Front have said in their statements that Taliban forces have been killed and wounded in their attacks.

In the most recent case, the Afghanistan Freedom Front announced this week that it had carried out a rocket attack on the Kabul airport. The unprecedented attack prompted the Taliban to once again launch house-to-house searches in Khair Khana area in Kabul.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the increase in attacks by opposition groups.

In September, the United Nations announced in a report that in the first three months of this year, anti-Taliban fronts, including the NRF and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, carried out 73 attacks against the Taliban.

The report stated that between May 14 and July 31, 2,127 security incidents were recorded in Afghanistan, an increase of 53 percent as compared to the same period last year.

Also, 80 cases of armed conflict were recorded in Afghanistan during this period, compared to 37 cases at the same time last year.

The full interview with Abdullah Khanjani, the political head of the National Resistance Front, will be broadcast on Afghanistan International TV on Wednesday evening, October 23.

With Restrictions On Visual Media, Taliban's Ministry of Defence Launches Its Radio

Oct 23, 2024, 09:26 GMT+1

With the Taliban's efforts to prevent the broadcast of images of living creatures in the visual media, the group's Ministry of Defence announced the launch of operations of "Sada-e-Khalid" radio.

The Taliban's Ministry of Defence said that the radio station has started broadcasting from the 201st Corps.

According to a statement from the Taliban's Ministry of Defence, the radio will be broadcast live every day at a specific time.

The Taliban's Ministry of Defence said that this radio station will transmit Islamic and religious rules.

The radio station was launched after reliable sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban was planning to stop broadcasting on Afghanistan's national television.

According to sources, Yousuf Ahmadi, the head of the Taliban-controlled National Television, said during a meeting with the directors of this channel that the suspension of the broadcast of this channel is the decision of the Taliban leader.

Previously, the Taliban had stopped broadcasting on national television in Kandahar and Takhar.

National television is a state-owned media outlet. Over the past three years, the Taliban has suspended many of the cultural and social programmes of this media outlet and dismissed the female employees of this channel.

The Taliban's controversial Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice prohibits the publication and distribution of live images by media outlets.

According to information obtained by Afghanistan International, the Taliban is launching several new radio stations that will defend the group's policies and broadcast its religious views.

Sources say that "Radio Batman-e-Shamal" with its equipment will be renamed "Radio Hurriyat" and its broadcasts will be managed by the Taliban's intelligence. The Taliban is also planning to set up a radio station for their Interior Ministry.

Iran Human Rights Reports Execution of Two Afghans At Qom Central Prison

Oct 22, 2024, 16:41 GMT+1

Iran Human Rights announced that five prisoners, including two Afghan nationals, were executed at the Qom Central Prison.

The human rights organisation said on Tuesday that the men had been executed for murder.

The death sentence of an Afghan named Abdul Qadir was carried out on October 10, and another Afghan, whose identity is unknown, was executed by the Islamic Republic on October 16, the Iran Human Rights Organisation wrote in a statement.

The organisation reported that both Afghan citizens were executed on charges of premeditated murder.

The human rights organisation also reported the execution of three other prisoners, Shahin Dehghani, Mohsen Khodabandehlu, and Milad Badinlu, on charges of murder at the Qom Central Prison in October.

The executions of the five men have not been confirmed by Iran's domestic media or official sources in the Islamic Republic.

Hamoun Wetlands Drying Up After Taliban Built Dams, Says Iranian Official

Oct 22, 2024, 15:18 GMT+1

The Director General of Bureau for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Wetlands has said that the Taliban government has diverted the main water source of the Hamoun wetland.

Arezou Ashrafizadeh said that this wetland has been drying up due to the diversion of rivers and the construction of dams in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the Iranian Labour News Agency, Ashrafizadeh said that the Taliban government has diverted the course of the Helmand River to the Godzareh depression (a saline wetland) for the past three years and has prevented the water from reaching the Hamoun wetland in their natural course.

The official of Iran's Environment Organisation emphasised that the Taliban is also building the Bakhshabad dam on the Farah River, which will also be bad for the Hamoun wetland.

According to her, the Taliban government has implemented small and large water resources control projects on these rivers.

The official of the Environment Organisation of Iran emphasised that based on international law and customs related to the Hamoun wetland, the water needs of this ecosystem must be met and the natural and historical water supply route should be established.

Ashrafizadeh warned that the consequences of the drying up of the Hamoun wetland will affect countries on both sides of the border, and the dust from the dry bed of the wetland will also disturb the residents and infrastructure of Afghanistan.

Ashrafizadeh said that the organisation has asked the Taliban government and international communities to cooperate in the restoration of the Hamoun wetland.

Dozens Of Humanitarian Projects Suspended Due To Taliban Interference, Says UN

Oct 22, 2024, 13:55 GMT+1

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan said that 83 humanitarian aid projects were temporarily suspended in September this year due to 173 incidents.

The office said that 98 percent of these cases occurred due to the Taliban's interference, and these incidents increased by 66 percent compared to last year.

According to a report released by OCHA on Tuesday, October 22, two facilities in Afghanistan were temporarily closed in September this year, and one project was moved to another location.

Among the incidents, the southern, eastern and western regions of the country suffered the most, respectively, the organisation added.

According to the report, these incidents included interference in humanitarian activities, violence against employees, and restrictions on the movement of institutions, employees, or goods within the country.

The OCHA report shows that during this period, nine humanitarian operations employees were arrested by the Taliban and three establishments were forcibly closed.

"These incidents continuously disrupt the operational environment, where the safety of human workers is at stake," OCHA added.

In September, 73 cases of direct Taliban interference in the implementation of programmes, 35 cases of interference in the recruitment of employees, 19 cases of interference in requesting sensitive information from employees, five cases of influencing the supply of goods, five cases of limiting the participation of female employees, and three cases related to women's clothing were reported.

According to the report, other instances of Taliban interference have also been reported, including illegal tax requests, confiscation of aid, delays in signing documents, and the employment of facilities.

The report shows that after the Taliban's law for the promotion of virtue was signed, the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue has interfered in humanitarian activities in 48 cases.

According to OCHA, these interventions included surveillance visits to offices, staff detentions, segregation of work spaces, requests for sensitive information, and dress requirements for female employees.