Russia Arrests Female Journalist For 'Justifying Taliban Activities'

Nov 23, 2024, 13:22 GMT

Russian media reported that security forces have arrested a female journalist, Nadezhda Kevorkova, on charges of justifying the Taliban's activities.

RIA Novosti news agency wrote that Kevorkova had been in temporary detention since May 2024, and a Moscow court extended her detention on Friday.

The Russian state media reported on Friday (November 22) that the journalist's accusation relates to justifying the Taliban's activity in a text published on the Telegram channel in 2021.

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Taliban Tortures NRF Members Inside Bagram Prison, Claims NRF Commander

Nov 23, 2024, 11:43 GMT

Hamid Saifi, a commander of the National Resistance Front (NRF), said that the situation in Bagram prison is worrisome, and that the Taliban is "mentally and physically torturing" members of this front.

He called on the United Nations to send a delegation to the Bagram prison to address the issue and prevent the "oppression of the Taliban”.

Hamid Saifi was a former commander of the Afghan army. After the collapse of the government and the Taliban's takeover, he joined the National Resistance Front (NRF) and continued the armed struggle against the Taliban.

In a note on social media platform X on Friday, the military commander wrote, "The prisoners of the Resistance Front in (Bagram prison) are practically deprived of all basic facilities, including medicine, in this cold weather."

After regaining control, the Taliban closed the Bagram prison. Hundreds of Taliban members, ISIS members, and drug traffickers were imprisoned at Bagram. According to reports, the Taliban has reactivated the prison.

Recently, sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban has transferred dozens of prisoners accused of cooperating with the National Resistance Front from Pul-e-Charkhi prison and some northern provinces to Bagram prison in northern Kabul.

Hamid Saifi said that the Taliban "deliberately keeps members of the Resistance Front in rooms shared with ISIS prisoners, contrary to all moral standards".

With this action, he said, that the Taliban "deliberately paved the way for ISIS propaganda to recruit prisoners of the National Resistance Front," stressing that this has led to a physical confrontation between the prisoners.

The commander of the NRF has said that he does not expect the Taliban to change the situation of prisoners.

Taliban officials have not officially commented on the resumption of Bagram prison and the torture of members of the National Resistance Front.

Meghan Markle Hosts Afghan Immigrant Women In California

Nov 23, 2024, 10:19 GMT

Meghan Markle, the British king's daughter-in-law, hosted a number of Afghan women in California for the second year in a row.

The programme included dinner and poetry reading and was held as part of the "Welcome" project to support Afghan women living in the United States.

Meghan Markle met with Afghan women who sought refuge in the United States after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on Saturday night.

In the programme, Afghan women shared their experiences and discussed different cultures and traditions.

The purpose of this event is to create cultural exchange and solidarity among the participants.

At the invitation, guests read poetry and shared their experiences of immigration and new life in the United States. Also, Afghan women were served Middle Eastern cuisine at the meeting.

"We continue to uplift women and strengthen society through shared experiences, and we emphasise on the importance of unity and support during difficult times," the Archewell Foundation wrote.

Meghan Markle, the British king's daughter-in-law, had previously met with Afghan women in Southern California in February 2023, and at that time they had cooked with 15 Afghan women.

This programme is organised by the Archewell Foundation and Mina’s List. Since 2014, Mina’s List has been working with women activists and political leaders in Afghanistan to promote gender equality, and in 2021 it helped evacuate and resettle more than 2,000 Afghan women and families.

This visit and the efforts of Afghan women activists abroad indicate the deterioration of the situation of women and the human rights crisis inside Afghanistan. Women and girls in Afghanistan are subject to the Taliban's most severe restrictions and have been deprived of the right to education, work, and social and political activities. Human rights organisations have accused the Taliban of widespread human rights violations and say the Taliban have established "gender apartheid”.

United Nations Denies Taliban Afghanistan’s Seat For Fourth Year In A Row

Nov 23, 2024, 09:03 GMT

Two diplomatic sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that in a meeting held on November 20, the Taliban's request to allocate the Afghan seat in the United Nations to the group's representative was rejected.

In this meeting, the credentials of the representatives of Afghanistan, Myanmar and Libya were reviewed.

Members of the committee, including the United States, China and Russia, attended the meeting.

According to the proposal of the chairman of the committee, the review of the credentials of the representative of Afghanistan was postponed.

This is the fourth time that the United Nations has rejected the Taliban's request to hand over the UN seat to the group's representative.

Currently, the seat of Afghanistan is held by Nasir Ahmad Faiq, a representative of the former Afghan government.

The Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has nominated Suhail Shaheen as its representative to the United Nations, but the United Nations does not recognise Shaheen as Afghanistan's representative.

'Multiple People' Arrested On Suspicion of Involvement in Baghlan Attack, Says Taliban

Nov 22, 2024, 15:35 GMT

The Taliban's police command in Baghlan confirmed that at least 10 people were killed in an attack by gunmen on the Sayed Padshah Agha monastery in Nahrin district of Baghlan province.

Several suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack and investigations are ongoing, the statement said.

In a statement released on Friday (November 22), the Taliban's police command in Baghlan called the incident a "mysterious" attack.

The victims worked during the day and came to the monastery at night to worship, the statement said.

On Friday morning, sources reported to Afghanistan International that gunmen opened fire on a "circle of Sufis" in a monastery in Nahrin district.

According to information received by Afghanistan International, the victims of the attack were Sufis.

At the same time, pictures have reached Afghanistan International showing the funeral ceremonies of the victims of the deadly Baghlan attack.

No Separate Schools For Immigrant Students, Says Iran's Ministry of Education

Nov 22, 2024, 13:59 GMT

Ali Farhadi, a spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Education, said that there are no special schools for immigrant students in the country.

Farhadi said that the ministry has no intention of separating immigrant students from Iranian students.

A spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Education said on Friday (November 22) that about 600,000 foreign students are studying in the country's schools, the majority of whom are Afghans.

The official stressed that the rumours circulating in the media about the construction of special schools for immigrants and the separation of students are not true. Previously, rumours about the separation of immigrant students from Iranian students had been spread on some websites.

The spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Education clarified that in some neighbourhoods in Iran, the population density of immigrants is high, and for this reason, the number of immigrant students is more prominent in the schools of those neighbourhoods. He added that the Ministry of Education does not believe in the establishment of special schools for immigrants.

Ali Farhadi acknowledged that coexistence and interaction between Iranian and immigrant students leads to an improvement in the cultural environment and increased social interactions. The Ministry of Education supports this method of education, he said.