Taliban’s Minister For Refugees Killed in Kabul
Sources have confirmed to Afghanistan International that Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister for Refugees, has been killed in an explosion.
Sources have confirmed to Afghanistan International that Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister for Refugees, has been killed in an explosion.
Earlier, local sources had reported an explosion at the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees in Kabul.
Taliban officials are yet to comment on the incident.
Daud Naji, the political head of the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), denied involvement in the assassination of Khalil Haqqani.
Naji told Afghanistan International that the AFF does not carry out assassinations and that the explosion was caused due to internal disputes within the Taliban.
This story is developing.
Rina Amiri, the US envoy for Afghan women, said on Tuesday that the Taliban's discriminatory policies have added to the suffering of the people, especially Afghan women.
She stressed that these policies destroy the prospects for peace and stability in the country.
In a message on the occasion of International Human Rights Day on Tuesday, Amiri stressed on the importance of human rights in addressing the crisis in Afghanistan.
"Millions of Afghans have suffered human rights violations in more than four decades of war," she said.
"The Taliban's gender-based harassment of women and girls, as well as the Taliban's violation of the rights of ethnic and religious groups, journalists and human rights defenders, has deepened the suffering of the Afghan people," the US special envoy added.
The Taliban have deprived women of all their fundamental freedoms and rights, including the right to work, education, and movement. Following the increase in repressive measures, some countries and human rights organisations are seeking to hold the Taliban accountable by referring Afghanistan's case to the Hague Court.
The Taliban leader recently said that he will not be burdened by any power to implement Islamic law. He has said that Islamic law is more important than interaction with the world.
On International Human Rights Day (December 10), a Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the group accepts human rights principles within the "framework of Sharia law and Afghan culture”.
Mujahid rejected the harsh criticism of the human rights situation in Afghanistan by countries and international institutions, saying that the Taliban has not violated human rights.
These countries "should not see Afghanistan from their own point of view, but from the perspective of Islam, Afghan culture and values", he told the Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) controlled by the group.
His criticisms are focused on the statements of international human rights officials and organisations that have painted a critical and bleak picture of the human rights situation in Afghanistan in the past three years with their reports.
Yesterday, the UN special rapporteurs said that the Taliban has resorted to "femicide" by removing women from the public sphere and banning them from working in all fields.
However, from the Taliban's point of view, banning women's work and education is not a violation of human rights, and keeping women at home is to support them.
The Taliban spokesman said that international demands for human rights in Afghanistan are contrary to Islamic values and Afghan culture, saying, "The same rights that are common in the West, demanding them from the people of Afghanistan are not principled. We define the issue of human rights based on Afghan values and culture and beliefs.”
Western countries have called on the Taliban to allow women to study like other Islamic countries, but the group considers education for girls above the sixth grade to be against Sharia.
Claiming that "human rights and the rights of all citizens in Afghanistan are protected", Mujahid added that with the arrival of this group, "deaths and human casualties have been prevented".
Human casualties have decreased since the fall of the previous government in Afghanistan. In the past 20 years, many civilians had been killed and injured during the Taliban's conflict with the Republican government, as well as the group's suicide attacks in cities.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan warned on Tuesday that the human rights situation, especially the situation of women, in Afghanistan is deteriorating. On International Human Rights Day, UNAMA said that the legitimacy of the Taliban depends on respect for human rights.
Taliban members set fire to a man in Khyber District, Faryab province, on charges of being a member of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan. In a video provided to Afghanistan International, Taliban gunmen can be seen gathering around the man's body.
Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that Taliban fighters set fire to a man in the village of Jawdana in the newly-established Khyber district of Faryab province on Saturday night.
In a video obtained by Afghanistan International, Taliban gunmen can be seen gathering around the man's burnt body and cursing him. The video also shows Taliban fighters lighting a fire near the body and warming themselves.
In the video, one of the Taliban fighters says, "This is a member of the Resistance Front. Alhamdulillah, the Mujahideen killed him. Here is his body. "The mujahideen have gathered around him." The Taliban fighter can be heard asking, "How did you injure and martyr the Mujahideen?"
Sources told Afghanistan International that the man was identified as "Abdullah". According to information, the Taliban have clashed with 13 opponents of the group in this area.
Local sources claimed that the man was accused of being a member of the National Resistance Front and took refuge in a house in the Jawdana area, and after resisting, Taliban fighters set him on fire in the same house.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has not yet commented on the individual's membership in its ranks.
After coming to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban has repeatedly arrested people on charges of being members of the National Resistance Front, and there have been reports of harassment and ill-treatment of them.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day (December 10), the UN special rapporteur on human rights Richard Bennett said that Afghans face gender abuse, civil restrictions, torture and humanitarian crisis.
Bennett stressed that the people of Afghanistan must be supported in the face of these problems.
On the occasion of this day, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights thanked Afghans who are fighting against human rights violations in Afghanistan.
"Afghans face gender harassment, restrictions on civic space, torture and ill-treatment, marginalisation of minorities and a humanitarian crisis," he wrote on social media platform X.
Richard Bennett also emphasised, "Let's all stand with them."
December 10 is International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, a large number of Afghan institutions and women protesters expressed concern over human rights violations in Afghanistan and considered the Taliban's policies and actions against women and girls as an example of "femicide”.
The Taliban, however, denied violating human rights in Afghanistan, saying that the country's citizens enjoy all their rights based on "Islamic and cultural values”.
Coinciding with the International Human Rights Day (December 10), the Taliban's Supreme Court announced that it had flogged a woman and a man in public on charges of "sexual relations" outside of marriage.
The court said that it had sentenced the defendants to 39 lashes and three to five years in prison.
The Taliban's Supreme Court announced in a statement on Tuesday, December 10, that the sentences of imprisonment and flogging of two individuals have been issued by the Primary Court of Muqur District of Ghazni Province.
According to the statement, one of the men was sentenced to three years in prison and the other to five years in prison.
In the past week, the group has publicly flogged more than eight people in Kapisa, Maidan Wardak and Kabul provinces on various charges.
This comes as human rights organisations have repeatedly called for an end to corporal punishment in Afghanistan. Earlier, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan called on the Taliban to abide by its human rights obligations.
However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with the group-controlled National Radio that human rights in Afghanistan are respected and based on "Islamic and cultural values". With this comment, he once again showed the Taliban's disregard for international conventions.