Afghanistan

A senior official at the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry has criticised Iran’s portrayal of Afghanistan as a country in crisis, saying Taliban-ruled Afghanistan should no longer be treated as a crisis-management issue.

Matiullah Wesa, a prominent activist for girls’ education and a former Taliban detainee, has won the Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Award in the category of Youth Creativity and Participation.

Rahmatullah Najib, the administrative deputy of the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior, has said there are no disagreements among the group’s leadership and that no senior figure seeks to replace Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan criticised conditions in the country under Taliban rule at a regional meeting in Tehran, saying the Afghan people deserve better.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) said it killed three Taliban fighters in a guerrilla attack on Saturday near the provincial governor’s office in Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan province.

Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, said at a regional meeting in Tehran that Islamabad’s concerns about terrorism must be addressed seriously.

Tajmir Jawad, the deputy head of the Taliban’s intelligence agency, said certain domestic and foreign groups are seeking to create problems for Afghanistan under various pretexts, adding that the Taliban does not seek war but will defend its rule if conflict is imposed.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that stability in Afghanistan is a strategic necessity for the entire region, stressing that the country’s security is “directly tied to the interests of all neighbouring countries.”

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), led by Yasin Zia, and the National Resistance Front (NRF), led by Ahmad Massoud, have reported carrying out separate attacks against Taliban forces in Kunduz province.

Sources in Darulaman, western Kabul, told Afghanistan International that Taliban Minister of Justice has detained at least 38 local residents after they buried a neighbour in a cemetery near the ministry compound.

Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s minister of higher education, has warned that disobedience to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada would weaken the authority of the regime. He said that in an Islamic system there can be only one leader who must be obeyed by all.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday it will not take part in a regional meeting on Afghanistan scheduled to be held in Tehran. Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson for the ministry, said the Taliban had received an invitation but decided not to attend.

Human rights defenders attending the third special conference on Afghan women in Spain have called for international action to arrest Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, head of the Taliban’s Supreme Court.

The Taliban Supreme Court said on Saturday, 13 December, that a man and a woman were publicly flogged with 30 lashes each in Nangarhar province on charges of extramarital relations.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, said in Khost on Friday that a government which rules people through “fear and force” is not a real government. He implicitly acknowledged that the Taliban relies on humiliation, violence and intimidation in its governance.

Germany’s Interior Ministry has announced that it will not relocate a number of Afghan refugees currently in Pakistan, reversing earlier commitments.

Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan’s former foreign minister, says he travelled to Pakistan 10 times to secure the release of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, now the Taliban deputy prime minister.

Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said the Taliban’s treatment of women amounts to “crimes against humanity” and should be described as a system of gender apartheid.