Archive

Sources have confirmed to Afghanistan International that Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister for Refugees, has been killed in an explosion.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

Sources in the Taliban's health ministry told AFP that at least 35,000 female students have been deprived of their education following the ban on women from medical institutions.

Coinciding with December 10, International Human Rights Day, the UN announced that if Afghans, especially women and girls, continue to be denied their rights, it will demonstrate the Taliban's deliberate and blatant irresponsibility for the welfare of the Afghan people.

The new Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan, in a meeting with the Taliban’s foreign minister on Monday, said that he would facilitate visits by high-ranking Iranian and Taliban officials to expand relations between the two countries.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry announced that the country’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met with Ahmad Shakeeb, the Taliban's ambassador to Islamabad. The ministry added that during the meeting, it was agreed to strengthen mutual relations.

Several members of the Taliban's cabinet expressed their concerns about the "strength of the system" and "people's support" for the Taliban government during a meeting attended by the group's leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, sources told Afghanistan International.

The Australian Embassy in Afghanistan announced the meeting of Stephanie Copus Campbell, the country's ambassador for gender equality, with the representative of the United Nations Women's Section.

Even though medical educational institutions have been closed to girls, the Taliban's Minister of Health, Noor Jalal Jalali, met with representatives of international organisations.

In response to Afghanistan International's investigative report, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that there is no torture in the group's prisons.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Qatar foundation Education Above All (EAA) on Sunday signed an agreement to educate out-of-school children and youth in Afghanistan.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated that widespread gaps in educational infrastructure, coupled with the Taliban’s restrictive policies against girls, are further deepening gender inequality in Afghanistan’s education system.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation has reported that more than 900,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, Pakistan, and Turkiye during the first eight months of the current Solar Hijri year.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has condemned the Taliban’s recent decision to close medical training institutions for women in Afghanistan, stating that it has destroyed one of the few remaining pathways for women’s education and employment.

Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhil, the former governor of Nangarhar, has accused the Taliban regime of marginalising the Afghan people and ignoring their voices. Amarkhil asserted that neglecting public demands has created a significant divide between the populace and the ruling authorities.

The office of Mullah Baradar, the Taliban's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, called the World Bank's recent report on the high unemployment rate, the lack of infrastructure projects, and limited investment in Afghanistan far from reality.

On Saturday, December 7, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency announced the return of 102 refugee families from Pakistan and Iran to Afghanistan.