Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concern over the status of arbitrarily detained Afghans in United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a new report, HRW urged UAE to urgently release those arbitrarily detained and provide access for determining their status and protection needs.
Institute of Economics and Peace announced that Afghanistan is among the top 10 countries affected by terrorist activities since four consecutive years. The Australian think-tank added that terrorist attacks have declined by 58 percent after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Pajhwok News Agency reporter Sirat Noori, who had been injured in the explosion at the Tebyan Cultural Center in Mazar-e-Sharif, said that the local Taliban officials and doctors expelled him from the Balkh hospital.
Local sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that the Taliban officials have arrested Rahatullah Qiam, a former spokesperson of the Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs. According to the sources, Qiam had been arrested three weeks ago in Zabul province.
The Taliban-controlled central bank announced on Tuesday that another $40 million package of humanitarian aid has been received in Kabul. The bank also announced that the group will auction $17 million on Wednesday in Kabul.
The Taliban Foreign Ministry has appointed Abdul Rahman Fida, the director of protocols of the Foreign Ministry, as the acting head of the Afghan consulate in Dubai. According to the Taliban, the official will replace Massoud Azizi, the current consul general.
The Taliban Ministry of Public Health announced that a four-day polio vaccine campaign has started in 31 provinces of Afghanistan. According to the Taliban ministry, more than 9.4 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated during this campaign.
Owners of Zan Library in district 3 of Kabul closed the library due to security threats and restrictions by the Taliban. In a statement, the owners said that the Taliban stormed the library and shut down its operations twice over the past six months.
The World Food Programme (WFP) announced that in 2022, the organisation supported around 23 million people, including 12 million women and girls, in Afghanistan. According to WFP, these people were facing food insecurity across the country.
Qalandar Ebad, the Minister of Public Health of the Taliban, said that Afghans spend over 500 million dollars on health treatments outside Afghanistan. Ebad asked medical specialists who have fled Afghanistan to train medical staff inside Afghanistan.
Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, an Iranian Sunni preacher, urged the Taliban to resolve the issue of Iran's water rights from the Helmand River. In his Friday prayer sermons, the Iranian cleric said that the water should be divided between Iran and Afghanistan.
Hafiz Zia, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, announced on Friday that Iran has handed over 181 Afghan prisoners to Afghanistan. Zia added that these Afghan prisoners were transferred to Afghanistan after negotiations with Tehran.
The Taliban prevented protests organised by families of the men who were killed on Tuesday night in Mazar-e-Sharif city. According to the victims’ families, the Taliban officials told them on Friday that the men had been killed due to a misunderstanding.
The Taliban announced that 500 students have graduated from the Jihadist schools in three Afghan provinces. The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, on Friday, reported that there are 300 graduates from Helmand, 160 from Laghman, and 50 others from Sar-e-Pul province.
In a joint statement, foreign ministers of the US, EU, and other Western nations said that over the past year and a half, Afghanistan has seen one of the steepest declines globally in the respect for the human rights of women and girls.
The Afghan embassy in Rome announced an increase in the number of victims of the shipwreck carrying refugees in Italy. In a statement, the embassy said that 91 of the victims who died in the incident are Afghan citizens.
Abir Al-Sahlani, a member of the European Parliament, told Afghanistan International that politicians opposing the Taliban should unite and work together. She stressed that the Taliban opposition groups must draw a clear path forward and introduce an alternative to the Taliban.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, confirmed on Thursday that Mullah Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the group’s governor of Balkh province, had been killed in an explosion. Muzammil has been killed in a bomb explosion at his office in Mazar-e-Sharif city.
Representatives of India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the United Nations emphasised on the formation of an inclusive government, women’s rights, and respect for minorities in Afghanistan.
Zamir Kabulov, Russian special envoy for Afghanistan, confirmed that Moscow has allowed the Taliban to increase the number of employees at Afghan embassy in Moscow. Kabulov added that with the increase in the number of Afghan employees, the staff number will reach three people.
Several Afghan women protested against the Taliban’s policies regarding women on Wednesday in Kabul. In a resolution, these women urged the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for violating the rights of Afghan women.