Tag: Afghan Taliban

  • Video: Naseeruddin Shah bashes Indian Muslims for celebrating ‘the return of Taliban’

    Video: Naseeruddin Shah bashes Indian Muslims for celebrating ‘the return of Taliban’

    Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah has criticised “sections of Indian Muslims celebrating the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan”, and called it rather dangerous.

    In a recent video, the Mohra actor drew distinctions between ‘Hindustani Islam’ and what is practised in other parts of the world.

    “Even as the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is a cause for concern for the whole world, celebrations of the barbarians by some sections of Indian Muslims is no less dangerous,” Shah said in a video shared on social media.

    A Wednesday actor went on to say that those who are celebrating the revival of Taliban, should question themselves, “if they want a reformed, modern Islam (jiddat pasandi modernity), or live with the old barbarism (vaishipan) of the past few centuries.”

    Shah also differentiated between what he called “Hindustani Islam” and what is actually practised in other parts of the world.

    He added, “May God not bring a time when it changes so much that we cannot even recognise it. He mentioned his own personal relationship with God, and that he doesn’t need political religion. “I am an Indian Muslim and as Mirza Ghalib said years ago, my relationship with God is informal. I don’t need political religion,” he said.

    Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on August 15 after seizing control from government forces across the country.

  • Female Afghan presenter who interviewed Taliban leader flees the country

    Beheshta Arghand, a female news presenter at TOLO News, has left Afghanistan according to CNN.

    “If the Taliban do what they said – what they promise – and the situation becomes better, and I know I am safe and there is no threat for me, I will go back to my country and I will work for my country. For my people,” she said while speaking to CNN.

    Talking about her experience of interviewing Taliban spokesperson, Arghand added that the interview was difficult, “but I did it for Afghan women.”

    “I told myself, ‘One of us must start…If we stay in our houses or don’t go to our offices, they will say the ladies don’t want to work,’ but I said to myself, ‘Start working,’” Arghand said.

    “And I said to the Taliban member, ‘We want our rights. We want to work. We want — we must —be in society. This is our right.’”

    On August 17, Arghand sat down with senior Taliban representative Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad. During the interview she talked about the Taliban’s home searches in Kabul and the general situation on the ground.

  • Taliban reassure that TTP will not be given permission to operate in Afghanistan against Pakistan: Rashid

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Monday that the Afghan Taliban had reassured the government that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) would not be given permission to operate in Afghanistan against Pakistan.

    While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Rashid said that some of the TTP members such as Maulvi Faqir Mohammad had been released by the Taliban after their takeover of Kabul on August 15, further adding that the government was in complete contact with the Taliban on the matter.

    “The Afghan Taliban have reassured [us] that Afghanistan’s land will not be allowed to be used in any case by the TTP,” said Rashid.

    He said Pakistan desired peace in Afghanistan since peace in one country was related to peace in the other.

  • Taliban fighters head to capture Ahmad Shah Massoud’s Panjshir Valley: Reports

    Taliban fighters head to capture Ahmad Shah Massoud’s Panjshir Valley: Reports

    Taliban claimed that hundreds of their fighters are heading to the Panjshir Valley, reported Al Jazeera. Panjshir Valley is known as the area of Ahmed Shah Massoud’s Northern Alliance and is one of the few parts of the country not yet controlled by the newly-emerged Taliban setup. However, there has been much resistance going on between the groups since the Taliban’s takeover.

    Speaking to Al Jazeera, Taliban leader Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, said, “If we can defeat superpowers, surely we can provide safety to the Afghan people.” He is also a veteran of the Afghan-Soviet war.

    However, Ahmad Massoud, son of the slain hero of the anti-Soviet resistance, Ahmad Shah Massoud, told Reuters by telephone: “We want to make the Taliban realise that the only way forward is through negotiation but his supporters are ready to fight if Taliban forces try to invade the valley.”

    Earlier, Massoud was given four hours to give up Panjshir Valley, where Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh is in hiding, as per reports.

    Unconfirmed reports say the Taliban have reached the valley.

  • Man who fell from US plane in Kabul is a young Afghan footballer

    Man who fell from US plane in Kabul is a young Afghan footballer

    One of the people who tragically fell from a C-17 US military plane departing from Kabul on Monday was a young Afghan footballer, according to the General Directorate of Physical Education & Sports in Afghanistan.

    As per details, Zaki Anwari, a young footballer, died on Monday after falling from a US military aircraft. The Afghan National Football Team’s Facebook page confirmed the identity and death on August 18, 2021. The news was confirmed by the Sports Directorate the next day.

    Anwari was one of thousands of Afghans who flocked to the Hamid Karzai International Airport  on Monday, the day after the Taliban captured Kabul, hoping to get on a plane out of the country. He reportedly climbed onto a C-17 plane that was about to depart from the capital.

    Anwari played on the Afghan national youth football team.

    A video published on August 16 shows people sitting on the landing gear flap of a plane taxiing for takeoff as people run alongside the aircraft.

    Several videos circulating on Monday showed people falling from a C-17 aircraft that had taken off from Kabul airport. Later, reports said that several bodies had been found in locations east of the airport.

    News of Anzari’s death comes as the US Air Force investigates the deaths, after human remains were found in the wheel well of one of its C-17 planes that departed from Kabul.

  • Posters of women vandalised in Kabul

    Posters of women vandalised in Kabul

    Images of women have been covered up or vandalised on storefronts around Kabul, AFP has reported.

    One of the salons in Kabul has been whitewashed to cover up advertisements pasted on its outdoor walls, showing the faces of smiling women in bridal regalia.

    Another shuttered salon, spotted on Tuesday as a Taliban fighter patrolled the street outside with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, had its walls defaced with black spray paint to conceal the visages of its models.

    Read more- Afghan women fear for their lives as Taliban take charge

    “The Islamic Emirate is committed to the rights of women within the framework of the Sharia. Our sisters, our women will have the same rights and will be able to benefit from them,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday.

    “They can have activities in different sectors and areas on the basis of our rules and regulations — in education, health, and other areas,” he said, adding that they will “work with us shoulder-to-shoulder”.

    Terrifying stories of mistreatment of women in Afghanistan are being discussed on social media and are also being reported by news outlets ever since the Taliban started gaining control of Afghanistan two months ago.

  • ‘I will marry four of you in one day’: Afghan women relate stories of horror as Taliban take over

    Terrifying stories of mistreatment of women in Afghanistan are being discussed on social media and are also being reported by news outlets ever since the Taliban started gaining control of Afghanistan two months ago.

    “When I heard that the Taliban had reached Kabul, I felt I was going to be a slave. They can play with my life any way they want.”

    A female university student in Afghanistan while talking to The Guardian expressed her feelings of fear and hopelessness after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

    “Early on Sunday morning I was heading to university for a class when a group of women came running out from the women’s dormitory. I asked what had happened and one of them told me the police were evacuating them because the Taliban had arrived in Kabul, and they will beat women who do not have a burqa,” she said while sharing her experience on the day the Taliban entered Kabul.

    “We all wanted to get home, but we couldn’t use public transport. The drivers would not let us in their cars because they did not want to take responsibility for transporting a woman. It was even worse for the women from the dormitory, who are from outside Kabul and were scared and confused about where they should go.” she added.

    The men standing outside the university said: “Go and put on your chadari [burqa],” One called out, “It is your last days of being out on the streets.” Another said, “I will marry four of you in one day.”

    The Afghan student further shared, “I loved doing my nails. Today, as I was on my way home, I glanced at the beauty salon where I used to go for manicures. The shop front, which had been decorated with beautiful pictures of girls, had been whitewashed overnight.”

    “Now it looks like I have to burn everything I achieved in 24 years of my life. Having any ID card or awards from the American University is risky now; even if we keep them, we are not able to use them. There are no jobs for us in Afghanistan.”

    “Then today, when I heard that the Taliban had reached Kabul, I felt I was going to be a slave. They can play with my life any way they want.”

    “Or identity is being destroyed and nothing has been done by us to deserve this.”

    Women, specially female journalists are fearing for their life after the recent developments in the country.

    “For many years, I worked as a journalist … to raise the voice of Afghans, especially Afghan women, but now our identity is being destroyed and nothing has been done by us to deserve this,” Aaisha a prominent news anchor and political talk show host, said while speaking to The Guardian.

    “In the last 24 hours, our lives have changed and we have been confined to our homes, and death threatens us at every moment.”

    The homes of two female journalists were visited by Taliban fighters on Sunday, leaving both women “severely shaken psychologically,” CNN has reported.

    Taliban fighters are ‘going door-to-door and forcibly marrying girls as young as 12 and forcing them into sex slavery as they seize vast swathes of the Afghanistan from government forces,’ reported the Daily Mail on August 13.

    However, Taliban’s spokesperson Suhail Shaheen has refuted the claims.

  • Kabul could be isolated by Taliban within the next 72 hours

    The capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, can be isolated by the Taliban within the next 72 hours, CNN has reported. A diplomatic source told CNN that one intelligence assessment indicated that Kabul could be isolated by the Taliban within the week, possibly within the next 72 hours, but stressed that does not mean the militant group would enter the capital.

    CNN also reports that personnel at the US Embassy in Kabul have been instructed to delete sensitive and materials “which could be misused in propaganda efforts”, as soon as possible. As per details, a notice was sent to the embassy staff with the instructions.

    The act of destroying sensitive material is a standard procedure applied to minimise the US footprint.

    “Drawdowns at our diplomatic posts around the world follow a standard operating procedure designed to minimise our footprint across various categories, including staffing, equipment, and supplies. Kabul Embassy is conducting their drawdown in accordance with this standard operating procedure,” a US State Department spokesperson said.

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Afghanistan is spinning out of control. Every day, the conflict is taking a bigger toll on civilians, especially women and children. He also reminded all the parties of their obligation to protect civilians.

    The Taliban have taken control of 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals since Aug 6, Reuters has reported.

  • PM Khan not ‘waiting’ for a phone call from President Joe Biden

    Prime Minister Imran Khan, while talking to foreign journalists at his residence on Wednesday night, said he was not “waiting” for a phone call from United States (US) President Joe Biden.

    “I keep hearing that President Biden hasn’t called me. Well, it’s his option. If he wants to call or not it’s his business. If he thinks it’s necessary or not. Not that I am waiting for any phone call,” he said in response to a question from Reuters journalist, Gibran Peshimam.

    PM Khan’s comments come after National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf had said that Pakistan has other options if Joe Biden continues to ignore the country’s leadership.

    While speaking to Finacial Times (FT), Yusuf categorically said, “If a phone call is a concession, if a security relationship is a concession, Pakistan has options.”

    “We’ve been told every time that . . . [the phone call] will happen, it’s technical reasons or whatever. But frankly, people don’t believe it,” Yusuf added.

    The prime minister also talked about the current situation in Afghanistan, its impact on Pakistan, and the withdrawal of US troops.

    PM Khan further said, “The only solution to Afghan problem is the formation of an inclusive government through a political settlement.”

    He said the prevailing situation in Afghanistan could lead to a civil war in the country resultantly making us suffer being the immediate neighbour. He said it could also affect our geo-economic agenda of improving trade links with Central Asia.

    Prime Minister said, ” Pakistan is ready to work with any government in Afghanistan that is elected by its people.” He once again made it clear that we have no favourites in Afghanistan.

  • ‘No smoking, shaving’: Afghan Taliban’s first orders

    The Taliban issued their first orders in the form of letter to a local imam after capturing a remote district in Afghanistan’s north, which says that women cannot go to the bazaar without a male companion, among other directives, AFP has reported.

    As per Sefatullah, 25, a resident of Kalafgan district, the letter said “women can’t go to the bazaar without a male companion, and men should not shave their beards,” adding that whoever breaks the rules “will be seriously dealt with”.

    Last month, the Afghan Taliban took Shir Khan Bandar, a northern customs post that connected the country to Tajikistan over a US-funded bridge that spanned the Panj river.

    Sajeda who worked in a local factory told AFP that after Shir Khan Bandar fell, the Taliban “ordered women not to step out of their homes”.

    “There were many women and young girls doing embroidery, tailoring and shoe-making … The Taliban’s order has now terrified us,” she added further.

    The letter issued in the name of the Taliban’s cultural commission says, “All imams and mullahs in captured areas should provide the Taliban with a list of girls above 15 and widows under 45 to be married to Taliban fighters.”

    However, the Taliban denied issuing any such letter.

    “These are baseless claims,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban.