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☆ Local Taliban Officials Say Two Dead, Four Survivors in Afghanistan Plane Crash
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL (Reuters) - Two Taliban officials in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan said on Sunday that two passengers were killed in a plane crash involving a charter aircraft in the province but they said four others had survived. Khan Mohammad, head of the provincial governor's office, said the four surviving passengers were now with Taliban administration representatives. Earlier, Afghan officials had said they were sending a team to the remote, mountainous area where police had received reports of a crash. Russian aviation authorities said on Sunday a Russian-registered plane with six people thought to be on board had disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan the previous night. (Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Persons: Khan Mohammad, Zabihullah Amiri, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte Greenfield, Hugh Lawson Locations: KABUL, Afghan, Badakhshan, Badakhshan's, Russian, Afghanistan

☆ Taliban Minister Raises Return of Deported Afghans' Assets in Pakistan Visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Charlotte GreenfieldISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Taliban's acting commerce minister said he had asked Pakistan to help return the assets of expelled Afghans and discussed ways to overcome Afghanistan's stalled banking sector transactions during a four-day visit to Islamabad this week. Acting minister Nooruddin Azizi's arrival in the Pakistani capital marked the first public visit by a senior Taliban official since Pakistan announced its policy to deport thousands of undocumented Afghans and other foreign citizens after Nov. 1. The Taliban have said the security issues are a domestic matter for Islamabad and called on Pakistan to stop deportations. Azizi said a major focus of the visit had been raising the problem of Afghan deportees being unable to return their assets from Pakistan. Pakistan's commerce minister and a spokesman for the commerce ministry did not respond to request for comment.

Persons: Charlotte Greenfield, Nooruddin, Azizi, Asif Shahzad, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, William Maclean Organizations: Taliban, Pakistan, Reuters Locations: Charlotte Greenfield ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Islamabad, Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate, Uzbekistan, China, Kabul

She is one of thousands believed by rights activists to be in hiding in Pakistan to avoid deportation under a government push for undocumented migrants to leave the country. That includes over one million Afghans, many of whom the Pakistan government says have been involved in militant attacks and crime. 'WORSE THAN PRISON'Reuters spoke to a dozen undocumented migrants trying to stay under the radar of the nationwide sweep. "This is worse than prison," said a 22-year-old Afghan man who said he ensured the lights remained off at night. Some locals who are helping the Afghans arrange for food and water to be secretly smuggled into the shelter under the cover of night.

Persons: Saleh Zada, Akhtar Soomro, Sijal Shafiq, Shafiq, Wafa, I'm, Gibran Peshimam, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Authorities, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Badakhshan province, Kabul, Karachi, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Afghanistan, United States, Hazara, Islamabad, France, Canada

☆ Keeping Lights Off: Undocumented Afghans Go Underground in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

Persons: Ariba Shahid, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Sijal Shafiq, Shafiq, Wafa, I'm, Saleh Zada, Gibran Peshimam, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Reuters, Authorities, United Nations Locations: Mohammad Yunus Yawar KARACHI, Pakistan, Kabul, Afghanistan, Karachi, United States, Hazara, Islamabad, France, Canada

☆ Pakistan speeds up Afghans' repatriation after deadline expires
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Mushtaq Ali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Those arriving in Afghanistan complained of hardships they had to face to move out of Pakistan and uncertainty over their future. We had very bad situation," said Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55, who said he lived for 22 years in the southwestern Pakistani border town of Chaman where he had a retail business. Pakistani authorities started rounding up foreigners, most of them Afghans, hours before the deadline. Khan, the official, said 19,744 Afghans had crossed the Torkham border on Thursday, 147,949 in total since the government announced the deadline. More than 35,000 undocumented Afghans have left through another southwestern Pakistani border crossing at Chaman.

Persons: Abdul Nasir Khan, Mohammad Ismael Rafi, Rafi, Sarfraz, Khan, Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Kim Coghill, Nick Macfie Organizations: United Nations, Refugees, Kabul, Reuters, Authorities, Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council, International, Thomson Locations: burqa, Pakistan, UNHCR, Azakhel, Nowshera, PESHAWAR, Afghanistan, Torkham, Khyber, Pakistani, Chaman, Kandahar, Helmand province, Peshawar, U.S, Karachi, Kabul

Pakistan is home to over 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of whom are undocumented, according to Islamabad. Cash-strapped Pakistan, navigating record inflation and a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program, also said undocumented migrants have drained its resources for decades. The information minister for Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan, told Reuters it is opening three more border crossings. Pakistani citizens who help undocumented migrants obtain false identities or employment will face legal action, Bugti warned. There are more than 2.2 million Afghan migrants in Pakistan with some form of documentation recognized by the government that conveys temporary residence rights.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Muhammad Rahim, Abdul Mutaleb Haqqani, Azizullah, Sohrab Goth, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Cash, Samar Abbas, Sarfaraz Bugti, Bugti, Abbas, Uzair Ahmed, Majida, we've, Muhammad, Ariba Shahid, Charlotte, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Saleem Shahid, Katerina Ang Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Pakistani Interior Ministry, Foreign, Monetary Fund, Sindh Human Rights Defenders Network, Islamabad, Federal, UNHCR, International Organization for Migration, Karachi East Police, Afghan Ministry, Refugees, World Bank, U.N, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Karachi, Rights KARACHI, Pakistani, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Sindh, Balochistan, AFGHANISTAN, Charlotte Greenfield, Kabul, Quetta

☆ Afghans Return to Taliban Rule as Pakistan Moves to Expel 1.7 Million
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +9 min

Persons: Shahid, Muhammad Rahim, Abdul Mutaleb Haqqani, Azizullah, Sohrab Goth, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Cash, Samar Abbas, Sarfaraz Bugti, Bugti, Abbas, Uzair Ahmed, Majida, we've, Muhammad, Ariba Shahid, Charlotte, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Saleem Shahid, Katerina Ang Organizations: Reuters, Pakistani Interior Ministry, Foreign, Monetary Fund, Sindh Human Rights Defenders Network, Islamabad, Federal, UNHCR, International Organization for Migration, Karachi East Police, Afghan Ministry, Refugees, World Bank, U.N Locations: Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistani, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Sindh, Balochistan, AFGHANISTAN, Charlotte Greenfield, Kabul, Quetta

REUTERS/Ali Khara/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKABUL, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Taliban will attend China's Belt and Road Forum next week, a spokesman said on Saturday, underscoring Beijing's growing official ties with the administration, despite its lack of formal recognition by any government. Taliban officials and ministers have at times travelled to regional meetings, mostly those focussed on Afghanistan, but the Belt and Road Forum is among the highest-profile multilateral summits it has been invited to attend. China has been in talks with the Taliban over plans, begun under the previous foreign-backed government, over a possible huge copper mine in eastern Afghanistan. Officials from China, the Taliban and neighbouring Pakistan said in May they would like Belt and Road to include Afghanistan and for the flagship China Pakistan Economic Corridor to be extended across the border to Afghanistan. China has boosted engagement with the Taliban, becoming the first country to appoint an ambassador to Kabul since the Taliban took power, and invested in mining projects.

Persons: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Wang Yu, Ali Khara, Xi, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, Azizi, Akhundzada, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte, Joe Cash, William Mallard Organizations: Afghan, REUTERS, Rights, China Pakistan Economic, Taliban, Thomson Locations: China, Islamic Emirate, Afghanistan, Kabul, Rights KABUL, Beijing, Pakistan, China Pakistan, Charlotte Greenfield, Islamabad

☆ Another quake strikes western Afghanistan; official says more homes destroyed
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A general view of the quake-hit area in the district of Zinda Jan, in Herat, Afghanistan October 10, 2023. There were no details on casualties so far, disaster management spokesman Janan Sayeeq told Reuters, but provincial officials said hundreds of homes had been destroyed. Hemmed in by mountains, Afghanistan has a history of strong earthquakes, many in the rugged Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan. Herat province borders Iran, which said it would send humanitarian aid. The United Nation's humanitarian office has also announced $5 million worth of assistance.

Persons: Zinda Jan, Ali Khara, Janan Sayeeq, Noor Ahmad Shahab, Shahab, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Mrinmay Dey, Gibran Peshimam, Jacqueline Wong, Simon Cameron, Moore, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Mobile, World Health Organisation, German Research Center, Geosciences, United, Thomson Locations: Zinda, Herat, Afghanistan, Rights KABUL, Pakistan, Iran, Rubat, Turkey, China, Kabul, Bengaluru

"The operation is almost done," spokesman for the Disaster Management Ministry Janan Sayeeq told Reuters, adding that rescue efforts were still going on in some villages. Hemmed in by mountains, Afghanistan has a history of strong earthquakes, many in the rugged Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan. [1/2]People search for survivors amid the debris of a house that was destroyed by an earthquake in the district of Zinda Jan, in Herat, Afghanistan October 9, 2023. In the village, funeral prayers were held for the dead before they were buried, wrapped in blankets, in freshly dug graves. In addition to medical and food aid, survivors are in dire need of shelter as temperatures drop, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency response said.

Persons: Disaster Management Ministry Janan Sayeeq, Sayeeq, Zinda Jan, Ali Khara, Siah, , Taj Mohammad, Abdul Sattar, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Syed Hassib, Gibran Peshimam, Miral Organizations: World Health Organisation, Disaster Management Ministry, Reuters, REUTERS, Siah Aab, Health, Thomson Locations: HERAT, Afghanistan, Afghanistan's, Herat, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Zinda, , Siah

HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Rescue workers on Monday scrambled to pull out survivors, and the dead, from beneath the rubble two days after the northwestern city of Herat and its surroundings were struck by the deadliest earthquakes to rattle Afghanistan in years. Neighbours Pakistan and Iran have offered to send rescue workers and humanitarian aid, while China's Red Cross Society offered cash relief aid. Hemmed in by mountains, Afghanistan has a history of strong earthquakes, many in the rugged Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan. Pakistan said its disaster management authority had put a search and rescue team on standby to assist in the disaster hit area. Iran, whose border is less than 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the site of the worst hit area, also pledged humanitarian aid, the Taliban administration said.

Persons: Nissar Ahmad Elyias, Mir Ahmed, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Syed Hassib, Emma Farge, Gibran Peshimam, Miral Organizations: Neighbours, Cross Society, Reuters, Diplomats, Thomson Locations: HERAT, Afghanistan, Herat, Turkey, Syria, Neighbours Pakistan, Iran, Pakistan, Zindajan, Kabul, Geneva

☆ Afghanistan earthquakes kill 2,053, Taliban says, as death toll spikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Amid the confusion, the death toll from Saturday's quakes spiked from 500 reported on Sunday morning by a Red Crescent spokesperson and 16 from Saturday night. The quakes hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one measuring 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. Mullah Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, told Reuters 2,053 people were dead, 9,240 injured and 1,329 houses damaged or destroyed. Bodies had been "taken to several places - military bases, hospitals," Danish said. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul; Editing by William Mallard and Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mullah Janan Sayeeq, Danish, Naseema, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, William Mallard Organizations: Red Crescent, U.S . Geological Survey, Ministry, Reuters, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan, Herat, U.S, Kabul

☆ Afghan earthquakes kill 2,053, Taliban say, as death toll spikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said 2,053 people were killed, 9,240 injured and 1,320 houses damaged or destroyed. More than 200 dead had been brought to various hospitals, said a Herat health department official who identified himself as Dr Danish, adding most of them were women and children. Beds were set up outside the main hospital in Herat to receive a flood of victims, photos on social media showed. It was not immediately clear if the Herat hospital was on that list. "While search and rescue operations remain ongoing, casualties in these areas have not yet been fully identified," it said.

Persons: Janan Sayeeq, Sayeeq, Danish, Suhail Shaheen, Naseema, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Ariba Shahid, Gibran Peshimam, William Mallard, Sanjeev Miglani Organizations: U.S . Geological Survey, Ministry, Diplomats, International Committee, Reuters, World Health Organization, WHO, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan, Herat, U.S, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Qatar, Pakistan, Herat province, Kabul, Karachi

☆ At least 15 dead in Afghanistan earthquakes, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and 40 injured after multiple earthquakes struck western Afghanistan on Saturday, a disaster management official told Reuters. The quake registered a magnitude of 6.3, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, with subsequent quakes striking 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat. The casualty figures are based on primary reports from the Zinda Jan district of Herat province, said Mullah Jan Sayeq, spokesperson for Afghanistan's ministry of disaster management. He added that the earthquakes had also shaken the provinces of Farah and Badghis, where there are reports of widespread damage to houses, but no details about casualties there yet. Emergency teams and volunteers are preparing to go Herat and help victims, Erfanullah Sharafzoi, spokesperson for the Afghan Red Crescent said.

Persons: Jan Sayeq, Erfanullah Sharafzoi, Crescent, Naseema, Rishabh, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Giban Peshimam, Edwina Gibbs, William Mallard Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Geological Survey, Afghan, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan, U.S, Herat, Herat province, Farah, Badghis, Bengaluru, Kabul

Details of how the Taliban intend to expand and manage mass surveillance, including obtaining the U.S. plan, have not been previously reported. "At the present we are working on a Kabul security map, which is (being completed) by security experts and (is taking) lots of time," he said. The Taliban strongly denies that an upgraded surveillance system would breach the rights of Afghans. A July U.N. monitoring report said there were up to 6,000 Islamic State fighters and their family members in Afghanistan. The Afghan "home base" locations of Islamic State fighters are in the eastern mountainous areas, said Schroden.

Persons: Ali Khara, Abdul Mateen Qani, Washington, didn't, Qani, Amrullah Saleh, Saleh, Jonathan Schroden, Matt Mahmoudi, ETIM, ETIM couldn't, Afghanistan Thomas West, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte, Jonathan Landay, David Kirton, Liz Lee, Katerina Ang Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Islamic, Huawei, U.S, of Interior, Reuters, U.S.A, U.S State Department, RIC, Bloomberg News, Foreign Ministry, NATO, Center for Naval, Protect Journalists, Taliban, Amnesty International, East Turkestan Islamic, Security, Special, State, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: China, Kabul, Afghanistan, Rights KABUL, Islamic State, —, Turkey, Turkish, Pakistan, United States, East Turkestan, Xinjiang, State, Russian, Charlotte Greenfield, Islamabad, Washington, Shenzhen, Beijing, Ankara

PESHAWAR/KABUL, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The main Afghanistan-Pakistan land border crossing reopened on Friday after being closed for nine days following firing between guards on both sides, a senior Pakistani official told Reuters. Thousands of travellers and hundreds of trucks laden with goods were left stranded last week by the closure the Torkham border crossing, at the western end of the fabled Khyber Pass. Spokespersons for Pakistan's foreign ministry and the Afghan authorities in Nangarhar province confirmed the reopening of the crossing. "The border closure was causing huge losses to traders and common people of the two neighbouring countries," Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry said. The Taliban foreign ministry criticised the closure of the crossing and said Pakistan security forces had fired on its border guards as they fixed an old security outpost.

Persons: It's, Abdul Nasir Khan, Torkham, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Mushtaq Ali, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Gibran Peshimam, Tom Hogue, Gerry Doyle, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Reuters, Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Thomson Locations: PESHAWAR, KABUL, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Pakistan's Khyber, Nangarhar province, Pakistani, Peshawar, Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Kabul, Torkham

☆ Afghan Taliban criticises closure of main border crossing with Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Trucks loaded with supplies to leave for Afghanistan are seen stranded at the Michni checkpost, after the main Pakistan-Afghan border crossing closed after clashes, in Torkham, Pakistan September 7, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsKABUL, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban criticised the closure of its main border crossing with Pakistan this week after clashes between security forces, saying the halt in trade would see heavy losses for businesses. The busy Torkham border crossing closed on Wednesday after Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces started firing at each other, according to local officials. The statement said the incident had started after Pakistani security forces fired at Afghan Taliban forces fixing an old security outpost near the border. Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (1,615 mile) border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte Greenfield, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Afghan Taliban, Taliban administration's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thomson Locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Afghan, Torkham, Rights KABUL, Islamic Emirate

[1/4] Taliban soldiers stand guard at the second-anniversary ceremony of the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023. Taliban parades were expected through the day and several departments, including the education ministry, held gatherings to celebrate. For many women, who enjoyed extensive rights and freedoms during the two decades of rule by Western-backed governments, their plight has become dire since the return of the Taliban. OBSTACLE TO RECOGNITIONGirls over the age of 12 have been mostly excluded from classes since the Taliban returned to power. For many Western governments, the ban is a major obstacle to any hope of formal recognition of the Taliban administration.

Persons: Ali Khara, Ashraf Ghani, Zabihullah Mujahid, Mujahid, It's, Amina Mohammed, Matiullah, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Taliban, Islamic, U.S . Federal Reserve Bank of New, Swiss, Thomson Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, Ali Khara KABUL, U.S, Western, U.S . Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Charlotte Greenfield, Islamabad

☆ Taliban halt Swedish activities in Afghanistan after Koran burning
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, July 11 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration said on Tuesday all activities by Sweden in Afghanistan must stop after the burning of the Koran outside a mosque in the Swedish capital last month. The order was likely to affect the Swedish non-governmental organisation, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, which has thousands of aid workers at work throughout the country in health, education and rural development. An Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque last month, causing outrage in the Muslim world. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Taliban order. The Taliban administration did not provide details on which organisations would be affected.

Persons: Zabiullah Mujahid, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte Greenfield, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Swedish Committee, United, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Sweden, Afghanistan, Swedish, Emirate, Iraqi, Stockholm

☆ Taliban administration orders beauty salons in Afghanistan to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, July 4 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered beauty salons to close within a month, the morality ministry said, in the latest shrinking of access to public places for Afghan women. Foreign governments and U.N. officials have condemned growing restrictions on women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 after defeating a U.S.-backed government as foreign forces withdrew. Many public places including bathhouses, gyms and parks have been closed to women. Western government and international organisations have signalled that restrictions on women are hampering any possible progress to international recognition for the Taliban administration. The administration says it respects women's rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs.

Persons: Mohammad Sadiq Akif, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte Greenfield, Robert Birsel Organizations: Ministry, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan, U.S, Kabul, United States

☆ Taliban official letter reinforces bar of female aid staff in southern Kandahar
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, June 23 (Reuters) - Taliban authorities in Afghanistan's Kandahar province ordered female aid workers this week to stop work on a refugee project, according to an official letter, reinforcing rules against women working despite exemptions sought by some organisations. The letter underscored the uncertainty of the operating environment in Afghanistan for aid agencies who say they intend to stay and deliver aid during a humanitarian crisis but seek exemptions to let female staff work, to reach female beneficiaries and avoid breaching UN charter principles. The Taliban administration signalled in January it would work on a set of written guidelines that could allow aid groups to operate with female staff in some cases, but it has not yet done so. The Norwegian Refugee Council, an international NGO, in May said it had received exemptions for many of its operations in Kandahar and was resuming work with female staff. The Taliban's restrictions on women aid workers and access to education have been widely criticized by the international community.

Persons: Haibatullah Akhundzada, Charlotte Greenfield, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Peter Graff Organizations: Reuters, Department of Refugees, United Nations, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, Diplomats, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan's Kandahar, Kandahar, Spin, Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States

☆ Sixty Afghan girls hospitalised after school poisoning - police
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, June 5 (Reuters) - Around 60 Afghan girls were hospitalisd after being poisoned at their school in nothern Afghanistan, police said on Monday. The poisoning, which targeted a girls' school in the Afghan province of Sar-e Pol, comes after intense scrutiny of girls' education in the war-torn nation since the Taliban took over and barred most teenage female students and after a wave of poison attacks on girls' schools in neighbouring Iran. "Some unknown people entered a girls' ... school in Sancharak District .. and poisoned the classes, when the girls come to classes they got poisoned," said Den Mohammad Nazari, Sar-e-Pol's police spokesperson, without elaborating on which substance was used or who was thought to be behind the incident. In neighbouring Iran, poiosoning incidents at girls' schools sickened an estimated 13,000 mostly female students since November. During Afghanistan's previous foreign-backed government, several poisoning attacks, including suspected gas attacks, on girls' schools had taken place.

Persons: Den Mohammad Nazari, Nazari, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte Greenfield, Stephen Coates Organizations: Thomson Locations: KABUL, nothern Afghanistan, Afghan, Sar, Iran, Sancharak District

☆ At least three killed in clash on Iran-Afghan border
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, May 27 (Reuters) - Two Iranian border guards and one Taliban fighter were killed after shooting broke out near a border post between Iran and Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman and Iran's state media said on Saturday. "Today, in Nimroz province, Iranian border forces fired toward Afghanistan, which was met with a counter-reaction," spokesman for the Taliban-run interior ministry, Abdul Nafi Takor, said in a statement. He said one person had been killed on each side and several injured, though Iran's official IRNA news agency later said two Iranian border guards had been killed and two Iranian civilians injured. Following the clash, Iranian authorities closed the Milak – Zaranj border post, a major commercial crossing - and not the site of the clash - until further notice, IRNA said. Iran's border guards said in a statement they had "used their superior heavy fire to inflict casualties and serious damage", IRNA reported, without giving details.

☆ Taliban ban on Afghan women working for U.N. an 'internal' issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A group of women wearing burqas crosses the street as members of the Taliban drive past in Kabul, Afghanistan October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File PhotoKABUL, April 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban administration has said forbidding Afghan women from working for the United Nations was an "internal issue," after the global organisation expressed alarm at the decision and said it would review its operations there. On Tuesday, the U.N. Mission to Afghanistan said the Taliban administration would be responsible for any negative humanitarian impacts stemming from the ban. Taliban authorities in December said most Afghan female NGO workers would not be allowed to work. The U.N. humanitarian agency has said a huge funding plan for Afghanistan for 2023 is less than 5% funded.

☆ Taliban aim to boost Afghan security forces, anti-aircraft capacity -army chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In his remarks on Tuesday, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a Taliban commander from the northern region of Badakhshan and the chief of army staff, condemned incursions by foreign drones into Afghan airspace. Fitrat said a major defence focus was securing Afghan airspace against drones and other incursions. He also stopped short of naming Pakistan, against which the Taliban administration has regularly protested, accusing its neighbour of allowing drones to enter Afghanistan. Ties between the neighbours have occasionally been tense as as Pakistan has accused the Taliban administration of allowing Afghan territory to be used as a haven for militant groups. The Taliban administration denies allowing its territory to be used for attacks on others, however.

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