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[1/3] Sister of Amrullah, a child who died due to cold, stands at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan, January 30, 2023. They took baby Amrullah to hospital around two weeks ago for coughing and congested lungs. "The night that I lost my baby it was terribly cold, I was trying to… warm my baby boy, but I couldn't succeed," she said. "I am ... always thinking of my baby boy and my two other small children, they are also sick, I don't want to lose them as well," she said. "May God spare other mothers the pain of losing their children," Shamila said, by the rock marking his grave.

☆ Pakistan govt lifts petrol, diesel prices by 35 rupees a litre
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pakistan's ministry of finance announced on Sunday petrol and diesel prices would rise by 35 rupees ($0.1400) a litre after the country's currency value plummeted this week when price caps were removed. "We will have to take the rise in international oil prices and the devaluation of the rupee into account," he said. The day before, Reuters witnesses reported some petrol stations had long lines outside as residents filled their tanks due to speculation that prices would soon rise. Pakistan is in the midst of a balance of payments crisis and the plummeting value of the Pakistani rupee will push up the price of imported goods. ($1 = 250.0000 Pakistani rupees)Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At least 10 children killed in Pakistan as boat capsizes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Jan 29 (Reuters) - At least 10 children were killed on Sunday when a boat carrying religious school students capsized in northwest Pakistan, officials said. Around eight students were still missing while seven injured had been taken to hospital, according to local officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the accident took place. Kohat's district commissioner Mahmood Aslam said around 50 students from a local religious school, had gathered near Tanda lake for a picnic. Twenty-five had ventured out on the water - which was closed by authorities for recreational trips - on a boat that capsized, he said. The accident came the same day as a bus accident in southern Pakistan that killed more than 40 people.

☆ Bus crash in southern Pakistan kills at least 41
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 29 (Reuters) - More than 40 people were killed after a bus fell into a ravine and caught fire in the southern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Sunday, officials said. Forty-one bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, some burned beyond recognition, district police officer Israr Umrani told Reuters. The bus carrying around 48 people crashed on the way from Balochistan's capital of Quetta to the southern city of Karachi, officials said. Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads in many rural areas are in poor condition. At least 22 people were killed in June, including nine members of one family when a passenger van fell into deep ravine in Balochistan.

☆ Afghan female students not allowed to sit university entrance exam
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Taliban-run Ministry of Higher Education ordered private universities in Afghanistan not to allow female students to sit university entrance exams next month, underscoring its policy to restrict women from tertiary education. A letter from the ministry was addressed to institutions in Afghanistan's northern provinces, including Kabul, where exams are due to take place from the end of February. The letter said those institutions that did not observe the rules would face legal action. The Higher Education Ministry in December told universities not to allow female students "until further notice". Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ More than 160 Afghans die in bitterly cold weather
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"162 people have died due to cold weather since January 10 until now," said Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Minister of Disaster Management. Nearby, 30-year-old shopkeeper Ashour Ali lives with his family in a concrete basement, where his five children shiver from cold. "This year, the weather is extremely cold and we couldn't buy coal for ourselves," he said, adding the small amount he makes from his shop was no longer enough for fuel. "The children wake up from the cold and cry at night until the morning. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.N. aid chief asks Taliban authorities for more exemptions to female NGO worker ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. aid chief said on Wednesday the humanitarian community was speaking with Taliban officials to try and gain further exemptions and written guidelines to allow some female aid workers to operate despite a ban on women NGO staff. Taliban authorities ordered NGOs, many of whom carry out operations for the United Nations, to stop most female staff working last month. Griffiths said some exemptions to the ban had been granted in health and education and they were hearing signs of a possible exemption in agriculture. A spokesperson for the Taliban administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its plans over guidelines. "It's very important to engage with the Taliban movement as a whole, that includes ... Kandahar, and also with Taliban at the provincial levels," he said.

☆ U.N. aid chief raises women's rights concerns with Taliban in Afghan capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The United Nations' aid chief visited Kabul on Monday and raised concerns over women's education and work with the Taliban administration's acting minister of foreign affairs, an Afghan ministry statement said. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths raised the issue of women's education and work and how this affected the U.N.'s operations, according to a ministry of foreign affairs statement. He said Griffiths would "underscore the message that humanitarian aid cannot be delivered without women." No foreign government has formally recognised the Taliban administration since it seized power, with some diplomats saying it must change course on women's rights. Enforcement of sanctions and a cut in development aid have contributed to the country falling into an economic crisis which has left more than half the population dependent on humanitarian aid, aimed at meeting urgent needs.

☆ Deputy U.N. chief pushes women's rights during visit to Taliban heartland
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed expressed alarm to Taliban officials in Kandahar over violations of women's rights in Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Friday after she made a rare visit to the Taliban's southern heartland. Mohammed finished a four-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday, also meeting Taliban officials in the capital Kabul after the administration banned most female aid workers and stopped women and girls from attending high school and university. The U.N. General Assembly last month postponed for the second time a decision on whether the Taliban administration can send an ambassador to New York. Dozens of Taliban leaders are also subject to U.N. sanctions. No government has formally recognized the Taliban administration since it seized power in August 2021.

☆ Freezing temperatures kill 78 people in Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Jan 19 (Reuters) - At least 78 people have died of cold in Afghanistan during the country's worst winter in more than a decade, authorities said on Thursday. The coldest winter in 15 years, which has seen temperatures dip as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29.2 degrees Fahrenheit), has hit Afghanistan in the middle of a severe economic crisis. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said last week that the restrictions on female workers were hampering efforts to deliver aid. "Humanitarian partners are providing winterization support to families, including heating, cash for fuel and warm clothes, but distributions have been severely impacted by the ... ban on female NGO aid workers," it said. "Lost livelihoods and assets further endanger Afghan families at a time when 21.2 million people urgently need continued food and agricultural support," said UNOCHA on Twitter.

☆ Deputy U.N. chief has talks in Afghanistan on women's rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations deputy secretary-general discussed women's rights with Afghanistan's acting foreign minister on Wednesday after the Taliban authorities banned most female aid workers and stopped women and girls from attending high school and university. Amina Mohammed has also met with U.N. staff, aid groups and Afghan women "to take stock of the situation, convey solidarity, and discuss ways to promote and protect women's and girls rights," deputy U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York. In those talks, Mohammed "stressed the need to uphold human rights, especially for women and girls" and was "encouraged by exemptions" to the ban on female aid workers, Haq said. The Taliban administration on Dec. 24 ordered local and foreign aid organisations to stop female staff from working until further notice, days after it banned women from universities. Many aid groups, some of whom carry out humanitarian work under contracts with the United Nations, stopped operations following the ban.

☆ Aid groups resume some Afghan operations with female healthworkers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Taliban administration last month ordered local and foreign aid organisations to stop letting female staff work until further notice. Many NGOs suspended operations in response, saying they needed female workers to reach women in the conservative country. "Last week, the Ministry of Public Health offered assurances that female health staff, and those working in office support roles, can resume working. A spokesperson the Afghan Ministry of Public Health told Reuters that they had not stopped any health-related activities. "Due to a misunderstanding they stopped their health services and now they have restarted their health services," he told Reuters.

☆ Former female Afghan MP shot dead in Kabul - police
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A former female member of Afghanistan's parliament has been killed by unknown gunmen at her home in Kabul, police said. Mursal Nabizada and her guard were shot dead and her brother was injured in Sunday's attack, police said. "The security forces have started a serious investigation regarding the case to find the criminals," police said in a statement. Nabizada had been a lawmaker until the Taliban took over as foreign forces withdrew in 2021, when many politicians fled the country. Nabizada had been elected as a member of the lower house of parliament in 2018 to represent Kabul, according to local broadcaster Tolo.

☆ Taliban criticises Prince Harry over Afghan killings comment
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Harry's highly personal book "Spare" went on sale in Spain days before its global launch on Jan. 10. When asked about Harry's comments, a spokesperson for Britain's Ministry of Defence said: "We do not comment on operational details for security reasons." Representatives of Prince Harry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As is usual for the royal family, spokespeople for King Charles and Prince William have declined to comment. Some of those who were willing to talk said they thought Harry had gone too far.

[1/5] A doctor visits patients in a hospital following an increase in the number of pneumonia cases in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 17, 2022. Every time 10-month old Rahmat's parents bring him home from the crowded, but warmer hospital, they say he gets sick again. Doctors and aid workers say thousands of children are being admitted to hospital with pneumonia and other respiratory diseases caused by the cold and malnutrition. Hospital figures showed more than 6,7000 children were admitted in November for pneumonia, coughs, asthma and other respiratory conditions, compared to around 3,700 the same month the previous year. In a ward dedicated to pneumonia patients at the hospital, babies lay two or three to a bed, with worried parents and a handful of stretched medical staff overseeing them.

☆ Afghanistan's Taliban administration in oil extraction deal with Chinese company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration is to sign a contract with a Chinese company to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin in the country's north, the acting mining minister said on Thursday. It will be the first major public commodities extraction deal the Taliban administration has signed with an foreign company since taking power in 2021. "The Amu Darya oil contract is an important project between China and Afghanistan," China's ambassador, Wang Yu, told the news conference. China has not formally recognised the Taliban administration but it has significant interests in a country at the centre of a region important for its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. The Chinese company will invest $150 million a year in Afghanistan under the contract, the spokesperson for the Taliban-run administration, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Twitter.

☆ Taliban seeks economic self-sufficiency and foreign investment for Afghanistan, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration will encourage self-sufficiency and wants international trade and investment, the acting commerce minister said, as Afghanistan faces isolation and suspension of some humanitarian operations over restrictions on women. Another part of their strategy was to boost trade and foreign investment, he said. He said that countries including Iran, Russia and China were interested in trade and investment. Already facing a lack of formal recognition and sanctions hampering the country's banking sector, investors are faced with growing security concerns after attacks on foreign targets in Kabul, claimed by the Islamic State. He added that foreign investors were showing interest in Afghanistan's mining sector, which has been valued at more than $1 trillion.

☆ Female students turned away from Afghan universities after Taliban ban
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Female university students in Afghanistan were turned away from campuses on Wednesday after the Taliban-run administration said women would be suspended from tertiary education. A professor at another university in Kabul who declined to be identified said staff turned female students away at the gate as they had no choice but to implement the instruction. The bar on women students is likely to complicate the Taliban administration's efforts to gain international recognition and to get rid of sanctions that are severely hampering the economy. Several Taliban officials, including the deputy foreign minister and administration spokesperson, have spoken out in favour of female education in recent months. The Taliban administration has said it is working on a plan for girls' secondary education but has not given a time frame.

KABUL, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban-run Afghan higher education ministry said on Tuesday that female students would not be allowed access to the country's universities until further notice. A letter, confirmed by a spokesperson for the higher education ministry, instructed Afghan public and private universities to suspend access to female students immediately, in accordance with a Cabinet decision. The latest Taliban restriction on female education is likely to raise concerns in the international community, which has not officially recognised the de facto administration. The decision came as many university students are sitting end of term exams. Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Accident in Afghanistan's Salang Tunnel kills at least 12
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Dec 18 (Reuters) - An accident in the landmark Salang alpine tunnel that connects Afghanistan's capital to its north killed at least 12 people and injured dozens, authorities said on Sunday. Thirty-seven people were injured in the accident in Salang Tunnel, located about 90 km (56 miles) north of Kabul, according to Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban-run administration. Local broadcaster Tolo, citing the Ministry of Public Works, said a fuel truck had overturned and caught fire in the tunnel on Saturday night. The blaze had been extinguished on Sunday but the tunnel was closed to traffic and casualties could rise, according to the Ministry spokesperson. The 2.6 km (1.6 mile) long Soviet-built tunnel is a historic engineering feat that links Kabul and Afghanistan's north, connecting the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia through a treacherous mountain pass at 3,400 metres (11,000 feet).

But other potential Chinese investors were less sure. Most investors had decided to head home ahead of Chinese New Year, said Yu. GUNFIRE, PANICNews of the hotel attack spread fast to the investors running China Town - a cluster of 10-storey blocks about 20 minutes drive away, overlooked by snow-topped mountains. After security forces secured the hotel, Yu got through to some of the guests by phone. In all, about 35 Chinese investors were in the hotel, he said - about a third of the number he estimated were in Afghanistan at the time.

☆ Taliban publicly execute man accused of murder, senior officials attend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration on Wednesday put to death a man accused of murder in western Afghanistan, its spokesperson said, in the first officially confirmed public execution since the group took over the country last year. The execution in western Farah province was of a man accused of stabbing another man to death in 2017, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said, and was attended by senior officials of the group. The execution was carried out by the father of the victim, who shot the man three times, Mujahid added in a later statement. More than a dozen senior Taliban officials attended the execution, Mujahid said, including acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, and acting deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, as well as the country's chief justice, acting foreign minister and acting education minister. Public lashings and executions by stoning took place under the previous 1996-2001 rule of the Taliban.

☆ Taliban acting defence minister holds talks with UAE president
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with Afghanistan's Acting Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob at Al-Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates December 4, 2022. Ryan Carter/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERSKABUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The acting defence minister of the Afghan Taliban has met the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, for talks in Abu Dhabi on strengthening relations, his ministry and UAE state media reported on Monday. The acting defence minister, Mullah Yaqoob, is the son of the late supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, and the meeting with the UAE president is a rare encounter between a senior member of the group and a foreign head of state. The UAE news agency released photographs of the talks that showed another senior Taliban figure, Anas Haqqani, was present at the talks. The meeting with the UAE president comes after the Taliban, in September, signed a final contract for running Afghanistan's airports with the UAE company GAAC Holding, which had beat out rival bids from Qatar and Turkey.

☆ Ambush claimed by Pakistani Taliban kills three police officers in northern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for a gun ambush that killed three police officers in northern Pakistan, the second attack claimed by the group just days after it announced an end to a ceasefire with the government. He said three police officers were killed on the spot and the identity of the attackers was unknown. The militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year. The Pakistan army has conducted several operations against the militants in their strongholds in lawless districts along Afghan border in recent months.

☆ Pakistan's new army chief says will defend "motherland" during visit to disputed Kashmir
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 3 (Reuters) - Pakistan's new army chief on Saturday said the military was ready to defend "every inch of our motherland" if attacked, during a visit to the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed Kashmir region, which is claimed by both Pakistan and neighbouring India. The visit came less than a week since General Asim Munir took charge of Pakistan's powerful military, and were among his strongest public statements on arch-rival India since taking up the role. The two South Asian nuclear powers both claim the Kashmir region in full, but rule only parts, and have fought two of their three wars over the area. Since early 2021, the LoC has been mostly quiet, following the renewal of a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan. Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield Editing by Ros RussellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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