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☆ Taliban ban women from working for domestic, foreign NGOs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Taliban government on Saturday ordered all foreign and domestic non-governmental groups in Afghanistan to suspend employing women, allegedly because some female employees didn't wear the Islamic headscarf correctly. It was not immediately clear if the order applies to all women or only Afghan women working at the NGOs. More details were not immediately available on the latest Taliban ban amid concerns that it could be a stepping-stone to more restrictive measures against women in Afghanistan. Also Saturday, Taliban security forces used a water cannon to disperse women protesting the ban on university education for women in the western city of Herat, eyewitnesses said. Afghan women have since demonstrated in major cities against the ban, a rare sign of domestic protest since the Taliban seized power last year.

☆ Taliban orders NGOs to ban female employees from coming to work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGO) to stop female employees from coming to work, according to an economy ministry letter, in the latest crackdown on women's freedoms. The letter, confirmed by economy ministry spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib, said the female employees were not allowed to work until further notice because some had not adhered to the administration's interpretation of Islamic dresscode for women. It was not immediately clear whether the order applied to United Nations agencies, which have a large presence in Afghanistan. It comes days after the Taliban-run administration ordered universities to close to women, prompting strong global condemnation and sparking some protests and heavy criticism inside Afghanistan. Reporting by Kabul Newsroom Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taliban minister defends closing universities to women as global backlash grows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Female university students were turned away from campuses on Wednesday and the higher education ministry said their access would be suspended "until further notice". "They didn't observe Hijab (Islamic female dress code), they were coming with the clothes that mostly women wear to go to a wedding," he said. Dozens of women gathered outside Kabul University on Thursday to protest in the first major public demonstration in the capital since the decision. [1/4] Afghan women chant slogans in protest against the closure of universities to women by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 22, 2022. The backlash towards restrictions on female education is complicating the Taliban-led administration's efforts to gain formal recognition and the lifting of sanctions that are hampering the economy, diplomats say.

☆ Blinken calls on Afghan Taliban to reverse ban on women at universities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that the Taliban are trying to sentence Afghanistan's women "to a dark future without opportunity" by banning them from attending universities. Speaking in an end of the year news conference, Blinken said the Taliban-run administration will fail in its efforts to improve relations with the rest of the world unless the militants reverse the ban. "There are going to be costs if this is not reversed," he said of the ban announced on Tuesday. Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Humeyra PamukOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. in touch with allies over Taliban suspension of women from universities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - The United states is in touch with allies over the decision by Afghanistan's Taliban-run higher education ministry on Tuesday to suspend access to universities for female students until further notice, the White House said. "The United States condemns the Taliban's indefensible decision to prevent Afghan women from receiving a university-level education," National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. Reporting by Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: Afghan government officials helped smugglers sneak almost $1 billion in cash and gold out of Afghanistan as the US-backed government neared collapse, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Edris Lutfi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The office of Ashraf Ghani, the US-backed Afghan president, had been informed about the problem, insiders say. The smuggling flouted Afghan laws requiring travelers to declare cash or gold worth $10,000 or more and a strict ban on exporting $20,000 or more. The documents identify the two men as being part of the 2021 smuggling ring; they do not allege who was behind the $824 million smuggled in 2019 and 2020. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets with President Joe Biden in June 2021. The UAE is also the home of Ghani and Noor, the former provincial governor with alleged ties to the Hairatan smuggling ring.

Pakistani Taliban militants detained at the centre had snatched interrogators' weapons and taken them captive on Sunday. Asif did not say how many militants were killed or how many hostages they had held. Residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the centre on Tuesday as helicopters hovered overhead. The army operations forced the militants and their leaders to flee to neighbouring Afghan districts. There, Islamabad says, they set up training centres to plan and launch attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Afghan authorities deny.

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.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Islamist militants seized a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern Pakistani area of Bannu on Sunday and took hostages to negotiate with government authorities, officials said. One said about 15 militants took control of the centre after overpowering interrogators inside, grabbing their weapons and taking five or six of them hostage. Pakistan has been fighting an insurgency by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. A spokesman for the TTP did not immediately confirm or deny a link with the militants in the compound. Reporting Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Gibran PeshimamOur 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).

☆ Afghan journalists tell London court Britain has "betrayed debt of gratitude"
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Eight Afghan journalists who worked for the BBC and other British media organisations are challenging the British government's refusal to relocate them, arguing that they are at high risk of being killed by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. The journalists "worked alongside and in support of the British government's mission" in Afghanistan and put their lives at risk, their lawyers told London's High Court on Thursday. He added in written arguments that the Ministry of Defence’s decision that the journalists were not eligible under the government's Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) programme was unlawful. The journalists "were activists against the Taliban and participated in [government] media freedom campaigns, notwithstanding that they worked for independent bodies," Straw said. He added that all the eight journalists' applications under the ARAP programme were refused because they were not eligible for relocation under the policy.

☆ One dead as fresh clashes erupt between Afghan, Pakistani border forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Gul Yousafzai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Abdul Khaliq AchakzaiQUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Clashes erupted once again between the border forces of Afghanistan and Pakistan near the key Chaman-Spin Boldak border crossing on Thursday, resulting in one death and over a dozen injuries, Pakistani officials said. Thursday's fighting started when Pakistani forces repairing a portion of the border fence damaged during Sunday's clashes came under attack from the Afghan side of the frontier, a provincial official Balochistan, Zahid Saleem, told Reuters. Both sides blamed each other for instigating Sunday's clashes. Afghanistan's ministry of defence, run by the Taliban administration, said in a post on Twitter that Pakistani forces had opened fire first, and called for a resolution of the issue through negotiations. The police spokesman of the Afghan province of Kandahar did not reply to a Reuters request for comment on the casualties.

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.

☆ Six Pakistanis, one Afghan soldier killed in cross-border clash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Gul Yousafzai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Six Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier were killed on Sunday in cross border shelling and gunfire, according to officials on both sides of the frontier. Six civilians were killed and another 17 wounded on the Pakistani side by the Afghan fire, leading Pakistani troops to retaliate, the Pakistan military said in a statement. Afghan security sources said the clash started after Pakistani forces demanded Afghan forces stop building a new checkpost on their side of the border. Kandahar police spokesman Hafiz Saber said one Afghan soldier was killed and 10 other people, including three civilians, were injured. The busy Afghan border crossing at Chaman, used for trade and transit, was closed for some hours before reopening, officials on both sides said.

☆ 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.

☆ Afghanistan's Massoud urges elections to create legitimate government
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUSHANBE, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Only elections can lead Afghanistan out of political crisis, even if they legitimise Taliban rule, Afghan anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Massoud told a conference in Tajikistan on Wednesday. The most recent elections in Afghanistan were held under the U.S.-backed administration which the hardline Islamist Taliban deposed in August 2021 when Western troops withdrew. Domestic, regional and international consensus is needed to work out a general elections framework in Afghanistan, he said. "If the Taliban come to power through elections, (the Resistance Front) will accept that as they will have the authority from the people." The NRF groups opposition forces loyal to Massoud, son of the former anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

☆ The scramble to rearm Ukraine is transforming NATO in a way that would've been hard without Putin's help
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Rachel Nostrant | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

NATO countries have scrambled to rearm and resupply Ukraine as it fights off Russia's invasion. Troops from six NATO countries during a joint terminal attack controller training in Latvia on April 6. Germany has agreed to send some older hardware to countries that send their Soviet-made tanks and armored vehicles to Ukraine. Interoperability with weapons and alignment on tactics will also make it "veritably impossible for these countries to leave NATO," Banerjee added. "The weapons are from NATO, they're going to be from NATO, they will be back-built, and these components will be from NATO countries."

☆ Swiss-based trust fund for frozen Afghan assets meets in Geneva
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The board of a Swiss-based trust fund managing some $3.5 billion in frozen assets seized after the Taliban took power last year is meeting in Geneva for the first time on Monday, a Swiss government spokesperson confirmed. The frozen central bank reserves were recently transferred from Washington into the 'Fund for the Afghan People' where U.S. officials say it will be shielded from the Taliban. The fund's statutes says its purpose is to "receive, protect, preserve and disburse assets for the benefit of the Afghan people". The $3.5 billion forms part of an original $7 billion being held in the United States following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller, Anwar Ahady, a former Afghan central bank chief and former finance minister, and Shah Mehrabi, a U.S. academic who remains on the DAB Supreme Council.

The 2022 World Cup has been dogged by controversy since Qatar was announced as the first Middle East nation, and Gulf absolute monarchy, to host it. But a successful World Cup is far from guaranteed. Dorsey said Qatar could use a successful World Cup as a springboard to reform. "This is the first ever World Cup in the region. This is a big, big deal," said Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Centre at Qatar University.

☆ A failed war helped bring down the Soviet Union. Now Putin's failing war in Ukraine might set Russia up for a bleak future.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan and Russia's current war in Ukraine have obvious similarities in their disastrous planning and execution. In the 1990s, Afghanistan veterans' sense of aggrievement fused with that of veterans returning from Boris Yeltsin's war in Chechnya. Putin's war, Russia's futurePutin meets soldiers at a military training center outside the town of Ryazan in October. While glasnost-era revelations about the Soviet war shocked the country into supporting withdrawal, these days there is little left to expose. Public self-criticism surrounding the Soviet war in Afghanistan, however brief and contested, shows that reassessment of imperial ambitions is possible.

☆ Smith, Green in for injured skipper Finch and David for Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MELBOURNE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Steve Smith and Cameron Green will play their first matches of the Twenty20 World Cup in place of captain Aaron Finch and Tim David when Australia battle to stay in the tournament against Afghanistan on Friday. Opener Finch and middle order batsman David both suffered hamstring strains in Monday's victory over Ireland and were unable to prove their fitness in time for the Adelaide Oval clash. In Finch's absence, Matt Wade will captain Australia, who lost the toss and will bat first. Green, who came into the squad as an injury replacement for Josh Inglis, will open with David Warner, while Smith will bat at number four. Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A police officer stands guard near a passenger van, cordoned after a blast at the entrance of the Confucius Institute University of Karachi, Pakistan, April 26, 2022. Even though months have passed since the attack, Pakistani authorities remain deeply worried. Shortly afterwards, schoolteacher Shari Hayat Baloch, 30, is filmed walking in a park with her young son and daughter and later addressing the camera in combat fatigues. The Chinese officials supported Pakistan's counter-terrorism forces in areas such as CCTV footage enhancement and data retrieval from cell phones, the ministry said. On the day of the Karachi attack, Habitan, a dentist, tweeted that he was "beaming with pride" at what his wife had done.

☆ Afghan commandos that were trained by US Navy SEALs are being recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elite Afghan commandos are being contacted with offers to fight for Russia in Ukraine, reports Foreign Policy. One Afghan official said he believed Russia's mercenary Wagner Group is behind the recruitment drive. One former Afghan commando officer told Foreign Policy that he believed the shadowy Wagner Group was behind the recruitment drive. The Afghan Elite National Army Commando Corps, made up of 20,000 to 30,000 volunteers, was partly trained by US Navy SEALs and the British Special Air Service, per Foreign Policy. A former senior Afghan security official, speaking anonymously to Foreign Policy, said that the Afghan fighters "would be a game-changer" in the war.

☆ Russia's attack on Ukraine shows that the US and Europe have to relearn how to fight an industrial war
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Alexander Clarkson | World Politics Review | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The military effort to support Ukraine shows how US and European defense priorities have been distorted. The war is a reminder that the US and Europe must fundamentally reassess how they prepare for war. The military responses Western states formulated toward these perceived threats were shaped by wider neoliberal policy approaches shaped by the impact of globalization. This greater reliance on private-sector actors to develop and administer key military functions also reflected a period of tightening defense budgets. An airman secures a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition on an aircraft at Barksdale Air Force Base in August 2014.

☆ U.S. CIA's in-house museum adds new spy exhibits
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LANGLEY, Va., Sept 24 (Reuters) - They like to call it 'the greatest museum you'll never see.' Tucked away in the corridors of its Langley, Virginia, headquarters, the revamped Central Intelligence Agency museum – while still closed to the public – is revealing some newly declassified artifacts from the spy agency's most storied operations since its founding 75 years ago. The hundreds of museum items, some of which have been on display since the 1980s, are all declassified. Neises said the agency does from time to time loan some to presidential libraries and other non-profit museums. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Michael Martina Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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