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☆ 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.

☆ The Clash of Civilizations That Heralded a Rocky Relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Abhishek Kaicker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Das, a professor of English at Oxford University, is the rare scholar who combines a sensitivity to the literature of Jacobean England with a sympathetic and nuanced understanding of the Mughal empire. In Das’s telling, Roe was not a herald of the Company Raj to come as much as a product of 17th-century England, an island nation whose commercial ambitions were beginning to overshadow its royal court. Conflicts over precedence did nothing to advance his mission of securing trade rights, which was the real reason Roe had been sent across the Indian Ocean. The Mughal emperor Jahangir suffered neither James I’s financial embarrassments nor accorded much privilege to traders. Indeed, the court’s sumptuous ceremonies led “mogul” to become a byword for fantastical wealth and overwhelming power.

A different report containing classified material will be shared with members of Congress, which comes in response to requests from congressional committees, the White House said. "President Biden's choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor," the report said. But the Trump administration "provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies," the White House said. "No agency predicted a Taliban takeover in nine days," Kirby told reporters at the White House press briefing. Many critics of the withdrawal — including lawmakers from both parties — faulted the Biden administration for how it handled the pullout.

☆ Biden report on Afghanistan blames Trump for degraded US operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Biden inherited a depleted operation in Afghanistan from Trump that crippled its response, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters in a press conference on Thursday. Biden was left with a stark choice - withdraw all U.S. forces, or resume fighting with the Taliban. The Taliban overran Afghanistan in August 2021 as the former Western-backed government in Kabul collapsed with surprising speed and the last U.S. troops withdrew. Under Biden's Republican predecessor Trump, the U.S. made a deal with the Islamist Taliban to withdraw all American forces. Reporting by Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Tim Ahmann, David Gregorio and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

UNITED NATIONS/KABUL, April 5 (Reuters) - U.N. chief Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday a ban by Afghanistan's Taliban authorities on Afghan women working for the United Nations, calling it "an intolerable violation of the most basic human rights" that should be immediately revoked. The United Nations has told some 3,300 Afghan staff - of which about 400 are female - not to report to their offices until further notice for security reasons. "Banning Afghan women from working with the U.N. in Afghanistan is an intolerable violation of the most basic human rights," Guterres posted on Twitter. Top U.N. officials in Kabul met with the Acting Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi on Wednesday after the Taliban authorities signaled on Tuesday that they would enforce a ban on Afghan women working for the world body. So far it is only 5% funded and the United Nations says nearly three-quarters of the country's 40 million people need help.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would view any ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations in their country as "unacceptable and, frankly, inconceivable", he said. The restrictions did not initially apply to the United Nations and some other international organisations. In January, the U.N Deputy Secretary-General flagged concerns that authorities could next restrict Afghan women working at international organisations. It was not immediately clear whether foreign embassies in Kabul had received similar instructions on female staff. Article 8 of its governing charter requires the U.N. not to place any restrictions on men and women working for U.N. agencies.

☆ UN tells Afghan staff not to work for 48 hours - UN sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

UNITED NATIONS/KABUL, April 4 (Reuters) - The United Nations has told all Afghan staff not to report to work in Afghanistan for 48 hours for security reasons while it seeks additional information from the Taliban authorities about a ban on Afghan women working for the world body, U.N. sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Reporting by Michelle Nichols at UN and Charlotte Greenfield in Kabul; Editing byDoina Chiacu;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Taliban has detained a British influencer who says he travels to 'dark' and 'extreme' places for fun
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Taliban has detained a British man who says he likes to travel to extreme places for fun. The Taliban has not given details publicly about why they detained Routledge. Miles Routledge, 23, has posted on YouTube and Twitter about his travels in dangerous places, including in parts of Afghanistan. According to the BBC, in unrelated incidents, the Taliban also detained 53-year-old Kevin Cornwell, who is a British paramedic working for a charity. The Telegraph reported that the Taliban detained Routledge on or around March 2, alongside two Polish nationals.

☆ Three British men being held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan, Sky News reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 1 (Reuters) - Three British men are being held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan, including so-called "danger tourist" Miles Routledge, Sky News reported on Saturday. The other two men are charity medic Kevin Cornwell and another unidentified UK national who manages a hotel in Kabul, the report said. "We are working hard to secure consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families," a spokesperson for Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Reuters in a statement, but did not confirm the details of the British nationals. Routledge has gained fame, and attracted controversy, by travelling to dangerous countries and posting about it online. Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath and Rahat Sandhu in Bengaluru Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Republican-Led Panel Issues Subpoena to State Department for Afghanistan Dissent Cable
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Vivian Salama | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A U.S. military helicopter above the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on the day the Taliban took over. WASHINGTON—The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a subpoena to the State Department for a 2021 dissent cable in which diplomats with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul called for a hastened evacuation and warned that the Taliban’s takeover of the Afghan capital was imminent. In a statement late Monday, committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R., Texas) said the panel made “multiple good faith attempts” to obtain the cable, adding “unfortunately, Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee.”

☆ US House committee chair signs subpoena for State Dept Afghanistan documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Anna VoitenkoMarch 27 (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday said he signed a subpoena to be delivered to Secretary of State Antony Blinken for documents related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Michael McCaul has launched an investigation into the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan under Democratic President Joe Biden and events in the country since. McCaul has given the State Department until Monday to produce the documents. "Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee," McCaul said in a statement. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on Monday evening.

☆ U.S. House committee chair signs subpoena for State Department Afghanistan documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

People queue up to board a military aircraft of the United States and leave Kabul at Kabul airport, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2021. The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said on Monday he signed a subpoena to be delivered to Secretary of State Antony Blinken for documents related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Michael McCaul has launched an investigation into the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan under Democratic President Joe Biden and events in the country since. Republicans — and some Democrats — say there has never been a full accounting of the chaotic operation, in which 13 U.S. service members were killed at Kabul's airport. McCaul had given the State Department until Monday to produce the documents.

☆ The Taliban posted photos of hundreds of US military vehicles it said were abandoned in the chaotic pullout of Afghanistan and now form part of its army
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Taliban posted pictures of hundreds of military vehicles abandoned by the US. The US abandoned the equipment in its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban now claims to have repaired the vehicles and is using them. It showcased seized US military vehicles in a parade in Kabul in 2021, Reuters said. Retired US Central Command head Gen Kenneth McKenzie said in 2021 that 70 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles were abandoned in Afghanistan, along with 27 Humvees, according to the BBC.

After nearly two decades of Western-led intervention and engagement with the world, 18% of the population had internet access, according to the World Bank. "For girls in Afghanistan, we have a bad, awful internet problem," Sofia said. "It's too hard to access internet in Afghanistan and sometimes we have half an hour of power in 24 hours." Seattle-based Ookla, which compiles global internet speeds, put Afghanistan's mobile internet as the slowest of 137 countries and its fixed internet as the second slowest of 180 countries. She was working with international companies to find solutions to poor internet access but said she could not elaborate.

☆ Afghan Bromand keeps alive her Olympic dream in exile
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Amlan Chakraborty | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Afghan boxer Sadia Bromand poses for a photograph, after her interview with Reuters, at a hotel on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, March 22, 2023. A series of reports in 2019 on the sexual abuse of Afghan female footballers made her parents fear for her safety. Once the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021, returning home ceased to be an option for the lone Afghan boxer who is attending the women's world championships in the Indian capital. Bromand was forced into exile to hold on to her dream of becoming the first Afghan female boxer to compete in the Olympics. Bromand says she is regularly contacted by Afghan girls who want to play sport and seek help either to train in Afghanistan or leave.

And I'm prepared to serve this," Representative Michael McCaul told Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he testified to the committee about the department's budget request. McCaul has launched an investigation into the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and events in the country since. McCaul sent a letter to Blinken this week requesting the information before Thursday. Blinken responded at Thursday's hearing that the department is working to provide as much information as possible. Blinken told the committee that several Americans were being held in Afghanistan, but they were not being identified at their families' request.

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee threatened to issue a subpoena if the State Department does not produce documents it has requested related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the committee said on Tuesday. Representative Michael McCaul sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken requesting the information before Blinken's testimony to the committee on Thursday. Blinken is due to testify to congressional committees in both the Senate and House this week. Republicans have launched a series of investigations of Democratic President Joe Biden's administration since they took control of the House in January. Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Simon Lewis; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taliban Leader Faces Blowback Over Girls’ School Ban—From His Own Movement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Saeed Shah | Photographs Elise Blanchard For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KABUL—A year ago, the Taliban’s supreme leader revived the Taliban’s signature policy from the 1990s and banned girls from attending secondary school. Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is discovering that it is one thing to issue a fiat, and quite another to enforce it in an Afghanistan that has changed dramatically since the Taliban last ruled. The reclusive leader is coming under intense pressure even from within his own movement to reverse it, a clash that is spilling into the open as the new school year begins this week.

☆ Earthquake of magnitude 6.5 hits northern Afghanistan, killing at least 3
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, March 21 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan on Tuesday evening, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, killing two in the east of the country and one child in neighbouring Pakistan. The tremor was very deep, 194 km (120.5 miles), and its epicentre was in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the remote northern Afghan province of Badakhshan. A spokesperson for Red Cross said they had no immediate reports of damages from Badakhshan's capital but were making checks on other areas. "We felt a strong earthquake, according to primary information the main place (affected) was Yamgan District," he said. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed over 1,000 people last year.

☆ U.S. Human Rights Report Cites Allies and Adversaries
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Vivian Salama | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Women in Afghanistan protested for more rights outside the education ministry in Kabul last year. WASHINGTON—U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Pakistan are among the countries cited by the State Department as committing serious human rights violations in a new report aimed at advocating for democratic practices around the world. The 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released Monday, provides a detailed record of violations and abuses of persons in marginalized communities, some of whom also suffer disproportionately from economic inequality, climate change, migration, food insecurity and other global challenges.

An Insider review found that his company has sold to foreign governments, including a $228 million dollar contract. What Mills didn't advertise was Pacem's munitions contracts with foreign governments. The company's chief legal officer Joseph Schmitz said all of Pacem's foreign munitions sales are approved by the Department of State. Mills's influence over American military spending while having ties to a munitions company poses the potential for conflicts of interest, an ethics watchdog said. In Congress, Mills sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, which oversee military spending and foreign weapons sales.

☆ A top US general warns ISIS will be able to strike Western interests from Afghanistan within 6 months
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ISIS could strike Western interests from Afghanistan within months, a top US general says. Gen. Michael Kurilla warned the terror group's Afghanistan affiliate could stage attacks abroad. Its "ultimate goal" is to strike the US homeland, Kurilla told lawmakers, which would be difficult. The terror group continued to carry out attacks across Afghanistan in 2022 — targeting everything from schools to mosques, and killing scores of people. In the latter two countries, US and partner forces have carried out nearly 100 operations against the terror group since the start of 2023, according to CENTCOM fact sheets.

☆ More than 2,000 Afghan evacuees in detention in UAE - Human Rights Watch
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused Emirati authorities of arbitrarily detaining for more than 15 months as many as 2,700 Afghan evacuees who have no legal pathways to refugee status or resettlement elsewhere. Many of those housed in Emirates Humanitarian City are suffering from depression and other psychological ailments, have no access to legal counsel, and have inadequate educational services for their children, a Human Rights Watch report said. The report said Human Rights Watch received no responses to requests for comment from the UAE ministries of interior and foreign affairs. Emirati officials previously have said the UAE offered to temporarily host thousands of Afghan refugees evacuated after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021. "Emirati authorities have kept thousands of Afghan asylum seekers locked up for over 15 months in cramped, miserable conditions with no hope of progress on their cases," said Joey Shea, Human Rights Watch's UAE researcher.

☆ Blast at Afghanistan journalist event kills at least one, injures eight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, March 11 (Reuters) - A blast hit a cultural centre during an event for journalists in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding eight, according to authorities and journalists, a few days after the province's governor died in an explosion claimed by Islamic State. Takor added that five journalists and three children were among the injured and a security guard was killed. Sajad Mosawi, a journalist in Balkh who was injured in the blast, said it had torn through the centre during an event to celebrate journalists. Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed provincial governor Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil and two others at his office on Thursday. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by William Mallard and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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