"taliban"

Kabul: The Taliban will allow girls to return to class when high schools open on March 22, ending the uncertainty over whether the Islamic group would allow full access to education for girls. Since the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August last year, it had barred girls from going to schools across Afghanistan. […]

New Delhi: Members of the Afghan Sikh-Hindu delegation who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday told him about their circumstances in Kabul and thanked the government for Citizenship Amendment Act. They called for the government providing citizenship “under one window”. A member of the Afghan Sikh-Hindu delegation later said that he “was kidnapped” by […]

Kabul: The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that the rights of Afghan women and girls are “under attack” and that they need the world body’s support and solidarity now more than ever. In a statement on Thursday, the OCHA said that girls and women in the war-torn nation are deprived […]

By Amb Ashok Sajjanhar The last few days have witnessed unprecedented violence, bloodshed and frenzy on the streets of many cities of Kazakhstan, including the capital Nur-Sultan and the largest city and former capital Almaty. As per initial accounts, the peaceful protests against the increase in the price of car fuel were quickly hijacked by […]

Washington: More than 6,400 journalists in Afghanistan have lost their jobs since the Taliban takeover of the country, according to a recent survey. The survey conducted by non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) shows a radical change in the Afghan media landscape since the Taliban took power. As […]

Kabul: In a move that can further tarnish the image of the Taliban in the international arena, the group banned the use of photos of women on storefronts in Kabul city. The spokesman of Kabul municipality, Nematullah Barakzai, said the government has ordered the municipality’s officials to remove all photos of women on the signboards […]

By Louise Grogan The lack of food security in Afghanistan may soon become a threat to the stability of many other countries. Without a radical change of western policy towards the Taliban, millions of people will make their way to anywhere they can find food. The arrival of the poorest of the poor in neighbouring […]

While there is a need for coordinated efforts to prevent the humanitarian crisis from spinning out of control in Afghanistan, the international community should not be in a hurry to recognise the Taliban regime because it is yet to fulfil its promises on providing an inclusive government and protecting the rights of women and minorities. […]

Only three provinces opened educational institutions for young women so far

The spurt in targeted civilian killings in Kashmir confirms the worst fears that the developments in Afghanistan could embolden the terrorist outfits bent upon creating trouble in India with the active support from their Pakistani handlers. The brutal killing of a Sikh principal and a Hindu teacher at a government school in Srinagar’s Eidgah area, […]

Kabul: A blast went off Friday at a mosque packed with Shiite Muslim worshippers in northern Afghanistan, killing or wounding at least 100 people, a Taliban police official said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which took place in Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz province, but militants from the Islamic State […]

A move for peace and prosperity will benefit the entire region, particularly Pakistan, whose economy is in the doldrums

Kabul: Afghan women judges, who handed out jail sentences to murderers and other criminals, have now gone into hiding fearing retribution from the convicts who are among the thousands of criminals freed by the Taliban after their takeover of the country last month. Since the Taliban took control over 220 female Afghan judges have gone […]

New Delhi: The Taliban has recently requested India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to resume commercial flight operations to Kabul, which were closed after August 15. “The Civil Aviation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan extends its compliments to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India. As you are informed that recently […]

New Delhi: The Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has banned the broadcast of the hugely popular Indian Premier League in the country over the presence of “female audience and spectators” in stadiums. Former Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) media manager and journalist M Ibrahim Momand said the live broadcast of IPL matches was banned due to possible “anti-Islamic” content. […]

Ravaged by prolonged wars and now under the control of Islamist group, Afghanistan is on the brink of collapse, economically and socially. The global community is wary of extending financial support because of the Taliban’s failure to honour its promise of protecting human rights. While the concerns of the countries around the world about providing […]

If at all the international community needed any proof to establish the link between Pakistan’s state actors and the Taliban, it was provided by the way the interim government was cobbled together in Kabul. The composition of the new team bears the stamp of Islamabad all over. The role of Pakistani ISI was clear as […]

Islamabad: In a surprise move, Pakistan’s powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on Saturday dashed to Kabul, according to media reports here, amidst the Taliban struggling to finalise and install an inclusive government in Afghanistan that would be acceptable to the international community. A delegation of senior Pakistani officials led by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), […]

Pragmatism, caution and national interests must guide India's new strategy while engaging with the Taliban

The Afghan conflict exposed the futility of military interventions in faraway lands and the price people must pay