Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Only Country That Bans Girls from Secondary School: HRW

2023-04-04

[ToloNews] Human Rights Watch said on Twitter that Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans girls from going to secondary school.

"Without educated girls and women, Afghanistan is facing a dark future," HRW said.

This comes as Sheikh Abdul Sami Ghaznawi, an instructor from Central Jihadi Madrassa in Kabul, said in a video that there is no conflict regarding girls' education. He says that "Hadiths" have indicated that "modern knowledge is obligatory" and if anyone wants to deny it, they should first refer to "the Koran and Hadith."

"We will solve the issue (education). We will sit with the scholars and they will make a decision. I am surprised about this dispute," he said.

The UN Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also said that access to education is a human right and that quality education is considered an international priority.

"The barring of girls and women from education is not only damaging the females in Afghan society but will also severely harm the social fundamentals of Afghanistan gradually, which will be difficult to recover from," said Marriam Arveen, a human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
defender.

"It has been three years that we have not gone to school. A one-year stop was due to Covid-19 and the rest of the time-- two years--was due to the Islamic Emirate’s takeover. We hope that as the schools are reopened for boys, the Islamic Emirate will reopen it for girls as well," said Nargis, a student.

This comes as residents of Kabul called on the interim government to provide educational opportunities for women and to reopen secondary schools for girls.

"If we want to have a brilliant future and a developed country, then it is essential that the schools for our sisters be reopened," said Ameen, a resident of Kabul.

"Without universities and educational institutions, good governance and enduring stability will be difficult," said Mohammad Sarwar, a resident of Kabul.

It has been nearly 560 days since female students above grade six have been banned from schools, and their fate has yet to be clarified.

Link

Afghanistan

Balkh Public Forces Poised to Retake Taliban-Held Areas: Leaders

2021-06-25

[ToloNews] The public uprising forces in Afghanistan’s northern Balk province on Thursday said they are ready to clear areas under Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
control in the province.

They said that currently they are engaged in fighting on the frontlines with the Taliban, stating that they await permission from the government to launch offensives against the group.

TOLOnews’ correspondent Sayed Mohammad Aref Musavi, who reported from Afghania village in Nahr-e-Shahi district on the frontlines, said that hundreds of public uprising forces have deployed in the area to repel a possible comeback by the Taliban.

"We battled the Taliban for 15 days, our deaders and maimed people remained there, but we never evacuated our checkpoints," said Abdullah, a commander of public uprising forces in Balkh.

"With the help of the people and the security forces, we will soon clear the areas that we lost," said Mohammad Sarwar, a commander of the public uprising forces.

The Afghan politicians have pledged that they will defend against Taliban attacks.

"Today’s circumstances require us to defend the honor and dignity of our people and support our security and defense forces," said Gul Mohammad Erkin, deputy head of the Junbish-e-Milli party.

"Planning is completed and we are determined to retake areas that we lost in the districts," said Haseebullah Quraishi, the commander of the Afghan Public Protection Force in Balkh.

The situation in Mazar-e-Sharif city, the center of Balkh is carrying on as normal, say locals, and businesses are open as usual. However,
ars longa, vita brevis...
the residents have said that there is a need for more robust security measures to protect the city from Taliban threats.

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban threatens media outlets over gov’t collusion

2021-05-06

[KhaamaPress] Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
in a released statement on Wednesday warned Afghan media outlets to put a halt on on-sided publications and broadcastings.

Zabullah Mujahid in a series of tweets said, that for several days, the Taliban have been witnessing one sided-propaganda and publications in some media outlets.

According to Mujahid, the Kabul administration’s National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
is directly involved in such activities to distort public views.

He said that "media must be aware" to maintain their neutrality, and that in such a sensitive situation media should avoid becoming the Kabul administration’s propaganda tool.

In the case of ensuing publishment and broadcasting of fallacious news and incorrect information by the journalists and media, he added, "such acts could bring their neutrality under serious questions".

Mujahid warned that if such actions continue, he added, the media officials and its workers will be responsible for the consequences.

This comes in response to a member of parliament Aref Rahmani’s tweet, in which he said during a secrete session of the Afghan parliament, National Directorate of Security Zia Saraj signaled that Afghan media, politicians, and experts should be aware of the enemy’s psychological warfare.

Media outlets are left in the confusion of what type of news they should publish and broadcast to the Afghan public.

Rahmani restated Saraj’s remarks that the government will treat those who collaborate, communicate and propagandize in favor of "terrorists" as terrorists.

Earlier in June of 2019, the Taliban had issued a threat to the Afghan media outlets saying journalists will be targeted unless news outlets stop publishing and broadcasting what they call government propaganda against the holy warriors.

Since then, journalists, media professionals and staffers came under attacks and fell victims to assassinations.

According to reports at least 20 Journalists and media workers have been the victims of Targeted attacks in the past six months including eight including four women were killed and dozens have received death threats for their work.

United Mission in a report on February 2021 said at least 11 human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
defenders and media workers were killed in assassinations between September 2020 to January 2021.

The report further elaborated that a total of 65 human rights defenders and media professionals were killed between January 2018 to January 2021, out of which 32 targeted individuals were from human rights sectors and 33 were reportedly media employees.

At an event on World Press Freedom Day, Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish announced 575 cases of killing and violence against journalists which are currently under government assessment.

Analysis of media in the country indicated at least 300 female media workers have left their jobs due to "terrorist" threats.

This comes as previously European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, UNAMA, and International Community condemned attacks on media workers, saying that human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and media space contracted with many professionals exercising self-censorship, quitting jobs, leaving the country and their homes for the sake of safety.

Link

Afghanistan

Police Chief Killed in Taliban Attack in Helmand

2021-03-28

[ToloNews] At least 10 police force members, including Abdul Mohammad Sarwari, the police chief of Sangin district, were killed in a Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
attack in the city of Lashkargah last night, a source said.

Zaman Hamdard, a front man for Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
police chief, said that three security force members, including the police chief, were killed and two more were maimed.

He said that 15 Taliban were killed and seven more were maimed in the attack.

A security source said that the attack happened on Highway 601 that connects the city of Lashkargah with other parts of Helmand.

The attack comes as security agencies reported security incidents in at least 20 provinces on Thursday.

One of the incidents happened in Gereshk district in Helmand in which three army members were killed and five more were maimed in a car kaboom on Thursday, officials said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse...
a police Humvee was targeted by a roadside kaboom blast in Kandahar province in which three police force members were killed, according to information by security agencies.

Moreover, local officials in the central province of Kapisa said that the father of a member of the Afghan army’s special unit was killed by the Taliban and his brother was taken hostage by the group early on Thursday.

A girl meanwhile was killed in a clash between security forces and the Taliban in Chaharbolak district in the northern province of Balkh on Thursday night.

Local officials said that two children and a woman were killed after a mortar shell hit their house in Badghis district on Thursday.

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan govt says mother's name can go on birth certificates

2020-09-07

[DAILYTIMES.PK] The Afghan government has accepted a proposal to put mothers’ names on their children’s birth certificates, in a rare win for women’s rights activists in the deeply conservative country.Campaigners have for years pushed for women to be named on official documents including children’s birth certificates, which like Afghan identity documents carry only the name of a person’s father, under the hashtag #Whereismyname.

But they have faced opposition in the conservative and patriarchal Moslem country, where some see even using a woman’s name as offensive.

A woman’s name often does not appear on the invitation to her wedding — only those of her father and husband-to-be — or even on her grave.

This week the cabinet’s legal affairs committee, headed by Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish, agreed to a proposal to change the law and allow the names of both parents.

Link

India-Pakistan

4 Gomal University employees fired over sexual harassment

2020-03-06

[DAWN] Four employees of Gomal University in Khyber Pakhtunkwa's Dera Ismail Khan were dismissed from service after charges of sexual harassment were proved against them, it emerged on Thursday.

The orders for dismissal, issued by the deputy registrar's office, stated that Assistant Professor Imran Qureshi, Professor Dr Bakhtair Khan, game supervisor Hikmat Ullah and lab attendant Hafeez Ullah were being dismissed from service on March 3 on account of "proven grave misconduct of sexual harassment".

Vice-chancellor of Gomal University Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar told Dawn.com that the dismissed faculty and staff members had been "harassing female students and a number of them had filed written applications against the employees" after which the varsity conducted an inquiry into the matter.

Sarwar also said that an inquiry into alleged sexual harassment by four other senior faculty members is in its final stage and the report will be presented in the varsity's syndicate meeting soon.

Link

Afghanistan

Roadside blast kills senior army commander

2019-12-01

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Afghan official said a roadside bomb in the southern Helmand province has killed two security personnel, including a senior border commander.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Saturday that the blast in the Marjah district wounded two other security officials and a local TV reporter when it struck a passing convoy.

The spokesman said the attack likely targeted Gen. Zahir Gul Muqbil, the army border unit commander who was killed in the explosion.

He added that a reporter with the Shamshad TV network, Sardar Mohammad Sarwary, was among the wounded, and had been accompanying security forces on an operation in Marjah.

Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. The militant group controls most districts in Helmand.

Tolo News adds:

Brig. Gen. Zahirgul Muqbil, an army regiment commander of Afghan border forces, was killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Marjah district, Helmand province on Saturday morning, the provincial governor’s spokesman Omar Zwak said.

Zwak said three security force members and a local journalist were wounded in the attack.

The forces were heading to a military operation in Marjah district when their humvee hit a roadside bomb, he said.

Link

Afghanistan

Saleh Blames Taliban For Deadly Attack On His Office

2019-08-01

[ToloNews] Former head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency and vice presidential candidate Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday said that the attack on his office in Kabul was carried out by the Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Talking to TOLOnews in his first media appearance after the attack, Mr. Saleh labelled the Taliban as the enemies of the Afghan people and said the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
had informed him about such an attack three days before.

At least four attackers were involved in the siege which started with a boom-mobileing at around 4:40 pm Kabul time on Sunday, July 28. It targeted the Green Trend office, a political movement run by Mr. Saleh, in Shaheed Circle in Kabul’s PD4, in an area surrounded with civilian houses, a university, and a small township.

Mr. Saleh was in his office along with almost 100 people when the attack happened. He was sharply evacuated from the area.

Photos on social media showed Mr. Saleh with a stain of blood on his right arm.

The attack ended at around 11 pm on Sunday night after all four attackers were bumped off.

The complex attack happened hours after Mr. Saleh attended the inaugural ceremony of their electoral campaigning with incumbent President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
and the Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish.

According to Mr. Saleh, at least 30 people, 22 of them members of the Green Trend movement, bit the dust including two members of his family.

"I was not assuming that they (insurgents) use a truck full of explosives to target me. I think there are several reasons for attacking me, and one of the reasons is that they (insurgents) want to disrupt and remove the determination of those humans who want to oppose and stand against Pakistain, ISIS and Taliban, but keeping in mind that we are not against Pakistain as a state, but oppose the interreference by it," Mr. Saleh said.

He said he resisted the attackers alongside his six colleagues for 55 minutes and then expeditiously departed at a goodly pace through a way on the rooftop.

"When they (attackers) took position here, four or five minutes later, the ~~bandidos~~ snuffies came here and wanted to come on the top. So we clashed with them for 55 minutes and I was there. Humayoun, Alim and Amin were here and fought and they were maimed," Mr. Saleh added.

Mr. Saleh however said that the Afghan government will continue its efforts for talks with the Taliban.

Link

India-Pakistan

PTI leaders laud Aleem Khan's decision to quit ministry following arrest

2019-02-07

[DAWN] Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Wednesday said that fellow Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
leader Aleem Khan has set a great example by tendering his resignation following his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) earlier in the day.

Khan was taken into custody by NAB officials in Lahore over allegations of owning assets beyond his known sources of income.

Sarwar, while speaking to media, said that the first thing Khan did following his arrest was to resign from his ministry, adding that according to the party's ideology everyone was equal before the law.

"This is the standard PTI wants to set," he said.

The governor noted that Khan had obliged every time he was summoned by NAB and had been very cooperative with the bureau.

He, however, made it clear that those "who have looted the country in the past 30 years should be held strictly accountable".

Governor Sarwar also chaired a meeting along with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in Lahore to discuss the situation arising from the senior minister's arrest, during which they expressed "complete solidarity" with the minister, according to Radio Pakistain.

The PTI leaders appreciated Khan's decision to resign while hailing his services for the party. They also agreed to avoid politicising the issue.

PTI's Secretary General Arshad Dad, meanwhile, said that by resigning from his ministry, Khan has laid the foundation of a strong democratic tradition.

Link

Afghanistan

Fighting in West Afghanistan as Taliban Attempts to Capture City

2018-05-16

[AAWSAT] Fighting erupted in the western Afghan city of Farah on Tuesday after the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
attempted to capture the placid provincial capital.

Afghan aircraft bombed Taliban positions as residents sought shelter from the kabooms and gunfire.

The attack marks the first major assault targeting a city since the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive.

The assault began around midnight, with the Lions of Islam capturing one urban district and parts of another, said local provincial council member Jamila Amini.

"Heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy...
continues inside the city and aircraft have just started bombarding Taliban positions," she told AFP Tuesday from inside Farah.

Afghan officials said police special forces from Kandahar and commandos from Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
had also been deployed.

"(The Taliban) will fail," vowed interior ministry front man Najib Danish, who said both Afghan and foreign air forces were taking part in the fighting.

Fared Bakhtawer, head of the provincial council, offered a different picture, however, saying that several security checkpoints in Farah were overrun by the Taliban.

Bakhtawer said casualties were high among security forces, but could not provide a precise number.

Mohammad Sarwar Osmani, a politician from Farah province, said strategic security checkpoints around the city were overrun by Taliban and the bully boyz were near police headquarters and the governor's offices.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban front man, grabbed credit. He said fighters launched attacks form multiple directions, after which they overran several checkpoints in the city. Farah borders Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province, where the Taliban controls several districts.

Link

India-Pakistan

Push-cart vendor convicted for selling hate material in Jhelum

2016-02-19

[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Wednesday convicted a cart owner known as Saifullah, alias Saifi, for selling 'hate material'.

He was convicted for selling CDs on his cart that contained hate speech. The conviction, rare as it is, entails 10 years in prison and a Rs100,000 fine. According to the verdict issued by ATC judge Rai Mohammad Ayub Khan Marth, the convict will have to serve another four months behind bars if the fine is not submitted.

The holy man who delivered the speeches the convict was selling is, however, remains very much on the lam.

"Countering hate speech and myrmidon material" is part of the 20-point agenda of the National Action Plan (NAP), introduced by the federal government in the aftermath of the Dec 16, 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 22, 2015 arrested Saifullah, a cart owner from Jhelum, for selling CDs containing speeches by the cleric Mulazim Hussain Dogar. The CD is titled ‘Collection of Speeches of Maulana Mulazim Hussain Dogar Volume IV’.

Saifullah, who is 26, sells goods on his cart in a market in the Jhelum district to provide for his family.

According to the prosecution, Dogar may be the principal suspect in the matter, but he could not be apprehended because his whereabouts remained unknown.

There is, however, a Facebook page running under his name which currently has 3,149 followers. According to the page, Maulana Mulazim Hussain is a public figure, and a “famous scholar of Islam from Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat” (ASWJ). ASWJ is a banned outfit, according to the list of proscribed organisations.

According to a CTD inspector, the investigating officer did not try to investigate the cleric or his role in the matter. He said the investigation focused exclusively on the suspect, but added that the government has already proscribed ASWJ and had banned the cleric from making public speeches.

PTI MNA Mohammad Sarwar Khan said that unless the government takes strict action against the delivery of hate speech, sectarianism and religious extremism would not be curtailed.

“Action against the CD seller containing hate material is good, but the root cause – which is the clerics who deliver hate speeches – should also be arrested and punished accordingly,” he said.

Analyst Imtiaz Gul said that NAP is big on promises, but fails to deliver due to questionable political will. He said the legal system also lacks the capacity and will to prosecute the real offenders.

“The government is also unable to prosecute the troublemakers because of electoral constituencies considerations, and the other issue is corruption within the system and lacunae in the anti-terrorism laws,” he added.

Link

Afghanistan

Government determined to arrest Zabul kidnappers

2015-11-19

Especially if they don't get their cut

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has said that government is determined to arrest kidnappers of 31 civilians in southern Zabul province.

In a meeting with the released hostages in Presidential Palace “ARG” on Wednesday, President Ghani said that terrorists showed their horror when they abducted civilians in Zabul, adding that they would be arrested and dragged to judiciary.

In the meeting where vice presidents, Abdul Rashid Dostum and Mohammad Sarwar Danish, were also present the President instructed related officials to deliver assistance to the released hostages and families of those killed.

The 31 passengers were abducted reportedly by Uzbek militants, who have pledged allegiance to Daesh, from Shah Joy District of Zabul province in February.

25 to 26 of them were released, including some freed nearly nine months after, and at least five of them were killed.

19 of them were released in exchange for some prisoners.

Link

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