The so-called law imposes dress codes, notably ordering women to cover their bodies and faces in public….reports Asian Lite News
The European Union on Tuesday said that it is “appalled” by the recent decree issued by the Taliban which imposes severe restrictions on the life of Afghans, especially women.
The Taliban-led Afghan government announced last week the ratification of ‘Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice’, with 35 articles detailing significant restrictions on the Afghan population with arbitrary and potentially severe enforcement mechanisms.
The so-called law imposes dress codes, notably ordering women to cover their bodies and faces in public. The decree also imposes that the voices of women must not be heard in public, which effectively deprives Afghan women of their fundamental right to freedom of expression.
The statement of the High Representative released on behalf of the EU stated that the decree further extends the power of the Afghan ministry beyond an advisory role as it is now being given a clear mandate to enforce the decree.
“This, together with the restrictions imposed, punishable under Taliban law, violates legal obligations and Treaties to which Afghanistan is a State Party, including by undermining Afghan people’s right to due process,” said EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell.
The EU maintained that it continues to stand by the women and girls of Afghanistan, and by all those in Afghanistan “threatened” by the Taliban.
“This latest decision is another serious blow undermining the rights of Afghan women and girls, which we cannot tolerate. We urge the Taliban to put an end to these systematic and systemic abuses against Afghan women and girls, which may amount to gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Afghanistan is a State Party,” Borrell added.
The European Union also made it clear that the decree has created yet another “self-imposed obstacle” to normalised relations and recognition by the international community, to which the Taliban publicly aspire.
“Such possible recognition, as stated in the UN’s independent assessment, of which the UNSC Resolution 2721 (2023) took positive note, would require the Taliban to fully respect both their obligations towards the citizens of Afghanistan and Afghanistan’s international obligations,” the EU statement mentioned.
On Sunday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had also slammed the promulgation of morality law by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities.
“It is a distressing vision for Afghanistan’s future, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of infractions,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA.
“It extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation,” she said.
UNAMA said that it is studying the newly-ratified law and its implications for the Afghan people, as well as its potential impact on United Nations and other vital humanitarian assistance for the country, and is seeking clarification from the de facto authorities on a number of articles and on plans for enforcement.
Otunbayeva emphasized that the law imposes intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls…reports Asian Lite News
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan expressed deep concern on Sunday regarding the new morality law imposed by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, which imposes restrictions on personal conduct, and said that the law is a distressing vision for Afghanistan’s future.
Taliban authorities this week announced the ratification of a Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, with 35 articles detailing restrictions on the Afghan population with arbitrary and severe enforcement mechanisms.
In a statement released on Sunday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said, “UNAMA is concerned by the promulgation by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities of a morality law which imposes wide-ranging and far-reaching restrictions on personal conduct and provides morality police with broad powers of enforcement.”
“It is a distressing vision for Afghanistan’s future, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of infractions,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA.
Otunbayeva emphasized that the law imposes intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls. “It extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation,” she said.
“After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one,” Otunbayeva added.
Notably, the Ministry for the “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” which was founded in 2021 following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, released the legislation on Wednesday.
On Thursday, ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq stated, “Inshallah, we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice.” The laws were endorsed by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada the previous day.
Article 13 of the document addresses women, detailing how they should dress and behave in public. Women are now required to cover their entire bodies, including their faces, in public to prevent temptation and avoid tempting others. As a result, the commonly worn hijab, which covers only the hair and neck without covering the face, is no longer deemed acceptable, Global News had reported.
Women are now prohibited from singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public, as a woman’s voice is considered “intimate” and should not be heard. It is not clear whether speaking is also prohibited.
Additionally, the laws state that women are not allowed to look at men who are not related to them by blood or marriage, and vice versa. Violating these rules could lead to warnings, property confiscation, or detention for up to three days. The ministry has already been implementing similar morality standards and reports having detained thousands for breaches. (ANI)
The attack three years ago next Monday marked a devastating low point in an operation that critics have lambasted as chaotic…reports Asian Lite News
Three years after the suicide bomber attack at Afghanistan’s Abbey Gate that killed 13 US service personnel and about 170 Afghan civilians, the network behind the perpetrator is “pretty degraded” but not eliminated, the Pentagon’s civilian commando chief said.
“A lot of allied and partner disruptions” of the ISIS-K network have reduced its “capability to conduct such an attack,” Christopher Maier, assistant secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict, said in a brief interview after a breakfast meeting with reporters Friday.
President Joe Biden promised on the day of the attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport that “we will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.” Maier said “we are in the process of doing that,” and “we have made significant dents in this network that conducted the Abbey Gate attack.”
The attack three years ago next Monday marked a devastating low point in an operation that critics have lambasted as chaotic even as 124,000 Afghans were evacuated amid the US exit from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country.
Republicans have seized on the attack to blast Biden’s foreign policy. During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July, former President Donald Trump said US standing in the world “began to unravel with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the worst humiliation in the history of our country.”
Trump forged a February 2020 deal with the Taliban, but not the Afghan government, that set an initial timetable for US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, which Biden modified. Trump and the Republican Party blame Biden – and now Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee to succeed him – for how the withdrawal was carried out.
During the breakfast with reporters, Maier said “we continue to assess that Abbey Gate” was the work of “more than one individual” who benefited from the ISIS-K infrastructure. Since then, he said, the US and partners “have had clear cases where we’ve been able to disrupt the network that was associated with Abbey Gate.”
“One of the things we have been able to benefit from is Central Asian countries more attuned from the threat from Afghanistan,” he said. “Some of the recent plots that have been foiled point to direct support from some of these partners,” he said, without naming the countries involved.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to release its review of the withdrawal from Afghanistan early next month.
Over the past few months, police destroyed hundreds of poppy farms across Afghanistan, a country once known for its extensive poppy cultivation….reports Asian Lite News
Counter-narcotics police have discovered and destroyed a drug processing lab in western Afghanistan’s Nimroz province, an official said.
Acting on a tip-off, police launched operations in the province’s Dilaram district on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
In addition to destroying the drug lab, the police also discovered and burned a large quantity of materials used in manufacturing heroin, District director for counter-narcotics police Mawlawi Samiullah Samim said.
No drug traffickers were arrested at the site of the operations, the official said, adding that efforts are ongoing to apprehend those involved in the drug business.
Over the past few months, police destroyed hundreds of poppy farms across Afghanistan, a country once known for its extensive poppy cultivation.
The Afghan caretaker government banned poppy cultivation, drug processing, and drug trafficking in April 2022.
Nine killed in road accident
At least nine people were killed and three others injured in a road accident in Afghanistan’s Faryab province, a local official confirmed.
The accident occurred on Saturday afternoon when two vehicles collided in the Khan-e-Charbagh district, according to Mawlawi Shamsuddin Mohammadi, the provincial director of information and culture, Xinhua news agency reported.
The cause of the accident is currently under investigation.
Further details are awaited.
Reckless driving on congested roads and a lack of traffic signs on dilapidated highways are among the major causes of road accidents in Afghanistan.
The protestors allege that Pakistani defence forces are trying to stop them from participating in nationwide gathering, which hold the government and the defence forces accountable for their “brutality.”…reports Asian Lite News
The situation in Balochistan continues to worsen as the Pakistani defence forces have brutally cracked down on the Baloch community, as they gathered across Balochistan for Baloch National Gathering.
The protestors allege that Pakistani defence forces are trying to stop them from participating in nationwide gathering, which hold the government and the defence forces accountable for their “brutality.”
However, despite severe violation of human rights in Pakistan, the international media has cornered the issue of violence in Balochistan, according to protestors.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee, in a media statement, urged the international media to provide coverage to the issue.
“Balochistan has now become a completely war-torn region. And the Pakistani state is using all its machinery and power to stop this peaceful public gathering and is committing the worst human rights violations,” the statement read.
Highlighting the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan, the rights group said, “For the past 48 hours, the internet has been completely shut down in Gwadar and most parts of Makuran, while phone networks have been shut down since yesterday evening. A complete undeclared curfew has been imposed in Gwadar and nearby areas. No one is being allowed to enter or leave Gwadar.”
The statement also elaborated on the atrocities Pakistani defence forces are inflicting on Baloch caravans that were travelling to Gwadar for a national gathering.
Reportedly, a Baloch National Gathering caravan, including thousands of people, departed from Quetta yesterday morning. They were stopped and obstructed by the Pakistani military, Frontier Corps.
The caravan reached Mastung after overcoming these multiple barriers, where the Pakistani military opened direct fire on the caravan, carrying hundreds of women and children.
14 participants were injured in this barbarism, three of whom were critically injured and are now receiving treatment at the Quetta Trauma Centre.
Following this, the military forces burst the tyres of all the convoy’s vehicles, rendering them useless, and shattered the windows with direct fire. The caravan intended for the Baloch national gathering is currently holding a peaceful sit-in in Mastung.
The BYC further alleged that peaceful protestors were raided in Balochistan and several have been “forcibly disappeared,” while others have seen them being booked in false cases.
“To sabotage the Baloch National Gathering, in the past week, peaceful activists preparing for the national gathering have been raided in various parts of Balochistan. Five people from Karachi and several from Quetta have been forcibly disappeared, and several false FIRs have been registered against peaceful activists in various parts of Balochistan,” the statement read.
Terming the entire Balochistan region a “war zone,” the BYC urged global media houses and journalists to respect journalistic values and principles, and cover the issue.
“For the past 48 hours, the entire Balochistan has been a war zone, but it is deeply regrettable and a matter of shame for the journalistic community that none of the so-called Pakistani mainstream media and journalists has uttered a word about this serious issue, but are all criminally silenced. We appeal to all media houses globally and journalists to respect journalistic values and principles to provide coverage of the war-like situation in Balochistan, the complete curfew in Gwadar, and the severe brutality and oppression by the Pakistani state,” the statement added. (ANI)
Malala condemns violence against Baloch protesters
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has expressed support for Baloch people protesting against enforced disappearances and “strongly condemned” violent responses against peaceful protesters.
In a post on X, Yousafzai stated, “I stand in solidarity with Baloch sisters who are demanding justice and protesting against enforced disappearances. I strongly condemn the violent response against peaceful protesters.”
She made the statement in response to a post shared by Amnesty International on X. Amnesty International expressed concern over the “use of unlawful and unnecessary force” against the participants of the Baloch National Gathering by security forces.
It called on Pakistani authorities to immediately lift the internet shutdown in Pakistan and fulfil its obligations under domestic and international human rights law to facilitate people’s right to peaceful protest by lifting the road blockades placed on the way to Gwadar.
In a post on X, Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office stated, “Pakistan : @amnesty is alarmed at the use of unlawful and unnecessary force against the participants of the Baloch National Gathering by security forces yesterday. It is a blatant violation of people’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly.”
“On 27 June, Frontier Corps reportedly fired on unarmed and peaceful protestors in Mustang, Balochistan, resulting in 14 injuries, several among them serious. A complete internet shutdown has also been imposed in Gwadar, hindering the flow of information in and outside the region. Amnesty International calls on the Pakistan authorities to immediately lift the internet shutdown in Balochistan, and fulfil its obligations under domestic and international human rights law to facilitate people’s right to peaceful protest by lifting the road blockades on the way to Gwadar to allow freedom of movement for protestors,” it added.
The statements by Amnesty International and Malala Yousafzai came after Pakistani security forces reportedly took severe action against participants of a Baloch national gathering. The recent crackdown has sparked significant backlash amid fears that these measures might exacerbate rather than alleviate the underlying problems.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) accused Pakistani security forces of launching a “brutal and violent attack” on the Baloch National Gathering sit-in, which resulted in the arrest of more than 200 people.
In a post on X, Baloch Yakjehti Committee stated, “On the morning of July 29, the Pakistani security forces launched a brutal and violent attack on the Baloch National Gathering peaceful sit-in, resulting in numerous injuries and the arrest of over 200 individuals. We still have no information of their whereabouts.”
“Despite the incident, Baloch Yakjehti Committee activists, with the strength and support of the public, have resumed the sit-in, which continues today on its third day. Even now, police and Frontier Corps (FC) surround the sit-in area and are continuously harassing the peaceful participants,” it added.
In another post on X, the BYC stated that protests erupted across Balochistan in response to the violent attacks on the peaceful Baloch National Gathering.
Taking to X, BYC stated, “In response to the violent attacks on the peaceful #BalochNationalGathering, demonstrations erupted throughout Balochistan. Today, people in large numbers are observing protests and shutter-down strikes in Kahran, Kalat, Dalbandin and other places, in solidarity with the victims of state brutality, who lost their lives, and marched bravely in front of bullets, with their heads held high.”
This crackdown has drawn substantial criticism amid concerns that such actions could escalate rather than resolve the underlying issues.
The Baloch community continues to endure severe human rights abuses, particularly enforced disappearances where individuals are abducted by state or affiliated forces without legal recourse, causing profound anguish for their families and often resulting in severe torture.
The situation is compounded by extrajudicial killings targeting activists and critics without due process, instilling widespread fear and stifling dissent. (ANI)
A member of Taliban stands guard at the former Khost Protection Force (KPF) military center in Khost city, eastern Afghanistan, Sept. 15, 2021. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)
According to the official, “The renovation of border signs and markers with other countries is ongoing….reports Asian Lite News
Afghan Deputy Ministry of Borders, Ethnicities and Tribes Mohammad Ali Jan Ahmad said that the renovation and repainting of border signs and markers with neighbouring Iran have been completed.
“Fortunately, the ministry has worked extensively on this process in the past year. The Iran border, which is an official boundary, has had all its markers refreshed and its limits defined,” a local media outlet Tolo News quoted Jan Ahmad as saying.
Quoting the official, the report added, “The work of renovating border signs and markers with other countries is ongoing,” Xinhua news agency reported.
“We are committed to fulfilling our responsibilities and activities as quickly as possible. Based on our resources, we are advancing our process swiftly. I hope that we can mark all our official borders this year,” Jan Ahmad stressed.
Photo taken with mobile phone on Aug. 22, 2021 shows trucks waiting to cross border at a border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in southwest Pakistan's Chaman. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)
The scanners worth nearly $113 million will be installed in 12 Customs ports in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News
The Afghan caretaker government has signed a contract for installing 33 electronic scanners aiming to boost security, curb smuggling, and endorse comprehensive screening of commercial goods, the Economic Affairs Office said in a statement on Saturday.
The scanners worth nearly $113 million will be installed in 12 Customs ports in Afghanistan, the statement said.
For the installation of these scanners, job opportunities will be provided to approximately 2,000 local residents, Xinhua news agency reported.
The electronic scanners will be installed at Torkham, Hairatan, Spin Boldak, Islam Qala, Torghundi, Nimroz, Abu Nasr Farahi, Khost, Paktia, Aqina, and Sher Khan ports.
The Afghan caretaker government has initiated a number of development and infrastructure projects, including the reconstruction of airports, water canals, highways, roads, and solar power systems, in an attempt to reconstruct the war-torn country.
Modern lounge at Kabul airport
Afghan caretaker government’s Acting Deputy Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar laid the foundation stone of a new modern lounge at the Kabul International Airport on Thursday, reported the state-run Bakhtar news agency on Friday.
The three-story waiting facility at a cost of 290 million afghani would be completed within 18 months with the support of private sector, the state-run media outlet added.
In the meantime, Afghan Acting Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation Hamidullah Akhundzada emphasized that the lounge would be equipped with global standards to foster economic growth in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.
The ministry has also built airport escalator at Kabul international airport a couple of months ago, Xinhua news agency reported.
In efforts to rebuild the war-torn Afghanistan, the Afghan caretaker government has launched a series of development and infrastructure projects, including renovation of airports, water canals, highways, roads and solar power systems since taking over power nearly three years ago.
Fresh and dry fruits including pistachio, pine nut, fig, pomegranate, grape, raisin, melon and watermelon are the most popular products for export in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News
Afghanistan exported and imported commercial goods valued at $5.24 billion from January to June 2024, said the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Afghanistan shipped exported products worth nearly 700 million to various countries, with 58 million value of exports going to Central Asian countries within the first six months of 2024, the ministry’s spokesman Akundzada Abdul Salam Jawad told local media outlet TOLOnews, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Afghan products were mostly exported to Pakistan, India and Iran, and the major sources of imports included Iran, Pakistan and China, the country’s National Statistics and Information Authority reported in July.
Fresh and dry fruits including pistachio, pine nut, fig, pomegranate, grape, raisin, melon and watermelon are the most popular products for export in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Afghan authorities have launched the construction of a major highway and a bridge in south Afghanistan’s Helmand province to link the provincial capital Lashkar Gah and the western Herat city, state-run news agency Bakhtar reported on Friday.
The project, having an estimated cost of 177.5 million afghani ($2.51 million) for the highway’s first section with a length of 27.5 kilometres and a 350-metre bridge, is expected to be funded by the Ministry of Public Works, Xinhua news agency reported.
Afghanistan’s infrastructure facilities, including roads and bridges, have been badly damaged or destroyed due to more than four decades of war and civil strife. The Afghan caretaker government has launched a variety of construction projects to boost the economy and rebuild the country.
The latest development projects included a pharmaceutical plant, a new passenger service facility at Kabul International Airport, and street and road construction in the capital, Kabul, and other cities across the country.
The UN report says Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and the debt owed to TTP significant…reports Asian Lite News
The United Nations monitoring report have highlighted that the banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is now the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, enjoying operational and logistical support from both the Afghan Taliban and factions of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, reported Dawn.
The 15th report of the ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda/Taliban Monitoring Team was submitted to the UN Security Council.
“The Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and the debt owed to TTP significant,” the report stated.
The report further noted that it has an estimated strength of around 6000-6500 fighters, adding that the TTP is now the largest among the two dozen or so such groups that enjoy freedom to manoeuvre, under the oversight of the Taliban regime, as reported by Dawn.
This lends credence to Islamabad’s stance that Kabul is unwilling to act against Pakistan-facing terrorist groups, something officials such as Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi have reiterated time and again.
The report further stressed that TTP “continues to operate at a significant scale in Afghanistan and to conduct terrorist operations into Pakistan from there, often utilising Afghans.”
“TTP has intensified attacks against Pakistan, significantly increasing from 573 in 2021 to 715 in 2022 and 1,210 in 2023, with the trend continuing into 2024,” the report, updated until May 28, stated, according to Dawn.
Moreover, this lines up with Islamabad’s claims of the involvement of Afghan nationals in a number of recent terrorist attacks, including the Bisham bombing, claiming the lives of five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver.
Notably, the UN report mentioned this particular incident.
Further, it backs Pakistan’s worry that NATO-calibre weapons, especially night vision capability, have been provided to TTP since the Taliban takeover, adding lethality to terrorist attacks against Pakistani border posts, Dawn reported.
Two TTP militants arrested
Two Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists have been arrested in an operation in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police said.
They were wanted by police for their involvement in funding terrorist activities, the CTD said in a statement.
The terrorists arrested on Friday were in contact with the TTP leadership and were operating through social media to collect funds for the terror outfit, Xinhua news agency reported.
The terrorists had recently come back to Karachi after funding a terrorist incident and collecting funds for their next mission.
Police also recovered funds and arms from the terrorists. (ANI/IANS)
Afghan traders and residents in the UAE have welcomed the initiative and requested electronic ID distribution centers in other countries….reports Asian Lite News
The Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Islamic Emirate’s embassy in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has launched a system for distributing electronic ID cards to Afghans.
Zia Ahmad Takal, the acting head of the Islamic Emirate’s embassy in Abu Dhabi, stated that Afghans living in the UAE are assured of various forms of assistance, Tolo News reported
“From now on, electronic ID cards will be issued to Afghans in the UAE, offering them significant convenience,” Tolo News Quoted The Deputy Spokesperson as saying.
Some Afghan traders and residents in the UAE have welcomed this initiative and have requested the establishment of electronic ID card distribution centers in other countries as well.
Looking forward, the authority plans to extend electronic ID distribution operations to Iran and other neighboring countries soon. This expansion highlights their dedication to modernizing identity documentation systems beyond national borders.
