Afghanistan
Taliban supreme leader Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada makes first public appearance
Akhundzada, who was appointed as the movement's spiritual leader five years ago, addressed seminary students on Saturday. Sources close to the group confirmed to Pajhwok Afghan News that Akhundzada addressed his followers at the Darul Uloom Hakimah.
Taliban warns of global problems if their govt isn't recognised
"Our message to America is, if the un-recognition continues, Afghan problems continue, it is the problem of the region and could turn into a problem for the world," said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, during a press conference in Kabul.
Taliban forcing distressed Afghan farmers to pay 'zakat' tax
War, drought, and Covid-19 have devastated farmers across Afghanistan. Now, these farmers who have lost money trying to grow crops over the past year say that the Taliban is dealing them another crippling blow, the report said. The charity taxes are being collected despite the fact that farmers themselves are among the 14 million Afghans that the World Food Program says are already facing acute hunger. Farmers say they have to pay a 2.5 per cent tax on the value that Taliban tax collectors estimated his property is worth.
Taliban manual discourages people from helping, befriending infidels
Taliban officials in Afghanistan's provinces are using a manual that imposes rules harsher than the abusive policies announced by their leaders in Kabul. And Taliban authorities often do not comply with the rights protections that the manual, from the Taliban's Ministry of Vice and Virtue, sets out, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
Taliban military strategist, Mullah Yaqub Omar makes first appearance
Mullah Yaqub, who heads the Taliban military commission, recently moved to Kabul from Kandahar and has close family members as his personal guards, the report said. He is said to be the driving force behind the capture of the entire country by the Taliban after the US announced the withdrawal of its forces.
Taliban keep Afghan Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani's face out of camera's view
In his first public appearance since he was named the Taliban's interior minister in early September, Haqqani on October 19 praised suicide bombers and promised money and land to a packed house of their surviving family members. In an official photo of the event at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, the target of deadly Taliban attacks in 2011 and 2018.
Pakistan, China seek economic assistance for Afghanistan
This came during a telephonic conversation between Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday. They agreed to further strengthen bilateral economic and commercial ties, including the full realisation of the potential offered by the Phase-II of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement.
China gets tough with Taliban, demands curbs on Uyghur radicals nesting in Afghanistan
China's zero-tolerance to the revival of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), with deep nodes among ethnic Uyghurs in China's ultra-strategic Xinjiang region, is apparent as foreign minister Wang Yi personally read out the riot order to Taliban's acting deputy prime minister Mullah Baradar in Doha on Monday.
Afghan women protest against restrictions imposed by Taliban
The women who had gathered at the gates of UNAMA in Kabul said that the international community, human rights group, and the United Nations are completely indifferent to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on Afghan women. The protesters said that the silence of the UN against the ongoing situation in Afghanistan is "shameful".
Pak ready to talk, afraid to wound Islamists
Challenged from various quarters, the government's immediate threat comes from the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) that has launched a 'Long March' to lay siege to the national capital. The body of hardline Sunni activists demands that the government fight the perceived 'Islamophobia' in the Western world. More specifically, it wants the French envoy in Islamabad expelled for France's expulsion of Islamists at home and its role in the Charlie Hedbdo cartoons controversy.
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