Taliban

Speaking at a gathering of Afghan pilots and personnel of the Afghan Air Force, Yakoob Mujahid said that the planes and choppers that were flown out to the neighbouring countries by Afghan pilots after August 15 are the possession of Afghanistan thus they should be returned.

Addressing mediapersons here on Monday, officials of the Taliban's Administrative Reform Commission said that they will recruit civil servants through open competition, Khaama Press reported.

Sheikh Azizi ur Rahman Al-Mohajer, the head of virtue and vice of the Taliban office in Herat, said from now on playing music and women and girls without a ‘mahram' (relative) are forbidden, the report said. Also, Women and girls without a close male relative accompanying them were banned from entering coffee shops in Afghanistan's Herat province, Raha Press reported.

As the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is taking root across the country, their restrictions, especially on women, are also increasing. The decision was taken unanimously by religious scholars and provincial officials of the Directorate of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the province. Based on the new decision, women can only take shower in private baths while observing Islamic hijab, not in general baths, the report said.

The Taliban have allegedly defiled monuments dedicated to figures who fought the group during its first stint in power in the 1990s. While the Taliban have denied responsibility for many of the incidents, allegations against the hard-line group have mounted, with Afghans accusing the militants of violating Islamic traditions that advocate respect for the dead.

The Ministry in a Twitter post directed all the Taliban affiliates not to force people to grow beards and that it is a personal choice.

The Taliban seized power in August after taking control of the capital. Ashraf Ghani revealed that when he woke up on August 15 he had "no inkling" it would be his last day in Afghanistan. It was only when his plane left Kabul that he realised he was going, Ghani said on BBC Radio 4's programme.

He said that looking at the face of such mannequins is against the Sharia law, the report said. The instruction comes a day after the group in Kabul issued a guidance advising taxi drivers not to offer drive to unveiled women without close male relatives. A number of shopkeepers in Herat raised concerns against such an instruction and said that Taliban are making life more difficult for them each passing day.

The protesters carried the dead body of the victim to the office of the provincial governor and asked for justice. The angry protesters were chanting "Death to Taliban", "Death to stooges of Pakistan", and "Long live Ahmad Masoud", the report said. Residents of Annaba district claimed that the victim was murdered by the Taliban affiliates but the motive behind the killing is yet to be unveiled.

The shipments were aimed at helping Tajikistan effectively counter threats coming from outside, Putin said on Monday during a meeting with visiting Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Russia's St. Petersburg. Calling Tajikistan a reliable and close ally of Russia, the Russian President expressed concern over the situation on the Tajik-Afghan borders, Xinhua news agency reported.