Taliban

Deputy State Minister for Natural Disaster Management in Taliban-led government, Mawlavi Sharfuddin, said in a press conference that 920 people were killed and 610 others injured in the quake, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency said in a tweet. The casualties were reported from Barmal, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts of Paktika province.

When questioned about the possibility of recognising Afghanistan's new authorities, Peskov told reporters on Wednesday: "It is not on the current agenda. We have said this many times. It is useless to make any forecasts," TAAS News Agency reported. Peskov's clarification came a day after Russia's special ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said that Moscow might recognise the Taliban regime but would not follow other countries' lead.

"The Islamic Emirate asks the UN and human rights advocate agencies not to listen to the propaganda... They must consider and accept the truth in the country. Human rights are respected in comparison to the past 20 years in Afghanistan," he said, adding that the HRW report was "incorrect and baseless".

In a statement, Esmatullah Burhan, spokesman of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP), said land acquisition was an obstacle that had delayed the implementation of the project so far, reports TOLO News. "There is no problem about the procedure. Around 15 per cent of the procedure remains, which is a technical process that will be solved soon," he said.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, the spokesman claimed that the State Department's report findings on Afghanistan with respect to the religious freedom is "incomplete" and based on "false information", reports Khaama Press. "All our Sunnis, Shias, Sikhs and Hindus practice their religion freely," he added.

According to AfPak watchers, the TTP leaders are under pressure from their host Sirajuddin Haqqani - the chief of banned Haqqani Network and the Interior Minister of Taliban, who is also under pressure from the Pakistani Army. Haqqani, who is mediating the peace talks, told the TTP leaders that the Taliban regime had been threatened by the Pakistani Army.

As Afghanistan's economy collapses, its citizens continue to leave the country en masse in a trend that began to rise with the announced withdrawal of foreign forces in the spring of 2021 and which spiked after the Taliban seized power in August. Iran, a major destination country, has clamped down by beefing up security along its 900 km border with Afghanistan and deporting tens of thousands of Afghans, RFE/RL reported.

Media outlets were told of the decree on Wednesday, a religious police spokesman told BBC Pashto. The ruling comes two weeks after all women were ordered to wear a face veil in public, or risk punishment. Restrictions are being tightened on women -- they are banned from travelling without a male guardian and secondary schools are shut for girls, BBC reported.

The directive was issued by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Khaama Press reported. According to a UNAMA statement, a delegation of Taliban officials from the Ministry said that female employees should consider wearing the hijab, while reporting to duties.

Men are not permitted to dine with their family members in family restaurants, according to sources, Khaama Press. Owners have been verbally reminded that the rule applies "even if they are husband and wife", according to Riazullah Seerat, a Taliban official at the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the report said.