Taliban

The women marched through the streets of the capital on Tuesday holding signs calling for justice despite intimidation attempts by Taliban operatives, who threatened them with violence, RFE/RL reported. "We were faced with harsh behaviour by the Taliban. It was terrifying... They even told us if we move one step forward, they will fire 30 rounds at us," one woman said in a video made by the group, called Afghanistan's Powerful Women's Movement.

In a statement on Saturday, the Taliban's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said that if a woman did not cover her face outside the home, her father or closest male relative would be summoned and eventually incarcerated or fired from government jobs, reports Khaama Press.

According to the US government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the Department of Defense (DOD) on January 19 had notified Congress that it intended to transfer five US-procured former Afghan Mi-17 helicopters that had been undergoing maintenance in Ukraine to the Kiev government.

At a press conference in Kabul, a spokesman for the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice read out a statement issued by the Afghan supreme leader, Khaama News reported. This statement detailed the procedures laid down by the ministry authorities to supervise the process of mandatory hijab. The initial stage in this procedure is to locate the residences of unveiled ladies and to counsel and warn their parents.

Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have waged a ruthless crackdown against IS-K militants and their followers. But IS-K has remained resilient and has launched regular attacks on Taliban fighters and officials. Experts say IS-K is seeking to undermine the Taliban-led government and expose its failure to provide security.

According to the new timetable for the universities, three days of the week are allocated for all-female students during which no boy will be attending classes while the remaining three days will be given to boys with no female presence. Based on this decision, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday are allocated for girls and Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday for boys.

Officials familiar with the development told The Express Tribune on Sunday that Pakistan after recent spate of cross-border terrorist attacks conveyed to the Afghan Taliban in clear terms to take action against terrorist groups or face the consequences. In response to Islamabad's strong message, the Taliban have decided to persuade the banned terror outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates to move from border regions to other areas of Afghanistan.

Based on a new timetable issued by the Ministry of Higher Education, three days of the week have been allocated for female students during which no boy will be attend classes, while the remaining three days will be given to boys without the presence of girls, Khaama News reported.

Many observers had already predicted this scenario as given Taliban's close affiliation with TTP, they would never take action against such groups, the Express Tribune reported. Since the Taliban took control of Kabul, there were hopes in Pakistan that given the country's close relationship with the group the new Afghan government would take care of its security concerns.

Colonel Nezamuddin Bahavi, the former head of intelligence of the anti-drug police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Afghanistan, stated this in an exclusive interview with the Russian daily, Nezavisimaya Gazeta. According to Bahavi, the Taliban has always been associated with drugs trade and soon after coming to power in August 2021, the situation turned entirely in the Taliban's favour.