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Tag: Taliban

  • Musicians flee Afghanistan fearing Taliban

    Musicians flee Afghanistan fearing Taliban

    More than 100 music students and teachers fled Afghanistan on Sunday from Kabul, fearing a crackdown on music by Taliban, New York Times reported.

    The musicians were affiliated with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music that became a target of the Taliban in part for its efforts to promote the education of girls. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, who opened the school in 2010, said that it’s a big step and a huge achievement that Afghan musicians have been rescued from the cruelty of Taliban. He now lives in Australia.

    Sarmast said that the group comprises of both women and girls and they are planning to fly to Portugal with the support of the government there.

    Supporters of the school, global network of artists, philanthropists, politicians, and educators, plan to continue to work to get the remaining musicians out of Afghanistan.

    “The mission is not complete,” said Sarmast. “It just began,” he added.

    Since August when the Taliban consolidated their control of the country, a large number of Afghan musicians have fled the country.

  • ‘Chance at a normal life’: Fawad supports TTP integration

    ‘Chance at a normal life’: Fawad supports TTP integration

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry is supporting ‘a normal life’ for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), those of whom wish to pledged loyalty to the state, reports Geo.

    Fawad said, “The people who could not fulfill their pledge of allegiance to Pakistan want to return to fulfill this pledge.”

    According to the minister, those people who wish to follow the constitution should be given a chance, adding that the government seeks to move forward with the conditions laid down by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    Earlier, PM Khan called for the disarmament of the TTP by saying, “We can forgive them and they can become normal citizens.”

    The information minister added that in Balochistan more than 3000 people have come back to a normal life, the ones who had ‘fallen prey to India’s conspiracies.’

    The TTP said that their leaders are engaged in “secret talks” and have asked all fighters to observe a ceasefire till October 20.

  • Ehsanullah Ehsan joins Twitter space, says he is not ashamed of attacking Malala

    Ehsanullah Ehsan joins Twitter space, says he is not ashamed of attacking Malala

    Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan participated in a Twitter space hosted by journalist Azaz Syed on Friday. In a video clip widely shared by social media users, Ehsan can be heard saying that he does not feel ashamed about taking the responsibility of the attack on Malala Yousafzai. He added that the attack on Malala was justified.

    Ehsanullah is also a prime accused in the 2014 attack on Army Public School (APS) Peshawar.

    In a separate development, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that if theTTP lay down their arms, “we can forgive them and they can become normal citizens”. PM Khan said this in an interview with journalist Ali Mustafa, which will air on TRT World Now.

  • ‘Anti-Pakistan bill moved in US Senate to build pressure on President Biden’: Shah Mahmood

    Reacting to the proposed bill moved in the United States (US) Senate, evaluating Pakistan’s alleged role in Afghanistan before and after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Republicans submitted the bill to build pressure on US President Joe Biden.

    Qureshi, while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, said, “The anti-Biden administration in Congress views it [Afghanistan debacle] as a major opportunity to mount pressure on Biden. Pakistan cooperated with the US at every step.”

    “Besides India, some forces want to target and destabilise Pakistan and put the whole burden of the Afghan situation on Pakistan.”

    He said that in view of new realities, it is time to build new strategies. He also said that in the near future, a high-profile US personality will visit Pakistan.

    American senators have proposed a bill in the US Senate, demanding a deeper investigation into the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan and sanctions on the group as well as those who assisted them in driving out the Ashraf Ghani-led regime.

  • ‘No perfume, no attractive clothes, boots shouldn’t make sound’: Taliban sets conditions for Afghan women

    ‘No perfume, no attractive clothes, boots shouldn’t make sound’: Taliban sets conditions for Afghan women

    “[There are] some special conditions that exist only for women. One is that the colour of their dress should not be very attractive. So that it does not attract people’s attention,” said a member of the Taliban on Afghanistan’s TOLO News, as per the subtitles of a video being circulated on social media.

    The Taliban member further says, “The second condition for women is that she should not smell good and should not use perfume when she leaves her home.”

    “The third condition is she should not wear long boots and that the boots should not make a sound,” read the subtitles.

    “Wearing long boots that make sound seems like an announcement,” he said.

    “I have said this every time, everywhere, the sound that a boot makes, what does that mean?”

    “The sound is an announcement for young men by the women. Hey young men, wake up, we just left the house with make-up. You are sleeping and are not looking at us,” he added.

    “It is a kind of announcements and these sort of boots are made to incite young men towards bad actions by women.”

  • Taliban ban barbers from trimming beards in Afghanistan

    Taliban ban barbers from trimming beards in Afghanistan

    The Taliban have banned hairdressers in Afghanistan’s Helmand province from shaving or trimming beards, saying it breaches their interpretation of Islamic law, reports the BBC.

    “Anyone violating the rule will be punished,” Taliban religious police say. Some barbers in the capital, Kabul have said they also received similar orders.

    The instructions suggest a return to the strict rulings of the group’s past tenure in power.

    In a notice posted at salons, Taliban officers warned that hairdressers must follow Sharia law for haircuts and beards.

    “No one has a right to complain,” the notice stated, which was seen by the BBC.

    “Stop following American styles,” said another hairdresser, who received a call from someone claiming to be a government official. 

    A barber said that although he has not received an official order, he stopped offering beard trims.

    “Customers don’t shave their beards because they don’t want to be targeted by the Taliban fighters in the streets. They want to blend in and look like them,” he said.

  • ‘Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable’: Imran Khan

    ‘Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable’: Imran Khan

    Prime Minister Imran Khan says he was surprised to see that no mention was made of Pakistan’s sacrifices as a US ally in the war on terror for more than two decades. “Instead, we were blamed for America’s loss,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

    “Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable. Given their history, Afghans would never accept a protracted foreign military presence, and no outsider, including Pakistan, could change this reality,” wrote PM Khan.

    PM Imran Khan lashed out at successive Pakistani governments, saying that they had sought to please the US instead of pointing out the flaws of a military-driven approach in Afghanistan.

    “Pakistan’s military dictator Pervez Musharraf agreed to every American demand for military support after 9/11. This cost Pakistan, and the United States, dearly,” he stressed.

    “Those the United States asked Pakistan to target included groups trained jointly by the CIA and our intelligence agency, the ISI, to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Back then, these Afghans were hailed as freedom fighters performing a sacred duty. President Ronald Reagan even entertained the mujahideen at the White House.”

    “Once the Soviets were defeated, the United States abandoned Afghanistan and sanctioned my country, leaving behind over 4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and bloody civil war in Afghanistan. From this security, vacuum emerged the Taliban, many born and educated in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan,” read the opinion piece.

    “Fast forward to 9/11, when the United States needed us again — but this time against the very actors we had jointly supported to fight the foreign occupation. Musharraf offered Washington logistics and air bases, allowed a CIA footprint in Pakistan, and even turned a blind eye to American drones bombing Pakistanis on our soil. For the first time ever, our army swept into the semiautonomous tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which had earlier been used as the staging ground for the anti-Soviet jihad. The fiercely independent Pashtun tribes in these areas had deep ethnic ties with the Taliban and other Islamist militants,” wrote Khan.

    The prime minister pointed out how, between 2005 and 2016, 16,000 terrorist attacks were conducted against Pakistan by over 50 militant groups, who saw the US and Pakistan as collaborators.

    “We suffered more than 80,000 casualties and lost over $150 billion in the economy. The conflict drove 3.5 million of our citizens from their homes. The militants escaping from Pakistani counterterrorism efforts entered Afghanistan and were then supported and financed by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, launching even more attacks against us,” he wrote.

    The premier lashed out at former president Asif Ali Zardari, referring to him as “undoubtedly the most corrupt man to have led my country”, accusing him of not worrying about the collateral damage caused by US drone strikes. He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was no different.

    “Tragically, instead of facing this reality, the Afghan and Western governments created a convenient scapegoat by blaming Pakistan, wrongly accusing us of providing safe havens to the Taliban and allowing its free movement across our border. If it had been so, would the United States not have used some of the 450-plus drone strikes to target these supposed sanctuaries?”

    “Surely Pakistan is not to blame for the fact that 300,000-plus well-trained and well-equipped Afghan security forces saw no reason to fight the lightly armed Taliban. The underlying problem was an Afghan government structure lacking legitimacy in the eyes of the average Afghan,” he wrote.

    The prime minister said the “right thing” right now for the world to do would be to engage with the new Afghanistan government, adding that if assured of constant humanitarian aid, the Taliban will have a greater incentive to honour the global community’s demands.

    “Providing such incentives will also give the outside world additional leverage to continue persuading the Taliban to honor its commitments,” he wrote.

    “If we do this right, we could achieve what the Doha peace process aimed at all along: an Afghanistan that is no longer a threat to the world, where Afghans can finally dream of peace after four decades of conflict. The alternative — abandoning Afghanistan — has been tried before,” warned the prime minister.

  • ‘Strengthen and stabilise the Taliban govt, incentivise them’: PM Khan at UNGA

    ‘Strengthen and stabilise the Taliban govt, incentivise them’: PM Khan at UNGA

    Prime Minister Imran Khan delivered his address to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) earlier today. He said, “There is only one way to go. We must strengthen and stabilise the current government, for the sake of the people of Afghanistan.”

    “Right now the whole international community should think what is the way ahead. There are two paths that we can take. If we neglect Afghanistan right now, according to the UN half the people of Afghanistan are already vulnerable, and by next year almost 90 per cent of the people in Afghanistan will go below the poverty line.”

    “If the world community incentivises them, and encourages them to walk this talk, it will be a win-win situation for everyone. Because these are the four conditions that the US-Taliban dialogue in Doha was all about,” PM Imran Khan said.

    “You cannot waste time. Help is needed there. Humanitarian assistance has to be given there immediately. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has taken bold steps. I urge you to mobilise the international community, and move in this direction,” he said.

    ON ISLAMAPHOBIA

    The premier also discussed Islamophobia and said that the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy has recognised as an emerging threat, as it increases the tendency of right-wing, xenophobic, and violent nationalists, extremists, and terrorist groups to target Muslims.

    “We hope the Secretary-General’s report will focus on these new threats of terrorism posed by Islamophobes and right-wing extremists,” the prime minister said.

    “I call on the Secretary-General to convene a global dialogue on countering the rise of Islamophobia. Our parallel efforts, at the same time, should be to promote interfaith harmony, and they should continue,” he added.

    The prime minister went on to underscore how New Delhi has also embarked “on what it ominously calls the ‘final solution’ for the Jammu and Kashmir dispute”.

    “Indian actions violate the resolutions of the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir. The resolutions clearly prescribe that the ‘final disposition’ of the disputed territory should be decided by its people, through a free and impartial plebiscite held under the UN auspices,” the premier added.

    PM Imran Khan stated for the record that last February, both countries reaffirmed the 2003 ceasefire understanding along the Line of Control.

    “The hope was that it would lead to a rethink of the strategy in New Delhi. Sadly, the BJP government has intensified repression in Kashmir and continues to vitiate the environment by these barbaric acts,” the premier said.

    He said the onus remains on India to create a conducive environment for meaningful and result-oriented engagement with Pakistan.

    ON KASHMIR

    PM Imran Khan highlighted the forcible snatching of the mortal remains of the great Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, from his family, denying him a proper Islamic funeral and burial, in accordance with his wishes and Muslim traditions, as the most recent example of Indian barbarity.

    “Devoid of any legal or moral sanction, this action was even against the basic norms of human decency,” he said, adding: “I call on this General Assembly to demand that Syed Geelani’s mortal remains be allowed to be buried in the Cemetery of Martyrs with the appropriate Islamic rites.”

    The prime minister also warned of another conflict between Pakistan in India, which he said is essential to prevent. “India’s military build-up, development of advanced nuclear weapons, and acquisition of destabilising conventional capabilities can erode mutual deterrence between the two countries,” he said.

    ON CLIMATE CHANGE

    Turning his focus to climate change, he termed it one of the “primary existential threats” that the world faces today.

    ON COVID-19

    “The world is facing the triple challenge of Covid-19, the accompanying economic crisis and the threats posed by climate change.”

  • ‘Taliban will legally qualify for recognition once they take over the entire country,’ PM Khan

    ‘Taliban will legally qualify for recognition once they take over the entire country,’ PM Khan

    American Magazine ‘Newsweek’ has published an exclusive interview with Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, conducted by its Senior Foreign Policy Writer Tom O’Connor.

    PM Khan talked about the troubles occurring in Afghanistan, China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the US emerging close relations with Pakistan’s top rival India and shed some light on Sino-US rivalry.

    In reply to a question by Tom about recognising the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, PM Khan said, “Pakistan is obliged to engage with the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan to prevent an economic and humanitarian collapse.”

    “Once a government in Kabul establishes control over the entire country, it would legally qualify for recognition. However, Pakistan would prefer to reach a decision regarding recognition of the new government together with other neighbors of Afghanistan,” he added.

    He stressed that the authorities in Kabul [Taliban] need to neutralise terrorist groups present in Afghanistan, particularly the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and said, “Pakistan will work with the authorities in Afghanistan to halt TTP and other terrorism from there.”

    While answering the question about the US and China’s influence in South Asia after Washington’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, Khan stated, “The US can work with a new government in Afghanistan to promote common interests and regional stability and can play an important and positive role in Afghanistan by providing humanitarian assistance.”

    “But if China offers economic support to Afghanistan, it’s natural that the Afghans will accept it. The Taliban have welcomed the prospects of being incorporated in the CPEC and establishing close relations with China,” he added.

    Talking about the close ties between the US and India, PM Khan stated, “We understand that the U.S. military support to India is designed to contain China. However India will never confront China, especially not to serve U.S. strategic objectives. India’s purpose in arming itself so massively is to establish its hegemony in South Asia and especially to threaten and coerce Pakistan.”

    “We believe that the current US-China rivalry is unnecessary and contrary to the interests of both these global powers,” he said while hoping that both countries will reach the same conclusion in the near future.

    He concluded by saying that Afghanistan will only be stabilized through help and that the U.S., China and Russia and all other countries must “contribute” to reconstructing the country.

  • ‘World should not repeat the mistake of disengaging with Afghanistan’: Shah Mahmood to Antony Blinken

    ‘World should not repeat the mistake of disengaging with Afghanistan’: Shah Mahmood to Antony Blinken

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a meeting with the United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York.

    This is the first meeting between the two top diplomats. Their meeting focused on Afghanistan.

    FM Qureshi said that a new political reality had emerged in Afghanistan, and that “while the Taliban should be held to their commitments, the international community has a moral obligation to help the Afghan people deal with the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.”

    He hoped that the world would not repeat the mistake of disengaging with Afghanistan as it did in the 1990s.

    Secretary Blinken appreciated Pakistan’s support for the evacuation of US citizens and other nationals from Afghanistan and its continued efforts for peace in the region.

    He added: “Pakistan has long desired high-level contacts with the US leadership, particularly after the collapse of the US-backed government in Kabul.”