Free Republic

Afghanistan's hardline Islamist rulers last week banned women from working in non-governmental organisations. The Taliban have already suspended university education for women and secondary schooling for girls ... Geneva: The Taliban must immediately revoke their policies targeting women and girls in Afghanistan, the UN rights chief insisted Tuesday, condemning their “terrible” consequences. “No country can develop — indeed survive — socially and economically with half its population excluded,” Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. “These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but,...

The Taliban have banned women from universities in Afghanistan, sparking international condemnation and despair among young people in the country. The higher education minister announced the regression on Tuesday, saying it would take immediate effect. The ban further restricts women's education - girls have already been excluded from secondary schools since the Taliban returned last year. Some women staged protests in the capital Kabul on Wednesday. "Today we come out on the streets of Kabul to raise our voices against the closure of the girls' universities," protesters from the Afghanistan Women's Unity and Solidarity group said. The small demonstrations were...

Women's freedoms have been further curtailed in Afghanistan, after the Taliban barred them from working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Islamist rulers said female NGO employees had been breaking Sharia law by failing to wear the hijab. It comes days after female students were banned from universities - the latest restriction on their education since the Taliban regained power. Women prevented from going to work told the BBC of their fear and helplessness. One said she was the main earner in her household, and asked: "If I cannot go to my job, who can support my family?" Another breadwinner insisted...

The Mujahedin al Khalq, or MKO, is, after the Iranian regime itself, the most hated group inside Iran. It allied with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to enable the Islamic Revolution but, after a falling out, launched a terrorist campaign inside Iran. The MKO also cast its lot with Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Its leader, Maryam Rajavi, rules with an iron fist over the organization and insists upon the same head covering that Iranians risk their lives to shed. Far from supporting women’s rights, the group tells women whom they can marry and forcibly divorces them. In short, it is a cult

Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahar: The “Army of Jerusalem” Will Not Liberate Palestinian Land Only; the 512 Million Square Kilometers of Planet Earth Will Come Under a System with No Zionism, No Treacherous Christianity #Hamas #Palestinians.

In certain U.S. cities, young men are over three times more likely to be shot dead than American soldiers deployed to war zones in the Middle East, new research reveals. Compared to the risk of combat death U.S. soldiers face in Afghanistan, the findings show that young men living in the most violent zip code of Chicago have a 3.23 times higher average risk of firearm-related homicide. Scientists say their shocking findings put the risk of firearm-related death in perspective. They’re calling for urgent policy action to reduce violence. In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death among children,...

Preparing for any potential war against Iran, the Biden administration has formally elevated Israel in military planning.... ...For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. ... ..."CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command...

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned female students from attending universities effective immediately in the latest edict cracking down on women's rights and freedoms. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

The Taliban’s Head for Public Health Department in Zabul, Abdul Hakim Hakimi, says that in the last few weeks, people suffering from an illness with an unidentified cause have been admitted to medical centers. In the last week, two people have died due to the outbreak of this disease in Fatuz village, Shahjoy district, Zabul province, according to Hakimi. The Taliban’s Head for Public Health in Zabul reports about efforts that are going to be made to deal with this idiopathic disease. It should be noted that severe fever and bleeding from the mouth and nose are prominent symptoms of...

An oil tanker overturned and caught fire in the Salang Tunnel - which links the capital Kabul to the northern provinces - on Saturday evening. The blaze spread to other vehicles before it was put out the next morning. Some of the bodies were severely burned, a senior health official in Parwan said in quotes cited by AFP news agency. The Salang Tunnel is 2.6km (1.6 miles) long and is located at an altitude of around 3,400m (11,154ft). Hailed as an engineering masterpiece on its completion in the 1960s by the Soviet Union, the major route through the Hindu Kush...

As the Taliban were taking over Afghanistan, I predicted that Biden would fund the Taliban using “humanitarian aid” as a pretext. Since then, Biden has provided $1.1 billion in Afghan aid.Despite assurances that the money would not go to the terrorists, the Biden administration issued global licenses authorizing financial transactions with the Taliban and the Al Qaeda allied Haqqani Network that include the “delivery and provision of humanitarian aid”.Biden looted $3.5 billion from money awarded to the families of 9/11 victims in a lawsuit against the Taliban and put in a “trust fund” to provide “humanitarian aid”. His DOJ then...

Pakistan's Foreign Minister says his country needs energy, emphasizing that Islamabad will continue a gas pipeline deal with Iran despite sanctions on Tehran. Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters on Sunday that the present government has struck the gas pipeline deal with Iran in view of Pakistan's energy requirements. "This agreement is in the interest of Pakistan and it will only see its interests and the international laws…… the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline agreement will not come under the ambit of the sanctions on Tehran," he said, a Press TV correspondent reported. Pakistan's Foreign Minister disclosed that all the different phases of...

ISLAMABAD (June 20 2010): The United States has no concern on Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline as Pakistan is an independent country and the project is its own decision, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said here on Saturday. Holbrooke told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that work is going on regarding Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs). He said efforts are being made for more market access for Pakistan. He especially motioned the possibility of opening up market for Pakistani mangoes to America and said these mangoes were of very high quality and taste....

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday walked back remarks questioning Pakistan’s ability to keep its nuclear weapons safe by leftist President Joe Biden, who went as far as to call the South Asian nation, a nominal ally of America’s, “one of the most dangerous nations in the world.” Biden made the offending comments at a Democrat Party event at a private home in California last week. Offering disorganized remarks commenting on nuclear weapons generally, Biden mentioned Pakistan amid boasting yet again that he has a close personal relationship with dictator Xi Jinping of China. “I’ve spent more time with Xi...

A loud blast and gunfire were heard in the Afghan capital Monday near a guest house popular with Chinese business visitors. AFP, Kabul Published: 12 December ,2022: 02:32 PM GST Updated: A loud blast and gunfire were heard in the Afghan capital Monday near a guest house popular with Chinese business visitors, a witness said. Although the Taliban claim to have improved national security since storming back to power in August last year, there have been scores of bomb blasts and attacks -- many claimed by the local chapter of the ISIS group. Advertisement For all the latest headlines follow...

The Da Bank of Afghanistan, the Taliban-controlled central bank of Afghanistan, tweeted images of the cash A large package containing around $40 million in cash for "humanitarian aid" was seen on an airport tarmac in Afghanistan, officials there said last week. The money was handed over to the Da Bank of Afghanistan, the Taliban-controlled central bank of Afghanistan, which is headquartered in Kabul. The bank tweeted several images of the cash. One shows packages of U.S. $100 notes bound in plastic... ...In September, the Biden administration announced the creation of a fund to assist the people of Afghanistan, apart from...

Tonight in the Balkans tensions high where Serbs have set up barricades in northern Kosovo... An axe attack tonight in France... In the Australian state of Queensland six killed including two police officers in a siege... Police in the Bahamas arresting Sam Bankman-Fried... In Germany the "Walk" protests (Spaziergang) continue against government COVID, Economic and Russia policies... In Israel today opposition forces fiercely opposing the attempt of Benjamin Netanyahu's majority in Parliament to name a new Speaker... Meanwhile the Religious Zionist parliament member and National Security Minister Designate Itamar Ben-Gvir is demanding a key post on a committee that advances...

According To UN Report, Afghan Taliban Continues To Sponsor Al-Qaeda And Other Foreign Jihadi Organizations Such As Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), And East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM); French Justice Inbox MEMRI memri@memri.org via mta-bbcspool.convio.net 3:10 PM (13 minutes ago) to me Having trouble with this message? View it online. memri_CUBEd Arabic1.jpg The Middle East Media Research Institute Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter YouTube vimeo image.JPG vimeo image.JPG TikTok icon.png The MEMRI Daily: June 17, 2022 According To UN Report, Afghan Taliban Continues To Sponsor Al-Qaeda And Other Foreign Jihadi Organizations Such As Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan...

The Taliban put a murder suspect to death Wednesday, the fundamentalist regime’s first official public execution since retaking control of Afghanistan last year. The man accused of a fatal stabbing in 2017 was shot and killed by the victim’s father in the western Farah province. The killing was attended by at least a dozen senior government officials, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. ... the capital punishment was sanctioned by the Taliban’s reclusive supreme spiritual leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada, according to Mujahid. The mother of the victim, named only as Mustafa, told the BBC that she demanded that the suspect, identified...

Republicans say this will be a top issue following the mid-term elections The U.S. government gave $1.1 billion in U.S. tax dollars to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in humanitarian aid since the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 — and a top federal watchdog says several U.S. agencies are refusing to explain how the money was spent. The U.S. government remains Afghanistan’s single largest donor more than one year after the Taliban takeover of the country and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says for the first time in history — they don’t have the answers. In SIGAR’s quarterly report to...