ReportWire

Tag: afghanistan

  • Taliban use water cannon on women protesting education order in Afghanistan | CNN

    Taliban use water cannon on women protesting education order in Afghanistan | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    A group of women took to the streets in the city of Herat in Afghanistan on Saturday, protesting against a Taliban order this week suspending all female students from attending university in the country.

    Video footage circulating on social media showed Taliban officials using a water cannon to disperse the female protesters.

    Girls could be seen running from the water cannon and chanting “cowards” at officials.

    The Taliban’s announcement this week that it was suspending university education for female students was its latest step in an ongoing clampdown on the freedoms of Afghan women.

    The move came despite the group promising when it returned to power last year that it would honor women’s rights.

    It follows a similar move in March this year that barred girls from returning to secondary schools.

    Male students in universities across the country have responded to the latest education ban by boycotting their exams in protest.

    “Education is the duty of men and women,” read a statement from the Mirwais Nika Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar issued Saturday. “It is the fundamental right and secret of the country’s development and self-reliance.”

    Students had first asked Taliban officials to reverse the ban but “no positive response” was given, the school said – adding that “dissatisfaction and unhappiness” fueled the boycott.

    One university official told CNN that the students’ decision to boycott their admissions exams would lead to classes being put on hold.

    The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 in a lightning takeover following the withdrawal of US troops, having previously ruled the country from 1996 until 2001 – when the US-led invasion forced the group from power.

    Under its previous period of rule the group was notorious for its treatment of women as second-class citizens.

    After seizing power last year, the group made numerous promises that it would protect the rights of women and girls.

    But activists say the Taliban have reneged on their word and are steadily chipping away at women’s freedoms once again.

    On Saturday, the group ordered all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country to stop female employees from attending work. Non-compliance would result in the revoking of NGO licenses, an official ministry notice read.

    A spokesman told CNN the move was due to the non-observation of Islamic dress rules and other laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate.

    Afghan women can no longer work in most sectors.

    Their travel rights have also been severely restricted and access to public spaces significantly curtailed. Women are also required to fully cover themselves in public – including their faces.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Taliban ban women from working for domestic, foreign NGOs

    Taliban ban women from working for domestic, foreign NGOs

    [ad_1]

    KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban government in Afghanistan on Saturday ordered all foreign and domestic non-governmental groups to suspend employing women, the latest restrictive move by the country’s new rulers against women’s rights and freedoms.

    The order came in a letter from Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif, which said that any NGO found not complying with the order will have their operating license revoked in Afghanistan.

    The contents of the letter were confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday by ministry spokesman, Abdul Rahman Habib.

    The ministry said it had received “serious complaints” about female staff working for NGOs not wearing the “correct” headscarf, or hijab. It was not immediately clear if the order applies to all women or only Afghan women at the NGOs.

    THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban security forces used a water cannon to disperse women protesting the ban on university education for women on Saturday, eyewitnesses said, as the decision from the Taliban-led government continues to cause outrage and opposition in Afghanistan and beyond.

    The development came after Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned female students from attending universities effective immediately. Afghan women have since demonstrated in major cities against the ban, a rare sign of domestic protest since the Taliban seized power last year.

    According to eyewitnesses in the western city of Herat, about two dozen women on Saturday were heading to the provincial governor’s house to protest the ban, chanting: “Education is our right,” when they were pushed back by security forces firing the water cannon.

    Video shared with The Associated Press shows the women screaming and hiding in a side street to escape the water cannon. They then resume their protest, with chants of “Disgraceful!”

    One of the protest organizers, Maryam, said between 100 and 150 women took part in the protest, moving in small groups from different parts of the city toward a central meeting point. She did not give her last name for fear of reprisals.

    “There was security on every street, every square, armored vehicles and armed men,” she said. “When we started our protest, in Tariqi Park, the Taliban took branches from the trees and beat us. But we continued our protest. They increased their security presence. Around 11 a.m. they brought out the water cannon.”

    A spokesman for the provincial governor, Hamidullah Mutawakil, claimed there were only four-five protesters. “They had no agenda, they just came here to make a film,” he said, without mentioning the violence against the women or the use of the water cannon.

    There has been widespread international condemnation of the university ban, including from Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as warnings from the United States and the G-7 group of major industrial nations that the policy will have consequences for the Taliban.

    An official in the Taliban government, Minister of Higher Education Nida Mohammad Nadim, spoke about the ban for the first time on Thursday in an interview with the Afghan state television. He said the ban was necessary to prevent the mixing of genders in universities and because he believes some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam.

    He said the ban would be in place until further notice.

    Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, since they seized power in August 2021.

    They have banned girls from middle school and high school, barred women from most fields of employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. At the same time Afghan society, while largely traditional, has increasingly embraced the education of girls and women over the past two decades.

    Also Saturday, in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, dozens of Afghan refugee students protested against the ban on female higher education in their homeland and demanded the immediate reopening of campuses for women.

    One of them, Bibi Haseena, read a poem depicting the grim situation for Afghan girls seeking an education. She said was unhappy about graduating outside her country when hundreds of thousands of her Afghan sisters were being deprived of an education.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The Taliban pledged to honor women’s rights in Afghanistan. Here’s how it eroded them instead | CNN

    The Taliban pledged to honor women’s rights in Afghanistan. Here’s how it eroded them instead | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 in a lightning takeover following the withdrawal of US troops, the radical Islamist group appeared keen to distance itself from its earlier period of rule in the 1990s, presenting itself as more moderate and committed to the internal peace process.

    Among its new commitments, the Taliban pledged to honor women’s rights within the norms of “Islamic law.”

    The group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen said at the time that women would be allowed to continue their education up to university – a break from the strict restrictions under the Taliban regime that ruled between 1996 and 2001.

    The promises of a softer approach were met with skepticism, both within the country and abroad. Over a million Afghans have reportedly fled since the Taliban retook power.

    Sixteen months on, the Taliban appear to have reneged on their word. Women and girls are facing blanket bans on education after a series of decrees steadily eroded their rights in almost all aspects of life and upended the gains they had fought tirelessly for over the past two decades.

    Just days after retaking power, the Taliban reinstated the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice as a public morality watchdog tasked with enforcing the Taliban’s version of Islamic law. The ministry has since been central to the systematic chipping away of women’s rights in the country.

    Here are some of the ways women’s rights have been eroded:

    The Taliban announced on September 12, 2021, that women could attend universities with gender-segregated classrooms while wearing compulsory hijabs. But in March 2022, the government barred girls from attending secondary school. Girls’ secondary schools were set to resume on March 23, 2021, after months-long closures imposed after the Taliban takeover. The group ordered them shut just hours after they were due to reopen. The move devastated many students and their families, who described to CNN their dashed dreams of becoming doctors, teachers or engineers.

    In its latest step in the clampdown on women’s education, the Taliban on Tuesday suspended university education for all female students. A letter published by the education ministry said the decision was made in a cabinet meeting and the order would go into effect immediately.

    Women’s access to public spaces has been significantly curtailed under the Taliban.

    On November 10, women were banned from entering all parks in Kabul. Women had previously been allowed to visit parks three days a week, and men on the remaining four. The new rules mean that women are no longer allowed to do so, even if accompanied by male relatives.

    The same day, a Taliban official in Kabul announced that women would be barred from using gyms across the country. A spokesperson from the ministry of virtue said the ban was being introduced due to people ignoring segregation orders and women not wearing the hijab.

    Women in Afghanistan can no longer work in most sectors. The Taliban ordered working women to stay at home after their seizure of power in August 2021, saying they were not safe in the presence of the group’s soldiers.

    Women’s right to travel within Afghanistan and abroad has also been restricted.

    Late last year, it was announced that women would require a male escort to travel long distances within the country. Any woman traveling further than 75 kilometers (46 miles) was required to be accompanied by a male chaperone. Mohammad Sadiq Hakif Mahajer, spokesman for the virtue ministry, told CNN at the time that the new law was meant to prevent women from coming to any harm or “disturbance.”

    The new rules also called on drivers not to allow women who weren’t wearing the hijab into their cars.

    And in March, Afghanistan’s airlines were ordered to stop women from boarding flights unless accompanied by a male chaperone, Reuters reported.

    This summer, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered women to fully cover themselves, including their faces, in public. The decree suggested that women should stay at home where possible, as this was the “best option to observe the sharia hijab.”

    Prior to the order, hijabs were only mandatory for women studying at university and girls studying at secondary school. This was mandated in the immediate aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power, when the new government said female students, lecturers and women in employment must wear hijabs in accordance with the group’s interpretation of sharia law.

    Taliban authorities have also ordered female television journalists to cover their faces while presenting.

    A member of the Taliban replaces a sign of the Department for Women's Affairs with one of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice at a government building in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in October 2021.

    Since sweeping back to power, the Taliban has abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, a key body to promote women’s rights through law. In its place, the new regime set up the notorious Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which has become instrumental in curtailing the rights of women.

    It has also rolled back the Elimination of Violence against Women Law, signed in 2009 to protect women from abuses – including forced marriage, leaving them without recourse to justice, according to the UN.

    Over the past year, the Taliban’s restrictions on women have increased international concern and are likely to further isolate the country on the world stage.

    Commenting after the decision to ban women from university, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the move will “further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them the legitimacy they desire.”

    US Ambassador Robert Wood, the alternate representative for special political affairs, echoed this sentiment, telling a United Nations Security Council briefing that the “Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all Afghans, especially the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls.”

    The restrictive new measures could stir further unrest within the country. In the wake of the ban on university education, women on Thursday took to the streets of Kabul to protest the decision. The Taliban arrested five women taking part in the protest, according to the BBC.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Taliban Minister Defends Ban On Women’s University Studies

    Taliban Minister Defends Ban On Women’s University Studies

    [ad_1]

    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The minister of higher education in the Taliban government on Thursday defended his decision to ban women from universities — a decree that had triggered a global backlash.

    Discussing the matter for the first time in public, Nida Mohammad Nadim said the ban issued earlier this week was necessary to prevent the mixing of genders in universities and because he believes some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam. He said the ban was in place until further notice.

    In an interview with Afghan television, Nadim pushed back against the widespread international condemnation, including from Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Nadim said that foreigners should stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

    Earlier on Thursday, the foreign ministers of the G-7 group of states urged the Taliban to rescind the ban, warning that “gender persecution may amount to a crime against humanity.” The ministers warned after a virtual meeting that “Taliban policies designed to erase women from public life will have consequences for how our countries engage with the Taliban.” The G-7 group includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

    A former provincial governor, police chief and military commander, Nadim was appointed minister in October by the supreme Taliban leader and previously pledged to stamp out secular schooling. Nadim opposes female education, saying it is against Islamic and Afghan values.

    Other reasons he gave for the university ban were women’s failure to observe a dress code and the study of certain subjects and courses.

    “We told girls to have proper hijab but they didn’t and they wore dresses like they are going to a wedding ceremony,” he said. “Girls were studying agriculture and engineering, but this didn’t match Afghan culture. Girls should learn, but not in areas that go against Islam and Afghan honor.”

    He added that work was underway to fix these issues and universities would reopen for women once they were resolved. The Taliban made similar promises about high school access for girls, saying classes would resume for them once “technical issues” around uniforms and transport were sorted out, but girls remain shut out of classrooms.

    The Taliban tried to fix what he claimed were problems they inherited from the previous administration since their takeover last year. He alleged that people were not following rules and that this justified the university ban.

    In Afghanistan, there has been some domestic opposition to the university ban, including from several cricket players. Cricket is a hugely popular sport in the country, and players have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

    Another show of support for female university students came at Nangarhar Medical University. Local media reported that male students walked out in solidarity and refused to sit for exams until women’s university access was reinstated.

    Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, since they seized power in August 2021.

    They have banned girls from middle school and high school, barred women from most fields of employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. At the same time Afghan society, while largely traditional, has increasingly embraced the education of girls and women over the past two decades.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday, echoed international opposition to the Taliban decision to ban women from university studies. He said the Taliban will not obtain much- needed improved relations with the world if they “continue on this course.”

    “What they’ve done is to try to sentence Afghan women and girls to a dark future without opportunity,” he said. “And the bottom line is that no country is going to be able to succeed, much less thrive, if it denies half its population the opportunity to contribute. And to be clear, and we’re engaged with other countries on this right now. There is going to be a cost.”

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that the ban was “neither Islamic nor humane.” Speaking at a joint news conference with his Yemeni counterpart, he called on the Taliban to reverse their decision.

    “What harm is there in women’s education? What harm does it do to Afghanistan?” Cavusoglu said. “Is there an Islamic explanation? On the contrary, our religion, Islam, is not against education, on the contrary, it encourages education and science.”

    Saudi Arabia, which until 2019 enforced sweeping restrictions on women’s travel, employment and other crucial aspects of their daily lives, including driving, also urged the Taliban to change course.

    The Saudi foreign ministry expressed “astonishment and regret” at Afghan women being denied a university education. In a statement late Wednesday, the ministry said the decision was “astonishing in all Islamic countries.”

    Previously, Qatar, which has engaged with the Taliban authorities, also condemned the decision.

    In the capital of Kabul, about two dozen women marched in the streets Thursday, chanting in Dari for freedom and equality. “All or none. Don’t be afraid. We are together,” they chanted.

    In video obtained by The Associated Press, one woman said Taliban security forces used violence to disperse the group.

    “The girls were beaten and whipped,” she said. “They also brought military women with them, whipping the girls. We ran away, some girls were arrested. I don’t know what will happen.”

    Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade since the Taliban’s return.

    In northeastern Takhar province, teenage girls said the Taliban on Thursday forced them out of a private education training center and told them they no longer had the right to study. One student, 15-year-old Zuhal, said the girls were beaten.

    Another, 19-year-old Maryam, said while crying: “This training center was our hope. What can these girls do? They were full of hope and coming here to learn. It is really a pity. (The Taliban) have taken all our hopes. They closed schools, universities, and the training center, which was very small.”

    Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Taliban minister defends ban on women’s university studies

    Taliban minister defends ban on women’s university studies

    [ad_1]

    KABUL, Afghanistan — The minister of higher education in the Taliban government on Thursday defended his decision to ban women from universities — a decree that had triggered a global backlash.

    Discussing the matter for the first time in public, Nida Mohammad Nadim said the ban issued earlier this week was necessary to prevent the mixing of genders in universities and because he believes some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam. He said the ban was in place until further notice.

    In an interview with Afghan television, Nadim pushed back against the widespread international condemnation, including from Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Nadim said that foreigners should stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

    Earlier on Thursday, the foreign ministers of the G7 group of states urged the Taliban to rescind the ban, warning that “gender persecution may amount to a crime against humanity.” The ministers warned after a virtual meeting that “Taliban policies designed to erase women from public life will have consequences for how our countries engage with the Taliban.” The G7 group includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

    Nadim said universities would be closed to women for the time being, but that the ban could be reviewed at a later time.

    A former provincial governor, police chief and military commander, Nadim was appointed minister in October by the supreme Taliban leader and previously pledged to stamp out secular schooling. Nadim opposes female education, saying it is against Islamic and Afghan values.

    In Afghanistan, there has been some domestic opposition to the university ban, including statements of condemnation by several Afghan cricketers. Cricket is a hugely popular sport in Afghanistan, and players have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

    Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, since they seized power in August 2021.

    They have banned girls from middle school and high school, barred women from most fields of employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. At the same time, Afghan society, while largely traditional, has increasingly embraced the education of girls and women over the past two decades.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that the ban was “neither Islamic nor humane.”

    Speaking at a joint news conference with his Yemeni counterpart, Cavusoglu called on the Taliban to reverse their decision.

    “What harm is there in women’s education? What harm does it do to Afghanistan?” Cavusoglu said. “Is there an Islamic explanation? On the contrary, our religion, Islam, is not against education, on the contrary, it encourages education and science.”

    Saudi Arabia, which until 2019 enforced sweeping restrictions on women’s travel, employment and other crucial aspects of their daily lives, including driving, also urged the Taliban to change course.

    The Saudi foreign ministry expressed “astonishment and regret” at Afghan women being denied a university education. In a statement late Wednesday, the ministry said the decision was “astonishing in all Islamic countries.”

    Previously, Qatar, which has engaged with the Taliban authorities, also condemned the decision.

    In the capital of Kabul, about two dozen women marched in the streets Thursday, chanting in Dari for freedom and equality. “All or none. Don’t be afraid. We are together,” they chanted.

    In video obtained by The Associated Press, one woman said Taliban security forces used violence to disperse the group.

    “The girls were beaten and whipped,” she said. “They also brought military women with them, whipping the girls. We ran away, some girls were arrested. I don’t know what will happen.”

    Several Afghan cricketers called for the ban to be lifted.

    Player Rahmanullah Garbaz said in a tweet that every day of education wasted was a day wasted in the country’s future.

    Another cricketer, Rashid Khan, tweeted that women are the foundation of society. “A society that leaves its children in the hands of ignorant and illiterate women cannot expect its members to serve and work hard,” he wrote.

    Another show of support for female university students came at Nangarhar Medical University. Local media reported that male students walked out in solidarity and refused to sit for exams until women’s university access was reinstated.

    Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade since the Taliban’s return.

    In northeastern Takhar province, teenage girls said the Taliban on Thursday forced them out of a private education training center and told them they no longer had the right to study. One student, 15-year-old Zuhal, said the girls were beaten.

    Another, 19-year-old Maryam, said while crying: “This training center was our hope. What can these girls do? They were full of hope and coming here to learn. It is really a pity. (The Taliban) have taken all our hopes. They closed schools, universities, and the training center, which was very small.”

    ———

    Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Afghan women weep as Taliban fighters enforce university ban

    Afghan women weep as Taliban fighters enforce university ban

    [ad_1]

    KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban security forces in the Afghan capital on Wednesday enforced a higher education ban for women by blocking their access to universities, with video obtained by The Associated Press showing women weeping and consoling each other outside one campus in Kabul.

    The country’s Taliban rulers a day earlier ordered women nationwide to stop attending private and public universities effective immediately and until further notice. The Taliban-led administration has not given a reason for the ban or reacted to the fierce and swift global condemnation of it.

    Journalists saw Taliban forces outside four Kabul universities Wednesday. The forces stopped some women from entering, while allowing others to go in and finish their work. They also tried to prevent any photography, filming and protests from taking place.

    Rahimullah Nadeem, a spokesman for Kabul University, confirmed that classes for female students had stopped. He said some women were allowed to enter the campus for paperwork and administrative reasons, and that four graduation ceremonies were held Wednesday.

    Members of an activist group called the Unity and Solidarity of Afghanistan Women gathered outside the private Edrak University in Kabul on Wednesday morning, chanting slogans in Dari.

    “Do not make education political!” they said. “Once again university is banned for women, we do not want to be eliminated!”

    Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, since they seized power in August 2021.

    They have banned girls from middle school and high school, barred women from most fields of employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms.

    A letter shared by the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashmi, on Tuesday told private and public universities to implement the ban as soon as possible and to inform the ministry once the ban is in place.

    The move is certain to hurt efforts by the Taliban to win international recognition for their government and aid from potential donors at a time when Afghanistan is mired in a worsening humanitarian crisis. The international community has urged Taliban leaders to reopen schools and give women their right to public space.

    Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan, all Muslim countries, have expressed their disappointment at the university ban and urged authorities to withdraw or reconsider their decision.

    Qatar played a key role in facilitating the negotiations that led to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan last year. It called on the “Afghan caretaker government” to review the ban in line with the teachings of Islam on women’s education.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said late Tuesday that no other country in the world bars women and girls from receiving an education.

    “The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all in Afghanistan,” he warned. “This decision will come with consequences for the Taliban.”

    On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department released a joint statement alongside the U.K., Canada, European Union and other Western allies that warned the ban further isolated Afghanistan’s rulers from the international community.

    The head of the U.N. agency promoting women’s rights, Sima Bahous, said in a statement the move was part of a “comprehensive onslaught on women’s rights in Afghanistan” and called for its immediate reversal.

    Afghanistan’s former president, Hamid Karzai, strongly condemned the university ban for women in a Tweet.

    Abdallah Abdallah, a senior leader in Afghanistan’s former U.S.-allied government, described universal education as a “fundamental” right. He urged the country’s Taliban leadership to reconsider the decision.

    Afghan political analyst Ahmad Saeedi said that the latest decision by the Taliban authorities may have closed the door to winning international acceptance.

    “The issue of recognition is over,” he said. “The world is now trying to find an alternative. The world tried to interact more but they (the Taliban) don’t let the world talk to them about recognition.”

    Saeedi said he believes most Afghans favor female education because they consider learning to be a religious command contained in the Quran.

    He said the decision to bar women from universities was likely made by a handful of senior Taliban figures, including the leader Hibatullah Akhunzada, who are based in the southwestern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement.

    He said the main center of power is Kandahar, rather than the Taliban-led government in Kabul, even if the ministers of justice, higher education and so-called “virtue and vice” would also have been involved in the decision to ban women from universities.

    U.N. experts said last month that the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan may amount to a crime against humanity and should be investigated and prosecuted under international law.

    They said the Taliban actions against females deepened existing rights violations — already the “most draconian globally” — and may constitute gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity.

    The Taliban authorities have rejected the allegation.

    —-

    Associated Press writer Riazat Butt contributed from Islamabad.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Taliban release two detained Americans in ‘goodwill gesture’

    Taliban release two detained Americans in ‘goodwill gesture’

    [ad_1]

    The release was revealed on the same day the Taliban banned women from attending universities in Afghanistan.

    The Taliban have released two Americans that had been in detention in Afghanistan, the state department said on Tuesday – the same day that the group faced condemnation for banning women at universities.

    “This, we understand, to have been a goodwill gesture on the part of the Taliban. This was not part of any swap of prisoners or detainees. There was no money that exchanged hands,” state department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

    The two Americans released had arrived in Qatar on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported, citing diplomats familiar with the matter.

    The identities of the two nationals were not disclosed. Price said that confidentiality rules forbade him from offering more details on the two Americans.

    Speaking at a daily press briefing, Price said Washington was continuing to raise with the Taliban the need to release any US nationals still held in Afghanistan, but declined to provide who they may be and how many people may be held there.

    “We are in a position to welcome the release of two American nationals from detention in Afghanistan. We are providing these to US nationals with all appropriate assistance. They will soon be reunited with their loved ones,” Price said.

    He pointed out “the irony of them granting us a goodwill gesture on a day where they undertake a gesture like this [banning girls from universities] to the Afghan people, it’s not lost on us,” he said. “But it is a question for the Taliban themselves regarding the timing of this.”

    On Tuesday, Afghanistan’s Taliban-run higher education ministry said that female students would not be allowed access to the country’s universities until further notice.

    The announcement came as the United Nations Security Council met in New York on Afghanistan. The United States and British UN envoys condemned the move during the council meeting.

    “The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all Afghans, especially the human rights and fundamental freedom of women and girls,” US Deputy UN Ambassador Robert Wood said.

    “We have an interest in seeing Americans released from detention. That is a uniquely US interest. But beyond that, the categories that I spoke about earlier – human rights, safe passage, representative government, counterterrorism … We will continue to advocate for these interests,” Price said.

    The Taliban have restricted women from most fields of employment, ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public, and banned them from parks and gyms.

    The US has repeatedly condemned the Taliban’s track record since the group swept back to power last year when President Joe Biden pulled out US troops, leading the two-decade-old Western-backed government to collapse.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Taliban Say Women Banned From Universities In Afghanistan

    Taliban Say Women Banned From Universities In Afghanistan

    [ad_1]

    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Women are banned from private and public universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect and until further notice, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday, the latest edict cracking down on their rights and freedoms.

    The decision was announced after a meeting of the Taliban government.

    Despite initially promising a more moderate rule and women’s and minority rights, the Taliban have widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

    They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms.

    A letter shared by the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashmi, tells private and public universities to implement the ban as soon as possible and to inform the ministry once the ban is in place.

    Hashmi also tweeted the letter from his account and confirmed its contents in a message to The Associated Press.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • First on CNN: 2 Americans held by the Taliban have been released, sources tell CNN | CNN Politics

    First on CNN: 2 Americans held by the Taliban have been released, sources tell CNN | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]


    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Two Americans who had been detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been released and are en route to Qatar, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

    Two of the sources tell CNN that one of the Americans is filmmaker Ivor Shearer, who was arrested along with his Afghan producer, Faizullah Faizbakhsh, in August this year while filming in Kabul, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He was filming where a US drone had killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

    CNN is withholding the name of the second American at the request of the family at this time. The status of Faizbakhsh was not immediately clear.

    It was not immediately clear what spurred the release of the two Americans and if any deal was made with the Taliban to secure it. The State Department did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

    “The United States welcomes the release of two US nationals from detention in Afghanistan. We continue to provide all appropriate assistance. We are glad these US nationals will reunite with their families soon,” a senior administration official told CNN. “Out of respect for the privacy of these individuals and their families, we are not going to confirm names.”

    The official added that the administration continues to “engage the Taliban in pragmatic ways to advance US interests” but did not provide details as to the efforts it took to secure the America’s release.

    According to the CPJ, security guards questioned Shearer and Faizbakhsh about their activities “and checked their work permits, ID cards, and passports.” They also “confiscated the journalists’ cellphones, detained them for a couple of hours, and repeatedly called them ‘American spies.’”

    Shearer was in Afghanistan on a one-month visa, according to CPJ, but received a one-year work permit by the Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs that allowed him to stay in the country until September. He was reportedly summoned and questioned about his past work multiple times by the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs before his arrest.

    Asked about Shearer’s detention in September, a senior administration official told reporters they were “aware of that matter” but did not provide more details.

    Mark Frerichs, an American held captive in Afghanistan for more than two years, was released as part of a prisoner swap in September. Frerichs was believed to be held by the Haqqani network, which is a faction of the Taliban. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time that his return was “the result of intense engagement with the Taliban.” Taliban spokesman at the time said the swap was secured through a constructive “dialogue” with the US.

    In October, the US held its first in-person talks in Qatar with the Taliban since Zawahiri was killed. The White House in September called cooperation with the Taliban on counterterrorism “a work in progress.”

    Earlier this month, the Taliban put an alleged murderer to death in the first public execution held in Afghanistan since the Islamist group returned to power. The Biden administration condemned the execution.

    “The images we’ve seen out of Afghanistan; the floggings, the public executions; the clear, blatant, violent, barbaric violations of human rights of course are of grave concern to all of us. They harken back to a prior era, to an era that no Afghan or Afghans certainly as a whole do not want to return to, an Afghanistan that lacked opportunity, that lacked stability, that lacked security, that certainly lacked prosperity,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. “In every engagement we have with the Taliban, human rights is at the top of the agenda.”

    This story is breaking and will be updated.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Taliban say women banned from universities in Afghanistan

    Taliban say women banned from universities in Afghanistan

    [ad_1]

    KABUL, Afghanistan — Women are banned from private and public universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect and until further notice, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday, the latest edict cracking down on their rights and freedoms.

    The decision was announced after a meeting of the Taliban government.

    Despite initially promising a more moderate rule and women’s and minority rights, the Taliban have widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

    They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms.

    A letter shared by the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashmi, tells private and public universities to implement the ban as soon as possible and to inform the ministry once the ban is in place.

    Hashmi also tweeted the letter from his account and confirmed its contents in a message to The Associated Press.

    The university ban comes weeks after Afghan girls took their high school graduation exams, even though they have been banned from classrooms since the Taliban took over the country last year.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Afghan Adjustment Act not included in omnibus spending bill, source says | CNN Politics

    Afghan Adjustment Act not included in omnibus spending bill, source says | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    The Afghan Adjustment Act will not be included in the omnibus spending bill, a source familiar told CNN.

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, continued to oppose the act at the committee level, the source said.

    CNN previously reported that roughly two dozen former leaders of the US military sent a letter to congressional leaders over the weekend urging them to act quickly to save Afghan allies who run the risk of deportation. Specifically, the group – including retired chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a former Supreme Allied commander of NATO and several former commanders in Afghanistan – asked congressional leaders to include the Afghan Adjustment Act in the omnibus spending bill.

    The measure would give those evacuees a pathway to lawful permanent residency before their temporary status, known as humanitarian parole, expires in 2023.

    This story is breaking and will be updated.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 3 ways Germany’s migration crisis is different this time around

    3 ways Germany’s migration crisis is different this time around

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    BERLIN — This year, the number of refugees arriving to Germany is almost as high as it was in 2015 and 2016 — when the government nearly fell apart over it.

    When civil war broke out in Syria, refugees came in masses to Europe. Between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, tens of thousands arrived in Germany. Then-Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Wir schaffen das” — “We got this.” Merkel’s government allowed migrants to enter Germany even though, under the EU’s framework, other countries in the bloc would also have been responsible for them. The massive influx led to friction both within Germany and between European capitals.

    Germany saw nearly 1.2 million applications for asylum in 2015 and 2016. At first, many Germans applauded the Syrians arriving at train stations and offered support — coining the term Willkommenskultur. But as cities and towns were overwhelmed, with gyms and container villages being set up to house the influx of refugees, the political mood soon soured.

    Fast-forward to 2022: The number of refugees from Ukraine amounted to just more than 1 million people receiving temporary protection. Add to that around 214,000 applications by asylum-seekers with no connection to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the German interior ministry. That means that this year, more people have sought refuge in Germany than in 2015 and 2016 combined.

    But things are different this time around. While authorities on the ground still fear being overwhelmed, the situation has changed, including how EU countries handle refugees. Here are three key points:

    1. Refugees from Ukraine form a distinct category

    First of all, Germany is not going it alone now, as the EU has activated the so-called Temporary Protection Directive for refugees from Ukraine. This means that they automatically receive temporary asylum status and can claim social benefits in any EU country, spreading the burden across countries in the bloc.

    Within Germany, a new distribution system known as “FREE,” in place since July, considers family ties and other factors. This has created a steering effect, as distribution can be linked and tracked. Furthermore, when able to privately organize accommodation themselves, refugees from Ukraine may choose where to settle. Only if they apply for social welfare or housing may they be allocated throughout Germany like other refugees.

    Almost three-quarters of refugees from Ukraine live in private apartments and houses, according to the study “Refugees from Ukraine in Germany” (conducted between August and October this year). Of these, around 25 percent live with relatives or friends in Germany. Only 9 percent live in shared accommodation for refugees.

    In contrast, refugees not coming from Ukraine are spread among German states via the so-called “EASY” system. After an initial period at regional reception centers, migrants are distributed at random to municipalities across the country.

    That system does not take individual preferences into account; it only grants a higher probability of assigning refugees to facilities in the same region if family members have been registered in the region — and if there is capacity.

    2. Not all cities and towns are overwhelmed — yet

    “Reception capacities are exhausted in many places, tent shelters and gymnasiums already have to be used,” Burkhard Jung, the mayor of Leipzig and vice president of the German Association of Cities, said in November.

    Plenty of déjà vu with 2015 on this front. 

    “We don’t know a concrete number, but we are getting feedback from very many federal states that the municipalities are reaching their limits,” Alexander Handschuh, a spokesperson for the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, confirmed earlier this month. He pointed out that large cities such as Berlin or Munich are more popular among refugees from Ukraine — a trend that is ongoing.

    “Meanwhile, however, heavy burdens are being reported from all over Germany,” Handschuh added.

    While many refugees from Ukraine were initially welcomed into private accommodation “with overwhelming willingness to help,” this is becoming increasingly difficult the longer the war continues. Thus, German municipalities are now calling for help from the federal government, demanding full reimbursement for the costs of handling refugees and calling for higher reception capacity at the regional level.

    Migration researcher Hannes Schammann of the University of Hildesheim says he is hearing mixed signals from local authorities. “There are isolated hot spots where we have this situation with gymnasiums and the like. But there are also municipalities where this can still be managed quite well,” Schammann told POLITICO. 

    The newly arriving refugees are not the problem, he believes. Rather, he said, the issue is German bureaucracy, as the distribution system itself causes delays and uncertainty.

    3. Although the situation is tense, it is not surprising

    Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) confirmed that migration pressure is currently “increasing significantly” not only in Germany, but also at the EU’s external borders. “Although the numbers have increased every year … the current influx of arrivals has a higher dynamic compared to previous years,” it said. As to why, the BAMF cited a catch-up effect after pandemic travel restrictions were lifted, and economic and political situations in transit states such as Turkey, Tunisia and Libya.

    Yet, the number of refugees now arriving from countries other than Ukraine is within the expected range, Schammann said. This becomes a problem, however, when that flow comes up against any uneven distribution of Ukrainian refugees.

    In addition, many municipalities held on to both physical and policy infrastructure built up during the situation in 2015 and 2016. “Those who maintained it did quite well,” Schammann pointed out. 

    The main countries of origin for asylum-seekers besides Ukraine continue to be Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey and Iraq — as in previous years. “There are currently no noticeable developments in individual countries of origin,” a spokesperson from the interior ministry told POLITICO. Nevertheless, he confirmed a somewhat tense situation in terms of the ability to receive refugees.

    Schammann expects the debate to heat up because of bottlenecks that may arise due to the distribution of refugees already in Germany. He described it as a difficult situation and definitely a source of strain on the system. “But it’s not collapsing. It will continue to function regardless,” he said.

    Without a magic crystal ball, the ministry declined to provide an outlook for the months to come.

    [ad_2]

    Gabriel Rinaldi

    Source link

  • Pakistan: Afghan Taliban shell border town, killing civilian

    Pakistan: Afghan Taliban shell border town, killing civilian

    [ad_1]

    QUETTA, Pakistan — Pakistani authorities on Thursday said one person was killed and 11 were wounded when Afghan Taliban forces fired mortars toward civilians near the southwestern Chaman border crossing, reflecting increasing tension between the neighboring nations.

    The latest violence follows a series of deadly incidents and attacks that have strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers in recent months. It was not immediately clear what preceded the shots near Chaman, a key trade route between the two sides.

    Thursday’s ongoing violence came days after seven Pakistani civilians were killed in the across-border shelling by the Taliban forces. No military spokesman was immediately available for comment and there was also no comment from the Afghan Taliban.

    Akhtar Mohammad, a doctor at a hospital in Chaman, said staff there received 12 wounded people following the clashes. One of them later died and some of the injured were listed in critical condition.

    Abdul Hameed Zehri, a government administrator in the town of Chaman in Baluchistan province, also confirmed the casualties. Security officials say Pakistan’s army responded to the Afghan fire, but did not give further details.

    Authorities say mortars fired by the Afghan Taliban forces also hit a truck near Chaman. They say accused the Afghan Taliban forces of intentionally targeting the civilian population.

    Afghanistan’s Taliban seized the Afghan capital of Kabul last year. Since then, the countries have traded fire mainly over lingering disputes about Pakistan’s construction of a fence along the Afghan border. Incidents of militant attacks on Pakistani security forces have also increased since the country’s new army chief Gen. Asim Munir took the charge on Nov. 29 and replaced Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    On Thursday, U.S. CENTCOM chief Gen. Erik Kurilla visited Pakistan and met with Munir in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, according to a military statement. The two military leaders discussed a range of issues, including the regional stability and security cooperation. The statement said Kurilla also visited the northwestern border town of Torkham near Afghanistan.

    Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul came under gunfire in an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State group. Pakistani officials at the time had called the incident an attack on its envoy there. Islamabad also has said Afghanistan’s rulers are sheltering militants who carry out deadly attacks on its soil.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Islamic State group claims attack on Chinese hotel in Kabul

    Islamic State group claims attack on Chinese hotel in Kabul

    [ad_1]

    ISLAMABAD — The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack on a Chinese-owned hotel in Afghanistan’s capital that left three assailants dead and at least two of the hotel guests injured as they tried to escape by jumping out from a window.

    Beijing on Tuesday advised its citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country “as soon as possible,” following the attack.

    The militant strike on the Kabul Longan Hotel on Monday afternoon sent plumes of smoke rising from the 10-story structure building in the heart of the city, according to images posted on social media. Residents reported explosions and gunfire.

    Taliban forces rushed to the area and blocked all roads leading to the site in the central Shar-e Naw neighborhood. Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said the attack lasted several hours, followed by a clean-up operation.

    Hours later, the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — a key rival of the Taliban since they seized power in Afghanistan over a year ago — claimed responsibility for the attack.

    In a statement carried by one of the militant Telegram channels used by IS, the group said two of its members targeted the hotel because it is frequented by diplomats and owned by “communist China.”

    The statement further claimed IS attackers detonated two bags with explosives that were left in the hotel earlier, including one in the main hall, and set fire to a part of the hotel. The militant group offered no proof for its claims.

    There were conflicting reports as to the casualty numbers.

    Taliban officials said three assailants were killed; the IS claim said only two of its members took part in the attack, identifying them by name and posting their photographs.

    According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesman, two foreign residents were injured when they jumped out of windows to escape the fighting.

    But the Emergency Hospital in Kabul said in a tweet it received 21 casualties, including the bodied of three people.

    On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the attack “egregious in nature” and said China was “deeply shocked.”

    China demanded a “thorough investigation” and urged the Taliban government “to take resolute and strong measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Afghanistan,” Wang said.

    The Chinese Embassy in Kabul sent its team to the site to help with the rescue, treatment and accommodations for the victims of the attack.

    “In view of the current security situation in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again advised Chinese citizens and institutions in Afghanistan to evacuate from Afghanistan as soon as possible,” Wang said.

    The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — has increased its attacks since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Today in History: December 24, astronauts read from Genesis

    Today in History: December 24, astronauts read from Genesis

    [ad_1]

    Today in History

    Today is Saturday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2022. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Dec. 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.

    On this date:

    In 1814, the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 following ratification by both the British Parliament and the U.S. Senate.

    In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

    In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, that was the original version of the Ku Klux Klan.

    In 1906, Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to transmit the human voice (his own) as well as music over radio, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.

    In 1913, 73 people, most of them children, died in a crush of panic after a false cry of “Fire!” during a Christmas party for striking miners and their families at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan.

    In 1914, during World War I, impromptu Christmas truces began to take hold along parts of the Western Front between British and German soldiers.

    In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe as part of Operation Overlord.

    In 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” the first opera written specifically for television, was broadcast by NBC-TV.

    In 1990, actor Tom Cruise married his “Days of Thunder” co-star, Nicole Kidman, during a private ceremony at a Colorado ski resort (the marriage ended in 2001).

    In 1992, President Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others in the Iran-Contra scandal.

    In 2013, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon to code-breaker Alan Turing, who was convicted of homosexual behavior in the 1950s.

    In 2020, Bethlehem ushered in Christmas Eve with a stream of joyous marching bands and the triumphant arrival of the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, but few people were there to greet them as the pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened celebrations. Just a week before the deadline, Britain and the European Union struck a free-trade deal that would avert economic chaos on New Year’s and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil.

    Ten years ago: An Afghan policewoman walked into a high-security compound in Kabul and killed an American contractor, the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies. An ex-con gunned down two firefighters in Webster, New York, after luring them to his suburban Rochester neighborhood by setting a car and a house ablaze, then took shots at police and committed suicide as seven homes burned down. Death claimed actors Charles Durning, 89, and Jack Klugman, 90.

    Five years ago: Peru’s president announced that he had granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, 79, who had been serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads. In Christmas eve remarks, Pope Francis likened the journey to Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph to the migrations of millions of people today who are forced to leave homelands for a better life, or just to survive.

    One year ago: Around the world, the surging coronavirus dampened Christmas Eve festivities for a second year, with travel plans disrupted and churches canceling or scaling back services. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights as the omicron variant jumbled schedules and drew down staffing levels at some carriers during the busy holiday travel season. Drummers and bagpipers marched through Bethlehem to smaller than usual crowds after new Israeli travel restrictions aimed at slowing the highly contagious omicron variant kept international tourists away. Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica, going ahead with the service despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases that had prompted a new vaccine mandate for Vatican employees.

    Today’s Birthdays: Dr. Anthony Fauci is 82. Recording company executive Mike Curb is 78. Actor Sharon Farrell is 76. Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is 76. Actor Grand L. Bush is 67. Actor Clarence Gilyard is 67. Actor Stephanie Hodge is 66. The former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai (HAH’-mihd KAHR’-zeye), is 65. Rock musician Ian Burden (The Human League) is 65. Actor Anil Kapoor (ah-NEEL’ kuh-POOR’) is 63. Actor Eva Tamargo is 62. Actor Wade Williams is 61. Rock singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is 59. Actor Mark Valley is 58. Actor Diedrich Bader is 56. Actor Amaury Nolasco is 52. Singer Ricky Martin is 51. Author Stephenie Meyer is 49. TV personality Ryan Seacrest (TV: “Live With Kelly & Ryan”) is 48. Actor Michael Raymond-James is 45. Actor Austin Stowell is 38. Actor Sofia Black-D’Elia is 31. Rock singer Louis Tomlinson (One Direction) is 31. NFL wide receiver Davante Adams is 30. Estonian tennis player Anett Kontaveit is 27.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Griner case latest in string of high-profile prisoner swaps

    Griner case latest in string of high-profile prisoner swaps

    [ad_1]

    Associated Press — Delicate negotiations between the United States and Russia led to basketball star Brittney Griner’s return Friday in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death.”

    It’s the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner swaps involving Americans detained abroad. Here is a look at some of the most notable exchanges.

    ———

    FRANCIS GARY POWERS, 1962

    Perhaps the most famous one came at the height of the Cold War when Powers, a high-altitude U-2 spy plane pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, was exchanged on a German bridge for Russian spy Col. Rudolph Abel.

    The swap was depicted in Steven Spielberg’s 2015 movie “Bridge of Spies.”

    Powers was criticized by some for allowing himself to be captured but cleared of wrongdoing. Documents declassified in 1998 show that Soviet intelligence gained no vital information from him, according his biography on the National Air and Space Museum’s website.

    ———

    NICHOLAS DANILOFF, 1986

    In August 1986, Gennadiy Zakharov, a 39-year-old Soviet physicist and United Nations employee, was arrested by the FBI on federal espionage charges.

    Days later Daniloff, the Moscow bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report, was arrested by the KGB after a Soviet acquaintance handed him a closed package containing maps marked “top secret.”

    The administration of President Ronald Reagan called Daniloff’s detention a “setup,” though Moscow denied it was retaliation for Zakharov’s arrest.

    That September, Daniloff was released and Zakharov was allowed to leave the U.S.

    ———

    BOWE BERGDAHL, 2014

    Bergdahl, a U.S. Army sergeant, was handed over to U.S. special forces in May 2014 after nearly five years in captivity in Afghanistan and arrived at at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio the following month.

    In exchange, the United States released five Taliban prisoners being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    Bergdahl had vanished from a base in Afghanistan’s Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in June 2009 and was called a deserter by some. He pleaded guilty to desertion and endangering his comrades in October 2017 and was dishonorably discharged, but was not imprisoned.

    ———

    TREVOR REED, 2022

    Earlier this year Reed, a Marine veteran imprisoned in Russia for nearly three years, was swapped for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who had been serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

    Reed was arrested in summer 2019 and later sentenced to nine years in prison after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer while being driven to a police station following a night of heavy drinking.

    The U.S. government said he was unjustly detained, and his family maintained his innocence.

    Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in 2010 and extradited to the U.S on drug trafficking charges.

    ———

    US-IRAN SWAP, 2016

    Four Americans including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari were released from prison by Iranian authorities in January 2016.

    The U.S. pardoned or dropped charges against seven Iranians.

    Rezaian and Hekmati, who were both charged with espionage by Tehran, said they were tortured while in custody. Abedini was detained for compromising national security, presumably because of Christian proselytizing.

    ———

    RUSSIAN SLEEPER AGENTS, 2010

    In what was called the biggest spy swap since the end of the Cold War, 10 sleeper agents who infiltrated suburban America were sentenced to time served and deported in July 2010 after pleading guilty to conspiracy.

    They included Anna Chapman, whose sultry photos on social media sites made her a tabloid sensation.

    They were exchanged for four Russian prisoners convicted of spying for the West.

    ———

    List compiled by Associated Press writer Mark Pratt in Boston.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Photos: Afghan girls ‘used to hold pens, now they hold brooms’

    Photos: Afghan girls ‘used to hold pens, now they hold brooms’

    [ad_1]

    Afghan high school girls have not returned to their schools since the Taliban returned to power last August. Afghanistan’s new rulers initially promised women’s rights but gradually expanded restrictions on women’s freedom over the past 15 months.

    Millions of Afghan women have been confined to their homes, forced to spend their days working on farms, weaving carpets, and doing household chores.

    “If there is no education and the situation continues, a generation of girls will face a dark future and they won’t have any rights,” Lima, 16, said.

    The Taliban banned girls above the sixth grade from going to school after returning to power after running an armed rebellion against US-led foreign forces for 20 years.

    Afghan girls now fear for their future as many of them have been transformed from students into child labourers.

    Meanwhile, on Monday, the Taliban authorities allowed Afghan girls to take high school graduation exams this week without allowing them to attend classes for more than a year.

    Save the Children, which compiled the photo essay from across Afghanistan, has called on the Taliban to allow girls of all ages to return to school.

    “There is no issue – administrative, logistical or otherwise – that can possibly justify the continuation of a policy that denies girls access to their education,” the international NGO said in a statement.

    *All the names in this photo essay have been changed to protect identities

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Pakistan Taliban ends cease-fire with govt, vows new attacks

    Pakistan Taliban ends cease-fire with govt, vows new attacks

    [ad_1]

    ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban on Monday ended a monthslong cease-fire with the government in Islamabad, ordering its fighters to resume attacks across the country, where scores of deadly attacks have been blamed on the insurgent group.

    In a statement, the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said it decided to end the 5-month-old cease-fire after Pakistan’s army stepped up operations against them in former northwestern tribal areas and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

    Pakistan and the TTP had agreed to an indefinite cease-fire in May after talks in Afghanistan’s capital.

    There was no immediate comment from the government or the military.

    The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but are allies of the Afghanistan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan more than a year ago as the U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened TTP, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding in Afghanistan.

    Monday’s announcement was a setback to efforts made by the Afghan Taliban since earlier this year to facilitate a peace agreement aimed at ending the violence. The latest development comes months after the Afghan Taliban started hosting negotiations in the capital Kabul between the TTP and representatives from the Pakistan government and security forces.

    It also comes a day before Pakistan’s outgoing army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa — who had approved the controversial cease-fire with TTP in May — is to retire after completing his six-year extended term.

    Bajwa will hand over command of the military to the newly appointed army chief Gen. Asim Munir at a ceremony in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Tuesday amid tight security because of fears of violence.

    Gen. Bajwa during his tenure carried out a series of military operations against TTP before agreeing to the peace talks with the militant, who have waged an insurgency in Pakistan for 14 years. The TTP has been fighting for stricter enforcement of Islamic laws in the country, the release of their members who are in government custody, and a reduction of Pakistan’s military presence in the country’s former tribal regions.

    During the talks, Pakistan had asked TTP to disband.

    Pakistan also wanted the insurgents to accept its constitution and sever all ties with the Islamic State group, another Sunni militant group with a regional affiliate that is active in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    However, both sides apparently stuck to their positions since the peace talks began.

    In a separate statement, the TTP claimed that it targeted a vehicle carrying Pakistani troops in the district of North Waziristan near the Afghan border, causing casualties. There was no confirmation of the attack from the military and the statement did not provide details.

    The Pakistani Taliban have for years used Afghanistan’s rugged border regions for hideouts and for staging cross-border attacks into Pakistan.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Inside the White House’s months of prep-work for a GOP investigative onslaught | CNN Politics

    Inside the White House’s months of prep-work for a GOP investigative onslaught | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]


    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    More than four months before voters handed Republicans control of the House of Representatives, top White House and Department of Homeland Security officials huddled in the Roosevelt Room to prepare for that very scenario.  

    The department and its secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, had emerged as top targets of Republican ire over the Biden administration’s border security policies – ire that is certain to fuel aggressive congressional investigations with Republicans projected to narrowly reclaim the House majority and the subpoena power that comes with it.  

    Sitting around the large conference table in the Roosevelt Room, White House lawyers probed senior DHS officials about their preparations for the wide-ranging Republican oversight they had begun to anticipate, including Republicans’ stated plans to impeach Mayorkas, two sources familiar with the meeting said.  

    Convened by Richard Sauber, a veteran white-collar attorney hired in May to oversee the administration’s response to congressional oversight, the meeting was one of several the White House has held since the summer with lawyers from across the administration – including the Defense Department, State Department and Justice Department.

    The point, people familiar with the effort said, has been to ensure agencies are ready for the coming investigative onslaught  and to coordinate an administration-wide approach. 

    While President Joe Biden and Democrats campaigned to preserve their congressional majorities, a small team of attorneys, communications strategists and legislative specialists have spent the past few months holed up in Washington preparing for the alternative, two administration officials said.  

    The preparations, largely run out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House, are among the earliest and most comprehensive by any administration ahead of a midterm election and highlight how far-reaching and aggressive Republican investigations are expected to be.

    Along with Sauber, this spring the White House hired veteran Democratic communications aide Ian Sams as spokesman for the White House counsel’s office. Top Biden adviser Anita Dunn returned to the White House in the spring, in part to oversee the administration’s preparations for a GOP-controlled Congress.

    The Justice Department is also bracing for investigations, bringing in well-known government transparency attorney Austin Evers to help respond to legislative oversight. Evers is the founder of the group American Oversight and served as its executive director until this year, and previously handled the oversight response at the State Department.

     The White House is preparing to hire additional lawyers and other staff to beef up its oversight response team in the next two months, before the new Congress convenes in January, administration officials said. The hires will bolster Sauber’s current team of about 10 lawyers, a source familiar with the matter said.

    In piecing together GOP targets and strategy, the team has paid close attention to Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and James Comer of Kentucky, the two Republicans who are likely to lead much of the investigations under a GOP-controlled House and have spent months telegraphing their intentions in TV interviews and oversight letters.   

    Jim Jordan and James Comer.

    Their opening salvo came Thursday, when Comer and Jordan hosted a joint news conference to preview the various investigations into President Joe Biden’s family.  

    “In the 118th Congress, this committee will evaluate the status of Joe Biden’s relationship with his family’s foreign partners and whether he is a president who is compromised or swayed by foreign dollars and influence” said Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee. “I want to be clear: This is an investigation of Joe Biden, and that’s where the committee will focus in this next Congress.”

    Comer, flanked by Jordan and other Republicans on the Oversight Committee, said Republicans have made connections between the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and the president whom they believe requires further investigation. 

    The White House accused Comer of pursuing “long-debunked conspiracy theories.”

    Even though the Republican majority is poised to be much thinner than expected – with a likely margin of just a couple seats – all indications are that House Republicans are poised to push ahead with a wide-ranging set of investigations into all corners of the Biden administration, including the messy US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Covid-19 vaccine mandates and the Justice Department’s handling of the various investigations related to Donald Trump. 

    Republicans are also intent on investigating the president’s family, particularly his son, Hunter Biden. 

    With little chance of passing much legislation in a deadlocked Congress, investigations are shaping up to be the focal point of how a House Republican majority wields its power.  

    “You’re gonna have a bunch of chairmen who are totally on their own, doing whatever the hell they want without regard for what the national political implications are,” said Brendan Buck, a former top adviser to House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said he believes GOP leader Kevin McCarthy will have “very little leash” to rein in those investigative pursuits.  

    House Republicans have already sent over 500 letters to the administration requesting that they preserve documents, key committees have hired new legal counsels to help with investigations, and leadership has hosted classes for staffers on how to best use the oversight tools at their disposal.

    Meanwhile, McCarthy’s office has been working with likely committee chairs over the last several months to delegate who is going to be investigating what, according to a source familiar with the matter. 

    “It’s like a clearing house,” the source said. 

    But the GOP’s push for aggressive investigations could run into resistance from the moderate wing of the GOP, who want to use their newfound majority to address key legislative priorities – not just pummel Hunter Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci. While McCarthy has vowed to conduct rigorous oversight, he will have to strike a delicate balance between the demands of the competing factions in his party.

    White House officials believe Republicans are bound to overstep and that their investigative overreach will backfire with the American public. In the meantime, they are prepared to push back forcefully, believing that many proposed investigations are based on conspiracy theories and politically motivated charges.

    “President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans’ priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge,” Sams, the spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said in a statement to CNN. 

    The House’s expected razor-thin majority is likely to make it more difficult to take steps like impeaching members of Biden’s Cabinet – or even the president himself. But that doesn’t mean, sources told CNN, they’re not going to try, particularly when it comes to the border and Mayorkas.  

    Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill on May 04, 2022.

    On Tuesday, the House Homeland Security Committee provided a preview of what is to come. Over the course of a marathon four-hour hearing, Republican lawmakers grilled Mayorkas over the influx of migrants at the southern border, the number of people who evade Border Patrol capture, and encounters with people on the border who are on the terror watch list. 

    Throughout, Mayorkas stood his ground, maintaining that the border is “secure” and batting down criticism that it’s “open” as Republicans have claimed. 

    At one point, Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana foreshadowed more testimony next year, telling Mayorkas: “We look forward to seeing you in January.”  

    Mayorkas, officials said, remains undeterred by the threats of impeachment and intends to stay at the helm of the department, a point he reiterated Tuesday. Still, one person close to Mayorkas told CNN that the DHS chief is “nervous” about impending GOP investigations and the potential of being continually hauled before Congress by hostile Republican committee chairs. 

    “Don’t let the bastards win,” one US official familiar with Mayorkas’ thinking said when asked to sum up the DHS chief’s attitude toward potential GOP investigations on border issues and impeachment.   

    “We will respond to legitimate inquiries,” the official said. “We’re not going to feed into what might wind up as kabuki theater.”  

    DHS already responds to hundreds of congressional inquiries per month, according to a Homeland Security official, who added the department has been preparing for months for any potential increase in congressional activity. The department is also ready to “aggressively respond to attempts to mischaracterize the strong record” of the DHS work force, as well as “politically motivated attempts to attack the secretary,” the official said.

    DHS officials considered hiring outside legal counsel to prepare for the potential onslaught of Republican scrutiny but ultimately chose not to, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.   Ricki Seidman, a senior counselor to Mayorkas and former senior Justice Department official, has been involved in DHS’s preparation for the GOP oversight, the source added.

     Another Homeland Security official said that the Border Patrol along with Customs and Border Protection “are going to take the most heat.” 

    The most politically charged investigations next year are poised to be those into the president’s son Hunter Biden.  

    Top Republicans have largely been more than happy for Comer to take on the leading role of investigating Hunter Biden, multiple sources said.  Jordan does not plan to be intimately involved in the Hunter Biden probe but will provide public support for Comer, including appearing with him at the upcoming press conference.  

    “We’re going to lay out what we have thus far on Hunter Biden, and the crimes we believe he has committed,” Comer told CNN earlier this month just before the election. “And then we’re going to be very clear and say what we are investigating, and who we’re gonna ask to meet with us for transcribed interviews.”

    Hunter Biden has denied wrongdoing in his business activities.

    Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, attends a ceremony at the White House on Thursday, July 7, 2022.

    Behind the scenes though, Jordan and other soon-to-be powerful Republican lawmakers – including likely chairman of House Intelligence Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio – have sought to distance their committees from the Hunter Biden investigation in favor of other investigative pursuits they deem to be “more serious,” the sources said. 

    The handling of Republican investigations related to Hunter Biden will fall to Hunter Biden’s own attorneys, while Bob Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, will handle related matters related to Joe Biden’s personal capacity that do not touch on his official duties. Bauer, who is married to Dunn, and White House attorneys have already met to divvy up workflow over potential lines of inquiries to ensure there are clear lanes of responsibility between investigations that touch on Joe Biden’s official role as president and vice president and his personal life. 

    Another key point of interest is likely to be the administration’s handling of the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, which led to the death of 13 Marines and nearly 200 Afghans when a bomb exploded at the Kabul airport.  

    At the State Department, a small group of officials has already begun planning for the coming investigations into Afghanistan, officials said. While that group will work with Sauber’s team at the White House, State Department officials expect to take the lead in handling GOP inquiries into Afghanistan.     

    The department has not hired new people to work on these efforts, but certain officials who are already at the department expect to spend a lot more of their time responding to the congressional inquiries, officials said.  

    The Republican investigation into the withdrawal is likely to be led by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee. McCaul and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have historically had a good relationship, which State Department officials are hoping will be an important factor.

    US soldiers stand guard behind barbed wire as Afghans sit on a roadside near the military part of the airport in Kabul on August 20, 2021

    Administration officials said they plan to take McCaul’s inquiry seriously because they expect he will demonstrate a seriousness of purpose, instead of making bombastic demands like some other Republicans. And House Republican aides said they plan to explore the administration’s willingness to work with them before issuing subpoenas.

    “If they’ll meet us in the middle by giving us some documents instead of all documents, or agreeing to turn over certain individuals but not all of the individuals for interviews, then that’s a start,” said one of the GOP aides familiar with the plans. “But if they just want to be completely obstructive and say no to every single request, then you’ll see subpoenas fairly soon.”

    The department concluded its own review of the withdrawal in March, but the findings of that report have not been shared publicly, officials said. While it was expected to be put out earlier this year, State Department officials said the White House is making that determination, and they are unsure of where that decision stands. House Republicans want to see that report.

    At the Pentagon, officials are bracing for the possibility of public grilling at televised hearings on everything from Afghanistan to views about “wokeness” in the force and the discharging of troops who refused to take the Covid-19 vaccine. 

    “We know it’s coming,” one administration official said. 

     Both Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose term expires at the end of September 2023, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who appears determined to stay until the end of the Biden administration, have faced sharp criticism from congressional Republicans and know the coming months may be a rough political ride, officials said.    

    Milley has been a particular target for Republicans for his well-known efforts to keep the final weeks of the Trump presidency from careening into a national security crisis. 

    Both Milley and Austin have pushed back forcefully on GOP accusations that the military is “woke,” a topic that’s likely to become a focal point for some Republicans in the coming months.

    “This is going to be a Congress under Republican control like no other,” said Rafi Prober, a congressional investigations specialist with the law firm Akin Gump who previously worked in the Obama administration.    

    Aaron Cutler, the head of the Washington government investigations group at law firm Hogan Lovells and a former Republican congressional leadership staffer, said the partisan investigations serve to “feed the base red meat.”

    But Cutler said he has heard from conservatives that the tepid result for Republicans in the midterm elections may translate to less “silliness in politics,” he said. “The American people are pushing back, and saying we want government to work.”   

    That is exactly the calculation the White House and congressional Democrats are making. A senior House Democratic source said that aggressive attacks on Biden’s son could backfire, adding that congressional Democrats were gearing up to defend the president by calling out “lies and hypocrisy.”

    Still, with the GOP investigations in mind, a team of White House lawyers has in recent weeks and months advised senior White House staff on how “not to be seen as influencing politically sensitive missions at (departments and agencies),” a source familiar with the matter told CNN.  

    Asked at his press conference last week about the prospect of GOP investigations, including into his son, Biden said: “I think the American people will look at all of that for what it is. It’s just almost comedy. … Look, I can’t control what they’re going to do.”

    This story has been updated with comments from Rep. Comer on Thursday.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • UK army killed 64 children in Afghanistan between 2006-14: Report

    UK army killed 64 children in Afghanistan between 2006-14: Report

    [ad_1]

    The British army paid $165,332 in compensation after the deaths of 64 children in Afghanistan, a new report says.

    British forces have paid compensation for the deaths of 64 children in Afghanistan, a toll four times higher than the 16 child deaths publicly acknowledged by the Ministry of Defence, according to a new report.

    Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a United Kingdom-based charity, found that the British government paid, on average, £1,656 ($1,894) in compensation for each person killed.

    Between 2006-2014, “there were 64 confirmed child victims in Afghanistan where the British military paid compensation, although the number of children killed could be as high as 135”.

    Additionally, AOAV found that between April 2007 and December 2012, there were 38 incidents involving the 64 child deaths.

    The average age of a child killed was six years old, and air strikes were the most common cause of death listed.

    ‘Tragedy’

    A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence responded to the new report, saying: “Any civilian death during conflict is a tragedy, more so when children and family members are involved.

    “The UK Armed Forces works hard to minimise that risk, which regrettably can never be entirely eliminated.”

    Compensation

    Total payouts by the military amounted to £144,593 ($165,332), but the report explained this included the deaths of adults.

    Families attempting to claim compensation for the loss of a relative were expected to show evidence, including birth certificates and interviews with British personnel, to confirm there was no affiliation with the Taliban.

    “The majority of the 881 fatality claims brought to the ACO (Allied Commander Operations) were rejected. Just one-quarter of those received any compensation.”

    Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence, said: “The number of children killed following British military action in Helmand should give pause for thought.

    “War invariably leads to death and modern war will always bring civilian casualties, but not reporting on such deaths – however much it might be a source of regret and horror to the soldiers involved in the killings and however accidental such deaths were – would be an omission of responsibility and an erosion of truth.

    “This report hopes to give some details to the often-forgotten children killed in war and, in some way, to send a warning to future Westminster politicians who might consider sending troops into battle,” Overton said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link