Medium: The Taliban executed an unarmed civilian, Najibullah, in Balkh province, despite video evidence showing he posed no threat. OSINT analysis disproves Taliban claims, revealing the incident as an extrajudicial killing. A video widely shared on social media, shows a confrontation between Najibullah, the alleged driver of a burning Toyota Corolla (1990s model), and a Taliban fighter armed with an AK-variant rifle.      Full news...

Human Rights Watch: The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), affiliated with ISIS, has claimed responsibly for killing 14 men in Daikundi province this week, the latest attack on the Hazara community in Afghanistan. The killings took place in a remote border district between Daikundi, which has a predominantly Hazara population, and Ghor provinces, in central Afghanistan. The men were returning from a pilgrimage to Shia holy sites in Karbala, Iraq when gunmen opened fire on the group.      Full news...

Deutsche Welle: The Taliban recently imposed additional restrictions on media organizations in Afghanistan, prohibiting criticism of their laws and policies and banning the broadcast of live political shows, according to Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), an independent organization supporting the media and press freedom in Afghanistan. The AFJC said the Taliban instructed media managers during a meeting on September 21 that the topics for political shows must be approved first by Taliban members. The Taliban issued fresh guidelines instructing media organizations to only invite guests who are approved by the group.      Full news...

The Economist: Last month the Taliban published a new consolidated code of religious laws. It has left Afghan women reeling, with many now searching for ways to leave. It also has implications for the Taliban’s quest for legitimacy and relations with the world. Three years after America’s withdrawal from the country, the situation in Afghanistan looks worse than ever. Even before the announcement in late August, women were banned from attending secondary schools, universities, parks and female-only spaces such as beauty salons. They were not allowed to work in most professions.      Full news...

The Times of India: The world is now, slowly but surely, realising that all the talk of Taliban 2.0 was just a ploy by the militant group to smoothen its take over of Afghanistan. The Taliban 2.0 is no different than Taliban 1.0. All the restrictions on girls and women are back. Terror groups are again being allowed to set up based and training camps. Pakistan, the main advocate of Taliban 2.0, has seen a resurgence in terror attacksTehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), popularly known as Pakistan Taliban, is having a free run in Afghanistan.      Full news...

The Guardian: Afghanistan is at risk of a polio outbreak, health officials have warned, after the Taliban suspended the vaccination campaign over security fears and restrictions on women. The Taliban had “temporarily suspended” polio vaccinations in Afghanistan, a health official involved with the campaign confirmed to the Guardian, because of security concerns and women’s involvement in administering vaccines. A highly infectious viral disease, polio can cause paralysis and death, particularly in infants and young children.      Full news...

AFP: Gunmen killed a group of civilians in central Afghanistan on Thursday, the interior ministry said, in an attack that was claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State group. “Fifteen Shiite (Muslims) were killed and six others wounded in an attack carried out by the soldiers of the caliphate in central Afghanistan,” the group’s Amaq media wing said in a statement.      Full news...

The Guardian: “So pervasive is the Taliban’s institutionalised gender oppression, and so slender are the spaces in which women and girls may live freely, that in Afghanistan today almost any act can be characterised as an act of resistance.” That conclusion from Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, encapsulates how unbearably suffocating it is to be female in Afghanistan today      Full news...

The Telegraph: The Taliban is using female workers to spy on other women to enforce harsh new laws. Since returning to power in 2021, the Afghan regime has banned women from working outside the home or attending school and university. But some women are still employed at the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV), the body that polices the restrictions, and more recruits are wanted. “They are needed to handle other women,” said an official from the ministry.      Full news...