RAWA NEWS: Hafiz Ziaullah Hashimi, the spokesperson for the Taliban's Ministry of [anti]Higher Education, shared a video clip of Sheikh Abdul Ali Deobandi on his X profile, labeling it an “important Fatwa.” In the clip, Sheikh Deobandi states that teaching women, even at home, is prohibited because it leads to writing letters to men, which he considers sinful. A Fatwa is an Islamic legal opinion issued by a qualified scholar on specific religious or legal issues.      Full news...

The Diplomat: In the first week of June 2024, locals in the remote Tangi Shadan village of Allahyar district of Afghanistan’s Ghor province discovered the bodies of a 45-year-old widow and her 7-year-old granddaughter. Both had disappeared about two months earlier and are believed to have been killed for their property by men close to Mawlawi Jaber, the Taliban district governor. As her relatives approached the local Taliban office, the governor reportedly asked for the reason for a widow living without remarrying.      Full news...

Forbes: In June 2024, in the build-up to the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, published his report on “The phenomenon of an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls.” The report follows a litany of reports on how, since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan have been perishing one by one.      Full news...

Human Rights Watch: On June 18, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, will present to the UN Human Rights Council his latest report, which powerfully calls for the Taliban to be held accountable for their crimes against women and girls. The report, issued today, examines the Taliban’s “institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls.”      Full news...

Long War Journal: In the latest issue of pamphlets released by al Qaeda’s central as-Sahab media entitled “This is Gaza: A War of Existence, Not a War of Borders,” Sayf al-Adl, believed to be al Qaeda’s current overall emir, calls on supporters around the world to migrate to Afghanistan. In doing so, this offers the most clear and open call for foreigners to join al Qaeda’s ranks in Afghanistan since the Taliban captured the country in 2021. Adl’s message thus acts to officially pronounce Afghanistan as a safe-haven for al Qaeda and its future plans.      Full news...

Fox News: The United Nations is condemning the Taliban after it publicly flogged more than 60 people at a sports stadium in northern Afghanistan. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan wrote on X that 63 people were “publicly lashed” by “Afghanistan’s de facto authorities” on Tuesday in the Sari Pul province. “UNAMA reiterates its condemnation of corporal punishment and calls for respect for international human rights obligations,” it added. Taliban’s supreme court in a statement confirmed the public flogging of 63 people including 14 women who had been accused of crimes including sodomy, theft and immoral relations.      Full news...

ABC News: About 6.5 million children in Afghanistan were forecast to experience crisis levels of hunger in 2024, a nongovernmental organization said. Nearly three out of 10 Afghan children will face crisis or emergency levels of hunger this year as the country feels the immediate impacts of floods, the long-term effects of drought, and the return of Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran, according to a report released late Tuesday by Save The Children.      Full news...

Business Standard: United Nations agencies have said that the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls will increase the number of child marriages among Afghan girls by 25 per cent, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported. UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) have released a joint two-page brief. In the brief, the UN agencies have highlighted the issues faced by Afghan women and their demands of the international community.      Full news...

The New York Times: General Abdul Raziq was one of America’s fiercest allies in the fight against the Taliban. He was young and charismatic — a courageous warrior who commanded the loyalty and respect of his men. He helped beat back the Taliban in the crucial battlefield of Kandahar, even as the insurgents advanced across Afghanistan. But his success, until his 2018 assassination, was built on torture, extrajudicial killing and abduction. In the name of security, he transformed the Kandahar police into a combat force without constraints. His officers, who were trained, armed and paid by the U.S., took no note of human rights or due process, according to a Times investigation into thousands of cases. Most of his victims were never seen again.      Full news...

AFP: When she first heard the gunshots, French tourist Anne-France Brill thought for a split second there was a celebration in the Afghan market where she and her fellow travelers stopped to buy fruit. But then she heard one of her companions screaming: “I realized she had blood all over her stomach.” The 55-year-old had been sitting in a van during a group tour in the mountainous city of Bamiyan on Friday evening when a gunman approached their vehicles and opened fire.      Full news...

RSF News: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by a worrying increase in the restrictions imposed on journalists, with authoritarian directives on women journalists' dress, restrictions on women’s access to the audiovisual media and a ban on filming or photographing Taliban officials. The Afghan repression continues to intensify and specifically targets women’s access to the media, whether as journalists or as listeners and spectators. A series of directives issued since February illustrate this. The governor of Kandahar, in the south of the country, has banned video footage of local Taliban leaders. The chief of police in the eastern province of Khost has banned calls from women during radio or television broadcasts.      Full news...

TNN:Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials intercepted consul general of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Zakia Wardak, at the Mumbai airport recently and recovered 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore that she was allegedly trying to smuggle into India from Dubai.The incident occurred on April 25 and a case of gold smuggling under the Customs Act, 1962, has been registered.The gold has been seized under a panchnama.Wardak was not arrested as she enjoys diplomatic immunity, sources said. Under the law, if the amount of smuggled gold is valued above Rs 1 crore, the suspect is arrested and faces criminal prosecution.      Full news...

Khaama Press: In videos circulated on social media, protesters in Badakhshan are heard expressing their opposition to the Taliban in the province, rejecting the “Islamic Emirates” presence. The residents of Darayim district, Badakhshan province, staged widespread protests against The Taliban on Friday, May 3rd. Residents of Badakhshan stated that protests continued following the killing of at least one person due to Taliban gunfire.      Full news...

RAWA NEWS:The people of Farah have endured a myriad of social, economic, and cultural challenges for over four decades, and similar to the residents of other provinces, never enjoyed freedom, prosperity, and welfare. However, in the past couple of years, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban, these difficulties have escalated. The impoverished population, mostly daily wage laborers and farmers, are tackling a triple threat of hardships - psychological, economic, and drought - like three deadly misfortunes.      Full news...

The Diplomat:When the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, it publicly promised a future where women would be active participants in society, free to study and work within a framework outlined by the group. In a world eager for positive change, the international community hoped that this time, perhaps, the regime would be different from its previous iteration. Fast forward two and a half years and the reality facing Afghan women and girls is grim. As the Taliban have tightened their grip on Afghanistan, they have introduced over 50 decrees that directly curtail the rights of women and girls, weaving a tapestry of restrictions that binds women and girls in Afghanistan in a web of oppression.      Full news...

U.S. Department of State:The United States has not decided whether to recognize the Taliban or any other entity as the government of Afghanistan or as part of such a government. All references to “the pre-August 2021 government” refer to the Republic-era government of Afghanistan. References to the Taliban in this report do not denote or imply that the United States recognizes the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.There was significant deterioration in women’s rights during the year due to edicts that further restricted access to education and employment, with a net result that women were increasingly confined to domestic roles. No decree or directive pertaining to women and girls’ education, or work, was reversed or softened. The Taliban did not purport to formally change existing laws as legislated by the Republic-era government; however, they promulgated edicts that contradicted those laws and were inconsistent with Afghanistan’s obligations under international conventions.      Full news...

CPJ:Taliban authorities should immediately and unconditionally release radio reporters Ismail Saadat, Wahidullah Masum, and Ehsanullah Tasal and stop harassing the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.On Monday, the provincial directorate of the Taliban-controlled Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in eastern Khost Province summoned and detained Saadat of Naz FM Radio, Masum of Iqra FM Radio, and Tasal of Wolas Ghag, according to the exiled Afghanistan Journalists Center watchdog group, the London-based news broadcaster Afghanistan International, and a person familiar with the case, who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.      Full news...

RAWA News: With the return of the oppressive Taliban regime, the dark and bloody history of our land has reverted, reopening the unhealed wounds of our people, particularly from the initial period of the current medieval group's rule. In both eras of their barbaric governance, the people of this stricken land have borne witness to the most heinous crimes. Bamyan stands as a living testament to the atrocities committed by these malevolent individuals, a legacy that our people will never forget. Despite their silence born from a sense of helplessness, the scars of destruction remain apparent even after two decades.      Full news...

Feminist Majority: In times of conflict, political instability, and social unrest, women and children have always been the ones who face the most dire consequences compared to the rest of the population. It is nearly three years since the Taliban returned to power and their extremist views and restricting edicts against Afghan women has been one of the major human rights crises. Afghan women’s rights are under constant attack by the Taliban. However, the silent struggle that Afghan women are facing on top of the restrictions on their rights and existence is food insecurity and malnutrition.      Full news...

Ms Magazine: In a nationwide women’s consultation, Afghan women have expressed “dread” and “anxiety” over the potential international recognition of the de facto authorities (DFA), with 67 percent stating it would severely affect their lives.The consultations and survey on the situation of women in Afghanistan convened 745 Afghan women from across all provinces. The report was put together by U.N. Women, the International Organization for Migration (U.N. Migration), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).      Full news...

Stars and Stripes: My sister Malala called me from Afghanistan: “Mom is in the final days of her life and wishes to see you and the rest of the family.” The call abruptly ended. I couldn’t shake the feeling that both the U.S. and the Taliban were monitoring incoming and outgoing calls. “Are you going to throw yourself to the wolves?” my daughter Shabnam said, referring to the Taliban. We have lived safely in the United States for many years now. Sandwiched between my children and my dying mom, I made the decision.      Full news...

Amnesty International: Responding to the double public executions by the Taliban yesterday, Livia Saccardi, Amnesty International’s interim Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, said: “We oppose all executions as a violation of the right to life. The Taliban has been repeatedly carrying them out publicly which is a gross affront to human dignity as well as a violation of international laws and standards and cannot be tolerated.      Full news...

Independent News: The Taliban in Afghanistan have announced plans to restrict or completely block access to Facebook, a move condemned by rights activists. The Taliban’s acting minister of telecommunications and information technology Najibullah Haqqani confirmed the plans in an interview with Kabul-based TOLO News last week.Reeling from two decades of siege and war, millions of people in Afghanistan have limited access to cellular services and internet connection in a widening information blackout.      Full news...

AP News: The Taliban held a public execution on Monday of a man convicted of murder in northern Afghanistan as thousands watched at a sports stadium, the third such death sentence to be carried out in the past five days. The execution took place in heavy snowfall in the city of Shibirghan, the capital of northern Jawzjan province, where the brother of the murdered man shot the convict five times with a rifle, according to a witness. Security around the stadium was tight, said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.      Full news...

The Guardian: The Taliban’s announcement that it is resuming publicly stoning women to death has been enabled by the international community’s silence, human rights groups have said. Safia Arefi, a lawyer and head of the Afghan human rights organisation Women’s Window of Hope, said the announcement had condemned Afghan women to return to the darkest days of Taliban rule in the 1990s.“With this announcement by the Taliban leader, a new chapter of private punishments has begun and Afghan women are experiencing the depths of loneliness,” Arefi said.      Full news...

BBC News: Teenage Afghan girls have told the BBC they feel “mentally dead” as the Taliban’s ban on their education prevents them from returning to school once again.More than 900 days have now passed since girls over 12 were first banned. The Taliban have repeatedly promised they would be readmitted once a number of issues were resolved - including ensuring the curriculum was “Islamic”. But they have made little comment as a third new school year started without teenage girls in class this week.      Full news...

Foreign Policy: Al Qaeda is back to its old tricks in Afghanistan. Much as it did before masterminding the 9/11 attacks, the terrorist group is running militant training camps; sharing the profits of the Taliban’s illicit drug, mining, and smuggling enterprises; and funneling the proceeds to affiliated jihadi groups worldwide. An unpublished report circulating among Western diplomats and U.N. officials details how deeply embedded the group once run by Osama bin Laden is in the Taliban’s operations, as they loot Afghanistan’s natural wealth and steal international aid meant to alleviate the suffering of millions of Afghans.      Full news...

THE Nation: Pakistan’s Special Representa­tive on Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani has said that Paki­stan’s peace talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) failed in the past because the mili­tant group was neither ready to sur­render nor swear allegiance to the constitution of Pakistan. The third primary reason for the deadlock in talks was that the group didn’t want to face the law for the heinous crimes it committed, including the attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, he added.      Full news...

Aljazeera News: Small groups of Afghan women have gathered in private spaces to demand that harsh restrictions on their freedoms be lifted, despite recent Taliban crackdowns on protests that have seen activists detained. The demonstrations were staged in different locations, including the provinces of Takhar and Balkh, as the world celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday, according to the activists from the Purple Saturdays group – an organisation formed to raise awareness and oppose restrictions on women’s freedoms.      Full news...

UN NEWS: Police enforcement has increased harassment in public spaces and further limited women’s ability to leave their homes, according to testimony from 745 Afghan women participating in the latest survey by UN Women, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).The insights follow recent reports of the arbitrary and severe enforcement of the hijab decree, particularly in Kabul, the agencies said – which began publishing quarterly consultations with diverse Afghan women a year after the Taliban took power in August 2021.      Full news...