Taliban authorities said they had destroyed over 21,000 musical instruments over the past year, in a series of crackdowns on culture to impose its interpretation of Islamic Sharia law in Afghanistan, Voice of America reported. At a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday, officials of the...
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Farmers and residents in Afghanistan’s northeast staged unprecedented public protests over the weekend against a ban on opium poppy cultivation, a move met with military crackdowns by Taliban leaders, Voice of America reported. The Taliban banned poppy cultivation in early 2022, months after they took over...
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A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit western Afghanistan over the weekend, causing thousands of casualties in the Central Asian country as it grapples with a humanitarian crisis and international isolation following the Taliban takeover two years ago, the Washington Post reported. Taliban officials said the earthquake hit...
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Russia will keep funding Afghanistan on its own through the United Nations food agency, Kremlin officials confirmed over the weekend as they hosted Taliban representatives for talks on regional threats, the Associated Press reported. The announcement came as Moscow hosted a summit in the Russian city...
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A new Chinese ambassador presented his credentials to the Taliban’s prime minister Wednesday, the first appointment of a foreign envoy in Afghanistan since the Islamist group took power two years ago, Reuters reported. Afghan officials confirmed that Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund accepted the credentials of...
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This week, the Taliban marked two years since it returned to power following the US-led troop withdrawal. Men and boys waved Taliban flags from armored vehicles, played Taliban songs and spoke about how “happy” they were to finally have freedom, NBC News reported. Men wished each...
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The Taliban is forcing all beauty salons in Afghanistan to close, shuttering some of the last spaces available to women outside the home, the Associated Press reported. The Taliban said it decided to ban beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam and caused economic hardship for the...
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Taliban authorities Tuesday ordered the closure of beauty salons across Afghanistan, the latest shrinking of public access for Afghan women since the militant group returned to power nearly two years ago, Reuters reported. The Ministry of Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue announced that all...
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The Taliban will start selling tickets to visit the site of an ancient monument the militant group blew up more than 20 years ago, a move seen as an attempt to shore up finances in the cash-strapped country, Insider reported. The new tickets will allow tourists...
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The Taliban’s religious police will be monitoring wedding halls in the Afghan capital Kabul to enforce a ban on playing music, the latest crackdown by the religious group against activities they consider a violation of the teachings of Islam, Al Jazeera reported. The Ministry for the...
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Taliban authorities are investigating the suspected poisonings of more than 80 Afghan students and teachers in the past few days, in an incident that resembles an outbreak of attacks recently on schoolgirls in neighboring Iran, the Washington Post reported. Officials said the incidents took place at...
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Since the US exited Afghanistan nearly two years ago, the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has embraced the titles of “commander of the faithful” and “scholar of the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.” His word is literally law....
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Taliban forces killed the leader of the Islamic State (IS) cell responsible for the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul’s international airport, an attack that killed almost 200 people and came shortly after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US-led foreign troops,...
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Taliban officials banned women from working for the United Nations this week, the latest restriction the armed group has imposed on Afghan women since it took control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported. The UN said Tuesday that Taliban authorities prevented female Afghan...
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A blast killed a Taliban provincial governor in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, the latest high-ranking official to be murdered since the new rulers took control of the country in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led foreign troops, the Voice of America reported. Taliban authorities said Governor...
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Unknown assailants killed a female former lawmaker and her bodyguard this week, the first assassination of a politician of the ousted Western-backed Afghani government since the Taliban takeover in 2021, Voice of America reported. Authorities said gunmen shot and killed Mursal Nabizada at her home in...
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A suicide blast outside the Afghan foreign ministry in the capital reportedly killed dozens of people Wednesday, the second major attack in Kabul this year, Al Jazeera reported. Taliban officials said a suicide bomber attempted to enter the ministry but failed. They added that the explosion...
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The Taliban government banned women from attending universities this week, a move that received widespread condemnation and hurts the armed group’s efforts to win international recognition following their takeover of the country last year, CBS News reported Wednesday. On Tuesday, officials announced that all women must...
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The Taliban this week banned women from entering the capital Kabul’s public parks and funfairs, the latest move to sequester females at home despite promises to the contrary, Agence France-Presse reported. Officials introduced the rule just months after ordering access to public spaces to be segregated...
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A suicide bomber killed at least six people outside the Russian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul Monday, the first attack to target a foreign diplomatic mission in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover last year, the Associated Press reported. The explosion went off outside the embassy’s...
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