ISLAMABAD: Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the country has become the most repressive in the world for women and girls, deprived of many of their basic rights, the United Nations said Wednesday.
In a statement released on the International Women’s Day, the UN mission said that Afghanistan’s new rulers have shown an almost “singular focus on imposing rules that leave most women and girls effectively trapped in their homes.”
Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing power in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from Afghanistan after two decades of war.
They have banned girls’ education beyond sixth grade and women from public spaces such as parks and gyms. Women are also barred from working at national and international nongovernmental organizations and ordered to cover themselves from head to toe.
“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights,” said Roza Otunbayeva, special representative of the UN secretary-general and head of the mission to Afghanistan.
“It has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” she added.
The restrictions, especially the bans on education and NGO work, have drawn fierce international condemnation. But the Taliban have shown no signs of backing down, claiming the bans are temporary suspensions in place allegedly because women were not wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, correctly and because gender segregation rules were not being followed.
As for the ban on university education, the Taliban government has said that some of the subjects being taught were not in line with Afghan and Islamic values.
“Confining half of the country’s population to their homes in one of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm,” Otunbayeva also said.
“It will condemn not only women and girls, but all Afghans, to poverty and aid-dependency for generations to come,” she said. “It will further isolate Afghanistan from its own citizens and from the rest of the world.”
At a carpet factory in Kabul, women who were former government employees, high school or university students now spend their days weaving carpets.
“We all live like prisoners, we feel that we are caught in a cage,” said Hafiza, 22, who goes only by her first name and who used to be a first-year law student before the Taliban banned women from attending classes at her university. “The worst situation is when your dreams are shattered, and you are punished for being a woman.”
The UN mission to Afghanistan also said it has recorded an almost constant stream of discriminatory edicts and measures against women since the Taliban takeover — women’s right to travel or work outside the confines of their home and access to spaces is largely restricted, and they have also been excluded from all levels of public decision-making.
“The implications of the harm the Taliban are inflicting on their own citizens goes beyond women and girls,” said Alison Davidian, the special representative for UN Women in Afghanistan.
No officials from the Taliban-led government was immediately available for comment.
At the carpet factory, 18-years-old Shahida, who also uses only one name, said she was in 10th grade at one of Kabul high schools when her education was cut short.
“We just demand from the (Taliban) government to reopen schools and educational centers for us and give us our rights,” she said.
Ahead of the International Women’s Day, about 200 Afghan female small business owners put together an exhibition of their products in Kabul. Most complained of losing business since the Taliban takeover.
“I don’t expect Taliban to respect women’s rights,” said one of them, Tamkin Rahimi. “Women here cannot practice (their) rights and celebrate Women’s Day, because we cannot go to school, university or go to work, so I think we don’t have any day to celebrate.”
The UN Security Council was to meet later Wednesday with Otunbayeva and women representatives from Afghan civil society groups.
According to the statement, 11.6 million Afghan women and girls are in need of humanitarian assistance. However, the Taliban are further undermining the international aid effort through their ban on women working for NGOs.
UN: Afghanistan is world’s most repressive country for women
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UN: Afghanistan is world’s most repressive country for women
- The Taliban claim its restrictions on women are temporary
- The Taliban says its ban on women receiving university education was imposed because some subjects being taught were not in line with Afghan and Islamic values
Trump says he will reach out to North Korea’s Kim again
- Trump had a rare diplomatic relationship with the reclusive Kim during his previous administration
- Trump called the North Korean leader with whom he previously met three times a ‘smart guy’
The Republican had a rare diplomatic relationship with the reclusive Kim during his previous administration from 2017 to 2021, not only meeting with him but saying the two “fell in love.”
But his own secretary of state, Marco Rubio, acknowledged at his confirmation hearing that the effort did not produce any lasting agreement to end North Korea’s nuclear program.
When asked during a Fox News interview if he would “reach out” to Kim again, Trump replied: “I will, yeah. He liked me.”
North Korea says it is seeking nuclear weapons to counter threats from the United States and its allies, including South Korea.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in an armistice not a peace treaty.
The isolated and impoverished North, which has conducted multiple nuclear tests and periodically test fires missiles from its ballistic arsenal, also likes to tout its nuclear program as a sign of its prestige.
Washington and others warn that the program is destabilizing, however, and the UN has passed multiple resolutions banning North Korea’s efforts.
Rubio branded Kim a “dictator” during his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this month.
“I think there has to be an appetite for a very serious look at broader North Korean policies,” Rubio said.
Rubio called for efforts to prevent a war by North Korea with South Korea and Japan and to see “what can we do to prevent a crisis without encouraging other nation-states to pursue their own nuclear weapons programs.”
During the Fox interview, Trump recalled his attempt to reach an arms deal with North Korea’s allies Russia and China at the end of his first term.
The 2019 effort would have set new limits for unregulated Russian nuclear weapons and to persuade China to join an arms control pact, according to reports from the time.
“I was very close to having a deal. I would have made a deal with (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin on that, denuclearization... But we had a bad election that interrupted us,” he said, referring to his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, recently labelled North Korea as a “nuclear power” in a statement submitted to a Senate panel, according to reports.
Seoul’s defense ministry said in response that Pyongyang’s status as a nuclear power “cannot be recognized” and that it will work with Washington to denuclearize.
Pyongyang fired several short-range ballistic missiles in the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration on January 20, prompting analysts to speculate on whether Kim was seeking to send a message to Trump.
M23 rebels battling Congo’s army close in on Goma as panic spreads among city’s 2 million people
- The rebel group has advanced significantly in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, which has around 2 million people
- M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda
GOMA, Congo: Panic spread in eastern Congo’s main city on Thursday, with M23 rebels steadily inching closer to Goma and seizing a nearby town as they battle the Congolese army. Bombs were heard going off in the city’s distant outskirts and hundreds of wounded civilians were brought in to the main hospital from the area of the fighting.
The rebel group has advanced significantly in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts. On Thursday, the rebels took Sake, a town only 27 kilometers (16 miles) from Goma and one of the last main routes into the provincial capital still under government control, according to the UN chief.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decadeslong conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
More than 7 million people have been displaced by the fighting. Earlier this month, M23 captured the towns of Minova, Katale and Masisi, west of Goma.
“The people of Goma have suffered greatly, like other Congolese,” an M23 spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, said on X. “M23 is on its way to liberate them, and they must prepare to welcome this liberation.”
M23 seized Goma in 2012 and controlled it for over a week.
As news of fighting spread, schools in Goma sent students home on Thursday morning.
“We are told that the enemy wants to enter the city. That’s why we are told to go home,” Hassan Kambale, a 19-year-old high school student, said. “We are constantly waiting for the bombs.”
Congo, the United States and UN experts accuse Rwanda of backing the M23, mainly composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army over a decade ago.
Rwanda’s government denies the claim but last year admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. UN experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
On Wednesday, Congo’s minister of communication, Patrick Muyaya, told French broadcaster France 24 that war with Rwanda is an “option to consider.”
Late Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned “in the strongest terms, the renewed offensive launched by the 23 March Movement (M23),” including the “seizure of Sake.”
“This offensive has a devastating toll on the civilian population and heightened the risk of a broader regional war,” Guterres’ statement read. He also urged “all parties to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law.”
Earlier in the day, Congolese authorities claimed that the military pushed back an attack from the “Rwandan army” on Sake. The Associated Press was unable to verify if Rwanda’s army took part in the offensive.
“The population is in panic. The M23 now control large parts of the town,” said Léopold Mwisha, the president of civil society of the area of Sake.
Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” by the most recent reports about the “presence of Rwandan troops on Congolese soil and continued support to the M23.”
The US Embassy in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, in a notice warned of “an increase in the severity of armed conflict near Sake” and advised US nationals in North Kivu province, which includes Goma, to be on the alert in case they need to leave their homes on short notice.
The United Kingdom also issued a travel advisory that said M23 now controls Sake and urged British nationals to leave Goma while roads remain open.
Many Sake residents have joined the more than 178,000 people who have fled the M23 advance in the last two weeks.
The CBCA Ndosho Hospital in Goma was stretched to the limit, with hundreds of newly wounded on Thursday.
Thousands escaped the fighting by boat on Wednesday, making their way north across Lake Kivu and spilling out of packed wooden boats in Goma, some with bundles of their belongings strapped around their foreheads.
Neema Matondo said she fled Sake during the night, when the first explosions started to go off. She recounted seeing people around her torn to pieces and killed.
“We escaped, but unfortunately” others did not, Matondo told the AP.
Mariam Nasibu, who fled Sake with her three children, was in tears — one of her children lost a leg, blown off in the relentless shelling.
“As I continued to flee, another bomb fell in front of me, hitting my child,” she said, crying.
ICC prosecutor requests warrants for Afghan Taliban leaders over persecution of women
- Named in the arrest request were Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada and Afghanistan’s Supreme Court chief Abdul Hakim Haqqani
- Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced on Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Afghan Taliban officials for the repression of women.
Karim Khan said in a statement he asked judges to approve warrants for the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing the men of crimes against humanity for gender-based persecution.
“These applications recognize that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban,” Khan said.
Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade. Last year, Akhundzada banned buildings from having windows looking into places where a woman might sit or stand.
Human rights groups applauded the ICC move against the Taliban leadership.
“Their systematic violations of women and girls’ rights, including education bans, and the suppression of those speaking up for women’s rights, have accelerated with complete impunity. With no justice in sight in Afghanistan, the warrant requests offer an essential pathway to a measure of accountability,” Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
It is the first time in the court’s history that attacks on the LGBTQ+ community have been considered a crime against humanity.
Judges at the The Hague-based court approved a request in 2022 from the prosecutor to reopen the investigation into Afghanistan. The probe was shelved after Kabul said it could handle the investigation.
Khan said he wanted to reopen the inquiry because under the Taliban, there was “no longer the prospect of genuine and effective domestic investigations” in Afghanistan.
However, human rights groups criticized Khan’s decision to focus on crimes committed by the Taliban and the Afghan affiliate of the Daesh group. He said he would “deprioritize” other aspects of the investigation, such as crimes committed by Americans.
Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, got approval in 2020 to start looking at offenses allegedly committed by Afghan government forces, the Taliban, American troops and US foreign intelligence operatives dating back to 2002.
The decision to look into Americans led to the previous Trump administration slapping sanctions on Bensouda, whose term ended in 2021.
There is no deadline for judges to rule on a request for a warrant, but a decision typically takes around four months. It took a pre-trial chamber three weeks to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 but six months in the case of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year.
Aerial attack helps firefighters maintain the upper hand on a huge fire north of Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES: Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands of people as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles where dangerous winds gained strength again.
The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day had charred nearly 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.
There was no growth overnight and crews were jumping on flareups to keep the flames within containment lines, fire spokesperson Jeremy Ruiz said Thursday morning.
“We had helicopters dropping water until around 3 a.m. That kept it in check,” he said.
The fire remained at 14 percent containment. Nearly 54,000 residents in the Castaic area were still under evacuation warnings, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned.
In San Diego, evacuations were ordered Thursday afternoon after flames erupted near densely populated neighborhoods of La Jolla. The Gilman Fire was spreading through dry brush along streets with large homes not far from the campus of the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
And in Ventura County, a new fire Thursday briefly prompted the evacuation of California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo. Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus, where about 7,000 students are enrolled. The evacuation order was later downgraded to a warning.
Though the region was under a red flag warning for critical fire risk through Friday, winds were not as strong as they had been when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.
Parts of Interstate 5 near the Hughes Fire, which had been closed, reopened Wednesday evening.
Kayla Amara drove to Castaic’s Stonegate neighborhood on Wednesday to collect items from the home of a friend who had rushed to pick up her daughter at preschool. As Amara was packing the car, she learned the fire had exploded in size and decided to hose down the property.
Amara, a nurse who lives in nearby Valencia, said she’s been on edge for weeks as major blazes devastated Southern California.
“It’s been stressful with those other fires, but now that this one is close to home it’s just super stressful,” she said.
Closer to Los Angeles, residents in the Sherman Oaks area received an evacuation warning Wednesday night after a brush fire broke out on the Sepulveda Pass near Interstate 405. Forward progress was stopped within hours and the warning was lifted.
The low humidity, bone-dry vegetation and strong winds came as firefighters continued battling the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires. Officials remained concerned that those fires could break their containment lines as firefighters continue watching for hot spots. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 72 percent, and the Eaton Fire was at 95 percent.
Those two fires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out Jan. 7.
Ahead of the weekend, Los Angeles officials were shoring up hillsides and installing barriers to prepare for potential rain that could cause debris flows, even as some residents were allowed to return to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas. Precipitation was possible starting Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
The California fires have overall caused at least $28 billion in insured damage and probably a little more in uninsured damage, according to Karen Clark and Company, a disaster modeling firm known for accurate post-catastrophe damage assessments.
On the heels of that assessment, California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires should come with strings attached.
The state Legislature on Thursday approved a more than $2.5 billion fire relief package, in part to help the Los Angeles area recover from the fires.
Trump plans to travel to the state to see the damage firsthand Friday, but it wasn’t clear whether he and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will meet during the visit.
Moscow mayor says air defenses repel drone attacks aimed at capital
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Friday that air defense units had intercepted three separate attacks by Ukrainian drones headed for Russia’s capital.
Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said air defense units southeast of the capital in the Kolomna and Ramenskoye district had repelled one group of “enemy” drones, without specifying how many were involved.
“At the site where fragments fell, no damage or casualties have occurred,” Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app, without specifying how many drones were involved. “Specialist emergency crews are at the site.”
The mayor posted two more announcements in quick succession.
Sobyanin said two drones also headed for Moscow had been downed by air defenses in Podolsk district, south of the capital. He then reported a single drone downed in Troitsky district, in the southwest of the capital.
Specialist emergency crews were dispatched to all the sites, Sobyanin said.
Russian news agencies quoted Rosaviatsiya, the federal aviation agency, as saying two Moscow airports, Vnukovo and Domodedovo, had suspended all flights.
Russia’s Defense Ministry had earlier said that it had destroyed 49 Ukrainian drones over a three-hour period late on Thursday, most of them over the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.
The ministry, in a report on Telegram, said 37 drones had been destroyed solely in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces hold chunks of land after a mass incursion last August.
It said the drones had been destroyed between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Moscow time (1600-1900 GMT).
Unofficial Russian Telegram channels had reported a “large number” of drones over Kursk region and posted videos of explosions.
The ministry statement said drones had also been destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod and the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.
