Taliban
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Afghanistan
Lavrov: Taliban-Pakistan Dispute Should Not Become a “Tragedy”
DID Press: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the dispute between the Taliban and Pakistan and the failure to issue a joint statement at the eighth Moscow Format meeting as an “unpleasant” development, but said it should not be turned…
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Afghanistan
Hekmatyar: Political Change in Afghanistan Is “Inevitable and Near”
DID Press: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Islami Afghanistan, says political change in Afghanistan is “inevitable and near,” urging Afghans to prepare for what he described as “positive change” and arguing that the country’s political future should be determined by…
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Afghanistan
Amnesty International Urges Focus on Rights of Afghanistan Minorities
DID Press: Amnesty International has welcomed the adoption of a new UN Human Rights Council resolution on Afghanistan and called for particular attention to the rights and situation of the country’s ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. The rights group has…
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Afghanistan
UNDP: Afghanistan’s Opium Production Has Fallen by 95%
DID Press: Alexander De Croo, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), says opium production in Afghanistan has fallen by 95 percent following the ban imposed by the Taliban on poppy cultivation and drug trafficking. Speaking to Foreign Policy,…
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Afghanistan
Taliban Bars Girls From Kankor for Third Consecutive Year
DID Press: Taliban has again excluded Afghan girls from the country’s university entrance examination, as registration for the 1406 general Kankor and religious-school entrance exams gets underway. Registration for the 1406 Kankor examinations has opened, with eligible applicants given until…
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Afghanistan
ICC Unseals Arrest Warrants for Two Taliban Education Ministers
DID Press: International Criminal Court (ICC) has made public arrest warrants for Neda Mohammad Nadim, the Taliban’s minister of higher education, and Habibullah Agha, the group’s minister of education, accusing both of the alleged crime against humanity of persecution on…
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Afghanistan
UN Rights Council Extends Richard Bennett’s Afghanistan Mandate for One Year
DID Press: UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Afghanistan without a vote, extending the mandate of Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, for another…
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Afghanistan
Taliban Condemn ICC Arrest Warrants, Reject Court’s Authority
DID Press: Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has condemned the International Criminal Court’s position on arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders, saying Afghanistan does not recognize the court or its decisions. Mujahid said in a statement late Monday, October 5, that…
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Afghanistan
Moscow Format Ends Without Joint Statement, Calls for Kabul-Islamabad De-escalation
DID Press: The eighth meeting of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan ended without a joint statement after Afghan and Pakistani representatives failed to agree on the wording of a final document. Despite the disagreement, participants called on Kabul and…
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Afghanistan
Sayed Sufi Gardizi Released on Conditions, Taliban Orders Him to Leave Kabul
DID Press: Sayed Sufi Gardizi, a Shia figure considered close to Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, has been released after being detained by the Taliban on the condition that he leave Kabul and refrain from attending social gatherings and ceremonies,…
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