Taliban has summoned Pakistan's ambassador and issued a warning to Pakistan for killing civilians in the bordering areas. Officials have confirmed the strikes in Khost and Kunar provinces.

Pakistan slams cross-border terror, tensions escalate between Kabul and Islamabad

Taliban has now said that it has issued a warning to Pakistan for killing civilians in the bordering areas. Officials have confirmed the strikes in Khost and Kunar provinces.

Pakistan bombs Afghan border areas, Taliban issues warning over killing of civilians

US State Department said on Tuesday that the US had restricted import of cultural and historical items from Afghanistan with an aim to prevent "terrorists" from profiting. Experts have reportedly voiced fears about unintended consequences of such a measure.

The decree, which was implemented on an "emergency" basis and took effect on Friday, includes restrictions on bringing ceramics, paintings, glass, ivory, ancient textiles, tiles and wood pieces, among others into the country, according to a government list.&nbsp;

The restrictions "are intended to prevent illicitly trafficked materials from entering the US art market, thus reducing the incentive for pillage of Afghanistan's cultural heritage and combatting profit from the sale of these cultural objects by terrorists and criminal organizations," the State Department said.&nbsp;

But they come after an April 2021 request from the US-backed Afghan government -- which fell to the Taliban in August.

"Can the State Department act based on a 'request' of a government that no longer exists?" ancient coin collector and advocate Peter Tompa asked in a post on his blog the Cultural Property Observer.

"The real question is how these restrictions are going to be enforced and if any material that may be seized will be repatriated to the Taliban once diplomatic relations (with the United States) are restored," he wrote.&nbsp;

Taliban 'investigating' looting

Restricted archaeological material dates from the year 50,000 BC through 1747, and restricted cultural material includes items from the ninth century through 1920, the government said.

The new regulations could create logistics issues for collectors or curators who already have items on their way to the United States as auction houses prepare to sell pieces during Asia Week New York next month, art publication The Art Newspaper pointed out.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

US State Department said on Tuesday that the US had restricted import of cultural and historical items from Afghanistan with an aim to prevent "terrorists" from profiting.

US State Department said on Tuesday that the US had restricted import of cultural and historical items from Afghanistan with an aim to prevent "terrorists" from profiting. Experts have reportedly voiced fears about unintended consequences of such a measure. The decree, which was implemented on an "emergency" basis and took effect on Friday, includes restrictions on bringing ceramics, paintings, glass, ivory, ancient textiles, tiles and wood pieces, among others into the country, according to a government list. The restrictions "are intended to prevent illicitly trafficked materials from entering the US art market, thus reducing the incentive for pillage of Afghanistan's cultural heritage and combatting profit from the sale of these cultural objects by terrorists and criminal organizations," the State Department said. But they come after an April 2021 request from the US-backed Afghan government -- which fell to the Taliban in August. "Can the State Department act based on a 'request' of a government that no longer exists?" ancient coin collector and advocate Peter Tompa asked in a post on his blog the Cultural Property Observer. "The real question is how these restrictions are going to be enforced and if any material that may be seized will be repatriated to the Taliban once diplomatic relations (with the United States) are restored," he wrote. Taliban 'investigating' looting Restricted archaeological material dates from the year 50,000 BC through 1747, and restricted cultural material includes items from the ninth century through 1920, the government said. The new regulations could create logistics issues for collectors or curators who already have items on their way to the United States as auction houses prepare to sell pieces during Asia Week New York next month, art publication The Art Newspaper pointed out.

US imposes restriction on importing Afghan cultural items

The United Nations has removed former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani's name from its lists of heads of state. The former afghan foreign minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar has also been removed from the UN list of ministers of foreign affairs.

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani removed from UN Heads of State List

To collect the first consignment of wheat from India, a convoy of 41 trucks from Afghanistan have reached Wagah border on Monday. &nbsp;

India has committed 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. Pakistan has also agreed to facilitate both Afghanistan and India in safe and duty-free transportation of the commodity. The shifting of wheat from Indian trucks to Afghan ones will begin on Tuesday. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/trade-with-india-need-of-the-hour-will-benefit-both-nations-says-pak-pms-adviser-on-commerce-454966" hreflang="en">Trade with India need of the hour, will benefit both nations: Pak PM’s adviser</a>

“The 41 trucks, driven by Afghan drivers, were allowed to enter Pakistani territory at Torkham on Monday morning. After visa clearance and other legal formalities, the trucks moved towards Lahore under tight security provided by the respective district police of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab. The convoy reached Wagah by evening,” a Lahore-based senior customs official told Dawn. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Although the convoy was supposed to be 60 vehicles, only 41 trucks reached Torkham, as per the official. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The trucks would be allowed by the customs, immigration and security officials to enter Indian territory at Attari for loading the wheat, the official said. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-faces-flak-over-new-laws-to-silence-media-opposition-454977" hreflang="en">Pakistan PM Imran Khan faces flak over new laws 'to silence media, Opposition'</a>

The process of loading wheat and returning to Pakistan’s territory may take several hours. &nbsp;&nbsp;

“But all such procedures will be completed on Tuesday. The same day, the trucks will be allowed to leave for Afghanistan after customs and security clearance,” the official said. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

To collect the first consignment of wheat from India, a convoy of 41 trucks from Afghanistan have reached Wagah border on Monday. India has committed 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds.

To collect the first consignment of wheat from India, a convoy of 41 trucks from Afghanistan have reached Wagah border on Monday. India has committed 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. Pakistan has also agreed to facilitate both Afghanistan and India in safe and duty-free transportation of the commodity. The shifting of wheat from Indian trucks to Afghan ones will begin on Tuesday. Also Read: Trade with India need of the hour, will benefit both nations: Pak PM’s adviser “The 41 trucks, driven by Afghan drivers, were allowed to enter Pakistani territory at Torkham on Monday morning. After visa clearance and other legal formalities, the trucks moved towards Lahore under tight security provided by the respective district police of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab. The convoy reached Wagah by evening,” a Lahore-based senior customs official told Dawn. Although the convoy was supposed to be 60 vehicles, only 41 trucks reached Torkham, as per the official. The trucks would be allowed by the customs, immigration and security officials to enter Indian territory at Attari for loading the wheat, the official said. Also Read: Pakistan PM Imran Khan faces flak over new laws 'to silence media, Opposition' The process of loading wheat and returning to Pakistan’s territory may take several hours. “But all such procedures will be completed on Tuesday. The same day, the trucks will be allowed to leave for Afghanistan after customs and security clearance,” the official said. (With inputs from agencies)

41-truck Afghan convoy reaches Wagah border to collect Indian wheat’s first consignment

Already reeling from a Taliban takeover of their government and a humanitarian disaster in their homeland, Afghan diplomats in the United States are grappling with another bleak reality: the loss of pay and the possibility of being deported.

Several dozen diplomats assigned to Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington and consulates in New York and Los Angeles have not been paid since October, officials said, when U.S. banks froze accounts to prevent the Taliban from gaining access to the embassy’s funds.

But the envoys, who were part of the U.S.-backed government that was overthrown in August, are keeping the embassy open — continuing diplomatic work but also preserving the diplomatic status that allows them to remain in the U.S.

Should the embassy close before they are granted asylum or other legal residency, the diplomats could find themselves stateless and without the permits needed to get a job.

“This is not something that we wanted. But it is something that came,” Abdul Hadi Nejrabi, the Afghan Embassy’s deputy chief of mission, said.

“We may not be able to continue for a long time — it will come to an end,” he said. “There is still a lot of work to do. But we are here until we reach a path we can’t continue.”

Around the world, Afghan diplomats continue to carry out their duties independent of the leadership in Kabul. Many have criticized the new government as “illegitimate” and still fly the internationally accepted flag of Afghanistan over their embassies instead of the Taliban’s banner. Others have lobbied their host nations against unconditionally recognizing the Taliban’s authority.

Yet the situation is taking a toll on diplomats who are also still coming to grips with representing an elected government that has ceased to exist. Nejrabi said they were living largely on savings or on loans from relatives. Some have no health insurance and are racking up thousands of dollars in medical bills. In France, diplomats have moved into the embassy compound to avoid paying rent on private apartments, according to two former Afghan diplomats.

For now, the mission continues at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, a stately brick Colonial Revival building in the capital’s diplomatic quarter. Nejrabi said the Afghan staff was processing documents and other consular requests, and otherwise helping settle Afghans who have fled to the U.S. to escape the Taliban.

The services bring in $2,000 to $3,000 in fees each month, Nejrabi said — enough to keep the lights and other utilities on, but too little to pay salaries. That has left the diplomats and their families — about 65 people in all — scrambling to make ends meet.

They are not alone: Public workers across Afghanistan have also not been paid as Washington issues conflicting guidance over whether U.S. sanctions should be enforced against Afghan government bank accounts that are now, in theory, controlled by the Taliban. The freezing of assets of the Afghan Central Bank has precipitated a liquidity crisis that has exposed 8 million people to possible starvation in a country torn by war, drought and acute poverty.

The sanctions were imposed against the Taliban years ago, when it was designated as a global terrorist organization. In October, after the group seized power, Citibank froze the Washington embassy’s accounts and withheld what Nejrabi said was hundreds of thousands of dollars designated for salaries that the former Afghan government had deposited months before it was ousted.

American officials have tried, unsuccessfully, to assure Citibank that it would not be penalized if the Afghan funds were unlocked. The bank’s spokesperson, Rob Runyan, declined to comment.

“Our priority all along has been to figure out a way to facilitate a soft landing for the Afghan diplomats who are in the United States,” said Mark Evans, the State Department’s director for Afghanistan affairs. “Obviously, they’re in very difficult circumstances through no fault of their own, and we wanted to be as supportive as possible.”

Still, the Biden administration has refused to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government. Until that happens — if it ever does — officials said the State Department would not accredit any diplomats the group sends to Washington.

While the Afghan government owns the embassy building in Washington, the State Department is responsible for maintaining the property if its envoys are unable to do so. Control of Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions remains at the forefront of the struggle for power between the Taliban and their opponents over international recognition and support.

One Afghan diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions, said he detected slow-motion efforts by the Taliban’s government to gain recognition from other countries and control of Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions. Most nations will be guided by what the U.S. government does, he said.

Last month, the State Department noted the embassy’s dire financial situation in a memo to Afghan diplomats that advised what would happen to the staff if the building had to shut down. Several officials, who described the document on the condition of anonymity, said it extended diplomatic immunity and residency to the Afghans for 30 days, to give them time to pursue asylum or other legal status that would allow them to remain in the U.S.

Nejrabi said around 55 Afghan diplomats and their family members in the U.S. were seeking asylum, joining more than 100,000 Afghan applicants in a process that has overwhelmed the Biden administration since Kabul fell in August. The rest are expected to apply to have their diplomatic status converted to permanent residency through a different process that, officials said, can accept only 50 cases each year.

Matthew Bourke, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said 31 Afghans had so far applied to change their status to permanent residency. That number includes diplomats and their family members, Bourke said, in a process that can take several months to complete. In the meantime, the immigration agency has waived application fees for the financially strained Afghan diplomats and offered to allow temporary work permits while their cases are pending.

But without asylum or other legal permits, remaining in the U.S. is far from assured for the diplomats, although it is not expected that they would be sent back to Afghanistan, where they could be in danger for working for the previous government.

Afghan diplomats around the world, led by a group of senior ambassadors in Western capitals, refused to join a conference call scheduled by the new foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, late last year. Most still have not spoken with him.

“Everyone refused and said: ‘I do not want to talk to a government that came by force. We do not represent you,’ ” Nejrabi said.

He added, “Even if the U.S. had a new relationship with the Taliban, and they asked me to stay, I would not, because I cannot betray my people.”

Nejrabi, 38, was appointed to the prestigious post of the Afghan Embassy’s second in command in Washington in 2019, after diplomatic stints in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and as the vice chair of the International Chamber of Commerce in Kabul. Now he is hoping for a job in the U.S. — if he receives legal residency — that will make use of his skills.

“Our diplomats were educated and grew up with freedoms,” he said. “So how can we go back?”

Already reeling from a Taliban takeover of their government and a humanitarian disaster in their homeland, Afghan diplomats in the United States are grappling with another bleak reality: the loss of pay and the possibility of being deported.

Already reeling from a Taliban takeover of their government and a humanitarian disaster in their homeland, Afghan diplomats in the United States are grappling with another bleak reality: the loss of pay and the possibility of being deported. Several dozen diplomats assigned to Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington and consulates in New York and Los Angeles have not been paid since October, officials said, when U.S. banks froze accounts to prevent the Taliban from gaining access to the embassy’s funds. But the envoys, who were part of the U.S.-backed government that was overthrown in August, are keeping the embassy open — continuing diplomatic work but also preserving the diplomatic status that allows them to remain in the U.S. Should the embassy close before they are granted asylum or other legal residency, the diplomats could find themselves stateless and without the permits needed to get a job. “This is not something that we wanted. But it is something that came,” Abdul Hadi Nejrabi, the Afghan Embassy’s deputy chief of mission, said. “We may not be able to continue for a long time — it will come to an end,” he said. “There is still a lot of work to do. But we are here until we reach a path we can’t continue.” Around the world, Afghan diplomats continue to carry out their duties independent of the leadership in Kabul. Many have criticized the new government as “illegitimate” and still fly the internationally accepted flag of Afghanistan over their embassies instead of the Taliban’s banner. Others have lobbied their host nations against unconditionally recognizing the Taliban’s authority. Yet the situation is taking a toll on diplomats who are also still coming to grips with representing an elected government that has ceased to exist. Nejrabi said they were living largely on savings or on loans from relatives. Some have no health insurance and are racking up thousands of dollars in medical bills. In France, diplomats have moved into the embassy compound to avoid paying rent on private apartments, according to two former Afghan diplomats. For now, the mission continues at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, a stately brick Colonial Revival building in the capital’s diplomatic quarter. Nejrabi said the Afghan staff was processing documents and other consular requests, and otherwise helping settle Afghans who have fled to the U.S. to escape the Taliban. The services bring in $2,000 to $3,000 in fees each month, Nejrabi said — enough to keep the lights and other utilities on, but too little to pay salaries. That has left the diplomats and their families — about 65 people in all — scrambling to make ends meet. They are not alone: Public workers across Afghanistan have also not been paid as Washington issues conflicting guidance over whether U.S. sanctions should be enforced against Afghan government bank accounts that are now, in theory, controlled by the Taliban. The freezing of assets of the Afghan Central Bank has precipitated a liquidity crisis that has exposed 8 million people to possible starvation in a country torn by war, drought and acute poverty. The sanctions were imposed against the Taliban years ago, when it was designated as a global terrorist organization. In October, after the group seized power, Citibank froze the Washington embassy’s accounts and withheld what Nejrabi said was hundreds of thousands of dollars designated for salaries that the former Afghan government had deposited months before it was ousted. American officials have tried, unsuccessfully, to assure Citibank that it would not be penalized if the Afghan funds were unlocked. The bank’s spokesperson, Rob Runyan, declined to comment. “Our priority all along has been to figure out a way to facilitate a soft landing for the Afghan diplomats who are in the United States,” said Mark Evans, the State Department’s director for Afghanistan affairs. “Obviously, they’re in very difficult circumstances through no fault of their own, and we wanted to be as supportive as possible.” Still, the Biden administration has refused to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government. Until that happens — if it ever does — officials said the State Department would not accredit any diplomats the group sends to Washington. While the Afghan government owns the embassy building in Washington, the State Department is responsible for maintaining the property if its envoys are unable to do so. Control of Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions remains at the forefront of the struggle for power between the Taliban and their opponents over international recognition and support. One Afghan diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions, said he detected slow-motion efforts by the Taliban’s government to gain recognition from other countries and control of Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions. Most nations will be guided by what the U.S. government does, he said. Last month, the State Department noted the embassy’s dire financial situation in a memo to Afghan diplomats that advised what would happen to the staff if the building had to shut down. Several officials, who described the document on the condition of anonymity, said it extended diplomatic immunity and residency to the Afghans for 30 days, to give them time to pursue asylum or other legal status that would allow them to remain in the U.S. Nejrabi said around 55 Afghan diplomats and their family members in the U.S. were seeking asylum, joining more than 100,000 Afghan applicants in a process that has overwhelmed the Biden administration since Kabul fell in August. The rest are expected to apply to have their diplomatic status converted to permanent residency through a different process that, officials said, can accept only 50 cases each year. Matthew Bourke, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said 31 Afghans had so far applied to change their status to permanent residency. That number includes diplomats and their family members, Bourke said, in a process that can take several months to complete. In the meantime, the immigration agency has waived application fees for the financially strained Afghan diplomats and offered to allow temporary work permits while their cases are pending. But without asylum or other legal permits, remaining in the U.S. is far from assured for the diplomats, although it is not expected that they would be sent back to Afghanistan, where they could be in danger for working for the previous government. Afghan diplomats around the world, led by a group of senior ambassadors in Western capitals, refused to join a conference call scheduled by the new foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, late last year. Most still have not spoken with him. “Everyone refused and said: ‘I do not want to talk to a government that came by force. We do not represent you,’ ” Nejrabi said. He added, “Even if the U.S. had a new relationship with the Taliban, and they asked me to stay, I would not, because I cannot betray my people.” Nejrabi, 38, was appointed to the prestigious post of the Afghan Embassy’s second in command in Washington in 2019, after diplomatic stints in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and as the vice chair of the International Chamber of Commerce in Kabul. Now he is hoping for a job in the U.S. — if he receives legal residency — that will make use of his skills. “Our diplomats were educated and grew up with freedoms,” he said. “So how can we go back?”

Unpaid and potentially stateless, Afghan diplomats seek permission to remain in US

A heartwarming gesture from a neighbour in the UK has won the hearts of netizens all across social media.&nbsp;

It started when a British woman named Sunday Blake tweeted about how her Afghan neighbour went the extra mile to help her when she was sick. Blake mentioned how her neighbour dropped off a homemade meal for her after getting to know that she was ill.&nbsp;

"One of my neighbours is afghan. He fled a few weeks ago, leaving his entire family. He asked in broken English last week why I looked skinny (ESL - forgave him). I said id recently had surgery and was ill. He just dropped this around. All homemade, including the yoghurt and bread," Blake wrote.&nbsp;

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One of my neighbours is afghan. He fled a few weeks ago, leaving his entire family. He asked in broken English last week why I looked skinny (ESL - forgave him 😂). I said id recently had surgery &amp; was ill. He just dropped this around. All homemade, including the yoghurt &amp; bread. <a href="https://t.co/Lh3ePFKi4x">pic.twitter.com/Lh3ePFKi4x</a>
— Sunday Blake (@SundayMargot) <a href="https://twitter.com/SundayMargot/status/1488946494757642245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Along with the message, she shared the image of the homemade meal.&nbsp;

The tweet immediately went viral and garnered over 58K likes. Several people appreciated the afghan neighbour and started sharing their own experiences.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/just-rocks-or-dinosaur-eggs-archeologists-discover-mystery-objects-in-this-indian-state-452072">Also read |&nbsp;Just rocks or dinosaur eggs? Archeologists discover mystery objects in this Indian state</a>

"When you're healed, hoping you'll return each container filled with something yummy and lovely for him. I'm glad you have a good neighbour," wrote a person. Here are a few more reactions:

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When you're healed, hoping you'll return each container filled with something yummy and lovely for him. I'm glad you have a good neighbour.
— Lydia Kan (she/her) (@LydiaCourage) <a href="https://twitter.com/LydiaCourage/status/1489266992305643520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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I cried a little reading this. Don't know why. Maybe because I'm an immigrant as well. Or because I needed a reminder that people are good, are kind, are friendly.
— Adeline🥩💫 (@Adeline64408100) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adeline64408100/status/1489535337596608512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
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When my MIL was terminally ill, The only people outside family to visit her in the hospice were her Pakistani neighbours. She always said they were the best neighbours she could wish for &amp; as it turned out ,she was correct.
— takeaguess (@LibbyLibbys61) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbyLibbys61/status/1489254721147707393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

A heartwarming gesture from a neighbour in the UK has won the hearts of netizens all across social media. It started when a British woman named Sunday Blake tweeted about how her Afghan neighbour went the extra mile to help her when she was sick.

A heartwarming gesture from a neighbour in the UK has won the hearts of netizens all across social media. It started when a British woman named Sunday Blake tweeted about how her Afghan neighbour went the extra mile to help her when she was sick. Blake mentioned how her neighbour dropped off a homemade meal for her after getting to know that she was ill. "One of my neighbours is afghan. He fled a few weeks ago, leaving his entire family. He asked in broken English last week why I looked skinny (ESL - forgave him). I said id recently had surgery and was ill. He just dropped this around. All homemade, including the yoghurt and bread," Blake wrote. One of my neighbours is afghan. He fled a few weeks ago, leaving his entire family. He asked in broken English last week why I looked skinny (ESL - forgave him 😂). I said id recently had surgery & was ill. He just dropped this around. All homemade, including the yoghurt & bread. pic.twitter.com/Lh3ePFKi4x — Sunday Blake (@SundayMargot) February 2, 2022 × Along with the message, she shared the image of the homemade meal. The tweet immediately went viral and garnered over 58K likes. Several people appreciated the afghan neighbour and started sharing their own experiences. Also read | Just rocks or dinosaur eggs? Archeologists discover mystery objects in this Indian state "When you're healed, hoping you'll return each container filled with something yummy and lovely for him. I'm glad you have a good neighbour," wrote a person. Here are a few more reactions: When you're healed, hoping you'll return each container filled with something yummy and lovely for him. I'm glad you have a good neighbour. — Lydia Kan (she/her) (@LydiaCourage) February 3, 2022 × I cried a little reading this. Don't know why. Maybe because I'm an immigrant as well. Or because I needed a reminder that people are good, are kind, are friendly. — Adeline🥩💫 (@Adeline64408100) February 4, 2022 × When my MIL was terminally ill, The only people outside family to visit her in the hospice were her Pakistani neighbours. She always said they were the best neighbours she could wish for & as it turned out ,she was correct. — takeaguess (@LibbyLibbys61) February 3, 2022 ×

Afghan neighbour sends homemade meal to UK woman in her sickness, winning hearts on internet

A UN report seen by Reuters says the Taliban and its allies are believed to have killed scores of former Afghan officials, security force members and people who worked with the international military contingent since the US-led pullout.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ report to the UN&nbsp;Security Council paints a picture of worsening living conditions for Afghanistan’s 39 million people despite an end of combat with the Taliban's takeover in August.

"An entire complex social and economic system is shutting down," Guterres said.

The report sounds the latest in a series of warnings the UN&nbsp;chief has issued in recent months about the humanitarian and economic crises that accelerated after the Taliban seized Kabul as the last US-led foreign troops left and international donors cut critical financial aid.

Guterres recommended the council approve a restructuring of the UN&nbsp;mission to deal with the situation, including the creation of a new human rights monitoring unit.

The UN mission "continues to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances and other violations" against former officials, security force members and people who worked for the US-led international military contingent despite a general amnesty announced by the Taliban, the report said.

The mission has determined as credible reports that more than 100 of those individuals have been killed – more than two-thirds of them allegedly by the Taliban or their affiliates – since August&nbsp;15, it said.

There also are credible allegations of the extra-judicial killings of at least 50 people suspected of belonging to the local branch of the Islamic State militant group, according to the report.

"Human rights defenders and media workers continue to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings," it said.

A UN report seen by Reuters says the Taliban and its allies are believed to have killed scores of former Afghan officials, security force members and people who worked with the international military contingent since the US-led pullout.

A UN report seen by Reuters says the Taliban and its allies are believed to have killed scores of former Afghan officials, security force members and people who worked with the international military contingent since the US-led pullout. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ report to the UN Security Council paints a picture of worsening living conditions for Afghanistan’s 39 million people despite an end of combat with the Taliban's takeover in August. "An entire complex social and economic system is shutting down," Guterres said. The report sounds the latest in a series of warnings the UN chief has issued in recent months about the humanitarian and economic crises that accelerated after the Taliban seized Kabul as the last US-led foreign troops left and international donors cut critical financial aid. Guterres recommended the council approve a restructuring of the UN mission to deal with the situation, including the creation of a new human rights monitoring unit. The UN mission "continues to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances and other violations" against former officials, security force members and people who worked for the US-led international military contingent despite a general amnesty announced by the Taliban, the report said. The mission has determined as credible reports that more than 100 of those individuals have been killed – more than two-thirds of them allegedly by the Taliban or their affiliates – since August 15, it said. There also are credible allegations of the extra-judicial killings of at least 50 people suspected of belonging to the local branch of the Islamic State militant group, according to the report. "Human rights defenders and media workers continue to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings," it said.

UN report says Taliban have killed scores of former Afghan officials, others

A report by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, which was declassified earlier this week implies that months before US President Joe Biden announced the US troops'&nbsp;withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington's watchdog had warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without American aid and training.&nbsp;

SIGAR analysed Washington’s spending and progress in Afghanistan since 2008. It has also released certain reports that highlighted corruption, Afghan and US leadership failings. It also offered recommendations on where and how to improve.

A report which was submitted to the US Department of Defense in January 2021, highlights that the American authorities were alerted that the Afghan air force did not have the capabilities to survive after US withdrawal.&nbsp;It further highlights US' failure to train Afghan staff.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/over-500000-jobs-lost-in-afghanistan-since-taliban-takeover-women-worst-hit-446183">Also read |&nbsp;Over 500,000 jobs lost in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover, women worst hit</a>

The inspector general’s office while speaking to the Associated Press said that it is not every day that SIGAR reports are classified but when they are, a declassified version is issued by the Pentagon in under two months. The office further said that it is not aware why the Defense Department took more than a year before declassifying this particular report.

As per the new report, between 2010 and 2019, the US spent $8.5 billion “to support and develop” the Afghan air force and its elite unit, the Special Mission Wing. However, it further warns that both are ill-prepared.&nbsp;

It also warns against removing the hundreds of US contractors who maintained the aircraft fleet.

Sopko said that even as the US Department of Defense recognised the Afghan air force’s progress “in combat operation capabilities, pilot and ground crew proficiency, as well as air-to-ground integration," they continued “to struggle with human capital limitations, leadership challenges, aircraft misuse, and a dependence on contractor logistic support.”

It remains unclear whether the report was submitted in the final days of the Trump administration or whether US President Joe Biden had taken office by then.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

A report by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, which was declassified earlier this week implies that months before US President Joe Biden announced the US troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington's watchdog had warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without American aid and training.

A report by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, which was declassified earlier this week implies that months before US President Joe Biden announced the US troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington's watchdog had warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without American aid and training. SIGAR analysed Washington’s spending and progress in Afghanistan since 2008. It has also released certain reports that highlighted corruption, Afghan and US leadership failings. It also offered recommendations on where and how to improve. A report which was submitted to the US Department of Defense in January 2021, highlights that the American authorities were alerted that the Afghan air force did not have the capabilities to survive after US withdrawal. It further highlights US' failure to train Afghan staff. Also read | Over 500,000 jobs lost in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover, women worst hit The inspector general’s office while speaking to the Associated Press said that it is not every day that SIGAR reports are classified but when they are, a declassified version is issued by the Pentagon in under two months. The office further said that it is not aware why the Defense Department took more than a year before declassifying this particular report. As per the new report, between 2010 and 2019, the US spent $8.5 billion “to support and develop” the Afghan air force and its elite unit, the Special Mission Wing. However, it further warns that both are ill-prepared. It also warns against removing the hundreds of US contractors who maintained the aircraft fleet. Sopko said that even as the US Department of Defense recognised the Afghan air force’s progress “in combat operation capabilities, pilot and ground crew proficiency, as well as air-to-ground integration," they continued “to struggle with human capital limitations, leadership challenges, aircraft misuse, and a dependence on contractor logistic support.” It remains unclear whether the report was submitted in the final days of the Trump administration or whether US President Joe Biden had taken office by then. (With inputs from agencies)

Watchdog had warned of Afghan force collapse way before US pullout

Around 87% women in Afghanistan are survivors of domestic abuse. Their safe shelters, run by NGOs, are being shuttered by the Taliban. Mariam Wardak tells you more.

South Asia Diary | Afghan women's shelters purged

In Pics: Finally, reunited. Afghan baby lost in airlift chaos reaches family after long wait

60% of Afghan journalists have lost their jobs since the Taliban took over Kabul. Those still working are braving censorship and threats. In the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, journalism is dying a slow and painful death.

South Asia Diary: Afghan media's slow death

The immigrants in California San Jose are well versed with the horrors of having to start afresh in a foreign land which is why at a clinic meant for screening refugees, the immigrant staffers are now offering guidance and support to the thousands of apprehensive Afghan refugees.

United States: Immigrants at California clinic help Afghan refugees

As the UK government finds it hard to persuade enough councils to look for permanent homes, around 12,000 Afghan refugees will usher in the new year in hotels, said a report by the Guardian. &nbsp;

As per the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), from the 16,500 people, who were airlifted from Afghanistan to the UK since August, “over 4,000 individuals have either moved into a settled home or are in the process of being moved or matched to a suitable home.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistan-signs-electricity-supply-contract-with-tajikistan-amid-power-crisis-440678" hreflang="en">Afghanistan signs electricity supply deal with Tajikistan amid power crisis</a>

The rest of the refugees are still waiting for the news when they can begin rebuilding their lives. &nbsp;&nbsp;

According to a spokesperson of the Home Office, over 300 local authorities in the country are making concerted efforts to offer permanent accommodation. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-education-minister-says-co-education-is-against-islamic-values-440211" hreflang="en">Afghan education minister says co-education is against Islamic values</a>

As the government has decided to not force local authorities to rehouse the refugees, they may not be evenly distributed across the UK, said the report.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As per the sources at both the DWP and Home Office, over 12,000 Afghan evacuees still remained in hotels as of December 22. According to London Councils, around 4,000 are in London. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

As the UK government finds it hard to persuade enough councils to look for permanent homes, around 12,000 Afghan refugees will usher in the new year in hotels, said a report by the Guardian.

As the UK government finds it hard to persuade enough councils to look for permanent homes, around 12,000 Afghan refugees will usher in the new year in hotels, said a report by the Guardian. As per the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), from the 16,500 people, who were airlifted from Afghanistan to the UK since August, “over 4,000 individuals have either moved into a settled home or are in the process of being moved or matched to a suitable home.” Also Read: Afghanistan signs electricity supply deal with Tajikistan amid power crisis The rest of the refugees are still waiting for the news when they can begin rebuilding their lives. According to a spokesperson of the Home Office, over 300 local authorities in the country are making concerted efforts to offer permanent accommodation. Also Read: Afghan education minister says co-education is against Islamic values As the government has decided to not force local authorities to rehouse the refugees, they may not be evenly distributed across the UK, said the report. As per the sources at both the DWP and Home Office, over 12,000 Afghan evacuees still remained in hotels as of December 22. According to London Councils, around 4,000 are in London. (With inputs from agencies)

12,000 Afghan evacuees to usher in new year in hotels as UK govt fails to look for homes

It has been 133 days since the Taliban's second coming in Afghanistan, and from the last 100 days, the regime has cropped women's rights, plunged the country into an economic and humanitarian crisis and discarded democracy from the country. In the latest, the Taliban has dissolved Afghanistan's election commission which was a panel that supervised polls during the previous Western-backed administration.

Afghanistan's independent election commission dissolved by Taliban

Afghans who have managed to escape the Taliban regime are settling into a new life. Now the challenge is to accept a foreign land as their new home. Several Afghan refugees arrived in Kentucky, a small US city known to welcome refugees for over four decades.

After escaping the Taliban in Afghanistan, the refugees are now settling into a new life in Kentucky

When he was approved for a special visa to immigrate to the United States, Arian Ali thought his luck was about to change. The Taliban had taken over Afghanistan, but he had a way out.

Instead, he remains in limbo.

Ali, 43, qualified for the visa by working with the U.S. government in a series of jobs during the 20-year war and had waited since 2014 for approval. That finally happened in October, more than a month after the Biden administration left Afghanistan in a dramatic evacuation as the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the capital.

The visa could be picked up at any U.S. Embassy. But the one in Kabul had shut down and, without the visa in hand, he was unable to enter any of the countries he deemed safe enough to visit that had open U.S. consular offices.

On Nov. 24, immigration lawyers managed to get Ali and his family on a charter flight to a U.S. military base outside Doha, Qatar. Now he is back to waiting — for word on how long he will be there and when he will get the visa he needs stamped in his passport.

“Our life became a joke,” Ali, who agreed to be identified only by a nickname to protect family still in Afghanistan, said in a text message last week from a refugee camp at Al Udeid Air Base.

“Taliban kill and U.S. government too slow and reluctant to help,” he said.

More than 74,500 Afghans have been given permission to live in the United States, at least temporarily, in the four months since the return of Taliban rule. Although they are no longer in immediate danger, many have had trouble navigating an immigration system that U.S. officials concede was wholly unprepared to help them.

Thousands have stayed in squalid camps. Others have been threatened by security forces as they transit neighboring countries. Even those who have made it to the United States worry about how they will afford housing and food.

In interviews, more than a half-dozen Afghans in various stages of immigrating to the United States expressed profound gratitude for the help they received in leaving Afghanistan. But they also shared their frustration — echoed by immigration advocates, members of Congress and even Biden administration officials — with a process that has provided little clarity on when the United States will deliver on its promise to protect those who risked their lives to support the U.S. government.

“There are lots of people who are trying to find that lucky break that will get them through a door, across the border, on an airplane, get a visa, whatever they need to just get out of the country and try to process themselves into some kind of new reality,” said James B. Cunningham, who was ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012-14.

“Unfortunately, that’s going to continue for a long time,” he said.

Biden administration officials say they are trying to ease the passage. But they have struggled with what Secretary of State Antony Blinken described last month as a situation that “is in so many ways a complicated story that I’m not sure the American people fully understood.”

Additionally, Congress and the White House have failed to resolve whether to give permanent legal status to tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated to the United States. That means they could, in theory, be deported in as little as two years.

“The U.S. military and diplomatic presence in Afghanistan may have ended in August,” said Sunil Varghese, policy director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, “but U.S. government’s obligation did not.”

Terrified in Tajikistan

With the Taliban back in power, a 36-year-old man who had also worked with the U.S. government knew he had to get his family out of Afghanistan.

J.F., who agreed to be identified only by his initials for protection, spent years helping the U.S. Treasury Department prosecute money laundering and terrorism financing cases, including against the Taliban. His mother worked for the now-defunct Ministry of Women’s Affairs, counseling victims of domestic violence.

He and his family hid in Kabul for weeks in October, then fled to neighboring Iran. From there, and with a legal entry visa, they flew to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. With a prominent Afghan diaspora on the outskirts of the city, it seemed like the safest place to be while he applied for what is known as “humanitarian parole” to the United States — given that the process must be completed in a country that has a functioning U.S. Embassy. Parole status allows Afghan refugees to live in the United States for a fixed period, in most cases two years.

But six days after they arrived in Dushanbe in early November, security guards knocked on the door of the family’s apartment and took their passports. When he went to the agents’ office the next day, they refused to return the documents and said the family would be sent back to Afghanistan.

Were that to happen, J.F. said, the Taliban “will not let us live.”

Requests for help from a group of Americans who worked with J.F. in Kabul have bounced between Congress, the State Department, Treasury and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services without resolution — or even much of an explanation.

“Treasury’s hands are pretty much tied,” a Treasury official said in a Nov. 5 email on the matter that was shared with The New York Times.

“Our office will be happy to assist the family once USCIS approves their parole request,” the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe responded in a Nov. 11 email.

In an email dated Nov. 12, an aide to Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., also suggested that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services needed to move first but noted that processing the requests would “likely take several months.”

Only about 135 of the 28,000 applications from Afghans seeking humanitarian parole have been approved since July 1, according to the agency, which usually receives fewer than 2,000 applications from around the world each year.

A spokesperson at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would not verify J.F.’s case, citing privacy concerns, but said in a statement that the agency was prepared to welcome more Afghans over the coming months. The agency has increased the number of agents who process the humanitarian parole applications from at least 10 in August to about 50, the spokesperson said Sunday.

J.F. managed to retrieve his family’s passports but is living in Dushanbe on a short-term visa that expires every month, with no guarantee that it will be renewed.

If it is not, he and his family will be deported.

“I didn’t expect to get it easily,” he said of approval to come to the United States, “but it’s too difficult.”

One of his former colleagues, John Kimbler, CEO of California-based Paradigm Applications, is mystified by the web of bureaucracy.

“He’s safer now than he was before, but it seems like there should be a way to move him on to secure that safety,” Kimbler said.

Dwindling Patience in Qatar

Mursal Nazar considered herself fortunate. She was evacuated to the camp at Al Udeid Air Base on a U.S. military flight Aug. 25 — one day before an Islamic State suicide bomber killed scores of Afghans and 13 U.S. troops at the same gate where she had been waiting to be let into the Kabul airport.

But the three-hour flight turned into a 11-hour ordeal as the hundreds of passengers, packed tightly in the sweltering cabin, underwent security and safety checks after they landed.

At the time, the camp was so unprepared for the more than 60,000 Afghans who would transit through Qatar that even the Pentagon reported “some terrible sanitation conditions” there.

“We didn’t have proper toilets to use,” said Nazar, 31. “We didn’t have places to go and take a shower and places for women, who need privacy, to go and change their clothes. They put men and women sleeping under the same tent — different kinds of people, from different cultures and different beliefs. That was a problem for us.”

After a 10-day wait, Nazar and her husband left for the United States.

Officials said conditions had vastly improved at Al Udeid, which continues to house thousands of Afghans on their way to the United States.

During the evacuation, a dozen overseas transit hubs, or “lily pads,” housed thousands of Afghans. But concerns about a long-term strain on Pentagon resources and readiness have led to the closure of all but three of the sites: Al Udeid, one in Kosovo and a vast field of tents known as Humanitarian City in the United Arab Emirates. Officials said there were at least 2,900 Afghans — the number frequently changes — at the three bases waiting to come to the United States.

The host governments have also raised concerns about allowing in thousands of people who U.S. officials have said may not have been fully vetted before they were flown out of Afghanistan.

Qatar recently banned Afghans who don’t have passports or other government-approved credentials, although there may be exceptions, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the country’s top diplomat, said in Washington last month.

For security reasons, “it’s very important to make sure that the right people are evacuated,” he said.

Ali is among at least 28,000 Afghans who have been identified as qualifying for the special immigrant visa because of their work for the U.S. government. The State Department says it has issued 8,200 of the visas since January and hopes to bring out at least 1,000 more from Afghanistan each month through next September, although that goal may be especially difficult to reach in the winter and with Kabul’s airport in disarray.

But a yearslong delay in processing the visas has enraged military veterans and others who served in Afghanistan, and become a rare source of unity within a Congress that has been divided to the point of paralysis on other aspects of immigration.

“The United States pledged to support those who served our mission in Afghanistan,” Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Rob Portman of Ohio, all Republicans, wrote in an Oct. 21 letter to demand an investigation into the delays. “Failing to do so would lead allies and adversaries alike to call into question our reliability and credibility as a partner in future conflicts.”

Blinken has noted that the State Department, which issues the visas after they have been vetted by the Department of Homeland Security, inherited a backlog of 17,000 applications when President Joe Biden took office in January. Consular officers were processing about 100 special immigrant visas each week last winter but about 1,000 as Biden’s deadline for ending the war approached in August.

Ali was eligible for a visa through his work since 2003 for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, advocacy groups and the fledgling Afghan government.

“I’m proud of the work I did with the United States,” he said. “But I don’t understand how the U.S. government could abandon its allies.”

Stressed in the United States

Nazar applied for a special immigrant visa last year as the Taliban seized territory across Afghanistan and the U.S. military prepared to leave. It had not been approved by the time she was evacuated to the camp in Qatar in August, however, and she entered the United States on humanitarian parole that required her to live on a National Guard base in Indiana as she waited for refugee resettlement officials to take her case.

She arrived at Camp Atterbury, south of Indianapolis, before dawn Sept. 6, and was struck by the expanse of green fields and fresh air. “I was relieved that finally I was somewhere I can be relaxed,” she said.

It did not last long. The mess halls ran out of food in the early days. Base officials struggled to track the Afghans; as recently as mid-November, a military public affairs officer insisted that Nazar had already left Camp Atterbury even though she had not.

Worst of all was the nagging anxiety of when they might move them off base and into homes.

“When we asked the same question, like, ‘How long is it going to take? On what basis are you going let these families to be resettled from here?’ they say, ‘We don’t have any answer for your questions — you just have to wait for your turn, and whenever it comes, we will call you,” Nazar said last month.

Her turn finally came the week of the Thanksgiving holiday, when she moved into a temporary apartment in Bayonne, New Jersey. “Things are going well,” she said recently, although she is waiting for work authorization and other documents.

Resettlement agencies have helped place around 38,000 Afghans in U.S. communities since August.

Tens of thousands of Afghans are still waiting on seven military bases in the United States. But a refugee camp at Fort Lee, Virginia, was shuttered Nov. 17, and officials said one in Quantico, Virginia, would likely be next.

“The most important thing we can do is put people on the path to self-sufficiency as quickly as we can,” Jack Markell, a former governor of Delaware and the coordinator of Operation Allies Welcome, the White House resettlement process for evacuated Afghans, said last month.

As many as 4,000 Afghans are moved from the camps and resettled each week, and “this is an effort that will continue,” Markell said.

He acknowledged Afghans’ frustration and said officials have tried to answer more of their questions in recent weeks. “If we were in their shoes, we’d want the same thing,” Markell said. “We’d all want to know, as quickly as possible, where we’re going to be building our new lives.”

Refugee agencies have been overwhelmed with caring for Afghans families who are moved into U.S. communities. A family of 10, including a newborn baby, had no money and no benefits when they were settled outside Washington, D.C., and depended on grocery deliveries from the Muslim Association of Virginia. In Houston, some Afghans have been placed in crime-ridden neighborhoods and are living in apartments with dilapidated toilets or black mold in bathrooms, and are salvaging supplies from rubbish heaps or borrowing from neighbors.

“There are pregnant women who have slept on hard floors with no blankets, no mattress,” said Shekeba Morrad, an Afghan-American community organizer in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, who works with a nationwide group trying to monitor the situation of the newly arrived Afghans.

Hamid Wahidy, 34, and his family made it to the camp at Quantico, Virginia, via a route that first took them to Qatar, Germany and Dulles International Airport outside Washington. They stayed at the camp for 40 days before moving into a small Airbnb in San Diego. The first month there was a blur of bureaucratic shuffling to receive his Social Security card, which he needed to open a bank account, obtain a driver’s license, apply for a job and enroll his kids in school.

A few weeks later, he moved into a larger home. It cost him $3,400 — for one month’s rent and a security deposit — of the $5,000 the family received from a resettlement agency. He did not immediately receive food stamps and other benefits that he had expected under a spending bill that Congress passed in September that included $6.3 billion in expanded assistance to the arriving Afghans.

The legislation also did not include an expedited process for legal residency for Wahidy and other Afghans. Without it, immigration advocates say, they could eventually be deported.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., noted that the Afghan refugees had already undergone background checks and other security screening, and suggested they could fill job vacancies created by the pandemic.

“This is not only the right thing to do — it will enrich our communities and strengthen our economy,” said Klobuchar, who is among those pushing for the Afghans to be given “a clear path to remain here as lawful permanent residents.”

Wahidy described his family’s journey out of Kabul in August — including crawling through a fetid canal to catch the attention of a U.S. soldier standing guard at the airport — as “very difficult.”

In San Diego, he has relied on donations. He is still trying to accept that his life will never be what it was in Afghanistan before the Taliban took over — “a good life in our own country,” he said wistfully.

“We had a job there, we could handle our family, our normal life,” Wahidy said, exhaling deeply. “But here, it is 180 degrees change.

“It’s not clear, our future,” he said. “What will happen to us, I don’t know.”

When he was approved for a special visa to immigrate to the United States, Arian Ali thought his luck was about to change. The Taliban had taken over Afghanistan, but he had a way out.

When he was approved for a special visa to immigrate to the United States, Arian Ali thought his luck was about to change. The Taliban had taken over Afghanistan, but he had a way out. Instead, he remains in limbo. Ali, 43, qualified for the visa by working with the U.S. government in a series of jobs during the 20-year war and had waited since 2014 for approval. That finally happened in October, more than a month after the Biden administration left Afghanistan in a dramatic evacuation as the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the capital. The visa could be picked up at any U.S. Embassy. But the one in Kabul had shut down and, without the visa in hand, he was unable to enter any of the countries he deemed safe enough to visit that had open U.S. consular offices. On Nov. 24, immigration lawyers managed to get Ali and his family on a charter flight to a U.S. military base outside Doha, Qatar. Now he is back to waiting — for word on how long he will be there and when he will get the visa he needs stamped in his passport. “Our life became a joke,” Ali, who agreed to be identified only by a nickname to protect family still in Afghanistan, said in a text message last week from a refugee camp at Al Udeid Air Base. “Taliban kill and U.S. government too slow and reluctant to help,” he said. More than 74,500 Afghans have been given permission to live in the United States, at least temporarily, in the four months since the return of Taliban rule. Although they are no longer in immediate danger, many have had trouble navigating an immigration system that U.S. officials concede was wholly unprepared to help them. Thousands have stayed in squalid camps. Others have been threatened by security forces as they transit neighboring countries. Even those who have made it to the United States worry about how they will afford housing and food. In interviews, more than a half-dozen Afghans in various stages of immigrating to the United States expressed profound gratitude for the help they received in leaving Afghanistan. But they also shared their frustration — echoed by immigration advocates, members of Congress and even Biden administration officials — with a process that has provided little clarity on when the United States will deliver on its promise to protect those who risked their lives to support the U.S. government. “There are lots of people who are trying to find that lucky break that will get them through a door, across the border, on an airplane, get a visa, whatever they need to just get out of the country and try to process themselves into some kind of new reality,” said James B. Cunningham, who was ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012-14. “Unfortunately, that’s going to continue for a long time,” he said. Biden administration officials say they are trying to ease the passage. But they have struggled with what Secretary of State Antony Blinken described last month as a situation that “is in so many ways a complicated story that I’m not sure the American people fully understood.” Additionally, Congress and the White House have failed to resolve whether to give permanent legal status to tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated to the United States. That means they could, in theory, be deported in as little as two years. “The U.S. military and diplomatic presence in Afghanistan may have ended in August,” said Sunil Varghese, policy director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, “but U.S. government’s obligation did not.” Terrified in Tajikistan With the Taliban back in power, a 36-year-old man who had also worked with the U.S. government knew he had to get his family out of Afghanistan. J.F., who agreed to be identified only by his initials for protection, spent years helping the U.S. Treasury Department prosecute money laundering and terrorism financing cases, including against the Taliban. His mother worked for the now-defunct Ministry of Women’s Affairs, counseling victims of domestic violence. He and his family hid in Kabul for weeks in October, then fled to neighboring Iran. From there, and with a legal entry visa, they flew to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. With a prominent Afghan diaspora on the outskirts of the city, it seemed like the safest place to be while he applied for what is known as “humanitarian parole” to the United States — given that the process must be completed in a country that has a functioning U.S. Embassy. Parole status allows Afghan refugees to live in the United States for a fixed period, in most cases two years. But six days after they arrived in Dushanbe in early November, security guards knocked on the door of the family’s apartment and took their passports. When he went to the agents’ office the next day, they refused to return the documents and said the family would be sent back to Afghanistan. Were that to happen, J.F. said, the Taliban “will not let us live.” Requests for help from a group of Americans who worked with J.F. in Kabul have bounced between Congress, the State Department, Treasury and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services without resolution — or even much of an explanation. “Treasury’s hands are pretty much tied,” a Treasury official said in a Nov. 5 email on the matter that was shared with The New York Times. “Our office will be happy to assist the family once USCIS approves their parole request,” the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe responded in a Nov. 11 email. In an email dated Nov. 12, an aide to Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., also suggested that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services needed to move first but noted that processing the requests would “likely take several months.” Only about 135 of the 28,000 applications from Afghans seeking humanitarian parole have been approved since July 1, according to the agency, which usually receives fewer than 2,000 applications from around the world each year. A spokesperson at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would not verify J.F.’s case, citing privacy concerns, but said in a statement that the agency was prepared to welcome more Afghans over the coming months. The agency has increased the number of agents who process the humanitarian parole applications from at least 10 in August to about 50, the spokesperson said Sunday. J.F. managed to retrieve his family’s passports but is living in Dushanbe on a short-term visa that expires every month, with no guarantee that it will be renewed. If it is not, he and his family will be deported. “I didn’t expect to get it easily,” he said of approval to come to the United States, “but it’s too difficult.” One of his former colleagues, John Kimbler, CEO of California-based Paradigm Applications, is mystified by the web of bureaucracy. “He’s safer now than he was before, but it seems like there should be a way to move him on to secure that safety,” Kimbler said. Dwindling Patience in Qatar Mursal Nazar considered herself fortunate. She was evacuated to the camp at Al Udeid Air Base on a U.S. military flight Aug. 25 — one day before an Islamic State suicide bomber killed scores of Afghans and 13 U.S. troops at the same gate where she had been waiting to be let into the Kabul airport. But the three-hour flight turned into a 11-hour ordeal as the hundreds of passengers, packed tightly in the sweltering cabin, underwent security and safety checks after they landed. At the time, the camp was so unprepared for the more than 60,000 Afghans who would transit through Qatar that even the Pentagon reported “some terrible sanitation conditions” there. “We didn’t have proper toilets to use,” said Nazar, 31. “We didn’t have places to go and take a shower and places for women, who need privacy, to go and change their clothes. They put men and women sleeping under the same tent — different kinds of people, from different cultures and different beliefs. That was a problem for us.” After a 10-day wait, Nazar and her husband left for the United States. Officials said conditions had vastly improved at Al Udeid, which continues to house thousands of Afghans on their way to the United States. During the evacuation, a dozen overseas transit hubs, or “lily pads,” housed thousands of Afghans. But concerns about a long-term strain on Pentagon resources and readiness have led to the closure of all but three of the sites: Al Udeid, one in Kosovo and a vast field of tents known as Humanitarian City in the United Arab Emirates. Officials said there were at least 2,900 Afghans — the number frequently changes — at the three bases waiting to come to the United States. The host governments have also raised concerns about allowing in thousands of people who U.S. officials have said may not have been fully vetted before they were flown out of Afghanistan. Qatar recently banned Afghans who don’t have passports or other government-approved credentials, although there may be exceptions, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the country’s top diplomat, said in Washington last month. For security reasons, “it’s very important to make sure that the right people are evacuated,” he said. Ali is among at least 28,000 Afghans who have been identified as qualifying for the special immigrant visa because of their work for the U.S. government. The State Department says it has issued 8,200 of the visas since January and hopes to bring out at least 1,000 more from Afghanistan each month through next September, although that goal may be especially difficult to reach in the winter and with Kabul’s airport in disarray. But a yearslong delay in processing the visas has enraged military veterans and others who served in Afghanistan, and become a rare source of unity within a Congress that has been divided to the point of paralysis on other aspects of immigration. “The United States pledged to support those who served our mission in Afghanistan,” Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Rob Portman of Ohio, all Republicans, wrote in an Oct. 21 letter to demand an investigation into the delays. “Failing to do so would lead allies and adversaries alike to call into question our reliability and credibility as a partner in future conflicts.” Blinken has noted that the State Department, which issues the visas after they have been vetted by the Department of Homeland Security, inherited a backlog of 17,000 applications when President Joe Biden took office in January. Consular officers were processing about 100 special immigrant visas each week last winter but about 1,000 as Biden’s deadline for ending the war approached in August. Ali was eligible for a visa through his work since 2003 for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, advocacy groups and the fledgling Afghan government. “I’m proud of the work I did with the United States,” he said. “But I don’t understand how the U.S. government could abandon its allies.” Stressed in the United States Nazar applied for a special immigrant visa last year as the Taliban seized territory across Afghanistan and the U.S. military prepared to leave. It had not been approved by the time she was evacuated to the camp in Qatar in August, however, and she entered the United States on humanitarian parole that required her to live on a National Guard base in Indiana as she waited for refugee resettlement officials to take her case. She arrived at Camp Atterbury, south of Indianapolis, before dawn Sept. 6, and was struck by the expanse of green fields and fresh air. “I was relieved that finally I was somewhere I can be relaxed,” she said. It did not last long. The mess halls ran out of food in the early days. Base officials struggled to track the Afghans; as recently as mid-November, a military public affairs officer insisted that Nazar had already left Camp Atterbury even though she had not. Worst of all was the nagging anxiety of when they might move them off base and into homes. “When we asked the same question, like, ‘How long is it going to take? On what basis are you going let these families to be resettled from here?’ they say, ‘We don’t have any answer for your questions — you just have to wait for your turn, and whenever it comes, we will call you,” Nazar said last month. Her turn finally came the week of the Thanksgiving holiday, when she moved into a temporary apartment in Bayonne, New Jersey. “Things are going well,” she said recently, although she is waiting for work authorization and other documents. Resettlement agencies have helped place around 38,000 Afghans in U.S. communities since August. Tens of thousands of Afghans are still waiting on seven military bases in the United States. But a refugee camp at Fort Lee, Virginia, was shuttered Nov. 17, and officials said one in Quantico, Virginia, would likely be next. “The most important thing we can do is put people on the path to self-sufficiency as quickly as we can,” Jack Markell, a former governor of Delaware and the coordinator of Operation Allies Welcome, the White House resettlement process for evacuated Afghans, said last month. As many as 4,000 Afghans are moved from the camps and resettled each week, and “this is an effort that will continue,” Markell said. He acknowledged Afghans’ frustration and said officials have tried to answer more of their questions in recent weeks. “If we were in their shoes, we’d want the same thing,” Markell said. “We’d all want to know, as quickly as possible, where we’re going to be building our new lives.” Refugee agencies have been overwhelmed with caring for Afghans families who are moved into U.S. communities. A family of 10, including a newborn baby, had no money and no benefits when they were settled outside Washington, D.C., and depended on grocery deliveries from the Muslim Association of Virginia. In Houston, some Afghans have been placed in crime-ridden neighborhoods and are living in apartments with dilapidated toilets or black mold in bathrooms, and are salvaging supplies from rubbish heaps or borrowing from neighbors. “There are pregnant women who have slept on hard floors with no blankets, no mattress,” said Shekeba Morrad, an Afghan-American community organizer in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, who works with a nationwide group trying to monitor the situation of the newly arrived Afghans. Hamid Wahidy, 34, and his family made it to the camp at Quantico, Virginia, via a route that first took them to Qatar, Germany and Dulles International Airport outside Washington. They stayed at the camp for 40 days before moving into a small Airbnb in San Diego. The first month there was a blur of bureaucratic shuffling to receive his Social Security card, which he needed to open a bank account, obtain a driver’s license, apply for a job and enroll his kids in school. A few weeks later, he moved into a larger home. It cost him $3,400 — for one month’s rent and a security deposit — of the $5,000 the family received from a resettlement agency. He did not immediately receive food stamps and other benefits that he had expected under a spending bill that Congress passed in September that included $6.3 billion in expanded assistance to the arriving Afghans. The legislation also did not include an expedited process for legal residency for Wahidy and other Afghans. Without it, immigration advocates say, they could eventually be deported. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., noted that the Afghan refugees had already undergone background checks and other security screening, and suggested they could fill job vacancies created by the pandemic. “This is not only the right thing to do — it will enrich our communities and strengthen our economy,” said Klobuchar, who is among those pushing for the Afghans to be given “a clear path to remain here as lawful permanent residents.” Wahidy described his family’s journey out of Kabul in August — including crawling through a fetid canal to catch the attention of a U.S. soldier standing guard at the airport — as “very difficult.” In San Diego, he has relied on donations. He is still trying to accept that his life will never be what it was in Afghanistan before the Taliban took over — “a good life in our own country,” he said wistfully. “We had a job there, we could handle our family, our normal life,” Wahidy said, exhaling deeply. “But here, it is 180 degrees change. “It’s not clear, our future,” he said. “What will happen to us, I don’t know.”

At every step, Afghans heading to America encounter stumbling blocks

Pakistan is hosting an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Minister's meet on Afghanistan. Taliban interim govt officials are also invited to the meeting.

Pakistan hosting OIC Foreign Minister's meet on Afghanistan

In a significant feat, Women in Kabul march for their rights with the Taliban's approval, seeking basic rights such as the right to education, jobs and political representation.

Taliban-approved women's march in Kabul to demand right to education, job & political representation

Istanbul in Turkey has a population of over 16 million people but, it is the migrant and refugee population that has been employed for solid waste management to keep the city clean. Our report tells you more.

Undocumented Afghan refugees harassed in Istanbul

If a whistleblower is to be believed, numerous Afghans were unable to get the UK’s help after Taliban took over Kabul due to sorry state of affairs at the foreign office. &nbsp;

As per the whistleblower's account, there was immense turmoil and confusion in the foreign office. &nbsp;

Raphael Marshall, a former diplomat, has said that lack of planning, ministerial intervention, bureaucratic chaos and a short-hours culture in the department resulted in “people being left to die at the hands of the Taliban”. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/british-airways-to-become-first-airline-to-use-sustainable-fuel-produced-in-uk-434743" hreflang="en">British Airways to become first airline to use sustainable fuel produced in UK</a>

After Marshall presented his account to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) permanent secretary Sir Phillip Barton at August end, an internal inquiry was launched into allegations. &nbsp;

Whistleblower’s evidence and the launch of internal inquiry may have led to the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab to get shifted to a new cabinet role. &nbsp;

Oxford graduate with three years in diplomatic service, Marshall volunteered to work on the FCDO’s special cases team during Afghan crisis in August. Marshall has now quit the department. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/sms-crime-scorecards-passport-seizure-uk-takes-strong-stand-against-drug-use-434604" hreflang="en">SMS, crime scorecards, passport seizure - UK takes strong stand against drug use</a>

In testimony to the foreign affairs select committee published on Tuesday, Marshall disclosed the chaos he saw at the department. &nbsp;

Raab showed a misunderstanding of the situation at Kabul airport by delaying many emergency evacuation referrals, Marshall claimed. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

If a whistleblower is to be believed, numerous Afghans were unable to get the UK’s help after Taliban took over Kabul due to sorry state of affairs at the foreign office.

If a whistleblower is to be believed, numerous Afghans were unable to get the UK’s help after Taliban took over Kabul due to sorry state of affairs at the foreign office. As per the whistleblower's account, there was immense turmoil and confusion in the foreign office. Raphael Marshall, a former diplomat, has said that lack of planning, ministerial intervention, bureaucratic chaos and a short-hours culture in the department resulted in “people being left to die at the hands of the Taliban”. Also Read: British Airways to become first airline to use sustainable fuel produced in UK After Marshall presented his account to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) permanent secretary Sir Phillip Barton at August end, an internal inquiry was launched into allegations. Whistleblower’s evidence and the launch of internal inquiry may have led to the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab to get shifted to a new cabinet role. Oxford graduate with three years in diplomatic service, Marshall volunteered to work on the FCDO’s special cases team during Afghan crisis in August. Marshall has now quit the department. Also Read: SMS, crime scorecards, passport seizure - UK takes strong stand against drug use In testimony to the foreign affairs select committee published on Tuesday, Marshall disclosed the chaos he saw at the department. Raab showed a misunderstanding of the situation at Kabul airport by delaying many emergency evacuation referrals, Marshall claimed. (With inputs from agencies)

Afghan evacuation: Whistleblower’s devastating account slams UK’s foreign office

The famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl', who was featured in National Geographic magazine’s iconic picture, has arrived in Italy. &nbsp;

Sharbat Gula, now in her late 40s,&nbsp;was evacuated from war-torn Afghanistan as a part of the several nations’ efforts to save Afghans after the Taliban took over the country, the Italian government has said. &nbsp;

Italy organised the evacuation of Gula after getting her request for help to leave the country, prime minister Mario Draghi's office said. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/violence-against-afghan-women-at-alarming-levels-un-in-afghanistan-calls-for-concrete-steps-431947" hreflang="en">'Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan at alarming levels'</a>

The statement said on Thursday that the Italian government would help to get her integrated into life in Italy. &nbsp;

In 1984 as an Afghan refugee girl, Gula gained international fame after war photographer Steve McCurry’s photograph of her was published on the cover of National Geographic. &nbsp;

She had piercing green eyes. McCurry again found her in 2002. &nbsp;

She was in Pakistan in 2014. She went into hiding when authorities accused her of buying a fake identity card of Pakistan and deported her. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/where-afghanistans-new-taliban-leaders-went-to-school-431981" hreflang="en">Where Afghanistan's new Taliban leaders went to school</a>

Flown to Kabul, the president hosted a reception for her at the presidential palace and also handed her keys to a new flat. &nbsp;

After the departure of US forces and the Taliban takeover in August, Italy was one of the countries that airlifted hundreds of Afghans out of the country. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl', who was featured in National Geographic magazine’s iconic picture, has arrived in Italy. Sharbat Gula, now in her late 40s, was evacuated from war-torn Afghanistan as a part of the several nations’ efforts to save Afghans after the Taliban took over the country, the Italian government has said.

The famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl', who was featured in National Geographic magazine’s iconic picture, has arrived in Italy. Sharbat Gula, now in her late 40s, was evacuated from war-torn Afghanistan as a part of the several nations’ efforts to save Afghans after the Taliban took over the country, the Italian government has said. Italy organised the evacuation of Gula after getting her request for help to leave the country, prime minister Mario Draghi's office said. Also Read: 'Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan at alarming levels' The statement said on Thursday that the Italian government would help to get her integrated into life in Italy. In 1984 as an Afghan refugee girl, Gula gained international fame after war photographer Steve McCurry’s photograph of her was published on the cover of National Geographic. She had piercing green eyes. McCurry again found her in 2002. She was in Pakistan in 2014. She went into hiding when authorities accused her of buying a fake identity card of Pakistan and deported her. Also Read: Where Afghanistan's new Taliban leaders went to school Flown to Kabul, the president hosted a reception for her at the presidential palace and also handed her keys to a new flat. After the departure of US forces and the Taliban takeover in August, Italy was one of the countries that airlifted hundreds of Afghans out of the country. (With inputs from agencies)

National Geographic’s famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' arrived in Italy after evacuation

In a striking revelation made by a congressional memo, almost none of the 82,000 people, who were airlifted from Afghanistan, were vetted before being admitted to the United States. &nbsp;

The memo summarised interviews with federal officials, who oversaw the evacuation of people at domestic and international military bases from war-torn country in August after the takeover by Taliban. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/united-states-to-resume-talks-with-taliban-next-week-431534" hreflang="en">United States to resume talks with Taliban next week</a>

This comes despite the contrary claims of the Biden administration. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In the memo drafted by Senate Republicans in October, senior officials from the departments of state, homeland security, defence and justice described it a disastrous screening and vetting process. &nbsp;

According to the memo, the Biden administration failed to vet the information that tens of thousands of Afghans provided through in-person interviews and just relied on criminal and terrorist databases to flag bad actors. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-expand-interim-cabinet-27-new-members-named-431429" hreflang="en">Taliban expand interim cabinet, 27 new members named</a>

It called the process merely screening and not vetting. &nbsp;

The tens of thousands of Afghans brought into the US by the administration were not qualified, it said. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Around 75% evacuated were not US citizens, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders, green card holders, or applicants for the visa, a report by the Washington Examiner cited three sources familiar with the interviews done in the memo. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a striking revelation made by a congressional memo, almost none of the 82,000 people, who were airlifted from Afghanistan, were vetted before being admitted to the United States.

In a striking revelation made by a congressional memo, almost none of the 82,000 people, who were airlifted from Afghanistan, were vetted before being admitted to the United States. The memo summarised interviews with federal officials, who oversaw the evacuation of people at domestic and international military bases from war-torn country in August after the takeover by Taliban. Also Read: United States to resume talks with Taliban next week This comes despite the contrary claims of the Biden administration. In the memo drafted by Senate Republicans in October, senior officials from the departments of state, homeland security, defence and justice described it a disastrous screening and vetting process. According to the memo, the Biden administration failed to vet the information that tens of thousands of Afghans provided through in-person interviews and just relied on criminal and terrorist databases to flag bad actors. Also Read: Taliban expand interim cabinet, 27 new members named It called the process merely screening and not vetting. The tens of thousands of Afghans brought into the US by the administration were not qualified, it said. Around 75% evacuated were not US citizens, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders, green card holders, or applicants for the visa, a report by the Washington Examiner cited three sources familiar with the interviews done in the memo. (With inputs from agencies)

After Afghan airlift, tens of thousands entered US unvetted, says congressional memo  

In a bleak assessment of the situation following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the UN envoy to the war-torn country on Wednesday said that an affiliate of the Islamic State group has grown manifolds and looks to appear in almost all 34 provinces. &nbsp;

Deborah Lyons, UN Special Representative told the UN Security Council that the Taliban's response to Islamic State-Khorasan Province's (ISKP) expansion "appears to rely heavily on extrajudicial detentions and killings" of suspected ISKP fighters. &nbsp;

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"This is an area deserving more attention from the international community," Lyons said. &nbsp;

These remarks came after the ISKP group, which is an ideological foe of the Taliban, claimed responsibility for two blasts. &nbsp; &nbsp;

The Taliban has been unable to check growth of the ISKP, said the envoy. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/afghan-college-students-find-a-new-life-and-safety-in-iraq-429575" hreflang="en">Afghan college students find a new life, and safety, in Iraq</a>

Lyons said, "Once limited to a few provinces and the capital, ISKP now seems to be present in nearly all provinces, and increasingly active." The envoy added that the number of the attacks by the group have increased from 60 strikes in 2020 to 334 this year. &nbsp;

The UN mission has been regularly receiving credible reports of house searches and the "extrajudicial killings" of former security personnel and officials, Lyons added. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a bleak assessment of the situation following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the UN envoy to the war-torn country on Wednesday said that an affiliate of the Islamic State group has grown manifolds and looks to appear in almost all 34 provinces.

In a bleak assessment of the situation following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the UN envoy to the war-torn country on Wednesday said that an affiliate of the Islamic State group has grown manifolds and looks to appear in almost all 34 provinces. Deborah Lyons, UN Special Representative told the UN Security Council that the Taliban's response to Islamic State-Khorasan Province's (ISKP) expansion "appears to rely heavily on extrajudicial detentions and killings" of suspected ISKP fighters. Also Read: Taliban arrest 11 IS suspects in central Daikundi province "This is an area deserving more attention from the international community," Lyons said. These remarks came after the ISKP group, which is an ideological foe of the Taliban, claimed responsibility for two blasts. The Taliban has been unable to check growth of the ISKP, said the envoy. Also Read: Afghan college students find a new life, and safety, in Iraq Lyons said, "Once limited to a few provinces and the capital, ISKP now seems to be present in nearly all provinces, and increasingly active." The envoy added that the number of the attacks by the group have increased from 60 strikes in 2020 to 334 this year. The UN mission has been regularly receiving credible reports of house searches and the "extrajudicial killings" of former security personnel and officials, Lyons added. (With inputs from agencies)

Islamic State militants now present in all 34 Afghan provinces, says UN envoy

As the Taliban closed in on the Afghan capital, Kabul, in August, what had been a privileged education at the American University of Afghanistan suddenly became a dangerous liability.

Students and staff frantically searched for an escape route from a country that, with the withdrawal of U.S. forces, would fall to the Taliban — a group that has described the U.S.-funded university as a den of infidels and has shut schools and universities for girls and women.

Iraq, though, was not the first destination that came to the students’ minds as a refuge.

“OK, now I’m leaving the Taliban behind,” said Mashall, 24, a master’s student in information technology. “And now I’m going to face ISIS,” she said, describing her concern and using an alternate name for the Islamic State when told her evacuation flight would end up in Iraq.

Those fears have proved unfounded for Mashall and her classmates, who are among the first Afghan students to arrive at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. It is located in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, a liberal metropolis dotted with parks, filled with cafes and restaurants, and considered the safest major city in Iraq.

The students said they realized as much when they arrived, welcomed in the middle of the night by the university’s president and professors with bouquets of flowers to a campus with no high walls or security patrols.

So far, 109 young Afghans are studying in Sulaimaniyah, a portion of the 300 American University students that are ultimately expected to relocate there.

Many of the relocated students, traumatized by the loss of their homeland and haunted by worry over the families they left behind, are still in a state of shock and uncertain how to navigate life in a strange land.

On the university campus, a group of relocated students told their stories to The New York Times, speaking publicly for the first time since they were evacuated from Kabul. The Times is using only their first names and is not showing their faces in photographs to protect their families still in Afghanistan.

As the Taliban neared Kabul in August, Neda, a business student who worked part time at the university, frantically fed student documents into a fire on the nearly empty campus. “We tried to burn all the contracts or documents so they couldn’t find the students’ names and addresses,” she said.

The students and staff feared the Taliban would hunt them down along with their families and kill them.

“The Taliban came to an office I was working at,” recalled Murtaza, a law student who was later evacuated. “They wanted to beat us. They called us infidels and American spies.”

That night in August, as Neda burned papers, the foreign staff at the university had already been evacuated to a British-run security compound near the airport. For almost four hours Neda and a handful of other Afghans threw student records into the fire.

And then it was time to leave for the British compound, in what would become a harrowing journey ending in what many of the students initially considered to be the dangerous destination of Iraq.

But the Afghan university’s academic administrator knew better.

Vice President Victoria Fontan had worked in Iraq and during the pandemic had collaborated with her counterpart in Sulaimaniyah on an online curriculum. When the Kabul university started searching for a place to relocate students, she thought of Iraq, and a network of powerful friends kicked into action.

President Barham Salih of Iraq, the founder of the university in Sulaimaniyah and himself a former refugee, pledged to take in up to 300 students and arranged for them to enter without visas or in some cases even passports.

“The Iraqis really took an enormous leap of faith in this,” said Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw, a technology incubator formerly known as Google Ideas. He became involved in a personal capacity after being asked by a friend, an Afghan-born BBC journalist, to help evacuate students.

Cohen said he obtained in a single afternoon from American philanthropists pledges of $3 million to evacuate and fund the studies of the 109 Afghan students in Sulaimaniyah and relocate another group of civil society professionals and journalists to another country. The Qatari government provided planes to evacuate the students.

The president of the Afghan university, Ian Bickford, said 106 other students had been sent to the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, and about 200 to other countries, including Pakistan and the United States.

Another 375 American University students are still in Afghanistan, along with many more staff and hundreds of alumni, Bickford said. Many are in hiding.

Students in Afghanistan still have access to online courses led by teachers now living outside the country. But many of those students no longer have reliable access to the internet or feel safe to connect, their former classmates said.

Some students, like Neda, are still traumatized by their escape. The British security compound where she was sheltering with the university’s foreign staff was taken over by the Taliban, who demanded money and vehicles before they let the occupants leave. Neda was terrified that the Taliban, who later took photos and videos of everyone on the buses to the airport, would recognize they were not foreigners but Afghans.

When they finally arrived at the Kabul airport gate with the foreign staff, she said, British soldiers barred them from entering.

“They said, ‘No, you guys are Afghans; you cannot go,’ ” Neda said. She said they were kicked out of the airport and into an area controlled by the Taliban. “I was in a very bad situation because I had never seen the Taliban face to face.”

Eventually, she made it onto a Qatari evacuation flight Aug. 21, leaving in a sandstorm amid the chaos of foreign soldiers including Turks trying to control an airport overrun with people desperate to escape.

“The Turkish Army and American Army treated us in a very bad way,” she said, wiping away tears. “I mean, it was my own country; it was my own land. But still they shouted at us.”

Neda did not tell her family she was going to Iraq because she knew they would worry. “All you hear about Iraq is the Islamic State and explosions,” she said.

One of the other students, a political science major named Fatima who plans to be a diplomat, had lived in Kabul for just four years. For years, she and her family were refugees in neighboring Pakistan, but she had persuaded them to return to Afghanistan so she could pursue her education.

“When I came to Kabul I was thinking that I belong to this land and it belongs to me,” she said. “It was such a beautiful feeling.”

Now, Fatima finds herself in yet another country — and wondering what the future holds.

Murtza, 22, a law student who was among those relocated, said he missed Kabul, even with its frequent electricity cuts. “I didn’t feel safe around Kabul,” he said. “But it was my hometown. It was my country. It was my soul, and it was my heart.”

Mujtaba, a law student, was among a group of students who relocated to Sulaimaniyah in October. Before he left, he would lie awake at night, listening to the constant roar of planes leaving Kabul.

“We couldn’t sleep because of the sound. And not just the sound, the thought that so many great people are just leaving the country. It was just devastating,” he said. Now he has become one of them. But he says he is determined to return to Afghanistan when he can to help rebuild it.

Mujtaba taught English and ran a book club in Kabul, while also teaching his mother to read.

He showed videos of his brother and sister reading by flashlight during a power cut in Kabul. While his brother still goes to school, Mujtaba said, his sister, a ninth grader, was forced to stop after the Taliban shut down high schools for girls.

In the small room he shares with another Afghan student in Sulaimaniyah, Mujtaba writes inspirational notes to himself on sticky notes placed above his desk.

“Be strong,” said that day’s note, with a smiley face drawn underneath.

As the Taliban closed in on the Afghan capital, Kabul, in August, what had been a privileged education at the American University of Afghanistan suddenly became a dangerous liability.

As the Taliban closed in on the Afghan capital, Kabul, in August, what had been a privileged education at the American University of Afghanistan suddenly became a dangerous liability. Students and staff frantically searched for an escape route from a country that, with the withdrawal of U.S. forces, would fall to the Taliban — a group that has described the U.S.-funded university as a den of infidels and has shut schools and universities for girls and women. Iraq, though, was not the first destination that came to the students’ minds as a refuge. “OK, now I’m leaving the Taliban behind,” said Mashall, 24, a master’s student in information technology. “And now I’m going to face ISIS,” she said, describing her concern and using an alternate name for the Islamic State when told her evacuation flight would end up in Iraq. Those fears have proved unfounded for Mashall and her classmates, who are among the first Afghan students to arrive at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. It is located in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, a liberal metropolis dotted with parks, filled with cafes and restaurants, and considered the safest major city in Iraq. The students said they realized as much when they arrived, welcomed in the middle of the night by the university’s president and professors with bouquets of flowers to a campus with no high walls or security patrols. So far, 109 young Afghans are studying in Sulaimaniyah, a portion of the 300 American University students that are ultimately expected to relocate there. Many of the relocated students, traumatized by the loss of their homeland and haunted by worry over the families they left behind, are still in a state of shock and uncertain how to navigate life in a strange land. On the university campus, a group of relocated students told their stories to The New York Times, speaking publicly for the first time since they were evacuated from Kabul. The Times is using only their first names and is not showing their faces in photographs to protect their families still in Afghanistan. As the Taliban neared Kabul in August, Neda, a business student who worked part time at the university, frantically fed student documents into a fire on the nearly empty campus. “We tried to burn all the contracts or documents so they couldn’t find the students’ names and addresses,” she said. The students and staff feared the Taliban would hunt them down along with their families and kill them. “The Taliban came to an office I was working at,” recalled Murtaza, a law student who was later evacuated. “They wanted to beat us. They called us infidels and American spies.” That night in August, as Neda burned papers, the foreign staff at the university had already been evacuated to a British-run security compound near the airport. For almost four hours Neda and a handful of other Afghans threw student records into the fire. And then it was time to leave for the British compound, in what would become a harrowing journey ending in what many of the students initially considered to be the dangerous destination of Iraq. But the Afghan university’s academic administrator knew better. Vice President Victoria Fontan had worked in Iraq and during the pandemic had collaborated with her counterpart in Sulaimaniyah on an online curriculum. When the Kabul university started searching for a place to relocate students, she thought of Iraq, and a network of powerful friends kicked into action. President Barham Salih of Iraq, the founder of the university in Sulaimaniyah and himself a former refugee, pledged to take in up to 300 students and arranged for them to enter without visas or in some cases even passports. “The Iraqis really took an enormous leap of faith in this,” said Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw, a technology incubator formerly known as Google Ideas. He became involved in a personal capacity after being asked by a friend, an Afghan-born BBC journalist, to help evacuate students. Cohen said he obtained in a single afternoon from American philanthropists pledges of $3 million to evacuate and fund the studies of the 109 Afghan students in Sulaimaniyah and relocate another group of civil society professionals and journalists to another country. The Qatari government provided planes to evacuate the students. The president of the Afghan university, Ian Bickford, said 106 other students had been sent to the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, and about 200 to other countries, including Pakistan and the United States. Another 375 American University students are still in Afghanistan, along with many more staff and hundreds of alumni, Bickford said. Many are in hiding. Students in Afghanistan still have access to online courses led by teachers now living outside the country. But many of those students no longer have reliable access to the internet or feel safe to connect, their former classmates said. Some students, like Neda, are still traumatized by their escape. The British security compound where she was sheltering with the university’s foreign staff was taken over by the Taliban, who demanded money and vehicles before they let the occupants leave. Neda was terrified that the Taliban, who later took photos and videos of everyone on the buses to the airport, would recognize they were not foreigners but Afghans. When they finally arrived at the Kabul airport gate with the foreign staff, she said, British soldiers barred them from entering. “They said, ‘No, you guys are Afghans; you cannot go,’ ” Neda said. She said they were kicked out of the airport and into an area controlled by the Taliban. “I was in a very bad situation because I had never seen the Taliban face to face.” Eventually, she made it onto a Qatari evacuation flight Aug. 21, leaving in a sandstorm amid the chaos of foreign soldiers including Turks trying to control an airport overrun with people desperate to escape. “The Turkish Army and American Army treated us in a very bad way,” she said, wiping away tears. “I mean, it was my own country; it was my own land. But still they shouted at us.” Neda did not tell her family she was going to Iraq because she knew they would worry. “All you hear about Iraq is the Islamic State and explosions,” she said. One of the other students, a political science major named Fatima who plans to be a diplomat, had lived in Kabul for just four years. For years, she and her family were refugees in neighboring Pakistan, but she had persuaded them to return to Afghanistan so she could pursue her education. “When I came to Kabul I was thinking that I belong to this land and it belongs to me,” she said. “It was such a beautiful feeling.” Now, Fatima finds herself in yet another country — and wondering what the future holds. Murtza, 22, a law student who was among those relocated, said he missed Kabul, even with its frequent electricity cuts. “I didn’t feel safe around Kabul,” he said. “But it was my hometown. It was my country. It was my soul, and it was my heart.” Mujtaba, a law student, was among a group of students who relocated to Sulaimaniyah in October. Before he left, he would lie awake at night, listening to the constant roar of planes leaving Kabul. “We couldn’t sleep because of the sound. And not just the sound, the thought that so many great people are just leaving the country. It was just devastating,” he said. Now he has become one of them. But he says he is determined to return to Afghanistan when he can to help rebuild it. Mujtaba taught English and ran a book club in Kabul, while also teaching his mother to read. He showed videos of his brother and sister reading by flashlight during a power cut in Kabul. While his brother still goes to school, Mujtaba said, his sister, a ninth grader, was forced to stop after the Taliban shut down high schools for girls. In the small room he shares with another Afghan student in Sulaimaniyah, Mujtaba writes inspirational notes to himself on sticky notes placed above his desk. “Be strong,” said that day’s note, with a smiley face drawn underneath.

Afghan college students find a new life, and safety, in Iraq

Last month, the family of Mawlavi Ezzatullah, a member of Afghanistan`s Hizb-e Islami party, received a WhatsApp message from his phone: "We have slaughtered your Mawlavi Ezzat, come and collect his body." 
 
Ezzatullah's killing, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, was one of a steady stream of assassinations and bombings that have undermined Taliban claims that they have brought greater security to Afghanistan after 40 years of war. 
 
Victims have ranged from former security officials from the ousted government to journalists, civil society activists, mullahs, Taliban fighters and apparently random targets like Ezzatullah, whose family said he had no enemies they knew of. 
 
The Taliban have said their victory has brought stability to Afghanistan, where thousands of people were killed in fighting between the group and Western-backed forces between 2001 and 2021 before the hardline Islamists emerged victorious. 
 
But on just one day last week, pictures from Jalalabad - the provincial capital of Nangarhar - appeared online showing two bodies swinging from a rope. Residents also reported a mullah`s murder and video footage was circulated of a group of gunmen firing into a car, apparently killing its occupants, one of whom was identified by local journalists as a Taliban official. 
 
Reuters was unable to verify the images and footage independently. 
 
On Sunday, according to locals, three bodies were brought into a hospital in Jalalabad after a roadside bomb explosion that apparently targeted Taliban fighters in a pickup truck. 
 
Later that day, gunmen shot a former Afghan army soldier in front of his house, killing him and two friends standing nearby. 
 
The Taliban have downplayed such incidents, saying that after decades of war, it will take time for the country to be completely pacified. 
 
"There are 34 provinces in the country and in a week, 20 cases will be prevented for every one that takes place," said spokesman Bilal Karimi. "We have had 20 years of revolution and invasion and the level of these incidents will go down." 
 
Some former soldiers and intelligence officers from the ousted government blame members of the Taliban for targeting them since taking over. The group has promised there would be no reprisals, but accepts rogue fighters may have acted alone. 
 
Many targeted killings remain unclaimed and some may be the result of local vendettas. 
 
But others look the result of increasingly open conflict between the Taliban and a local affiliate of Islamic State, a development which the new U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom West, said on Monday was causing concern&nbsp;in Washington. 
 
The militant jihadi group has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent months in which hundreds of people have been killed, mainly in big cities. 
 
"They are trying to undermine and discredit the Taliban Emirate. The Emirate promised security and they`re trying to show they can`t deliver it," said Antonio Giustozzi, a specialist in jihadi groups from the Royal United Services Institute in London. 
 
He said Islamic State, which he estimated to have around 4,000 fighters, had been carrying out a campaign of targeted killings since around the summer of 2020 and had continued since the Taliban victory in August on a "roughly comparable scale". 
 
`BIDEN HIRELINGS` 
 
For many going about their business, the violence feels particularly menacing. 
 
"I have never been as terrified as I am now," said a university professor in Nangarhar who has also worked as a journalist and who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted. He described events in Nangarhar as "total chaos." 
 
The violence has fuelled fears that Afghanistan could collapse into anarchy and even return to a new phase of civil war, creating a haven for militant groups to launch attacks in neighbouring countries and the West. 
 
"This is the scenario that has everyone worried," said one Western official with long experience of the region. 
 
Islamic State, which first appeared in Afghanistan in late 2014 and adopted the title Islamic State Khorasan after an ancient name for the region, has been trying to recover from a bruising series of defeats in 2018 and 2019. 
 
The group has claimed a series of strikes against Shi`ite mosques and other targets since the Taliban`s victory in August, most recently on the main military hospital in Kabul which killed at least 25 people. 
 
Less commonly reported are frequent, smaller atrocities which have been taking place not only in Nangarhar, long a stronghold of Islamic State. 
 
Areas affected include Ghazni in central Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Balkh in the north, and Paktia, Paktika and Khost in the southeast. 
 
"The Taliban militia are lost in panic, they do not know how to conceal their shame," an Islamic State video posted on the group`s Telegram channel on Sunday said, accusing the Taliban of being "Biden hirelings". 
 
As an insurgency the Taliban proved an effective and cohesive fighting force. Keeping the peace in a country in crisis presents fresh challenges, including uniting different factions, values and norms within the movement. 
 
Giustozzi, who wrote a book on Islamic State in Afghanistan, said the group, which had retreated into remote strongholds in the east and northeast of the country, was trying to hit the Taliban while the group is still grappling with the transition from insurgency to government. 
 
"They know that if they allow the Taliban Emirate to consolidate, next spring the Taliban will move to destroy them," he said.

Last month, the family of Mawlavi Ezzatullah, a member of Afghanistan`s Hizb-e Islami party, received a WhatsApp message from his phone: "We have slaughtered your Mawlavi Ezzat, come and collect his body.

Last month, the family of Mawlavi Ezzatullah, a member of Afghanistan`s Hizb-e Islami party, received a WhatsApp message from his phone: "We have slaughtered your Mawlavi Ezzat, come and collect his body." Ezzatullah's killing, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, was one of a steady stream of assassinations and bombings that have undermined Taliban claims that they have brought greater security to Afghanistan after 40 years of war. Victims have ranged from former security officials from the ousted government to journalists, civil society activists, mullahs, Taliban fighters and apparently random targets like Ezzatullah, whose family said he had no enemies they knew of. The Taliban have said their victory has brought stability to Afghanistan, where thousands of people were killed in fighting between the group and Western-backed forces between 2001 and 2021 before the hardline Islamists emerged victorious. But on just one day last week, pictures from Jalalabad - the provincial capital of Nangarhar - appeared online showing two bodies swinging from a rope. Residents also reported a mullah`s murder and video footage was circulated of a group of gunmen firing into a car, apparently killing its occupants, one of whom was identified by local journalists as a Taliban official. Reuters was unable to verify the images and footage independently. On Sunday, according to locals, three bodies were brought into a hospital in Jalalabad after a roadside bomb explosion that apparently targeted Taliban fighters in a pickup truck. Later that day, gunmen shot a former Afghan army soldier in front of his house, killing him and two friends standing nearby. The Taliban have downplayed such incidents, saying that after decades of war, it will take time for the country to be completely pacified. "There are 34 provinces in the country and in a week, 20 cases will be prevented for every one that takes place," said spokesman Bilal Karimi. "We have had 20 years of revolution and invasion and the level of these incidents will go down." Some former soldiers and intelligence officers from the ousted government blame members of the Taliban for targeting them since taking over. The group has promised there would be no reprisals, but accepts rogue fighters may have acted alone. Many targeted killings remain unclaimed and some may be the result of local vendettas. But others look the result of increasingly open conflict between the Taliban and a local affiliate of Islamic State, a development which the new U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom West, said on Monday was causing concern in Washington. The militant jihadi group has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent months in which hundreds of people have been killed, mainly in big cities. "They are trying to undermine and discredit the Taliban Emirate. The Emirate promised security and they`re trying to show they can`t deliver it," said Antonio Giustozzi, a specialist in jihadi groups from the Royal United Services Institute in London. He said Islamic State, which he estimated to have around 4,000 fighters, had been carrying out a campaign of targeted killings since around the summer of 2020 and had continued since the Taliban victory in August on a "roughly comparable scale". `BIDEN HIRELINGS` For many going about their business, the violence feels particularly menacing. "I have never been as terrified as I am now," said a university professor in Nangarhar who has also worked as a journalist and who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted. He described events in Nangarhar as "total chaos." The violence has fuelled fears that Afghanistan could collapse into anarchy and even return to a new phase of civil war, creating a haven for militant groups to launch attacks in neighbouring countries and the West. "This is the scenario that has everyone worried," said one Western official with long experience of the region. Islamic State, which first appeared in Afghanistan in late 2014 and adopted the title Islamic State Khorasan after an ancient name for the region, has been trying to recover from a bruising series of defeats in 2018 and 2019. The group has claimed a series of strikes against Shi`ite mosques and other targets since the Taliban`s victory in August, most recently on the main military hospital in Kabul which killed at least 25 people. Less commonly reported are frequent, smaller atrocities which have been taking place not only in Nangarhar, long a stronghold of Islamic State. Areas affected include Ghazni in central Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Balkh in the north, and Paktia, Paktika and Khost in the southeast. "The Taliban militia are lost in panic, they do not know how to conceal their shame," an Islamic State video posted on the group`s Telegram channel on Sunday said, accusing the Taliban of being "Biden hirelings". As an insurgency the Taliban proved an effective and cohesive fighting force. Keeping the peace in a country in crisis presents fresh challenges, including uniting different factions, values and norms within the movement. Giustozzi, who wrote a book on Islamic State in Afghanistan, said the group, which had retreated into remote strongholds in the east and northeast of the country, was trying to hit the Taliban while the group is still grappling with the transition from insurgency to government. "They know that if they allow the Taliban Emirate to consolidate, next spring the Taliban will move to destroy them," he said.

Safe and stable Afghanistan: Recent Islamic state violence dents Taliban claims

As the first group of LGBTQ Afghans have finally been able to flee the country and reach the UK, the pressure mounts on the government to speed up the evacuation of the community that has been living in fear.

The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, in a statement said, "We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country." She further added that Britain would defend “the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want”.

One among the group of 29, who have now safely reached the UK, which speaking to BBC said that he felt “like a human being” for the first time in his life. “Everything collapsed after the fall of Kabul. I was very depressed. I was counting my days to die.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/diversity-spaces-germany-reserves-parking-spots-for-lgbt-community-and-migrants-417550">Also read |&nbsp;'Diversity spaces': Germany reserves parking spots for LGBT community and migrants</a>

A Taliban judge had previously announced that there were two punishments for the people of LGBTQ community, which is, stoning or being crushed under a wall.&nbsp;

During the first regime of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001, members of the LGBT community were reportedly stoned to death and brutally tortured before being beaten to death.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/these-countries-allow-non-binary-gender-on-passports-like-in-us-424698">Also read |&nbsp;These countries allow non-binary gender on passports like in US</a>

No details were given on how the group was able to leave Afghanistan. However, this hints towards a possible diplomatic agreement.&nbsp;

Gianluca Di Caro, chief executive of the British and Irish Boxing Authority (Biba) has said that the organisation had 250 boxers and their families trapped in Afghanistan. A significant proportion of the group is LGBTQ. While speaking to Observer, he emphasised on the need to get them out quickly. "We’ve already had female boxers who have been assaulted by the Taliban. In some cases Taliban have gone into some of the girls’ houses.”

Officials have revealed that the foreign secretary, along with British LGBTQ&nbsp;group Stonewall and Canadian organisation Rainbow Railroad, have been working hard&nbsp;to ensure the Afghan LGBTQ group is safe.&nbsp;

Stonewall’s chief executive,&nbsp;Nancy Kelley&nbsp;said that her organisation had been campaigning to bring&nbsp; Afghans to the UK for a few months. She said that she would continue to push for international support.

As the first group of LGBTQ Afghans have finally been able to flee the country and reach the UK, the pressure mounts on the government to speed up the evacuation of the community that has been living in fear.

As the first group of LGBTQ Afghans have finally been able to flee the country and reach the UK, the pressure mounts on the government to speed up the evacuation of the community that has been living in fear. The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, in a statement said, "We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country." She further added that Britain would defend “the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want”. One among the group of 29, who have now safely reached the UK, which speaking to BBC said that he felt “like a human being” for the first time in his life. “Everything collapsed after the fall of Kabul. I was very depressed. I was counting my days to die.” Also read | 'Diversity spaces': Germany reserves parking spots for LGBT community and migrants A Taliban judge had previously announced that there were two punishments for the people of LGBTQ community, which is, stoning or being crushed under a wall. During the first regime of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001, members of the LGBT community were reportedly stoned to death and brutally tortured before being beaten to death. Also read | These countries allow non-binary gender on passports like in US No details were given on how the group was able to leave Afghanistan. However, this hints towards a possible diplomatic agreement. Gianluca Di Caro, chief executive of the British and Irish Boxing Authority (Biba) has said that the organisation had 250 boxers and their families trapped in Afghanistan. A significant proportion of the group is LGBTQ. While speaking to Observer, he emphasised on the need to get them out quickly. "We’ve already had female boxers who have been assaulted by the Taliban. In some cases Taliban have gone into some of the girls’ houses.” Officials have revealed that the foreign secretary, along with British LGBTQ group Stonewall and Canadian organisation Rainbow Railroad, have been working hard to ensure the Afghan LGBTQ group is safe. Stonewall’s chief executive, Nancy Kelley said that her organisation had been campaigning to bring Afghans to the UK for a few months. She said that she would continue to push for international support.

Clock ticking for LGBTQ Afghans hiding from Taliban, warn charities

The cash-strapped Taliban regime in Afghanistan is making the country's distressed farmers pay the so-called charity or 'zakat' taxes on their land and harvests,

War, drought, and COVID-19 have devastated farmers across Afghanistan. Now, these farmers who have lost money trying to grow crops over the past year say that the Taliban is dealing them another crippling blow, the report said.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/talibans-leader-sheikh-haibatullah-akhundzada-makes-first-ever-public-appearance-in-kandahar-425362">Taliban's leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada makes first-ever public appearance in Kandahar</a>

The charity taxes are being collected despite the fact that farmers themselves are among the 14 million Afghans that the World Food Program says are already facing acute hunger.

Farmers say they have to pay a 2.5 per cent tax on the value that Taliban tax collectors estimated his property is worth.

The Taliban justifies its charity taxes as one of the five pillars of Islam that are considered obligations for all Muslims.

Zakat'&nbsp;differs from the voluntary act of giving charitable gifts out of kindness or generosity, the report said.

It is meant to be compulsory for those who earn incomes above a certain amount, and it is based on a person's income as well as the value of their possessions.

Recipients of 'zakat'&nbsp;are meant to be the poor and needy, struggling converts to Islam, people who are enslaved or in debt, stranded travellers, and soldiers who fight to protect the Muslim community.

Those who collect 'zakat'&nbsp;are also compensated for the work they do.

Critics of the tax include Islamic scholars and aid workers who note that the practice has failed to alleviate poverty in the Muslim world, the report added. They argue that the funds often are wasted and mismanaged.

Residents of Ghor province refute the Ministry's claim that the Taliban is not delivering tax payment notifications, the report added.

Taliban's tax collection process began when local militants posted so-called night letters at local mosques and on the walls of residential compounds, the report added.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/failure-to-recognise-government-can-create-problems-for-the-world-taliban-warn-us-425441">Failure to recognise government can create problems for the world, Taliban warn US</a>

Farmers in the central Afghan province also say that Taliban gunmen have stormed their homes at night to demand that they pay tithes and charity taxes.

Those without money to make the payments say the Taliban has seized their livestock instead -- making their families even more dependent on humanitarian aid in the months ahead, the report added.

In Kabul, the Taliban-led government's Agriculture Ministry says it is collecting charity taxes from farmers, ranchers, and people with small garden plots in order to bolster revenues and increase the "self-sufficiency" of the country.

The cash-strapped Taliban regime in Afghanistan is making the country's distressed farmers pay the so-called charity or 'zakat' taxes on their land and harvests, War, drought, and COVID-19 have devastated farmers across Afghanistan.

The cash-strapped Taliban regime in Afghanistan is making the country's distressed farmers pay the so-called charity or 'zakat' taxes on their land and harvests, War, drought, and COVID-19 have devastated farmers across Afghanistan. Now, these farmers who have lost money trying to grow crops over the past year say that the Taliban is dealing them another crippling blow, the report said. Also Read | Taliban's leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada makes first-ever public appearance in Kandahar The charity taxes are being collected despite the fact that farmers themselves are among the 14 million Afghans that the World Food Program says are already facing acute hunger. Farmers say they have to pay a 2.5 per cent tax on the value that Taliban tax collectors estimated his property is worth. The Taliban justifies its charity taxes as one of the five pillars of Islam that are considered obligations for all Muslims. Zakat' differs from the voluntary act of giving charitable gifts out of kindness or generosity, the report said. It is meant to be compulsory for those who earn incomes above a certain amount, and it is based on a person's income as well as the value of their possessions. Recipients of 'zakat' are meant to be the poor and needy, struggling converts to Islam, people who are enslaved or in debt, stranded travellers, and soldiers who fight to protect the Muslim community. Those who collect 'zakat' are also compensated for the work they do. Critics of the tax include Islamic scholars and aid workers who note that the practice has failed to alleviate poverty in the Muslim world, the report added. They argue that the funds often are wasted and mismanaged. Residents of Ghor province refute the Ministry's claim that the Taliban is not delivering tax payment notifications, the report added. Taliban's tax collection process began when local militants posted so-called night letters at local mosques and on the walls of residential compounds, the report added. Also Read | Failure to recognise government can create problems for the world, Taliban warn US Farmers in the central Afghan province also say that Taliban gunmen have stormed their homes at night to demand that they pay tithes and charity taxes. Those without money to make the payments say the Taliban has seized their livestock instead -- making their families even more dependent on humanitarian aid in the months ahead, the report added. In Kabul, the Taliban-led government's Agriculture Ministry says it is collecting charity taxes from farmers, ranchers, and people with small garden plots in order to bolster revenues and increase the "self-sufficiency" of the country.

Taliban forcing distressed Afghan farmers to pay 'zakat' tax

Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has been tough on everyone in the country, especially children, women, minor communities and the LGBTQ community.<o:p></o:p>

After living in fear for months, first group of LGBTQ Afghans have finally been able to flee the country and reach the UK. This is the first time a group of LGBT+ Afghans have been able to flee the country since Taliban took over the nation.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/diversity-spaces-germany-reserves-parking-spots-for-lgbt-community-and-migrants-417550">'Diversity spaces': Germany reserves parking spots for LGBT community and migrants</a>

<o:p></o:p>

Britain’s foreign minister congratulated and appreciated the efforts of this group and said she hopes this was just first of many in the coming months. "We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country," British foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement. She also added that the UK will continue to defend "the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want".<o:p></o:p>

The group of LGBTQ Afghans included students and activists who had been fighting to equal rights, freedom and equality in the country, the Foreign, Common and Development Office (FCDO) said.<o:p></o:p>

People flee the country as Taliban's history towards the community has been severely harsh and unfair. During the first regime of Taliban from 1996 to 2001, members of the LGBT community were reportedly stoned to death and brutally tortured before being beaten to death too.

<o:p>Have a look |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/these-countries-allow-non-binary-gender-on-passports-like-in-us-424698">These countries allow non-binary gender on passports like in US</a></o:p>

Sebastian Rocca, chief executive of Micro Rainbow, a charity supporting LGBT+ refugees, claimed that safe houses are being established in the UK for the people fleeing Afghanistan and coming to the UK. "Of course, they are in a new country, in a place they’ve never seen before. Some of them don’t speak the language and they don’t know the system," Rocca said.<o:p></o:p>

Experts and activists have been working tirelessly to rescue LGBT community from Taliban's rule as they believe they are at high risk of being tortured, discriminated and, thus, need to be rescued.<o:p></o:p>

Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has been tough on everyone in the country, especially children, women, minor communities and the LGBTQ community. After living in fear for months, first group of LGBTQ Afghans have finally been able to flee the country and reach the UK.

Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has been tough on everyone in the country, especially children, women, minor communities and the LGBTQ community. After living in fear for months, first group of LGBTQ Afghans have finally been able to flee the country and reach the UK. This is the first time a group of LGBT+ Afghans have been able to flee the country since Taliban took over the nation. Also read | 'Diversity spaces': Germany reserves parking spots for LGBT community and migrants Britain’s foreign minister congratulated and appreciated the efforts of this group and said she hopes this was just first of many in the coming months. "We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country," British foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement. She also added that the UK will continue to defend "the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want". The group of LGBTQ Afghans included students and activists who had been fighting to equal rights, freedom and equality in the country, the Foreign, Common and Development Office (FCDO) said. People flee the country as Taliban's history towards the community has been severely harsh and unfair. During the first regime of Taliban from 1996 to 2001, members of the LGBT community were reportedly stoned to death and brutally tortured before being beaten to death too. Have a look | These countries allow non-binary gender on passports like in US Sebastian Rocca, chief executive of Micro Rainbow, a charity supporting LGBT+ refugees, claimed that safe houses are being established in the UK for the people fleeing Afghanistan and coming to the UK. "Of course, they are in a new country, in a place they’ve never seen before. Some of them don’t speak the language and they don’t know the system," Rocca said. Experts and activists have been working tirelessly to rescue LGBT community from Taliban's rule as they believe they are at high risk of being tortured, discriminated and, thus, need to be rescued.

First group of LGBTQ Afghans safely reach Britain after fleeing Taliban-rule

Five men and one woman from Afghanistan who were due to attend COP26 as delegates had their applications rejected just days before the event begins. The six people chose to remain anonymous because of security concerns. However, all of them have fled the Taliban and are hiding in neighbouring countries from where it would be easy to travel to the UK.

Initially, it was perceived that either the Home Office or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had vetoed their trip to the UK.&nbsp;

However, a report by the Guardian reveals that this decision had not been made by any UK government department. A source told The Guardian that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat would not be registering delegates from Afghanistan to COP26. This comes after guidance from the Bureau of the Cop.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/ahead-of-cop26-india-rejects-calls-for-net-zero-carbon-emissions-target-424774">Also read |&nbsp;Ahead of COP26, India rejects calls for net-zero carbon emissions target</a>

No reason has been given for the rejection of applications.

The six have expressed their concern over the matter as they said that they are upset with UNFCCC’s decision to bar them from attending the global climate event.

The COP26 summit in UK's Glasgow will be held from October 31 to November 12. As a part of the NDCs, the countries are required to submit an emissions reduction plan at the summit. Co-chaired by UK and Italy, the summit will see participation by heads of state and governments from over 120 nations.

Five men and one woman from Afghanistan who were due to attend COP26 as delegates had their applications rejected just days before the event begins. The six people chose to remain anonymous because of security concerns.

Five men and one woman from Afghanistan who were due to attend COP26 as delegates had their applications rejected just days before the event begins. The six people chose to remain anonymous because of security concerns. However, all of them have fled the Taliban and are hiding in neighbouring countries from where it would be easy to travel to the UK. Initially, it was perceived that either the Home Office or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had vetoed their trip to the UK. However, a report by the Guardian reveals that this decision had not been made by any UK government department. A source told The Guardian that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat would not be registering delegates from Afghanistan to COP26. This comes after guidance from the Bureau of the Cop. Also read | Ahead of COP26, India rejects calls for net-zero carbon emissions target No reason has been given for the rejection of applications. The six have expressed their concern over the matter as they said that they are upset with UNFCCC’s decision to bar them from attending the global climate event. The COP26 summit in UK's Glasgow will be held from October 31 to November 12. As a part of the NDCs, the countries are required to submit an emissions reduction plan at the summit. Co-chaired by UK and Italy, the summit will see participation by heads of state and governments from over 120 nations.

COP26: Delegate applications for six Afghans rejected days before event

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