Afghanistan

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Nov 6 (NNN-ANA) – Fifty-five members of the Daesh terror group, surrendered to Taliban rulers in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, a Taliban provincial official said yesterday.

“Following efforts by local elders, a total of 55 members of the Daesh group, gave up fighting and surrendered to the provincial department of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), in Nangarhar yesterday,” Mohammad Bashir from the provincial intelligence office, told reporters.

KABUL, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The recent terrorist attacks reportedly conducted by the affiliates of Islamic States (IS) in Afghanistan have spread fear among Afghans who believed that peace had returned following a change of regime in the war-torn country.

"I was very happy after Taliban's August takeover as I had believed that suicide attacks and bomb blasts would not occur any more. But my hopes and wishes for peace shattered as we had witnessed a series of bomb blasts, killings and disappearances in recent weeks," Kabul resident Sayyed Hashmat told Xinhua.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bomb struck a Taliban patrol in a stronghold of Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding three, witnesses said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the hallmarks of previous IS strikes against the Taliban. The two groups are bitter rivals, and IS has stepped up attacks since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August.

Wednesday’s bomb went off in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.

KABUL, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban government said it would announce good news soon on older girls being allowed to go back to school, but urged the international community to help it fund the process as most external aid has been halted.

Ensuring rights for women and girls has been one of the most sensitive issues facing the Taliban since they seized power in August, with international bodies demanding proof they were being respected before any discussion of formal recognition of the new government.

KABUL, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- A bomb blast occurred next to a military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, casualties feared, spokesman for Interior Ministry Qari Sayed Khost said.

The blast took place at the gate of the 400-bed military hospital at around noon and security personnel had rushed to the site, the official added.

Without providing more details, the official noted that the details would be shared after an investigation.

In the meantime, locals close to the site said that two blasts rocked the area and were followed by gunshots.

01 Nov 2021; MEMO: Two Turkish humanitarian agencies distributed food aid to some 1,260 families in Afghanistan over the last few days, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) and Fetih Humanitarian Relief Foundation distributed food aid to the underprivileged in various cities and provinces of Afghanistan.

KANDAHAR, Nov 1 (NNN-BIA) – The Taliban’s elusive leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, made his debut in the group’s birthplace, Kandahar on Saturday and visited a religious school there, head of the school, Mawlawi Sayed Ahmad Sayed, said yesterday.

“The supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada Sahib, visited Al-Hakimia Madrasa at 10:30 a.m. local time yesterday,” Mawlawi Sayed said.

Akhundzada, who has been leading the Taliban movement since 2016, also delivered a 10-minute speech to the students of the Madrasa (religious school) in Kandahar, said Mawlawi Sayed.

KABUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Taliban's reclusive supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, made a rare public appearance in the southern city of Kandahar, Taliban sources said on Sunday, belying widespread rumours of his death.

Akhundzada, known as the leader of the faithful or Amir ul Momineen, had not been seen in public even after the Taliban's August takeover of the country, giving rise to the speculation.

KABUL, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The Taliban called on the United States and other countries on Saturday to recognise their government in Afghanistan, saying that a failure to do so and the continued freezing of Afghan funds abroad would lead to problems not only for the country but for the world.

No country has formally recognised the Taliban government since the insurgents took over the country in August, while billions of dollars in Afghan assets and funds abroad have also been frozen, even as the country faces severe economic and humanitarian crises.

KABUL, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban government Mullah Hassan Akhund met with visiting Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov on Saturday, according to the General Directorate for Administrative Affairs of the President Office.

During the meeting the two sides discussed bilateral relations, humanitarian assistance, economic and transit cooperation and the international engagement with Afghanistan, it said in a statement.