The Taliban-controlled Central Bank of Afghanistan announced on Monday that it had received a shipment of 40 million dollars in cash. The Central Bank has said in a statement that the money has been deposited in one of the Afghan private banks.
The Central Bank had also received two separate shipments of 40 million dollars last week.
Since November 1, 2022, this is the third time that the Central Bank of the Taliban has received aid package of 40 million dollars in cash each time.
Iran International announced that the London police have reported serious threats to the TV staff in the UK from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRCG is a military organisation that is supervised by the Iranian regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The regime of the Islamic Republic has repeatedly criticised the Iran International network for its extensive coverage of the nationwide uprising by Iranian citizens.
The UK-based Farsi-language network announced in a statement that its employees have been informed of threats against them by the London Metropolitan Police.
The statement referred to increasing threats from the Islamic Republic and added, “The Metropolitan Police has now officially informed our two British-Iranian journalists that these threats pose an imminent, credible, and significant threat to their lives and their families."
Iran International stated, "Our journalists have been harassed on a daily basis on social media, but these threats against the lives of British-Iranian journalists working in the UK are a significant and dangerous escalation of the government's campaign to intimidate Iranian journalists working abroad.”
Iran International statement added, "The death threat to British citizens on British soil comes after several weeks of warnings by the IRGC and the Iranian government about the activities of a free and uncensored Persian-language media operating in London."
This statement emphasised that the UK has been the symbol of freedom of speech and Iran International is “proud to serve the 85 million people of Iran by providing independent and uncensored information”.
Iran International referred to the repressions of the Islamic Republic in its statement and added that the “Islamic Republic of Iran and especially the IRGC cannot be allowed to export its brutal media repression to the United Kingdom”.
The Taliban officials in Sar-e-Pul province said that they have found the dead bodies of a woman and a man from two different locations in the province. Bakhtar, the Taliban-controlled news agency, reported that the reason behind the woman's murder was "family disputes".
However, there have not been any explanations for the man’s murder.
After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, mysterious killings of men and women have increased across the country.
According to the findings of an Afghanistan International investigative report, between March to September 2022, 104 women had been killed or have committed suicide in Afghanistan.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the second anniversary of journalist Yama Siawash’s killing urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) address serious crimes by all parties to the conflict.
It stated that the ICC can resume now its investigation in Afghanistan and it should include even former Afghan government officials, who may be responsible, under its ambit. HRW added that all attacks on journalists, activists, and other civilians should be at the forefront of any investigation.
Two years ago today, former Tolo News TV presenter Yama Siawash was killed in a car bombing on November 7, 2020, moments after he climbed into a government-owned vehicle in Kabul. Siawash had uncovered corruption and exposed the shortcomings of then-President Ashraf Ghani’s government.
HRW stated that even the former Afghanistan government had failed to investigate the matter thoroughly or punish the perpetrators.
“In April 2021, Afghan authorities claimed to have arrested 11 suspects who had allegedly confessed to the bombing and other crimes. None of the 11 were prosecuted. A parliamentary inquiry concluded that the authorities also failed to carry out a forensic investigation and preserve critical evidence from the scene of the attack, including the remains of the car,” HRW stated.
The rights group stated that with the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, access to justice has further narrowed as the group has dismantled the justice system and continues to carry out serious abuses against journalists.
Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, has said that the women's rights activists receive orders from outside Afghanistan. Mujahid alleged that the women protesters hold demonstrations to increase the trust deficit among the people.
According to the Taliban's spokesperson, arbitrary protests are not allowed across the country.
On Thursday, the Taliban detained women rights activist Zarifa Yaqoobi and several others, who wanted to announce the formation of the "Afghan Women's Movement for Equality".
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban initially prevented the presser, but since the activists ignored the Taliban’s orders, they were detained.
The United Nations, the Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Afghanistan, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have called for the immediate release of Yaqoobi and her colleagues.
Ali Bagheri, Iran's deputy foreign minister, has said that terrorism has become more institutionalised, and drug trade has increased 50-fold, after the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. Bagheri criticised US policies in Afghanistan during a conference on Saturday in Tehran.
He said that there is no democracy, development, or security in Afghanistan.
Iranian deputy foreign minister added that the increase in immigration from Afghanistan is also one of the unfortunate consequences which has taken place after the United States forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The senior Iranian official’s remarks come at a time when Iran and the Taliban have had several clashes on the joint borders of the two countries in the past year and a few Iranian soldiers have been killed in the clashes.
Iranian officials have always stressed that to ensure security and prevent migration, it is necessary to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
