Taliban Leader Dismisses Western Human Rights Focus, Highlights Palestine 'Genocide'

During the inauguration of the 'Book Protection Assembly' on Tuesday, Azizi announced the removal of books leading to "intellectual deviation and corruption" from bookstores.

He directed booksellers to discard books that undermine unity, alter religious beliefs, or corrupt the mindset of readers.

Azizi stressed that the ministry's aim is not to censor or ban books outright, but to prevent the publication of materials causing "linguistic, cultural, and religious" problems within the community.

Recent reports indicate that the Taliban has stepped up efforts to regulate the publishing and sale of books. Authorities have been visiting bookstores with a list of "banned books”, seizing works by various Afghan authors, including those of researcher Mujib Rahman Rahimi, who addresses topics like the Afghan political system, national identity, and religious reform.

The Taliban has also formed a Book Evaluation Commission, which has stopped the publication of numerous books and previously prohibited the purchase, sale, and reprint of over 100 titles from libraries.

Following their return to power, the Taliban has raised taxes on Afghan publishers and increased Customs duties on book imports, further tightening their grip on the country's cultural and intellectual landscape.

Haqqani told Iodice that the inclusion of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in these institutions would make it easy to address issues of concern.

Based on the statement of the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, Haqqani said that with the inclusion of the group in international institutions, "Afghans will get their real representation".

No country recognises the Taliban government, and the group has not received invitations to participate in meetings of international organisations, including the United Nations.

In a part of this statement released today, the Taliban’s Interior Minister has been quoted as saying, "Afghanistan is swiftly progressing towards political and economic stability after enduring decades of instability."

As per the statement, Iodice also discussed the upcoming meeting of the countries involved in the Afghanistan issue, in Doha, which is scheduled to be held next month.

He said that the Persian language has been rejected by the “Afghan usurpers”.

This Iranian official made these remarks on Tuesday during the "Herat Night" programme, hosted by the Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies in Tehran and which had been attended by the country’s officials.

This institute posted on a social media platform that the objective of the programme was to showcase and emphasise the significance of Herat city as "one of the important cities of Khorasan in the realms of culture, art, and history”.

Rajaei did not elaborate further on his assertion regarding Afghanistan falling into the hands of its citizens. However, he commented on the status of the Persian language in Afghanistan, stating, "The usurpers in Afghanistan are actively working to undermine the Persian language.”

While Rajaei did not specifically identify a particular group, over the past two years, the Taliban has eliminated certain Persian administrative and business terms from the signage of government institutions and scientific centres, substituting them with Pashto equivalents.

The message from Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, was conveyed to Pakistani authorities by the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, during his recent visit to Afghanistan where he met Taliban leaders, including Hibatullah in Kandahar.

Express Tribune in its report stated that Pakistani authorities are currently assessing the message from the Taliban leader, but initial reactions do not seem very positive. A source informed the newspaper that the message from the Taliban leader to end violence is not effective, and added, “What we want is a permanent solution.”

In his message to Pakistani authorities, the Taliban leader stated that the only solution to issues is dialogue and that the group is ready to establish an office for resuming talks.

Since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, Pakistan initiated negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) facilitated by the Afghan Taliban. This newspaper reported that as a result of these negotiations, the Pakistani government released several TTP members from prisons. However, this action backfired, and TTP members resumed armed conflict against the nation.

The newspaper added that the Pakistani government's negotiations with TTP failed, and with the change in the army's command in November 2022, TTP unilaterally called off the ceasefire. Since then, attacks in Pakistan have increased, and the Pakistani government says it is no longer willing to negotiate with the TTP.

Sources told Express Tribune that despite the Afghan Taliban leader's request for mediation to revive talks with the Pakistani Taliban, the Pakistani government has shown no interest in continuing these discussions.

However, sources mentioned that Maulana Fazlur Rehman's trip to Afghanistan was not without impact and has somewhat thawed relations between the two sides.

In recent months, credible sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that an order from Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, has been issued, declaring war in Pakistan as forbidden and “haram”.

The Directorate, in a statement on Tuesday, also noted that over 30,000 Afghan refugees in Turkey have been granted short-term residency documents.

The latest figures show that in the new year, the total number of foreign nationals living legally in Turkey has reached 1,107,032.

Afghan citizens are the ninth largest group of residency permit recipients in Turkey, according to the Directorate's data.

The highest numbers of residency permits were issued to nationals from Turkmenistan, Russia, and Iraq, in that order.

The Directorate also shared statistics on the detention of migrants lacking legal documentation in 2023 and the current year.

In 2024, the highest number of detentions involved Afghan nationals, with 2,480 cases reported.

Similarly, in 2023, Afghans accounted for the majority of migrants detained without residency permits, totaling 68,687. Some of these individuals were later deported.

Turkey serves as a primary migration route for thousands of Afghan refugees seeking to reach Europe.