Pentagon Rejects Reports About Removal Of Officials Involved In Afghanistan Withdrawal

Some locals said that having songs or videos on cellphones could lead to a day in jail.

Local sources told the Pashto section of Afghanistan International on Thursday that the ombudsmen holding meetings three days in a week in Khakrez, Boldak, Shawlikot and Zhari Miwand districts about their new laws and bring people to the meetings by force.

A resident of Kandahar's Miwand district told Afghanistan International that in these meetings people are advised to follow Sharia law, not listen to music and obey the Taliban.

Ahmadullah, a resident of Kandahar's Khakrez district, said that the Taliban advises them to conform to Sharia law, pray on time and accept the group's orders.

At the same time, some people of the mentioned districts complain about the inspection of private information in their mobile phones and the violent treatment by the Taliban forces.

They claimed that the Taliban imprisons young people for a day after checking their cell phones if they find songs or videos on it.

This action of the Taliban is in conflict with the request of Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Taliban, about not checking people's mobile phones and personal information and content.

Taliban holds meetings with people to explain the law. Last week, the representatives of the Ministry of Education, Information and Culture and the governors of the five provinces of the Taliban held a meeting in Kandahar regarding the promotion of the new law of vice and virtue.

Türkiye's Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday, November 14, that 13 children were among those arrested.

According to the reports, the arrest operation of these Afghan refugees was carried out on the shores of Ayvacik city, Canakkale province of Türkiye, and all the refugees along with the children were transferred to the extradition centre for foreign nationals.

Turkish police announced that their joint operation to identify, arrest and deport asylum seekers without residence documents continues throughout the country.

Recent findings by the media, including Politico and Der Spiegel, show that Afghan and Syrian refugees are abused in Turkish deportation centres.

The Turkish government has denied allegations of abuse in detention centres.

Türkiye is one of the main migration routes to Europe for immigrants. After the Taliban came to power in August 2021, thousands of people have entered Türkiye, hoping to reach Europe by following the difficult migration routes from Iran. A number of asylum seekers have lost their lives on this route.

The Saudi Ministry of Health said that this meeting will begin today, Friday, November 15.

The Ministry of Health of the Taliban wrote in a statement, that in this meeting, there will be a discussion about "reducing the resistance of antimicrobial drugs, its effective use and ways out of this challenge".

The Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia has also announced that the fourth global conference of interior ministers on "antimicrobial resistance" will begin with the slogan "from declaration to implementation".

Saudi Arabia, like other countries, has not yet recognised the government of the Taliban, but it has a relationship with it.

"We are pleased to announce that applications for the Chevening Scholarship in Afghanistan for the academic year 2025-2026 are now open," stated the official page of Chevening on social media platform X.

In an announcement published on the official website of the British "Chevening" scholarship, it has been stated that Afghan applicants can apply for master's degree studies in British universities from November 14, 2024 to January 2, 2025.

This scholarship had been suspended for Afghan students since September this year.

The arrival of the Taliban in Kabul in August 2021 greatly affected Chevening scholars.

Although Afghan students could not pursue their studies in Britain from Kabul after the Taliban took over, they had the possibility to travel to one of the neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Iran to receive the Chevening scholarship and go through its administrative procedures.

However, this process was stopped this year. A number of Afghan graduates of the Chevening scholarship had previously written to the British government asking for the suspension of this scholarship for Afghanistan.

According to the information on the Chevening website, now students can also apply for the Chevening scholarship from Afghanistan.

The Chevening Scholarship, normally funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, offers outstanding students from around the world the opportunity to study at UK universities every year.

This scholarship fully covers the cost of education, living and health insurance.

The court said that the men were punished with 30 to 39 lashes on charges of extramarital affairs and same-sex relations.

On Thursday, November 14, the Supreme Court of the Taliban released a newsletter on X social media platform, in which it has been stated that the Criminal Court of this group in Ghanikhel district of Nangarhar province flogged the accused in the presence of local authorities, court clients and the public.

With the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, punishments such as execution and flogging have returned to Afghanistan. In the latest case, the Taliban, on Wednesday, executed an accused in Paktia province.

In its quarterly report, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that the Taliban had physically punished 111 people, including 16 women, throughout Afghanistan in the last three months.

UNAMA said that the Taliban had flogged these people individually and sometimes in groups on various charges.

Human rights activists always consider corporal punishments such as flogging and execution as a violation of the basic principles of human rights and against human dignity.

Human rights activists believe that Taliban courts do not allow defendants to use services such as access to a defence lawyer. In many cases, defendants appear in court without legal advice and a defence attorney, which is a clear violation of the right to defence and does not allow the individual to exercise his rights in the trial process.

According to human rights activists, Taliban courts are held, in many cases, without transparency, and the media and independent institutions do not have access to information about the trial process and verdicts.