Taliban’s Health Minister Stresses On Traditional Medicine Amidst Ban On Girls’ Education

According to estimates by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Save the Children, Afghan children will suffer from poor conditions for survival in the next three months.

"Hunger in Afghanistan is getting worse in the winter, and the WFP predicts that nearly 15 million people, or nearly a third of the Afghan population, will need food assistance to survive," WFP spokesperson Philippe Kropf told the British publication The Independent.

Another 570,000 Afghan children are expected to be malnourished next year, compared to this year.

Philippe Kropf said that in 2025, a total of 3.45 million children are likely to be malnourished.

According to another assessment conducted by Save the Children, more than half of Afghanistan's population, about 24 million people, will be in dire need of humanitarian assistance such as cash and food to avoid poverty and food insecurity in the coming months.

"As winter approaches, families in some parts of Afghanistan are forced to make painful choices about what to prioritise: food, heating the house or warm clothes for children," said Arshad Malik, Country Director (Afghanistan) at Save the Children

Malik said that nearly 6.5 million children, or 30 percent, are facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger. "One of the children told us he had no warm clothes – until they were provided by Save the Children," he told The Independent.

The World Food Programme (WFP) needs $787 million across all of its programmes over the next six months to ensure that vulnerable families in Afghanistan are safe from the risk of hunger and poverty, according to the figures provided.

As food prices rise during the winter, millions of Afghans, especially children, will face a shortage of nutritious food and thus, the risk of acute malnutrition, according to aid agencies.

The problem is exacerbated by the Taliban's lack of an efficient economy, blocked roads by snowfall, and cut off communication routes to remote areas.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the country needs at least $1 billion in aid to enable vulnerable Afghans to get through this winter.

However, according to Save the Children's data, the international community has yet to meet the needs of humanitarian funding.

Meanwhile, the Taliban government has not taken any steps to deal with the challenges in the winter season.

The EU called on the Taliban to abandon this "discriminatory policy" and adhere to its commitments.

In a statement on Wednesday, the European Union expressed grave concern over the Taliban's decision and its far-reaching consequences, including the deepening of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the exacerbation of the suffering of the people.

The statement said in part that the Taliban had ordered all private and public educational institutions in Afghanistan to suspend medical education for women and girls.

"We call on the Taliban to reverse this discriminatory policy and abide by their obligations under international law, including ensuring equal access to education and basic health care for all Afghans," the EU said.

The EU has stressed that it is committed to supporting women and girls and all those whose rights are constantly violated in Afghanistan.

Women's participation in education and the workforce is not just an issue of equality, but essential for the self-sufficiency, development and prosperity of any nation, the union statement said.

The Taliban's ban on the education of women and girls in medical institutions has sparked widespread reactions.

Human rights organisations and human rights defenders have condemned the Taliban's move and called on the group to provide education for women and girls.

The Taliban has not yet officially commented on the reason for the ban.

The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on women over the past three years. The Taliban has closed girls' schools above the sixth grade and banned girls from going to university. The group also prohibits women from going to parks and restaurants, traveling, exercising, as well as working in non-governmental organisations.

International human rights organisations say that the Taliban has established "gender apartheid" by excluding women from society.

Karzai emphasised that education is the only factor of Afghanistan's growth and development in different dimensions.

The former president of Afghanistan said that this country will overcome the need for outsiders, salvation, and internal problems when it has specialised and trained human resources.

He published a statement on Wednesday and said that Afghanistan will be saved from external needs when the field of education and learning of sciences is available for all young people - for both boys and girls.

Hamid Karzai wrote, "It is very sad to hear the news that the doors of medical science institutions are closed to girls, at a time when women and mothers are facing many health problems in all parts of the country."

He asked the Taliban to immediately reverse the decision to ban girls from studying in medical institutions and to open the gates of schools and universities to them as soon as possible.

Karzai said that banning the education of girls and women wastes the talent of Afghanistan's youth as national capital.

He emphasised that Afghanistan will be on the path of settlement and prosperity only in the light of education.

The Taliban’s court in Khost sentenced the defendants to 35 to 39 lashes and sentenced them to imprisonment for one to two years.

This court wrote in a newsletter on Wednesday, that it has given the four accused 35 lashes and sentenced each of them to one year of imprisonment. Two other defendants have been sentenced to 35 to 39 lashes and one to two years in prison.

This court has accused six people in Khost province of "illegitimate relations, deception and bribery".

In a separate newsletter, the Supreme Court of the Taliban wrote that in Pashtunkot district of Faryab province, it punished a person with 39 lashes and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment.

The Taliban said that all the accused were punished publicly in the presence of the officials of this group and the local people.

Tiido added that Russia's goal in Afghanistan is "to create an ally to confront the West”.

He, who was previously the country's ambassador to Afghanistan and Poland, told this newspaper, "Russia's political interests in Afghanistan include increasing the number of countries it can cooperate with against the West."

He said that among the Taliban, a group seeks better relations with the West, especially America, and another group wants to distance itself from the West and be close to regional powers.

About Russia's economic interests, Tiido said that Moscow should use Afghanistan's territory to transfer its gas to Pakistan and India. Also, Russia is eyeing Afghanistan's important lithium reserves.

He said that whoever controls the lithium mines actually controls the development of the technology.

According to Tiido, the West is facing a shortage of lithium, if Russia gets access to Afghanistan's lithium reserves, it will have more opportunities to dominate or penetrate the global lithium market.

Recently, the Taliban quoted Russian officials as saying that Moscow will remove this group from its list of terrorist groups in the near future. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country said that removing the Taliban from the blacklist will help to develop relations between Russia and the Taliban.