ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders
The court in The Hague made the announcement on Tuesday.
The warrants allege that the two are criminally responsible for depriving women and girls of education, freedom of expression and other rights for about three-and-a-half years, until at least January this year.
The ICC's statement says it "found that gender persecution encompasses not only direct acts of violence, but also systemic and institutionalised forms of harm."
ICC prosecutors requested the warrants in January.
The court had been investigating the Taliban interim government for restricting women in education and other fields. The Islamist group regained power in 2021.
A spokesperson for the interim government issued a statement strongly condemning the ICC's decision.
It says such an announcement and baseless claims cannot affect the Taliban's "firm determination and legitimate stance" in any way.
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The Diplomat
a day ago
- The Diplomat
Implications of ISKP's Declaration of War Against the Baloch Liberation Army
ISKP is weaker than the BLA in Balochistan. That could restrain it from attacking the latter in the immediate future. On July 20, the Voice of Khorasan, a pro-Taliban and anti-Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) media outlet, claimed that the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had eliminated the last remaining ISKP fighters in Balochistan's Mastung district. This was preceded by a 36-minute Pashtu-language video put out by Al Azaim Foundation, the ISKP's propaganda arm, on May 25, detailing a BLA raid in Mastung that killed 30 ISKP fighters. In the video, ISKP vowed retaliation against the BLA, other Baloch separatist groups, as well as Baloch and Pashtun nationalist groups like the Baloch Yakjehti Council (BYC) and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). Since its return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban regime has carried out ruthless crackdowns on ISKP both at the operational and ideological levels. It arrested and killed several of ISKP's top commanders and leaders. Simultaneously, the Taliban launched Al-Mirsad, a multilingual online portal, which provides robust ideological rebuttals of ISKP's ideological propaganda along with running reports of the Taliban's crackdown against the ISKP. These developments forced ISKP to relocate its assets and fighters across the border in Pakistan. In Pakistan, ISKP has a strong presence in Bajaur and Mastung districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, respectively. It was natural for the terror group to set up its presence in Mastung as claimed in the May 25 video. Balochistan is crucial for ISKP for two reasons. First, Balochistan is home to key anti-Shia and anti-Iran Sunni extremist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish al-Adl. In the past, ISKP has leveraged its alliances with these groups to survive and persist. Second, Balochistan's strategic location at the confluence of South and Central Asia makes it a key transit and logistical hub for ISKP. In the last couple of years, ISKP has recruited from Central Asia and carried out attacks in Russia, Iran, and Turkiye. The terror group's network stretches from Turkiye and Iran to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Russia through Balochistan. Reportedly, ISKP fighters transit through Balochistan to travel between these countries and beyond. In March, the arrest in Pakistan of Mohammad Sharifullah, the mastermind of the Abbey Gate attack, along with the 48-member cell of ISKP responsible for the overseas attacks, revealed the terror group's growing footprint in Balochistan. More recently, in a joint operation, Pakistani and Turkish authorities arrested a key operative of ISKP, Ozgur Altun alias Abu Yasir At-Turki, from Balochistan. He was closely linked to Al-Azaim Media Foundation and acted as a moderator and disseminator of its Turkish and English content. In short, ISKP's presence in Balochistan has been building up for the last few years. Despite being in ideologically opposite camps, Baloch separatists and ISKP hitherto showed tactical shrewdness by not opening a front against each other. Their pact of non-aggression was consistent with the past pattern when Lashkar-e-Jhangvi also avoided fighting Baloch separatist groups. Reportedly, ISKP's fighters coexisted with BLA militants in Mastung until they were gunned down in a BLA attack in March. Prior to that, both groups remained tight-lipped about their secret pact and refrained from verbal or physical clashes. It is not uncommon for ideologically divergent groups to engage in covert tactical pacts against a common adversary. Both the BLA and ISKP had an incentive to tolerate each other in order not to provide any counterterrorism advantage to the Pakistani law enforcement agencies. Their pact of non-aggression shows that at times ideological narratives can be misleading unless they are seen together with the ground conditions or local contexts in which they operate. While declaring war against Baloch separatists in Balochistan, ISKP has engaged in ideological critique of territorial nationalism, ethnonationalist politics, and democracy. It has accused Baloch separatist groups of exploiting the suffering of Baloch masses for to advance their separatist and ideological agendas. At the same time, it has accused the Mahrang Baloch-led BYC and the Manzoor Pashteen-led PTM of hypocrisy and opportunism. ISKP's declaration of war against Baloch separatists can have serious implications for Balochistan's security landscape. However, it will not be easy for ISKP to fight the BLA, as it is outgunned and outnumbered by the latter in Balochistan. Nevertheless, ISKP, numerical disadvantages notwithstanding, has successfully used suicide terrorism against the operationally stronger Taliban in Afghanistan. It will use the same modus operandi in Balochistan. The BLA's counterresponse can be expected to further weaken the already fragile ISKP in Balochistan. ISKP has still not recovered from the two major setbacks it suffered in March, i.e., the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah and his cell as well as the BLA's attack on its fighters. Hence, the ISKP is unlikely to engage in tit-for-tat violence with BLA anytime soon. At any rate, if ISKP attacks the BLA and fighting ensues between the two terror groups, it will increase the level of violence in Balochistan, where the security situation is already volatile. At the same time, if ISKP targets the political rallies of BYC, as it has warned, it will deter people from launching protests. Any BLA-ISKP inter-group clashes will ease counterterrorism challenges for Pakistan's security institutions in the short-term. In conflict zones, fighting between terrorist groups is tactically advantageous for counterterrorist forces. It also becomes easier for security institutions to infiltrate and gather information about terrorist groups when they are engaged in fighting. This information can be used for decapitation raids. ISKP's secret pact of non-aggression and its eventual declaration of war against the BLA shines light on the complex nature of militant and security landscapes in Pakistan. While circumstantial evidence pointed to some form of tactical accommodation between the two terror groups, it was hard to establish these linkages with conclusive evidence until the May 25 video. Keeping that in view, an accurate understanding of the inner workings of militant groups makes the job of security institutions easier. Therefore, to stay ahead of terrorist groups, Pakistani security institutions must invest their energy and resources in building their intelligence capital.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Taliban tortured and threatened Afghans expelled from Pakistan and Iran, UN report says
FILE -A Taliban fighter stands on a hill overlooking a camp housing Afghan refugees who have been repatriated from Pakistan, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in Torkham, Afghanistan, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) The Taliban have tortured and threatened Afghans forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan because of their identity or personal history, a U.N. report said Thursday. Pakistan and Iran are expelling millions of Afghans who they say are living in their countries illegally. Afghan authorities have urged nationals to return, pledging amnesty for anyone who left after the Taliban seized power in 2021. But rights groups and the U.N. have repeatedly warned that some of those returning are at risk of persecution because of their gender, links to the former Western-backed administration or profession. Thursday's report from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said some people have experienced serious human rights violations, while others have gone into hiding or relocated for fear of Taliban reprisal. The violations include torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest, and threats to personal security at the hands of the Taliban, according to the report. A former government official told the U.N. mission that, after his return to Afghanistan in 2023, he was detained and severely tortured with sticks and cables. He was waterboarded and subjected to a mock execution. A non-binary person said they were beaten severely, including with the back of a gun. Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said nobody should be sent back to a country where they faced the risk of persecution on account of their identity or personal history. This was even more pronounced for Afghan women and girls, who were subjected to a range of measures 'amounting to persecution based on their gender alone,' he added. The Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on Afghan girls and women, cutting off education beyond sixth grade, most employment and access to many public spaces. Responding to the report, Taliban authorities denied mistreating Afghan returnees and rejected allegations of arrest, violence, intimidation or retaliation against people because of their identity or personal history. Afghans returning from neighboring countries were provided with facilities related to documentation, transportation, resettlement, and other legal support, they said, while the Interior Ministry provides a 'warm welcome.' They called on the U.N. mission to prevent forced deportations, adding the United Nations as a whole 'should not hesitate' in providing basic needs to refugees, such as food, medicine, shelter and education. Afghans who left their homeland in the millions over the decades are either being pushed out in expulsion campaigns, like those in Iran and Pakistan, or face an uncertain future because of reduced support for refugees. On Monday, thousands of Afghans in the U.S. lost protection from deportation after a federal appeals court refused to postpone U.S. President Donald Trump administration's decision to end their legal status. Homeland Security officials said in their decision to end the Temporary Protected Status for Afghans that the situation in their home country was getting better. But groups helping Afghans with this status say the country is still extremely dangerous. The Trump administration's January suspension of a refugee program has left thousands of Afghans stranded, particularly in Pakistan, and a travel ban on Afghans has further diminished their hopes of resettlement in the U.S. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NHK
3 days ago
- NHK
ICJ says countries have obligations to take steps on climate change
The International Court of Justice says countries have obligations under international law to take measures against climate change, including curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The ICJ issued its advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect to climate change on Wednesday in The Hague. ICJ President Iwasawa Yuji said, "The consequences of climate change are severe and far-reaching," adding, "These consequences underscore the urgent and existential threat posed by climate change." The court also said countries are required to protect the environment in order to ensure the enjoyment of human rights. The court stressed that a complete solution to this problem "requires the contribution of all fields of human knowledge." It expressed hope that its conclusions will help inform and guide social and political action to address the ongoing climate crisis. The ICJ provided the non-binding advisory opinion in response to a United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted in 2023. This comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump has taken a reluctant stance on addressing climate change.
