Taliban investigates death threats against UN Afghan women: report
In its latest update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, the UN mission to the country said that dozens of female national staff were subjected to explicit death threats in May.
The threats came from unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, other agencies, funds, and programmes, 'requiring the UN to implement interim measures to protect their safety', according to the report.
It said that the Taliban told the UN mission that their personnel were not responsible for the threats. An Interior Ministry investigation is underway, the report said.
Afghan authorities, including the Interior Ministry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report or the investigation.
The Taliban barred Afghan women from working at domestic and foreign non-governmental organisations in December 2022, extending this ban to the UN six months later, and then threatening to shut down agencies and groups still employing women.
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South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
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The only previous official footage of the model in action, lasting just two seconds, was released in 2019 by the PLA Rocket Force and later deleted. The blurred footage marked one of only a few public appearances the missile has made since its 2019 debut. In previous appearances, the missile has been obscured on its launch vehicle, making it difficult to analyse the technical specifications and operating model. China has released rare footage of its mysterious DF-100 supersonic cruise missile in action, shedding new light on the specifications and mobility of the model believed to be a major deterrent for US warships and military bases in the region. 'We are on standby for long periods,' Brigade deputy commander Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Guodong told CCTV, adding that 'sometimes we can't get a solid night's sleep for days'. 'Our targets are mobile, and so are our positions,' Zhang said. The South China Morning Post has previously reported that the DF-100 is an anti-ship cruise missile. The DF-100 made its debut in 2019 during the 70th national anniversary parade, but the announcer referred to it as CJ-100 despite the 'DF-100' markings on its launch canister. The DF – or Dong Feng – prefix is generally reserved for ballistic missiles, while CJ – or Chang Jian – designates land-attack cruise missiles. 00:52 China's DF-26 ballistic missile drill sends 'clear message' to the U.S. China's DF-26 ballistic missile drill sends 'clear message' to the U.S. It appeared at the 2024 Zhuhai air show, where its specifications were made public: a range of 3,000-4,000km (1,865-2,485 miles), Mach 4 cruising speed, strong penetration capabilities, high strike accuracy and rapid reaction time. In other words, it could hit its target about 40 minutes after launch. The DF-100's maximum range enables strikes far beyond mainland China's immediate periphery, spanning both the first and second island chains. This places within reach key military headquarters and major logistics hubs in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, along with US bases in Okinawa and Guam – threatening America's primary Pacific staging area and its aircraft carriers, and potentially weakening its capacity to project power west of the second island chain. James Char, an assistant professor in the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies' China Programme at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, said the DF-100 'has a dual platform and can be deployed via land-based off-road launch vehicles, or from the H-6N bomber if air-based', effectively extending its strike range by 6,000km. Before the launch sequence, the video showed an urban setting, a rare departure from the remote desert locations typically used for missile tests. 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From the blurred footage, the DF-100 appears to have a sharp, conical warhead to aid supersonic penetration and tail fins much larger than those of similar missiles, suggesting both high speed and high manoeuvrability. It also confirmed details shown in the 2019 footage: it uses a three-stage propulsion system, with a solid rocket booster for launch, a supersonic combustion ramjet for sustained flight in near-space, and a high-altitude booster for terminal acceleration. Its aerodynamic design features elongated strake wings for stability and manoeuvrability, and a specialised warhead for evasive low-altitude strikes. Yang Zi, an associate research fellow at NTU's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the release was intended to 'project strength in a time of increasing global disorder … to showcase military prowess to adversaries'. Unlike advanced weapons, such as the Fujian aircraft carrier and the J-35 fighter, which were shown clearly, Yang said, the blurring protected sensitive data such as 'tactical plans and DF-100/CJ-100 specs'. Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the DF-100 could also target fixed targets. 'Other than slow-moving targets, it was designed to effectively strike fixed targets, particularly high-value military assets,' he said, adding that these could include 'command centres for decapitation strikes, key nodes to paralyse operations and other high-value objectives'. Song said its composite guidance system allowed it to achieve 'high precision for pinpoint operations', making it 'one of the PLA's trump-card weapons'. Play The DF-100 remains the only known land-based cruise missile to sustain full-flight supersonic speeds at Mach 4, combining inertial navigation, terrain or scene matching, and BeiDou satellite positioning to achieve 'metre-level' accuracy. 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South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump urges China quadruple US soy buys, amid trade truce deadline
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South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
India must learn the lessons of US trade deal failure
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