Latest news with #Taliban-led
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Severe water crisis grips Kabul, residents urge interim govt to expand supply
Kabul: Afghanistan's capital Kabul is facing one of the worst water crises in its history, affecting the lives of millions of residents in the city, local media reported on Saturday. The recent data revealed that the water levels have declined sharply in central and western parts of the city, according to a report by Afghan media outlet TOLO News. "Everything depends on water. Without it, life becomes extremely difficult. If these petrol stations stop giving water, people will die of hunger and thirst," said Mohammad Agha, a Kabul resident. "Children and women wander day and night with buckets, but there's no water," said another resident. Residents of the city have appealed to the Taliban-led interim government in Afghanistan to address their concerns by expanding water supply infrastructure and digging deeper wells. Earlier on Thursday, the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) in Afghanistan described the water crisis as "unprecedented." The UN agency mentioned that the dramatic drop in water levels in Kabul has impacted nearly six million people, putting them at risk of water scarcity. "Tackling this crisis needs large-scale investment, strong collaboration, & increased public awareness on water use & management. Water is life. Let's act now," the UN agency posted on X. Recently, a report by NGO Mercy Corps found that some households in Kabul spend up to 30 per cent of their income on water, with over two-thirds of them incurring water-related debt. "Groundwater extraction dramatically exceeds natural recharge, and nearly half of the city's boreholes are already dry. Without urgent, coordinated investment, Kabul risks becoming the first modern capital to run dry," the report said. Up to 80 per cent of groundwater is reported as unsafe, containing high levels of sewage, arsenic, and salinity, which pose urgent public health risks. Earlier in March, the UN-Habitat had warned that 21 million people in the country require water, sanitation, and health support. "Major cities like Kandahar, Kabul, and Herat are facing water scarcity because their groundwater is being depleted. The UN, on several occasions, have flagged this and it's very clear that huge-scale investments need to be taken," said Stephanie Loose, the head of UN-Habitat in Afghanistan, stressing that the South Asian nation needs large-scale investments in water infrastructure.
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First Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
‘Repatriation effort': Germany deports 81 Afghans to Taliban-ruled country citing ‘criminal past'; first time under Merz
Germany deported dozens of Afghan men to their homeland on Friday, the second time it has done so since the Taliban returned to power and the first since a new government pledging a tougher line on migration took office in Berlin. read more People board a Qatar Airways plane, with federal police vehicles in front of it, on the apron at Leipzig/Halle Airport, Friday, July 18, 2025,- AP Germany deported 81 Afghan men on Friday, its second such operation since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and the first under Chancellor Friedrich Merz's new government, which has pledged a tougher stance on migration. Authorities said all deportees had previously had their asylum applications rejected and had come to the attention of judicial authorities. The flight, organised with the assistance of Qatar, followed weeks of negotiations. Chancellor Merz confirmed the deportation and said there had been contacts with Afghan authorities, though he did not provide further details. While Germany has not formally severed diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, it does not recognise the Taliban-led government in Kabul. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD More than 10 months ago, Germany resumed deportations to Afghanistan under former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also promised stricter action against rejected asylum-seekers. 'The decisive question is how one deals with this regime, and it will remain at technical coordination until further notice,' he said at a news conference in Berlin. The Interior Ministry said the government aims to carry out more deportations to Afghanistan, but didn't specify when that might happen. Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border — stepping up border checks introduced by the Scholz government — and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. It also has suspended family reunions for many migrants. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year. 'You can see from the figures that we are obviously on the right path, but we are not yet at the end of that path,' Merz said. The Afghan deportation flight took off hours before German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt plans to discuss migration with his counterparts from five neighbouring countries — France, Poland, Austria, Denmark and the Czech Republic — as well as the European Union's commissioner responsible for migration, Magnus Brunner. Dobrindt is hosting the meeting on the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, on the Austrian border. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
The Diplomat
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Tajikistan Orders Afghan Refugees Out en Masse
Tajikistan has reportedly intensified its campaign to detain and forcibly deport Afghan refugees, including many with valid residency permits. According to several sources, the Tajik government recently issued a 15-day ultimatum for Afghans to leave the country voluntarily, triggering widespread fear and uncertainty among the community. The ultimatum follows a series of sporadic but limited deportations of Afghan refugees from Tajikistan in recent years. Just in April of this year, Tajikistan deported around 50 Afghans who held refugee documents issued by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Most of the deportees worked as taxi drivers in Vahdat, a town 15 kilometers outside Dushanbe. The refugees were reportedly summoned to the local state security department, where their documents were confiscated before they were transported to the border in two vehicles. In the first week of June, the Ministry of Migration Affairs of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan announced that 49 Afghans had been deported from Tajikistan for 'unknown reasons.' The migrants – 36 of whom held residence permits in Tajikistan, while 13 others had valid visas – were returned to Afghanistan via the Sherkhan border crossing in Kunduz province. Tajik authorities have not issued any statements regarding these recent cases. Previously, Afghan refugees were deported from Tajikistan for publicly justified, if dubious, reasons such as having an unkempt beard, wearing foreign-style clothing, consuming alcohol, engaging in political discussions on social media, or generally violating residency rules. The new wave of deportations is unexplained and appears to mainly target male Afghan refugees residing in Vahdat and Rudaki districts, both suburbs of the capital. The detentions are taking place at workplaces and in residential areas without prior warning or communication with the families of those detained, many of whom are sole providers for their households. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan has served as a refuge for citizens of neighboring Afghanistan fleeing the civil war in the 1990s, the U.S. invasion in the 2000s, and the return of the Taliban in 2021. The Tajik government, which has long used the fight against religious extremism in the region as a pretext for cracking down on domestic opposition, positioned itself as unabashedly anti-Taliban to bolster its own popularity and at first welcomed the waves of refugees in 2021. Current unofficial estimates place the number of Afghan refugees in the country between 10,000 and 13,000, a number difficult to verify. A significant portion of these Afghans are awaiting decisions on immigration cases, particularly resettlement opportunities through countries like Canada. However, Russia's recent recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan is forcing the Tajik government to tone down its anti-Taliban position and is giving Dushanbe a convenient excuse to deport thousands of refugees straining the country's already-thin social services. Forced deportations at this stage will derail the refugees' asylum applications to third countries and place them in immediate danger, as many are former civil servants or military personnel associated with the previous Afghan government. After the fall of the Afghan Republic in August 2021, many fled to neighboring countries such as Tajikistan to escape potential retribution from the Taliban. The crackdown in Tajikistan mirrors increasing pressures in Iran and Pakistan, where the vast majority of 6 million Afghan refugees reside. Both countries have ramped up deportations of Afghan refugees in recent months, expelling thousands each day through increasingly aggressive and punitive measures. In June alone, the two countries expelled at least 71,000 Afghan refugees. The UNHCR has called on the authorities of host countries to refrain from deporting Afghans back to Afghanistan, where their lives could be in danger, urging instead to consider resettlement to third countries or proper legal procedures. Numerous reports have documented incidents of violence, intimidation, and even extrajudicial killings of returnees in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. In one such incident in June, the Taliban arrested about 20 young men in Panjshir Province for their alleged links to anti-Taliban armed groups after they were deported from Iran. With fewer and fewer countries offering relocation or asylum options, Afghan refugees in Central and South Asia are increasingly trapped in a desperate situation. Many are now compelled to choose between uncertain futures in host countries and the deadly risks of returning to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Indian Express
09-07-2025
- Indian Express
6-year-old Afghan girl forced to marry 45-year-old. Taliban said ‘wait till she turns 9' to take her home
A 45-year-old man has married a six-year-old girl in Afghanistan's Helmand province. US-based Afghan outlet reported that the Taliban were 'horrified' by the image and stopped the man from taking the child home. Instead, they reportedly told him she could be taken to her husband's home at age nine. The case has sparked outrage, but so far, the marriage stands. According to Hasht-e Subh Daily, the man, who already has two wives, paid the girl's family money in exchange for her. The ceremony took place in the Marjah district, where the child's father and the groom were later arrested. However, neither man has been charged. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have overseen a surge in early and forced marriages. Child marriage in Afghanistan, already widespread, has grown more severe under the Taliban's ban on female education and employment. UN Women reported last year that these restrictions caused a 25 per cent increase in child marriages and a 45 per cent rise in childbearing across the country. UNICEF notes that Afghanistan has one of the highest numbers of child brides globally. Rights advocates warn child marriage leads to a lifetime of harm: early pregnancies, physical and sexual abuse, depression, and social isolation. Girls often have no say in who they marry or when. Many are promised at birth to male cousins through a practice known as 'naming,' which treats them as family property. These arrangements are considered final and cannot be broken. In some areas, girls are traded for walwar – a bride price paid to her family, often based on her appearance, health, and education level. Mahbob, a community activist from a rural village, told The Afghan Times, 'There are many families in our village who have given away their daughters for money. No one helps them. People are desperate.' Walwar is not the only way girls are exchanged. Under the practice of baad, families involved in blood feuds give girls to their enemies to settle disputes. Once given, a girl becomes the honour (namus) of her husband's family. If widowed, she may be forcibly remarried to another male relative of her late husband. Amiri, a 50-year-old woman from Uruzgan, told The Afghan Times she married off her 14-year-old daughter to a 27-year-old man for 300,000 Afghanis. 'I knew she was too young,' she said. 'But we had nothing at home. I used the money to feed the rest of my family.' There is currently no codified legal minimum age for girls to marry in Afghanistan. The Taliban-led regime has not reinstated the previous civil code, which set the legal age at 16 for girls. Instead, marriage is determined by interpretations of Islamic law. In the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, a girl is eligible for marriage once she reaches puberty. The Taliban's war on women and girls extends far beyond marriage. Girls have been banned from secondary schools, universities, parks, gyms, and public baths. Women are barred from most jobs, forbidden from traveling without a male guardian, and ordered to cover their faces in public. Last year, the Taliban defended these policies by claiming a woman 'loses her value' if her face is seen by men.
Deccan Herald
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
India's UNGA vote is a pragmatic embrace of the Taliban reality
On July 7, India abstained from voting on a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly regarding Afghanistan. 'The Situation in Afghanistan' resolution, introduced by Germany, called for 'greater international support for the Afghan people' and put the spotlight on the 'grave, worsening, widespread and systematic oppression' of all women and girls in rationale was that 'an approach focused only on punitive action' was unlikely to succeed, and a 'business as usual' approach was unlikely to deliver desired results first, India's abstention might appear puzzling — after all, New Delhi has been vocal about its opposition to the Taliban's violent and medieval ways. Also, almost three years ago, on November 10, 2022, India voted in favour of a similar UNGA resolution. What has changed since then? To understand this, it is important to recap the background that prompted New Delhi to recalibrate its view of the dispensation in tiesIndia shares strong ties with Afghanistan, and various governments in New Delhi and Kabul have nurtured close diplomatic and people-to-people relations. Between 1996 and 2001, when the Taliban captured power in Kabul, India chose to back the Northern Alliance. In 2001, the United States overthrew the Taliban, and India doubled down on its aid and outreach. In the two decades till 2021, India contributed about $3 billion through various aid projects in Afghanistan. However, following the humiliating withdrawal of the US on August 15, 2021, and the Taliban takeover, India's development efforts came to a screeching halt. A year later, in 2022, India restarted its mission operations in Kabul and still maintains a technical team to oversee its developmental outreach in Afghanistan. Since then, several meetings have been held, and though India is yet to officially recognise the Taliban government, quasi-diplomatic ties have been restored — there have been meetings at the foreign office level, ministers have held discussions, and the Afghanistan embassy in New Delhi could soon have a Taliban-appointed enemy's enemy is a friendThe growing New Delhi-Kabul ties are a testament to India realising that the strategic distancing from a Taliban-led government is a tactical mistake in a geopolitically sensitive region. In reaching out to the Taliban, India is not an outlier — on the contrary, it is late to the party. Between August 2021 and February 2024, the Taliban regime held close to 1,500 diplomatic meetings with about 80 countries. With 215 meetings, China topped the list, closely followed by Turkey (194). Pakistan held 118 was among the first to reach out to the Taliban (even before August 2021) and has built deep economic ties. The Taliban, which was patronised by Pakistan, has not had the best of ties with Islamabad after assuming power in Kabul. This widening chasm between Islamabad and Kabul provides New Delhi an opportunity to fill the void created by Pakistan's diminished influence if India might not be able to match China in tapping Afghanistan's natural resources, New Delhi will be hoping to maintain (and improve) its goodwill with the people of Afghanistan through its humanitarian efforts. By maintaining good ties, India will also expect the Taliban regime to keep a check on Pakistan-sponsored anti-India forces, like the JeM and the LeT, operating from its soil. Thus, improving ties with Taliban-ruled Kabul could limit Islamabad's sphere of Delhi's ties with the regime in Kabul, coupled with growing engagement with Tehran, poses a strategic challenge to Islamabad's influence in the region. India's investment in the Chabahar port offers Afghanistan an alternative to Pakistan's said, for New Delhi, building ties with the Taliban comes with its own challenges and contradictions. While India has built strong people-to-people connect, in the Taliban's worldview, it hardly matters. India has a democracy-based governance system with human rights and secular values enshrined in its guiding principles; the Taliban is a hardline, ultra-conservative movement which follows a Deobandi interpretation of Sunni Islam — the two are as different as chalk and realpolitik guides the two regimes. For the Taliban, ties with India could be an extension of its quest for international legitimacy. For New Delhi, building ties with the Taliban could further improve its people-to-people ties. These improved ties could also lead to better lives for Afghanistan's religious minorities, especially the Hindus and Sikhs. But, herein lies the catch — the more importance and recognition the Taliban regime gains, the more it is likely to pursue its anti-women, anti-minority could have continued with its anti-Taliban stance and focused on people-centric developmental projects if the US had a better plan and more patience to see democracy take deeper roots in Afghanistan. Post-2021, none of the global powers were ready to fill the vacuum the US left behind in Afghanistan. Russia, China, and Iran have been quick to swoop in to build ties with the Taliban would have been a foreign policy felo-de-se for India not to adjust its sails to this changing wind. This shift in policy, though subtle and nuanced, has earned the displeasure of those who reposed faith in the 'friendship with India'.India's evolving ties with the Taliban and its 'enduring commitment to meeting [the] humanitarian and developmental needs' of the people of Afghanistan are a delicate balancing act. It is better to protect and further one's interests rather than grandstand. Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
