Afghan Taliban's announces release of 20 prisoners by urdu jahan
After the release of 100 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government, the Afghan Taliban also announced the release of 20 prisoners from the Kabul administration
Afghan Taliban announces release of 20 detainees, after Afghan government releases 100 Taliban prisoners, Afghan Taliban also announces release of 20 prisoners from Kabul administration The message states, "Today, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will release 20 prisoners from the Kabul administration and will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kandahar."
Taliban allow high school graduation exams for Afghan girls
Afghan girls will be allowed to take their high school graduation exams this week, an official and documents from the Taliban government indicated Tuesday -- even though they have been banned from classrooms since the former insurgents took over the country last year.
According to two documents from the Taliban ministry of education, obtained by The Associated Press, the decision applies to 31 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces where the winter school break starts in late December.
Ehsanullah Kitab, head of the Kabul education department, said the exams would take place on Wednesday. He provided no other details and it was not clear how many teenage girls would be able to take the exam.
One of the documents, from the Kabul education department, said the exams would last from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A second document, signed by Habibullah Agha, the education minister who took office in September, said the tests would be held in 31 Afghan provinces. The three excluded provinces -- Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroz -- have a different timetable for the school year and high school graduation exams typically take place there later.
"This is ridiculous," said 18-year-old Najela from Kabul, giving only her first name for fear of reprisals. She would now be in twelfth grade and eligible for the exam. "We spent a whole year under tension and stress and haven't read a single page of our textbooks."
"How can we possibly take an exam after a year and a half that the Taliban have kept school doors closed," she added.
The Taliban overran Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule and women's and minority rights, they have restricted rights and freedoms and widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment, and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks, gyms, and funfairs.
Women have not been denied access from universities under the Taliban and the implication of the latest development is that Afghan girls who obtain a high school diploma after Wednesday's exam would be able to apply for universities.
A Kabul high school principal said she was informed that twelfth grade girls will have just one day to take exams in 14 subjects, with 10 questions from each subject. The principal, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said most girl students lacked textbooks.
"Giving an exam is meaningless," she said.
The students and their female teachers will all have to wear the hijab, or headscarf, under the Taliban dress code for women, and cellphones are banned during the exam. Girls who cannot attend or who fail Wednesday's exam would be allowed to retake the test in mid-March, after the winter vacation.
The Taliban treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan has come under heavy criticism. Earlier this month, a team of U.N. experts said it may amount to a crime against humanity and should be investigated and prosecuted under international law, an allegation rejected by the Taliban.
Portrait of Afghanistan activist Dr. Nakamura displayed with rare Taliban approval
Afghanistan (Mainichi) -- In a corner of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, stands a stone monument set up in October in honor of Japanese activist Dr. Tetsu Nakamura. Under a clear blue sky, the busy sounds of passenger cars and auto rickshaws coming and going echoed in the distance.
In the center of the monument is a large color portrait of the doctor who devoted himself to agricultural and medical support in the region, only to die in an attack by an armed group. It is said to be extremely rare to honor a person by displaying his or her photograph in Afghanistan, currently under the rule of the Islamist Taliban, which prohibits idolatry.
Nakamura was affectionately called "Kaka Murad," meaning uncle Murad, and served as the local representative of the Fukuoka-based nongovernmental organization Peshawar-kai, which was established to support his medical aid mission in Pakistan. He was killed at the age of 73 with five others accompanying him when they were attacked by an armed group near Jalalabad in Afghanistan on Dec. 4, 2019.
Nakamura had been active in Afghanistan and other countries for more than 30 years. A plan to build a space near the site of the attack, centering on the stone monument, was proposed by the administration of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani. The Taliban interim government, which took power in August 2021, recognized the importance of the construction and allowed it to continue.
When this Mainichi Shimbun reporter visited the site in late November this year, I found a space measuring 260 meters long, built on the median strip of a main street leading to a neighboring province, covered with lawn and small saplings extending their branches. The monument had an explanation written in Japanese in addition to English and the local language. It is said to express the hope that "Japanese people who visit this place someday will also read it."
-- Portrait displayed due to special feeling for Nakamura among the people
Deedar Mushtaq, 53, who is in charge of construction-related work for Peshawar-kai's onsite activity group Peace Medical Services (PMS) remembered being surprised this summer when local authorities and contractors asked him to provide Nakamura's photo portrait. He recalled thinking, "Why? The Taliban has never approved (the display of) photos."
Dr. Zia ur Rehman, 66, has been active in the PMS for many years. Referring to Nakamura by his honorific title "Dr. Saab," Rehman said Nakamura told him that "Regimes change, but people don't change." He thinks that "there is a special feeling for Dr. Nakamura among the people, regardless of their political position" thanks to the spread of understanding of Nakamura's activities across Afghanistan.
Nakamura once said, "Just as water makes no distinction between good people and bad people, I will cooperate with anyone and do my best here so that no matter what happens in the world, people who cannot escape elsewhere can live a decent human life."
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