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Khalilzad says Stanikzai’s call for policy change is a ‘promising development’
On Monday, Khalilzad welcomed his stance and said Stanikzai is an important IEA official, who played a key role in the Doha negotiations.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special envoy for Afghanistan, said Monday that the deputy foreign minister Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai’s remarks on the violation of women’s rights was a “promising development”.
On Saturday, Stanikzai criticized the ban on education of women and girls and appealed to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) leader to scrap the ban on education for women.
“We call on the leadership again to open the doors of education,” he said.
He called the exclusion of girls from education an “injustice” on the part of the Islamic Emirate against 20 million of the 40 million people in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at a religious school in Khost, Stanikzai said that the Islamic Emirate’s stance was not in accordance with Sharia.
He said: “Today we are doing injustice to 20 million of the 40 million people. Will we not rise on the Day of Judgment paralyzed and having denied all rights? The right of inheritance is not given to girls. The right to choose a husband is not given.
“We get girls married in Baad practice. We don’t allow education. We don’t allow them to go to the mosque. The doors of the universities and schools are closed. We don’t even let them go to madrassa. Are we acting in accordance with the Sharia?”
“Another issue is that the whole world has a problem with us on this issue. They criticize us about it. But the path we have taken is a matter of our own liking, not the Sharia,” he said.
It is not the first time he has said that women and girls deserve to have an education. He made similar remarks in September 2022, a year after schools closed for girls and months and before the introduction of a university ban.
But the latest comments marked his first call for a change in policy and a direct appeal to the Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Stanikzai is a senior member of the IEA and headed up peace talks in Doha, Qatar, prior to the collapse of the former government.
As special envoy for Afghanistan, Khalilzad was lead negotiator during these talks.
On Monday, Khalilzad welcomed his stance and said Stanikzai is an important IEA official, who played a key role in the Doha negotiations.
He asked other Afghan religious scholars and leaders of the Islamic Emirate who privately oppose the ban on girls’ education to make their opposition public.
He also emphasized that schools and universities should be reopened by the beginning of the new solar year, in late March.
Khalilzad also welcomed the positions of Muslim scholars at the recent Islamabad International Conference which focused on girls education in Muslim societies.
It was at this conference that scholars said a ban on women’s education was against the teaching of Islam.
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Islamic Emirate’s army now self-sufficient, says chief of army staff
Mohammad Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, says that over the past four years, the army forces of the Islamic Emirate have shown no hesitation in defending and protecting Afghanistan, and that today the country’s army is standing on its own feet.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, Fitrat made these remarks at a meeting with media representatives, political analysts, and a number of government officials aimed at coordination and strengthening cooperation. He added: “Nations that cannot stand on their own feet and rely on others, even if they grow, will not be capable of achieving real progress.”
Fitrat also expressed appreciation for the role of the media in ensuring security and in supporting the country’s defense forces, stating: “We and you, as citizens of this land, must put our hands together and build the country together, take pride in our forces, and strive with all our strength for the country’s development. We have created an army that defends honor, territorial integrity, and the borders of the country, and serves as the guardian of our freedom.”
He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is working to establish an army equipped with modern weapons so that it can defend the country’s territory under all circumstances.
He stated that the country’s army has proven to the people that anyone who looks at this land with ill intent will face a firm and courageous response, and that it has also been made clear to neighboring countries that any aggression against Afghanistan will be met with a response several times stronger.
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Afghan health minister attends second WHO summit in India
Noor Jalal Jalali, the Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate, participated in the second World Health Organization meeting on traditional medicine during his official visit to India.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health said that the meeting was held in India with the participation of representatives from around 100 countries, health ministers from 23 countries, professional experts from various nations, and officials from different departments of the World Health Organization.
During the meeting, discussions were held on the standardization of traditional medicine, training of individuals active in this field, recognition of traditional medicine as an established reality, and the sharing of countries’ experiences in this area.
The ministry stated that the purpose of participating in the conference was to standardize traditional medicine in Afghanistan, adding that for several decades this sector has been practiced in a non-standard manner and without a defined curriculum or clear principles.
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Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan boost trade and digital finance ties
Minister Sydykov, in turn, pledged the continuation of Kyrgyzstan’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and highlighted his country’s interest in working together on e-governance initiatives.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs, Abdul Salam Hanafi, has met with a high-level Kyrgyz delegation led by Minister of Economy and Commerce Bakhyt Sydykov to discuss expanding bilateral trade and strengthening cooperation in digital financial services.
During the meeting, Hanafi reaffirmed Afghanistan’s readiness to deepen ties with Kyrgyzstan, stressing the importance of developing electronic administration systems and modern banking channels to facilitate trade and financial transactions between the two countries.
Minister Sydykov, in turn, pledged the continuation of Kyrgyzstan’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and highlighted his country’s interest in working together on e-governance initiatives. He also pointed to potential cooperation in areas such as the printing of securities and the development of electronic payment systems.
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