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Secretary General of NRC calls on IEA to scrap female worker ban
The head of a major aid group that suspended work in Afghanistan after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) banned female NGO workers said on Thursday he would write to the administration’s senior figures in Kandahar and ask them to change the policy, Reuters reported.
Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said it was crucial to engage with the leadership in the southern city, home to the IEA’s supreme leader, Hebatullah Akhundzada.
“The letter I’m drafting will say: We know you, we worked in … areas controlled by the Taliban (IEA) for many years. You know us,” said Egeland.
“You know that our female staff have always used the hijab. They’ve had … a male chaperone on longer travel. Your people are suffering because of your ban on female workers.”
The IEA last month ordered all local and foreign aid groups to stop letting female staff work until further notice.
It said the move, which was condemned globally, was justified because some women had not adhered to the IEA’s interpretation of the Islamic dress code.
Many NGOs suspended operations in response, saying they needed female workers to reach women in the conservative country.
Egeland, who visited the capital Kabul this week, said officials there had told him they were in favor of women working at NGOs, but that the order had come from Kandahar. Spokespeople for the IEA administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Egeland said he had arranged meetings in Kandahar with the Ulema Council, made up of religious scholars, and the provincial governor, as it was not possible for foreign humanitarian agencies to meet directly with Akhundzada, Reuters reported.
But after bad weather halted flights, he said he would write instead and try to arrange online meetings.
He said he welcomed some signs of flexibility in health and others areas, where some female and male workers worked alongside each other. But he called for a full reversal of the ban.
“Our male staff cannot go to widows, single mothers and their children, to all of the vulnerable female groups here and thereby were prevented from doing all work,” he said.
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Several Pakistani soldiers killed and wounded in retaliatory strikes in Paktika: Defense Ministry
The Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate says several Pakistani soldiers were killed or wounded in retaliatory strikes by Afghan forces in Paktika province.
In a statement, the ministry said Pakistani forces carried out four drone strikes on Angoor Adda Bazaar and the Commissioner’s Office, as well as nearby security installations, at around 1 p.m. on Monday.
The ministry said Afghan defense and security forces responded by targeting a nearby Pakistani military base and outposts, causing heavy damage to their facilities.
It added that no Afghan casualties were reported in the incident. The ministry accused Pakistani forces of initiating the attacks and described the Afghan response as an act of self-defense and protection of the country’s territory.
Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue, Prevention of Vice and Hearing of Complaints, says women’s rights must be defined and upheld in accordance with Islamic Sharia, rejecting what he described as “foreign political agendas and imposed standards.”
Khyber claimed that positive changes had been made in Afghanistan in the areas of women’s rights and human rights over the past five years, describing them as unprecedented in the country’s history.
He said women’s rights under Islamic law include property ownership, inheritance, dowry, financial maintenance, protection against forced marriage, the right to choose a spouse, and the right to engage in business and economic activities.
Khyber stressed that women’s rights should not be used as a tool for political disputes or reduced to propaganda campaigns. He called on individuals and organizations that identify themselves as defenders of women’s rights to demonstrate their commitment through practical action.
He also said the rights of women and other Afghan citizens should not be subject to political bargaining, urging those concerned with human rights to adopt what he described as a practical and fair approach.
Khyber dismissed criticism and reports about the ministry’s performance regarding citizens’ rights as propaganda driven by political and intelligence objectives.
The remarks come a day after the United Kingdom, the United States and senior United Nations officials at a UN Security Council meeting called for Afghan women and girls to have a greater role in shaping their country’s future, criticizing restrictions on their rights and exclusion from public life.
Direct flights between Herat’s Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates have begun, marking a new air link for passengers travelling between the two cities.
Airport officials said 53 passengers were carried on the inaugural flight from Herat to Dubai, half of them Iranian nationals.
The new route is expected to operate once a week, providing passengers and business travellers with a direct connection between Herat and Dubai.
Officials at Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport also said direct flights from Herat to Tehran and Istanbul are expected to launch in the coming weeks, further expanding the city’s international air connections.
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