Latest News
UNESCO dedicates 2023 Int’l Day of Education to Afghan girls and women

The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO said on Thursday it has decided to dedicate the 2023 International Day of Education (January 24) to Afghan girls and women.
On the occasion of an event to be organized at the UN headquarters in New York, UNESCO will renew its call to immediately restore their fundamental right to education, the agency said.
“No country in the world should bar women and girls from receiving an education. Education is a universal human right that must be respected,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
“The international community has the responsibility to ensure that the rights of Afghan girls and women are restored without delay. The war against women must stop,” she added.
Last month, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) suspended university education for women. This followed an earlier directive barring girls from attending secondary school.
According to UNESCO, 2.5 million (80%) of school-aged Afghan girls and young women are out of school, 1.2 million of whom were denied access to secondary schools and universities following the decision of IEA authorities.
The agency said that the decisions by the IEA authorities in Afghanistan threaten to wipe out the development gains made by the country over the past 20 years. From 2001 to 2021, Afghanistan saw a tenfold increase in enrolment at all education levels from around 1 million students to around 10 million, with the support of the international community, including UNESCO.
During this period, the number of girls in primary school increased from almost zero to 2.5 million. Women’s participation in Afghan higher education also increased almost 20 times, from 5,000 students to over 100,000. Literacy rates for women almost doubled, from 17% of women being able to read and write in 2001 to nearly 30% for all age groups combined, UNESCO said.
Latest News
Daesh recruits enter Afghanistan via Iran: U.N.

Principle routes for new Daesh recruits to Afghanistan include travel through Turkey and Iran, U.N. sanctions monitors said in a new report.
The latest report by the U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, covering June-December 2024, said that Daesh recruited Central Asians mostly Tajik nationals, and the recruits received training in Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, and there are also training camps in Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
It said that there are over two dozen terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan, and security threat emanating from the country is a continuing driver of instability in the region and beyond.
The report noted that the “ambition and scale of its [the TTP] attacks on Pakistan […] had significantly increased, with over 600 attacks during the reporting period, including from Afghan territory.”
“The Taliban (IEA) continued to provide TTP with logistical and operational space and financial support,” it said.
On al-Qaeda, the report said that the group sought to strengthen cooperation with regional terrorist organizations of non-Afghan origin that operate in the country, including TTP, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, ETIM/TIP and Jamaat Ansarullah to expand its presence in neighboring countries.
“The Taliban (IEA) maintained a permissive environment allowing Al-Qaida to consolidate, with the presence of safe houses and training camps scattered across Afghanistan,” the report said.
The Islamic Emirate has previously denied the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan and emphasized that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against other countries.
Latest News
Invaders should learn from ‘successes of Jihad,’ says IEA on Soviet exit anniversary

The Islamic Emirate said in a statement Friday on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan that “the invaders should learn from the successes of jihad in the past 100 years and no longer take steps against the freedom of Afghanistan.”
The Islamic Emirate described Soviet withdrawal day as a “proud day in the history of Afghanistan,” noting that Afghans managed to drive out a great power like the Soviet Union.
“The fact that Afghanistan has been liberated from occupation for the third time in the last 100 years by the help of Allah Almighty shows that the sense of independence among Afghans is strong and our Muslims have a strong determination and commitment to protect their religion,” the statement said.
The Islamic Emirate called on the people of the country to be vigilant against “all kinds of conspiracies and plots and to follow the path of their ancestors and protect their religion, belief and independence by maintaining Islamic determination and unity.”
Meanwhile, Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation in the former government, called the victory over the Soviet Union “the end of a dark era in Afghanistan’s history” and a “miracle.”
“Jihad and righteous standing up of our people was unprecedented in the history of nations’ freedom struggles,” he said. “As a result of the sacrifices of the Afghan people, international relations changed and it paved way for the liberation of other deprived nations.”
“Unfortunately, Afghanistan suffered heavy human and financial loss in the 10-year occupation,” he said. “More than a million people were martyred, tens of thousands were disabled and millions more were forced to migrate abroad.”
The last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in 1989 after a decade of war.
Latest News
Judge orders US to restore funds for foreign aid programs

A federal judge ordered the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to restore funding for hundreds of foreign aid contractors who say they have been devastated by his 90-day blanket freeze, Politico reported late on Thursday.
The order blocks the Trump administration from canceling foreign aid contracts and awards that were in place before Trump took office on January 20, Reuters reported.
The stated purpose in suspending of all foreign aid was to provide the opportunity to review programs for their efficiency and consistency with priorities, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali wrote in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
He added: “At least to date, defendants have not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, nonprofits, and organizations around the country, was a rational precursor to reviewing programs.”
Trump has attempted to dismantle government agencies and ordered them to prepare for wide-ranging job cuts, and several have already begun to lay off recent hires who lack full job security.
The Republican has also embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and sidelining hundreds of civil servants and top officials at agencies in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.
-
World4 days ago
Trump says US is making progress with Russia, declines to discuss talks with Putin
-
International Sports4 days ago
Dubai Capitals clinch maiden title at ILT20
-
Regional4 days ago
Egypt to host emergency Arab summit to discuss ‘serious’ Palestinian developments
-
Latest News5 days ago
UNICEF chief in Afghanistan reiterates every child’s right to a healthy life
-
Sport4 days ago
All you need to know about Ariana Snooker Champs, which kicks off tomorrow
-
Latest News3 days ago
Norwegian Refugee Council NGO to suspend aid work in over 20 countries due to Trump policy
-
Latest News3 days ago
Suicide bombing in Kunduz kills 5, injures 7
-
Latest News4 days ago
Pakistan to force thousands of Afghan refugees out of Islamabad