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Afghanistan Deemed Most Insecure Place for Female Journalists
Reporters Without Borders- Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has called Afghanistan the most insecure place for female journalists; Urging the Afghan government to provide better and secure conditions for journalists in the country.
“Violence against journalists must be ended. The first priority should be securing the environment for journalists,” said Reza Moeni, representative of RSF from Iran.
Farida Nikzad, representative of women journalists in South Asia said, “The problems facing journalists in the current geography have made Afghanistan the most dangerous country for female journalists.”
The issue of journalists security and tracking cases are the main factors that the government wants to have more focus on them.
“Currently, the war is ongoing in more than 15 parts of the country, and Afghan journalists are in a bad and difficult situation,” said Shah Hussain Murtazawi, President’s deputy spokesman.
Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesman of the interior ministry also said, “The issue of journalists security and tracking violence cases against journalists will be the priority of this ministry from now on.”
While Afghan journalists have made great strides in establishing media outlets and providing Afghans with comprehensive coverage of local and national events in recent years, there are still many challenges being faced by local and foreign journalists alike, namely, harassment, threats and lack of support from government authorities, reported by CJEF .
According to a female journalist who heads a radio station in Balkh province, being a female journalist is particularly challenging. They face sexual harassment and threats from officials, strangers and sometimes even family members.
Cultural constraints on women in Afghanistan often restrict them to work inside the office, instead of venturing out to do field work. In many places in Afghanistan, the idea of women undertaking public roles and working is considered taboo.
Additionally, there is pressure on women working in the media from family elders to quit their jobs in order to avoid wider repercussions for the entire family, or because they view the career as unseemly. Lack of training and resources for women in the media is also a serious issue.
In September 2014, Palwasha Tokhi Meranzai, a female Afghan journalist, was killed inside her home by an unknown assailant.
She had received a death threat relating to her reporting about a month before her murder; despite evidence that the motive was tied to her profession, Afghan security services persist in treating it as a robbery.
Since early 2013, press freedom organizations have noted a decrease in the number of women currently working as journalists in Afghanistan due to the culture of fear created by religious militants such as the Taliban and related organizations.
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At least 1,500 families affected by recent floods: IRW
The Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) organization has reported that the rains and floods of the last week have claimed the lives of many Afghan and incurred huge financial losses.
According to the organization, a total of 1,500 families have suffered as a result of the recent floods and hundreds of livestock have also been lost.
IRW added that following the recent rains, 900 houses were partially or completely destroyed and 93,000 hectares of agricultural land was damaged.
This comes amid an ongoing economic crisis in Afghanistan which has left millions of people reliant on aid.
The disaster management ministry meanwhile confirmed earlier that 99 people died and 64 others were injured as a result of the heavy rains.
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Russia says US facing humiliation in Ukraine like in Vietnam and Afghanistan
Russia said on Sunday U.S. lawmakers’ support for $60.84 billion more in aid for Ukraine showed that Washington was wading much deeper into a hybrid war against Moscow that would end in humiliation on a par with the Vietnam or Afghanistan conflicts.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was clear that the United States wanted Ukraine “to fight to the last Ukrainian” including with attacks on Russian sovereign territory and civilians, Reuters reported.
“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into a loud and humiliating fiasco for United States such as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Zakharova said.
Russia, she said, will give “an unconditional and resolute response” to the U.S. move to get more involved in the Ukraine war.
The United States lost more than 58,000 military personnel in the 1955-75 Vietnam War, which ended with Communist North Vietnam’s victory and takeover of the South, while hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.
In the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan, the U.S. reported 2,459 dead and over 20,000 wounded in the conflict which ended with the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces and return to power of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
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Iran says water is an important factor in expansion of ties with Afghanistan
Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, said on Sunday that water is an important factor in the expansion of bilateral relations, expressing hope that the flow of water to his country will continue.
Qomi said this in a meeting with Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul, the ministry said in a statement.
The envoy expressed gratitude for removing obstacles to the flow of water from the Helmand River to Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.
Meanwhile, Muttaqi noted that there were good rains in the country this year, as a result of which, after several years of severe drought, Helmand River’s water flowed to Nimroz province of Afghanistan and into Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.
He assessed the relations between Afghanistan and Iran as “friendly and positive” and hoped relations will expand further in various fields.
During the meeting, Iran’s envoy also thanked the Islamic Emirate for its stance on Israel’s attacks on Gaza and for having condemned the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
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