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UN rights session hears Afghan conflict still one of the world’s deadliest

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(Last Updated On: March 23, 2021)

Mahamane Cissé-Gouro, Officer-in-Charge of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Monday that while Afghanistan should have moved closer towards peace, civilians continued to suffer and lose their lives due to increased violence.

Delivering the high commissioner’s report to the UN Human Rights Commission’s 46th session on Monday, Cissé-Gouro noted the conflict in Afghanistan remained among the deadliest in the world.

He stated the best way to protect civilians was to stop fighting.

According to the report the deliberate killing of human rights defenders and journalists had been particularly shocking in the last few months and since the start of the Afghanistan peace negotiations.

Civil society and media had an important role to play, the Afghan people needed their voices and opinions, and the government needed to provide them with space to operate, while anti-government forces must stop targeting them, the report stated.

Speakers expressed concern that since the start of the Afghan peace negotiations, civilians continued to bear the brunt of the armed conflict, with almost half of the casualties being women and children.

Cissé-Gouro also stated Afghanistan was at a critical point which was particularly crucial for Afghan women. He said their meaningful participation in the peace process must be ensured.

In addition, it was noted that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) played a crucial role despite their staff being directly targeted.

In turn, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) Chairperson Shaharzad Akbar’s said in a video message to the session that for the peace process to be seen as credible by all Afghans, there needs to be a ceasefire, a real possibility of public engagement, and protection of the civic space.

In her message Akbar said according to AIHRC figures, targeted killings were the second leading cause of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2020. This she said was a “threefold increase compared to 2019.”

These attacks targeted human rights defenders, journalists, media workers and activists, prosecutors and judges, including female journalists, judges and activists.

“Prominent activists are either being killed or forced to leave the country. Most attacks remain unclaimed and investigations are slow.

“While those who can, are leaving the country, many across Afghanistan felt silenced by fear and are constrained in their activism. This unimaginable attack on Afghanistan’s civic space is ongoing and the world is not doing enough to stop it.

“Meanwhile the Afghan negotiations in Doha are paused,” she said.

“Afghans are desperate for peace but what will peace look like in absence of one of Afghanistan’s most important gains, its vibrant civil society and human rights community? If this deadly trend continues, it will be even harder to protect human rights gains of Afghanistan during and after the peace talks.

“We need the United Nations and the global human rights community to stand with Afghans and urge both parties to stop the violence, and continue engaging in talks.

“For the peace process to be seen as credible by all Afghans, we need a ceasefire, a real possibility of public engagement and protection of the civic space,” she said.

Cissé-Gouro stated in his report that the Afghanistan peace negotiations were an historic opportunity for parties to the conflict to consider the irreversible loss the war had had on the people. New thinking could save thousands of families from suffering.

The report meanwhile stated that Afghanistan, speaking as a country concerned, noted that the conflict in Afghanistan continued to take a heavy toll on the nation and undermined social and economic progress.

The COVID-19 pandemic had also further aggravated these challenges.

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IEA condemns Israel for confiscating 800 hectares of land in West Bank’s Jordan Valley

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) strongly condemned on Thursday Israel’s decision to seize 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley region.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the recent actions by “the Zionist regime demonstrate that it does not to adhere to international laws, especially international humanitarian law.”

“Continuation of such unilateral actions and ignoring the rights of Palestinian people will further deteriorate the situation,” the statement said.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expects international actors, particularly influential regional Muslim countries to fulfill their legitimate, human and moral responsibilities in supporting the oppressed people of Palestine and prevent the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied territories,” it added.

Israeli media have reported that Israel seized 800 hectares of land in the Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, claiming it as “state land.”

It is reported the seized land could be used for the construction of illegal Jewish settlements.

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ISIS-K leader reportedly living in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Sanaullah Ghaffari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajar, is reportedly the ISIS-Khorasan (Daesh) branch leader and is holed up in Pakistan, Reuters reports.

The 29-year-old took over as leader in 2020 and under his leadership the group has carried out extreme attacks as a means of recruiting, Reuters reported.

Reuters noted that little was known about Ghafari before the deadly 2021 ISIS attack on Kabul Airport, which killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American soldiers.

But after Friday’s deadly attack in a concert hall in Moscow, which left 139 people dead, Ghaffari’s group has come under intense scrutiny.

Reuters reports that Ghaffari is said to have been involved in several attacks in Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

Pakistani officials said months ago that Ghaffari had been killed in Kunar province in Afghanistan in June last year, but Reuters has reported that he did not die and instead fled to Pakistan and lives in the border province of Baluchistan.

Abdul Matin Qani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan, says that Daesh has been suppressed in Afghanistan for more than two years and has lost its operational capacity.

The last attack carried out by Daesh in Afghanistan was the attack on the Kabul Bank office in Kandahar last week which left three dead and 12 wounded.

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IPL: Sunrisers thump MI in record breaking match

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

It was raining records at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday with the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clinching a 31-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 8 of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Sunrisers’ batting rewrote the record books on a batting belter after the posted 277 for three.

SRH now have the highest team score in the history of the IPL – beating Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) 263 for five from the 2013 season.

In reply, MI made a spirited effort, and at one stage, were contenders to do the near impossible. In the slog overs, the enormity of the target proved a bit too much, and SRH clinched victory, but not without numerous nervous moments.

To put into perspective the carnage we witnessed – Heinrich Klaasen’s 23-ball half-century was the slowest fifty of the SRH innings.

Travis Head, playing his first match for SRH, raced to the milestone in 18 balls. Abhishek Sharma got there even faster – in 16 balls – to record the quickest fifty by an SRH batter in IPL history.

While Sunrisers notched up the highest total in the 16-year history of the IPL, just as incredibly, Mumbai Indians almost paid them back with the same coin, their batters coming out with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

The sixes kept rolling off the Mumbai bats too, helping them keep up with the asking rate for most of the chase, eventually however, they ran out of steam and finished on 246 for 5, the highest IPL total in a losing cause.

As ESPNcricinfo reported, never were more runs scored in a men’s T20 match (523). Never were most sixes hit in a men’s T20 (38). At the end of the close to four-hour six-fest, only two bowlers returned with an economy rate of under ten an over.

Thursday, March 28 : Match 9

Thursday’s match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur sees Rajasthan Royals go up against Delhi Capitals.

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television to watch the match live from 6.30pm. Alternatively the match can be screened live on arianatelevision.com

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