Afghanistan news highlights: Taliban order university women to wear face-covering niqab

Taliban order university women to wear face-covering niqab

Women attending private Afghan universities must wear an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face, the Taliban have ordered, and classes must be segregated by sex -- or at least divided by a curtain.

In a lengthy document issued by the Taliban's education authority, they also ordered that female students should only be taught by other women, but if that was not possible then "old men" of good character could fill in. (AFP)

Taliban say they have entered capital of holdout Afghan region

The Taliban said on Sunday their forces had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir, the valley where opposition forces have been holding out since the fall of Kabul three weeks ago.

The police headquarters and district centre of Rukhah, adjacent to the provincial capital Bazarak, had fallen, and opposition forces had suffered numerous casualties, with large numbers of prisoners and captured vehicles, weapons and ammunition, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Twitter. (Reuters)

Jolie worried about women, girls in Afghanistan

Angelina Jolie has expressed concern about the situation of women and girls inAfghanistan.

The actress, who is also a special envoy to the UN's high commissioner for refugees, told a German newspaper Sunday she doesn't think the incoming government inAfghanistancould simply turn back the clock so that everything would be like 20 years ago. (AP)

Qatar to operate daily aid flights to Afghanistan

Qatar has flown humanitarian aid into Kabul and said it will operate daily aid flights toAfghanistanover the next few days, providing much-needed supplies following a hiatus in much Western aid due to Taliban's takeover last month.

Qatar has emerged as a key interlocutor between western nations and the Taliban, after developing close ties with the militant group through hosting its political office since 2013.

A Qatari aid flight carrying medical supplies and food products arrived in Kabul on Saturday and Qatar Ambassador toAfghanistanSaeed bin Mubarak Al Khayareen was at the airport for its arrival, the Gulf State's foreign ministry said. (Reuters)

Taliban battle for Panjshir as US warns of Afghanistan civil war

Taliban fighters advanced deep into the last holdout province of Panjshir Sunday, as the top US general warned Afghanistan faces a wider civil war that would offer fertile ground for a resurgence of terrorism.

Following their lightning fast rout of Afghanistan's army last month -- and celebrations when the last US troops flew out after 20 years of war on Monday -- the Taliban are seeking to crush resistance forces defending the mountainous Panjshir Valley.

The Taliban, who rolled into Kabul three weeks ago at a speed that analysts say likely surprised even the hardline Islamists themselves, are yet to finalise their new regime.

But US General Mark Milley questioned whether they can consolidate power as they seek to shift from a guerrilla force to government.

Three killed in Pakistan suicide blast near Afghan border: Police

At least three paramilitary guards were killed Sunday when a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, police said.

The bomber targeted Frontier Constabulary guards in the Mian Ghundi neighbourhood of the city -- close to the Afghanistan border -- where Hazara Shiite merchants were trading vegetables.

Afghan civil war 'likely', says top US general

Afghanistan will "likely" erupt in civil war, the top US general told US media Saturday, warning that those conditions could see a resurgence of terrorist groups in the country.

As American forces began their withdrawal, the Taliban took over Afghanistan in a lightning campaign, with only the northern province Panjshir holding out against the hardline Islamists.

"My military estimate... is that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war," General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Fox News.

He questioned whether the Taliban -- who are yet to declare a government -- would be able to consolidate power and establish effective governance.

"I think there's at least a very good probability of a broader civil war and that will then in turn lead to conditions that could, in fact, lead to a reconstitution of Al-Qaeda or a growth of ISIS or other... terrorist groups," Milley said.

An Afghan money exchange dealer waits for customers at a money exchange market, following banks and markets reopening after the Taliban took over in Kabul, Afghanistan

Credit: Reuters Photo

600 Taliban fighters killed in fighting with resistance forces in Panjashir, say reports

As many as 600 Taliban soldiers were killed in fighting in Afghanistan's Panjshir province, Sputnik news agency reported citing anti-Taliban resistance forces.

Fierce fighting has emerged between the two groups for the control of Panjshir, the last territory in the country that remains substantially out of the Taliban's control.

Taliban officials have said they will soon form a government in Afghanistan as US and its allies concluded their withdrawal.

Threats and fear cause Afghan women’s protections to vanish overnight

More than half of all Afghan women reported physical abuse and 17 per cent reported sexual violence, while almost 60 per cent were in forced marriages as opposed to arranged marriages, according to studies cited by the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs — and underreporting is rampant.

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Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, domestic flights restart

Ariana Afghan Airlines resumed some flights in Afghanistan between Kabul and three major provincial cities on Saturday, the carrier said, after a technical team from Qatar reopened the capital's airport for aid and domestic services.

Flights between Kabul and the western city of Herat, Mazar-i Sharif in northern Afghanistan and Kandahar in the south have started, the airline said in a statement on its Facebook page.

"Ariana Afghan Airlines is proud to resume its domestic flights," it said. (Reuters)

'Everything will be Okay': ISI chief during visit to Afghanistan

Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, who dashed to Kabul on an unannounced visit amidst efforts by the Taliban to finalise a government in Afghanistan, on Saturday expressed confidence that "everything will be okay" in the war-weary country.

A delegation of senior Pakistani officials led by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lieutenant General Hameed arrived in Kabul to conduct discussions with the incoming Taliban government, the Pakistan Observer newspaper reported. (PTI)

Iran president calls for election in Afghanistan

Iran's president is calling for elections in Afghanistan to determine the future of the country, where he hopes peace will return after Western troops have left and the Taliban have seized control.

Speaking on state TV on Saturday, Ebrahim Raisi said that the Afghan people should vote to determine their own government “as soon as possible.”

“A government should be established there which is elected by the votes and the will of the people," he said. (AP)