Afghanistan: Commercial flights service resume
New Delhi: The first international commercial flight under the rule of the Taliban departed Kabul (Afghanistan) on Thursday. The flight carried 100 passengers including US citizens left behind last month. The Flight was an important step for the Taliban to create a functioning state as they have seized the power last month.
Rule of the Taliban prevent the free journalism in-country and breaching the right of Afghan women. The Taliban are imposing curbs on women similar to those when they ruled from 1996 to 2001, despite a promise by leaders to respect women’s rights following sharia, or Islamic law.
UN Special Envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council that nongovernmental organizations supporting women were being targeted, women’s freedoms had been restricted and the United Nations’ Afghan staff were being harassed and intimidated.
Lyons told the Security Council said that “The UN cannot conduct its work – work that is so essential to the Afghan people – if its personnel are subjected to intimidation, fear for their lives, and cannot move freely.”
An internal U.N. Security document seen by media described dozens of incidents including veiled threats, the looting of U.N. offices, and physical abuse of staff since Aug. 10, five days before the Taliban swept to power.
The harassment of UN staff came as the country was in danger of “a total breakdown of the economy and social order” without an infusion of money, Lyons said.
