‘No possible life’ under Taliban rule: Afghan women fear murder, oppression after US withdrawal

KABUL – College professor Moqadasa Rasouli has many memories from when the Taliban ruled the majority of Afghanistan and enforced a strict interpretation of sharia or Islamic law.

These memories are invariably the stuff of nightmares.

Once, Rasouli witnessed a group of women being severely whipped for wearing flip-flops and nail polish. Another time, her 10-year-old neighbor was beaten for forgetting to put on a headscarf. When the Taliban found out Rasouli and other girls were secretly studying at a school, it was promptly closed down.

Negotiating out of Counterterrorism in the Sahel

Perhaps in an effort to signal an opening for negotiations, Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel declared that French soil is not part of the conflict.

For the first time, an al-Qaeda affiliate publicly declared that the ongoing war with France does not include French soil.

The most active branches of al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State (IS) are currently in sub-Saharan Africa.

Afghanistan: bullied, bombed, betrayed

The corporate media was forced to admit the obvious by early July. Even before U.S. troops left Afghanistan, the reactionary Islamist Taliban that their invasion overthrew had retaken huge swaths of the country. After 20 years and over $2 trillion spent, Washington faced a massive failure with nothing to show for it but death and destruction.

What apologists for U.S. barbarism avoided at all costs was a tally of the devastation or the lies used to justify it. Corrupt collaboration government officials and their allies have looted the country. Not only the Taliban, but also al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh), are stronger than ever.

Islamabad can no longer ignore the resurgence of the Pakistani Taliban

Pakistan cannot afford another conflict with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and has to devise a domestic political narrative that can justify a divorce from its previous policies.

Six years after Islamabad declared victory in a bloody, brutal conflict with Al Qaeda-aligned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) insurgents, it is faced with a resurgence of terrorist activity that threatens to reverse its post-war recovery.

‘Help the refugees stuck in Bosnia’, implores Lipa camp resident in letter to EU

Soufyan Ali, a Pakistani living in the Lipa camp in northern Bosnia for the past three months, has sent an open letter to MEPs, urging them to act on behalf of asylum seekers trapped in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The association No Name Kitchen forwarded his letter to InfoMigrants.

After Alessandra Moretti, a member of the European Parliament (MEP), visited the Lipa camp near the town of Bihac in northern Bosnia on January 31, Soufyan Ali decided to write a letter to all members of the European Parliament to ask for their help.

Bosnia moves migrants ahead of colder weather

Around 1500 migrants were rounded up in northwestern Bosnia and moved to a camp in the country on Wednesday. The town of Bihac cannot provide adequate shelter for these people in the winter weather, authorities said.

A long line of male migrants, walking two or three together, wind their way about 10 kilometers along a road in northwestern Bosnia. The men have been rounded up from the town of Bihac where they had been camping and staying. The video of the march, from the Associated Press news agency (APTN), shows mountains lining the horizon and trees at the side of the road sparkling gold, red and brown in the autumn sunshine. Some migrants carry plastic bags with belongings, others appear to just have the clothes they’re wearing. A few Bosnian policemen accompany the group, walking purposefully at the top of the column and making sure everyone keeps together along the side of the road.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: EU allocates additional €3.5 million to support vulnerable refugees and migrants

The European Commission has announced today an additional €3.5 million in humanitarian aid to help vulnerable refugees and migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina facing a humanitarian disaster. More than 1,700 refugees and migrants remain without appropriate shelter and support in Una Sana canton. After the closure of the reception centre in Lipa, which was not winter-proof and which also suffered a fire, 900 people are currently on the former campsite. In addition, a further 800 refugees and migrants are staying outdoors in harsh winter conditions, including children.