This is the awful truth of the Taliban's purported amnesty for Afghans who cooperated for the UK. Ahmed has injuries on his shoulders, back, and buttocks from being hit with a steel cable and rifle butts.
On Monday, the Daily Mail took a photograph, ten days after the assault in his house, in front of his horrified family. His injuries have healed over time. One can only imagine how they appeared right after they were inflicted.
Ahmed's "crime" was working as an interpreter at the British embassy in Kabul. His situation was exacerbated by the fact that he was one of the individuals left behind by the UK government during the country's botched departure last month.
Translators in Afghanistan fear for their lives
Within hours after raising the matter, then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab ordered the decision to be reversed, and many are already in the UK after fleeing aboard evacuation planes. However, not everyone was saved in time.
GardaWorld, a Canadian contractor that provided translators and security to the embassy, hired Ahmed and Shoaib. Both had spent the previous 16 years working for foreign contractors. They were men with a history.
His eligibility certification arrived on August 24, when the evacuation was nearly complete and security worsened. It was already too late. He attempted to travel to the airport with his wife and four children, but the Taliban turned him away.
On August 26, he was one of more than 200 embassy contractors and families shuttled to the airport. They waited in the heat for hours until almost 6 p.m., when the first Islamic State suicide bombers burst amid waiting for would-be refugees nearby.
Women banned from institutions
Meanwhile, the Taliban's hold on women's rights tightens. According to the most recent Taliban-appointed director of Kabul University, women would be prohibited from enrolling as students and faculty members at the school.
The current university regulation is similar to what the Taliban did when they were in control beginning in the early 1990s, as per Forbes. A past era in which women were barred from attending school, was required to be escorted by a male relative in public, and were physically punished if they disobeyed.
Just a few weeks ago, Afghan women's rights advocates protested for the right of girls to attend secondary school after the Taliban ordered that only male students and teachers return to school. The Movement for Change Party, a women's civil society movement led by Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan Member of Parliament and peace negotiator who addressed via webcam outside of Kabul, coordinated the demonstration.
Only male pupils and instructors from the 6th to the 12th grade were required to report to their classrooms on Saturday by the Taliban Ministry of Education. On Friday, the statement said nothing about the female students, raising concerns that women might be barred from secondary school once more.
Taliban orders soldiers out of Afghan homes
The Taliban ordered its militants on Thursday to vacate private houses they had taken over during last month's blitz when the organization seized control of Afghanistan in an apparent attempt to enforce discipline inside Taliban ranks.
Meanwhile, in Kabul, the Taliban fired bullets to disperse a women's rights protest. At the same time, the regional chief of the International Federation of the Red Cross warned that Afghanistan was on the verge of a "major humanitarian crisis" due to the impending winter and significant budget deficits.
Taliban Prime Minister Hasan Akhund issued the order in response to recent public remarks by Taliban leaders indicating preparations to enhance organization and marshal militants. It stated that Taliban militants residing in private houses who work for the militant group's defense, interior, and intelligence departments must "report back to military bases" nationwide.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have abandoned their usual civilian attire to portray authority in favor of military fatigues. During the August blitz, the Afghan army abandoned most of its posts or surrendered to the Taliban, allowing Taliban militants to take over military bases as well.
On Thursday, the Taliban fired bullets outside a local school in Kabul to disperse a small gathering of six women demanding equal access to education. Per ABC News, they seized posters carried by women with the words: "Do not burn our books!"
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