It comes a week after a powerful earthquake hit the country’s east that killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands homeless.
It comes a week after a powerful earthquake hit the country’s east that killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands homeless.
Two gunmen were shot dead near a gathering place in the Afghan capital on Thursday by thousands of religious scholars called to support the Taliban’s hardline Islamist regime.
Taliban officials said the two opened fire from a terrace near where the meeting was taking place, but “quickly put an end to the mujahideen with the help of Almighty Allah”.
Officials have provided little details about the three-day men-only “jirga” – a traditional gathering of clerics and influential people who settle differences by consensus – and the media are also barred from participating.
Some speeches were broadcast on state radio – clerics calling for complete loyalty to the Taliban regime.
The head of the assembly, Habibullah Haqqani, said in his inaugural address, “Obedience is the most important principle of the law.”
“We must faithfully and truly obey all of our leaders in all matters.”
it comes after a week Strong earthquake in the east of the countryKilled more than 1,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Even before the earthquake, the Taliban were struggling to administer a country that had long been reeling from economic malaise, relying entirely on foreign aid that dried up with the overthrow of the Western-backed government in August 2021. went.
United States officials were in talks with senior Taliban leaders in Qatar on Thursday to open up some of Afghanistan’s stockpile, with Washington looking for ways to ensure the money goes to help the population rather than the Islamist group.