Taliban frees Afghans deported from Germany

Kabul: Afghanistan’s only women-led radio station will resume broadcasts, the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture announced after it suspended the outlet’s operations this month over its cooperation with foreign media outlets. 

On Feb. 4, Taliban officials raided Kabul-based Radio Begum — a station run by women with programs aimed at educating girls and supporting Afghan women — and seized staff’s computers, hard drives and phones, and took into custody two male employees “who do not hold any senior management position,” the outlet said in a statement. 

In a statement issued on Saturday evening, the ministry said Radio Begum had been suspended “due to the improper use of their licenses and cooperation with foreign sanctioned media outlets.” 

Radio Begum has now been “granted permission to resume their activities,” the ministry said, after they made repeated requests and following a “pledge with the Broadcasting Directorate to operate in line with the principles of journalism and in accordance with the policies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

It did not provide details on what those principles and policies were nor the status of the radio station’s employees who were allegedly detained.

Launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021, Radio Begum has been broadcasting hours of lessons daily, along with health, psychology and spiritual programs for women across most of Afghanistan. 

Its sister satellite channel, Begum TV, operates from France and televises classes that cover the Afghan school curriculum from seventh to 12th grade, providing education for many after the Taliban banned education for women and girls after the sixth grade. 

“It’s one of the few channels that discussed issues related to women and girls,” said Najiba, 28, a Kabul resident and listener of Radio Begum. 

“I particularly listened to their programs on health and women entrepreneurs. I was happy to be able to receive some information about women-related health issues from the radio. The other program that featured businesswomen was also encouraging. It inspired other women and gave us hope to learn skills and work for ourselves.” 

While the resumption of Radio Begum’s operations was welcomed, the initial suspension was still concerning for Meena Akbari, an Afghan women’s rights activist. 

“It was a concerning move. The few media outlets that are left in the country should be supported instead of being contained and closed,” Akbari told Arab News.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the country’s media landscape has been “decimated,” according to Reporters without Borders, which cited the disappearance of 43 percent of Afghan media outlets in the past four years and ranked the country 178 out of 180 in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index. 

“With Afghan women and girls already facing increasing restrictions since the Taliban takeover, platforms such as these are vital for women to get information from and continue learning about different topics,” Akbari said. 

“It’s a good decision that the government allowed the station to resume broadcasts. Hopefully, it continues to benefit Afghan women and Afghans in general.”

MULHOUSE, France: French police have made several arrests since a man went on a stabbing rampage, killing one and wounding several others in what President Emmanuel Macron called an “Islamist terrorist act,” anti-terror prosecutors told AFP Sunday.
The knife-wielding suspect, identified by prosecutors as a 37-year-old Algerian-born man, was arrested at the site of Saturday’s attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse.
He was on a terrorism watchlist and subject to deportation orders.
A further three people were in custody in connection with the case Sunday, the PNAT prosecutors unit said, without giving details.
Local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said the suspect, who he did not name, was registered on France’s terrorist watchlist.
Speaking at the police station late Saturday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the man had “a schizophrenic profile” and his act had “a psychiatric dimension.”
Retailleau said France had repeatedly attempted to expel him from the country, but Algeria refused to cooperate.
The rampage occurred around 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) near a busy market in Mulhouse, a city of around 110,000 people near the German border. At the time, demonstrators were rallying in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A 69-year-old Portuguese man was fatally wounded while parking attendants and police were also hurt.
Two officers were seriously wounded, with one sustaining an injury to a carotid artery, and the other to the upper body, prosecutor Heitz told AFP, adding that the latter officer was able to leave hospital.
Three other officers suffered minor injuries, prosecutors said.
During the attack, the suspect was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest), according to the national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT).
Witnesses also told AFP they heard the suspect shouting the words several times.
Macron later said there was “no doubt” that the incident was “a terrorist act,” specifically “an Islamist terrorist act.”
The government was determined to continue doing “everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil,” he added.
Speaking during a visit to France’s agriculture fair Saturday, Macron offered condolences to the family of the victim and said the “solidarity of the nation” was behind them.
PNAT said it was investigating the attack for murder and attempted murder “in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”

TERROR ATTACKS
The terrorist watchlist, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing “terrorist” radicalization.
It was launched in 2015 following deadly attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s offices and on a Jewish supermarket.
Retailleau told French broadcaster TF1 that France had tried to expel him 10 times, with Algeria refusing each time to accept him.
“Once again, it is Islamist terrorism that has struck,” he said. And, once again, he added, problems of migration were “at the origin of this terrorist act.”
There was no immediate comment from Algeria’s presidency or foreign ministry.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said that “fanaticism has struck again, and we are in mourning.”
Mulhouse Mayor Michele Lutz wrote on Facebook that “horror has just seized our city.”
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there would be a meeting of the government’s immigration control council on Wednesday to discuss the implications of the case.
“We must do more, and we must do better,” he told the Europe 1 broadcaster.
France has recently experienced a string of stabbings deemed acts of terror.
In January, a 32-year-old knife-wielding man wounded a person in a supermarket in Apt, in the south of France. He was charged and jailed for attempted murder in connection with a terrorist undertaking.
In December 2023, a man suspected of stabbing a German tourist to death near the Eiffel Tower was charged with carrying out a terror attack.