Middle East Experience

Taliban forces have recaptured three districts in northern Afghanistan that fell to local militia groups last week, a spokesman said on Monday.The districts of Bano, Deh Saleh, Pul e-Hesar in Baghlan province were taken by local militia groups in one of the first signs of armed resistance to the Taliban since their seizure of the capital Kabul on Aug. 15.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.By Monday, Taliban forces had cleared the districts and were established in Badakhshan, Takhar and Andarab near the Panjshir valley, according to the Twitter account of spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.Forces loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, have established themselves in the Panjshir valley, a mountainous area northwest of Kabul which resisted the Taliban before 2001.Massoud, whose forces include remnants of regular army and special forces units, has called for negotiations to form an inclusive government for Afghanistan but has promised to resist if Taliban forces try to enter the valley.Late on Sunday, the Taliban’s Alemarah information service said hundreds of fighters were heading towards Panjshir but there has been no immediate confirmation of any fighting.Zabihullah Mujahid said the Salang Pass, on the main highway running from southern Afghanistan to the north, was open and enemy forces were blockaded in the Panjshir valley. But his statement suggested that there was no fighting for the moment.“The Islamic Emirate is trying to resolve the problems peacefully,” Zabihullah said.Read more:Taliban will face resistance if they try to seize Panjshir valley: Ahmad MassoudTaliban confirm ‘hundreds’ of fighters heading for Panjshir ValleyTaliban will not allow western forces to extend Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline: Sources
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Taliban say they retook three districts in northern Afghanistan

Iran restarted exports of gasoline and gasoil to Afghanistan a few days ago, following a request from the Taliban, Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union said on Monday.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The extremist group seized power in Afghanistan last week as the US and its allies withdrew troops after a 20-year war.The price of gasoline in Afghanistan reached $900 per ton last week as many panicked Afghans drove out of cities, fearing reprisals and a return to an extremist version of Sharia law the Taliban imposed when in power two decades ago.To counter the price spike, the new Taliban government asked Iran to keep the borders open for traders.“The Taliban sent messages to Iran saying, ‘you can continue the exports of petroleum products,’” Hamid Hosseini, board member and spokesperson at the Iranian union in Tehran, told Reuters, adding that some Iranian traders had been cautious due to security concerns.Iranian exports began a few days ago, after the Taliban cut tariffs on imports of fuel from Iran up to 70 percent, Hosseini added, showing an official document from Afghan Customs organization.The main Iranian exports to Afghanistan are gasoline and gasoil. Iran exported about 400,000 tons of fuel to its neighbor from May 2020 to May 2021, according to a report published by PetroView, an Iranian oil and gas research and consultancy platform.Read more: UK is down to ‘hours, not weeks’ for Afghanistan evacuation plan: MinisterTaliban say they retook three districts in northern AfghanistanOne dead after firefight at Kabul Airport involving Afghan, US, German forces
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran restarts fuel exports to Afghanistan after request from Taliban, tariffs cut

The guard in a control room at Iran’s notorious Evin prison springs to attention as one by one, monitors in front of him suddenly blink off and display something very different from the surveillance footage he had been watching.“Cyberattack,” the monitors flash. Other guards gather around, holding up their mobile phones and filming, or making urgent calls. “General protest until the freedom of political prisoners” reads another line on the screens.An online account, purportedly by an entity describing itself as a group of hackers, shared footage of the incident, as well as parts of other surveillance video it seized, with The Associated Press. The alleged hackers said the release of the footage was an effort to show the grim conditions at the prison, known for holding political prisoners and those with ties abroad who are often used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In one part of the footage, a man smashes a bathroom mirror to try to cut open his arm. Prisoners — and even guards — beat each other in scenes captured by surveillance cameras. Inmates sleeping in single rooms with bunk beds stacked three high against the walls, wrapping themselves in blankets to stay warm.“We want the world to hear our voice for freedom of all political prisoners,” read a message from the online account to the AP in Dubai.Iran, which has faced criticism from the United Nations special rapporteur over its prison conditions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to its UN mission in New York. Iranian state media in the country have not acknowledged the incident at Evin.However, several embarrassing hacking incidents have struck Iran amid ongoing tensions over its accelerated nuclear program and as talks with the West over reviving the atomic accord between Tehran and world powers remain on hold.Four former prisoners at Evin, as well as an Iranian human rights activist abroad, have told the AP that the videos resemble areas from the facility in northern Tehran. Some of the scenes also matched photographs of the facility previously taken by journalists, as well as images of the prison as seen in satellite photos accessed by the AP.The footage also shows rows of sewing machines that prisoners use, a solitary confinement cell with a squat toilet and exterior areas of the prison. There are images of the prison’s open-air exercise yard, prisoners’ bathrooms and offices within the facility.Much of the footage bears timestamps from 2020 and this year. Several videos without the stamp show guards wearing facemasks, signaling they came amid the coronavirus pandemic.Though there is no sound in the videos, they speak to the grim world faced by prisoners at the facility. One sequence shows what appears to be an emaciated man dumped from a car in the parking lot, then dragged through the prison. Another shows a cleric walking down the stairs and passing by the man, without stopping.Guards in another video are seen beating a man in a prisoner’s uniform. One guard sucker-punches a prisoner in a holding cell.Guards also fight among themselves, as do the prisoners. Many are crammed into single-room cells. No one wears a facemask.The account that shared the videos with the AP calls itself “The Justice of Ali,” a reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law who is revered by Shia. It also mocks Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.It claimed to have “hundreds” of gigabytes of data from what it described as a hack conducted several months ago. It did not answer questions about who was involved in the leak.The account linked the timing of its leak to the recent election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line acolyte of Khamenei involved in the execution of thousands in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Iraq War.“The Evin prison is a stain on Raisi’s black turban and white beard,” the message on the screens in the prison control room also read.Iran, long sanctioned by the West, faces difficulties in getting up-to-date hardware and software, often relying on Chinese-manufactured electronics or older systems. The control room system seen in the video, for instance, appeared to be running Windows 7, for which Microsoft no longer provides patches. That would make it easier for a potential hacker to target. Pirated versions of Windows and other software are common across Iran.In recent months, Iran’s railroad system was targeted by an apparent cyberattack. Other self-described hacker groups have published details about Iranians alleging hacking on behalf of the theocracy. Meanwhile the most-famous cyberattack — the Stuxnet virus that destroyed Iranian centrifuges at the height of Western fears over Tehran’s program — is widely suspected to have been an American and Israeli creation.Evin prison was built in 1971 under Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It housed political prisoners then and later, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution swept the shah from power.While in theory under the control of Iran’s prison system, Evin also has specialized units for political prisoners and those with Western ties, run by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Khamenei. The facility is the target of both US and European Union sanctions.After Iran cracked down on protesters following the disputed 2009 re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many of the arrested protesters ended up in Evin. Lawmakers later pushed for reforms at Evin, following reports of abuses at the prison — which led to the installation of the closed-circuit cameras.Problems continued, however. Reports by UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman repeatedly named Evin prison as a site of abuses of prisoners. Rehman warned in January that Iran’s entire prison system faced “long-standing overcrowding and hygiene deficiencies” and “insurmountable obstacles for responding to COVID-19.”“Prisoners of conscience and political prisoners have contracted COVID-19 or experienced symptoms, with many denied testing or treatment or suffering unnecessary delays in receiving test results and treatment,” he wrote.Read more:Inside Iran: Tehran’s notorious Evin PrisonThe Middle East should be afraid of Iran’s Ebrahim RaisiEU envoy blasted for attending inauguration of Iran’s new president Raisi
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Leaked footage shows grim conditions in Iran’s notorious Evin prison

Beginning Monday, the Egyptian-controlled border crossing with Gaza will be closed in both directions, a Hamas spokesperson said.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt closes Gaza's Rafah crossing after weekend clashes

Higher temperatures, drought and record low rainfall levels are depriving millions of people of drinking and agricultural water.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Water crisis puts 12 million at risk in Syria, Iraq, aid groups say

Students will return to the classroom starting next month, the education minister said Monday, amid fears an accelerating economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic would prevent schools from reopening..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon's classrooms to reopen starting next month

Nearly 18.5 million people - half the population - rely on aid and the humanitarian needs are expected to grow.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Thousands of Afghans flee from Kabul, Aug 31 may not be enough

"Mr. Bennett called at 10:30 p.m. and asked Barel's father, whose name is Yossi: 'How is Yossi? How does he feel?' He said to him, his name is Barel."
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bennett apologizes for name mix-up of injured Border Police

Do you want to buy a more than 3,000-year-old Sumerian tablet, listed as the property of a gentleman from Sussex in England and passed down as a family heirloom?.
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Graft, poor security feed the theft of Iraq’s precious antiquities

The phenomenon of "part-time" marriages has sparked widespread controversy in Egypt in recent weeks with the country’s Islamic advisory body weighing in to confirm whether it is valid or not.The Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa, an Egyptian Islamic advisory, justiciary and governmental body established to confirm fatwas or religious rulings, warned against relabeling marriage contracts “out of love for appearance and fame and destabilizing values.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“We should not be drawn behind the calls for modern terminology in marriage which has increased in recent times wherein lies a love of showing off and fame and destabilization of values, which creates confusion in society and negatively affects the meaning of stability and cohesion of the family that our religion seeks and the state has nurtured through laws,” the Dar Al-Iftaa posted a tweet on its official Twitter account.The trend began to pick up steam among Egyptians after Dr. Ahmed Karima, a Professor of Comparative Jurisprudence at the al-Azhar University, went viral after appearing on a talk show to approve it.Karima had told a television program earlier that under Sharia law, conditions for marriage are two consenting partners, the presence of witnesses and a dowry provided.“Once these conditions are met, the marriage becomes legitimate, and entails rights, including shared inheritance, cohabitation, and enjoyment in a legitimate way,” he had said, prompting people to take his words as an endorsement of part-time marriages.Read more:
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: ‘Part-time marriage’ trend in Egypt causes controversy: Halal or haram?