Folk singer is dragged out of his home and shot in the head, while top Afghan female cop goes on the run after 'brutal beating' in latest evidence the Taliban's harsh rule has returned
A folk singer has been shot in the head and a top Afghan female cop is on the run after suffering a 'brutal beating' from the Taliban in the latest evidence that the Islamists’ harsh rule has returned.
Fawad Andarabi was dragged from his home and killed by the militant group in Andarab Valley in the northern Baghlan province of Kabul on Friday.
The killing has raised concerns about a return to the harsh form of rule the Taliban imposed when it was last in control of Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001.
Fawad Andarabi was dragged from his home and killed by the militant group in Andarab Valley in the northern Baghlan province of Kabul on Friday (pictured centre)
During that time, the Taliban banned most forms of music as un-Islamic, according to CNN.
Afghanistan's former Minister of Interior Massoud Andarabi, who is also from the district for which the family is named, spoke publicly about his death.
'Taliban's brutality continues in Andarab. Today they brutally killed folkloric singer, Fawad Andarabi who simply was bringing joy to this valley and its people.
'As he sang here "our beautiful valley ... land of our forefathers ..." will not submit to Taliban's brutality,' he tweeted Saturday.
In an interview with The New York Times, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said 'music is forbidden in Islam,' when asked if it would once again be banned in public in Afghanistan.
One of Afghanistan's top women police officers is on the run in Kabul, fleeing from flat to flat after she was 'brutally beaten' by the Taliban and the US 'refused' to rescue her
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on cultural rights Karima Bennoune expressed 'grave concern' over reports of Andarabi's killing on Twitter.
She wrote: 'As UN Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador on artistic freedom Deeyah Khan, I express grave concern about reports of the terrible killing of singer #FawadAndarabi.
'We call on governments to demand the Taliban respect the #humanrights of #artists.'
This comes after one of Afghanistan's top women police officers is on the run in Kabul, fleeing from flat to flat after she was 'brutally beaten' by the Taliban and the US 'refused' to rescue her.
Gulafroz Ebtekar, believed to be 34, became deputy head of criminal investigations in Afghanistan.
Gulafroz Ebtekar, believed to be 34, became deputy head of criminal investigations in Afghanistan and is seen as a high-profile role model for Afghan women
As a top Interior Ministry official, she was seen as a high-profile role model for Afghan women, with a well-known face in the media.
She now fears death after being beaten by as she tried to escape Kabul Airport, where she spent five nights at the gate.
She said: I sent messages to the embassies of many countries to save myself and my family, but all to no avail.'
The policewoman told how in the Kabul chaos she found US soldiers and believed they were helping her to fly abroad with her boyfriend and family members.
'We got to the refugee camp where the Americans were stationed,' she said.
'When the American soldiers were already near, I exhaled, I thought we were finally safe.
Gulafroz had studied for a masters degree at a top police academy in Russia , but the Moscow embassy also declined to help
'I speak a little English. I explained that it was not safe for us to remain in Kabul. They checked our documents. I had my ID, passport, and police certificates with me.
'We were asked: "Where do you want to go?" I replied: "It doesn't matter, to a safe country where there is a chance we may survive".
'They looked at me and answered quite impudently: "Okay". And they asked one soldier to show us the way. I thought they would escort us to a plane or provide security.'
They first escorted her to a crowded street where there was a terrorist attack, she said.
'We did not want to leave, then the soldier raised his weapon: "Get out of here". So we went out onto the road. At that moment, I didn't want to live anymore.'
She said that her 'former life' was gone, and that six months ago, she'd been 'warned' by the Taliban about her job in the police
Gulafroz had studied for a masters degree at a top police academy in Russia, but the Moscow embassy also declined to help, because she didn't have a Russian passport or residency.
She told the newspaper: 'I had dreamed of changing life in Afghanistan. First, when it comes to women in the police. And I did it.
'When I returned to my homeland, I got a job in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and soon got a rather high position.
'I became Deputy Chief for Criminal Investigations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Afghanistan.'
After being turned away from the airport, she went home to be told by her mother that the Taliban had come for her while she was out.
She moved to the first of three flats she has used to try and stay out of the hands of the militants.
She spoke on television, adding that she 'fought against extremism, terrorism, advocated for the rights of women and children and believed in the best for our country'
When she tried to escape to Kabul airport again, the Taliban guards beat her with 'weapons and stones'.
Her former female colleagues in the police have asked her 'what's going to happen to us' but she has no answers.
She said: 'I spoke on television, spoke out on social networks, fought against extremism, terrorism, advocated for the rights of women and children and believed in the best for our country.
She said that her 'former life' was gone, and that six months ago, she'd been 'warned' by the Taliban about her job.
She said: 'The Taliban wrote me letters in which they said that I should not work in the police, that I had no right to declare about women's rights.
Nazar Mohammad (pictured centre) was filmed being taken away by the Taliban from his home in Kandahar province
'"What are women's rights? Why do you publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram?", these are the comments I received from them a year or six months ago.
'And now they are in power.'
She warned: 'I think the Taliban will never change. They will not agree for a woman to work, participate in public life, and be free.
'When the Taliban came to Kabul 20 years ago, they made the same promises as now for two months.
Taliban militants are 'having sex with dead bodies'
Taliban gangs are having sex with dead bodies after going door-to-door searching for women to take as slaves, a woman who fled the regime to India has claimed.
A female former Afghan police member - identified only as Muskan - said militants do not care 'whether the person is dead or alive'.
The woman, who has since fled to India, told news outlet News18, that Taliban militants 'rape dead bodies too.
'They don't care whether the person is dead or alive. Can you imagine this?'
'And then they created their own state, their own courts, beat and killed people. For me, this is the most dangerous group of terrorists.'
She said: 'I was the first woman in Afghanistan to graduate from a police academy with a master's degree and hold such a high position.
'After me, about 4,000 Afghan women entered police universities. I'm not afraid to speak openly, because I have nothing left.
'The state of Afghanistan no longer exists, there is no freedom. All the time I fought to maintain a normal life in the country.'
At the end of July, an Afghan comedian continued mocking the Taliban as fighters dragged him away from his home before later executing him by firing squad.
In a viral video, Nazar Mohammad, better known as Khasha Zwan, can be seen in the back of a car with an insurgent on either side of him - one of them brandishing a Kalashnikov machine gun.
According to Human Rights Watch, Zwan was killed by the Taliban in Kandahar after that city fell to the jihadists.
He was known for routines that poked fun at the Taliban through song and dance, including some that were uploaded to his TikTok account.
In the video of his final moments, Mohammad continues to make jokes about the group after his capture, causing the Taliban fighter to his right to begin slapping him across the face.