Latest news: US military: Afghans evacuated to Germany get vaccinated

BERLIN – The US military said it has completed an effort to vaccinate evacuees from Afghanistan against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox at two sites in Germany.

The Army’s 86th Airlift Wing said Monday that the fire had been administered to more than 8,800 evacuees over three days “out of caution” and at the request of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccination campaign at Ramstein air base and the neighboring Rhine artillery barracks ended on Sunday. The military says it was faster than the four to five days originally planned.

Earlier this month, US officials halted flights to the United States of Afghan evacuees from Germany and Qatar, another major transit point, after discovering a limited measles outbreak among arriving Afghans. in the USA. Ramstein’s army says there has been only one confirmed case among its current evacuee population.

The 86th Airlift Wing’s statement said that “Ramstein is equipped to quickly resume flights once he is cleared to do so.”

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MORE ABOUT AFGHANISTAN:

– Kabul Municipality ruled by the Taliban to women workers: stay at home

– Mourners in California pay tribute to 3 Marines killed in Afghanistan

– Fearful US residents in Afghanistan hiding from the Taliban

– Afghan survivors of wandering US drone strike seek investigation

– The Taliban replace the ministry of women by “virtuous” authorities

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS:

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KABUL, Afghanistan – A small group of Afghan high school students staged a protest in the western town of Herat on Monday to denounce Taliban measures preventing girls from going to school.

Thirteen schoolgirls, aged 15 to 18, gathered in a residential area on the outskirts of Herat – an area where the Taliban are not present – to avoid attracting their attention. A few local journalists invited by the girls covered the rally.

Protesters held banners demanding to be able to return to school, claiming that banning girls from education would leave an entire future nation without education.

“We ask them (the Taliban) to reopen our schools as soon as possible,” said protester, Nargis Jamshid, 17. She added that not going to school gives the impression that “we are going backwards”.

“We demand that all girls return to their schools and that all women be allowed to return to work,” said Sharaara Sarwari, 18.

After taking power in Afghanistan last month, the Taliban initially said girls would have equal access to education, albeit in contexts of gender segregation, and promised inclusiveness, but have since imposed several restrictions on women.

Kabul city government workers were ordered to stay home on Sunday, with work only allowed for those who cannot be replaced by men. The Taliban-led education ministry on Friday ordered boys in grades 6 to 12 to return to school, starting Saturday, along with male teachers, but made no mention the return of girls from these classes to school.

During their previous regime in the 1990s, the Taliban denied girls and women access to school, work and public life.

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CAIRO – The extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly bombings targeting Taliban vehicles in eastern Afghanistan.

The claim, published Sunday evening on the media arm of the militant group, the Aamaq news agency, signals a growing threat to the Taliban from their longtime rivals.

At least eight people, including several Taliban fighters, were killed in attacks on Sunday and Saturday in the provincial town of Jalalabad, an IS stronghold.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in a blitz last month, invading the capital Kabul as the United States and NATO were in the final stages of withdrawing their troops. The last foreign soldiers left on August 30.

The Taliban now face major economic and security challenges in attempting to rule Afghanistan, and an accelerated campaign of IS attacks will further complicate these efforts. The Taliban and IS extremists were enemies before foreign troops left Afghanistan.

Both groups subscribe to a harsh interpretation of Islam, but the Taliban has focused on taking control of Afghanistan, while ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere are calling for global jihad.

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ISLAMABAD – Pakistani security forces said they killed a notorious Pakistani Taliban commander on Monday in an operation suspected of being involved in the murder of four female teachers in a former militant stronghold in the northwest of the country.

A military statement said Saif Ullah was involved in the February attack in the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan province, on the border with Afghanistan, when the four teachers were shot dead while traveling. by car.

The military said the suspect was also involved in past attacks on Pakistani security forces, construction engineers and kidnappings for ransom in the region.

The Pakistani Taliban, which is a militant group distinct from the Afghan Taliban, have been waging war against the government in Islamabad for years. They are also behind the 2012 bombing that injured Malala Yousafzai, who in 2014 became the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in Pakistan for her work as an activist for the education of young women. Malala is the youngest to receive the Nobel Prize.

Some fear the Pakistani Taliban will be emboldened after the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last month, as US and NATO forces were in the final stages of their withdrawal from the country. Pakistani militants in general have stepped up attacks in North Waziristan in recent months, raising concerns that they may regroup in the region, a former Taliban stronghold.

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KABUL, Afghanistan – The acting mayor of the Afghan capital said many female workers in the city have been ordered to stay at home by the country’s new Taliban leadership.

Hamdullah Namony told reporters on Sunday that only women who could not be replaced by men were allowed to report to work. He says that includes skilled workers in design and engineering departments as well as female public toilet attendants.

Namony’s comments were another sign that the Taliban are carrying out their harsh take on Islam, including restrictions on women in public life, despite their initial promises of tolerance and inclusion. During their previous regime in the 1990s, the Taliban denied girls and women access to school and work.

The mayor said that a final decision regarding the employees of the Kabul municipal services is still pending and that they will receive their salaries in the meantime.

He says that before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last month, just under a third of the city’s roughly 3,000 employees were women who worked in all departments.