First Afghan woman to compete internationally after Taliban takeover seeks Olympic gold in Paris

First Afghan woman to compete internationally after Taliban takeover seeks Olympic gold in Paris
Afghan Taekwondo Paralympian Zakia Khudadadi, part of the Refugee Olympic Team, demonstrates her training routine after an interview with The Associated Press at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on August 5, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 06 August 2024
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First Afghan woman to compete internationally after Taliban takeover seeks Olympic gold in Paris

First Afghan woman to compete internationally after Taliban takeover seeks Olympic gold in Paris
  • Zakia Khudadadi is competing for the Refugee Paralympic Team, while other athletes are seeking medals under Afghanistan’s flag
  • Khudadadi began practicing taekwondo at 11, training in secret at a gym in Herāt because there were simply no other opportunities

PARIS: Zakia Khudadadi has spent most of her life breaking through glass ceilings. Or rather, smashing through them with a sidekick.
The taekwondo Paralympian made history in 2021 in Tokyo, becoming the first Afghan woman to compete in an international sporting event since the Taliban took back control of her country as US and NATO troops withdrew following 20 year of war.
Originally blocked from competing following the rise of the Taliban, she was later evacuated from Afghanistan and allowed to compete for her country following a plea from the international community.
In the 2024 Paralympics, part of the wider Olympic competitions in Paris, Khudadadi said she is competing in the name of women in her country who have gradually been stripped of their rights over the past three years.
“It’s hard for me because I’d like to compete under my country’s flag,” she said. But “life for all girls and women in Afghanistan is forbidden. It’s over. Today, I’m here to win a medal in Paris for them. I want to show strength to all women and girls in Afghanistan.”
Khudadadi is competing for the Refugee Paralympic Team, while other athletes are seeking medals under Afghanistan’s flag, such as Olympic sprinter Kimia Yousofi. Yousofi’s parents fled during the Taliban’s previous rule and she was born and raised in neighboring Iran. She said she wanted to represent her country, flaws and all, and wanted to “be the voice of Afghan girls.”
For Khudadadi, she began practicing taekwondo at 11, training in secret at a gym in her hometown of Herāt because there were simply no other opportunities for women to safely practice sports. Despite a closed culture around her, Khudadadi said her family was open and would push her to be active.
Compounding her struggles to compete in Afghanistan, she said, was her disability.
Despite having “one of the largest populations per capita of persons with disabilities in the world” due to conflict, people with disabilities are often shunned and blocked from Afghan society, according to Human Rights Watch. Women are often disproportionately affected.
Born without one forearm, Khudadadi said she spent her life hiding her arm. It was only when she started competing that it began to change.
“Before I started in sports, I protected myself a lot with my arm. But little by little ... I started showing my arm, but only in the club. Only while competing,” she said.
As she began to compete, she said she felt that stigma begin to melt away. Taekwondo once again became her path to freedom, and she gained attention in 2016, when she medaled internationally for the first time.
That all changed five years later, when the Taliban made a dramatic ascent to power following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. While preparing for Tokyo, Khudadadi was trapped in the country’s capital, Kabul.
The International Paralympic Committee originally issued a statement saying the Afghan team wouldn’t participate in the Games held in 2021 “due to the serious ongoing situation in the country.” But in a bid to compete, Khudadadi released a video pleading with the international community for help.
“Please, I urge you all, from the women around the globe, institutions for the protection of women, from all government organizations, to not let the rights of a female citizen of Afghanistan in the Paralympic movement to be taken away, so easily,” she said. “I don’t want my struggle to be in vain.”
She was evacuated to Tokyo in 2021 to compete, leaving behind her family.
By doing so, she became the first Afghan female Paralympian in nearly two decades. In 2023, she won gold at the the European Para Championships.
Following her flight from Afghanistan, she settled in Paris, but she said she aches for the mix of cultures that paints her country and the openness of the people wandering the bustling streets of Kabul.
“I hope some day I’ll be able to return to Afghanistan, to Kabul, to live life together in freedom and peace,” she said.
Thousands of miles away in Khudadadi’s hometown of Herat, 38-year-old Shah Mohammad was among throwing their support behind Khudadadi and other Afghan female athletes in Paris.
“We are happy for the Afghan women who have gone to the Olympics, but my wish is that one day women from inside Afghanistan can participate in the Games and be the voice of women from the country,” Mohammad said.
That day is unlikely any time soon.
The Taliban have cut women from much of public life and blocked girls from studying beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they have imposed since 2021 despite initially promising more moderate rule. Just in January, the United Nations said the Taliban are now restricting Afghan women’s access to work, travel and health care if they are unmarried or have no male guardian.
They haven’t just banned sports for women and girls, they have intimidated and harassed those who once played.
But even before the Taliban’s return to power, women’s sports were opposed by many in the country’s deeply conservative society, seen as a violation of women’s modesty and of their role in society.
Still, the previous, Western-backed government had programs encouraging women’s sports and school clubs, leagues and national teams.
For Khudadadi, the IOC’s refugee team helped her and other athletes who have fled their countries continue their careers. The Paralympian trains long hours — eyes set on a gold medal in Paris — with deep frustration as she’s watch strides for women in her country erode, and Afghanistan once again fall out of the global spotlight.
One question simmers in Khudadadi’s mind: “Why the world has forgotten Afghan women?”
Still, for others like Mohammad Amin Sharifi, 43, watching Khudadadi and other Afghan Olympians in Paris, especially women, has been a point of pride for people like him in Afghanistan.
“Right now, we need Afghan women’s voices to be raised in any way possible and the Olympics are the best place for that,” Sharifi said from Kabul. “We are happy and proud of the women representing the Afghan people.”


Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east

Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east
Updated 05 October 2024
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Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east

Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east
  • The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province
  • Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe

KYIV: Ukrainian forces said they shot down a Russian fighter plane on Saturday while Russia claimed it made gains in Ukraine’s east.
The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne. Photos showed charred remains of an aircraft after it landed on a house that caught fire.
Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe.
If confirmed, the capture would come three days after Ukrainian forces said they were withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, some 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Zhelanne Druhe, following a hard-fought two-year defense.
Although unlikely to change the course of the war, the loss of Vuhledar is indicative of Kyiv’s worsening position, in part the result of Washington’s refusal to grant Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russian territory and preventing Kyiv from degrading Moscow’s capabilities.
Zelensky will present his victory plan to allies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that he will present his “victory plan” at the Oct. 12 meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine.
“We will present the victory plan — clear, concrete steps toward a just end to the war. The determination of our partners and the strengthening of Ukraine are what can stop Russian aggression,” he wrote on X, adding that the 25th Ramstein meeting would be the first to take place at the leaders’ level.
Zelensky presented his plan to US President Joe Biden in Washington last week. Its contents have not been made public but it is known that the plan includes Ukraine’s membership of NATO and the provision of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
Russia shells southern Ukraine and a Ukraine drone hits a bus
Meanwhile, two people died in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had launched three guided missiles and 13 attack drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said the missiles were intercepted, three drones were shot down over the Odesa region and 10 others were lost.
Nine people were wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger bus in the city of Horlivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, the city’s Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones overnight in three border regions, including seven over the Belgorod region, two over the Kursk region, and one over the Voronezh region.


Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade

Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade
Updated 05 October 2024
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Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade

Afghanistan’s brain drain continues as job security, education prospects fade
  • Taliban blames Western countries for taking away country’s talent
  • But ban on women’s education seen as one of main reasons young people leave

KABUL: Abdullah Jalal is counting down the days to his relocation overseas — a move that will mean him restarting his career but give him the employment security he no longer believes is possible in Afghanistan.

The 29-year-old data management expert has been working for an international organization but said “the future is extremely uncertain.”

“With the current situation in the country, a whole generation is being punished and opportunities are taken away from young experts. I know many friends who have left the country in the past few years or are planning to leave,” he told Arab News.

“Specializations and expertise are not valued in the country anymore … The future employment prospects are not very good.”

Jalal is among the many skilled young professionals who choose to leave Afghanistan every year in search of better opportunities abroad. The numbers peaked in 2021, when hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled as the Taliban regained control of the country.

Three years on, with sanctions slapped on the Taliban administration and a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis, the brain drain continues, further limiting Afghanistan’s capacity for growth.

The trend has been worsened by Taliban policies banning women from attending secondary school and university and most forms of paid employment.

Some parents, like Abdul Saboor, choose to send their daughters overseas so that they can pursue their education. One of his daughters wanted to complete a master’s degree in computer science, but that is no longer possible in Afghanistan.

“Before the suspension of university education, she was teaching at a private university and took some freelance assignments to earn an income and support the family. She is very talented. She taught at a private university and developed websites for some organizations, but she couldn’t continue working,” Saboor said.

“I had to send her — along with my younger daughter who has graduated from high school — to Pakistan to pursue their studies and stay with their aunt. Not all families have this opportunity. I couldn’t see my daughters stay dull at home and continue to live with depression.”

While data about the exact numbers of skilled professionals and graduates leaving the country is unavailable, the International Organization for Migration estimates that in September more than 166,000 Afghans left the country for neighboring Pakistan and Iran alone.

Over the past four decades of wars in the country, 6.4 million Afghans have resettled abroad.

“The brain drain continues to happen even after several years of Islamic Emirate’s rule, creating major gaps in the society,” Dr. Sohaib Raufi, director of the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies in Kabul, told Arab News.

“The educated generation of the country, including university professors and other experts, have fled Afghanistan and continue to leave the country for various reasons, such as a lack of studying and teaching prospects, fading hopes for a better future.”

Last year, the Taliban called on Western countries to stop taking Afghan talent out of the country, but it is their own policy that is contributing to it, according to Raufi.

“A major factor contributing to the growing brain drain is the continuing suspension of school and university education for girls. Job security is another reason experts leave the country because in some instances expertise and profession is not prioritized in Afghanistan, leaving many outside the workforce,” he said.

“This may, in the long term, lead to scarcity of experts in the country negatively impacting the country’s economy, development and political stability.”


Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout
Updated 05 October 2024
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Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout
  • The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to an army statement
  • It said six militants also were killed

PESHAWAR: Militants killed six Pakistani soldiers in a shootout, the army said Saturday, the latest unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan where armed groups including the Pakistani Taliban are active.
The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to an army statement. It said six militants also were killed.
The army said a separate operation killed two militants in Swat, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One of them was said to be involved in an attack on a convoy of foreign ambassadors in the area earlier this month.
Also Saturday, cellphone services remained suspended in Islamabad as it entered a second day of a lockdown aimed at thwarting rallies in support of ex-leader Imran Khan. He is in prison on multiple charges.
Shipping containers blocked off the city’s entry and exit points, but videos from Khan’s PTI party showed supporters piled into vehicles and attempted to head toward Islamabad.
The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, and others in the convoy worked throughout the night to remove shipping containers from the road, according to the party.
The PTI later said that security forces arrested Gandapur for entering Islamabad in defiance of a ban on rallies. Police and officials did not immediately confirm the arrest.
Clashes broke out between Khan supporters and security forces in D-Chowk, which is close to several key government buildings including Parliament and the Supreme Court.
The PTI also said it planned to hold a rally in Lahore.


South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary

South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary
Updated 05 October 2024
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South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary

South Africa: hundreds march for Gaza on war anniversary
  • The marchers — many of them wearing the keffiyeh scarf that symbolizes the Palestinian struggle against Israel — walked to parliament in a protest

CAPE TOWN: Several hundred people marched through central Cape Town Saturday waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans in a pro-Gaza rally to mark the first anniversary of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
With placards accusing Israel of genocide and racism, the marchers — many of them wearing the keffiyeh scarf that symbolizes the Palestinian struggle against Israel — walked to parliament in a protest organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
“Israel is a racist state” and “We are all Palestinian,” chanted some of the marchers. Others held up placards stating: “We are all Hamas” or “Zionism is racism.”
Some marchers said they agreed with the South African case before the International Court of Justice that alleges the Israeli military operation in Gaza, launched in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, amounts to “genocide.”
“I am appalled at Israel and the genocide and the attack on innocent people, children... and now moving on into Lebanon,” Linelle Arendse told the News24 channel.
Many South Africans compare Israel’s stance toward Palestinians with the racially oppressive system of apartheid that imposed white-minority rule on South Africa until the first all-race election in 1994.
“I have been through the apartheid struggle so I know the pain of the Palestinians and Lebanese,” Shafiek Barnes told News24. “I am here because I am Muslim and I feel the pain that they are going through.”
The organizers of the march handed to parliament a memorandum demanding the government implement the UN’s 1973 Apartheid Convention which declares apartheid systems a crime and allows for action against them, such as boycotts.
Also called the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, it was signed by the South African government in May 2024.
Pro-Gaza marches were also due Saturday in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban and around the world ahead of the anniversary of the October 7 attack.


Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest

Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest
Updated 05 October 2024
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Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest

Pakistan capital at standstill as Imran Khan’s supporters protest
  • Former prime minister barred from standing in the February elections that were marred by allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases
  • Protests were also due Saturday in Lahore, however the main motorway linking the eastern megacity to the capital was blocked

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s capital was locked down on Saturday, swarmed by security forces with mobile Internet cut as supporters of jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan attempted to seize the streets in protest.
Khan was barred from standing in the February elections that were marred by allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases.
But his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a crackdown to needle the government with regular demonstrations.
PTI activists began driving to Islamabad on Friday from his powerbase in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but were met with shipping container roadblocks and volleys of tear gas.
On Saturday, small and scattered convoys pressed in on Islamabad in defiance of the government which approved troops for deployment on the streets — citing the need to guarantee security ahead of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit due to open on October 15.
“I am so proud of all our people,” said a message from Khan posted on social media site X on Saturday afternoon. “You showed unfaltering resilience and courage as you came out yesterday and overcame unbelievable obstacles.”
Protests were also due Saturday in Lahore, however the main motorway linking the eastern megacity to the capital was blocked.
Amnesty International said the communications cuts and road blockades “infringe on people’s right to freedom of expression, access to information, peaceful assembly and movement.”
“These restrictions are part of a worrying clampdown on the right to protest in Pakistan,” the rights group said.
The social media site X — formerly Twitter — has also been blocked across Pakistan since after the election, when mobile Internet was likewise cut on polling day and PTI allege widespread vote tampering took place.
The 72-year-old Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote after falling out with the powerful military establishment considered Pakistan’s political kingmakers.
As opposition leader he led an unprecedented campaign of defiance before becoming tangled in slews of court cases he claims have been orchestrated to prevent his return to power.