Taliban minister urges leadership to lift Afghan women’s education ban

Islamabad — A senior Taliban leader has publicly criticized his government’s policy of banning female education in Afghanistan, calling it a “personal choice” rather than an interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia. The rare public rebuke by Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai comes amid persistent international calls for Afghanistan’s rulers to allow girls’…

Afghan forces target Pakistan in response to deadly air strikes

Afghanistan’s Taliban defense ministry said on Saturday that its forces attacked several locations inside Pakistan in response to last week’s deadly air strikes. Pakistan last Tuesday launched an operation to destroy a training facility and kill insurgents in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. Dozens of people were killed in the attacks, mostly women and children. Social…