Afghanistan women footballers evade Taliban, reach Pak

Islamabad, September 15

Thirty-two women football players from Afghanistan, who were facing threats from the Taliban, have reached Pakistan along with their families after the government issued emergency humanitarian visas to evacuate them, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The footballers belonging to the national junior girls’ team had been originally due to travel to Qatar, where Afghan refugees have been housed at a facility for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but were left stranded after a bomb blast at the Kabul airport that killed 13 US service members and at least 170 Afghans on August 26. These women were facing threats from the Taliban due to their involvement in the sport, a newspaper reported.

These women football players had since been in hiding to evade the Taliban, according to the report. The move to bring the 32 footballers to Pakistan was initiated by British-based NGO Football for Peace in cooperation with the government and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), which is not recognised by FIFA. — PTI

Must unfreeze af assets: China to US

Beijing: China on Wednesday supported the Taliban’s demand that the US should unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets and said that America has no legitimate reasons to do so as the Chinese envoy to Kabul called on acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and congratulated the interim government. PTI