Taliban issue death decree or ‘Fatwa’ against Afghani-Pak actor Malisha Heena Khan

NEW DELHI: With the Taliban taking almost complete control in Afghanistan, the terrorist group has issued a “fatwa” or a public death decree against an Afghani-Pak woman – a model and actress currently living in India – Malisha Heena Khan for her public utterances against the outfit.

The fatwa was issued Thursday evening against Malisha Heena Khan who has been very vocal against the Taliban and has been tweeting updates about their crimes against women in the war-torn country.

A Taliban spokesperson confirmed that a splinter group of hardliners among the Taliban fighters had issued the ‘fatwa’, against the India-based actress, but refused to comment any further.

On Tuesday, Heena-Khan speaking to IndyaTv.in had said heavily armed Taliban fighters in Kabul last week, indiscriminately fired upon vehicles carrying civilians, fleeing from war zones where intense fighting was witnessed and seeking shelter in safer locales.

She lost four members of her family in the violence and fighting at Kabul. Her uncle, nephew and two cousins were killed in fighting last week, as the Taliban took over Kabul.

“They were firing indiscriminately with machine guns and other heavy weapons and tossing grenades even at civilian vehicles. Those vehicles which slowed down and tried to show the fighters that there were children and women inside were also fired upon. In spite of seeing that there were kids in the car, the Taliban fired on the vehicle, causing the car to explode, killing all the occupants on the spot,” she said.

Meanwhile, according to an ANI report, admitting that women are not safe in the present Taliban regime, the outfit directed Afghan women to work from home.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said at a news conference on Tuesday that women should not go to work for their own safety, undermining the group’s efforts to convince international observers that the group would be more tolerant towards women than when they were last in power, reported CNN.

As per Mujahid, the measure was necessary because the Taliban “keep changing and are not trained.”

When last in power between 1996 and 2001 the group banned women from the workplace, stopped them from leaving the home unaccompanied and forced them to cover their entire bodies.

The direction came after the World Bank halted funding in Afghanistan, citing concerns about the safety of women, and within hours of the UN calling for a “transparent and prompt investigation” into reports of human rights abuses since the Taliban takeover, dealing another blow to an economy that relies heavily on foreign aid, reported CNN.