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Indian security forces in Kashmir carried out a major manhunt Wednesday, a day after gunmen opened fire on tourists, slaughtering at least 26 people in the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” and pledged that the attackers “will be brought to justice”.Modi, who cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia to return to India early Wednesday, met with top security officials immediately on his arrival, a government official said.No official toll has been released, but security sources told AFP that at least 26 people were killed on Tuesday afternoon when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot and raked crowds of visitors with automatic gunfire.Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack had been “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”.No group has claimed responsibility, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.- ‘Abomination’ -“This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” Abdullah said in a statement after the attack.”The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”AFP journalists near the site of the attack in Pahalgam, a popular site for tourists in summer some 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar, reported heavy deployment of security forces.”The search operation is currently in progress, with all efforts focused on bringing the attackers to justice,” the Indian army’s Chinar Corps said in a statement overnight.A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and had transported some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.The killings came a day after Modi met US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi.”Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement shortly after the attack.The deadliest recent attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 Indians were killed. That attack occurred on the eve of a visit by US president Bill Clinton.- ‘Heinous’ -The killings on Tuesday sparked global outrage.US President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”.Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged that “Europe will stand with you”.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter, and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.Survivors said the gunmen targeted men, shooting some from point-blank range.One woman survivor reported that men in uniform emerged from surrounding forests to a meadow where tourists were enjoying the peace of nature, The Indian Express newspaper reported.Survivors said they had assumed they were policemen.”They were there at least for 20 minutes, undeterred, moving around and opening fire”, the newspaper quoted the survivor as saying. “It seemed like an eternity”. The victims included an Indian Navy officer, who had recently got married, and who was on holiday with his wife. Another survivor told news outlet India Today that the attackers asked the men in her family to recite the Muslim call to prayer.”Then they resumed firing and shot my father and uncle,” the survivor said. 

Nepal’s first nationwide survey of the threatened snow leopard estimated nearly 400 of the elusive big cats in the Himalayan nation, wildlife officials said Tuesday.Habitat loss, climate change and poaching have greatly impacted snow leopard populations across Asia, listed as a “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).But the survey offers a rare shot of hope, confirming numbers lie at the upper end of the previous estimates.With thick grey fur dotted with dark spots, and large paws that act as natural snow shoes, the species are difficult to spot and quick to hide, making field research challenging.”This is a historic step in Nepal’s snow leopard conservation journey,” Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told AFP.”This is the first time we are getting authentic data with the great effort of researchers,” he said.An estimated total of 397 snow leopards were counted, determined through motion-sensor camera and genetic analysis in seven key areas.It offers the most comprehensive national estimate of snow leopards — also known as the “ghosts of mountains” — previously estimated by the IUCN to be in the range of 301-400.Snow leopards are the least studied of the big cats globally due to their low population density and remote mountain habitats they inhabit.”Nepal has only two percent of the size of the snow leopard habitats globally, (yet) we host 10 percent of the total estimated population”, Ghana S Gurung, country representative of WWF Nepal, told AFP.”More importantly, we are the second smallest country in terms of snow leopard habitat size after Bhutan, (but) we hold the fourth largest population,” he added.- ‘Increased human activity’ -The Snow Leopard Trust, a US-based conservation group, says the exact total number is not known but that “there may be as few as 3,920 and probably no more than 6,390″  across 12 countries in Asia.Although conservationists have welcomed the new population estimate, many remain concerned about the threats posed by climate change and infrastructure development.”New road construction, installation of transmission lines, and increased human activity in search of herbs are disrupting snow leopards’ habitats in the Himalayas,” said Acharya, one of the lead researchers.Experts say the increasing avalanches in the mountains — where climate change is exacerbating extremes of weather patterns — are another threat.Nepal has been praised worldwide for its efforts to protect wildlife which have helped several species, including tigers and rhinos, to return from the brink of local extinction. The country’s conservation efforts have helped to triple its tiger population to 355 since 2010 and to increase one-horned rhinoceros from around 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.

At least 26 people were killed Tuesday in Indian-administered Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on tourists, security sources told AFP, in the insurgency-hit region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers “will be brought to justice”.The killings come a day after Modi met in New Delhi with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife and children.A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and had transported some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.Pahalgam lies 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar.One security source said that foreign tourists were among those shot, but there was no official confirmation.Other security sources and some Indian media reported late Tuesday that 26 people had died, an increase from the 24 that a senior local police officer had earlier told AFP.No group has claimed responsibility, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.Vance offered condolences in a social media post, while President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said.Modi also cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia over the attack, the foreign ministry said.In New York, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “strongly condemns” the attack.- Males targeted -“The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” said the witness who asked not to be identified.”They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes single shot and sometimes many bullets. It was like a storm,” said the man, who cares for horses that are popular with tourists in the area.The witness said dozens of people fled as the gunmen opened fire.”They all started running around in panic”, he added.Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that “the attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”, with the death toll still uncertain.”This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” he added in a statement. “The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged that “Europe will stand with you.”- Holiday destination – Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including with gunshot wounds.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.”Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement.In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for winter skiing, and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, the majority domestic visitors.In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call “normalcy and peace” were returning after a massive crackdown.A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.The deadliest recent attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 Indians were killed. That attack occurred on the eve of a visit by US president Bill Clinton.pzb-bb-sai-ash-pjm/sco/des/bgs/dw

India’s KL Rahul hit an unbeaten 57 to steer Delhi Capitals to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants and get his side back to winning ways in the IPL on Tuesday.Chasing a modest 160 for victory, Delhi rode on Rahul’s 42-ball knock and a second-wicket partnership with Abishek Porel, who hit 51, to achieve their target with 13 balls to spare at Lucknow’s home ground.Delhi, with six wins in eight matches, bounced back from their previous defeat to table-toppers Gujarat Titans and are second in the 10-team table.Seam bowler Mukesh Kumar set up victory with his four wickets as he helped pull Lucknow back from 87-0 to 110-4 and then a below-par total of 159-6.”Once we picked up two quick wickets, we got the momentum and all the bowlers did well to restrict them under 160,” Delhi skipper Axar Patel said.In reply, Delhi lost Karun Nair for 15 bowled by Aiden Markram, a part-time off spinner, but Porel and Rahul combined to get the chase on track in their stand of 69.Markram struck again to get the left-handed Porel out after his 36-ball knock, which was laced with five fours and one six.Rahul stood firm and along with Axar, who made 34, put on an unbeaten stand of 56 to steer the team home with a winning six from Rahul.Rahul hit his third fifty of the season to go past 5,000 runs in the IPL — making him the quickest player to achieve the feat in the T20 tournament.- Lucknow ’20 short’ -Earlier, openers Markram (52) and Mitchell Marsh (45) combined the right dose of caution and aggression to steer Lucknow to 87 inside 10 overs.South African batter Markram raised his fifty and alongside Australia’s Marsh forced Delhi to rotate their bowling options.Sri Lanka pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera struck first to send back Markram caught out, and the wicket triggered a mini collapse.Australia’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc got the big wicket of West indies left-hander Nicholas Pooran, bowled for nine.Mukesh then got two wickets in one over, including Marsh, and Lucknow wobbled.Lucknow subbed out Marsh and got Ayush Badoni as the impact player, and the 25-year-old repaid the decision by regularly finding the boundary.Badoni made the most of a dropped catch by Tristan Stubbs on three to smash 36 off 21 deliveries.Badoni hammered Mukesh for three successive boundaries in the 20th over but the bowler bowled him on the fourth ball.Skipper Rishabh Pant dropped himself down to number seven but faced just two balls before being bowled by Mukesh on the final delivery of the innings.”We knew we were 20 runs short,” said Pant. “In Lucknow, the toss plays a big part. Whoever is bowling first, they get a lot of help from the wicket. We just had to stay back, we just couldn’t get it away.”Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who went to Lucknow for a record bid of $3.21 million in the November auction, has scored 106 runs in eight innings with a highest score of 63.

As Catholics filed into Myanmar’s grandest cathedral to mourn Pope Francis on Tuesday, a wartime power cut plunged the worship hall into a murky gloom.But at the front of the pews a portrait of the pontiff remained illuminated by an unseen source — a backup bulb or an open window keeping the image of his face vivid and bright.It was a fitting tribute for a faith leader Myanmar Catholics hailed for shining a light on their country in its recent dark and wartorn times.”Among popes he was the most outspoken on Myanmar,” said 44-year-old nun Sister Lucy, one of hundreds packed into Yangon’s St Mary’s Cathedral as night fell.”Myanmar Catholics will miss him as the pope who always remembered Myanmar,” she told AFP.- ‘People in the peripheries’ -Pope Francis — who died Monday aged 88 — was the only Catholic church chief to visit Myanmar, arriving in 2017 as the country was in the midst of a brief democratic experiment.Since the military snatched back power in a 2021 coup, Myanmar has been plunged into a many-sided civil war which has killed thousands, displaced millions and seen half the population gripped by poverty.The conflict often fails to register on the international stage. But for Pope Francis it was a regular refrain as he called the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics to pray.”Let us not fail to assist the people of Myanmar,” Francis urged in his final sermon on Easter Sunday, recalling both the civil war and last month’s magnitude-7.7 earthquake which has killed more than 3,700.The speech was delivered by an associate because of Francis’ faltering health after he was hospitalised for five weeks with double pneumonia.”He’s a man who really cared for those people in the peripheries,” Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Archbishop of Yangon, told AFP after leading prayers and hymns. “He would always listen.”The special service on Tuesday night was held as Myanmar’s military said it would extend a ceasefire declared to ease earthquake relief efforts by one more week.Monitors say fighting has continued despite the truce, with little evidence Pope Francis’s calls for harmony have been answered.”The message that he left and the homework that he left for the Church is to build peace and reconciliation in the country,” Cardinal Bo said. “He would say, ‘Let’s open our hearts to everyone’.”Cardinal Bo, a Myanmar native, has been named among the potential successors to Pope Francis, with the new pontiff due to be picked by a secrecy-shrouded conclave of cardinals in the coming weeks.”We hope that the one that will be succeeding him will have the same sympathy, care and concern for the people of Myanmar,” said Cardinal Bo.- ‘Practiced what he preached’ -Inside the sweltering brickwork of St Mary’s a number of worshippers wore souvenir t-shirts from Francis’s 2017 visit and one nun used a novelty fan celebrating his trip to dull the heat.Just inside its doors, floral tributes were presented before preserved items Francis used on his four-day venture in the Southeast Asian country — a set of vestments, a raised chair, two pillows and a towel.There are only approximately 700,000 Catholics in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which has a population of over 50 million.But Francis “asked the other bishops to get out of their comfort zones”, according to 50-year-old nun Sister Margarita, in the rush of the last worshippers arriving for the service heralded by clanging church bells.”No other pope has come to Myanmar but he came,” she said. “He practiced what he preached.”

At least 24 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on tourists on Tuesday, a senior police officer told AFP, with authorities calling it the worst attack on civilians in years.Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers “will be brought to justice”.A tour guide told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and transported some of the wounded away on horseback.”I saw a few men lying on the ground looking like they were dead,” said Waheed, who gave only one name.The attack targeted tourists in Pahalgam, which lies about 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar.The senior police officer in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, described a massacre in which at least 24 people had been killed.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.The killings come a day after Modi met with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife Usha and children.Vance offered his and Usha’s condolences to the “victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam”.”Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack,” he wrote on X.- ‘Abomination’ -Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that “the attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”, with the death toll “still being ascertained”.”This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” he said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”An AFP reporter at Pahalgam spoke to another witness of the shooting who asked not to be identified.”The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” said the witness, who cares for the horses that are popular with tourists in the area. “They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes single shot and sometimes many bullets, it was like a storm.” The witness said dozens of people fled as the gunmen opened fire. “They all started running around in panic”, he added. “We tried to comfort them but they were just screaming… we helped carry some injured out of there on ponies.”India’s interior minister Amit Shah flew to Kashmir and vowed those responsible would be caught.”Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” Shah said in a statement.One security source said that foreign tourists were among those shot, but there was no official confirmation.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a post on X, said he was “deeply saddened by the heinous terror attack on tourists”, adding that his nation “stands united with India”.- Popular tourist destination – Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including at least two with gunshot wounds, one with a bullet injury to the neck.Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, called the killings “heartbreaking”.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, but fighting decreased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.”Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement following the attack.In recent years, the authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months, and to escape the sweltering heat during the summer elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, according to official figures, the majority domestic visitors.In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call “normalcy and peace” were returning after a massive crackdown.A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.The deadliest recent attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 people, all Indian civilians, were killed.pzb-bb-sai-ash-pjm/sco

US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that “good progress” had been made towards a trade deal with India after meeting with “tough negotiator” Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.Washington and New Delhi are negotiating the first tranche of a trade deal, which India hopes will allow it to secure relief within the 90-day pause on steep tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump this month. “Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator, he drives a hard bargain,” Vance said in a speech in the city of Jaipur, where he is visiting as part of a four-day tour of India. “It’s one of the reasons why we respect him.”Vance, who met with Modi on Monday evening, sketched out a win-win partnership saying the two nations had “much to offer one another”, urging New Delhi to buy more US military equipment and boost energy ties.”We don’t blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India’s industry, but we do blame American leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers”, Vance added.”We believe that we can fix that to the mutual benefit of both the United States and India.”Trump wants “America to grow” and “he wants India to grow”, Vance said. “Both of our governments are hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities by creating new jobs, building durable supply chains and achieving prosperity for our workers,” he said. “In our meeting yesterday Prime Minister Modi and I made very good progress on all those points.”- Vance defends Trump’s tariffs -However, Vance also pointed out that India could go a “long way” in enhancing energy ties between the two countries. “One suggestion I have, is maybe consider dropping some of the non-tariff barriers for American access to the Indian market,” Vance added, without giving further details.”Critics have attacked my president, President Trump, for starting a trade war in an effort to bring back the jobs of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Vance added.”He seeks to rebalance global trade so that America, with friends like India, can build a future worth having for all of our people together.”Vance, who is accompanied by his family including his wife Usha, the daughter of Indian immigrants, is due to visit the Taj Mahal at Agra on Wednesday.Vance said that if India, the world’s most populous nation, and the United States work together successfully, “we’re going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful”.But he also warned that, if “we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity”.

India paceman Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the Leading Men’s Cricketer in the World in the 2025 edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, with compatriot Smriti Mandhana picking up the women’s award.Bumrah was given the honour by the sport’s “bible” after a stunning 2024 in which he excelled in red-ball and white-ball cricket.The 31-year-old picked up 71 Test wickets at an average of less than 15 and was named player of the tournament as India won the T20 World Cup in the West Indies.Wisden editor Lawrence Booth described Bumrah as “quite simply the star of the year”.Reflecting on Bumrah’s astonishing efforts during India’s Test series in Australia, Booth wrote: “He was so lethal, so uniquely challenging — a staccato of limbs somehow forming a symphony — that runs scored off him should have counted double.”And while taking 32 Australian wickets at 13 each, he laid a claim to be considered the greatest of all time, becoming the first with 200 Test wickets at an average below 20.” Despite Bumrah’s heroics, Australia won the five-Test series, which finished in early January, 3-1.Mandhana, 28, made it an Indian double by being named as the Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World. The batter scored 1,659 runs across all formats in 2024 — the most by a woman in a calendar year of international cricket.West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran was named as the game’s leading T20 cricketer.In the almanack, which is published on Thursday, Booth is scathing about Jay Shah’s smooth transition from the most powerful figure in Indian cricket to chairman of the International Cricket Council.”(It is) a sorry truth: 2024 was the year cricket gave up any claim to being properly administered, with checks, balances, and governance for the many, not the few,” Booth writes.He adds: “Cricket has handed over the only key not already in India’s possession. All hail the Big One.”The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has been published continually on an annual basis since its first edition in 1864.Wisden also names five Cricketers of the Year — an award that can only be won once in a career — and is generally based on performances in the previous English season.England trio Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Sophie Ecclestone have been named among the five in the 2025 edition.Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson, who has also played for England, and Surrey paceman Dan Worrall complete the line-up.

Pushed out of Pakistan where she was born, Nazmine Khan’s first experience of her country, Afghanistan, was in a sweltering tent at a border camp.”We never thought we would return to Afghanistan,” said the 15-year-old girl, who has little idea of what will become of her or her family, only that she is likely to have fewer freedoms.”When our parents told us we had to leave, we cried,” added Khan.Having nowhere to go in Afghanistan, she and six other family members shared a stifling tent in the Omari camp near the Torkham border pointIslamabad, accusing Afghans of links to narcotics and “supporting terrorism”, announced a new campaign in March to expel hundreds of thousands of Afghans, with or without documents. Many Afghans had lived in Pakistan for decades after fleeing successive wars and crises.But seeing their removal as inevitable, many did not wait to be arrested by Pakistani forces before leaving.Since April 1, more than 100,000 Afghans have been sent back to their country of origin, according to Islamabad, out of the around three million the United Nations says are living in Pakistan.Khan’s family fled Afghanistan in the 1960s. Her four brothers and sister were also born in Pakistan.”In a few days we’ll look for a place to rent” in the border province of Nangarhar where the family has roots, she told AFP, speaking in Pakistan’s commonly spoken tongue of Urdu, not knowing any Afghan languages.In the family’s tent there is little more than a cloth to lie on and a few cushions, but no mattress or blanket. Flies buzz under the tarpaulin as countless children in ragged clothes come and go.- ‘Already suffering’ -When it comes to her own future, Khan feels “completely lost”, she said.Having dropped out of school in Pakistan, the Taliban authorities’ ban on girls studying beyond primary school will hardly change the course of her life.But from what little she heard about her country while living in eastern Pakistan’s Punjab, she knows that “here there are not the same freedoms”.Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have imposed restrictions on women characterised by the UN as “gender apartheid”.Women have been banned from universities, parks, gyms and beauty salons, and squeezed from many jobs.”It is now a new life… for them, and they are starting this with very little utilities, belongings, cash, support,” said Ibrahim Humadi, programme lead for non-governmental group Islamic Relief, which has set up about 200 tents for returnees in the Omari camp.Some stay longer than the three days offered on arrival, not knowing where to go with their meager savings, he said.”They also know that even in their area of return, the community will be welcoming them, will be supporting them… but they know also the community are already suffering from the situation in Afghanistan,” he added.Around 85 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than one dollar a day, according to the UN Development Programme.”We had never seen (Afghanistan) in our lives. We do not know if we can find work, so we are worried,” said Jalil Khan Mohamedin, 28, as he piled belongings — quilts, bed frames and fans — into a truck that will take the 16 members of his family to the capital Kabul, though nothing awaits them there.- ‘Still don’t understand’ -The Taliban authorities have said they are preparing towns specifically for returnees. But at one site near Torkham, there is nothing more than cleared roads on a rocky plain. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says “greater clarity” is needed to ensure that the sites intended for returnees are “viable” in terms of basic infrastructure and services such as health and education.It’s important that “returnees are making informed decisions and that their relocation to the townships is voluntary”, communications officer Avand Azeez Agha told AFP.Looking dazed, Khan’s brother Dilawar still struggles to accept leaving Pakistan, where he was born 25 years ago. His Pakistani wife did not want to follow him and asked for a divorce. “When we crossed the border, we felt like going back, then after a day it felt fine,” said the former truck driver.”We still don’t understand. We were only working.”

In March 2001, the Taliban shocked the world by dynamiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan. Two decades later, they are back in power and claim to be making strides to preserve Afghanistan’s millennia-old heritage, including pre-Islamic relics.Even months before their takeover in 2021 the Taliban called for the protection of ancient artefacts in the country, sparking scepticism among observers.”All have an obligation to robustly protect, monitor and preserve these artefacts” and sites in Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities declared in February that year. They are “part of our country’s history, identity and rich culture”.Since their return to power and decades of war ended, archaeological finds — particularly related to Buddhism — have proliferated, with discoveries publicised by the authorities.In eastern Laghman province, niches carved into rocks in Gowarjan village are believed to have been storerooms dating back to the Kushan empire, which 2,000 years ago stretched from the Gobi desert to the river Ganges.Also in Laghman, carved Brahmi inscriptions have been found, along with a hollowed out stone slab used for pounding grapes for wine.”It is said that Afghan history goes back 5,000 years — these ancient sites prove it; people lived here,” said Mohammed Yaqoub Ayoubi, head of the provincial culture and tourism department.”Whether they were Muslim or not, they had a kingdom here,” he told AFP, adding that the Taliban authorities afford “a great deal of attention” to the preservation of these sites.In nearby Ghazni province, the information and culture head Hamidullah Nisar echoed the sentiment.Recently uncovered Buddhist statuettes must be “protected and passed down to future generations because they are part of our history”, he said.- ‘They value them’ -These relics would have likely met a different fate during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001.Days after Taliban founder Mullah Omar ordered the destruction of all Buddhist statues to prevent idol worship, the gigantic 1,500-year-old Buddhas of central Bamiyan province were pulverised — the Taliban having been unmoved by international outcry.”When they returned, people thought they would have no regard for historical sites,” said Mohammed Nadir Makhawar, director of heritage preservation in Laghman, a position he held under the ousted Republic. “But we see that they value them.”In December 2021, the Taliban reopened the Afghan National Museum, where they had once destroyed pre-Islamic artefacts.The following year, they reached out to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to help preserve the historic Buddhist site of Mes Aynak, where there is also a copper mine under a development contract with a Chinese consortium.”The request was unexpected,” said Ajmal Maiwandi, the head of AKTC in Afghanistan, who even noted an “enthusiasm” from the authorities to support the conservation work.”I think the Taliban have understood how much the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas damaged their reputation,” said Valery Freland, director of the ALIPH foundation, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage.”They seem concerned today with preserving material heritage in all its diversity,” he added. However, experts have highlighted that the Taliban authorities do not extend the same concern to intangible heritage: music, dance, folklore and anything involving women remain a red line in their severe interpretation of Islam.And while a historic synagogue in Herat city was preserved after the Taliban takeover, local authorities have recently resisted media attention on the site and the city’s former Jewish community.- ‘Cautiously optimistic’ -Afghanistan has signed several conventions on heritage since the Taliban’s first reign, with its destruction deemed a war crime in 2016.Beyond the risk of angering the international community — whose recognition the Taliban seek — Afghanistan’s heritage represents “a potential lever for the country’s tourism and economic development”, said an industry expert speaking on condition of anonymity.However, the authorities face two major challenges, the source said, pointing to a lack of financial resources and the departure — following their takeover — of “the archaeological and heritage elite”.Security could hamper tourism ambitions as well; a group visiting Bamiyan was targeted in a deadly militant attack last year.In the tiny Laghman museum, a plastic bag and newspaper serve as protection for the statuettes, one of which depicts the face of a Buddhist goddess.It was discovered last year in the courtyard of a farm, among milling cows and goats.Ayoubi says he needs help to properly conserve and study them to determine their precise age, a process hampered by four decades of war in Afghanistan.Looting has also proved an ongoing challenge, with no fewer than 30 sites still being “actively pillaged”, according to a 2023 study by University of Chicago researchers.Even if preservation projects have not been disrupted, Maiwandi remains “cautiously optimistic”.”The situation in Afghanistan can change quickly,” he said.