Habibullah Agha, the Acting Minister of Education of Afghanistan, highlighted the educational situation in Afghanistan during his statement at the Second Global Conference of Education Ministers in Kazan, Russia, this week and called for international assistance to help boost the sector in the country.

He said Afghanistan needed international assistance and cooperation over building of schools, printing textbooks, and paying teachers’ salaries.

Habibullah also expressed gratitude to the organizers of the conference.

The gathering, chaired by the Minister of Education of Russia, began with a message from President Vladimir Putin.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation also delivered speeches via an online link.

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Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi is currently the top wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup 2024. With nine scalps from two games, Farooqi is leading the pack.

If Farooqi keeps on the same path, he will join fellow Afghanistan cricketer Mohammad Nabi as top wicket-taker at a T20 World Cup.

Nabi scooped his accolade at the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Twenty-three year old Farooqi, who hails from Baghlan, has risen to relative fame over the past few years, after having played his debut T20I in March 2021 against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi.

Farooqi’s monumental achievements in the Uganda and New Zealand matches are however a new take on Afghanistan’s original stance.

For years, the team’s blueprint was Mujeeb Ur Rahman with the new ball, Mohammad Nabi after the powerplay, and Rashid Khan later on. This was especially applicable to T20s.

The three played such a big role that Afghanistan became synonymous with spinners.

Of late, though, it is becoming more and more evident that Afghanistan are no longer just about their spinners.

For the second successive match at T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan’s victory was set up by their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, and left-arm seamer Farooqi.

In the first match against Uganda, Gurbaz and Ibrahim added 154 in just 14.3 overs to help Afghanistan post 183 for 5. Later, Farooqi dismantled Uganda with a career-best 5 for 9.

If one overlooked their performance by saying it came against an inexperienced side in Uganda, the trio did a repeat against New Zealand on Friday evening.

Apart from being playful, Farooqi is however, someone who is extremely confident in his ability as a bowler.

Talking about Farooqi’s bowling, skipper Rashid Khan said after Saturday’s match: “He is giving us the base we want. Especially in T20s, the powerplay is very important. And the way Farooqi has bowled in the last two games is amazing. He is a very skilful bowler.

“He still needs to improve a lot of things but once he understands how skillful he is, he is going to be very dangerous in future.”

Afghanistan’s next match will be against Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Friday, June 14.

The match starts at 5pm Kabul time and will be broadcast live on Ariana Television.

Fans can however tune in at 4.30pm to watch the pre-match show.

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Pakistan security forces arrested 85 Afghan nationals in the border district of Chagai district for allegedly crossing into Pakistan illegally, officials said on Monday.

The Afghan nationals were found on the Pakistani side near the border without legal travel documents, Dawn News reported.

Reports indicated the Afghan nationals entered Pakistan illegally in order to cross into Iran. They had reportedly planned to then journey on from Iran.

A senior security official said the Afghan nationals were arrested and handed over to the Levies force for further investigation.

Levies Force officials said that after completing legal formalities the Afghan nationals would be deported through the Baracha crossing gate on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Levies are locally recruited paramilitary forces (gendarmeries) responsible for security and law enforcement in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

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