Taliban bans IPL broadcast in Afghanistan
New Delhi, Sep 21: The Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has banned the broadcast of the hugely popular Indian Premier League (IPL) in the country over the presence of "female audience and spectators" in stadiums.
Former Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) media manager and journalist M Ibrahim Momand said the live broadcast of IPL matches was banned due to possible "anti-Islamic" content.
"Afghanistan national (TV) will not broadcast the @IPL as usual as it was reportedly banned to live the matches resumed tonight due to possible anti-islam contents, girls dancing & the attendance of barred (sic) hair women in the (stadium) by Islamic Emirates of the Taliban," Momand had tweeted on Sunday when the IPL action resumed.
Another journalist Fawad Aman, who has also served as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence as per his Twitter handle, wrote, "Ridiculous: Taliban have banned the broadcasting of Indian Premier League (IPL) in Afghanistan."
"Taliban have warned that Afghan media outlets should not broadcast the Indian Cricket League due to girls dancing and the presence of female audience and spectators in stadiums."
Top Afghanistan cricketers like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman are taking part in IPL 2021.
The second phase of the IPL resumed in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday with a match between Chennai Super Kings and defending champions Mumbai Indians.
According to a media report, Afghanistan's new sports chief last week said that the Taliban will allow 400 sports -- but declined to say anything on women's participation.
"Please don't ask more questions about women," he was quoted as saying.
During the extremist group's regime from 1996 to 2001, women were banned from playing any sport.
After taking over the country last month, the group has stressed that women's rights would be respected within the framework of Islam.
The knockout stage is scheduled to begin on October 10 with the final slated to be held on October 15.
Afghanistan national 📻 📺 will not broadcast the @IPL as usual as it was reportedly banned to live the matches resumed tonight due to possible anti-islam contents, girls dancing & the attendence of barred hair women in the 🏟️ by Islamic Emirates of the Taliban. #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/dmPZ3rrKn6
— M.ibrahim Momand (@IbrahimReporter) September 19, 2021
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3 US troops killed, 5 seriously wounded during Iran attacks, military says
Washington (AP): Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the US attacks on Iran, the military said Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that has sparked retaliation from the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred. The statement said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
Central Command described the situation “as fluid” and said it would withhold the identities of the service members who were killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.
The US military also denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn't even come close.”
President Donald Trump had warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” the Republican president said in a video address released early Saturday. “That often happens in war. But we're doing this not for now. We're doing this for the future.”
Following the US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other leaders, Iran's counterattacks have struck US bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.
Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the Lincoln and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.
The Ford was part of the US raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven US troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.
One of those injured received the Medal of Honor during Trump's State of the Union address last week. Trump said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted the lead CH-47 Chinook helicopter that descended on the “heavily protected military fortress” where Maduro was staying.
Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.
The US military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country's government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.
