Kim Kardashian aids Afghan female footballers
- Date of Publication : 21/11/2021 at 20:04 GMT

A plane carrying several players and their families totaling around 130 people landed in a London airport Thursday after they received assistance from the Tzedek Association, a US non-profit which had helped the last known member of Kabul’s Jewish community flee to region after the Taliban-led takeover of Afghanistan in August.
Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, who founded the association, subsequently appealed to Kardashian for assistance in helping to fund the chartered flight of female footballers out of the country after previously working with her in issues related to criminal justice reform in the US – and she was reportedly quick to offer her help.
“Maybe an hour later, after the Zoom call, I got a text message that Kim wants to fund the entire flight,” he said, as quoted by the AP.
Premier League team Leeds United also contributed to the efforts.
Large numbers of Afghans fled the country in August following the Taliban offensive on Kabul, with female athletes leaving amid concerns that women participating in sports was seen as a challenge to the new Taliban leadership’s authority.
Members of the developmental team who arrived in the UK on Thursday had previously traveled to Pakistan, where they were processed with UK visas but were forced to wait several weeks while details of the flights could be arranged.
Khalida Popal, a player who had previously captained Afghanistan’s female football team, was an integral part of providing assistance for female athletes fleeing Afghanistan, telling the AP: “Many of those families left their houses when the Taliban took over. Their houses were burnt down.
“Some of their family members were killed or taken by Taliban. So the danger and the stress was very high, and that’s why it was very important to move fast to get them outside Afghanistan.”
Popal added that she was “so happy and relieved” that the female players and their families had been removed from danger.

US has ability to conduct strikes in Afghanistan if a threat emerges: Milley
The United States has the capability of conducting strike operations in Afghanistan if a threat emanates from the country’s territory, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley ...

Uzbekistan to host international conference on Afghanistan
Tashkent will host a high-level international conference on Afghanistan at the end of July, Uzbekistan’s interim Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Norov announced. Norov said the key focus would be ...

EU's Niklasson in Kabul Confirms Continued Engagement
“We do not recognize the interim government, but we see value in engaging and discussing with them,” said European Union special envoy for Afghanistan Tomas Niklasson. He made the ...

Afghanistan: Nearly 20 million going hungry
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for the country also revealed a pocket of “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity in the northeast, affecting thousands. The analysis was ...

How the Taliban are 'eliminating women' in Afghanistan
If there was any hope that the Taliban would pay heed to repeated calls from Afghanistan's civil society and the international community to uphold women's rights, the Islamic fundamentalist group's ...

Afghan authorities take delivery of another cash aid package
Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country’s central bank, took delivery of another cash aid shipment of $32 million on Monday. Officials from the bank took delivery of the package and ...

Austin: US Commitment to Middle East ‘Strong and Sure’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met Saturday in Manama, Bahrain, with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Pentagon said in a statement, amid tensions ...

Afghan expert: Increased terrorist attacks negatively affects the peace process
Terrorist attacks have increased within Afghanistan, despite peace talks between Afghan government officials and the Taliban in Doha. For example, a hand grenade exploded near the Russian embassy and near ...
Russian people will never give up love for country, traditional values — Putin
Unlike the West, the Russian people will never give up their love for the country, faith and traditional values, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a Victory Day parade on ...
Taliban to force Afghan women to wear face veil
Afghan women will have to wear the Islamic face veil for the first time in decades under a decree passed by the country's ruling Taliban militants. Any woman who ...
Uzbekistan Will Not Recognize Islamic Emirate 'Alone': Envoy
An envoy of Uzbekistan said in the current situation the country is not ready to recognize the Islamic Emirate alone. Ismatulla Irgashev, the Uzbek president's special representative for Afghanistan, in ...
Blast Hits Kabul Mosque, Death Toll at 10, Many Wounded
A blast targeted a mosque on Friday afternoon in PD 6 in the city of Kabul, causing at least 10 deaths and many wounded, security officials confirmed. The blast ...
Karzai Reiterates Call to Reopen Schools for Girls
Former President Hamid Karzai said that the people of Afghanistan want their girls to return to schools and there “is no way that the country can live without our girls ...
Taliban Marks 9th Anniversary of Mullah Omar’s Death
The Islamic Emirate at a ceremony on Sunday marked the ninth anniversary of its founder and former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid, where the participants spoke about his life, personality ...
