LAST 24 HOURS:
A scheduled evacuation flight left from Kabul to Doha, Qatar with approximately 170 people on board. It is presumed the flight was organized jointly by Qatar and the United States.
The Deputy Minister of Defense is currently remaining in Baghlan and is being pressured to direct local forces on how to deal with the increasing number of attacks on Taliban forces throughout the North. Sources familiar with the situation say local leaders are beginning to resent Kabul’s micromanagement of their counter-insurgency operations. Three local commanders have reportedly been relieved of command and sent back to Kabul. No further information is available currently.
Several sources have reported that Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhand has been sick and was recently treated at the French hospital in Kabul. However, additional reports claim he has actually been evacuated to Doha for further treatment. We are unable to confirm these conflicting reports, but a source within the Taliban claims he is frustrated with corruption and the direction the regime is taking. The Afghan Digest has been monitoring signs of discontent among senior Taliban officials over the past three months, and moderate voices are starting to be accused of being proponents of “Western appeasement”.
NEXT 24 HOURS:
Iran and the Taliban are expected to increase accusations of “foreign interference” as the cause of their recent breakdown in diplomatic relations.
More Pashtun Taliban units are expected to depart for Takhar in response to “trouble” there among local Taliban units. If true, it may confirm reports of an inter-Taliban clash that reputedly erupted when Pashtun Taliban forces were sent to disarm a Tajik Taliban unit.
ANALYSIS SPOTLIGHT:
The Taliban’s Trajectory in Securing Geographic, Electronic, and Geopolitical Sanctuaries
By Dr. Chamila Liyanage – Global Network on Extremism and Technology
Though long hostile to social media, the Taliban regime readily embraced the haven on the Internet, setting up social media channels for…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 87.89 AFN (as of 14 APR 2022)
AFGHAN NEWS
Kabul Rejects NYT Opinion Piece Claiming Killings of Ex-ANDSF
By Banafsha Binesh – TOLO News
According to the report, many of those killed were from the southern province of Kandahar and northern province of Baghlan.
Military court sentences some Taliban members
By Erfanyar – Pajhwok Afghan News
A military court has handed down punishments to some criminals, an official said on…
World Bank: Urgent Action Required to Stabilize Afghanistan’s Economy
World Bank Press Release
The isolation of the Afghan economy following last August’s political crisis risks erasing development gains achieved over the past two decades, leading to grave poverty…
REGIONAL NEWS
All diplomatic missions of Iran in Afghanistan are open
The Tehran Times
Iran has announced that all its diplomatic missions in Afghanistan are up and running after an attack by Afghan protestors raised…
Quadrilateral Meeting Planned to Discuss Afghan Refugees
By Shirshah Rasooli — TOLO News
A quadrilateral meeting with officials from Kabul, Tehran, Islamabad and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is due to be held next month in a bid to address the challenges of the Afghan refugees in the two neighboring countries…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
French MPs Ask for further Imposition of Sanctions on Taliban
By Najibullah Lalzoy – Khaama Press
Over 50 French Parliament Members asked the country’s president Emanual Macron to impose further sanctions on the…
Blinken: “Serious Erosion” of Human Rights in Afghanistan
By Toba Walizada – TOLO News
He made the remarks as the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was…
THE DAILY WTF
Afghan Party chief: Zionism behind sedition to harm Iran-Afghanistan ties
By Iran Front Page
The head of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan says “Zionism” and some Arab countries in the region are behind the “sedition”…