LAST 24 HOURS
PAKISTAN’S WOBBLE – Facing a constitutional crisis between the Supreme Court and the administration, a highly unpredictable former Prime Minister, and an ailing economy in need of a massive IMF bailout tensions with India are the last thing the country needs. However, the terror attacks in the Poonch District of Jammu/Kashmir have enraged Indians, and the perception that those who planned and carried out the attacks are hiding in Pakistan has added more stress to Prime Minister Shebhaz’s already full plate. Indian officials have announced they have arrested anywhere between 15 and 30 suspects over the course of the nascent investigation. Indian officials are expected to make an announcement at the end of the week that may implicate senior Pakistani officials in the plot. At the very least, sources have indicated that 4 well-known radical religious figures in Pakistan will be named as direct supporters of the terrorists who carried out several deadly attacks in the highly volatile and contested region. While we do not assess that conflict will result from yet another India-Pakistan barrage of accusations, the fragile situation in Islamabad could change in an instant and many world leaders are concerned about the specter of another military takeover. Many observers will be watching the Poonch investigation press conference to see what evidence India has found of possible Pakistani support for terrorists.
TAJIKISTAN TURNS BACK TALIBAN MEMBERS FROM BORDER – Tajikistan continues to hold the line against the Taliban and reportedly turned back several Taliban members who attempted to enter the country through the crossing in the Darwaz District of Badakhshan Province. No violence was reported but some shouting and pushing reputedly took place. Tajikistan continues to be the neighboring State who is the most critical of the Taliban and despite rumors that Dushanbe was interested in developing friendlier relations with the IEA, they continue to restrict movement along the border.
BI-PARTISAN CONCERN IN THE US OVER POSSIBLE FUNDING OF TALIBAN – Political consensus may be forming over the lack of transparency regarding economic aid funding sent to Afghanistan since the US pullout. Democratic and Republican lawmakers were briefed by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (John Sopko) on Wednesday and his characterization of the obfuscation tactics being used by the Department of State, the Pentagon, and the White House was damming. Concerns have long been raised that some of the $8 billion in funding have been diverted to the Taliban. While both parties continue to focus on the blame for the Afghanistan debacle, perhaps this issue will provide lawmakers with a rallying point.
NEXT 24 HOURS
VIENNA CONFERENCE BEGINS IN AUSTRIA – Amid tight security protocols, Austria is hosting the second conference of Afghanistan expatriates and civil society. The conference will be attended by former political figures, Resistance leaders, former MPs, religious scholars, and a host of other civil society organizations. The conference seeks to promote cooperation between disparate groups in the hopes that better strategies for dealing with the new reality in Afghanistan can be discussed.
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
Petroleum workers have vowed to continue the nationwide strike over poor wages and the strike is reportedly spreading to other cities across the country. The strike in the crucial petroleum sector has the potential to ‘crash’ the struggling economy.
Security camera video from Syria seems to show several buses arriving in the Dier Ezzor Province. The men on the busses are said to be IRGC soldiers. The provocative move has raised concerns in Israel.
In a possible move to balance rhetoric from the regime’s hard-liners, the Foreign Ministry released a statement that attempts to define the role of the Iranian military as a ‘defense force’.
PAKISTAN
Former PM Imran Khan has called for July elections should PM Shehbaz dissolve the National Assembly. Khan went on to say that he was advised by the former Army Chief to dissolve the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 struck near Kot Addu. No casualties or damage were reported.
A series of audio recordings, purported to have captured conversations of senior government officials, continue to be leaked to the press. The Prime Minister has called for an investigation over the controversial remarks on many of the tracks.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Resisting the Taliban’s New Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
By Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Since the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban has created a system of governance based on the wholesale subordination of women, institutionalising discrimination within the regime’s political, legal and cultural structures. Before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, women held 27 per cent of seats in parliament; today they hold none. They had filled 21 per cent of civil-service jobs and just under 30 per cent of roles in civil-society organisations while in the more informal private sector, at least 54,000 businesses were estimated to be run or owned by women in 2021. In less than two years, that progress has been systematically reversed, with female civil servants, private-sector workers and business owners losing their livelihoods and the 3.5 million young women and girls previously enrolled in school banned from both secondary and tertiary education today.
AFGHAN NEWS
Islamic Emirate Denies Washington Post's Report on Daesh in Afghanistan
By Fatima Adib - TOLO News
The Islamic Emirate denied the report of The Washington Post saying that Afghanistan has become a significant coordination site for a Daesh group that…
Afghanistan: Helmand farmers swap poppy fields for lucrative ‘hing’
By AMU TV
A number of farmers in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan have turned to cultivating the ferula plant for asafoetida, in place of…
Ministry: Nearly 2,800 Business Permits Distributed in Past Year
By Bibi Amina Hakimi - TOLO News
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) said that it has distributed nearly 2,800 business permits to businesspeople in the…
REGIONAL NEWS
Crisis in Pakistan Deep Enough to Attract Military Takeover: Former PM Abbasi
By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former Pakistani prime minister, reportedly urged the key stakeholders to start a dialogue and warned that the country’s current economic and…
Delhi court orders prosecution of senior Army doctor on charge of raping Afghan woman
By The New Indian Express
A senior Army doctor will now be prosecuted for the offense of rape following a Delhi court order after a protracted legal battle by an Afghan woman who came to India in 2009 and claimed…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Khalilzad Responds to Islamic Emirate Leader's Eid Remarks
By Mitra Majeedy - TOLO News
Khalilzad responded to his remarks as “excellent” and said: “here are two: not allowing women/girls to go to high school and universities; and not allowing…
9 Afghans jailed, fined for migrant smuggling
By Ariana News
A French court has jailed four Afghans and given shorter sentences to five others as part of a crackdown on the smuggling of migrants across the…
THE DAILY WTF
Review of Curriculum 50% Complete: Ministry
By Nazir Shinwari - TOLO News
This comes as the fate of the female students has yet to be clarified as they have been banned from going to universities since last…
‘Working at the speed of plate tectonics.’ TAD Staff
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 86.28 AFN (as of 24 APR 2023)