Daily Evacuation Brief | August 2, 2023

Aug 02, 2023

HOUSE INSPECTIONS REPORTED IN NORTHERN KABUL NEIGHBORHOODS AND MAZAR-I-SHARIF – Taliban security forces and GDI agents launched house-to-house searches in both cities yesterday. It was not immediately clear what prompted the searches. In Mazar-i-Sharif, the searches took place mainly in the Aryana neighborhood, and search teams included female Taliban members who questioned women in the households closely. In Kabul, women were not present for the reported searches. Locals said the searches were more thorough than those conducted earlier in 2023. It is possible the Taliban were reacting to intelligence gleaned from the two counter-ISIS operations it conducted last week.
PAKISTAN SAYS EARLY INVESTIGATION INTO THE BAJAUR BOMBING INVOLVES AFGHANISTAN – Yesterday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Taliban officials to do a better job of cutting off Afghanistan-based terror groups from the border. After ISIS-K announced it had planned and executed the deadly bombing at Bajaur, Pakistan’s government determined that the sub-group responsible was traditionally based in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister and others in the government expressed frustration over the continued cross-border threats they are facing and offered more security cooperation if the Taliban requested assistance. For their part, the Taliban have continued denying that any threats emanate from Afghan soil. The continued denials of existing terror threats in Afghanistan are falling on deaf ears.
PAKISTANI SECURITY FORCES ELIMINATE SUSPECTED TERRORISTS IN BAJAUR – Officials say that Pakistani security personnel caught 2 men attempting to cut their way through the fence along the Durand Line and a firefight ensued. 1 man was killed while the other is said to have made his way back to the Afghan side of the border. Security officials said they seized US-made weapons, drugs, and ammunition from the dead fighter. The man who was killed was identified as Lal Mir and was said to be a resident of Kunar Province.

NEXT 24 HOURS

NO THREATS REPORTED

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

IRAN

The government plans to close schools, banks, and government offices for 2 days in light of a heatwave that is affecting the country.
The regime announced it had uncovered another Israeli ‘terror’ network that was planning attacks across several provinces. Many are dismissing the claim as propaganda and two protest groups say some of their supporters were arrested in the operation..
Political parties have begun planning for the 2024 campaigns and local political analysts say that hard-liner political groups are making a push for greater control and intend to spend handsomely on their candidates.

PAKISTAN

The death toll from the Bajaur bombing climbed to 56 as 2 more individuals succumbed to their wounds.
Unidentified gunmen killed 2 police officers who were escorting a team of polio vaccination workers on the outskirts of Quetta Tuesday morning.
Increases in fuel prices went into effect yesterday as the IMF-mandated rollback of subsidies begin.

SPOTLIGHT OPINION

Hassan Abbas on the Return of the Taliban

By Catherine Putz - The Diplomat

In his recent book, “The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans Left,” Hassan Abbas dives deeply into the Taliban of today — who they are, what they want, and how they govern. Abbas, a distinguished professor of international relations at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Center, charts the faultlines within the Taliban movement and what has (and hasn’t) changed since the group ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s. In the following interview with The Diplomat’s Catherine Putz, Abbas explores these themes and more, ultimately concluding that as much as we can discuss the group, its actions, and its intentions, “it’s too early to start judging the Taliban.”

AFGHAN NEWS

World Bank finds Afghanistan’s year-on-year inflation remains negative

By AMU TV

The World Bank said in its latest report on Afghanistan’s economy that year-on-year inflation has for the past two months remained negative, and that the supply of foods has been…