LAST 24 HOURS
11 WORKERS KILLED IN PAKISTAN WHEN IED DETONATED UNDER VEHICLE TRANSPORTING THEM TO WORK – The workers had been employed on a project at an Army base in Waziristan, near the Afghan border. The IED detonated as the transport was passing over it and immediately killed 11 while wounding others. No group has yet claimed credit for the attack but a source in Punjab said it was almost certainly a TTP operation that was implemented from across the border. A drone had been reported in the area an hour prior to the attack so it is possible that some evidence may be available to Pakistani authorities. The source went on to say that Pakistan’s intelligence services were monitoring multiple threats after an air strike in Khost that killed a senior TTP leader.
SUNNI CLERIC IN IRAN ASKS FOR RETURN OF LAND ALONG AFGHAN BORDER IN BALOCHISTAN – Mawlawi Mohammad Hossein Gergich appealed to the Taliban to return roughly 2000 hectares of land that was surrendered during a partition of the border several years ago. According to the cleric, the land was surrendered inadvertently after Iranian military forces built a border wall that divided the traditionally Baloch-held land, and Afghanistan ‘absorbed’ the farmland. The cleric said that if the Taliban would not make good on water rights to the Province, the least they could do was to return the disputed land. There were multiple claims that the Army failed to take into account the local population’s claims when the border wall was constructed and the cleric hinted at corruption being involved in the speedy implementation of the project. It is not clear if the Taliban intend to take the request seriously.
ACTIVIST MALALA YOUSAFZAI ADDS HER VOICE TO CHORUS DEMANDING FIFA RECOGNIZE THE AFGHANISTAN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM – The Nobel laureate visited the women’s team in Melbourne, Australia this past week to discuss the campaign she was working on to gain recognition for the team. For its part, FIFA put out a statement claiming it could not recognize the team outright and that it must first be recognized by the Member Association. FIFA had reached out to Afghanistan’s Football Federation but was told that the group could neither oppose nor support the women’s team and that returning to Afghanistan would violate restrictions on women’s sports put in place by the de facto regime. Supporters of the campaign say the response by FIFA has been a dodge and are urging the organization to amend its rules in this case.
TALIBAN SECURITY FORCES DISRUPT WOMEN’S PROTEST IN KABUL – Late reporting indicates that Taliban personnel intervened when women attempted to demonstrate in an undisclosed location in Kabul. The Taliban dispersed the protestors and reputedly arrested 8 unidentified females from the group. This information has yet to be verified.
NEXT 24 HOURS
NO THREATS REPORTED
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
A stand-off between the US and Iran over an oil tanker with suspected sanctioned oil near Houston, Texas has ended after the $56 million dollars of oil was offloaded to another vessel offshore. Leaders of the IRGC warned that those involved will be ‘punished’.
The Intelligence Ministry announced on Sunday that Iran was holding approximately 200 European spies in its prisons. Some fear that after the recent deal with the US, the regime may expand its lucrative ‘ransom’ trade.
The regime says it has foiled another terrorism plot after intelligence agents exposed a plot by ISIS operatives to disrupt the Arbaeen pilgrimages.
PAKISTAN
A second case of Monkey Pox has been confirmed in Rawalpindi yesterday. It is believed the infected individual had contact with another patient undergoing treatment in the city.
President Alvi refused to sign two controversial national security bills that had been placed on his desk this past week. The bills would greatly expand the police’s and military’s abilities to investigate and prosecute people.
The leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement was arrested after speaking at a rally on 18 August and accusing Pakistan’s security forces of several disappearances of Pashtun activists over the course of 2022 and 2023.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Is the Taliban getting hooked on fentanyl?
By Lynne O’Donnell - The New European
In April 2022, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Arkhunzada, announced a ban on the production of drugs, which have earned the terrorist-led group billions of dollars and financed their ultimately successful 20-year war to overthrow Afghanistan’s western-backed government. During that time, the Taliban cornered the global market for heroin and transitioned into methamphetamine, which they also export worldwide.
AFGHAN NEWS
IEA marks 104th anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from Britain
By Ariana News
“With the help of Allah, the defeat of British colonialism at the hands of the Afghans, followed by the defeat of the Red Army and the…
OCHA: 38 Aid Workers Killed in Two Years in Afghanistan
By Mitra Majeedy - TOLO News
Daniel Endres said that most of them were polio vaccinators and deminers in…
Art exhibition portrays emotional plight of Afghanistan’s women
By AMU TV
In a quest to express their emotions and to retain a semblance of normalcy, a number of girls and women have come together to exhibit their art at the…
REGIONAL NEWS
Special Envoy for Afghanistan urges fair delivery of Iran’s water rights from Hirmand
By Iran Front Page
The Iranian special envoy for Afghanistan added that experts who visited Dehradun have observed that the amount of water passing through in August 2023 is lower…
‘Qatar helped evacuate over 75,000 from Afghanistan’
By Khalid Elsawi - The Peninsula
Qatar TV premiered yesterday an hour-long documentary-special “Al-Waseet” (The Mediator) on the evacuation operations that…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan sends 2,000 cartons of fresh grapes to Russia via Hairatan port
By Ariana News
Officials from the Balkh Chamber of Commerce and Investment said Saturday 2,000 cartons of fresh grapes has been exported to Russia via…
THE DAILY WTF
Blinken fails to provide House with key documents o Afghanistan withdrawal: Report
By AMU TV
Secretary of State Antony Blinken failed to provide the House Foreign Affairs Committee with eight crucial documents related to the withdrawal of American forces from…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 84.95 AFN (as of 21 AUG 2023)
