LAST 24 HOURS
UN REPORT HIGHLIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE TALIBAN OVER LAST 2 YEARS – A scathing report from the Human Rights Service of UNAMA claims hundreds of people were denied asylum under the much-maligned General Amnesty program and were killed, tortured, or arbitrarily arrested. The report is extremely detailed but the authors admit that many other offenses had been alleged but could not be verified and were omitted. The Taliban wasted little time in responding to the report and the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, fired off responses on social media that denied the findings of the report, but did seem to admit that some acts of vendetta had been undertaken but the number was extremely low. One can view the full reports in Pashto, Dari, and English by CLICKING HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
HAQQANI WARNS PAKISTAN AGAINST TARGETING THREATS IN AFGHANISTAN – The Minister of the Interior addressed the issue of cross-border terrorism again on Monday at a public gathering. The Minister again urged Pakistani officials to stop blaming the IEA for the problem and to begin negotiations with the TTP directly. Minister Haqqani was involved in brokering the cease-fire deal between the TTP and Pakistan’s government. However, he has shown little interest in interceding in the problem this time around.
TTP AND PAKISTANI ARMY CLASH IN NORTH WAZIRISTAN, AT LEAST 10 DEAD – 6 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 4 TTP militants died when an ambush on two Army vehicles resulted in a firefight that lasted for over an hour. The incident took place in the Asman Manza area, just adjacent to the Afghan border. Unconfirmed reports say that 2 of the TTP militants were arrested and may have been wounded in the melee.
NEXT 24 HOURS
NO THREATS RECEIVED
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
Iran is about to throw a wrench in OPEC's machinery after announcing it would increase output soon.
Large protests from retirees over a lack of adjustments made to their pension plans took place in several major cities over the last several days. Unions have been coordinating strikes by different industries in an attempt to pressure the regime to take action.
Additional security units are being deployed to university campuses in advance of the upcoming anniversary of the uprisings. News broke recently of a government effort to recruit 15,000 Basij members to serve as faculty members. Most in academia see the ploy as a means of informing on possible protestors.
PAKISTAN
President Arif Alvi fired his secretary, Waqar Ahmed, after two important bills were reputedly sent to the caretaker government for approval without his signature.
A daring rescue effort by the Pakistani Army resulted in 8 people being saved from a dangling cable car that had suffered a malfunction as it was traversing a ravine. The car was transporting schoolchildren and two adults when the failure occurred.
The stock exchange lost nearly 2 points in trading on Monday and closed down at 1.6%.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
A Failure to Plan: Examining the Biden Administration’s Preparation for the Afghanistan Withdrawal
By Christopher D. Kolenda - CNAS
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam. One failure is a horrible accident; two failures are a tragic coincidence; three failures are a disturbing trend that shows the U.S. government is not learning from experience. As I discuss in Zero-Sum Victory: What We’re Getting Wrong About War, American troops fought valiantly in each war, but chronic policy and strategy errors squandered their service and sacrifices. Knowing these errors is the first step in fixing them. Failing to address these mistakes while hoping for better outcomes in future wars is a dereliction of duty. Fortunately, the U.S. government can make low-cost, high-payoff reforms to reduce the risk that future wars spiral into disaster. Download the full testimony by CLICKING HERE.
AFGHAN NEWS
By Freshta Negah & Abubakar Siddique - RFE
Under the Taliban, Sikhs and Hindus have faced severe restrictions, including on their appearances, and have been banned from marking their…
Hundreds of Former Afghan Officials Have Been Killed Since the Taliban Took Over, U.N. Says
By Rahim Faiez - AP
More than 200 extrajudicial killings of former Afghan government officials and security forces have taken place since the Taliban took over the country two years ago, according to a U.N. report…
Taliban Detain Former Government Military Official in Parwan Province
By 8AM Media
According to sources speaking to Hasht-e Subh, the Taliban apprehended this former military official on Monday night, August 22, from the village of…
REGIONAL NEWS
Taliban detains Iranian photojournalist Mohammad Hossein Velayati in Afghanistan
By Committee to Protect Journalists
On August 19, Taliban authorities detained Velayati, a photographer for Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, at Kabul International Airport before he boarded a flight to Iran…
Former UN Official in Op-Ed Calls for West to Not Isolate Afghanistan
By Mujeeb Rahman Awrang Stanikzai - TOLO News
The president of the Open Society Foundation and a senior former UN official, Mark Malloch-Brown, in a piece in the UK's Financial Times, said…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
The Afghanistan Girls Soccer Team’s Daring Escape From the Taliban
By Marie Margolius - Rolling Stone
I know it’s hard to imagine under the current circumstances in Afghanistan, but if you watched Ayenda FC play that day on that perfectly groomed grass…
The 2023 Campus Project: musicians from Afghanistan and Iran
By Anastassia Boutsko - Deutsche Welle
The world is out of joint in many places, some more than others — like Afghanistan. On August 15, 2021, the lives of Marin, Shabana, Aman and…
THE DAILY WTF
Afghanistan rejects UN report on extrajudicial killing, torture
By Necva Tastan - Anadolu Agency
“Unfortunately, instead of understanding the realities of Afghanistan and seeing positive developments, some organizations within the United Nations always seek…
“All righty then.” TAD Staff
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 83.88 AFN (as of 23 AUG 2023)