LAST 24 HOURS
TALIBAN CLAIM TO HAVE ARRESTED 2 SUSPECTS IN THE KILLING OF HORA SADAT IN KABUL – Sadat was a popular female YouTube sensation with more than 300,000 followers on the service. It was announced that she had been killed on Monday and the arrests took place yesterday in Kabul. The identities of the suspects and motivations behind her murder have not been released yet. Taliban officials say the investigation is continuing and there may be more arrests in the coming days.
SOME FEMALE DUBAI SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ALLOWED TO DEPART KABUL, SCORES REMAIN LEFT BEHIND – As many as 5 of the female students who had received scholarships to study in the United Arab Emirates but were barred from boarding their plane in Kabul yesterday have reportedly been allowed to travel. It is estimated that 85-95 remain in Kabul after Taliban security personnel turned them back from boarding their flights. The women were reportedly told that the security personnel had been ordered to hold any people who were traveling on student visas. Officials from the UAE are attempting to find a solution to the impasse. A source in Kabul said that there were concerns raised by the Interior Ministry that some of the visas had been copied and given to others who were not officially accepted into the program and this is what led to the decision at the airport. However, this information has not been confirmed.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PROPOSES THE APPLICATION OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION BE APPLIED TO MEMBERS OF THE TALIBAN – Amnesty says that the recent report issued by UNAMA which documents the killings, torture, and detention of former government officials and soldiers of the former regime is cause enough to invoke its use. Universal Jurisdiction is most commonly used in cases involving war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. There are many concerns about the potential misuse of the convention, but Amnesty indicates that it would provide any country the ability to prosecute Taliban members for violations. It is not clear yet how the application would affect the Taliban but it is possible that the threat of its use may restrain some who have acted with impunity since the fall of Kabul.
NEXT 24 HOURS
NO THREATS REPORTED
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
A police patrol was ambushed in Sistan Baluchestan and 1 police sergeant was killed in the attack. No group has yet claimed credit for the attack.
Iran was accepted into the BRICS bloc of developing nations yesterday along with Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the UAE.
A blast at the Hashemi-Nezhad refinery has killed 2 workers and 5 others were injured. The cause of the blast has not yet been determined.
PAKISTAN
Police say they are close to apprehending the father of a young girl who was murdered in England and then fled to Pakistan. The man stands accused of killing the child and is wanted for questioning by police in the UK.
Additional charges were laid against former PM Khan by Police in Lahore yesterday.
Pakistan’s foreign reserves continue to recover as current accounts stand at $13.2 billion dollars. The central bank’s reserves fell by approximately $125 million but this was attributed to loan repayments.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Lest we forget: The Islamic Emirate turns two (again)
By Shivam Shekhawat - Observer Research Foundation
The sympathy and attention that a particular crisis elicits is fleeting. Afghanistan is also going through a similar fate. On 15th August, the Taliban marked two years since they usurped power in 2021 and orchestrated the ‘fall of Kabul.’ Despite the pressure, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has persisted with its archaic and extremist governance system, sticking to the template of its first stint in power (1996-2001), vis-a-vis its policies on women and minorities and dashing all hopes and expectations of a reformed Taliban. As countries start engaging with the group and take a more pragmatic approach towards navigating the new regime, apprehensions about the utility of negotiating with the group and the degree of engagement are only rising.
AFGHAN NEWS
Taliban Leader Considers New Afghan Media Law
By Akmal Dawi - VOA
After two years of legal ambiguity and stringent restrictions on free press, de facto Taliban authorities have submitted a draft of a new Afghanistan media…
YouTuber Hoora Sadat killed in Kabul
By AMU TV
Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for the Taliban, stated in a post on X that the incident occurred in Kabul’s Police District three…
Freedom Front claims attack on Taliban outpost near Kabul
By AMU TV
The Freedom Front, an anti-Taliban military faction, has claimed to have attacked a Taliban outpost in the Qara Bagh district to the north of…
REGIONAL NEWS
Iran calls for monthly water level assessment of Helmand River
By Ariana News
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanani said at a press conference the water level in Helmand River needs to be assessed every month in…
Dozens of Afghan women blocked from leaving to study on scholarships in the UAE
By The Journal
Laila, 22, was one of around 30 women who had been sponsored to study in the UAE by prominent Emirati businessman Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, but were…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
By Grzegorz Adamczyik - REMIX
Following the hours-long homosexual rape of an 18-year-old male Polish citizen by a 20-year-old Afghan male migrant on an underground train platform in Munich, Polish Prime Minister…
By James Joseph - Jurist
Amnesty International on Thursday called for the application of universal jurisdiction against members of the Taliban accused of crimes under international…
THE DAILY WTF
Our regime is completely inclusive, says Taliban FM
By Aamaj News
“Discussions such as inclusive government, human rights, and security issues are excuses and so far no country has been recognized because of these…
“Someone appears to have access to all that impounded opium.” TAD Staff
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 83.07 AFN (as of 25 AUG 2023)