Daily Evacuation Brief | August 7, 2022

Aug 7, 2022

A second bomb attack took place near the Poli-Sukhta area of western Kabul (Police District 6), a predominantly Hazara neighborhood near the same site as yesterday’s bomb attack. Sources indicate a car bomb was detonated killing several people and wounding many others. Local hospitals reportedly took in over twenty people who had been injured in the blast, and several conflicting reports concerning the number killed are circulating. While no group has claimed responsiblity, the proximity of the blast to the earlier ISIS-K attack suggests this may be part of a coordinated campaign to target Shiite groups and sow discord among citizens.
Two tribal elders, Malek Jameel and Mawlawi Mohammad Qayyum, were reportedly murdered by unknown gunmen in Nangarhar province (Momand Dara district and Chaparhar district respectively) on Friday. No motive has been identified, no group has yet claimed responsibilty for the murders, and it is unclear if the attacks are related. Jameel’s murder provoked protests that led to a temporary closing of the Torkham-Jalalabad highway.
In the wake of the recent drone attacks, the Taliban have once again called upon the US to recognize the IEA as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Our analysis indicates that the call will fall on deaf ears; even if there was some information sharing between the US and the Taliban that led to the targeting of the al-Qaeda leader, the US does not appear inclined to grant recognition until questions about girls’ schooling and an inclusive government have been resolved. It is likely the US will use negotiations over the frozen assets to coax the Taliban into honoring its Doha commitments in a phased approach.

`NEXT 24 HOURS`

A source within the palace in Kabul says that the Taliban are bracing for an expected third ISIS-K attack. The source claims that despite several searches for the two reputed ISIS-K teams’ possible hideouts, the teams are still believed still to be in Kabul and no arrests have been made. An unidentified minister claims to have received a direct threat from a purported ISIS-K operative, and additional security has been dispatched to three prominent minister’s homes as of Friday afternoon. No further information was available.
If the information about the second drone strike in Ghazni is true, it may signal the beginning of a limited drone campaign by the US to attempt to disrupt al-Qaeda and/or ISIS-K over the coming days. It is probable that significant intelligence was gathered in the wake of the strike on al-Zawahiri that may lead to the targeting of additional terrorists in the country.

`SPOTLIGHT PERSPECTIVE`

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“A Constant State of Fear”: An Afghan Human Rights Defender Describes Her Life Under Taliban Rule

By Freedom House

In the interview below, Freedom House spoke with an Afghan human rights defender to get a sense of life under the de facto Taliban regime, specifically for Afghan women.