LAST 24 HOURS
BOMB BLAST IN MAZAR-I-SHARIF – At least 7 people were killed when a bomb was triggered at a busy intersection in Mazar-i-Sharif early on Tuesday morning. Security forces cordoned off the area immediately but photos of the destruction showed debris was strewn across a wide area and the casualty count is expected to climb. The target of the blast may have been a bus carrying oil field workers to a rig site. No group had claimed credit for the attack and no further information was available.
BOMB BLAST IN JALALABAD – Another blast was reported in Nangarhar Province on Tuesday afternoon. The explosion occurred near the money exchange market and 9 non-combatants were reportedly severely injured. Some reports have claimed that many died as well but we are waiting for confirmation of all potential casualties. No group has yet claimed credit for the blast.
MORE ARRESTS IN PANJSHIR – Sources in the NRF have stated that Taliban forces in Panjshir arrested 6 non-combatants in the Dara District over suspicion of providing material support to the NRF. Specific charges were not announced and the location and disposition of those arrested are currently unknown.
THE US ENVOY FOR AFGHANISTAN MET WITH THE TALIBAN DEFENSE MINISTER WHILE BOTH WERE IN THE UAE – The Defense Minister said that he reassured the US diplomat that no terrorist operations would be carried out from Afghan soil and he encouraged the West to engage with the Taliban formally.
INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE WARNS TALIBAN – The IOC appears to have bowed to pressure from international rights organizations and made it clear that Afghanistan’s invitation to the 2024 Paris games was contingent upon policies that allow women and girls safe access to sporting endeavors.
NEXT 24 HOURS
TALIBAN SECURITY FORCES ON HEIGHTENED ALERT IN BALKH AND NANGARHAR PROVINCES – After the dual bombings, Taliban security forces received reinforcements from Kabul to attempt to round up potential perpetrators. Local GDI offices received two special assistance teams that reputedly have significant capabilities at their disposal. Security in Kabul was also tightened and eyewitnesses observed approximately 40 additional military vehicles pull into the airport and deploy troops along the perimeter. It is not clear what threat may have been received to have triggered the action. The deployments in Balkh and Nangarhar are very localized to the areas immediately around the sites of the bombings and we do not perceive a significant threat to at-risk Afghans from these operations.
A CENTRAL BANK AUCTION IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY – The Da Afghanistan Bank continues its accelerated auction schedule and intends to sell $16 million dollars today.
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
The nationwide strike has picked up steam as more businesses closed their doors in protest. The three-day strike is expected to continue until tomorrow. The regime has downplayed the strike as a ‘political stunt’ but the sheer number of businesses participating has surprised many in the international community.
Confusion reigns as the regime waffles on what will happen with the ‘morality police’. It seems the announcement of its disbanding was premature.
Rumors spread among protestors as nearly 1,000 students fell ill from food poisoning on the eve of a large planned protest.
PAKISTAN
Power outages across the country have caused some citizens to protest as the winter cold begins to take hold across the region. Some cities have reported only two hours of electricity per day. While no violence has been reported, slogans on signs held by protestors clearly blame the government.
Natural gas outages in Quetta provoked similar protests by citizens who burned tires and blocked roads in front of the gas company’s headquarters. Organizers of the protest promised more protests unless the government and the gas company fix the supply problem.
TAJIKISTAN
The Tajik chairman of the upper house of parliament, Rustam Emomali, while attending the CSTO meeting in Moscow, reminded other member states that the Tajik/Afghan border needs strengthening.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Charting a Path Forward for Afghanistan
By Obaidullah Baheer - Lawfare
Over the past year and a half of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the impasse in engagement between the Taliban and the international community has only worsened. Understandably, the brutal nature of the Taliban’s tactics, including the use of young suicide bombers, makes engagement with the group morally questionable and practically futile. However, considering the implications of the the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the total victory the Taliban achieved in their 20-year war, the international community’s hesitancy to militarily intervene in or even engage with the country once again leaves the fate of approximately 35 million Afghans solely in the hands of the Taliban, and the success or failure of their regime.
AFGHAN NEWS
Seven killed in north Afghanistan as blast hits vehicle with oil workers
By Mohammad Yunus Yawar - Reuters
At least seven people were killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday when a blast hit a vehicle carrying oil workers in the northern province of Balkh…
An explosion Hits Jalalabad center of Nangarhar
By Bakhtar News Agency
The reports says the bomb was planted in front of the money exchange Market and exploded in the middle of a crowd of civilians around 2:00…
MoE sets date for girls to sit Grade 12 exam across Afghanistan
By Ariana News
According to the MoE, all girls who were in Grade 12 will write the exam so that they can take part in the next university entrance…
REGIONAL NEWS
How Pakistan can tackle TTP and ISKP
By Ozer Khalid - The Express Tribune
Pakistan’s decision-makers must reassess Islamabad’s Afghanistan…
Kazakhstan Inks Agreement to Manage Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif Railway
By Arif Ahmadi - Khaama Press
The Afghan officials signed management of the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway with a Kazakhstani company named Mansour Fatih, after months of…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Ban Taliban from the Olympic Movement
By Human Rights Watch
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should suspend Taliban-run Afghanistan from participating in international sport until women and girls can once again…
UN agencies support voluntary return, reintegration of IDPs
By Pajhwok Afghan News
Some 1.23 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have voluntarily returned, including over 211,000 people so far in 2022, according to…
THE DAILY WTF
Afghan evacuees in US live in fear as threat of returning home looms
By Joshua Longmore - The National News
Ms Royan, a women’s rights activist who had worked for US organisations during the war in Afghanistan, had just escaped Kabul with her…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 89.17 AFN (as of 7 DEC 2022)