Daily Evacuation Brief | February 10, 2023
Discover more from The Afghan Digest
LAST 24 HOURS
TALIBAN MAKE NEW PLEAS FOR SANCTION RELIEF AND RECOGNITION – In what appears to be a coordinated effort, the Taliban Minister for Justice and the Taliban spokesman (Zabiullah Mujahid) called on international leaders to both recognize the IEA as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and to lift travel sanctions that have been imposed on Taliban leaders. It is unlikely that either request will be seriously considered after the backward bans on women’s education/work and the inhumane punishments imposed by the Ministry of Justice for low-level offenses.
$40 MILLION IN AID ARRIVED IN KABUL – Da Afghanistan Bank officials said the cash package arrived on Wednesday and was deposited into a commercial bank. Several international news organizations and other humanitarian aid groups have called into question the economic aid program in Afghanistan and have suggested it is being diverted to Taliban leaders and officials. The United Nations has pushed back against any criticism and continue to state the Taliban have no access to the funds. Two ongoing investigative reports by anonymous journalists claim to have secured proof that the Taliban are enriching themselves off the economic aid and plan to release their reports in March or April.
SELECT NEWS WEBSITES BEING CENSORED IN AFGHANISTAN – Reporting from various Provinces suggest that several websites have been blocked by privately owned carriers who provide cellular service in the country. The websites affected include Voice of America and Radio Free Europe (Dari and Pashto sites). The BBC and Voice of America’s English language sites continue to work. The companies which have reputedly implemented censorship bans for the Taliban are Afghan Wireless, Roshan, and Etisalat Afghanistan. The websites continue to work through the internet and have always been accessible by using a virtual private network (VPN).
NEXT 24 HOURS
DUTCH SEISMOLOGIST WHO PREDICTED EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY AND SYRIA SAYS AFGHANISTAN IS NEXT – Frank Hoogerbeets accurately predicted the deadly earthquake that struck Southern Turkey and Northern Syria, days before it happened. He now says seismic activity suggests an earthquake with a potential magnitude of 7.8 will strike Afghanistan and will run through Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. No date was specified in his latest prediction but international agencies are taking precautions and issuing alerts to field staff in both countries. THIS WEBSITE OFFERS SOME UNIVERSAL PREPAREDNESS TIPS FOR SURVIVING AN EARTHQUAKE we are searching for a Pashto and/or Dari document on the subject and will publish it when available.
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
A US citizen was sentenced in a US federal court to 30 months in prison for conspiring to export banned US goods to Iran.
Several women protestors who had recently been released from confinement in the Evin prison returned to the facility and began a new round of protests.
Sources say that China now intends to purchase Iranian drones and is considering an initial order of 15,000.
9 Companies were sanctioned by US authorities for sales of petrochemical products to Asian countries.
PAKISTAN
As the IMF team plans to depart, the regime is expected to hold several debates and planning sessions to see if a way forward can be found. The talks ended without a deal being announced.
A high-level leader of the TTP was reportedly killed in a gunfight in Punjab on Thursday near Khanewal. Irganullah Afridi (from Kurram District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province) was killed after police surrounded his hideout. 2 other suspected TTP militants fled the scene.
TTP plot foiled by Police in Rawalpindi when two TTP militants from the Haji Fakir wing were arrested before carrying out a terror attack against the Saint Paul Church and Covenant School as well as several courts in Rawalpindi.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Can America Learn Lessons From Afghanistan And Ukraine? – Analysis
By James Durso - EurAsia Review
In the wake of the 9-11 attacks by al-Qaeda, then-President George Bush demanded the Taliban deliver Usama bin Laden to American justice. The Taliban replied they were ready to negotiate, but Bush wasn’t having any of it. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan ensued and the cure-all nation-building project (really an effort to reform Pashtun culture) was a 20-year, $2 trillion bust at the cost of almost 180,000 dead NATO troops and Afghans, ending with the live-streamed retreat of U.S. forces from Kabul on 15 August 2021.
AFGHAN NEWS
Earthquake to Strike Afghanistan Soon, Says Dutch Researcher
By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press
Dutch geologist Frank Hoogerbeets predicted the Turkey-Syria earthquake three days in advance; now, he is saying there may be a big earthquake in Afghanistan…
UN says Daesh has threatened to target embassies in Afghanistan
By AMU TV
Militants affiliated with Daesh threatened to target Chinese, Indian, and Iranian embassies in Afghanistan in an effort to isolate the Taliban from a…
35 Universities to Stop Operating Due to Economic Challenges
By Asma Saayin - TOLO News
Officials of the Union said 35 universities will be closed if the Islamic Emirate does not revise its decision about women's…
REGIONAL NEWS
20 Ex-Afghan Military Students Return to Afghanistan from India
By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press
On Wednesday, the Ministry of National Defense released a statement informing that 20 students sent to India for military training by…
Pakistan Skips Russia-hosted Multilateral Talks on Afghanistan
By Ayaz Gul - VOA
Pakistan confirmed Thursday that it skipped this week's Russia-hosted multilateral consultations on Afghanistan, suggesting there are other…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Leaving Afghanistan: Starting over in a new land
By Al Jazeera
101 East follows a female school principal and a student who have fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan to start new lives…
Access to Some News Websites Restricted in Afghanistan
By VOA
For at least two weeks, people in several provinces have reported problems when trying to access websites via their cellphones when using…
THE DAILY WTF
Islamic Emirate Calls on UNSC to Lift Travel Ban on Leaders
By Mohammad Farshad Daryosh - TOLO News
A spokesman for the Islamic Emirate suggested that lifting sanctions on the officials of the Islamic Emirate will benefit “all sides” and will pave the…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 89.82 AFN (as of 10 FEB 2023)