LAST 24 HOURS
WHO IS KILLING FORMER MEMBERS OF THE PASSPORT DIRECTORATE – A former employee of the Directorate was killed by unidentified gunmen in Farah Province on Saturday. His death marks the 6th former or current Directorate employee to have been murdered in Afghanistan over the past ten days. Only 2 of the murders have been reported on in the press while the other 4 were reported by sources from two separate ministries. A source with the police said the men may have been targeted for participating in a conspiracy to sell several hundred passports to desperate Afghans which were never delivered. The source said they had no leads on the identities of those who may be responsible for the killings but suggested it is likely a centralized program, due to the time span of the killings. Several high-profile former Afghan leaders were reputedly bilked in the scam and may have hired an armed criminal group to exact revenge.
CENTRAL BANK SAYS REPORTS THAT CASH AID HAS BEEN HALTED ARE NOT TRUE – Responding to several international media reports which stated the US and others had suspended the cash delivery of economic aid to Afghanistan, leaders of the Da Afghanistan Bank said the reports are false. They called on the media to verify such reports in the future as false reporting has a negative impact on the valuation of the Afghani. It is not clear if the aid shipments had resumed but many analysts are expecting disruption to begin as part of a US-led economic sanction package in retaliation for the recent gender decrees from Kandahar. Shah Mehrabi, a former member of the Bank’s supreme council told TOLO News on Sunday that aid shipments had been halted in mid-December. The situation remains unclear.
PAKISTAN PLANNING ON DEPORTING THE AFGHANS FREED FROM THE PRISONS IN SINDH PROVINCE – Over 500 recently released Afghans in Sindh Province are expected to face deportation in the next two weeks. Pakistan chose to release the detained subjects after an outcry from several international organizations over the conditions the Afghans were subjected to while in confinement. It is thought that several hundred remain confined and await decisions on their cases.
TURKISH AUTHORITIES ARREST 2 ISIS OPERATIVES FOR PLOTTING A TERROR ATTACK IN ISTANBUL – The men were captured on December 31 but little was said about the operation until yesterday when Turkish authorities announced the men were ISIS operatives and one had come from Tajikistan, the other hailed from Uzbekistan. The Tajik national was detained and is reputedly an explosives expert while the Uzbek will be deported. A media outlet that claimed access to the investigation said the militants were receiving their instructions from Afghanistan.
HEAVY SNOW AND RAIN HAS DISRUPTED GROUND TRANSPORT – A major storm system brought rain and snow to roughly half the Provinces in the country and closed several roads. It is believed that hundreds of motorists have been stranded in separate locations. The Salang Pass was closed to truck traffic.
NEXT 24 HOURS
POSSIBLE SECURITY OPERATION IN BAGHLAN – Unconfirmed reports of an arrest of a senior Baghlan Resistance Commander in Sar-e-Pul Province have sparked fears that a security operation was ramping up and focused on Resistance forces in Baghlan Province. Detachments of GDI agents were said to be traveling to the Province to reinforce the local GDI offices. The identity of the Commander has not yet been revealed but a source in the Ministry of the Interior claimed that his phone was captured intact and contained a wealth of information about the Resistance in the Province. No further information was provided. At-risk Afghans in Baghlan should be prepared for potential conflict in the coming days and are advised to avoid sudden Taliban concentrations of vehicles and/or fighters.
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
German authorities have arrested an Iranian man on suspicions of planning a terror attack. The man is thought to have secured cyanide and ricin for his plot.
The US signaled the Nuclear Deal with Iran was not at the top of any agenda.
Ukrainian diplomats marked the 3rd anniversary of the downing of Ukraine flight PS752 in Tehran.
PAKISTAN
Approximately 25,000 police have been called to duty in Karachi for local polls. National authorities had expressed concerns there could be violence.
Pakistan remains deadlocked with the IMF over an economic aid package and a recent visit by an IMF delegation failed to resolve outstanding issues on the package.
Pakistani security forces appear to be having some success with their counter-terror security operations and foiled two plots involving explosives over the weekend.
UZBEKISTAN / TAJIKISTAN
Turkish police and intelligence agents arrested two suspected ISIS operatives who were thought to be planning a terror attack in Istanbul. The men are of Uzbek and Tajik origin.
SPOTLIGHT OPINION
By Christina Lamb - Stuff
I've never forgotten the words. "We turned them into pink mist," said the young captain from 3 Para, after turning his 50-calibre gun on a group of ten to 15 Taliban in a field in Helmand, Afghanistan. It was more graphic than I might have wished but at the time I was mightily glad - we had spent the last two-and-a-half hours running round that muddy field, scrambling in and out of ditches, and those Taliban were trying to kill us. If the young captain hadn't turned his gun on them, I doubt I would be here writing this.
AFGHAN NEWS
Rescued Mineworkers in Stable Condition: Doctors
By TOLO News
The three mineworkers who were rescued from under the rubble in an extraction site in Yawan district in the north-eastern province of Badakhshan are in stable condition…
Afghans concerned over crisis in health sector due to ban on women working
By ANI
The local residents of Ghor Province, Afghanistan have warned that if the Taliban-led Health Ministry keeps ignoring the ongoing crisis in the healthcare sector…
Ban on female aid workers could push children in Afghanistan back into work: NGO
By AMU TV
Save the Children organization has warned that children could be forced back into working on the streets, in factories, or in people’s homes as services providing aid to them have…
Kabul Residents Criticize Increase in Fuel, Gas Prices
By TOLO News
“They should pay attention to the prices. The price of one liter petrol is 75 Afs,” said Mohammad Salem…
REGIONAL NEWS
Turkey Deports 68,000 Undocumented Afghan Migrants
By Nizamuddin Rezahi - Khaama Press
According to the General Directorate of Migration of Turkey, some 68,290 Afghan citizens, 12,511 Pakistanis and migrants from other…
SAC sets up hunger camp for deporting Afghanis
By The Nation
The activists of Sindh Action Committee (SAC) established a hunger strike camp for 24 hours near the State Life Insurance Office of the city here on Saturday to protest at…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
UN Security Council Releases Press Statement on Afghanistan
By Fidel Rhmati - Khaama Press
The statement calls upon the IEA government to “reopen schools” and “swiftly reverse” these policies and practices, representing an…
THE DAILY WTF
Deputy PM Beradar Urged Leading Scholars to Interpret Reality of Afghanistan to Muslims of the World
By Bakhtar News
Deputy PM Beradar, besides being grateful for the arrival and spiritual support of these scholars, said that the real situation of Afghanistan has not been correctly interpreted in the world and…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 89.13 AFN (as of 9 JAN 2023)