LAST 24 HOURS
Power shortages have again become a problem in Kabul. The recent attacks on power pylons have caused brownouts in several neighborhoods, while other areas have been left completely without power.
The cholera outbreak is beginning to run rampant in select provinces around Afghanistan. Uzbekistan instituted health controls at the border and other neighboring countries are expected to follow suit. Currently, these controls involve only using thermal systems to take people’s temperature but measures may be ramped up if the epidemic is not controlled. At-risk Afghans and groups involved in resettlement should anticipate potential additional medical screening requirements for their personnel, and some countries may close or restrict their borders to contain the spread of the disease.
Large scale combat operations have resumed in Baghlan province. The Taliban appear to have launched several offensives against NRF positions in the Qasan Valley. At least 20 Taliban are known to have been killed in the fighting. Resistance forces have also sustained casualties, but an accurate report has not been received yet. Local sources estimate that approximately 3,500 Taliban are engaged in fights in Qasan Valley and another 400 are fighting an NRF contingent near Khost. The Resistance force is reputed to have approximately 900 fighters in the Qasan Valley. Resistance forces claim they have damaged two of the helicopters that have been flying in support of Taliban ground units. The fighting in Khost may be centered on capturing or killing Khost’s District Governor Mullah Mohammad. He is said to have arrived on the scene with a contingent of 200 Taliban fighters and was immediately surrounded by NRF forces who now have him trapped in a compound. Taliban reinforcements have been sent to the area, but the Resistance forces effectively control the roads leading into the sector where the District Governor is under siege.
NEXT 24 HOURS
Ministry of the Interior intelligence agents are expected to canvass areas in Police District 5 over the next 48 hours. Sources stated that new information was received concerning the location of an ISIS-K team hiding in the city. It is believed the team referenced was sent to Kabul prior to the Loya Jirga and has evaded capture. At-risk Afghans living in Police District 5 should expect an increased security presence and may have their homes searched. In previous searches over the last 10 days, no arrests or violence have been reported.
SPOTLIGHT FOOD SECURITY
In Kabul, a new ritual: Hungry women wait for bread outside bakeries
By Diaa Hadid – NPR
After the Taliban came to power, Western governments cut off the aid that propped up the Afghan government. Washington froze Afghanistan's central bank assets. The banking system largely seized up, preventing traders from easily importing or exporting goods. The number of Afghans needing food aid roughly doubled to 20 million people, about half the population. These are people who have gone into unsustainable debt or have sold off assets like land and homes, their kidneys and in the most extreme cases, their children to purchase food. In one remote province, the U.N. found some 20,000 Afghans who were starving in famine-like conditions. Officials say it has only been wide-scale food aid that has prevented more from the same fate.
AFGHAN NEWS
Formation of inclusive govt to take time: Haqqani
By Pajhwok Afghan News
An inclusive government would come into effect whenever the Western influence was eradicated from Afghanistan…
Afghanistan: Kabul witnesses spike in seasonal diseases
By ANI
Amid a surge in seasonal diseases in Afghanistan over the last three weeks, doctors urged citizens to take precautionary measures…
Afghan Economy Crumbles Since Taliban Takeover
By Margherita Stancati – Wall Street Journal
Businesses are struggling to import supplies or find customers who can pay amid crushing inflation and banking dysfunction, as the isolated government…
Survey: Motivation of Afghan University Students Waning
By TOLOnews
“Of 275, 73 percent said that their motivation after the Islamic Emirate swept into power either diminished or was eliminated entirely,” said Gul Mohammad Gran, head…
REGIONAL NEWS
Afghanistan’s security, stability benefits entire region
By MEHR News Agency
Afghan refugees (immigrants), Afghan prisoners in Iran, fighting drug trafficking, border issues and bilateral trade relations were…
Uzbekistan raises alarm over cholera
By Xinhua News Agency
Uzbekistan has tightened sanitary-medical controls at its border crossings amid a reported cholera outbreak in neighboring Afghanistan, Uzbek public…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
UN Senior Official Markus Potzel Calls for Afghan Girls’ Education
By Saqalain Eqbal – Khaama Press
On Saturday, July 16, during a visit to Nangarhar, Markus Potzel, the new deputy of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, stated that the Taliban should…
THE DAILY WTF
Haqqani Seeks Release of Afghan Assets by US
By TOLO News
Speaking to a gathering in the southern province of Khost, the acting minister of interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, called on the US to free up the…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 87.99 AFN (as of 18 JUL 2022)