LAST 24 HOURS
Protests have erupted in Panjshir as women’s groups demand justice after a Taliban sniper purportedly killed a woman in the Abshar district. The woman was reportedly shot and killed as she made her way into the hills to manage a herd of animals.
Additional flooding in eastern Afghanistan has claimed 10 lives. A footbridge across a ravine was washed away and took 7 people with it as floodwaters rose unexpectedly. The death toll from flooding in Afghanistan so far in 2022 is thought to be in the hundreds.
The UN released a report covering human rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. They report that ISIS-K caused the majority of civilian casualties, but the Taliban have taken part in hundreds of extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment and instances of arbitrary arrest and detention toward former ANDSF members, journalists, human rights defenders, and more.
The Taliban are planning to open a new front against the NRF in Takhar. Qari Fasihuddin, the Taliban’s acting army chief of staff, is thought to be personally leading the forces currently consolidating in the Warsaj District.
Lynne O’Donnell, an Australian journalist who has been covering Afghanistan for years, claims to have been held by the Taliban during a recent visit and threatened with jail if she did not retract previous anti-Taliban statements and accusations via her social media accounts. She has since been released and has departed Afghanistan.
Sources reported that the Turkistan Islamic Movement (formerly ETIM) has set up a training camp and supply depot in Baghlan. Approximately three hundred personnel have been seen entering and working at the base. The location has not been disclosed yet and locals in the area are worried that a drone/air strike will be called in on the base and cause significant collateral damage. A local leader complained about the base to the Taliban and was arrested. His disposition is currently unknown.
A previous report in the DEB indicated the Taliban had killed 2 ISIS-K fighters in Samangan Province. Claims are now surfacing stating the dead men were killed in an inter-Taliban scuffle and their bodies were left on the street while one of the Taliban groups spread word that they were ISIS-K terrorists. It is not clear what actually transpired, but several human rights organizations have previously warned that the Taliban often label opponents as ‘criminals’ or ‘terrorists’ in their statements to the media. No further information is available.
NEXT 24 HOURS
Taliban units currently serving in Baghlan, Badakhshan, and Kunduz are planning to transfer several hundred fighters to Takhar Province. The move is intended to reinforce Qari Fasihuddin’s growing force in the Warsaj District. The offensive is expected to be large and is targeting three NRF positions that are known to the Taliban. Air assets may join the force in the assaults. Typically, the Taliban provide helicopters to their main efforts and the appearance of aircraft in Takhar would signify the importance of the objectives.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Biden’s Misleading Parallel Between Syria and Afghanistan
By Katherine Zimmerman – The Dispatch
On July 12, a U.S. airstrike in northwest Syria killed the leader of ISIS in Syria, Maher al Agal, and seriously injured another senior leader. The strike is the latest blow against ISIS, which is under significant pressure from U.S., Iraqi, Syrian, and Turkish counterterrorism operations. At least five top leaders have been captured or killed since October 2021, whittling away at the core cadre. President Biden’s statement on the operation rightly praises the diligent work of the U.S. military and intelligence community in degrading ISIS capabilities. But he adds the strike “also demonstrates that the United States does not require thousands of troops in combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country.”
AFGHAN NEWS
Afghanistan: Post Taliban takeover, more than 700 Panjshir families displaced to Parwan
By ANI
Faraidoon Noori, an official at the refugee and repatriation department of Parwan said…
Local Daesh/ISIS branch behind most of 700 killed in Afghanistan since US withdrawal: UN
By Riyaz ul Khaliq – Anadolu Agency
The UN report acknowledged an “overall, significant reduction in armed violence” between last August and…
REGIONAL NEWS
Kyrgyz government warns of risk of Central Asian caliphate
By Vladimir Rozanskij – PIME Asia News
The Interior Ministry of Kyrgyzstan has warned of the risk of a resurgence of the extremist and terrorist threat in Central Asia, which is allegedly regrouping to launch new…
Afghan cargo trucks can travel freely to all parts of Pakistan
By Ariana News
The IEA and the Pakistani delegation in Kabul agreed in Tuesday’s meeting that from now on Afghan trucks will not be unloaded in…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
WFP in Afghanistan: $170M Needed to Provide 150 Tons of Food Aid
By Tamim Shahir — TOLOnews
The World Food Program (WFP) said that the organization is planning to provide stores totalling 150 thousand tons of food aid in remote provinces of Afghanistan.
Facebook Bans Taliban-controlled Media Pages, Bakhtar News Agency & Afghanistan National Television
By Saqalain Eqbal – Khaama Press
Facebook had suspended the Pashto and Dari pages of this media organization, according to Ahmadullah Wasiq, head of…
UN Releases Report on Human Rights Since Taliban Takeover
By UNAMA News
The report summarises UNAMA’s findings with regards to the protection of civilians, extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the rights of women…
THE DAILY WTF
Afghans in US immigration limbo watch Ukrainians breeze through
By Michal Kranz - al Jazeera
Zahra was heading home from work on June 23 in business attire and a headscarf when she was stopped at…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 89.26 AFN (as of 21 JUL 2022)