Daily Evacuation Brief | July 28, 2022
Discover more from The Afghan Digest
LAST 24 HOURS
An explosive device was detonated near the entrance of Gurudwara Karte Parwan in Kabul city. Several Sikh and Hindu families live in the area immediately adjacent to the bomb site. No deaths or injuries have been reported yet. No group has claimed responsibility, but ISIS-K attacked the same area a little over a month ago and killed 1 and wounded several others. A massive security response has been observed, and several sources claim the Taliban are searching for an ISIS-K terror team.
The US has signaled a willingness to meet with representatives of the Taliban to discuss potential solutions to Afghanistan’s economic crisis. A US government inter-agency team is staying in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to discuss finance and banking issues with select representatives of the Taliban. According to a source close to the discussions, the meetings are a master class in diplomacy with the US illustrating what could be achieved while insisting on full adoption of the Doha accords.
The Ministry of Disabled Affairs has announced its plans to begin paying monthly support payments to disabled individuals in two months. The Ministry is currently in the process of reviewing the records on hand. Many former government employees claimed the disabled lists were often used for corruption; government leaders and employees would sometimes register ‘ghost disabled’ people whose allotments would be deposited into their own bank accounts.
Fighting has been sparse and infrequent over the last several days. A source tied to the Resistance claims the consensus among Resistance leaders was to limit operations while the Tashkent meetings were taking place in order to encourage the Taliban to change its trajectory and begin negotiations for forming an inclusive government. It is unclear how long the one-sided and self-imposed truce will continue.
Amnesty International released a new report entitled “Death in Slow Motion: Women and Girls Under Taliban Rule” detailing the “suffocating crackdown” that Afghan women and girls are experiencing. Their findings include a huge increase in child, early, and forced marriages; the detainment, forced disappearances, and torture of women protestors; women being arrested and detained for “moral corruption”; and more. Read a summary HERE.
NEXT 24 HOURS
Taliban security forces began marshaling near the site of yesterday’s blast hours after the incident took place. Two Ministry of the Interior intelligence officers are reportedly coordinating the response, and a source claims they have three different leads on a potential ISIS-K cell that has rented lodging in two separate neighborhoods. House and apartment searches are expected to begin at dawn, and the Taliban have located a long sought after blue truck that was reputedly intended to be used in an attack on the Loya Jirga assembly. At-risk Afghans in the area can expect personal and vehicular searches while the security operation is ongoing. They are advised to avoid areas where Taliban vehicles and personnel are located. In nearly every instance where ISIS-K terrorists have been targeted for capture, violence has resulted.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
The Taliban’s Neighbors Fear Afghanistan’s ‘Boiling Pot’ of Terrorism
By Lynne O’Donnell – Foreign Policy
The July 25-27 conference in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, follows the latest report on Afghanistan by the United Nations Security Council, which contains alarming details on the activities of terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, now enjoying the Taliban’s protection in Afghanistan. The report indicated that Afghanistan has essentially reverted to the state it was in before Sept. 11, 2001, when it hosted Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, while the group planned the big terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
AFGHAN NEWS
Explosion rocks Sikh man’s shop near Kabul gurdwara; kin in Delhi call for India’s help
By Divya Goyal – The Indian Express
Days after a terror attack on Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Guru Gobind Singh Karte Parwan in Kabul killed two people dead, an explosion…
VIDEO: Afghanistan: Taliban face armed resistance north of Kabul – BBC News
By BBC News
It has been almost a year since the Taliban re-took power in Afghanistan and resistance forces loyal to the previous government are fighting…
Afghanistan's displacement crisis one of the most protracted: UN Official
By ANI
Following the Taliban takeover, numerous Afghans drifted away from Afghanistan, a country which has now the third-largest refugee population…
REGIONAL NEWS
Video Shows Destruction of Apparent Pakistani Boundary Marker
By TOLO News
In one video, the person filming claims that through this move Pakistan is trying to seize the only water source…
After decades of opposing the Taliban, India may be forming a relationship with them
By NPR
A year ago, India was not happy about the state of affairs in Afghanistan. The U.S. was negotiating its exit, the Taliban was consolidating…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Rina Amiri Says No One in Tashkent Conference Expressed Support for Taliban Recognition
By Saqalain Eqbal – Khaama Press
Amiri disagreed with the assertion that Taliban policies were influenced by Afghan culture.
Amnesty urges Britain to increase pace of ‘stalled’ Afghan resettlement scheme
By The Morning Star
A year on from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, rights campaigners have urged the government to rapidly increase the scale and pace of its stalled Afghan…
THE DAILY WTF
Child, 6, Tortured to Death by Father in Southern Afghanistan
By Saqalain Eqbal – Khaama Press
The Taliban’s director of the Information and Culture Department in Helmand province, Hafiz Rashid Helmandi, stated that the child succumbed on…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 90.43 AFN (as of 28 JUL 2022)