Daily Evacuation Brief | July 31, 2022

Jul 31, 2022

Flooding over the last two days has resulted in 18 known deaths so far, and more heavy rain is in the forecast for the Southeastern provinces in the coming days.
Reports of a Pakistani police roundup in Baluchistan claim that nearly three hundred Afghan people have been detained and are being questioned about entering the country illegally. Pashtun Pakistani mediators are negotiating for their release.
A former Afghan Army officer who had sought asylum in Iran after the Taliban takeover was reportedly immediately shot and arrested when trying to return to his home in Afghanistan. Commander Shah Mohammad told his friends that he planned to take advantage of the general amnesty and made the return trip sometime on Thursday or Friday. No further information was available.
A Taliban spokesman said that 2 of the people injured in yesterday’s hand grenade attack at a cricket match have succumbed to their wounds. Although no group has yet claimed responsibility, most analysts agree the attack was likely planned by ISIS-K.
The delegation of Pakistani clerics who had come to Kabul for talks departed and urged the Taliban to reopen schools for girls at the earliest opportunity. Sources close to the meetings between the Pakistan TTP and the clerics say an accord was reached for a permanent ceasefire in contested regions of Pakistan but opined that the clerics did not possess the authority to make a formal agreement.
An influential religious scholar, Sheikh Mohammad Israel Sahibzada, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Kunar province as he was returning to his home near the village of Sahibzada. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the act, and a motive for the killing is not yet clear.

`NEXT 24 HOURS`

Recent reports indicate there may be trouble brewing along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. A brief firefight between border security forces reportedly broke out at the Spin Boldak crossing within the last 48hrs and there are new reports that the Pakistani Army may have diverted natural springs in the Wakhan district of Badakhshan province. The water traditionally feeds the agricultural valleys of the district, and local leaders have reportedly asked for Taliban assistance to resolve the matter.
- There have been persistent rumors of a secret deal that would allow Pakistan to use the Wakhan Corridor to trade with Central Asian States but these have been denied by the Taliban. Regardless, several reports continue to stream out of the province claiming Pakistani trucks are using the route to carry goods to China, Tajikistan, and Pamir. While these reports about conditions in Wakhan are unconfirmed, they are spreading on multiple Afghanistan social media sites and seem to be creating the perception of truth.
- Another incident that may be reflective of the recent uptick in anti-Pakistan sentiment occurred in Kabul when Taliban forces demolished a minaret that was a gift from the Pakistani Army to the former regime. Finally, the arrest of approximately 250 Afghan citizens in Balochistan seems to have inflamed the discord. At-risk Afghans in Pakistan or those who live near the border ought to be aware of the tensions. The border crossings could be closed temporarily should further aggressions take place.

`SPOTLIGHT PERSPECTIVE`

A picture containing outdoor, person, sky, sport

Description automatically generated

‘It feels like people don’t care about Afghanistan anymore. We’re not European, not white’

By Sorcha Pollak – The Irish Times

Shortly after Khatira Samim arrived into work on the morning of August 15th, 2021, she was called into a staff meeting. The human rights defender, who worked as a gender specialist for an NGO umbrella group, was told Taliban forces were closing in on Kabul and advised to go home as quickly as possible. Samim called her husband, a clothes designer, who picked up his wife and the couple rushed home to their two children. A few days later, Samim and her family went into hiding.