Daily Evacuation Brief | June 29, 2022
Discover more from The Afghan Digest
LAST 24 HOURS
Sources indicated that the Taliban have stationed a group of approximately 12 former NDS and ANA personnel at the Kabul Airport with the mission of visually identifying former colleagues who may be wanted by the Taliban. No further information is available.
Rumors that former president Ashraf Ghani has returned to Afghanistan have been circulating throughout civilian and Taliban social media outlets. Some claim he has returned in order to attend the Loya Jirga. We can neither confirm or deny the rumors at this time.
A large Taliban security presence has been reported in police district 11 of Kabul. Hundreds of Taliban fighters have been filmed in what looks like house-to-house searches. Several non-combatant vehicles have been seized and taken to an undisclosed location. One source speculated there may be an ISIS-K related threat to blame for the commotion.
Talks have reportedly been ongoing between local leaders and representatives of the Taliban in select districts of Panjshir. Local sources claim the Taliban have offered to withdraw their forces from those specific districts if people in the province swear to refuse support to the NRF. No further information was available.
A report by the BBC confirmed that the Afghan embassy in Delhi, India is still 1 of 70 Afghan diplomatic missions around the world operating independently from the Taliban. As India deepens its engagement with the Taliban following the reopening of its embassy in Kabul last week, it is unclear how and if the embassy in Delhi will be affected.
NEXT 24 HOURS
The Loya Jirga is expected to commence under the umbrella of an extremely heavy security presence in Kabul. All previously established Taliban security checkpoints have been reinforced, and roving patrols are expected to continue throughout the city until the assembly concludes and visiting delegates depart. Shia delegates are reportedly being housed separately from Sunni delegates and their security convoys will be taking different routes. Given fears of ISIS-K attacks on Shia delegates, the Taliban are believed to be trying to control the damage and prevent Sunni delegates from being collateral damage. The jirga itself is believed to be quite secure, so delegates are most vulnerable at their lodgings and during transport.
Residents in Baghlan province may witness fighting as Taliban forces are on alert and may be moving into the Doshi and Kilgi areas to attempt to dissuade locals from supporting Resistance factions. Travel in and around Baghlan should be avoided if possible.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
By John Hood – American Purpose
If you can read the harrowing tales and bitter recriminations of America’s abandoned allies in Afghanistan without disgust or rage, you are made of tougher stuff than I.
Last month, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty aired an interview with a man, Hanif, who’s been in hiding since the Taliban takeover last summer. After lengthy service as a security guard for American and NATO troops, he’s now hoping against hope for an opportunity to escape his native land. “In the nine years I worked, I braved great dangers and accompanied the Special Forces to remote corners of Afghanistan,” Hanif said. “I feel that no one has helped me.” In another interview, a former interpreter pleaded for someone to save her and her “three little kids” from Taliban assassins who bear a special grudge against female Afghans who helped resist their reconquest of the country. “Why did I help the U.S. Army?”, another still-hunted Afghan asked National Public Radio last month, “Why was I risking my whole life being [an] interpreter?”
AFGHAN NEWS
Voices Call for Inclusion of Women, All Ethnic Groups in National Gathering
By Madina Morwat – TOLO News
One of the main demands of the international community is the formation of an inclusive…
Afghanistan leads world in negative experiences
By Ariana News
Afghanistan in 2021 displaced Iraq from the top spot on the Negative Experience Index that the latter had occupied for the two previous…
Afghan survivor: If another quake doesn’t kill us, poverty might
By Stefanie Glinski – al Jazeera
When a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last week, Naqib lost his home and nearly his whole…
REGIONAL NEWS
Can Pakistan Weaken the Growing India-Taliban Outreach?
By Umair Jamal – The Diplomat
The Afghan Taliban have welcomed India’s decision to send diplomats, saying that the move
Russia working on Taliban ties, Putin says in Tajikistan
By The Daily Mail
President Vladimir Putin says Russia is trying to build relations with the Taliban and that Russia wants to see all the…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Biden aides seek to unlock Afghan reserves without enriching Taliban
By Jeff Stein – Washington Post
Senior Biden administration officials are working with Taliban leadership on a mechanism to allow Afghanistan’s government to use its central bank reserves to deal with a severe hunger crisis without giving the former militant group free rein…
By Haley Ott – CBS News
A former Afghan intelligence official and politician who worked closely with the United States after the September 11 terror attacks says he and…
THE DAILY WTF
No civilians Casualties in Balkhab Conflict: Mujahid
By Bakhtar News Agency
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said there is no civilians casualties in Balkhab, amnesty international report is false to…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 88.30 AFN (as of 29 JUN 2022)