Daily Evacuation Brief | March 13, 2023
LAST 24 HOURS
ISIS CLAIMS MAZAR-I-SHARIF JOURNALIST ATTACK — ISIS announced via Telegram that it was responsible for yesterday’s heinous attack at a gathering of journalists in Mazar-i-Sharif. Casualty counts remain disputed. It is most commonly reported that 1 bodyguard was killed, 5 journalists were injured, and 3 children were injured. However, the Afghanistan Independent Journalist’s Association reports that 14 journalists were injured. A few unverified reports indicate that Taliban officials have prevented some of the injured journalists from returning home from the hospital despite being in good condition.
TRADE BETWEEN KABUL AND ASTANA HITS NEW HIGH — Following a meeting between the Taliban acting Foreign Minister and Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, it was announced that trade between Kabul and Astana had reached $900 million (up from $300 million the year prior and $620.7 million in 2020) reflecting the Taliban’s expanding relationship with Kazakhstan.
DIASPORA AROUND GLOBE LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO GET TALIBAN BANNED FROM TWITTER — Afghan diaspora activists in Stockholm, London, and San Francisco launched a global protest movement calling for Elon Musk to ban the Taliban from Twitter. They claim that keeping the Taliban platformed enables them to promote terrorism. Supportive posts have exploded across social media under the hashtag #BanTaliban.
PAKISTANI TALIBAN FACTION ANNOUNCE BEGINNING OF SPRING FIGHTING SEASON — Hafiz Gul Bahadur, leader of a Pakistani Taliban faction based in North Waziristan, announced the beginning of the spring fighting season for his group. As temperatures increase around the region, the traditional fighting season will grow increasingly intense.
CONFLICT TRACKER
NEXT 24 HOURS
CENTRAL BANK TO AUCTION $16 MILLION USD — DAB plans to auction an additional $16 million USD to bolster the Afghani. Central Bank supreme council member Shah Mohammad Mehrabi recently boasted that the Taliban had been able to stabilize the Afghani due to successful monetary policy efforts such as this.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
By Arash Azizzada — Saag
Desperate daily emails from Afghans seeking refuge and safety flood our inboxes. Some are social activists, human rights defenders, former interpreters, and women leaders at risk of retribution from the Taliban. Other marginalized groups such as Hazaras and Shias…
AFGHAN NEWS
ISIL claims attack targeting journalists in Afghanistan
By al Jazeera
The ISIL (ISIS) armed group has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack that killed a security guard and wounded a group of journalists and children in the northern Afghan city…
Over 1,000 Killed in Natural Disasters This Year: Afghan Officials
By Nazir Shinwari — TOLO News
Officials within the State Ministry for Disaster Management said that more than 1,000 people have been killed and over 2,000 others have suffered injuries in natural disasters across…
Violence leaves 23 dead, 12 injured in Afghanistan last week
By Ahmad Shah Erfanyar — Pajhwok News
Last week, 23 people were killed and a dozen others were injured in various incidents of violence across the country. The governor of northern Balkh province was killed…
REGIONAL NEWS
Iran, Uzbek Foreign Ministers Discuss Afghanistan
By Nazir Shinwari — TOLO News
The foreign ministers of Iran and Uzbekistan discussed the situation in Afghanistan and stressed the need to cooperate as neighbors to strengthen the country…
THE DAILY WTF
By Dari VOA
Translation: Nada Mohammad Nadim, Acting Minister of Higher Education of the Taliban government, has said that those who destroy the system of this group are "deserving of death"...
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 87.60 AFN (as of 13 MAR 2023)