Daily Evacuation Brief | May 12, 2023

May 12, 2023

SUPREME COURT IN PAKISTAN ORDERS FORMER PRIME MINISTER TO BE RELEASED – Imran Khan left the courtroom on Thursday under heavy guard and was transported to a Police command facility at Police Lines yesterday. The court mandated that he stay in a guest house at the police facility ‘for his own protection’. The 3 Justices on the bench ruled his arrest had not been lawfully carried out. The government denounced the ruling and swore to rearrest him on a number of charges related to both the corruption case he has been dealing with as well as charges related to the violence that took place over the last several days. The protests died down on Thursday but Police officials said that over 2,000 PTI followers were arrested and approximately 10 were killed with another 400 or so injured in the chaos. Many in the regime (including some opposition party members) have called for some of the Justices to resign their posts. Critics have argued the government has failed to wage an effective legal campaign and the court’s decisions must be respected. Khan is due back in Islamabad’s High Court today and several thousand PTI members have gathered near the Judicial Complex and are facing off against Police and Military units.
CASH SHIPMENTS RESUME TO AFGHANISTAN – The Da Afghanistan Bank confirmed that another $40 million in economic aid had been received on Thursday. The shipments were said to have been interrupted since the ban on female humanitarian aid workers was put in place. Several US lawmakers have voiced concerns over a recent inspector general report and testimony that suggested the funds could be finding their way into Taliban coffers.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER CAUTIONS NEIGHBORS TO STAY OUT OF AFGHANISTAN’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS – Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister, made remarks at a remembrance event for Mullah Omar which were directed at Afghanistan’s neighbors, warning them to not meddle in internal matters. A source in Kabul says that Kandahar has been concerned by remarks made at several regional meetings on Afghanistan by representatives of Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan about the situation in the country. The source went on to say that leaders in Kandahar are pushing the Taliban Ministers to blunt criticisms about inclusive political representation in the country recently. If true, it confirms many of the statements made recently by other senior Taliban leaders which claim the Taliban is already inclusive and representative of the ethnic groups in the country.
HAQQANI SPEAKS OUT AGAIN AGAINST THE ‘OLD GUARD’ – The Minister of the Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, used his time at a ceremony marking the death of the founder of the Islamic Emirate (Mullah Omar Mujahid) to take a few shots at the leadership in Kandahar. In his remarks, he criticized the lack of ethnic voices within the Taliban leadership which has been widely interpreted as a rebuke of the Supreme Leader and his inner circle to consolidate power in Pashtun hands.

NEXT 24 HOURS

PAKISTAN COULE ERUPT AGAIN BASED ON TODAY’S COURT APPEARANCE BY THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER – The current regime has vowed to rearrest former PM, Imran Khan, and has filed additional charges against him for inciting the violence that took place over the last three days. Khan is scheduled to appear before the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court appears to have washed its hands of him when they told him on Thursday that he would have to abide by the High Court’s rulings. Many of the PTI protestors remain camped in Islamabad and they are expected to station themselves around the Judicial Complex in the event the government tries to arrest the former PM again. At-risk Afghans should be aware that the protests could reignite quickly and the situation remains volatile.

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

IRAN

The US accused Iran of continuing to send weapons and drugs to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Iran’s support for the Houthis was a key component of the rapprochement deal with Saudi Arabia.
Iran condemned the recent decision by the Swedish parliament to classify the IRGC as a terrorist entity. Several other European parliaments are debating similar moves at the national level.
The Iranian Supreme Court has reputedly upheld death sentences against three protestors who had been convicted of ‘waging war against God’. The appeal of the verdict has been labeled a travesty of justice as the attorneys representing the men had severely limited time to confer with their clients. Iran reportedly hanged 10 prisoners over the past week.

PAKISTAN

The Minister of Defense hinted that martial law could be imposed should the protestors against the regime continue with violent demonstrations.
India is once again blaming Pakistani militants for a shootout in Jammu and Kashmir that left another Indian soldier dead.
A new audio leak, attributed to Imran Khan, began circulating on social media immediately after the Supreme Court ordered the release of the former PM. In it, the former PM can be heard asking a party leader to talk with the Supreme Court on his behalf.

SPOTLIGHT POLITICAL ECONOMY

What Do the Taleban Spend Afghanistan’s Money On? Government expenditure under the Islamic Emirate

By Kate Clark & Roxanna Shapour - AAN

When the Taleban captured power in 2021, they moved swiftly to take over domestic revenue collection, adopting Ministry of Finance systems for taxes and customs. As insurgents, they had been diligent tax collectors and brought a wealth of experience in collecting money from people, but little in spending it – outside the war effort. Since foreign donors no longer support the Afghan state, it is now Afghan citizens who pay for what their government does. While the Islamic Emirate has been relatively open about revenues, it has been cagey about how it spends money. In this report, AAN’s Kate Clark and Roxanna Shapour have put together what little is known or can be found out about Taleban spending plans and priorities. They find large sums of money allocated to security and contingency codes and relatively little to social services apart from education. They also conclude that following the money reveals how well Afghan bureaucracy continued despite the upheaval of regime change – and how fully the Taleban have captured it.

AFGHAN NEWS

‘We Should Not Monopolize Govt’: Acting Interior Minister

By Mohammad Farshad Daryosh - TOLO News

“I say we should not monopolize the government and make it small so that only individuals from our religious seminaries see themselves…

Taliban Release 4 Journalists Detained for Entertainment Shows

By Roshan Noorzai - VOA

The Taliban released four Afghan journalists on Wednesday after detaining them for two days in the southeastern province of…

Former Minister Of Information and Culture Surrenders To Taliban Forces

By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press

Sources confirmed to Khaama Press that Tahir Zaheere, former Minister and governor of Bamyan Province, surrendered to the…

REGIONAL NEWS

China: Taliban made written pledge to not allow terrorist activities on Afghanistan’s soil

By AMU TV

Beijing has claimed that the Taliban made a written pledge last week to not allow the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other militant groups to conduct terrorist activities…

8 Killed, 290 Injured In Violent Protests in Pakistan

By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press

Since the arrest of Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, on Tuesday, the death toll has increased to 8, and up to 290 people have…

Pakistan arrests top tier of PTI leaders including former FM Qureshi

By Ariana News

Pakistan government has arrested scores of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members including top leaders such as…

INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN

Poor planning and a ‘chaotic environment’: Internal report reveals Trudeau government’s blunders during the fall of Kabul

By Tonda MacCharles - The Toronto Star

After action report concludes that while Canada did as well or better than allies in the evacuation, bureaucratic foot-dragging, poor planning and poor communication led to…