LAST 24 HOURS
FORMER PAKISTAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF CALLS DECISION TO DEPORT AFGHANS ‘DISASTROUS’ – Asad Durrani, former Director of the ISI in Pakistan said the administration’s decision to launch the deportation operation would not help Pakistan in the long run. He made the comments while attending the recent Herat Security Dialogue in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Other attendees at the conference, many of whom were former Afghan politicians and/or military leaders, said the policy will destabilize further those areas of Afghanistan where the deportees will be resettled. Ultimately, the consensus at the conference indicated the policy did nothing to make Pakistan more secure and has the potential to upend what little balance there is in Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD DEMANDS TALIBAN HAND OVER MILITANT GROUP – The Foreign Minister called the Taliban Charge d’Affaires on the carpet to deliver four demands in the wake of the Bannu suicide bombing. The terrorist group known as the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group claimed responsibility for the attack and Pakistan levied the following demands:
Investigate and apprehend the perpetrators of the Bannu operation.
Take immediate and verifiable action against all terrorist groups and their sanctuaries.
Arrest Hafiz Gul Bahadar members and deliver them to Pakistan.
Disallow the use of Afghan territory for all attacks against Pakistan.
SOME BANKS IN AFGHANISTAN APPEAR TO BE OUT OF MONEY – Scattered reports have begun to trickle in that people have been denied withdrawals from various banks across the country. It is not currently clear if the phenomenon affects certain banks or geographic areas. Several of those interviewed said they had not been able to withdraw their paychecks for the past four days and that they were beginning to worry that a problem was developing. Photos and videos of long queues forming at local branches illustrate the problem. While there has long been an issue over a lack of usable bank notes, it is not clear if this problem is related.
NEXT 24 HOURS
NO THREATS REPORTED
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
A cyber attack on a US water facility is alleged to have originated from an anti-Israel group that has links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iran executed 6 people yesterday and has totaled at least 24 executions over the past week.
Iran has claimed that the deal with Russia for fighter jets and helicopters has finally been struck. Russia has yet to confirm the deal but observers believe Moscow intends to provide the weapons to its new ally.
PAKISTAN
The special court hearing the case concerning leaked classified material by former PM Imran Khan has denied his request for an open trial. The case will continue to be heard where he is currently incarcerated. The court cited security concerns in its findings.
Delegates from the IMF and officials from the government are reportedly working on a new program for Pakistan’s economy that will take into account recent data rather than relying on the information gleaned from 2019 to structure the current loan program.
Iman Khan’s former barrister, Gohar Khan, announced he would seek the PTI party chairmanship after the former PM announced he would relinquish the role.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
How the Taliban is Weaponizing Twitter
By Maisam Iltaf - Kabul Now
Over the past two months, women rights activist Husnia, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, received random messages from Taliban-affiliated users on Twitter [now known as X], calling her a “prostitute” and “foreign spy.” Husnia, who is in hiding in Kabul, participated in several underground protests after women-led protests were violently suppressed by Taliban crackdowns last year. She was unmoved at first, but as death and rape threats became constant, she was forced to deactivate her Twitter account. At one point, she received a message asking if she preferred to be killed by a “bullet in the head” or “stoned to death” if she did not give up her activism.
AFGHAN NEWS
International community should not try to remove IEA, says Karzai
By Ariana News
The international community should not seek the forced removal from power of Afghanistan’s interim…
Extraction to Begin at 8 New Wells in Amu Oil Field
By TOLO News
Speaking at the ceremony, Delawar said that after the oil wells become active, Afghanistan will earn approximately $500 million in income…
Afghan Women Activists Seek Taliban ICC Trial Over Rights Abuses
By RFE
In an open letter sent to the ICC on November 27, they accused the Taliban, who seized power in August 2021 as international troops…
REGIONAL NEWS
Islamabad orders Kabul to act against groups that attack Pakistan
By Ariana News
The representative of Afghanistan’s embassy in Islamabad was summoned to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday and…
Iran Rejects UN Claims That Afghanistan Poppy Cultivation In Decline
By Iran International
Amir Abbas Lotfi, the Director General of the International Relations Office of the Drug Control Headquarters in Iran, contradicted the UN…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
MOD makes 700 military homes available for Afghan families
By Rosie Laydon - Forces
Seven hundred homes usually occupied by service families, but which had been standing empty, have been made available to local councils looking to…
Pakistani Currency Against US Dollar Drops By 20% in 2023: Bloomberg
By Bibi Amina Hakimi - TOLO News
Bloomberg, in a story titled Asia’s Worst-Performing Currency Heads for Another Tough Year, reported the fall of…
THE DAILY WTF
By Monte Bovill - ABC
An Afghan refugee, who has been living in the Australian community for nine months, has launched a High Court challenge over emergency laws requiring him…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 69.70 AFN (as of 29 NOV 2023)