LAST 24 HOURS
RUMORS OF A DEPORTATION REPRIEVE FOR AFGHANS IN PAKISTAN WITH ACTIVE RESETTLEMENT CASES REPORTED – An article in Pakistan’s Express Tribune on Tuesday alleges that official sources have confirmed that Afghan refugees who are waiting for visas from resettlement countries will not be deported. Any official has not yet confirmed this information. The Express Tribune said that Pakistan’s Interior Minister demanded that countries working to extract at-risk Afghans speed up the visa issuance process. Again, this information has yet to be confirmed by the government, and at-risk Afghans in this category are encouraged to keep a low profile.
UNAMA ISSUES MOST RECENT HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION REPORT FOR JULY-SEPTEMBER 2023 – The six-page report documents several human rights cases of abuse attributed to the de facto regime and highlights continuing challenges for those Afghans who served in the former government/military. Of note, the report did highlight that fewer non-combatants had been killed and attributed the decrease to a reduction of IEDs that have been used. The report can be accessed on the UNAMA website in English, Dari, and Pashto.
HAZARA RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR MURDERED IN HERAT – Disturbing photos of the body of Hojatul Islam Etimidhi, a member of the Herat Ulema Council and the Imam of the Mosque in Kashroud have circulated on social media. Local sources say the Imam was removed from his house Sunday evening and executed by unidentified gunmen. Hazaras in Herat have expressed fear that the chaos caused by the earthquakes in the Province has empowered those who harbor ethnocentric grudges against the Hazara community.
AFGHANISTAN MENS CRICKET TEAM DEFEATS PAKISTAN – Afghanistan notched its first-ever one-day cricket victory over Pakistan in the World Cup. The victory was also historic as it marked the first time Afghanistan had won two matches in any World Cup. After beating England earlier in 2023, the men’s team now finds itself ranked in 6th place.
NEXT 24 HOURS
NO THREATS REPORTED
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
The IRGC media has slammed the Cairo peace summit on the Hamas-Israel war. Many hardline news outlets in Iran piled on and called attendees at the event “womanizing and gluttonous leaders”.
The US has accused Iran of assisting its militias across the region to attack US bases.
An online research group announced that Hamas’s internet footprint is linked with the Iranian government. The group found an app released by Hamas on the Telegram messaging app which was tied to Iran’s cyber-infrastructure.
PAKISTAN
Tomorrow is the deadline for Pakistani voters to complete their registration. Voter registration offices will close on Wednesday evening.
Former PM Imran Khan was indicted yesterday in the Cipher case by a Special Court. The former PM’s Deputy, Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also indicted in the case.
The caretaker regime announced that the dates for elections will be released soon and the acting PM said that no major party would be excluded from participating unless they had been legally barred from doing so.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Do the Taliban Have Transnational Ambitions?
By Maryam Baryalay & Abdul Mateen Imran - The Diplomat
In May 2022, the Taliban released a 312-page manifesto titled “Al Imarat al Islamiah wa Nizamuha,” which translates as “The Islamic Emirate and Its Nizam” (“nizam” means administration, system, institutions, or order). The manifesto attempts to provide the Taliban with a grounding document by answering two questions: what an Islamic Emirate is, and how to run one.
AFGHAN NEWS
Cameras in Cities Have Facial-Recognition Capability: MoI
By Naveed Samadi - TOLO News
The Ministry of Interior said that the security cameras installed in Kabul and some highways across the country have facial-recognition…
Forced and underage marriages surge in Afghanistan
By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press
A recent report by the United States Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has highlighted a significant rise in forced and underage…
Afghan Women Call for Access to Schools, Universities
By TOLO News
They say that even though schools have been closed for more than two years, they still do not know of any future plans to…
REGIONAL NEWS
Iran Issues IDs For Over One Million Foreign Residents
By Iran International
Ahmad Vahidi explained that rather than a national ID card like Iranian citizens, foreign nationals will be assigned an identification number that…
Pakistan halts deportation of Afghan migrants awaiting Western Visas
By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press
Pakistani media outlets have reported that Pakistan’s Interior Minister emphasized during a meeting with Western diplomats that Pakistan is…
Arrests of Afghan Migrants in Pakistan Intensifying
By TOLO News
A number of Afghan migrants in Pakistan say that detentions of Afghan migrants in the country has intensified as the interim government's…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
U.S. watchdog says the Taliban are benefiting from international aid through ‘fraudulent’ NGOs
By PBS News Hour
The watchdog for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan has warned that the Taliban are benefiting from international aid through the establishment of fraudulent…
THE DAILY WTF
By Matt Drake - Daily Mail
More than 50 unlawful killings of civilians are alleged to have taken place in war-torn Afghanistan between 2010 and…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 75.36 AFN (as of 24 OCT 2023)