Daily Evacuation Brief | September 25, 2023
LAST 24 HOURS
FORMER AFGHAN LEADERS HOLD VIRTUAL MEETING ON SATURDAY – Members of the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan (NRCS) hosted an online meeting that included many senior leaders of the previous regime. The event was timed to mark the anniversary of the assassination of President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Several topics were discussed during the meeting including the gender bans put in place by the Taliban and the installation of non-ethnically aligned leadership in Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, and other enclaves. It was not clear if a plan of action was worked on during the consultation.
ASIAN GAMES OPEN IN CHINA, AFGHAN WOMEN ATHLETES ARE SET TO COMPETE – Apparently, Chinese officials will allow 17 Afghan women athletes to compete in the games that began yesterday. Sources in Kabul had said Taliban officials had objected to the women’s participation and requested they be disqualified, but the organizers in China have signaled they will be allowed to compete. The official news outlet for the Taliban reported on the opening of the games but did not mention the female athletes. It is believed that over 100 male Afghan athletes are in Hangzhou, representing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Human rights groups are concerned that the families of the women athletes may face repercussions from the Taliban regime and that they would be closely monitoring their health and well-being.
TALIBAN CONFIRMS THAT A PLAN TO DEAL WITH THE TTP HAS BEEN WORKED OUT WITH PAKISTAN – Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the regime gave remarks about the new agreement with Pakistan that were broadcast on television Sunday. He was clear to enunciate that Afghanistan will only focus on its side of the border and his remarks did not contain specifics about what the Taliban would do to keep TTP/ISIS militants from using Afghanistan as a base of operations against Pakistan. The Taliban are having to walk a tightrope over the issue of the TTP and many sources inside of Afghanistan say that trust between the two groups has steadily eroded throughout late 2022 and 2023. While the TTP does not maintain enough forces inside of Afghanistan to directly challenge Kabul, they could easily destabilize the security situation should they decide to take umbrage over the new ties with Islamabad.
NEXT 24 HOURS
NO THREATS REPORTED
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
Police are investigating reports that an Afghan national attempted to burn 9 other Afghans who were lodging in the Southern neighborhoods of Tehran yesterday.
A dual US/Iranian citizen named Faramarz Javidzad reportedly died while being held in the Evin Prison on Saturday.
Intelligence officials say they have broken up a terrorist ring that was planning as many as 30 attacks in the coming days. 28 people have been arrested and authorities say they have ties to ISIS.
PAKISTAN
A collision on a railway line in Punjab has injured over 30 people and halted traffic on the line for several days.
A drug intended to treat conjunctivitis has been recalled by the government after several patients reported they had gone blind after receiving their doses. The drug is manufactured in Pakistan and a case has already been lodged against the owners.
2 Christians were reportedly arrested on charges of blasphemy last Friday and a Christian cemetery was vandalized in Faisalabad.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Uzbekistan May Be America’s Key to Combating the Islamic State
By Adam Rousselle - The Diplomat
Uzbekistan’s necessarily close relations with the Taliban are making Tashkent an indispensable partner to Washington amid the growing threat posed by the Islamic State. With U.S. policymakers showing increased concern for the rise of the Afghanistan-based Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) and largely unwilling to become reinvolved militarily following the 2021 withdrawal, utilizing their longstanding partnership with Tashkent could offer a means to address regional concerns.
AFGHAN NEWS
Various Delegations Sent Abroad to Encourage Instructors to Return: Nadim
By Aziz Rahman Abram - TOLO News
Speaking at a gathering in the northern province of Balkh, Nadim said that efforts are underway to recruit foreign-based professors to the…
DABS ‘draws up’ five-year plan to increase electricity supply
By Ariana News
Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, the country’s national power utility company, has said a five-year plan has been drawn up to address the…
Entrepreneur shares pic of Kabul’s women-run eatery before Taliban takeover
By Trisha Sengupta - The Hindustan Times
Sara Wahedi, CEO of the digital startup Ehtesab, took to X to share a picture of a restaurant in Kabul…
REGIONAL NEWS
Iran’s Foreign Minister Calls Afghanistan a ‘Deep-Rooted” Crisis
By Fidel Rahmati - Khaama Press
Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of Iran, emphasized in a meeting of the Asian Crisis Council that Afghanistan is one of the…
Detention of Afghan Refugees Continues in Pakistan: Consulate
By Nazir Shinwari - TOLO News
The consul of the Islamic Emirate in Karachi, Abdul Jabar Takhari, said that hundreds of Afghan refugees have been detained over…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Moscow format meeting to focus on addressing challenges facing Afghanistan, says Lavrov
By AMU TV
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday that the forthcoming Moscow format meeting will focus on discussing strategies to address challenges…
By Gary Anderson - Military.com
Having read Franklin Foer's account in the October issue of The Atlantic describing the disastrous evacuation of Afghanistan, I was struck by what it…
THE DAILY WTF
He spoke no English, had no lawyer. An Afghan man’s case offers a glimpse into US immigration court
By Julie Watson - AP
Mohammad was a university professor, teaching human rights courses in Afghanistan before he fled for the…
“A tall task.” TAD Staff
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 78.85 AFN (as of 25 SEP 2023)