Daily Evacuation Brief | September 20, 2022
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LAST 24 HOURS
HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCH SURGE — Increased house searches have been occurring from Kabul to Kandahar, mostly at night. It is not clear what the Taliban are looking for other than their openly stated purpose of recovering government assets and weapons. Several sources have indicated that men have been arrested during searches in both Kabul and Kandahar, but we have not been supplied with the justification and/or details behind who has been detained. In a potentially related move, the governor of Balkh announced that houses/apartments that have been rented to ISIS militants will be seized.
AFGHANS FIGHTING IN TAJ-KYRG BORDER CLASHES — The Secretary of the Kyrgyz Security Council recently claimed that Afghan nationals have been fighting on behalf of Tajik security forces during the recent border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Secretary called the Afghans members of an international terrorist organization, leading to a diplomatic row. The Afghans are believed to be working for pay and recruited to supplement Tajik forces. Kyrgyz intelligence services claim that the Taliban have identified at least one man as Afghan in a video of the fighting. However, the Taliban have not publicly acknowledged the accusations. A tenuous ceasefire between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan seems to be holding, but international observers estimate that both sides have suffered over 100 killed and a further 200-300 injured, primarily civilians. Security forces of both countries are currently arrayed in force on both sides of the border, and the situation remains tense.
SHOOTING IN CAPITAL — Gunfire broke out during a meeting at the Kabul Chamber of Mines and Industries on Monday. It is not clear what happened. We have reports of some injuries sustained from the shooting, but no loss of life is thought to have taken place.
NEXT 24 HOURS
A common tactic we have seen from the Resistance forces this year is a hit-and-run attack on a fixed objective, which is then followed by a larger attack. It is likely that the Resistance employs this method in order to:
Probe the Taliban’s defenses
Gauge how long any potential relief forces take to arrive and where they come from
Identify potential ambush points along the road networks that reinforcements use
These tactics have been used successfully in Badakhshan, Balkh, Panjshir, Baghlan, and Takhar. With this in mind, we may witness a larger attack on the Chaman Khusda base in Takhar province soon.
SPOTLIGHT ANALYSIS
Time to Get Tough on the Taliban
By Lisa Curtis and Nader Nadery – Foreign Affairs
One year after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, it is clear that the extremist group has changed little since it first seized control of the country in 1996. In March 2022, the Taliban decided not to reopen girls’ secondary schools throughout the country—as it had vowed to do just two days earlier—putting an end to any hopes that the group would rule the country differently this time around. And, in the weeks since a CIA drone strike killed al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a leafy Kabul enclave, it has become even more clear that the Taliban continues to harbor terrorist groups.
AFGHAN NEWS
Taliban Conducts Nighttime Door-to-Door Search
By Saqalain Eqbal – Khaama Press
In the Kolami area of the Salang district of Parwan province, the Taliban are said to have first arrested men and searched…
Calls Mount to Reopen Girls' Schools Above Grade 6
By Asma Saayin – TOLO News
“In the 21st century, Afghanistan is the ONLY country in the world where girls above grade six are banned from going to school,” he…
REGIONAL NEWS
Afghan mercenaries participated in fighting on side of Tajikistan – Imankulov
By 24 Kyrgyzstan
As an example, he cited a video, in which a group of armed men in civilian clothes stands near a burnt…
Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border Clashes Claim 94, Injures Dozens
By Arif Ahmadi – Khaama Press
At least 94 people have been killed and dozen others injured in clashes on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border, according to sources, before a ceasefire…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
U.S. Hostage Exchanged for Afghan Drug Lord in Prisoner Swap
By Yaqoob Akbary and Christina Goldbaum – New York Times
The Taliban government of Afghanistan on Monday said that it had freed an American engineer, Mark R. Frerichs, in exchange for the release by the United States of a…
U.S. looks to trade former Afghan aircraft for counterterrorism help in Central Asia
By Lara Seligman – Politico
The U.S. is negotiating with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to trade nearly 50 military aircraft flown across the border as the Afghan government collapsed last summer for help hunting terrorists…
THE DAILY WTF
New restrictions discourage power-lifting sport in Herat
By Binyamin Barez – Pajhwhok Afghan News
Some instructors and trainers of powerlifting in western Herat province complain their field related signs and photographs of…
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 88.25 AFN (as of 20 SEP 2022)