Daily Evacuation Brief | September 21, 2022

Sep 21, 2022

CIVILIAN ARRESTS — 25 non-combatants have reportedly been arrested in Ghazni and Panjshir provinces over the previous 24 hours.
- 5 people in Ghazni were arrested after being accused of involvement with Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Their current disposition is unknown.
- 20 non-combatants in Dara Abdullah Khel village in Panjshir were arrested after convening a meeting to discuss a recent Taliban proclamation that ordered the departure of all residents of the town. The residents were ordered to leave since they were believed to support the NRF, and the Taliban are attempting to eradicate the NRF’s support among the civilian population. The whereabouts of the 20 prisoners are unknown.
TALIBAN SOCIAL MEDIA CHIEF INSULTS PAKISTAN — In a recent press briefing, General Mubeen Khan, the director of the Taliban’s social media, delivered several insults aimed at Pakistan and called for closer ties to India in order to expose Pakistan’s hypocrisy. He spoke pointedly of a recent deal that the Taliban signed with Iran that will allow them to use the port of Chabahar as a primary export-import point and claimed that traffic through Pakistan will decline significantly over the next year.
TRICOLOR FLAG INVESTIGATIONS — Taliban officials are investigating reports that several towns in Nangahar province have raised the tricolor flag of the previous regime in their town squares. Apparently, the Ministry of the Interior is dispatching agents to question the leadership in the towns where this has reputedly occurred.
IRAN CALLS FOR INCLUSIVE GOV’T — During a recent press conference, the Iranian Foreign Minister commented on reports that Taliban forces summarily executed prisoners of war in Panjshir. The Minister stressed that Iran does not support any military forces in Afghanistan. He emphasized the need for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, but said he believes that this will be impossible while active armed opposition continues in the country.

`NEXT 24 HOURS`

FORMER GOV’T TO REPRESENT AFGHANISTAN AT UN — A representative of the former democratic government, Chargé d'Affaires Naseer Ahmad Faiq, will continue to represent Afghanistan during a major upcoming UN session. The Taliban have been pushing for recognition at the UN for the past year and are furious at the decision, but the former representative has continued to operate in the role with no foreseeable signs of change.

`SPOTLIGHT CULTURE`

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Riveting ‘Retrograde’ Makes Warfare in Afghanistan Personal

By Chris Barsanti – Pop Matters

Matthew Heineman’s remarkable Retrograde—a National Geographic film showing at some festivals now and hitting theaters and streaming later this year—is one of the most unsettlingly intimate examples of this kind of filmmaking. Ostensibly, it’s a document of the last nine months of the Western-backed Afghanistan government in 2021. The film’s scope ranges from furious combat in the country’s dry opium-producing southwest to the chaotic end in Kabul when tens of thousands of Afghans scrambled to escape from the victorious Taliban. But while Heineman has produced an epic story, he tells it primarily through a small group of people caught up in the storm toss of history.

`AFGHAN NEWS`

Taliban replaces Afghan acting education minister in reshuffle

By Reuters

The Taliban's supreme leader issued an order on Tuesday announcing a reshuffle of several national and provincial positions, including replacing the acting education minister.

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Taliban shoot dead two Afghan women in search operation: Officials

By Al Arabiya

Taliban forces shot dead two Afghan women during a search of their house in the southern province of Helmand over the weekend, a cleric and an…

Afghanistan completes largest ever review of polio surveillance system

By WHO

For the last 2 decades, the prospect of sending 16 visiting polio experts out across the provinces of Afghanistan would have been impossible but from 6 to 19 June 2022, WHO…