[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS
- TALIBAN-RESISTANCE CLASH IN PARWAN – Taliban forces launched a raid on a suspected National Resistance Front safe house Parwan Province. Other sources said the raid occurred in the Shatel District of Panjshir Province. The raid was carried out at night and 8 NRF fighters were killed in the melee that lasted several hours. Among the dead were Akmal Amiri and Nasir Ahmad Andrabi, both of whom were Commanders in the NRF. Commander Amiri’s loss was, particularly disheartening as he was considered an extremely capable leader and had a long history of battling ISIS and the Taliban. It is not clear how many casualties the Taliban incurred during the raid. The operation was surprising for the way it was carried out. Typically, operational security has not been a hallmark of the Taliban forces and this operation appears to have achieved complete and total surprise. If future operations adhere to similar operating principles, the NRF and other Resistance forces could be in for a long Summer.
- PAKISTAN’S DEFENSE MINISTER CALLS OUT THE TALIBAN FOR SHELTERING TTP, AGAIN – Khawaja Asif has not been bashful about stating the facts as he sees them. In a recent interview with the Voice of America, he reaffirmed earlier statements that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) continues to use Afghanistan as a base from which to launch attacks. Historically, the Taliban respond to these claims by 1) denying that terrorist organizations operate in Afghanistan and 2) they make behind-closed-door pledges to deal with the problem. There is some evidence the Afghanistan Taliban have turned a blind eye to Pakistani terrorism operations in Afghanistan in the recent past. Some have even opined the Taliban may have provided crucial intelligence to Pakistan that is thought to have resulted in the murders of 2 prominent TTP Commanders in Eastern Afghanistan earlier this year. With the massive anti-terrorism campaign that was recently launched across Pakistan, it was only a matter of time before Pakistan began calling out the Taliban for their perceived inaction in dealing with the TTP.
- TALIBAN LEADERS HEARING MIXED MESSAGES FROM THE UN – UNAMA and the United Nations as a whole are threatening to suspend aid to Afghanistan over the Taliban’s decision to enforce the December 2022 decree that bans women from working for humanitarian aid groups. The UN has ordered its staff to ‘work from home’ while it decides what to do but has continued to threaten the Taliban with a serious cut or total ban on humanitarian aid unless it reverses its policies. Sources in Kandahar say the ruling clique is not inclined to take these threats seriously and they point to recent calls made by the UN for donors to contribute more funds for aid programs in the country. The source said the consensus among the Mullahs in the Supreme Leader’s inner circle is that the UN is simply making empty threats. The source said that a call from leaders in Kabul to hold a meeting to discuss a potential halt of aid was denied by Kandahar. Leaders in Kabul are apparently furious over the lack of attention to the problem and that there is a sense that Kandahar is disconnected from reality because it doesn’t have to actually govern while Kabul must deal with the shortages in resources on a daily basis.
CONFLICT TRACKER
Parwan/Panjshir: Taliban forces conducted a night raid on an NRF safe house in either Parwan or Panjshir (location is not clear yet). 8 NRF fighters were killed in the battle. It is not clear how many others nay have been killed or wounded in the fray. A revered Resistance commander, Akmal Amiri, was among the NRF losses.
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