[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS- TALIBAN LEADER SAYS WOMEN’S LIVES ARE BETTER UNDER HIS RULE – “Women are provided with a comfortable, prosperous life.” according to Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Deobandist leader of the Taliban. He went on to say the Taliban wants good relations with the world and stressed that Afghanistan has fulfilled its obligations to the international community. The comments came during his Eid al-Adha message to the country. Based on the draconian gender policies the de facto regime is clinging to, international criticism is a certainty in the coming days.
- KYRGYZSTAN DELIVERS SHIPMENT OF AID – A humanitarian flight delivered a shipment of medical supplies to Kabul yesterday as Kyrgyzstan has signaled its willingness to assist Afghanistan with its ongoing humanitarian crisis. It is thought that other shipments are being planned but will likely travel by road or rail.
- LEADERS IN TAKHAR AND KUNDUZ WARN THAT RELOCATING PAKISTANI REFUGEES IN THE NORTH IS THE START OF A ‘LONG TERM PROBLEM’ – As more refugees from the Durand Line are deposited in the two Northern Provinces, local religious and political leaders are beginning to speak out. Many of the political party leaders have set aside their opposition to one another in expressing concerns that the relocation program has already lit the fuze for long-term ethnic conflicts. Sources in the North say that Resistance groups will likely benefit from more local support and recruitment over the hated policy. However, AMU TV interviewed some of the recently arrived refugees and they make the case that the situation in Pakistan is terrible for them and that they were forced to come to Takhar and Kunduz. A source in Kabul said there is concern that ISIS-K will seize on the issue and may attempt to carry out terrorist attacks against the refugees or other ethnic groups in order to sow dissension and make the Taliban look bad. The source went on to say that many Taliban leaders in Kabul have privately questioned the policy and see it as a case of their ‘giving in’ to Islamabad. The situation is tense and merits continued observation.
- RECENT REPORT FROM IRAN CLAIMS OVER 90,000 AFGHANS HAVE BEEN DEPORTED OVER LAST THREE MONTHS – The Director of the Migrant’s Office in Khorasan Razavi Province released the figures in a report that was made public yesterday. The Director said the deportations were voluntary, but human rights activists say that the threat of violence was used liberally.
Key bits from earlier, since the last Daily Evacuation Brief was posted:
From Afghan Digest (June 20): CONFLICT TRACKER Takhar: UFA forces claim to have ambushed a Taliban security patrol in the Ishkemesh district of Takhar early on Monday morning (0600hrs local) 2 Taliban were reportedly killed in the brief encounter. This information has not been confirmed.
From Afghan Digest (June 19): LAST 24 HOURS
- TTP COMMANDER REPORTEDLY KILLED IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA ON SUNDAY – Pakistani counter-terrorism units, acting on fresh intelligence delivered on Saturday, ambushed the TTP Commander, Zafar Khan and two of his senior advisors in an operation on Sunday morning. Khan had reportedly moved across the border from Nangarhar, Afghanistan on or around 22 May. His activities were tracked by Pakistan’s intelligence services who were waiting for Khan to stop in a location for a few days which would give operatives time to raid his safe house. The action took place in the Dara Adam Khel region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and sources said the operation started late on Saturday night but the fighting took place just after midnight local time on Sunday. Zafar was a wanted terrorist who had operated freely in Afghanistan for some time. He was considered to be a warlord who profited off of several kidnapping/ransom schemes and often chose to extort local coal mining operations. The two advisors who were killed with Khan are Hasan Khan and ‘Anas’ (aka Ali and an Afghan citizen). Both advisors had been implicated in several terrorist attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- TOP COMMANDER OF BALOCHISTAN LIBERATION FRONT (BLF) REPORTEDLY KILLED IN ‘NEIGHBORING COUNTRY’ – Nawaz Ali Rind, the leader of the BLF was reportedly killed in an internal power dispute in an unidentified neighboring country on either Saturday or Sunday. Rind has led the group since 2014 but was reportedly being challenged by underlings about strategies the BLF had pursued in 2022. The BLF was thought to be a founding member of the BRAS organization which is a confederation of Balochistan separatist organizations. Pakistani security forces have scored a number of successes against members of BRAS after arresting the Baloch National Army leader, Gulzar Imam Shambay in April 2023. Shambay apparently had a change of heart after his arrest and repented publicly for his participation in several terrorist attacks. It is believed that Shambay’s cooperation has been responsible for many of the counter-terrorism successes in Pakistan’s restive Province.
- ISRAEL CLAIMS US WEAPONS LEFT BEHIND IN AFGHANISTAN SHOWING UP IN GAZA – An Israeli military commander told a journalist from Newsweek that light weapons the US left behind have been spotted in the possession of militants in the Gaza Strip. While several reports of similar instances have come from India, Pakistan, and Iran, this development represents the farthest known migration of illicit arms from Afghanistan yet.
From Afghan Digest (June18): CONFLICT TRACKER
Kabul: Just before midnight an unidentified Resistance group claims to have killed 2 Taliban fighters in the Koht-i Sangi neighborhood.
From Afghan Digest (June 17): CONFLICT TRACKER
Badakhshan: A Taliban security vehicle was reportedly struck by an IED in an undisclosed location within the province on Friday. There were no details about casualties or which group may have conducted the attack.
From Afghan Digest (June 16): CONFLICT TRACKER
Kabul: AFF fighters posted a video of an attack they claim to have carried out in the Khair Khane neighborhood against a Taliban drcuroty checkpoint. The AFF said that 3 Taliban were killed in thr action.