[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS
- ONLINE CAMPAIGN TO BAN TALIBAN FROM TWITTER LAUNCHED – Several journalists, entertainers, academics, and ordinary people launched a campaign to urge Twitter to ban accounts of the Taliban across its platform. In a jointly signed declaration, the group claims Twitter is being misused by the Taliban to spread disinformation. Those interested in reading the petition and/or supporting the call can access it by clicking HERE. We urge those at-risk Afghans who reside in Afghanistan or the region to hide any information that could identify them if they choose to support the campaign.
- PAKISTAN’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LOOKING INTO CORRUPTION CHARGES IN VISA PROCESS FOR AFGHANS – The panel on Foreign Affairs in the National Assembly took the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and the Federal Investigative Agency for failing to provide reports on possible corrupt practices in the Pakistan-Afghanistan visa issuance process. The chairman of the committee issued a statement on 14 July that failure to comply with the committee’s requests for information amounts to hiding corruption inherent in the system. The chairman gave the agencies an additional forty-eight hours to provide the requested reports. Based on reports from Kabul, the Pakistan visa process is completely mired in corruption and there are indications that some employees of the embassy are involved in the cash-for-visa scheme that began shortly after the Taliban rose to power. The Taliban have attempted to intervene in the scams being perpetrated on Afghans with regard to visas but do not appear to have done much more than condemn the criminality.
- PAKISTAN’S MINISTER OF DEFENSE ISSUES WARNINGS OF POSSIBLE STRIKES – Defense Minister Khawaja Asif spoke at the Express-News show - Center Stage on Saturday and discussed the uptick in terrorist attacks carried out by the TTP. In his remarks, he regretted the government’s decisions to provide shelter to Afghan refugees and blamed the PTI regime for lax security measures which have caused problems for the counter-terrorism apparatus in Pakistan. He was mainly concerned with the ease at which the TTP could infiltrate across the border to carry out terror operations and then return to avoid prosecution by Pakistani forces. The Minister went on to accuse the IEA of failing to abide by its commitments and warned that Pakistan will use all its resources to protect its sovereignty and people.
CONFLICT TRACKER
Kabul: An NRF strike team reportedly launched rockets at a Taliban position in the Ghaazah Market area on Friday night. The NRF claimed it inflicted casualties on the Taliban, but did not provide details.
NEXT 24 HOURS
HEAVY RAINS IN ISLAMABAD-RAWALPINDI SPUR ‘EMERGENCY’ DECLARATIONS – The rains that fell on Saturday in the twin cities forced local emergency managers to deploy emergency vehicles to help drain water that was pooling along roadways. Many of the low-lying neighborhoods in both cities had seen up to 12 inches of accumulated water and the levels could reach as high as 24 inches by the end of today. Emergency crews were working in several areas to help create drainages but are having difficulty due to the significant amount of rain that was dropped in such a short time. |