AFGHANISTAN INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REPORT SAYS FORMER AFGHAN ARMY PERSONNEL UNDER SIGNIFICANT THREAT – The report was released on Sunday and listed increased unlawful detainment, torture, and extra-judicial killings as the biggest threats former ANA personnel are facing under the Taliban. The report also criticized regional and international nations who have turned to the former Afghan Army personnel to serve within their own military forces. Ultimately, the report describes the much touted ‘general amnesty’ instituted by the Taliban as a farce.
DEADLY ATTACKS IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA & BALUCHISTAN, MANY DEAD – At least 8 people were killed in an attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on Monday. Among the dead was a PTI party District chairman, Atif Khan. According to news sources, the vehicle(s) came under attack by accurate RPG and gunfire as the chairman was returning to his home from a function. It is not clear what caused the attack. Another attack in Baluchistan’s Nasirabada District took place earlier in the day and 4 people were killed in the incident that targeted a wedding ceremony. The incident in Nasirabad followed closely on the heels of another violent encounter that took place on Sunday in which 7 other residents of Baluchistan were shot in killed.. Again, no details have emerged over who may be behind the latest attacks.
PASSPORT FORGING RING ARRESTED IN LAGHMAN – A counterfeiting ring that had reputedly issued several thousand fake passports to Afghans was busted up on Sunday and 3 men are under arrest. A source in the Ministry of the Interior says the men were former employees of the Passport Directorate who had been fired when the Taliban came to power and had stolen some of the equipment needed to make the passports. The source said there were concerns in the Ministry that the forgers were working for the United States, but that no evidence had been discovered to substantiate the claims.
THE UNITED NATIONS CONTINUES TO SOUND THE ALARM OVER FUNDING NEEDS FOR AFGHANISTAN – Funding gaps have already forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to ration support for those in Afghanistan who lack resources for feeding themselves and their families. The WFPs country director, Hsiao-Wei Lee, said that current shortfalls will only allow the WFP to feed approximately 4 million of the estimated 13 million people who will require nutritional support in April. The WFP has asked donor states to provide nearly $100 million for April with a subsequent call for $800 million to cover the coming six months.
THE AFGHANI GAINS AGAINST THE US DOLLAR – After a rapid series of auctions by the Central Bank, money changers report that the national currency has risen significantly. Some economists say the increase is a temporary bump that reflects the sell-off of nearly $64 million dollars over the last ten days and expect the currency to lose ground in the coming months.
NEXT 24 HOURS
PAKISTAN REMAINS A CONCERN – Immediately following the death of a PTI party chairman in an attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, some PTI social media accounts began to circulate anti-regime messages that insinuated his murder was a government plot. While there has been no official reason for the attack, many eyewitnesses have stated that a long-standing feud was likely to blame. Regardless, the mood in the country is ugly and the former Prime Minister’s party seems eager to confront the current government. At-risk Afghans should continue to exercise caution as they go about their lives in Pakistan and avoid any potential demonstration sites as clashes with security forces are extremely likely.
NEW PAKISTAN RULES FOR AFGHANS – We have not received the documentation for the new policy that was announced on Monday. However, we have enough source verification to outline the basic changes that are expected to take place:
Afghan citizens must inform relevant police stations when they move from one Province/City to another.
Afghan citizens must provide authorities with the purpose for their travel.
Separate registration centers will be established inside police stations to process Afghan citizens.
All data concerning Afghans living in Pakistan will be deposited into a central database.
Afghans crossing the border into Pakistan will receive additional scrutiny.
Afghans who have overstayed their visa/residency permits will be forced to return.
At this time, it is not clear how prepared Pakistani police are to institute these changes. According to a source in the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, there is currently no infrastructure that would allow for the establishment of a centralized database and such a program would take years to build. It is thought that approximately 400,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan are undocumented. UNHCR has continued its program of assisting Afghans with voluntary repatriation and is offering $350 per person for those who return to Afghanistan. More information is needed to analyze the potential threats the new policy poses for at-risk Afghans residing in Pakistan.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] 11 people were maimed including a protester rammed by a police car, said an independent medical group following an anti-coup protest in Khartoum on Friday.
The neighbourhood groups of the Resistance® Committees Thursday organized an unannounced demonstration against the military ruler.
The youth groups in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum, organised a protest to reach the presidential palace, the headquarters of the military-led Sovereign Council. A similar protest was also organized by the resistance group in the Burri neighbourhood in eastern Khartoum city.
But the security forces closed the bridge leading to the presidency from Omdurman and used tear gas to disperse the protesters. In Khartoum city, the security forces were also deployed to prevent the youth groups from reaching the "strategic areas" in the capital.
11 incidents were recorded including a vehicle ramming attack by regular forces. The situation of the assaulted protester is unstable as a result of a pulmonary haemorrhage that required surgical intervention.
The pro-democracy medical group further reported that another protester was injured in the face with a tear gas canister that fractured his jaw.
The statement underscored that the police fired tear gas canisters directly at the protesters.
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03/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] Two TV stations in violence-plagued Ecuador were targeted with letter bombs, as officials and media reported. While one of the bombs went kaboom! without causing any casualties, other media outlets also reported receiving suspect envelopes.
A bomb sent to journalist Lenin Artieda went kaboom! at his workplace in the port city of Guayaquil, the Ecuavisa private network said on its website.
Artieda received an envelope containing a pen drive which went kaboom! when he inserted it into a computer.
He sustained light injuries to a hand and his face, said police official Xavier Chango. No-one else was hurt.
Elsewhere in Guayaquil in Ecuador’s southwest, the prosecutor’s office said a letter bomb was also sent to another channel, TC Television.
"Bomb crews will carry out a controlled detonation," the office said in a statement.
Chango said the USB drive sent to Artieda could have been loaded with RDX, "a military-type explosive."
He added police were also investigating envelopes sent to two other media outlets in Ecuador’s capital, Quito.
The government said in a statement it "categorically rejects any form of violence perpetrated against journalists and media outlets."
Any attempt to "intimidate journalism and freedom of expression are repugnant," it added.
Ecuador’s CDH human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... watchdog also condemned the attacks on media "in the context of growing insecurity in Ecuador."
Ecuador is sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest cocaine producers, and has itself become a hub for the global drug trade in recent years.
Guayaquil is one of its most violent mostly peaceful cities, with frequent festivities between criminal gangs disputing drug trafficking routes.
President Guillermo Lasso has declared war on gangs who control the drug trade from prisons engulfed by extreme violence and riots that have left more than 400 inmates dead since 2021.
Ecuador has seen its murder rate jump from 14 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021 to 25 per 100,000 in 2022.
Last year, the RTS TV station came under gunfire attack, and in 2020 a bomb went kaboom! at Teleamazonas.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[KhaamaPress] Based on the results of a murder investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, a former Australian Special Air Service (SAS) member was charged with murder on Monday.
According to a statement released by the Australian Federal Police, a 41-year-old man has been arrested in New South Wales and charged with the war crime of murder.
"It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan", the statement said. The probe, carried out by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), was set up in 2021 to investigate the alleged war crimes.
The report said that 19 current and former members of the SAS and Commando Regiments who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016 are the subject of criminal investigations. The investigation has led to several arrests, but Schulz is the first.
According to the statement, the maximum sentence for the crime is life imprisonment. The man has been arrested and placed in jail until his court date.
An alleged helmet cam footage of Schulz, identified as Soldier C, shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in Uruzgan province in 2012 was aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in its documentary Four Corners in 2020.
Almost 30,000 Australian military soldiers served in Afghanistan during the country’s 20-year tenure until the withdrawal two years ago. At least 41 Australian soldiers have bit the dust while fighting in the US against hard boy organizations.
The Australian Defense Force (ADF) has stated that an unrestrained "warrior culture" among the soldiers is to blame for these crimes.
Oliver Schulz, 41, is the first Australian serviceman or veteran to be charged with a war crime under Australian law.
There’s a nice photo of Sgt. Schulz at the link from back in the day, showing him firmly squared away.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of life in jail.
He was arrested on Monday in New South Wales (NSW) and has been remanded in custody.
The investigation was carried out by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), the body set up to investigate alleged war crimes following a four-year inquiry led by an Army Reserve major general and NSW Supreme Court judge Paul Brereton.
The Brereton Report - released in 2020 - found there was "credible evidence" that Australian elite soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people during the Afghan war.
It said 19 current or ex-special forces soldiers should be investigated by police over killings of "prisoners, farmers or civilians" from 2009 to 2013.
This is believed to be the first arrest linked to that inquiry.
[An Nahar] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... on Monday imposed sanctions on Iran's Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and 8 officials, including judges, politicians and holy mans accused of links to the security crackdown on protesters.
The protests began after the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the Islamic Theocratic Republic's morality police, and have grown into one of the most serious challenges to Iran's theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
At least 529 people have been killed in demonstrations, according to human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... activist muppets in Iran. Over 19,700 others have been detained by authorities amid a violent mostly peaceful crackdown trying to suppress the dissent. Some people linked to the protests have been executed.
The EU said it had imposed asset freezes and travel bans on the 8 officials and frozen the assets of The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution due to their involvement "in serious human rights violations in Iran."
The EU said the council is "a regime policy body" that "promoted several projects undermining the freedom of girls and women, setting limits on their clothing and education. Its decisions have also discriminated against minorities."
It's the sixth round of sanctions that the 27-nation bloc has imposed on Iranian officials and organizations — including other ministers, military officers and Iran's morality police — for alleged rights abuses.
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03/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[Daily Excelsior] The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Jammu and Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... Police today conducted searches at the house of a Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) bully boy in Pulwama district in connection with a terror-related case, officials said.
They said searches were conducted at the house of Abdul Aziz Dar, father of active LeT bully boy Riyaz Ahmad Dar in Kakapora area of the south Kashmir district.
The searches were in connection with a terror-related case, they said. (PTI)
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[Daily Excelsior] Police in Bandipora today attached the properties of two murderous Moslem associates for harbouring snuffies and providing logistic support to them.
A police front man said that in presence of Executive Magistrate they attached double storied residential houses of Abdul Majeed Reshi father of accused Aijaz Ahmad Reshi alias Doctor at Gundpora Rampura and Mohammad Jamal Malik father of accused Maqsood Ahmad Malik, resident of Chitteybandey of Aragam Bandipora.
The front man said that both the accused persons were murderous Moslem associates and are already arrested.
"Accordingly, process for attachment of property belonging to the above accused falling within the ambit proceeds of terrorism was initiated u/s 25 of UA(P) Act by the order of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... vide order No. DIVCOM- ’K’/Rtn/05/2023 dated 10-02-2023," the front man said.
According to the notice, the owner of these houses have been restrained to ’transfer, lease out, dispose-off, change its nature or deal with the said property in any manner without the permission of designated authority. "Any violation will attract penal provision of law," the front man said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] At least eight people, including Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) District Chairman Atif Jadoon Khan, were killed when person or persons unknown targeted their vehicle with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) near Havelian, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.
The attackers ambushed Jadoon’s vehicle near Langra area of Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... District when he, along with seven other people, was on his way home after offering fateha in a nearby village, said the police.
According to the police officials, the incident seemed to be linked to an old enmity. old enmities are the best
Sources privy to the matter said the vehicle was targeted with the RPGs, adding that the vehicle caught fire following the rocket attack.
After being informed, the police and rescue officials rushed to the scene of the crime and shifted the bodies to the hospital for medicolegal formalities.
It is pertinent to mention here that Jadoon, after winning the election as an independent candidate, had joined the Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality disorders... -led PTI.
Contrary to the sources’ claim, the police, however, said that the PTI leader was killed in a firing incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[NPASyria] Russian Military Police (MP) conducted on Monday a one-sided patrol without the Ottoman Turkish forces in the eastern countryside of Kobani, northern Syria.
A joint patrol was scheduled between the Russian and Ottoman Turkish forces in the eastern countryside of Kobani.
The joint patrols have started since 2019, following two ceasefire agreements one between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... and Russia and the other between Turkey and the US after the Ottoman Turkish so-called "Peace Spring" operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and occupied the two cities of Tel Abyad and Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in northern Syria.
The ceasefire agreements stipulating halt of all hostilities there and the withdrawal of the SDF 30 kilometers in depth away from the Ottoman Turkish border in addition to conducting joint patrols with Russia in order to monitor the implementation of the agreements.
Russian military vehicles waited for the Ottoman Turkish forces to arrive at the gate near the village of Gharib, 15 km east of Kobani, till 10:00 am, which is the scheduled time for launching the patrol; however, they did not come.
The Russian commanding officer told North Press that they launched the one-sided patrol as Ottoman Turkish forces did not come, without revealing more details about the reason behind it.
Three Russian military vehicles patrolled Kobani eastern countryside according to the schedule course alone.
The Russian vehicles set off from the village of Gharib and passed the villages of Karbanaf, Kosk, Alishar, Jom Ali, Kortek, Kobek, Satan, Teri, Tel Hajib, Qabajeq Saghir, Telk, Holaqiya, Kharabisan, Jishan, and Qaramogh, and returned to the starting point in Gharib.
Russian military vehicles returned to their position near the town of Sirrin, south of Kobani.
On March 13, the Russian and Ottoman Turkish forces conducted the 130th joint patrol in the western countryside of Kobani.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/21/2023 02:03 ||
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[NPASyria] Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a faction affiliated with the Ottoman Turkish-backed opposition’s Syrian National Army (SNA), killed on Monday four Kurds and injured others in Jindires town, the countryside of Afrin, northwest Syria.
A local source told North Press, "Militants of the Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction opened fire on citizens who were setting fire on Newroz eve, killing four and seriously wounding two others."
The source added that the incident occurred after a verbal altercation between members of the faction and residents of Jindires who were preparing to light Newroz fire in front of their balcony of their house on the 16 Street in the Industrial Area.
"After getting maimed, all four were taken to a hospital and bit the dust there. They are: 43-year-old Farah al-Din Othman, 38-year-old Nazmi Othman, 18-year-old Muhammad Nazmi Othman, 42-year-old Muhammad Othman. All four are from the Peshmerga family," he said.
The city of Afrin and its countryside have been under the control of the Ottoman Turkish-backed SNA factions since March 2018.
March 21 of each year represents the national holiday of the Kurds. Fire is ingrained in the Kurdish culture and holds a symbolic value for Kurds who gather around the Newroz fire this day every year to celebrate the advent of spring and the departure of winter.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing....jpg "Kashmir")
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...aka 
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
