AFGHANISTAN WEEKLY UPDATE ( 30th Dec - 5th Jan)

30 December 2024

Local sources in Nimroz say that the Taliban arrested four young men in the province.
Local sources say that Mohammad Qasim Khalid, the Taliban governor for Nimroz, has held a meeting with representatives of foreign institutions in the western zone, including OCHA.
Local sources in Herat say that the Taliban have once again attacked the province’s money exchange markets and arrested several money changers.
Nasir Ahmad Fayeq, the acting head of Afghanistan’s mission to the United Nations, said that issuing decrees to increase restrictions against women and using humanitarian aid as a tool is hostility against the Afghan people.
Local sources in Nimroz say that Habibullah Elham, the Taliban’s head of information and culture in the province, has asked the media and journalists to encourage people to implement the orders of Mullah Haibatullah, the group’s absent leader.
Tim Burchett, a member of the United States House of Representatives, refers to the activities of the Resistance Front and says that the country’s Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, has ignored the resistance against the Taliban.
The United Nations Women’s Division has called the death of Rafaela Iodice, the former European Union’s representative to Afghanistan, “regrettable” and said that she was an advocate for Afghan women and girls.
Iranian border officials say that more than one million people travel to Afghanistan and Iran through the Islam Qala crossing annually.
Zahravand, a member of the Security and Political Commission of the Iranian Parliament, says that establishing relations and interaction with the Taliban has been fruitless.
Local sources in Kabul say that rocket attacks have targeted the Istalif district of the province.
Following a rocket attack on the Taliban district headquarters in Istalif, Kabul, the group has arrested two people, including a teenager.
Asif Durrani, former Pakistani representative to Afghanistan, referring to recent clashes, says that the Taliban must choose between the TTP and Islamabad.
Local sources in Badakhshan say that despite the ongoing struggle to eradicate poppy cultivation, the number of addicts in the province has doubled compared to the past three years.
Following the publication of the 8 Sobh newspaper’s news of the arrest of two people on charges of a rocket attack on the headquarters of the Taliban-controlled Istalif district of Kabul province, the group has confirmed the arrest of two people.
Isa Bozorgzadeh, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s water industry, has expressed concern about the Taliban’s announcement of constructing the Pashdan Dam in Herat.
Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, has briefed Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif about his recent visit to Kabul.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Interior Affairs, met with Zhao Xing, the Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan, and discussed the development of trade relations.
Taliban sources in Kunar claimed that an ISIS fighter was killed during an operation by the group.
A new report on Monday said escalating terrorist bombings and gun attacks in Pakistan resulted in the deaths of more than 1,600 civilians and security personnel in 2024.
A Pakistan paramilitary soldier has been killed and 11 others injured in firing by the Afghan Taliban forces at the border posts of Pakistan troops, days after strikes by Pakistan targeted the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) militants.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has published a purported video of capturing a Pakistani check post near the Afghanistan border. The TTP sources claimed to have captured the check post in the tribal district of Bajaur in northwest Pakistan on Monday.
China has launched a series of operations around the island of Hainan in the South China Sea. This move comes after days of U.S. and Philippine planes and vessels operating in the island’s waters, airspace, and surrounding areas.
On Monday, The Tajikistan Presidential Office stated that the two leaders discussed “ensuring peace, stability, and regional security.”

31 December 2024

Local sources in Samangan say that following a traffic incident in the province, Mutasimullah Toriyali, the head of provincial health coordination for the Taliban Ministry of Public Health, and two of his family members died.
Local sources in Kunduz say that Taliban intelligence in the province has claimed to have arrested 96 people in the past year on charges of being members of the Resistance Front.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reunified 17,400 Afghan children with their families in 2024.
Local Taliban officials in Nimroz say that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided medical equipment to health centres in the province.
In response to the Taliban’s emphasis on banning women from working in non-governmental organisations, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Taliban must change their course.
Local sources in Kandahar say that the Taliban have closed a 30-bed hospital in the Spin Boldak district of the province due to opposition to its funding agency.
Local sources in Parwan reported the mysterious murder of a young man in the province.
Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s representative in Geneva, has welcomed the recent statement by Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling for the Taliban to revoke its decision to ban women from working in non-governmental organisations.
The Afghan National Resistance Front (ANRF) claimed to have attacked the convoy of Abdul Latif Mansour, the acting head of the Taliban’s energy and water ministry, in Kabul.
The Window of Hope Women’s Movement has strongly condemned the Taliban leader’s new decree and said that Afghan women have been held in house arrests under Taliban rule for more than three years.
Local Taliban officials in Nangarhar say they have prevented the smuggling of 480 historical coins to Pakistan at the Torkham crossing.
Local sources in Daikundi reported the arrest and torture of a former jihadi commander by the Taliban in this province.
The Taliban Ministry of Energy and Water has denied the attack on the convoy of vehicles carrying Abdul Latif Mansour, the head of the ministry, and the killing of one of his bodyguards in Kabul city.
The Afghan Freedom Front (AFF) has claimed responsibility for the attack on Bagram Airport in Parwan province.
The Women’s Movement Towards Freedom says that the international community has not yet shown the necessary and effective response to prevent the tragedies created by the Taliban, and this inattention has led to the intensification of repression and continued human rights violations in the country.
The World Food Program has announced that South Korea has donated five million dollars to Afghanistan.
The Resistance Front led by Ahmad Massoud has claimed that it targeted the convoy of Abdul Latif Mansoor, the Taliban’s Minister of Energy and Water, in Kabul city.
An increase in ISIS-K attacks and security challenges marked the year 2024 in Afghanistan. This year, the ISIS threat reached such a level that a suicide bomber from the group targeted Khalil Rehman Haqqani, a powerful figure in the Taliban.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has stated in its new report that one of the major problems in Afghanistan is the risk of explosive devices, which cause many casualties and injuries, especially among children.

1 January 2025

The findings of a new study by the Afghan Journalists Protection Organization show that female journalists face many challenges accessing information.
On the occasion of the New Year, the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Network announced that it hopes the international community’s view of this country and the presence of “terrorist” groups will change.
Local sources in Laghman say that the Taliban’s Information and Culture Department in this province has asked the media to publish in favour of the group.
Local sources in Nangarhar say that two people died following a traffic accident in the province.
Local sources in Nimroz province say that five Afghan refugees were killed and three others were injured after a landmine exploded in the Iranian border area.
Local sources in Takhar reported a rocket attack by unknown armed individuals on the Taliban security headquarters building in the Chal district of the province.
The Meteorology Department of the Taliban Ministry of Transport and Aviation has warned of the possibility of heavy snowfall, heavy rain and storms in 33 provinces.
The Window of Hope Women’s Movement has described 2024 as a year full of deprivation and called for an end to Taliban rule.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the Taliban to revoke their recent decree banning the employment of women in non-governmental organisations.
An Iranian official has warned that all capacities will be used to expel Afghan refugees from Iran.
The Human Rights Organization Hengaw has reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran has executed an Afghan citizen.
Local sources say that the Taliban’s Information and Culture Department in Panjshir has hired more than 60 people to promote their regime on social media pages.
Local sources in Sar-e-Pul reported the killing of a Taliban member in the province.
After repeated attacks on the Taliban in the Qadis district of Badghis province, the group has imposed nighttime curfews in the district.
The Afghan Liberation Front claimed in its annual report that since its establishment, it has killed 864 Taliban fighters and wounded 894 other members of the group.
Local sources in Nangarhar say that the Taliban have banned women from working in carpet-weaving factories in the province.
The commander of Iran’s border force announced that the country’s borders with Afghanistan are controlled around the clock using advanced electronic equipment.
On the occasion of the beginning of the new year, Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhil, senior advisor to the former president of Afghanistan, has called girls’ education in the country a “fundamental right” and called for its provision in the coming year.
The Afghan Women’s Political Participation Network, led by women’s rights activist Tarnam Saeedi, has called on countries and international institutions to take serious and effective action to “overthrow and change the regime” in Afghanistan in the coming year.
Pakistani security forces have arrested 72 Afghan citizens who had “illegally” entered Pakistan from Afghanistan in the Chaghi area of Balochistan province.
At the height of the deterioration of relations between the Taliban and Islamabad, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, has been busy meeting with senior Pakistani government officials for the past three days following his visit to Kabul.

2 January 2025

The New York Times has reported that relations between the Taliban and Pakistan have been severely weakened following the escalation of insecurity in the region.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees says 54 Afghans returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings on Wednesday after being released from Pakistani prisons.
In an article in the New York Times, John Sopko, the US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, examined the reasons for the failure of the 20-year US mission in Afghanistan.
The human rights organisation Hengaw reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 138 prisoners, including 9 Afghans, in December 2024.
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman denied the Pakistani Defense Minister’s claim that the Taliban had demanded 10 billion rupees in exchange for the removal of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters from the border areas.
The Taliban Ministry of Transport and Aviation announced that it had installed an aircraft guidance device at the Balkh airport in cooperation with a technical group.
The Taliban have imposed nighttime restrictions in the city of Faizabad, Badakhshan, and the Qadis district of Badghis.
In response to the terrorist attack in New Orleans, the head of the Resistance Front’s foreign relations, Meysam Nazari, said that the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan has expanded.
The spokesman for the Taliban governor in Khost announced that Pakistani forces launched rocket attacks on three border villages in the Alisher district of the province last night.
Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada said in a two-day meeting in Kandahar with the Taliban’s Minister of Good Conduct and their heads of good conduct from different provinces of the country that the Taliban’s ummah for the promotion of good and the prevention of evil have the responsibility of “reforming people and reforming the young generation” to build a “healthy society.”
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, in a call with Amu, denied the statements of Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif about the Taliban’s request for 10 billion Pakistani rupees ($35 million) to transfer members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization, known as “Hengao,” has announced that the country’s government has executed five people, including three Afghan citizens.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology under the Taliban administration has announced that as of yesterday (Wednesday, January 2), the plan to reduce the price of internet and telecommunication services in the country has been implemented and the cost of internet and telecommunication services has been reduced.
The World Food Program says that over seven million needy people have been deprived of life-saving aid in Afghanistan this winter.
The Taliban Ministry of Refugees and Repatriates has announced the release of more than 50 Afghan citizens from Pakistani prisons.
Local sources in Maidan Wardak announced temporary reopening of the Kabul-Bamiyan highway.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization has reported that the country has executed five people, including three Afghan citizens.
Local Taliban officials in Ghor province have claimed to have seized 307 kilograms of “F” drugs in the province.
Local Taliban officials and sources in Laghman say that at least 10 traffic incidents on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway have killed five people and injured 17 others.
The Purple Saturdays Movement said in a statement that the failure to fully implement sanctions against the Taliban has undermined the credibility of international policies.
The World Food Program has announced that due to a lack of funding, the organisation is only able to help 7 million of the 14 million hungry people in Afghanistan.
Local sources in Nangarhar say that the Taliban’s Hajj and Endowment Department has ordered mosque preachers in the province to preach about the dangers of human trafficking in Friday prayer sermons.

3 January 2025

President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser says the next administration’s strategy will focus on containing groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for politics, says the group’s political relations with Tajikistan are improving compared to the past.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan told AFP that pressure on them has intensified as insecurity in the country and political tensions between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban escalate.
A new study into the economic consequences of Afghan women’s exclusion from education and work shows that the Taliban ban is costing the Afghan economy more than $1.4 billion annually.
The Consortium of Aid Agencies on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Border said in a new report that since September 15, 2024, Afghanistan has witnessed a significant increase in the return of refugees to the country through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossings.
Abdul Khaliq Hazara, former Balochistan minister and chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party, has been injured in an armed attack at his home in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that due to years of conflict and displacement, many families in Afghanistan do not have valid civil documents, “including national identity cards.”
Mustaghfar Garbaz, spokesman for the Taliban governor in Khost, said that the Pakistani army fired mortars at three border villages, “Irokam, Kageh, and Garab,” in the Alishiro district of the province.
In a legal case against Afghanistan, the international law firm Hogan Loeffels was awarded more than $1.2 million for providing legal services to the former Afghan government from 2019 to 2021.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, has denied reports that Pakistani forces have attacked parts of the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, saying that Pakistan is committed to diplomacy and maintaining friendly relations with its neighbours, including Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s police chief, Akhtar Hayat Khan, has claimed that around 4,000 insurgents are operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 35 per cent of whom are Afghan citizens.
Taliban security officials in the third district of Faizabad city, the capital of Badakhshan, have issued a letter banning shaving beards and cutting hair in the Western style.
Referring to Faiz Hamid’s tea-drinking with the Taliban in Kabul, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that important decisions made during such “tea-drinking” sessions led to the entry of more than 40,000 TTP fighters into that country.
Local Taliban officials in Ghor say that the Kabul-Ghor highway has been closed to traffic.
Reliable sources say that Pakistani police have begun the process of arresting undocumented Afghan immigrants in the country’s capital and have already taken a large number of them from their homes.
Local sources say that due to heavy snowfall, the roads connecting all districts of Bamyan to the provincial capital have been closed.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization has announced that the death sentences of nine prisoners, including two Afghan citizens, have been carried out on charges of “premeditated murder” and “drug trafficking” in the “Qezel Hesar” prison in the Karaj region of Tehran.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has called for the Taliban’s cooperation in continuing water flow from border rivers and has asked the group’s officials to remove the “obstacles created” in this direction.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has announced that the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan led to his resignation.
Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of The Long War magazine, said that ISIS is a threat from Afghanistan.
The National Resistance Front announced that it killed three Taliban fighters in two separate attacks in Herat.
The Call for Uprising movement announced its existence and said that Afghanistan is experiencing its “darkest” period after the shameful deal of August 2021.

4 January 2025

Local Taliban officials in Nimroz say that the smuggling of 1,022 kilograms of drugs in the province has been prevented.
Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), said that Ansarullah wants to overthrow the government of Tajikistan by using the flag of ISIS and following the Taliban.
The Afghan resistance is warning that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are training terrorists that could be capable of attacking America while pretending that those fighters are members of ISIS. After a recent successful operation killing a Taliban commander, the resistance within Afghanistan is seemingly trying to gain credibility with the incoming American government.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has announced that it has held talks with representatives of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the situation in Afghanistan.
Afghan civil society and human rights organisations in Pakistan announced that Ezatullah Bakhshi and Khan Mohammad Farmali, two Afghan human rights defenders, were arrested by Pakistani police.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently said that the country’s recent military attack on the Barmal district of Paktika in Afghanistan was a “teeth-crushing response” to armed militants opposed to the country’s government.
Some Afghan refugees in Pakistan say that after the New Year, Islamabad has intensified the process of forced deportation of Afghan citizens.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of the Center for Foreign Nationals and Refugees Affairs of the Iranian Ministry of Interior, has announced the expulsion of approximately three million “illegal” Afghan refugees from Iran in the past three years.
The Taliban Ministry of Encouraging Good and Forbidding Evil announced that the ministry’s ombudsmen have arrested two people on charges of “witchcraft” in Kabul and Daikundi provinces.
Hossein Ali Sancholi, the police commander of Saravan in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran, announced that they have arrested 115 Afghans without residence documents.
Canada has warned its citizens to avoid travelling to Afghanistan due to insecurity, terrorist attacks, armed conflict, high crime rates and widespread human rights abuses by the Taliban.
Afghan refugees in Islamabad told Afghanistan International on Saturday that Pakistani police had raided their homes and arrested a group of refugees, including women and children.
Ali Maysam Nazari, head of foreign relations for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, says Ansarullah wants to overthrow the Tajik government by using the ISIS flag and following the Taliban.
The Taliban Ministry of Urban Development and Housing announced that land distribution committees have allocated 28,116 acres of land in nine provinces for “migrant” settlements.
Former CIA officer Sarah Adams says there is no longer any excuse to accept the false narrative that the Taliban is fighting ISIS.
Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, praised US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday as a “resolute and courageous” person.
Mohammad Rasool Oqab, the head of the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines Revenue, who was arrested while accepting a bribe, has been acquitted by the group’s court.
The head of Iran’s Center for Refugee Affairs says that about three million refugees have been deported from Iran in the past three years.

5 January 2025

Based on statistics compiled by AMO from reports by the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency, Iran and Pakistan have expelled 421 Afghan refugee families in the past week (from November 27 to 29).
Local sources in Laghman told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence had arrested Habibullah, the former district governor of Dawlat Shah and Alingar districts under the previous government.
Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, met with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Xing and called for China’s cooperation in generating electricity and equipping Afghan hospitals.
Nada Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, said that disobeying the group’s leader’s orders is not only impermissible but also disobeying God’s command.
A few days after the Deputy Prime Minister, the Taliban’s Minister of Border Affairs, during a visit to Takhar, described the group’s relations with Tajikistan, a supporter of the Resistance Front, as “good.”
Rana Sanaullah, a senior adviser to the Pakistani prime minister, warned that Pakistan would attack Afghanistan again if there were a threat or risk of attack from Afghan soil.
President-elect Donald Trump is likely to support the Taliban in their fight against ISIS, but his national security team is opposed to the Taliban, a senior US analyst says.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Monday condemned Pakistan’s recent airstrikes on Paktika province that killed 46 people, including women and children, saying it was a long-standing practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its domestic failures.
Documents obtained by Afghanistan International show that local authorities in Dubai have rejected the work visa application of Taliban media activist Mobin, known as “General Mobin.”
The Taliban Ministry of Public Works says that the Salang Highway was closed to traffic a day ago and has not yet been reopened.
Mohsin Dawar, head of the Democratic Movement of Pakistan, has called the arrest of legally permitted Afghan immigrants by the country’s police a clear violation of human rights.
Afghan journalists in exile in the United States and Northern Europe say that the Taliban have killed 180 Afghan journalists in the past twenty years, 17 of whom died after the group regained control.
The Taliban Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has announced a coordination meeting with the group’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the sending of Afghan workers abroad.
Local sources in Ghazni have reported that roads from four districts to the provincial capital remain closed following recent snowfall.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan has announced that in 2024, landmines and unexploded ordnance left over from the war in the country claimed more than 500 child victims.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is a major achievement for the Biden administration.
The World Food Program says it has trained several women in rural areas of Afghanistan in modern, high-quality methods of processing dairy products.
Several Afghan refugees in Pakistan say that the country’s security forces have intensified the process of deporting and detaining immigrants without legal documents.
The deputy political and security minister of Iran’s Semnan province has warned that all Afghan refugees will be expelled from the province by the end of 1404 (1425).