AFGHANISTAN WEEKLY UPDATE (9th Dec - 15th Dec)

9 December 2024

Local sources in Khost say that Taliban fighters in this province have celebrated the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Jabbarov has called on countries around the world to officially recognize the Taliban to improve the situation in Afghanistan.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Qatari Education for All Foundation (EAA) are providing $50 million for education in Afghanistan.
Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban political office in Qatar, says that he met with Letizia van Asch, the Dutch ambassador, and Rolf-Dieter Reinhard, the German embassy’s chargé d’affaires for Afghanistan, and discussed education and humanitarian aid.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that about 6.6 million people in Afghanistan lack adequate shelter and will need shelter by 2024.
The Taliban Prime Minister’s Office says that the group’s political commission has held a meeting to discuss recent developments in Syria and the Middle East.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced that it is researching the impacts of climate change and ways to combat drought in Afghanistan.
The Australian Embassy in Afghanistan says that Stephanie Copus Campbell, the country’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, has discussed the situation of women in Afghanistan with the representative of the United Nations Women’s Department.
The Taliban Ministry of Public Health says that Noor Jalal Jalali, the acting minister of the ministry, has discussed solving the problems of the health sector in a meeting with representatives of international organizations.
Local sources in Nangarhar say that the Taliban have begun the process of transferring families of TTP fighters from this province to other provinces for the past two weeks.
Several Afghan human rights activists living in Alberta, Canada have met with two members of the country’s parliament and discussed the investigation of more than a century of “genocide and systematic violence against the Hazara community.”
The United Nations has announced that 21.4 million women and girls in Afghanistan face systematic erosion of their basic human rights, including social, economic, and political.
The Afghan Freedom Front says it has killed two Taliban fighters and wounded two others following an attack on them in Kapisa province.
The National Resistance Front has claimed that it killed one Taliban fighter and wounded two others in an attack on the group in Faryab province.
The National Resistance Front has claimed that it killed one Taliban fighter and wounded another in an attack on the group in Kabul.
Local sources in Herat say that unknown individuals have targeted a Taliban checkpoint by throwing a hand grenade.
Alireza Bigdali, Iran’s new ambassador to Afghanistan, has emphasized expanding his country’s relations with the Taliban in a meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister.
The Afghan Liberation Front has claimed that it killed four Taliban fighters and wounded two others following an attack on them in Herat province.
The Afghan Liberation Front has claimed that it has attacked Taliban positions in different provinces three times in the past 24 hours, and in the most recent case, killed three Taliban fighters in Kabul.
A Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander and 12 other members of the group have been killed in a Pakistani army operation in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, the Dawn newspaper reported. According to the report, the Pakistani army attacked TTP hideouts on Sunday morning.
Sources told Afghanistan International that several members of the Taliban cabinet expressed their concerns about the “strengthening of the system” and “popular support” for the Taliban government in a meeting attended by the group’s leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Taliban’s response to Munir Akram’s claim: The Afghan Taliban say they do not allow any group to operate from Afghan soil and that the Taliban want security in Pakistan.

10 December 2024

Police have collected more than 3,300 pieces of light and heavy weapons during a series of operations in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province over the past eight months, deputy to provincial police chief Mawlawi Tahir Mubariz said.
Afghan National Army ANA general ground commander Murad Ali Murad has announced that the Afghan National Army will no longer use light weapons to defend the country against Terrorist groups.
Following the reactions to the Taliban banning women and girls from attending medical institutes, many Afghan citizens and members of the Pashtun Preservation Movement have taken to the streets in Germany.
Diplomatic missions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan have announced that International Human Rights Day is coming at a time when women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule are deprived of their most basic human rights.
The Afghan Human Rights and Democracy Organization, in coordination with several other women’s rights organizations, has announced that it supports the fundamental rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Local sources in Kandahar say that Taliban officials have declared the use of smartphones by women in the province “forbidden.”
Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur for Afghanistan, says that banning girls from health institutes will harm the entire Afghan population.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says it has provided assistance to 15.3 million people in Afghanistan over the past nine months.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on the Taliban to accept human rights commitments on the occasion of December 10, International Human Rights Day.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on the Taliban to accept human rights commitments on the occasion of December 10, International Human Rights Day.
On the occasion of “December 10th”, the Human Rights Activists Union says that the Taliban have committed widespread violations of the rights of Afghan citizens and that the group should be brought to international courts.
Local sources in Nimroz say that three members of a family died due to snakebite in the province.
The European Union Delegation to Afghanistan has once again emphasized its commitment to protecting the rights of Afghans.
Zhao Xing, the Chinese ambassador to Kabul, says that a medical team from Beijing will soon be dispatched to Kabul to treat children with heart disease.
The National Resistance Front has claimed that it killed a Taliban fighter in an attack on the group in Herat province.
Karen Decker, the US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, has called on the Taliban to reopen girls’ schools on International Human Rights Day.
Local sources in Herat say that a young man has been killed in this province by unknown gunmen.
The Afghan Security Monitor says that 38 security incidents were reported in the country in November of this year.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Afghan Liberation Front says that the Taliban regime is the embodiment of “terrorism, misogyny, and extremism” and that the group’s actions are a clear violation of human rights.
Local sources in Takhar say that a Taliban intelligence fighter has been killed by unknown gunmen in the Dasht-e-Qala district of the province.
Thomas Nicholson, the European Union’s special representative for Afghanistan, said in a meeting with Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s political deputy prime minister, that access for the organization’s staff to all parts of Afghanistan is essential for providing assistance.

11 December 2024

Afghanistan’s Acting Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Khalil Rahman Haqqani was killed in a blast inside the ministry’s headquarters, an official at the Ministry of Interior confirmed to Xinhua on Wednesday.
The Russian House of Representatives, or Duma, has approved a bill that would make it possible to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations.
Reena Amiri, the US Special Representative for Women and Human Rights in Afghanistan, says that the Taliban’s inhumane and irrational policies have deepened the pain and suffering of the Afghan people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had pointed out to former US Secretary of State John Kerry that Washington’s policy in Afghanistan was failing.
The Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, says that the Taliban have pushed the country into “absolute darkness” and that Afghanistan needs to restore a legitimate system based on the will of the people.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced that the organisation’s Security Council will meet tomorrow to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Iranian military officials have announced the completion of the 35-kilometre blockade of the country’s eastern border with Afghanistan.
The Taliban have welcomed the positive vote of the Russian parliament to remove their names from Moscow’s list of terrorist groups.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has confirmed the killing of Khalilur Rehman Haqqani, the group’s acting minister of refugees and repatriates.
Sources say that the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture has ordered local media to use the word “martyr” in news and reports related to the killing of Khalilur Rahman Haqqani, the group’s acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriates.
The Taliban Ministry of Higher Education says it has revoked the operating licenses of 11 private educational institutions.
The US State Department says that the Taliban’s ban on girls attending health institutes is an unjustified attack on their access to education.
Local sources in Herat say that unknown gunmen targeted the fourth Taliban security zone in Herat by throwing grenades.
Local sources in Badghis say that a Taliban army brigade in this province has been targeted by mortar shells.
Suhail Shaheen, head of the Taliban political office, announced his meeting with Jean-Marine Chau, the Chargé d’affaires of the French Embassy in Afghanistan.
Russia and Uzbekistan are working together to prepare a feasibility study for the construction of the Trans-Afghanistan railway, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, in response to an investigative report by Afghanistan International on the torture of prisoners in Taliban prisons, said that the report is just one corner of the mountain of Taliban “crimes.
Gregory, a member of the US House of Representatives, said during Anthony Blinken’s testimony before the Congressional Foreign Relations Committee that the process of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan had entered a point of no return due to the Doha Agreement from the first term of Trump’s presidency.
Anthony Blinken, speaking at a congressional hearing, justified the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Tim Burchett, a Trump-supporting congressman, told Afghanistan International that he has invited Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the Resistance Front, to Washington to discuss Afghanistan.
Ahmad Zia Massoud, brother of Ahmad Shah Massoud, reacted to the killing of Khalilur Rehman Haqqani, saying that he was killed in the same manner that he took the lives of innocent soldiers and civilians. Massoud referred to Khalilur Haqqani as a “suicide bomber” and “a globally wanted criminal.”
HRANA and Hengav, the news agencies of Iranian human rights organizations, reported the execution of at least 12 people, including two Afghans, in prisons in Karaj and Qom.

12 December 2024

The Khorasan branch of ISIS announced that the attack on the Taliban Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs in Kabul was the work of this group.
The European Union and the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Kabul have condemned the attack that killed the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees, Khalil Rahman Haqqani.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that Bulgaria has provided 30,000 euros, equivalent to $31,646, in aid to Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) has condemned the assassination of Khalilur Rehman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees and Repatriates, calling it a “great loss” for the Haqqani Network.
The Taliban Ministry of Encouraging Good and Forbidding Evil has summoned media outlets in Kabul that continue to broadcast certain forms of music and asked them to stop doing so.
Taliban ombudsmen in Ghor province have arrested six people on various charges in the provincial capital.
In response to the killing of Khalil Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have strongly condemned the attack.
In the last three years, ISIS Khorasan has killed a minister, two governors, two senior Taliban commanders, and two Taliban-supporting religious scholars.
Some member states of the United Nations Security Council, in a joint statement, strongly condemned the Taliban’s “systematic gender discrimination, increased gender-based violence, and human rights violations” against Afghan women and girls.
Thomas Nicholson, the European Union’s representative to Afghanistan, has announced that the Union has been able to provide 1.6 billion euros in assistance to the people of Afghanistan since 2021.
A Taliban spokesman says a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan is “useless” without the group’s representative. Zabihullah Mujahid said the decisions of the meeting would be “complicated” even without the Taliban’s presence.
China’s UN envoy urged the Taliban to take seriously the concerns of countries about the Amr-i-Ma’ruf law, saying the world expects the Taliban to form a “moderate and inclusive government” and “fight terrorism in Afghanistan.”
Russia’s UN ambassador called the Taliban’s efforts to counter ISIS in Afghanistan “incomplete” at a Security Council meeting. Vasily Nebenzia said on Thursday.
Citing a recent report by the UN Secretary-General, the French representative to the United Nations said that al-Qaeda is active in Afghanistan and ISIS-K has also jeopardized the security of the region.
A source told Afghanistan International that the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education has dismissed 16 professors from Kabul Polytechnic University and the faculties of law, agriculture, and education at Kunar University.
The head of the UN sanctions committee said on Thursday that some key Taliban officials are involved with drug cartels and networks. However, according to Andrés Montalvo Sousa, the Taliban leadership is encouraging ordinary Afghan farmers to cultivate alternative crops.
The Taliban Supreme Court has announced that the group has flogged two people in Paktia province on charges of “theft” and “immoral relationship.”
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has published a list of 20 countries, including Afghanistan, that will face a growing humanitarian crisis in 2025.
On the occasion of December 12, World Health Organization (WHO), World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized its commitment to ensuring that health becomes a reality for every Afghan.
As the United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan is being held, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says that without the presence of the group’s representative, the decisions of the meeting will be “far from reality and complicated.”
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting interior minister, said in his first statement after the killing of Khalilur Rahman Haqqani that he had no “personal enmity or conflict” with anyone.
The Taliban Ministry of Public Health says that for the first time, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the group, has approved a proposal to build 318 public hospitals in 318 districts across the country.
Reena Amiri, the US Special Representative for Women and Human Rights in Afghanistan, has condemned the Taliban’s decrees against women by republishing the words of the country’s Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, says that condemning the Taliban’s policies alone is not effective and that the group must be engaged in a “principled” manner.
The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations has called on the Taliban to abolish all policies that systematically violate women’s rights.
Local sources in Herat say that electricity imported from Iran to the province has been cut off.
James Kariuki, the British Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has called the closure of health institutes by the Taliban appalling and condemned it.

13 December 2024

The US State Department says in its annual report on terrorism in Afghanistan that the Taliban continue to host and shelter al-Qaeda members, but claims that these individuals are not actively involved in “terrorism.”
John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, says they have already identified the threat of ISIS in Afghanistan and that the group has set its “eye” on the Taliban.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson says her country’s concerns about attacks by terrorist groups from Afghan soil remain a topic of discussion with the Taliban.
The UN Security Council will vote on Tuesday on a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN sanctions monitoring team against the Taliban.
The Pakistan Border Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Peshawar says that the clearance of cargo trucks at Torkham has decreased from 400 to 500 trucks per day to 5 to 10 trucks.
The human rights organization Halash reported that the Islamic Republic executed two Afghan prisoners in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad on Thursday morning, December 12.
Yu Xiaoyong, China’s envoy to Afghanistan, announced his meeting with Sharaf Rahimi, head of the strategic studies department of the Tajik Foreign Ministry.
Spain’s foreign minister condemned the Taliban’s restrictions on women at a conference in Madrid attended by dozens of Afghan women activists and representatives from various countries.
The US State Department has said in its annual report that the Taliban continue to host Al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan and have also supported the TTP.
Local sources in Kunar say that the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education has dismissed 12 professors from Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan University in the province for “being Salafi.”
The Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan has announced the receipt of nine million dollars in aid, equivalent to 100 million kronor, from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Local sources in Khost say that a Taliban fighter was killed and four of his bodyguards were wounded in the province.
Local sources say that the local police commander of the former government has been killed in the Alingar district of Laghman province in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
The Alliance of Human Rights Activists has announced that Afghan refugees in the Abu Dhabi humanitarian camp are facing inappropriate and inhumane conditions.
An Indian media outlet has reported that Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada is seeking to remove Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group’s interior minister.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says Islamabad is committed to talks with the Taliban on “remaining issues.”
14 UN Security Council member countries, including the US, Britain and France, have condemned the Taliban’s systematic discrimination against women and called on the group to stop violating women’s human rights.
The “Spontaneous Afghan Women Protesters” movement says that removing the Taliban from Russia’s list of terrorist groups is a sign of this country’s disregard for the human rights of Afghans, especially women.
Local sources in Herat say that the head of the Taliban’s mines and petroleum department in the province has been removed from his position on charges of financial corruption.

14 December 2024

Local sources in Helmand say that Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has dismissed Sayed Ahmad Saeedi, the director of the provincial hospital, on charges of financial corruption.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization has reported that 10 people, including an Afghan citizen, have been executed in Iran.
Iranian officials say that from the beginning of this year to the end of November, more than one million tons of this country’s export goods have entered Afghanistan through the Islam Qala border.
The United Nations Security Council has extended the mission of the Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team for another 14 months with 15 positive votes.
The US Embassy in Afghanistan says that injustice against women in Afghanistan is a threat to global justice.
The Afghan Liberation Front has claimed that it has targeted the first Taliban security zone in Baghlan province following an attack.
Local sources in Kandahar say that Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has written a letter to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada asking him to lift restrictions against women.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban’s deputy spokesman, called for the lifting of international sanctions against the group. He said that continuing sanctions against the Taliban “undermines the rights of Afghans.”
Pakistan’s UN envoy Usman Jadoon warned of the growing threat posed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates mainly on Afghan soil. He also stressed that 6,000 TTP fighters are operating in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economics, attended the funeral ceremony of Khalilur Rahman Haqqani and said there was no disagreement among Taliban leaders.
Based on AMO’s findings from statistics collected from reports by the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency, Iran and Pakistan have expelled 509 Afghan refugee families in the past week (from 8 to 12 December).
The Iranian Human Rights Organization says that the country’s government has executed 10 people, including an Afghan citizen, in Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
The Taliban flogged three people in Kunduz province on charges of “sodomy.” The Taliban-run Supreme Court said in a press release that these individuals were each given 39 lashes and were also sentenced to four to seven years in prison.
The US Department of Justice has announced that the United States has sentenced Abdul Sattar Abdul Manaf, known as Abdul Sattar Barakzai, to 30 years in prison on charges of “attempting to smuggle heroin into the United States and engaging in terrorism and narcotics activities for the benefit of the Taliban.
While there is talk of differences among Taliban leaders, Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs and one of their prominent figures, says that there is no difference among them.

15 December 2024

The Taliban Ministry of Industry and Commerce announced a boom in coal exports. The ministry said that in the past 8 months, about 654,000 tons of coal have been exported to Pakistan, China, Iran, India, and Turkey.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says it has reforested 2,718 hectares of land in Paktia Province in its fight against deforestation in Afghanistan.
Hossein Roustaei, Iran’s trade advisor in Afghanistan, announced that Iran’s non-oil exports to Afghanistan increased by 31 per cent in the first six months of this year.
The Taliban Media Center announced that Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy chief of staff, met with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullah Arifov during Hanafi’s recent visit to the country.
Ahmad Zia Siraj, the former head of security for the government, says recent Taliban arrests show that ISIS has “deep influence” in the group’s civilian and security institutions.
Rahmatullah Nabil has said that we may soon see a change in the role of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani Network, to a figure similar to Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Julani), the leader of the Syrian Tahrir al-Sham.
Sources told Afghanistan International that after the assassination of the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees, Khalil Haqqani, the group’s patrols in Kandahar have increased.
A representative of the Oman Chamber of Commerce said in a meeting with the Taliban’s Minister of Mines in Kabul on Sunday that Omani companies are interested in investing in Afghanistan’s metal and oil mines.
Following speculation about the role of internal Taliban elements in the assassination of Khalil Haqqani, official sources in the group told the Sindh Guardian that there was no sign of an “internal conspiracy” in the attack.
On the eve of the winter season, the Taliban-run Afghanistan Electricity Company (Barshna) announced an increase in electricity imported from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the country.
The Afghan Electricity Company (Barshna) under the Taliban administration has announced that electricity imported from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan has been reconnected to the country.
Maulvi Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the Taliban governor for Herat, claims that an industrial revolution has occurred in Afghanistan with the group’s coming to power.
The Taliban Supreme Court says that three people, including a woman, were publicly flogged in the Khorram and Sarbagh districts of Samangan province.
Hamish Falconer, British Minister for the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan, says that his country supports the women and girls of Afghanistan.
The Purple Saturdays Movement has criticized the policies of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and called for the dismissal of Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the office.
Local sources in Badakhshan say that the Taliban have banned filming and playing music at wedding parties in the province.
Rahmatullah Nabil, former head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, says that Iran’s growing influence in the Taliban’s Kandahar ring has worried some countries in the region and the world.
The Taliban have released images of a funeral prayer ceremony for Khalilur Rahman Haqqani, the group’s former Minister of Refugees and Repatriates citizens which shows the presence of Chinese citizens.