Reuters: A U.S. State Department report on Friday criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had “serious consequences for the viability” and security of the former U.S.-backed government. Click here to read more (externa link).
The Telegraph (UK): Afghanistan is facing a locust timebomb after billions of eggs were laid by the grasshoppers in the country’s breadbasket, raising fears that a plague of insects will devastate food supplies next year. For the first time in two decades, swarms of Moroccan locusts – described as the “bad boys” of the locust
The China Project: In 2008, the Afghan government and a state-owned Chinese company signed a deal to mine copper at Mes Aynak, just south of Kabul. The Taliban renewed the agreement. So why is the project stalled? For now, China and MCC hold all the cards. Ultimately, what will happen will depend much more on
Ariana: In the past two months, 36 instances of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever have been reported by doctors in the western province of Herat, Afghanistan, including five deaths. The number of cases increased this year, according to Mohammad Asif Kabir, Deputy Public Health of Herat which has led to authorities’ concern about the spread of diseases,
NYT: While the Taliban have erased most obvious vestiges of the U.S. nation-building effort in Afghanistan, the cultural legacy of two decades of American occupation has been harder to stamp out. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: In the 2022 survey by Gallup – conducted one year after the IEA’s [Taliban] return to power and amid an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan – 98% of Afghans described their life as poor enough to be considered suffering. This number is even higher than it was in the immediate aftermath of the IEA’s
Tolo News: The Minister of External Affairs of India, S Jaishankar, said that they have decided not to send an ambassador to its embassy in Afghanistan, but will keep the embassy open. Speaking at the India International Centre, Jaishankar added that it is still too early to judge the recent events in Afghanistan, but India
8am: Tajikistan shares a border of over 1,300 kilometers with Afghanistan, specifically with the provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, and Kunduz. The shared border with Afghanistan has raised concerns for Tajikistan, which have been further amplified by the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, particularly their plans to relocate the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) to the northeast