Afghan Radio Station Manager Killed, Journalist Kidnapped

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RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
August 9, 2021

Suspected Taliban gunmen shot and killed an Afghan radio station manager in Kabul and kidnapped a journalist in southern Helmand Province, officials said, the latest in a long line of attacks targeting media workers.

Gunmen shot Toofan Omar, the Paktia Ghag radio manager who was also an officer for NAI, a support group for independent media in Afghanistan, in a targeted assassination in the capital on August 8.

“Omari was killed by unidentified gunmen…he was a liberal man…we are being targeted for working independently,” said Mujeeb Khelwatgar, the head of NAI.

Khelwatgar also said it wasn’t immediately clear whether Omar’s assassination was linked to his activities at the radio station or at the NAI.

No group claimed responsibility for the killing, but officials in Kabul suspected Taliban fighters had carried out the attack.

Last month the NAI said at least 30 Afghan journalists and media workers have been killed, wounded, or abducted by militant groups this year.

In Helmand Province, officials said Taliban fighters had seized a local journalist, Nematullah Hemat, from his home in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, on August 8.

“There is just absolutely no clue where the Taliban have taken Hemat…we are really in a state of panic, said Razwan Miakhel, head of private TV channel, Gharghasht TV where Hemat was employed.

A coalition of Afghan news organizations has written to U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders in the House of Representatives, urging them to grant special immigration visas to Afghan journalists and support staff.

With reporting by Reuters

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

‘Sanction Pakistan’ hashtag campaign gathers momentum as Afghans speak out

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Ariana: Calls to impose sanctions on Pakistan for their alleged assistance to the Taliban have been mounting in the past week and by Monday, #SanctionPakistan was trending on Twitter. As Afghan Twitter users rallied behind the sanctions hashtag, #EndProxyWar also started to gather momentum. Click here to read more (external link).

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235 New Cases of COVID-19, 25 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 235 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,505 samples tested in the last 24 hours.  The ministry also reported 25 deaths and 557 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period.  The figures are almost similar to the daily report on Sunday, which was 320 cases and 28 fatalities, but it is lower than the daily cases reported during the last week of July.  Click here to read more (external link).

Heavy Fighting Reportedly Under Way in Northern Afghan Provinces Of Balkh, Takhar

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
August 9, 2021

Afghan security forces battled Taliban fighters in the northern provinces of Balkh and Takhar on August 9, a day after militants overran three provincial capitals, including most of the strategic northeastern city of Kunduz, officials said.

In Balkh, heavy clashes have been under way close to the provincial capital of Mazar-e-Sharif since late on August 8, sources told Tolo News, adding that the government’s defense lines risk breaking unless reinforcement are sent to the region.

On August 8, the Taliban overran most of the strategic northeastern city of Kunduz, while the provincial capital of Sar-e Pol and Taloqan, the capital of northeastern Takhar Province, also fell to the militants, sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal told RFE/RL.

Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified since May 1, when the United States and other countries officially began withdrawing their forces in a pullout that is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The three centers that fell on August 8 brought to five the number of provincial capitals under complete or near-total Taliban control after militants on August 6 took Zaranj, the capital of the southwestern Nimroz Province, and the northern Jawzjan Province’s capital, Sheberghan.

Kunduz, a city of some 375,000 inhabitants, would be the most significant to fall since the Taliban launched an all-out offensive in May as U.S.-led forces began the final stages of their withdrawal.

Government forces in Kunduz appeared to be only in control of the airport and their own base, with all key government buildings in the city in the militants’ hands.

The main prison in Kunduz was also reportedly under Taliban control.

However, the Afghan Defense Ministry denied that Kunduz had fallen, saying in a statement on August 8 that commandos launched a clearance operation in the city, adding that the main roundabout in the city center has been recaptured and the national TV building cleared of Taliban fighters.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group had largely captured the government buildings, including the National Directorate of Security, and were close to the airport.

In comments to Al-Jazeera TV, a spokesman for the extremist group’s political office said there was no agreement for a cease-fire with Kabul’s forces.

Many civilians were caught in the cross fire, with health officials in Kunduz saying that 14 bodies, including those of women and children, and more than 30 injured people had been taken to hospital.

The Taliban was also in control of Sar-e Pol, driving officials out of the main city to a nearby military base, said Mohammad Noor Rahmani, a provincial council member of Sar-e Pol Province.

“Sar-e-Pol fell today at 3:45 a.m. The Taliban has occupied the capital of Sar-e-Pol Province,” Abdul Haq Shafaq, the provincial governor, told Radio Azadi on August 8.

Nabila Habibi, head of the provincial women’s affairs department in Sar-e Pol, told RFE/RL that she feared for her life and those of the other women who worked in the field.

“Today I received a message from the national security office, who themselves may have fled around the city, that I should leave the city because the opposition (the Taliban) has issued my death order,” Habibi said from Sar-e Pol.

She said it was clear that the Taliban “never want women to be present or active in society, especially in politics” and have never accepted women’s rights activists. She said she had been threatened many times by the Taliban and in the past three days had been warned over the phone.

The Taliban has also taken most of Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand Province, where militants took nine of the 10 police districts in the city last week. Heavy fighting there continues, as do U.S. and Afghan government air strikes, one of which damaged a health clinic and a high school.

The U.S. Central Command has said the troops withdrawal is more than 95 percent complete and will be finished by August 31, ahead of the September 11 anniversary of two decades since the Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States that prompted the invasion of Afghanistan.

This story includes reporting by Radio Azadi correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and Tolo News

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Taliban Seizes Key Areas Of Kunduz As Two Other Afghan Provincial Capitals Fall

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RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
August 8, 2021

Taliban fighters overran three provincial capitals, including the strategic city of Kunduz and Sar-e Pol in the north of the country on August 8, local officials and a spokesman for the militants said as the group stepped up its northern offensive and threatened more urban centers.

The militants have already taken two provincial capitals since August 6, but Kunduz, a northeastern city of some 375,000 inhabitants, would be the most significant to fall since the Taliban launched an all-out offensive in May as U.S.-led forces began the final stages of their withdrawal scheduled to be completed by the end of the month.

Taliban fighters seized key government buildings in the city of Kunduz, leaving government forces hanging onto control of the airport and their own base, a provincial assembly lawmaker said on August 8.

Provincial lawmaker Amruddin Wali in Kunduz told Reuters that the militants had taken key buildings in the city, raising fears that it could be the latest to fall to the Taliban. The main prison building in Kunduz was under Taliban control, he said.

“Heavy clashes started yesterday afternoon. All government headquarters are in the control of the Taliban, only the army base and the airport is with ANDSF (Afghan security forces) from where they are resisting the Taliban,” Wali said.

But the Afghan Defense Ministry denied that Kunduz had fallen, saying in a statement that commandos have launched a clearance operation in the city, adding that the main roundabout in the city center was recaptured and the national TV building has been cleared of Taliban fighters.

In Kunduz, an Afghan security forces spokesman said that “extremely (heavy) fighting is going on.”

“The enemies have intensified attacks in the city of Kunduz over the past 24 hours during which they suffered heavy casualties,” Taj Mohammad, an Afghan forces commando leader, said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group had largely captured the government’s buildings, including the National Directorate of Security, and were close to the airport.

Health officials in Kunduz said that 14 bodies, including those of women and children, and more than 30 injured people had been taken to hospital.

The Taliban also appeared to be in control of the northern provincial capital of Sar-e Pol, driving officials out of the main city to a nearby military base, Mohammad Noor Rahmani, a provincial council member of Sar-e Pol province, said.

“Government headquarters, including the governor’s house, police command, and the National Directorate of Security compound, are captured by the Taliban,” Rahmani said.

“Sar-e-Pol fell today at 3:45 a.m. [local time]. The Taliban have occupied the capital of Sar-e-Poul province,” Abdul Haq Shafaq, the provincial governor, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on August 8.

Nabila Habibi, the head of the provincial women’s affairs department in Sar-e Pol, described a dire situation for her and other women who worked on behalf of women’s rights. She told Radio Azadi that she feared for her life and those of the other women who worked in the field.

“Today I received a message from the national-security office, who themselves may have fled around the city, that I should leave the city because the oppositions (Taliban militants) have issued my death order,” Habibi said from Sar-e Pol.

She said it was clear that the Taliban “never want women to be present or active in society, especially in politics” and have never accepted women’s rights activists. She said she had been threatened many times by the Taliban and in the past three days had been warned over the phone.

A third city, Taloqan, fell to the Taliban on August 8, Radio Azadi reported. Several civil society activists and residents of Takhar spoke to Radio Azadi by phone, saying the city had been seized after the militants captured the central prison, freeing all the prisoners.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the entire province has fallen.

All local officials and security personnel have retreated toward the Farkhar district, Radio Azadi reported based on local information.

In another northern province, Takhar, a local police source and an official said the provincial capital, Taloqan, was also under pressure with civilians trying to flee the city and heavy fighting taking place after the Taliban seized some government buildings. There are also reports of heavy fighting in Faiz Abad, the capital of Badakhshan Province.

On August 6, the Taliban seized a first provincial capital, Zaranj in the remote southwestern Nimroz Province, followed up a day later by Sheberghan, the capital of the northern Jawzjan Province.

In Sheberghan, a police official told Radio Azadi that the Taliban had set fire to the palace of warlord and long-time foe of the militant group Abdul Rashid Dostum and the Jawzjan provincial office building. The officials spoke to Radio Azadi on the condition of anonymity.

Sources quoted by Tolo News said that Babur Ishchi, the head of the Jawzjan provincial council, surrendered to the Taliban.

Dostum, who only returned to Afghanistan this week from medical treatment in Turkey, is currently in Kabul, where he was meeting with President Ashraf Ghani on August 7 in an attempt to persuade the country’s leader to fly in reinforcements.

“We have demanded that the government deploys at least 500 commandos so we could work to retake the city,” said Ehsan Niro, a spokesman for Dostum’s party.

Dostum, a warlord with a fearsome reputation fighting the Taliban in the 1990s, has also faced accusations that his forces massacred thousands of Taliban prisoners of war.

In a first respite for the Afghan forces, U.S. warplanes bombed Taliban positions in Sheberghan on August 7.

“U.S. forces have conducted several air strikes in defense of our Afghan partners in recent days,” Major Nicole Ferrara, a Central Command spokesperson, told AFP in Washington.

Fighting was also reported on the outskirts of the major cities of Herat, in the west, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.

In Lashkar Gah, provincial council member Majid Akhund said government air strikes damaged a health clinic and high school in the city, which is the capital of Helmand Province.

A Defense Ministry statement confirmed that air strikes were carried out in parts of the city of Lashkar Gah. It said strikes targeted Taliban positions, killing 54 fighters and wounding 23 others, but made no mention of a clinic or school being bombed.

The U.S. Central Command says the troop withdrawal is more than 95 percent complete and will be finished by August 31.

This story includes reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

With reporting by AFP and Tolo News

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

More Security News 

COVID-19: 320 New Cases, 28 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported 320 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,991 samples tested in the last 24 hours.  The ministry also reported 28 deaths and 532 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period. The figures show a slight increase in the number of new cases and fatalities compared to the daily report on Saturday, which was 218 cases and 10 fatalities, but it is lower than the daily cases reported during the last week of July. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban parade US Humvees, arms after capturing provincial capital

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Taliban militants are seen after seizing Zaranj, the capital of Afghanistan’s Nimroz Province, on August 6, 2021. (Photo via RT)

Press TV
August 7, 2021

Numerous videos have emerged showing American-made military vehicles and equipment used by the Taliban in the newly-captured southwestern Afghan province of Nimroz as the militant group ramps up offensives to seize further territory across the conflict-ridden country.

Video footage shared on Twitter and other social media networks on Friday displayed the Taliban militants making victory laps in US-made Humvees after seizing the city of Zaranj in Nimroz Province, the first regional capital to fall to the group in months-long clashes with the Afghan government forces.

Multiple videos circulating online also showed the aftermath of the assault on the southwestern Afghan province, including Humvees flying the Taliban’s flag and the militants in possession of US weaponry.

In a post on Twitter, a user employed upper-case letters to blast Taliban riding in US-manufactured Humvees in Zaranj, saying, “THE TALIBAN WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER FOR THEIR RECENT LARGE DONATION OF HUMVEE VEHICLES.”

Other footage showed a deserted airfield in Zaranj, where American forces once had a presence, apparently abandoned by the Afghan government troops during the Taliban invasion.

The Afghan videos shared on twitter were reminiscent of past memories relating to the members of the Daesh terrorist group that used American-made military equipment and weaponry in Iraq to perpetrate their barbaric crimes against Iraqi civilians.

Various reports indicated that the US-led coalition forces assisted the terrorist outfit in their brutal campaign and provided Daesh with safe havens and airdropped weapons to the terrorists.

Violence has been surging across Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from the country. The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban from power, but it worsened the security situation in the country.

Several provincial capitals have been encircled by the Taliban, and heavy fighting has been going on for days in the capitals of Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the south, and in the city of Herat in the west.

The Taliban militants are believed to be in control of about half of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 districts.

The United Nations (UN) warned this week about the safety of tens of thousands of people trapped in the strategic city of Lashkar Gah — the capital of southern Helmand Province — as the Taliban intensified clashes with Afghan military forces to take control, there.

The government has pledged to defend strategic centers after losing many rural districts to the Taliban in recent months.

US and Britain Ask Citizens to Leave Afghanistan

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Ayesha Tanzeem
VOA News
August 7, 2021

KABUL – Both the United States and Britain issued advisories Saturday to their citizens, urging them to leave Afghanistan immediately using commercial flight options.

“Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul,” a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said.

The advisories are consistent with past positions of both countries.

In April, the U.S. ordered all embassy staff that can work from elsewhere out of the country.

“We have been consistently clear that the security situation is uncertain,” a British Embassy spokesman said.

Violence in Afghanistan has steadily increased since the announcement that foreign forces were going to withdraw from the country.

The Taliban has attacked several parts of the country and nearly doubled the territory under its control, including overrunning several key border crossings.

Targeted killings of journalists, human rights activists, and government officials also have skyrocketed. Dawa Khan Menapal, the director of the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC), was assassinated during Friday prayers in Kabul.

Fighting continues to rage in several Afghan cities. On Friday, the Taliban took over Zaranj, the first provincial capital to fall to the militants since the withdrawal of foreign forces.

On Saturday Taliban militants overran a second provincial capital, Sheberghan, in Jawzjan province, after weeks of clashes and heavy fighting. The city is home to Afghanistan’s highest ranking military officer, former warlord Marshall Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Social media videos showed prisoners escaping Jawzjan prison as heavy fighting raged around the city.

Meanwhile, in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, Afghan security forces have wrested control of the city center from the Taliban after intense fighting and heavy airstrikes that killed many civilians and damaged the city’s infrastructure.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a press release Saturday afternoon, condemning the Taliban offensive against cities and calling on the militants to agree to cease-fire and engage in peace negotiations.

“These Taliban actions to forcibly impose its rule are unacceptable and contradict its claim to support a negotiated settlement in the Doha peace process. They demonstrate wanton disregard for the welfare and rights of civilians and will worsen this country’s humanitarian crisis,” the release said.

In a statement Friday to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the head of the U.N. Mission on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said at least 104 civilians were killed in the Lashkar Gah fighting in the last 10 days alone, as recorded by the city’s two main hospitals.

“In the past weeks, the war in Afghanistan has entered a new, deadlier and more destructive phase,” she said.

Videos shared on social media showed the city’s market in flames.

The Taliban issued a statement reassuring former civil servants and government employees, “including those who worked in the security sector in Nimruz and other provinces,” that they were safe and should not try to flee.

News of alleged Taliban atrocities in other parts of the country, however, have forced many to try to escape. A large number of people from Nimruz tried to cross over into Iran, which borders the province, but they were turned back by Iranian border guards.

Lyons warned that the war was “reminiscent of Syria recently or Sarajevo in the not-so-distant past,” and she said that without the UNSC’s support, the country could descend “into a situation of catastrophe so serious that it would have few, if any, parallels in this century.”

Taliban Overrun Second Provincial City As Afghan Government Forces Retreat

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 7, 2021

A senior police official in Jawzjan Province told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on August 7 that the Taliban has seized Sheberghan, the capital of the province, after reports of heavy fighting in and around the city.

Another Jawzjan police official told Radio Azadi that the Taliban had set fire to the palace of warlord and long-time foe of the militant group Abdul Rashid Dostum in Sheberghan and the Jawzjan provincial office building. The officials spoke to Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity.

Afghan security forces in Sheberghan retreated to the airport and the Jangalbagh area near the city, one of the police officials said.

Jawzjan Deputy Governor Abdul Qadir Malia said security forces were trying to retake Sheberghan in a series of clearing operations. Malia said the Taliban had launched attacks on the city from four directions just before midday.

Dostum was in Kabul, where he met with President Ashraf Ghani on August 7 in an attempt to persuade him to fly in reinforcements, aides to Dostum told the AFP news agency.

A spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry told Radio Azadi previously that the Taliban had entered some areas of the city, but reinforcements had arrived, adding that the Taliban had suffered heavy losses.

A Taliban spokesman told Radio Azadi earlier on August 7 that the militants had captured the city and that facilities such as the governor’s office, the police headquarters, and the intelligence service’s building were under Taliban control.

The Taliban claims could not be immediately verified.

There were also reports of significant fighting overnight near Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz Province; Taloquan, the capital of Takhar Province; and Faiz Abad, the capital of Badakhshan Province.

Government sources told Radio Azadi that Taliban attacks had been repelled near all three cities and that the militants suffered heavy casualties.

The previous day, Taliban militants captured Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz Province. Local officials said the town of around 31,000 people fell without a fight.

Taliban militants shot dead the head of the government’s Information and Media Center in Kabul the same day.

In New York, the UN Security Council discussed the security situation in Afghanistan, with UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, expressing doubt about the Taliban’s commitment to a political settlement.

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the prospect of a protracted civil war in Afghanistan “is a stark reality.”

Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified since May 1, when the United States and other countries officially began withdrawing their forces in a pullout that is expected to be completed this month.

Britain warned its citizens on August 6 to leave Afghanistan immediately as the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate.

This story is based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

With reporting by AP Reuters, and AFP

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

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