Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada
Ariana: National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib said on Saturday that the Taiban’s supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has not been seen in the last year – which has again raised questions about whether he is dead or alive. Mohib said in a press conference in Kabul Saturday that intelligence findings indicate that Taliban members have not had any contact with Akhundzada in the past 12 months. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 29, 2021
Officials in Afghanistan say at least four people were killed and 11 injured by a roadside-bomb blast in the northern province of Kapisa.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the May 29 blast targeted a minivan full of university lecturers and students that was traveling to Al-Beroni University in the town of Kohistan.
The blast was reported set off by remote control, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Deadly attacks last year against the university in Kabul were claimed by the Islamic State group.
Based on reporting by AP and dpa
Joe Biden
1TV: “The greatest threat and likelihood of attack from al Qaeda or ISIS is not going to be from Afghanistan; it’s going to be from five other regions of the world that have significantly more presence of both al Qaeda and organizational structures, including ISIS,” Biden said addressing US service members and their families in Virginia. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Hamdullah Mohib
Ariana: National Security Adviser (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib on Saturday denied reports indicating Pakistan has stopped official contact with him. Addressing a joint security official’s press conference in Kabul, Mohib stated that he has not received any official communique from Pakistan in this respect. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 29, 2021
Health officials in Afghanistan have ordered a two-week closure of all public and private schools and universities in the capital and 15 other provinces amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Afghan Health Ministry announced the shutdowns, with immediate effect, on May 29.
The closures include major provinces like Kabul, Helmand, and Kandahar.
They come after officials said the 24-hour total of 977 newly confirmed cases — out of a paltry 3,800 tests — on May 28 eclipsed the country’s previous high.
Poverty and poor health infrastructure along with ongoing violence between armed groups like the Taliban who are opposed to the central government and the U.S.-led troop presence there have exacerbated the pandemic woes in Afghanistan.
Most of the positive infections were said to be in Kabul.
Conflict-torn Afghanistan’s vaccine drive has been suspended due to shortages, with around 600,000 of the country’s 38 million or so people having already received a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot.
Based on reporting by Tolo News
Related
Thousands of people are camped out in the ruins of largely abandoned Bosnian villages ravaged by war in the 1990s. From there, they try to cross the border into EU member Croatia. Many of them are Afghans who, despite being turned back dozens of times, are determined to keep trying.
Mark Milley
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 28, 2021
The U.S. government is formulating plans to evacuate interpreters and others who worked for U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan over the past two decades, a top general said.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States recognizes there are a significant number of Afghans who supported the coalition and the United States, and that they could be at risk for retribution by the Taliban.
“There are plans being developed very, very rapidly here,” he said in remarks on May 26 that were released on May 27.
Milley said the State Department is taking the lead on arranging for those who worked for U.S. forces to move to the United States.
“We recognize that a very important task is to ensure that we remain faithful to them, and that we do what is necessary to ensure their protection and, if necessary, get them out of the country if that is what they want to do,” Milley said.
Many of the estimated 18,000 Afghan interpreters, commandos, and others who worked with U.S. forces have applied for visas to immigrate to the United States. Many worked in battlefield conditions helping U.S. troops fight Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Islamic State extremists opposed to the government in Kabul.
U.S. lawmakers last week called for their evacuation before international troops pull out by September 11, 2021, ending two decades of U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
In April, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 to 3,500 U.S. troops and thousands of U.S. contractors. About 7,000 NATO troops are also being withdrawn.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a hearing in Congress on May 27 that the withdrawal is “slightly” ahead of schedule.
Based on reporting by AFP
Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri
1TV: Al Qaeda continues to thrive in Afghanistan under Taliban protection, and remains connected to its franchises across the globe, CNN reported on Friday citing Afghan intelligence officials. The report cited October raid targeting senior al Qaeda militant al-Rauf, also known as Abu Muhsen al-Masri, in Ghazni province as evidence of al Qaeda’s growth. Click here to read more (external link).
Related