Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday reported 219 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,650 samples tested in the last 24 hours. Data by the ministry shows that the cumulative total of cases is now 46,717, the cumulative total of reported deaths is 1,800, and the cumulative total of recoveries is 36,232. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan Addicts Struggle To Get Clean In Kandahar
Jamila is 35 years old, a mother of six, and says her drug-dealing husband got her addicted to heroin. In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar where she lives, there are an estimated 300,000 drug addicts and only one treatment center that offers no places for women.
Used to Freedom, Women in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Worry About Future Under Taliban Rule
In Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan province, women have enjoyed relatively more freedom than elsewhere in the country. But many of them are now facing an uncertain future. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports.
Trump Makes a Bad Situation Worse in Afghanistan
Donald Trump
The Atlantic: Since the day he entered office, President Donald Trump hasn’t been able to make up his mind about whether the United States should keep fighting in Afghanistan. His most recent decision to arbitrarily reduce U.S. troops’ presence to a nice, round number by January 15 was no different. Far from ending what he calls an “endless war,” Trump has only put the 2,500 troops who will remain in Afghanistan at greater risk. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan Forces Kill Taliban Suspected Mastermind Of Deadly Army Base Attack
Hamza Waziristani
By Radio Free Afghanistan / Radio Mashaal
November 30, 2020
Afghan forces have killed a member of the Taliban whom Kabul says was the mastermind of a suicide car-bombing that left at least 30 security personnel dead.
Hamza Waziristani was killed in an air strike overnight in the eastern province of Ghazni, where the bomber struck an Afghan military base on November 29.
Health officials in Ghazni said 30 people died in the November 29 attack, but the Defense Ministry — which is known to downplay tolls in attacks against its forces — said 10 were killed.
The attack was one of the deadliest in months targeting Afghan government forces as violence has surged despite the start in September of peace talks between President Ashraf Ghani’s administration and the Taliban in Qatar.
The intra-Afghan talks are part of a February deal between the United States and the Taliban that paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign troops by May 2021.
No group has claimed the Ghazni attack, but the Taliban often does not comment on deadly attacks it is accused of carrying out.
“The mastermind behind yesterday’s terrorist attack on the (Ghazni) base was killed along with seven other terrorists,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on November 30.
Military spokesman Fawad Aman told the media that Waziristani was a Taliban militant from the Pakistani border region of Waziristan.
In northwestern Badghis Province, officials said the commander of an Afghan Army brigade was killed in a Taliban mortar attack late on November 29.
The commander, Abdul Basir Nuristani, was killed in the Bala Murgha district of the province, local officials said.
The officials said a mortar landed in the army compound and that 11 other soldiers were also wounded.
In neighboring Pakistan, unidentified gunmen on November 30 killed four tribal elders in the North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, police officials and locals told RFE/RL.
The incident occurred in Khaisoor, a town in the Mir Ali region of North Waziristan. The elders were traveling in a car when gunmen opened fire at them from another vehicle. The attackers managed to escape the scene.
With reporting by dpa and dawn.com
Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Other Security News
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – November 30, 2020
Wolesi Jirga votes in favor of six ministers and head of NDS
Ariana: The Lower House of Parliament (Wolesi Jirga) Monday voted in favor of six nominated ministers and Head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) but rejected two nominees proposed by the government. The MPs voted for eight nominated ministers and NDS Chief during a general session of Parliament. Click here to read more (external link).
COVID-19: 283 New Cases, 16 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 283 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,300 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 46,498, the number of total reported deaths is 1,779, and the total number of recoveries is 36,788. Click here to read more (external link).
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The Taliban Crime Syndicate Waits Out Trump
Taliban militants (file photo)
National Review: The good news is that Afghanistan has developed a new industry that gives it something valuable to export other than heroin. The bad news is that it is methamphetamine. Of course, the Taliban bosses are up to their turbans in the meth trade, imposing a “tax” on drug producers that puts millions and millions of dollars a year into their coffers. Click here to read more (external link).