Afghanistan Ill-Equipped to Deal With Expected Spike in COVID-19 Cases, Economic Fallout

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Michael Hughes: It is hard to envision the powers that be in Afghanistan – amid ongoing civil war and political disunity – devising a coherent strategy to handle the coronavirus outbreak and the concomitant economic freefall.

As of April 15, Afghanistan had 784 confirmed coronavirus cases in at least 27 of the country’s 34 provinces, according to Johns Hopkins University real-time tracker. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that only 4,470 COVID-19 tests have been completed.  Click here to read more.

Air Pollution Reduced in Kabul During Lockdown

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Tolo News: The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) said Thursday the city’s air pollution has dropped dramatically due to the change of the seasons, and the lockdown in Kabul. Ezatullah Siddiqi, deputy head of NEPA, said they had regularly tested Kabul’s air quality over the past 16 days with mobile air quality monitors. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Kill Nine Afghan Soldiers In Attack On Army Post

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RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
April 16, 2020

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry says the Taliban has killed nine government soldiers in an overnight attack on an army post in the Charkh District of Logar Province, in the eastern part of the country.

Fawad Aman, a spokesman at the ministry, told RFE/RL that Taliban the Taliban had suffered “heavy casualties,” in the violence, without giving further details.

Didar Ahmad Lawang, a spokesman for the governor of Logar, confirmed the number of soldiers killed.

The Taliban did not immediately comment.

Taliban militants have been carrying out attacks despite signing a peace deal with the United States in February aimed at ending the 18-year war.

That deal envisions the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan by July 2021 in exchange for counterterrorism guarantees from the Taliban, which is obliged to launch direct talks with the Afghan government over a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement.

Scheduled for March 10, the intra-Afghan negotiations have been delayed due to political bickering in Kabul and a dispute among the warring sides over a prisoner swap.

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.

Badakhshan, battlefield for foreign extremists

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Ariana: Foreign insurgent groups such as Hezb-e Islami Tajikistan, Chechens and Uighurs of China in coordination with the Taliban are fighting against the Afghan security forces in Badakhshan province. The Badakhshan governor says that these fighters are around 400 and that they are a part of the global terrorism in Afghanistan adding that they live with their families in Badakhshan. Badakhshan, on one hand, is a corridor for drug trafficking of the north and northeastern Afghanistan; on the other hand, there are underground resources and mines in the province.  Click here to read more (external link).

Other Security News

Returning Refugees Could Spread Coronavirus in Afghanistan, UN Warns

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Lisa Schlein
VOA News
April 15, 2020

GENEVA – The UN refugee agency warns the return of tens of thousands of refugees to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran risks overwhelming the country’s medical system and spreading COVID-19.

Pakistan and Iran host some 2.4 million Afghan refugees.  Despite persistent risks and insecurity in Afghanistan, thousands of refugees continue to return home.  The U.N. refugee agency reports tens of thousands have crossed over the border from Pakistan in the past week and in March. About 60,000 have gone back from Iran.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch says Afghan refugees are returning home at an average daily rate of 1500.  He says the coronavirus poses a great threat to Afghanistan’s fragile health system and risks overwhelming its medical and social services capacity.

He adds COVID-19 also is putting immense strain on the health systems and economies of Pakistan and Iran.  He says many Afghan refugees are unable to meet their most basic needs because of the sharp economic downturn in their host countries.

“In both countries, those who are employed are commonly hired as daily wage laborers,” said Baloch. “Amidst the various levels of lockdowns across the region, such work has abruptly ceased, and Afghan refugees are left with no income and their hosts are now faced with economic threats to their survival.”

So far, Afghanistan has recorded only a few hundred cases of coronavirus and about two dozen deaths.  Pakistan has registered nearly 6,000 cases and around 100 deaths.  But the World Health Organization reports Iran, with more than 73,000 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths, is the epicenter of the outbreak in South-West Asia,

Baloch says the UNHCR has temporarily suspended the voluntary repatriation of Afghans from Iran and Pakistan in hopes of limiting the risk of refugees and staff contracting the deadly virus.

The UNHCR is appealing for greater international support for all three countries to prevent a larger-scale outbreak of the disease.  It says its humanitarian operation in the region is on life-support, noting that only 17 percent of its 315 million-dollar appeal has been funded.

The agency warns failure to support Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran in their desperate efforts to stave off the pandemic will impact negatively on global efforts to fight the virus.

Related

Coronavirus in Afghanistan: 714 cases and 23 deaths

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Ariana: The Ministry of Public Health said in a statement Tuesday that 49 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours. According to the statement, the cases have been registered in Kabul 18, Kandahar 15, Balkh 6, Herat 4, Ghazni 4 and Nangarhar 2. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Kabul To Ban Motorcycles In Bid To Improve Security

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
April 14, 2020

Afghan authorities say they will ban motorcycles and scooters in the capital, Kabul, for an unspecified period of time in an effort to improve security.

“Most of the crimes in the city, including targeted killings and other crimes, are carried out using motorbikes,” Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said on April 14.

Motorcycles and scooters are popular in Kabul.

Violators of the ban, which is to take effect immediately, will have their motorcycles seized, the Interior Ministry said.

Delivery riders, who have seen heavy demand since Kabul’s coronavirus lockdown, will be exempted.

AFP quoted an unidentified security official as saying that Taliban militants are conducting an increasing number of targeted killings of government officials using motorbikes.

According to the official, street robberies by thieves on motorcycles and scooters are also on the rise.

The decision comes as Kabul, with a population of about 5 million people, is under a three-week lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the city.

A total of 714 people in Afghanistan have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to the Health Ministry. It said the disease had so far killed 23 people in the country.

Based on reporting by dpa and AFP

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.