Pakistan claims TTP launched 22 attacks from Afghanistan’s soil in two weeks
Khaama: Pakistan has claimed that the TTP launched 22 attacks from Afghanistan’s soil over a two-week period, raising concerns over cross-border militant activity and regional security. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a letter to the Taliban Embassy in Islamabad, stating that TTP militants launched at least 22 terrorist attacks from Afghanistan’s soil between June 16 and June 30, 2024. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a list of these attacks to the Taliban Embassy on July 24, 2024, requesting the Taliban to take measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan National Cricket Team Arrives in Pakistan for Champions Trophy
Tolo News: The Afghanistan national cricket team arrived in Lahore, Pakistan, this morning (Wednesday, February 12) to participate in the Champions Trophy. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) told TOLOnews that the team will hold its second training camp in Pakistan to prepare for the tournament. The Champions Trophy tournament, hosted by Pakistan, will begin on February 19. Click here to read more (external link).
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Dozens of Healthcare Centers Shut Down in Ghazni, Bamyan After US Aid Cut
Tolo News: Local officials in Ghazni and Bamyan provinces have reported that dozens of healthcare centers in these provinces have ceased operations following delays in U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. According to local officials, 15 clinics, 3 small healthcare centers, 17 mobile medical teams, and 2 emergency health service centers in Ghazni and two other healthcare centers in Bamyan have shut down. Most of these facilities operated in remote areas. Click here to read more (external link).
Five killed in suicide bomb blast in northeastern Afghanistan, police say
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 11, 2025
Islamabad — Taliban authorities in Afghanistan reported Tuesday that a suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance to a bank in the northern city of Kunduz, killing at least five people and injuring many others.
Jumaddin Khaksar, a spokesperson for the area police, confirmed the casualties to VOA by phone, saying the early morning powerful blast ripped through a crowd waiting outside the Kabul bank branch to collect their salaries. He added that Afghan civilians and Taliban members were among the victims.
The Taliban-led Interior Ministry in the Afghan capital, Kabul, described the casualty figures as preliminary and promised to share more details later.
Multiple local sources in Kunduz, the capital of the province of the same name, reported a significantly higher death toll.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing, but suspicions pointed to Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, an Afghanistan-based affiliate of the self-proclaimed transnational Islamic State terrorist network.
The attack comes a day after the United Nations counterterrorism officials warned during a Security Council meeting on Monday that IS-K continues to pose a significant threat to regional and global security.
IS-K has routinely targeted Taliban leaders and clerics as well as members of the Afghan Shi’ite community in Kunduz and elsewhere in the country.
In a rare attack last month, IS-K gunmen ambushed and killed a Chinese mining company official in the nearby northeastern Afghan province of Takhar.
In December, an IS-K-claimed suicide bombing killed Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s minister of refugees, along with several of his associates inside his ministry in Kabul. This marked the most high-profile assassination since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S.-led NATO troops from the country.
Taliban officials consistently have downplayed the activities of the IS-K in Afghanistan, claiming that their counterterrorism forces have effectively suppressed the group and rendered it incapable of posing a threat to the country or beyond.
Escalating Power Struggles Within the Taliban Regime: Where Do the Opposition Politicians Stand?
Taliban militants (file photo)
8am: In recent months, the Taliban regime has intensified its crackdown on dissenting clerics. These clerics have protested against the monopolization of power by the Kandahari faction of the Taliban and have called for the formation of an “inclusive government” a demand that has been repeatedly voiced over the past three and a half years but has been consistently ignored by the regime’s leadership in Kabul. The feasibility of expecting an inclusive government from the Taliban is not the focus of this discussion. However, the persistent calls for inclusivity, especially from within the Taliban’s ranks, highlight a deep-rooted and ongoing crisis that has not only persisted since the group’s return to power but has intensified. A significant and widening gap exists between the ideological framework of the Taliban’s religious doctrine and the realities on the ground in Afghanistan. The more the regime attempts to bridge this divide, its internal disagreements become apparent. These efforts continue to fail because only a faction within the Taliban fully grasps the existential threat posed by the ongoing crisis and seeks to resolve it before it spirals out of control. This faction, often referred to as the “moderate” or “pragmatic” Taliban, fears that if the current situation persists, the regime’s downfall will become inevitable. The dissenting clerics advocating for an inclusive government belong to this camp. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – February 11, 2025
‘You Have Polluted Society’: How The Taliban Rapes And Terrorises Women In Custody
Taliban militants (file photo)
Afghanistan International: Men styling themselves God’s soldiers are using sexual violence on captive women to inflict punishment not just on individuals but to intimidate all Afghan women from any role in society. The accounts of women violated and raped by Taliban members while in custody shared by the survivors with Afghanistan International paint a grim picture of life under their rule. Their stories highlight how sexual violence has been systematically deployed as a weapon to humiliate and marginalise women in the theocratic, male-dominated country. Survivors who shared their experiences for this report played active roles in society whether as teachers, medical staff, students, civil society activists or models. All believe they were targeted for participating in public life. Click here to read more (external link).
U.S. Will Return to Afghanistan, Says Congressman Pat Harrigan
Afghanistan International: Pat Harrigan, a Republican representative in the U.S. Congress, has expressed full confidence that the U.S. will return to Afghanistan in the future, criticising the manner of the U.S. withdrawal and arguing that the exit has condemned future generations of Americans to conflict. Harrigan, a former senior commander in the U.S. Special Forces, spoke with a Daily Signal reporter on Sunday, 9 February, about the withdrawal from Afghanistan and its long-term implications. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan Falls Three Spots in Global Corruption Ranking
Tolo News: Transparency International reported in its 2024 report that Afghanistan ranked 165th out of 180 countries in public sector corruption. According to the report, Afghanistan scored 17 out of 100 on the organization’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which is three points lower than its 2023 score. The country had previously scored 20 in 2023 and 24 in 2022. In this index, a score of 100 indicates the absence of corruption in the public sector, while a score of zero represents widespread corruption. The report places Denmark (90 points), Finland (88 points), and Singapore (84 points) at the top of the ranking, while South Sudan (8 points), Somalia (9 points), and Venezuela (10 points) are at the bottom. Click here to read more (external link).