Ariana: Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s Ambassador and Special Representative to Afghanistan, stated in a meeting with the Deputy Political Chief of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) that Iran does not support opponents of the current government in Kabul. The meeting between Iran’s ambassador and Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Deputy Political Chief of the Taliban, took place on Monday night. The Iranian ambassador reiterated that his country does not support the opponents of the Islamic Emirate but is making efforts for Afghanistan to be part of constructive cooperation. Click here to read more (external link).
Families Worried as Taliban Arrest Girls
Taliban fighters (file photo)
8am: Following the detention of some women protesters and civil activists, subjected to physical and psychological torture and sexual assault by the Taliban, families are more worried about the arrest of their daughters by this group, instilling fear in them about the Taliban’s prisons. They mention that male members of their families have warned them that if their young daughters end up in Taliban prisons without having committed any crime, it would disgrace them. They have been cautioned that if this group arrests and imprisons them, they will not take any action for their release from the Taliban’s prison, as it would damage their reputation and dignity, and there would be no effort made to secure their freedom. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 7, 2024
Family debt in Afghanistan surges by 67%: Survey
Khaama: Research from an institute shows that unemployment and family debt have gone up in many areas of the country in the last two years under the Taliban government. According to the findings of this center, the unemployment rate among men has increased to 31 per cent and among women to 8 percent in Afghanistan. Still, 15 per cent of the interviewees have stated that they have been forced to sell their household belongings due to poverty and unemployment. Click here to read more (external link).
More Economic News
Afghan Sikhs and Hindus call on IEA to return their usurped houses
Ariana: One of the few remaining Sikhs in Afghanistan, Manjit Singh Lamba, has called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to help return their houses and other properties that were taken from them over the years. Lamba, who is head of the Afghan Council of Hindus and Sikhs, said the majority of his community fled the country after a spate of deadly bombings against them, and after the political developments two years ago. Click here to read more (external link).
Bomb Hits Minibus in Kabul, Killing 2 Afghan Civilians
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
January 6, 2024
ISLAMABAD — A bomb blast ripped through a minibus in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, Saturday evening, killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others.
The attack occurred in the city’s western Dasht-e-Barchi Shiite Muslim neighborhood.
Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for the Taliban-led Kabul police, confirmed the casualties, saying the injured were rushed to hospitals and the bombing was under investigation.
No group immediately took credit for the deadly attack, but suspicions fell on a regional Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K.
Dasht-e-Barchi has experienced persistent deadly militant bombings, targeting Shiite mosques, schools and hospitals. IS-K has claimed credit for almost all recent attacks.
The group has carried out high-profile attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of the country more than two years ago. The violence has killed hundreds of people, including Shiite Afghans and Taliban members.
Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob told a televised news conference last week that there had been a 90% decrease in IS-K attacks in the past year, attributing it to his government’s counterterrorism operations.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesperson, reiterated Saturday that the crackdown on IS-K had degraded its ability to harm Afghanistan and other countries.
He spoke to local media a day after Reuters news agency reported that “communications intercepts collected by the United States” confirmed that IS-K conducted Wednesday’s twin suicide bombings in neighboring Iran that killed nearly 100 people.
The Sunni-based Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bloodshed in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman but did not specify that its Afghanistan-based affiliate carried it out.
The United States has consistently described IS-K as a dangerous entity.
However, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, said Thursday it was “difficult to make a quantitative or qualitative assessment” of IS-K’s strength based on a single event like this week’s attack in Iran.
“ISIS-K does remain a viable terrorist threat. Certainly, they are largely based out of Afghanistan. That’s where they headquarter themselves,” Kirby told a news conference in Washington, using a different acronym for IS-K. “And they continue to pose a viable terrorist threat to the people of Afghanistan and obviously to the region.”
Related
Turkish police detain 24 Afghan refugees
Khaama: Turkish media reported on Saturday, January 4th, that 24 individuals from Afghanistan who intended to enter Turkey were detained by Turkish police in Ağrı. According to reports, these individuals were detained by the Turkish police at the exact moment they were trying to enter Turkey using a motor vehicle from the Iran-Turkey border. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 6, 2024
U.S. Ambivalent Over IS-K Iran Attack
McKenzie (file photo)
Michael Hughes: Elements within the U.S. political and military establishment long shared with the Islamic State a common foe: Iran. More specifically, Qassem Soleimani, the ex-Quds Force chief assassinated by the U.S. on January 3, 2020 whose memorial service IS-K attacked earlier this week. One need not be a conspiracy theorist to submit that power players in Washington had mixed feelings over the deadly terrorist attack in Iran’s Kerman that left almost 100 dead. Just listen to the person who coordinated the drone strike that killed Soleimani: ex-CENTCOM commander Kenneth McKenzie.
In a tone-deaf op-ed published the day after the bomb blasts, the retired U.S. general argued that the Trump administration had to take out the Quds Force leader as a means of “deterrence.” He claimed Iranian leaders operate under Lenin’s dictum: “You probe with bayonets: if you find mush, you push. If you find steel, you withdraw.” And the Iranians, according to McKenzie, “understand steel.” He also bemoaned the fact that Iranian proxies were supposedly deterring the U.S. in recent years when, according to him, it should be the other way around. And in order to pivot, harsh means are necessary.
Tragic Suicide of Female Protester in Kunduz Province following Taliban Imprisonment
8am: Bibi Gul, a participant in a street protest, was detained by the Taliban in Kunduz in late September 2021. During her harrowing two-day captivity, she endured torture, as disclosed by the source. Upon her release, Bibi Gul faced escalating pressure and restrictions from her family, which included being prohibited from communicating with her friends, according to the source. The 21-year-old aspiring university student found herself on the brink of taking her entrance exams when the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan, thwarting her educational aspirations. A member of the Unity and Solidarity Women’s Movement in Kunduz lamented that Bibi Gul’s case is not isolated, emphasizing that the Taliban has systematically imprisoned and tortured numerous girls, leaving them to grapple with severe psychological issues. Click here to read more (external link).