Taliban hopes to make Afghanistan a tourism hotspot

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Daily News: The Taliban hopes to remedy Afghanistan’s many woes by making the highly conservative, poverty-stricken, war-torn country a tourism destination. Would-be bookers understand they have their work cut out for them. Visas are hard to procure. The Taliban’s treatment of women is famously abhorrent. None of the the country’s airports have direct flights to Europe, India or China, which the Tourism Directorate in Kabul hopes to make a large market. There’s also an absence of foreign embassies. Click here to read more (external link).

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Gun attack on Shiite mosque in western Afghanistan kills 6 worshippers

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
April 30, 2024

ISLAMABAD  — Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Tuesday that an overnight attack on a Shiite mosque in a western region bordering Iran had killed at least six people, including a child.

An Interior Ministry spokesman reported that an “unknown armed person” stormed the mosque in the Guzara district in Herat province and sprayed worshippers with bullets before fleeing.

“Six civilians were martyred and one was injured,” Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media platform X.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting, but suspicions fell on a regional Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), or Daesh.

The extremist Sunni group has taken credit for plotting almost all recent attacks on Shi’ite mosques, hospitals, and public gatherings in the country.

Hassan Kazemi Ghomi, the Iranian ambassador in Kabul, condemned Monday’s attack, calling IS-K a “common external threat” to both countries and the region at large.

“We consider Afghanistan our partner in the fight against terrorism, and cooperation in this area will be a top priority,” Ghomi, also the special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, wrote on X.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, denounced the mosque shooting.

“Investigations and accountability for perpetrators and protection measures for Afghanistan’s Shi’a communities are urgently needed,” the UNAMA stated on X.

IS-K has also routinely plotted deadly bomb attacks against leaders and prominent religious scholars linked to the ruling Taliban.

The violence has increased since the then-insurgent Taliban reclaimed power in 2021 when the United States and NATO withdrew their troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war with the Taliban.

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Khurasan beats Maiwand 2-1 in ACL; Sarsabz thrash Adalat 2-0

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Ariana: Khurasan Faryab defeated Maiwand 2-1 in the 21st match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Tuesday, while Sarsabz Yashlat thrashed Adalat Farah 2-0 in the 22nd match of the tournament on the same day. Wednesday’s matches will see Sorkh Poshan Khafi take on Jawanan Wahedi at 1 PM, while Istiqlal Kabul play Khadim at 3:30 PM. The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television. Click here to read more (external link).

Anti-Taliban resistance leader says a terrorist attack on U.S. soil is a ‘matter of when not if’ in chilling warning to the Biden administration about the surge in extremism in Afghanistan since the withdrawal

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Massoud

Daily Mail (UK): The leader of the anti-Taliban resistance in Afghanistan has issued a chilling warning that a new terrorist attack on America is a matter of ‘when not if’. Ahmad Massoud said terrorism is ‘breeding’ in the vacuum left by the U.S. pulling out in August 2021 and it is ‘very possible ‘ extremists will now try to strike America or Europe.  Massoud says there is the same furious rivalry between terrorist factions that was seen in the build-up to 9/11. In an interview with DailyMail.com – ahead of the release of his memoir In the Name of my Father: Struggling for Freedom in Afghanistan – he says his people feel abandoned and hopeless. They have been left to fend for themselves against a brutal regime that is systematically stripping away basic rights. The Afghan people now see the West as ‘hypocrites’, he says. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan Freedom Front Claims Four Taliban Members Killed In Attack In Kabul

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Afghanistan International: The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced on Sunday that it had attacked a Taliban checkpoint in the Qoway Markaz area of Kabul. The Front stated on social media platform X that four Taliban members had been killed in the attack, and two others had been injured. The anti-Taliban group also released a video purportedly showing the attack.  AFF and the National Resistance Front frequently launch attacks on Taliban checkpoints and security posts in Kabul and other provinces. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Rewarding War Allies with Monthly Loyalty Stipends

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8am: Local sources in Kunduz province report that the Taliban are paying monthly salaries to individuals who supported their fighters during the conflict with the previous government’s security forces by providing shelter and food. Sources on Sunday, April 28, confirm that the Taliban have submitted the list of these individuals to their authorities and are compensating them as “loyalty rewards.” Additionally, another source indicates that the Taliban have assured these individuals of priority assistance in humanitarian efforts led by relief organizations. Click here to read more (external link).

Turkish Airlines resumes Afghanistan flights in May

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AA: Turkish Airlines is preparing to make an important development by resuming its flights to Afghanistan, which were suspended in 2021 due to the U.S. withdrawal from the country.  Starting May 21, Turkish Airlines will operate four flights a week between Istanbul and Kabul on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Click here to read more (external link).

Nationwide Anti-Polio Campaign Kicks Off In Afghanistan

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Child getting polio drops (file photo)

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
April 29, 2024

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign started on April 29 in Afghanistan, Taliban authorities announced. The Taliban-run Health Ministry said the four-day campaign will cover 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, while immunizations will start later in the remaining three — Ghor, Daikundi, and Bamyan — due to heavy rains and cold weather. Besides vaccines, children will also receive doses of vitamin A to increase their resistance to the infectious disease, the ministry said. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio has not been completely eradicated.

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.