Khaama: The international community’s $40 million cash aid packages are shipped to Kabul, however, the Taliban authorities do not publicize it on media anymore, a source in Afghanistan Central Bank on Saturday said. The sources added that international organizations and aid groups transfer their required money to Afghanistan, and there has not been any change in the procedure so far. Click here to read more (external link).
The Taliban’s Interference Takes Toll: UN Aid Distribution in Balkh Province Plunges by 50%
8am: Abdul Habib highlights the Taliban’s interference as a key factor in the decrease of aid distribution to vulnerable citizens by the United Nations. He reveals that the Taliban exert considerable effort to ensure that a significant portion of the aid reaches their own families. According to him, during aid distribution programs, they often encounter an extensive list of Taliban members, including their relatives and families, at the forefront. Due to the risks involved, they are unable to voice any objections. Abdul Habib personally witnessed cash assistance being provided to individuals in a district, only to see the Taliban, in collaboration with village elders, demand 2,500 Afghanis from each recipient, claiming it as the cost of their inclusion on the list. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – July 1, 2023
Biden’s remarks an ‘acknowledgement’ of no armed groups in Afghanistan: Taliban
Ariana: Late Friday, a defiant US President Joe Biden, said in answer to a question, on the report, that was shouted out by a journalist as he walked out of a press conference: “Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.” With that, Biden turned and left the room – without elaborating. Click here to read more (external link).
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State Department Review of Afghanistan Evacuation Critical of Biden, Trump
US soldiers (file photo)
Reuters: A U.S. State Department report on Friday criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had “serious consequences for the viability” and security of the former U.S.-backed government. Click here to read more (externa link).
Locust timebomb looms in Afghanistan after insects lay billions of eggs in cropland
The Telegraph (UK): Afghanistan is facing a locust timebomb after billions of eggs were laid by the grasshoppers in the country’s breadbasket, raising fears that a plague of insects will devastate food supplies next year. For the first time in two decades, swarms of Moroccan locusts – described as the “bad boys” of the locust world because of their voracious appetite – arrived in northern Afghanistan in March. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – June 30, 2023
The fortune of copper under an ancient Buddhist site in Afghanistan that China is supposed to mine
The China Project: In 2008, the Afghan government and a state-owned Chinese company signed a deal to mine copper at Mes Aynak, just south of Kabul. The Taliban renewed the agreement. So why is the project stalled? For now, China and MCC hold all the cards. Ultimately, what will happen will depend much more on Beijing’s geopolitical calculus than on the preferences of the Taliban. Meanwhile, as Noorani noted in our interview, “Afghanistan is the loser, and receives neither revenue nor employment.” Click here to read more (external link).
36 Cases of Congo Fever in Afghanistan’s Herat in 2 Months
Ariana: In the past two months, 36 instances of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever have been reported by doctors in the western province of Herat, Afghanistan, including five deaths. The number of cases increased this year, according to Mohammad Asif Kabir, Deputy Public Health of Herat which has led to authorities’ concern about the spread of diseases, especially throughout Eid-ul-Adha. Click here to read more (external link).
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In These Corners of Kabul, Western Influences Live On
NYT: While the Taliban have erased most obvious vestiges of the U.S. nation-building effort in Afghanistan, the cultural legacy of two decades of American occupation has been harder to stamp out. Click here to read more (external link).