Tolo News: The Joint Chamber of Afghanistan-Pakistan Commerce on Monday said that Islamabad has imposed new restrictions on the transit of Afghan commodities, creating hurdles in the way of traders to transfer their products via Karachi port. “The problem is in invoice. The Pakistani government has increased the invoice of commodities such as tires, electric devices, medicines, oil and sugar,” said Najibullah Safi, head of the Joint Chamber. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 2, 2023
Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Kabul Attack
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
January 2, 2023
ISLAMABAD — Islamic State said Monday its Afghanistan-based affiliate was behind Sunday’s suicide bomb attack outside the military airport in the country’s capital, Kabul.
The bombing was the third high-profile attack in the city in the last month claimed by the terror group’s regional branch, IS-Khorasan.
The morning blast at the airport’s entrance left several people dead and wounded, a Taliban-led Interior Ministry spokesperson said shortly after the attack. He shared no further details while Taliban forces prevented filming and photography at the crime scene.
Media reports quoted unnamed security sources as claiming the attack had killed at least eight Taliban forces and injured numerous others.
The militant group posted on Telegram that Sunday’s attack killed 20 people and wounded 30 others. Taliban officials dispute those figures, and the interior ministry said it would release an official death toll later.
IS-Khorasan claimed Monday that the attacker had participated and survived last month’s raid on a downtown Kabul hotel where Chinese nationals were staying, among other guests.
The December 12 attack killed or wounded several Taliban forces, while China confirmed five of its nationals had also suffered injuries. Beijing swiftly advised Chinese citizens and companies “to leave and evacuate the country as soon as possible.”
Taliban authorities claimed at the time that the three shooters involved in the hotel attack were killed in ensuing gunbattles with security forces. But IS later released a video of two men, claiming they assaulted the Chinese nationals.
IS-Khorasan also claimed a December 2 assassination attempt on Ubaid ur Rehman Nizamani, head of Pakistan’s embassy in the Afghan capital. Nizamani escaped unharmed in the shooting incident, but his Pakistani security guard was injured.
Last week, a car bomb in the northeastern Badakhshan border province killed the Taliban regional police chief and his two guards. IS-Khorasan took responsibility for plotting that attack in the provincial capital, Fayzabad.
Critics say the repeated attacks in Kabul and beyond raise questions about claims that Taliban security forces have degraded the presence of IS-Khorasan in Afghanistan.
Several Killed, Injured In Blast At Kabul’s Military Airport
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
January 1, 2023
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities say that several people were killed or injured in an explosion on the morning of January 1 at a military airport adjacent to Kabul International Airport.
The spokesman for Kabul’s security operations, Khalid Zadra, told RFE/RL that “a number of our compatriots were martyred or injured” in the suspected bomb blast and that an investigation into the incident had been launched. Zadra did not provide specific casualty figures.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor also said that several people had been killed or injured, without giving exact figures.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the country has been targeted by Islamic State-Khorasan, an offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
On December 27, IS claimed responsibility for an attack in Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan Province that killed a key Taliban security official.
An armed anti-Taliban resistance movement known as the National Resistance Front has been active in the country’s north.
The military airport struck on January 1 lies about 200 meters from Kabul International Airport and is also close to the Interior Ministry compound. The Interior Ministry building was targeted in a suicide bombing in October in which at least four people were killed.
Other high-security government ministries, as well as foreign embassies and the presidential palace, are located along Airport Road, as is the military airport.
Reports indicated that the military airport was damaged but intact, and that Taliban security forces had cordoned off the area and were preventing photos or video from being taken of the site.
With reporting by AP and dpa
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Tolo News in Dari – January 1, 2023
Gunmen Kill Taliban’s Top Security Official in Nangarhar and His Two Bodyguards
8am: Source added armed men had ambushed this local Taliban official in Khogyani district. Taliban officials in Nangarhar do not comment on this incident. The Freedom Front, an anti-Taliban militant group, has claimed responsibility for the assassination of the head of counter-terrorism of the Taliban police in Khogyani, Nangarhar, and his two bodyguards. Click here to read more (external link).
Umar Gul’s coaching stint with Afghan cricket team comes to an end
Ariana: Former Pakistan bowler Umar Gul’s stint as the bowling coach of the Afghanistan cricket team has come to an end. Gul, who was appointed in May 2022 till the end of the year, expressed satisfaction with the Afghanistan team. Click here to read more (external link).
US Immigration Paths Available for Afghans and Ukrainians
Aline Barros
VOA News
January 1, 2023
After nearly 20 years of war, the United States and its allies left Afghanistan in August 2021, evacuating nearly 130,000 people in the chaotic last weeks in Kabul.
Through Operation Allies Welcome, about 88,500 Afghan nationals arrived in the U.S. and resettled in communities across the country.
But seven months later, the Biden administration faced another humanitarian challenge. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked another refugee crisis. Since the start of the war, more than 7.8 million refugees have fled Ukraine.
Although the U.S. was quick to announce a response for Ukrainian refugees, both Ukrainians and Afghans must navigate the same U.S. immigration system.
Here’s a look at the U.S. immigration realities for Afghans and Ukrainians, and the various paths they have used to enter the United States.
Afghans
The U.S. has welcomed more than 88,500 Afghans through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that coordinated efforts to resettle vulnerable Afghans.
These Afghans were evacuated on U.S. flights in July and August 2021 and mainly have received a short-term immigration protection known as humanitarian parole.
Humanitarian parole is given to those hoping to enter the U.S. under emergency circumstances. While it does not automatically lead to permanent residency, parolees can apply for legal status through the asylum process or other forms of sponsorship, if available, once they’re in the U.S.
Of the nearly 88,500 Afghans who had entered the U.S. as of mid-June, at least 77,500 received humanitarian parole. The remaining 11,000 is a mix of visa holders.
Afghans still in Afghanistan who are hoping to receive a visa must travel to a U.S. embassy—the closest are in Qatar, Pakistan or the United Arab Emirates—for an interview.
Or they can apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for humanitarian parole, the safest way is online. But they must pay a $575 fee and prove they were persecuted by the Taliban. The fee applies to everyone seeking humanitarian parole. Applicants can ask for a fee waiver but need to show proof of financial hardship to the U.S. government.
More than 40,000 Afghans living outside the U.S. have submitted humanitarian parole applications since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. About 500 of those applications have been approved.
According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), fewer than 5,000 of the 40,000 cases were fully adjudicated by mid-June 2022, and 297 were approved.
Nine months after the military withdrawal, the Biden administration designated Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides legal status in the U.S. and protection from deportation for up to 18 months. It also provides work permits for people to work legally in the country. And it can be extended.
But it does not lead to permanent residence.
Some Afghans were allowed to continue the process for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), a decade-old immigrant visa program that helps military interpreters and others who worked for the U.S. government to come to the U.S. with a direct pathway to permanent residency.
The State Department has hired more staff members to process SIVs, but the MPI says adjudication remains slow.
Since the start of the Biden administration through November 1, 2022, the State Department has issued nearly 19,000 SIVs to principal applicants and their eligible family members.
There are about 15,000 SIV principal applicants who are waiting for their visa interview, the step before being issued an SIV. About 48,000 individuals have submitted all documents and are waiting to be processed.
Ukrainians
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, it started an exodus not seen since World War II.
Initially, there was not a clear path for Ukrainians to quickly come to the U.S. Though most Ukrainians were seeking refuge in other countries in Europe, some pursued safety in the U.S.
Some Ukrainians entered the county on existing U.S. visas. But more than 20,000 Ukrainians traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border and requested asylum. Many of those did not have a U.S. visa.
Two months after Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration designated Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status and applied it to Ukrainians in the U.S. since April 11. The White House also agreed to admit up to 100,000 of the more than 7 million Ukrainians who fled Ukraine.
On April 21, 2022, the U.S. announced the Uniting for Ukraine program to provide a pathway for Ukrainian citizens outside the U.S. to stay in the U.S. for two years on humanitarian parole.
Uniting for Ukraine also allows U.S. citizens, green card residents and others with certain other immigration statuses to support Ukrainian refugees.
To apply, Ukrainians must have been a resident of Ukraine as of Feb. 11, 2022, and there is no application fee.
After launching Uniting for Ukraine, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would no longer allow Ukrainians to enter the country through the U.S.-Mexico border by humanitarian parole.
Ukrainians already in the U.S. as of April 11 cannot apply for humanitarian parole under the program. They can, however, apply for TPS or the asylum program.
As of late November, the U.S. has allowed more than 180,000 Ukrainians to stay in the U.S. for a period of time through humanitarian parole, TPS or other forms of family sponsorship.
Afghans and Ukrainians
Both Afghans and Ukrainians can apply for admission to the U.S. refugee program.
Additionally, family members of Afghans or Ukrainians can file a petition to bring their loved ones to the U.S. They must be a citizen or a green card holder, and the process covers only direct relatives.
Afghans and Ukrainian who received humanitarian parole can apply for asylum unless another, long-term immigration protection is available to them.
‘Either Be Taliban’s Wife or His Cow,’ Pro-Taliban Cleric Addresses Women in Faryab
8am: Speaking in a public gathering, he says that mullahs are the kindest and most knowledgeable people in society. For this reason, “Either be a mullah’s wife or be a mullah’s cow.” In this speech, he encourages families to convince their daughters to marry Taliban forces. Click here to read more (external link).
In Afghanistan, coal mining relies on the labor of children
NPR: Even in wealthy, developed nations with advanced technologies, heavy machinery and readily available protective equipment, mining can be a dangerous and sometimes deadly job. In Afghanistan, where much of the coal is mined by hand, every descent into the bowels of this mountain is a gamble. Click here to read more (external link).