Michael Hughes: General Mirza Aslam Beg as a chief instructor at the National Defense College during the early 1980s allegedly first articulated Pakistan’s version of the military doctrine known as “strategic depth,” which posits Islamabad’s hegemony in Afghanistan as critical in case of war with India. Many in Rawalpindi felt the Taliban seizing Kabul (again) was crucial in fulfilling this vision, although within the past week alone it appears Pakistan has become yet another victim of the law of unintended consequences. Click here to read more.
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – December 3, 2022
UNAMA Calls for Immediate Release of Five Women’s Rights Activists, Including Zarifa Yaqubi
8am: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on the Taliban to immediately release five women’s rights activists, including Zarifa Yaqubi. “Family members have not been permitted to visit them and there is no clear information about any charges or why they are being held [captive],” UNAMA tweeted on Saturday (December 3rd). Click here to read more (external link).
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Karzai Leaves Kabul for UAE
Hamid Karzai
Tolo News: Former president Hamid Karzai left Kabul for the United Arab Emirates on Saturday where he will stay for three days before traveling to Germany, his close aide Shahzada Massoud said. This is Karzai’s first trip abroad after the establishment of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
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Afghan activist Zarifa Ghafari: ‘They sold Afghanistan to the Taliban’
Zarifa Gharifi
FT: Ghafari is scathing about the 20 years of US intervention. “It was not a ‘war on terror’. It was war to produce more terrorism,” she says. “They [US forces] destroyed entire villages. And if you asked, they would say, ‘There was one or two Taliban.’” In Afghanistan’s perennial woes she sees the traces of constant foreign interference. She describes Washington’s Afghan policy since the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979 as “the game”. It consists of pitting ethnic tribes and local warlords against one another, she says, and culminated in Donald Trump’s deal with the Taliban in February 2020 ahead of a US withdrawal. “We were so hopeful. And then once again the Taliban rose and they signed a deal with the Taliban. They sold Afghanistan to the Taliban.” Click here to read more (external link).
Two Militants Killed In Attack On Afghan Politician Hekmatyar’s Party Headquarters
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
December 2, 2022
Unidentified militants tried to storm the headquarters of the Afghan party Hizb-e Islami headed by veteran politician Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the party said in a statement. Two attackers were killed as they tried to enter the Kabul building, and a third escaped. Officials said Hekmatyar was inside at the time but was unhurt. Police officer Obaidullah Muddabir confirmed two attackers had been killed. Hekmatyar has fought against the Soviet occupation, the Taliban’s first stint in power, and the Western-backed government that ruled until August last year.
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Taliban Fired 60 Bullets at Each Member of My Family in Daikundi’s Sewak Village: An Affiliate of the Victims
8am: Abdul Rauf Hakimi, the brother of Aminullah Mali Hakimi, one of the victims of the Taliban offensive on civilians in Sewak village, Daikundi, in an open letter addressed to the international community on Friday (December 2nd) said that the attack on Daikundi is part of the Taliban’s broader agenda to exterminate and persecute Hazaras. He stated in the statement that he lost eight members of his family. The Taliban shot more than 60 bullets at each of the victims, according to him. Abdul Rauf detailed that the bodies of the victims, including women and children, were such that it was impossible to wash their bodies for burials. The bodies were buried in blood-soaked shrouds, Hakimi added. Click here to read more (external link).
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – December 2, 2022
Attack on Pakistan embassy in Kabul leaves 1 injured
Khaama: A statement published by the Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that Ubaid Ul Rehman Nizamani, the head of mission for the Pakistan embassy in Kabul was the main target of the attackers who has escaped unhurt, however a body guard who was protecting Mr. Nizamani has sustained injury. No groups or individuals have so far claimed the responsibility. Click here to read more (external link).
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US Lists Top TTP, Regional al-Qaida Commanders as Global Terrorists
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 2, 2022
ISLAMABAD — The United States has designated several commanders of militant groups, including a top anti-Pakistan militant leader, operating in Afghanistan as global terrorists.
The U.S. State Department announced the designations Thursday amid regional concerns terrorists have had more operational freedom on Afghan soil after the return of the Islamist Taliban to power in the conflict-ridden South Asian country.
Osama Mehmood, the chief of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent – a regional branch of the global terror network – and two of his associates have been added to the list of “global terrorists.”
The U.S. also designated Qari Amjad, the deputy chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, known as the Pakistani Taliban, for waging deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan from its Afghan bases.
The statement quoted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinker as saying the designations are “part of our relentless efforts to ensure that terrorists do not use Afghanistan as a platform for international terrorism.”
Blinken said that Washington would continue to use “all relevant tools to uphold our commitment to see to it that international terrorists are not able to operate with impunity in Afghanistan.”
U.S. officials said Amjad “oversees operations and militants” in the northwestern Pakistani province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan and has borne the brunt of stepped up TTP attacks in recent months.
The TTP in a statement issue Friday denounced the U.S. terrorist listing of Amjad, claiming it does not need to use Afghan soil nor does it pose a threat to the global community. The group asserted that its activities were limited to the territory of Pakistan.
“The United States should not interfere in the affairs of other countries or side with oppressive forces,” the statement said.
Thursday’s listing of the four militants as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” for their leadership roles in their respective groups makes it a crime for all U.S. citizens to engage in any transactions with them, and it blocks their assets in the United States.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 when all U.S. and NATO-led troops withdrew from the country after two decades of war with the then-insurgent Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists.
President Joe Biden defended the troop exit, saying the U.S. military was capable of tackling the threat of terrorism without its presence on the Afghan territory.
An American drone strike on July 31 killed fugitive al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had moved to a safe house in the Afghan capital, Kabul, after the foreign military withdrawal.
The Biden administration accused the Taliban of breaching repeated assurances to the world that they would prevent transnational terrorists from using Afghan soil as a sanctuary.
Taliban leaders maintain they were not aware of al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul and the incident was under investigation.
The latest U.S. terror designations came on the same day Pakistan warned growing cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan was “alarming and dangerous” for regional peace.
“[The Taliban] have given assurances to the world that they would not allow the use of Afghanistan’s soil by terrorist outfits, and they should deliver on their pledges,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters in Islamabad on Thursday.
TTP attacks have dramatically increased in Pakistan since the Taliban seized power in the neighboring country, killing hundreds of people, mostly security forces. Leaders and commanders of the outlawed group, already listed as a global terrorist organization by the U.S., have log taken shelter in Afghanistan.
“If the TTP is claiming responsibility for terrorist activities in Pakistan, it should be a matter of serious concern for the government of Afghanistan because their soil is being used for terrorism,” Sanaullah said.
The Taliban deny they allow TTP or any other group to use Afghan territory for plotting cross-border terrorist attacks and say they will try for treason anyone found guilty of such crimes.