ICC judges approve request to reopen Afghanistan probe
AP: Judges have approved a request by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to reopen an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, saying Afghan authorities are not carrying out meaningful probes into the alleged crimes. Click here to read more (external link).
Pakistan’s Duplicity in Afghanistan Has No Limit
Taliban leader Mullah Baradar with Pakistan’s ISI Chief Faiz Hameed
The National Interest: In February 2020, just days before the U.S.-Taliban Doha Agreement was signed, the intelligence community and military intelligence leaders from South and Central Asia gathered at a U.S. Central Command conference in Tampa, Florida. The topic was unconventional warfare, and one of the most electric moments was when a panelist described how the Pakistani security services had failed twice to get their puppet regimes recognized by the United Nations. The two Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) generals present were at first angered that someone was exposing their campaign to control the Afghan government through proxy fighters. Later, one of the ISI leaders admitted that elements of Pakistan’s ruling powers had indeed backed the failed efforts of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the Afghan civil war and the Taliban militia in the 1990s and 2000s to gain UN recognition as the government of Afghanistan. He further admitted to the panelists and a U.S. Army general that Pakistan continues to back the Taliban-Haqqani campaign to retake Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Doctor Treats 400 Children With Cleft Lip, Palate
Tolo News: A recently returned Afghan doctor from Turkey reportedly treated more than 400 children with cleft lip and cleft palate in Afghanistan for free, saying that he only treats those who cannot afford treatment. “When I came to Kabul, I conducted a lot of surgeries in Kabul, then Kunduz, and then I moved to Ghazni, Kandahar, and Helmand, where I performed a total of 450 operations for free, and I did not charge the patients and families,” said Abdul Ghafar Ghayor, a cosmetic surgery specialist. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Afghanistan’s Zazai ruled out of T20 World Cup due to injury
Reuters: Afghanistan’s hard-hitting opening batsman Hazratullah Zazai will miss the remainder of the Twenty20 World Cup due to an abdominal muscle strain, tournament organisers said on Monday. Click here to read more (external link).
Drug prices rise in Afghanistan after Taliban outlaws trade
FT: The price of illegal drugs has soared in Afghanistan since the Taliban outlawed the trade in one of the world’s biggest narcotics exporters, according to new data, despite limited evidence that the Islamist militants are enforcing the ban. Opium prices within Afghanistan have risen more than 50 per cent since the Taliban announced the ban in April, while prices for methamphetamines have also risen, according to data gathered from across the country by UK-based Alcis, which conducts satellite imagery research for governments and NGOs. Click here to read more (external link).
At Least 30 Injured in Traffic Accident on Kabul-Kandahar Highway
Khaama: Nearly 30 people have reportedly been injured, according to the Taliban health officials in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan, as a result of a traffic accident on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. The disastrous traffic accident happened as a consequence of a collision of a Mazda car that was related to a wedding ceremony with a truck, according to Abdul Hakim Hakimi, head of Zabul Public Health, who spoke to the media today, Monday, October 31. Click here to read more (external link).
Criminal Activities Increased Recently in Kabul: Residents
Tolo News: Criminal activity, particularly of armed robbery, has recently surged in Kabul, residents said. “They are drug-addicted people. They bring a pistol and put it on the people and tell them to ‘pull out your phone and money,’” said Taj Mohammad Faqiri, a resident of Kabul. Click here to read more (external link).
ALF Claims of Killing Two Taliban Members in Zabul Province
8am: According to the newsletter issued by ALF, this operation was carried out around 7:00 PM, on October 31, in Qalat city, the center of the province. A video published on the Facebook page of this front shows that an explosion takes place in the center of Zabul province in the dark of night. Click here to read more (external link).
NRF Forces Push Back Taliban’s Attack in Anaba District, Panjshir
8am: The National Resistance Front (NRF) forces have pushed back the Taliban’s attack in Panjshir province, killing three Taliban fighters and injuring one other, local sources reported. In an interview, sources said that the Taliban attacked the bases of NRF in Faraj and Abdara areas of Anaba district at around 1:00pm Saturday, but this attack was repulsed after about four hours of clashes. Click here to read more (external link).