Stars and Stripes: A former U.S. military contractor pleaded guilty this week to bribery and visa fraud in his management of millions of dollars worth of U.S.-funded reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan. Orlando Clark, 57, of Smyrna, Ga., was accused of conspiring with an analyst at another American company in 2011 and 2012 to receive approximately $400,000 in bribes from an Afghan company, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 5, 2023
What We Know About U.S.-Backed Zero Units in Afghanistan
ProPublica: Deadly night raids. Faulty U.S. intelligence. A “classified” war loophole. Reporter Lynzy Billing’s investigation offers an unprecedented insight into the civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s Zero Units. Click here to read more (external link).
Prince Harry reveals that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan
The Telegraph (UK): Prince Harry has disclosed that he killed 25 people in his role as an Apache helicopter pilot during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. In his autobiography, Spare, the Duke of Sussex says he flew on six missions that resulted in “the taking of human lives”, something of which he says he is neither proud nor ashamed. He says that, in the heat of combat, he did not think of the 25 as “people” but instead as “chess pieces” that had been taken off the board. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Says Eight Killed In Raids Of IS Hideouts In Afghanistan
AP: Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban killed eight militants of the Islamic State (IS) group and arrested nine others in a series of raids targeting key figures in a spate of attacks in Kabul, a senior Taliban government spokesman said on January 5. Zabihullah Mujahid said the raids in the capital city and western Nimroz Province on January 4 targeted IS militants who organized recent attacks on Kabul’s Longan Hotel, Pakistan’s embassy, and the military airport. Eight IS fighters, including foreign nationals, were killed and seven others arrested in Kabul, while a separate operation in western Nimroz province resulted in two more IS arrests, Mujahid said. Click here to read more (external link).
Pneumonia Rampant Among Afghan Children As Humanitarian Crisis Continues
Reuters: Thousands of Afghan children have been hospitalized this winter with pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses amid a massive humanitarian crisis brought on by the de facto Taliban takeover of the country in 2021. The country has been hit by a massive cut in much-needed international aid, as well as by Western sanctions and a freezing of central bank assets. Over 180 international organizations have suspended operations after the Taliban banned female aid workers. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that even before the onset of winter, hospitalizations of children under 5 were 50 percent higher than last year. Click here to read more (external link).
Foreign Terrorist in Taliban Ranks Killed by Unknown Individuals in Badakhshan
8am: A foreign terrorist in the ranks of the Taliban was killed by unknown individuals in Badakhshan. Speaking to Hasht-e Subh from Badakhshan on Thursday, January 5, sources identified this Taliban fighter, Abu Omar, a citizen of Tajikistan. Abu Omar was one of the skilled Taliban minelayers who played a prominent role in destroying the strongholds of former Afghanistan’s National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and their armored tanks in Badakhshan. Click here to read more (external link).
Earthquake Rocks Afghanistan’s Mountainous Hindu Kush Region
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 5, 2023
The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) says an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 has rocked the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. The GFZ said on its website that the earthquake, recorded at 2:25 p.m. GMT on January 5, had a depth of 191 kilometers. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The Hindu Kush region is located in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Province in the northeast of the country.
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.
Taliban (IEA) Minister Signs Extraction Contract of Amu Oil Field With Chinese Company
Khaama: The area of this contract is estimated 4500 square kilometers, scattered in the country’s three northern provinces including Saripul, Jawzjan and Faryab. In the contract, it is stated that Afghanistan’s share is 20 percent at present, and it will reach up to 75 percent in the future. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Spokesperson Says Court Due to Rule on Media Licenses
Roshan Noorzai
VOA News
January 4, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Taliban have said that a court on Thursday is expected to issue a ruling on whether licenses should be revoked for several media outlets.
Abdul Haq Hammad, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, told Voice of America the move is focused on 10 media outlets and news agencies deemed to be spreading “propaganda and rumors against” the regime.
If the court rules to revoke the licenses, the media outlets will no longer be able to work in the country.
“They will not be able to open their office or have reporters in the country. This will be illegal,” Hammad said.
But Afghan journalists and media associations see the move as an attempt to further curtail press freedom. Conditions for media have deteriorated since the Taliban’s return to power, with news outlets shuttering, and a large number of female journalists leaving the profession.
Hammad did not name the outlets in question but said that they work from outside Afghanistan.
Several organizations moved their operations outside the country after the Taliban took power in August 2021. But many use local staff or freelancers to report on events inside the country.
A person with knowledge of the case, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, told VOA the Taliban took a “unilateral decision” in referring the media outlets to the court without first seeking approval from the Media Violation Commission.
The joint media and government body is tasked with investigating media violations and can issue fines to journalists or news outlets.
The unnamed individual told VOA that the Taliban sent a letter to the court saying the Media Violation Commission had referred the case. But, he said, “the commission does not have the authority to revoke licenses.”
Taliban spokesperson Hammad said that the move was based on the media law.
Curbs on media
Journalists and media analysts who spoke with VOA say the Taliban are selective in how they use the media law.
“They implement the law based on their preferences,” Gul Mohammad Graan, president of the Afghan chapter of the South Asian Association of Reporters Club and Journalists Forum, told VOA.
“In practice, they do not care about the law, particularly the media law,” said Graan, adding that the Taliban “impose pressure and restrictions on media outlets that are critical of them.”
Overall, the situation for press freedom in Afghanistan is “concerning,” Graan said.
Media rights groups have said the country’s journalists face violence, censorship and economic hardship.
Figures from the Ministry of Information and Culture, under the Taliban, show 165 radio and 55 TV stations currently in operation. Before their takeover, media watchdogs estimated that Afghanistan had more than 540 media outlets.
Calling for licenses to be revoked is part of “systematic censorship,” Sharif Hassanyar, head of the Norway-based Chashm News Network, said.
“The situation could make the international media cease their operations [in Afghanistan] and create problems for [local] media,” said Hassanyar, who used to be head of Ariana News, one of the country’s largest media groups.
The Taliban have already banned FM broadcasts from VOA and its sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty over claims that their broadcasts had violated local laws.
Ghulam Jelani Zwak, an Afghan journalist who used to be head of Kabul News Television, told VOA the pressure is mounting. “Day by day, restrictions and problems increase [for media],” he said.
Zwak said that the new restrictions signal that the Taliban want to have media under their control.
“They do not want independent media to operate in Afghanistan,” said Zwak.
Waheed Faizi from VOA’s Afghan Service contributed to this report, which originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.