8am: Local sources told Hasht-e Subh that after Mullah Yaqoob, the Taliban’s defense minister, criticized the members of this group for disobeying the orders of their commanders in Baghlan province, the Taliban have now deployed hundreds of their reserved forces to the Khost district of Baghlan province. Sources in Khost district said on Wednesday (July 13th) that Taliban forces have started beating, torturing and kidnapping locals. Click here to read more (external link).
Report Alleges British Soldiers Committed War Crimes in Afghanistan
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 12, 2022
ISLAMABAD — Rights defenders are demanding an urgent inquiry into reported allegations that British special forces executed dozens of detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances during anti-insurgency operations in Afghanistan a decade ago.
A BBC investigation, citing newly obtained military documents, alleged Tuesday that 54 people were unlawfully killed in the southern Afghan province of Helmand by a single unit of the Special Air Service (SAS), a special forces unit of the British army.
The broadcaster said its four-year inquiry also found “evidence suggesting the former head of the special forces failed to pass on evidence to a murder inquiry.”
The alleged war crimes reportedly occurred between 2010 and 2011 when British troops were still fighting Taliban insurgents alongside allies in the South Asian nation.
Unarmed Afghans were routinely shot to death “in cold blood” by SAS troops during nighttime raids, and weapons were planted on them to justify the crimes, the report said.
In a statement, Amnesty International called for an “effective and transparent” investigation into the allegations made against U.K. special forces.
Amnesty’s South Asia researcher, Zaman Sultani, said the BBC findings are “horrifying and clearly depict an alarming level of impunity and lack of accountability of U.K. troops who operated in Afghanistan.”
“The suggestion that there’s been a high-level cover-up compounds the moral outrage and suggests an unwillingness on the part of the U.K. to pursue independent and effective investigations into the allegations.”
In response to the report, Shaharzad Akbar, former head of the now-defunct Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), denounced what she said was a “culture of impunity and lack of accountability” in her country for decades.
“There was little transparency & no accountability for abuses by the international forces,” Akbar tweeted. “It is still not late for transparency, accountability & reparations,” she said.
The British Ministry of Defense said the report “jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated.” It said in a statement that two independent investigations have looked into the conduct of British forces in Afghanistan and that neither found sufficient evidence to prosecute.
“Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, incorrect, and puts our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and reputationally,” the ministry said, adding it stands open to considering any new evidence.
British forces were deployed to Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led international coalition after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States that Washington said were plotted in Afghanistan by al-Qaida terrorists who were harbored by the then-Taliban government.
The BBC investigation focused on one six-month deployment by an SAS squadron that operated in Helmand from late 2010. It said the unit carried out “kill or capture” raids to detain Taliban commanders and disrupt bomb-making networks.
Opposition lawmaker John Healey described the allegations as “deeply disturbing,” and urged Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to explain to parliament what action he would take to verify the claims.
The final British forces and their NATO allies withdrew from Afghanistan last August, days before the Taliban insurgents retook control of the country.
The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15 and now governs Afghanistan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Taliban Order in Parwan: “Wearing Hats Is Mandatory for Students in Schools”
8am: Local sources in Parwan Province told Hasht-e Subh on Wednesday (July 13th) that the Taliban have also ordered students not to come to school wearing official uniforms. According to the new order of the Taliban, if pupils enter classrooms without hats, they will be prevented by the teachers. Click here to read more (external link).
Cases of Severe Diarrhea Spike in Afghanistan: Doctors
Tolo News: Physicians at Kabul’s Antani Hospital said that as the weather is getting warmer the number of patients infected with severe diarrhea has surged in several provinces of the country. According to them, more than 100 patients come to the hospital every day, and they added that lack of access to clean water and healthy food are among the reasons that this disease surged. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban to Build a Jihadi Campsite on Tomb Site of Ahmad Shah Massoud in Panjshir
8am: Sources in Panjshir province have reported that the Taliban group plans to build a large Jihadist madrassa at the tomb site of Ahmad Shah Massoud in Panjshir. The madrassa is supposed to be built in the Sarecha area of Bazarak district. This madrassa, which is intended for about one thousand Taliban students, is being built by the order of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – July 12, 2022
Tajikistan Concerned By Provocative Taliban Watchtower On Border
Mohammad Sharipov (aka Mahdi Arsalon)
By Mumin Ahmadi
Sirojiddin Tolibov
Nigorai Fazliddin
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
July 12, 2022
A watchtower being built on the Afghan-Tajik border that is manned by members of the “Tajik Taliban” has caught the attention of Tajik officials.
The Taliban and Tajik militants who have joined forces with the Taliban are building a new observation post directly across the river from Tajikistan’s Darvaz district.
The inscription “M. Arsalon,” written in graffiti at the foot of a mountain right next to the watchtower, is viewed by Tajik authorities as a “deliberate provocation.”
M. Arsalon is Mahdi Arsalon, the nickname of Muhammad Sharipov, a 27-year-old Tajik citizen from the Nurabad district who the Taliban put in charge of managing the border along the Darvaz district.
Arsalon has been wanted by the Tajik authorities for eight years on terrorism charges. Officials say Arsalon and more than 200 Tajik citizens are in the ranks of the Taliban, forming a group known as the “Tajik Taliban.”
A border-guard official in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, which borders Afghanistan, told RFE/RL on July 4 that the graffiti was a symbolic threat of unrest that the Taliban militants sent to Tajikistan.
“Mahdi Arsalon’s name has been demonstratively written in a large font that can be easily read on the soil of Tajikistan, and with this they want to annoy and provoke us,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official added that the Tajik fighters, citizens of Tajikistan and many of them wanted by police, walk demonstratively along the banks of the Panj River that separates the two countries.
“They come with their cars almost every day to this new observation tower and yell loudly and ostentatiously with a loudspeaker in a Tajik dialect, insulting Tajik authorities,” he said.
The official said Arsalon had been responsible for the Taliban-run border guard in five districts of Afghanistan’s Darwaz Province, but that he and a group of his fighters had since been transferred to Khwahan district, in the northeastern Badakhshan Province.
Khawan is located just across from Tajikistan’s Shamsiddin Shahin district, which is considered the most troublesome area along the Afghan-Tajik border.
Tajik authorities say the Taliban’s granting of official duties to the Tajik fighters as they are doing along the border increases distrust in the militant organization and gives the sense of a threat from Afghanistan.
The Taliban does not confirm or deny the presence of Tajik fighters in Afghanistan but emphasize that no groups will use Afghanistan territory to threaten Tajikistan.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with RFERL’s Tajik Service on July 4 that Tajikistan should not worry about the graffiti on the mountain or the presence of any groups there and to send its security concerns to Kabul.
“We will not allow Afghanistan to [be used by groups to] threaten neighboring countries,” Mujahid said. “If the Tajik side has any issues or concerns, if they talk to us officially, God willing, they will be satisfied and we will remove the threats.
“Secondly, in any border post where the name [of Arsalon] is written…there is someone who is abusing his power or causing problems. From that point of view, we want the government of Tajikistan to enter into official dialogue with our government, to enter into contact, so that there is trust between the two sides.”
But Tajikistan does not recognize the Taliban government and, like other Central Asian countries, has not announced it will cooperate with the militant group since it came to power in August 2021 after ousting the pro-Western government.
Tajik officials have also angered the Taliban by not returning Afghan military jets that flew to Tajikistan last year to avoid capture by the Taliban.
Tajikistan is also host to several Afghan opposition leaders who oppose Taliban rule, including National Resistance Front of Afghanistan leader Ahmad Masud.
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 Increases Checkpoints in Panjshir Province
8am: Local sources in Panjshir province report that the Taliban rebels have increased checkpoints in this province. The Taliban fighters do not allow residents of one village to enter other villages, according to sources. Click here to read more (external link).
SAS unit repeatedly killed Afghan detainees, BBC finds
BBC: SAS operatives in Afghanistan repeatedly killed detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances, according to a BBC investigation. Newly obtained military reports suggest that one unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in one six-month tour. Click here to read more (external link).
Internal Clash Between Taliban in Takhar Leaves 6 Dead and 2 Injured
8am: Local sources in Takhar province have confirmed that two Pashtun Taliban are killed and four others injured as a result of internal clashes between Pashtun and Uzbek Taliban-affiliated members in this province. The clashes took place at around 12:00am on Monday at the central intersection of Khwaja Bahauddin district, Takhar province. Click here to read more (external link).