Jason Criss Howk: This week I spoke with numerous anti-Taliban groups about their approaches to liberating Afghanistan from the Haqqani-Taliban terror regime. The echoes of Fall 2001 are easy to see, but will these efforts come to fruition? That most likely depends on two major factors. First, can the Afghans unite and build a nationwide coalition of anti-terrorism groups? Second, can these Afghan groups show enough unity and promise of success to gain the martial support of other nations? Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Kidnaps the Residents as Clashes Continue in Panjshir
8am: Taliban fighters are arresting innocent residents in war-torn villages in Panjshir and use them as hostage to gain leverage over the National Resistance Front. Local residents in Panjshir province confirmed the incidents. “In a number of villages in the province, especially in the village of Piyavasht in Rokha district, the Taliban have deployed Badri forces and curfew. They do not allow locals to leave their homes,” the sources said. Click here to read more (external link).
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G7 Decries Taliban’s Burqa Order For Afghan Women, Warns Hard-Line Group Is Further Isolating Itself
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 12, 2022
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) have expressed their “strongest opposition” and “deplored” the Taliban-led government in Kabul’s recent decree telling women to wear the head-to-toe burqa in public and other “increasing restrictions,” saying the hard-line group in control of Afghanistan since August is “further isolating” itself internationally.
The ministers from the seven leading industrialized countries called on the Taliban “to urgently take steps to lift restrictions on women and girls, respect their human rights, and meet the expectations of Afghans and the world” with respect to their participation in public life and free speech.
Such freedoms, they said in a statement, are “crucial for long-term peace, stability and development of the country.”
“We condemn the imposition of increasingly restrictive measures that severely limit half the population’s ability to fully, equally and meaningfully participate in society, including the recent announcement on women’s appearance in public along with new punishments for family members to enforce compliance with these restrictions,” the G7 statement said.
No country has recognized the Taliban-led government.
At least four countries — China, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkmenistan — have established formal diplomatic ties with Kabul under the Taliban.
A May 7 decree from officials of the Taliban-led government calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends that they wear the head-to-toe burqa. Head scarves are common for most Afghan women, but in urban areas such as Kabul, many do not cover their faces.
Failure to comply will result in a woman’s father or closest male relative being reprimanded, imprisoned, or fired from employment.
“We stand with the Afghan people in their demand for equal rights in line with the Taliban’s commitments to all Afghans and Afghanistan’s obligations under international law,” the G7 ministers said.
Two months ago, Taliban officials ordered that all secondary girls’ schools be closed just hours after reopening them for the first time since the Sunni fundamentalist militants swept to power last year as U.S.-led international troops withdrew and the UN-backed Afghan government dissolved.
Earlier on May 12, the European Union’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, told the AFP news agency that a recent Taliban veto on girls’ schools “has put some doubts in our heads regarding how reliable their promises are, how reliable they may be as a partner.”
With reporting by AFP
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.
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – May 12, 2022
UN Secretary General: Ground for Terrorism Revival Enabled in Afghanistan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
8am: In a two-day counter-terrorism summit in Spain, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has raised matters of concern that terrorism is reviving in Afghanistan, which could lead to a global threat in the future. According to Guterres, the spread of ISIS-K and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan poses growing threats to the world. Click here to read more (external link).
US not willing to return Afghan military aircraft flown to Tajikistan
Ariana: US Ambassador to Tajikistan John Mark Pommersheim said in Dushanbe this week that Washington does not plan to hand back the Afghan air force planes and helicopters flown to Tajikistan by Afghan pilots fleeing the country in August last year. The ruling Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) authorities have repeatedly called for the aircraft to be returned. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Detains Two Athletes for Wearing Sport Clothes
8am: Local sources in Nimruz province have reported that the Taliban rebels arrested two young athletes last night for wearing athletic clothes. Sources have further added that the Taliban rebels have severely beaten one of them and have warned him not to wear the infidels’ clothes. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan Interpreter Eludes 12 Taliban Checkpoints to Escape Into Pakistan, Travel On to US
Carolyn Presutti
VOA News
May 12, 2022
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — They started falling from the above and it took a second for Najeebullah to realize what they were. U.S. dollar bills. Coming from above his head in the baggage claim area of the Seattle, Washington, airport. Then he realized his friends were showering him with cash, a traditional Afghan celebration.
The reunion for Najeebullah was a long time coming. It started long before the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, leaving those with Special Immigrant Visas scrambling to flee.
The GPS man
In 2003, Najeebullah, then 24, started working as an interpreter for U.S. Special Forces during some of the most dangerous fighting in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, Kunar, Kabul, Laghman, and Nuristan provinces. Better known to his friends as Najeeb, he was nicknamed “The GPS man” because he intuitively knew the terrain and how to avoid the enemy.
Najeeb’s last name has been withheld from this article to protect his family members still living in Afghanistan.
The White House had launched the invasion of Afghanistan as a response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, using airstrikes and troops to try to eliminate al-Qaida’s base of operations in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Congress approved the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program in 2009 for former interpreters who were in danger of retaliation for helping U.S. forces. The process was expected to take less than a year. But securing one of the highly prized visas can take several.
In Najeeb’s 2010 recommendation papers from commanders, a former officer described his “fearlessness” and wrote, “I have trusted him with my life in combat.”
Another complimented his “intimate knowledge of the Northern Konar and Nuristan provinces.”
A third wrote about his “personal courage under fire” and said it was his “distinct honor” to work with Najeeb. His former officer, Colonel Stuart Farris, told VOA, “If there was one we would do anything for, he’s the guy.”
Another former officer, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Coombs, credited Najeeb with saving his life.
“He stopped me from going into a compound because there was an [enemy] inside,” Coombs wrote.
Despite 10 glowing recommendation letters shared with VOA for Najeebullah’s Special Immigrant Visa, urging SIV approval “at the earliest possible opportunity,” he never applied, assuming the United States and Afghan forces would defeat the Taliban.
Kidnappings and murders
In 2011, the Taliban kidnapped Najeeb’s 11-year old son, Khalid, and demanded $150,000 ransom from his father, whom they considered a traitor. Najeeb left his interpreter job. The son was returned in a rescue 15 days later. Najeeb thought he should prepare to leave Afghanistan to save the rest of his family, but for years he held out hope that the situation would improve.
That changed by 2017. Najeeb says decided to apply for his Special Immigrant Visa when he realized Afghanistan could not be rebuilt to give him the life he wanted for his family. But the most emotional toll was yet to come. In April 2021, his 25-year-old son, Shaid, was on leave from the Afghan army and was traveling to join his family on vacation. The Taliban killed him.
“That was a very hard time for me,” Najeeb said, lowering his head, “to receive his dead body.”
Najeeb then lived in fear for his own life as the Taliban tormented him with cellphone death threats, calling him an “infidel” for working with the Americans. VOA first reported his story in July 2021. Najeeb asked to use a fake name in the report for protection.
He choose “Haji,” a common name for those who have made the religious Hajj pilgrimage. VOA also disguised his voice and face. Najeeb had been traveling from city to city to escape the Taliban and their death threats.
“They tell me, they know my place, they know where I am staying, they are coming after me,” he said at the time.
Disappointment
In late August, the United States instituted “Operation Allies Refuge” to evacuate Afghans under threat by the Taliban who had taken over the country. Najeeb’s former officers networked to help his immediate family escape through the Pineapple Express, a volunteer group of veterans working apart from the U.S. government.
It was a harrowing experience. Najeeb joined the crowd at Abbey Gate leading to the Kabul Airport, waving his SIV application and watching for code words. Suddenly his toddler was knocked to the ground unconscious by the surging crowd. He reached down to protect her and the stampeding mob dislocated his shoulder. The family returned to their house.
The next night, on August 26, another group of Americans was in place to rescue them. Najeeb and his family were minutes away, walking to the Abbey Gate, when they heard an explosion and gunfire. Thirteen U.S. service members and numerous Afghans were killed in the suicide bomb attack. Najeeb would call it “one of the worst nights of his life.”
Breakthrough
He and his family returned, dejected, to their permanent home in Jalalabad. Col. Farris recognized the low morale and texted him this message, “Do not give up hope, keep your faith in God. There will be more opportunities to get out.” Farris was right.
In January, Farris worked with the non-profit No One Left Behind and former officer Jason Coombs to get Najeeb and family to the Kabul airport and then onto a flight to Pakistan, where he would await approval of his SIV. They told him to get to Kabul, a difficult task for a wanted man. Najeeb says the journey involved circumventing or hiding inside the car to avoid detection at 12 Taliban checkpoints before safely reaching his flight.
Coombs says the family with five children was delayed in Pakistan by a Biden administration policy requiring COVID vaccinations of children.
“His medical costs and accommodations were $2,000,” says Coombs. “We had to wire the money and prove it was not fraud. It was an ordeal.” Next there were issues with flights out of Pakistan and No One Left Behind had to pay for the airline tickets. But finally in March, the visa was issued, the plane lifted off from Islamabad, and Najeeb felt enormous relief.
‘They will be free forever’
Najeeb’s Special Immigrant Visa extends to his family. He is designated as a cq1, meaning his visa allows him to apply for permanent U.S. residency, also known as a green card. After five years with the green card, he can apply for citizenship.
For now, the family of seven is living with a Seattle relative who also has five children. Wherever Najeeb walks in the house, the baby toddler he saved at the Abbey gate is glued to his side. She sleeps in his lap as he talks about his children’s future.
“My daughters for the last two years didn’t go to the school,” Najeeb explains, “because the Taliban … stopped the girls from going to the school, so they are very excited.”
Back in Afghanistan, he did not have any hope for their future or education. But living in the United States he says, “They can do anything they want, go anywhere they want, and be free forever.”
IS-K Ramps Up War Against The Taliban By Attacking Central Asian Neighbors
ISIS Militants
By Abubakar Siddique
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 11, 2022
The ultraradical Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) group is trying to undermine the Taliban’s hard-line rule by launching attacks on neighboring countries from Afghanistan, analysts say.
In the latest attack, IS-K claimed that it had fire rockets on unspecified targets inside Tajikistan from the northern Afghan province of Takhar on May 7. The attack came weeks after a similar attack on the Uzbek border city of Termez from the neighboring Afghan province of Balkh on April 18.
Both Dushanbe and Tashkent have denied that such attacks took place. Taliban officials have denied that Uzbekistan was attacked from Afghan territory and say they are probing the alleged attack on Tajikistan.
Experts say that by attacking Afghanistan’s neighbors, IS-K is trying to sow more distrust in the already-strained relations between the Taliban and regional capitals.
Analysts who follow IS-K say the group is trying to exploit strains in the volatile region with the goal of provoking countries to attack Afghanistan. They argue that the group — which aims to establish a global Islamic empire — also wants to undermine Taliban assurances to the international community that militants will not target any country from Afghanistan.
“[IS-K] wants to showcase Taliban failures, strain relationships, and possibly provoke retaliatory state-led military operations into Afghanistan,” Andrew Mines, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, told RFE/RL.
Unlike the Taliban, IS-K members are not limited to one country or a specific ethnic group. When the group emerged in 2015, most of its members came from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but a sizeable contingent of Central Asian militants — Uzbeks and Tajiks in particular — also joined the group campaigning for a transnational jihad.
Mines says IS-K is now trying to signal to the international community that the Taliban is unable to fulfill its counterterrorism commitments.
“[Attacks like these] fly directly in the face of Taliban commitments to not let jihadists use the country for staging external attacks,” he says.
In its February 2020 agreement with the United States, the Taliban promised not to allow jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda to launch attacks on other countries from Afghanistan.
The Taliban lost their first hard-line regime in late 2001 after refusing to surrender Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other jihadists to Washington, which accused them of carrying out the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
Mines says IS-K is increasingly attracting antistate jihadist groups — mainly ethnic Uzbeks, Tajiks, Uyghurs, and other Sunni groups — for recruitment. He argues that the Taliban’s counterterrorism commitments are beginning to strain its relations with such groups despite the Taliban hosting them in the past.
“It is likely that IS-K will keep trying to target Afghanistan’s northern neighbors and other bordering countries,” he says, “as [it] continues to try to garner support from these jihadists and as its spring attack campaign continues to develop.”
Reccardo Valle, an Italian researcher tracking IS-K, agrees. He says the group’s recent propaganda effort targets the Taliban’s relations with Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asian countries.
He cites the example of a devastating IS-K attack on a Shi’ite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in October that killed more than 50 people. The attack was carried out by Mohammad al-Uyghuri, an IS-K fighter.
Valle says IS-K “portrayed the attack as revenge” for the Taliban’s tacit support for Beijing’s repression of Uyghur Muslims. “This attack also had the intended side effect of worsening relations between China and Afghanistan.”
Similarly, one of the suicide bombers responsible for another attack on a Shi’ite mosque in the southern city of Kandahar that killed more than 60 worshipers in October was named Abu Ali Balochi. Valle says his inclusion aimed to highlight the plight of Iran’s Sunni Baluch minority.
“IS-K sees the [Shi’a] as a proxy of Iran in the region,” he says, “and Taliban and Iran are described as allies.”
Two clerics were killed in a stabbing attack last month at a revered Shi’ite shrine in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. Iranian authorities identified the attacker as a 21-year-old man of Uzbek descent who was influenced by “takfiri” beliefs. Takfiris are extremist Salafis, and most IS-K members subscribe to this ideology.
Mines says IS-K’s attack on Afghanistan’s Shi’ite Hazara minority is aimed at forcing Iran to “reassess its ability to protect Shi’ite communities in Afghanistan through proxies and shoulder the costs of refugees fleeing IS-K violence,” while also forcing Tehran to fund the rehabilitation of IS-K’s Shi’ite victims.
“IS-K’s attacks not only exacerbate these dynamics but are a fundamental part of its branding as the most anti-Shi’a extremist group in the region,” he says.
He adds that IS-K is also a staunch enemy of Pakistan and the group follows a sectarian strategy in that country. He says devastating attacks such as the one in March that killed more than 60 at the Shi’ite mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar are aimed at irritating Islamabad.
“IS-K seeks to provoke Pakistan into retaliating both within local communities and across the border in violation of state boundaries,” Mines says.
After a spate of recent TTP attacks, Islamabad retaliated last month by bombing Pakistani refugees in southeastern Afghanistan. The air strikes strained relations with its longtime ally, the Taliban.
Valle sees IS-K remaining a major threat in Afghanistan and western Pakistan with grand regional ambitions. “IS-K aims to destabilize Afghanistan further both internally and in the regional context,” he says.
Mines also predicts difficult days ahead for the Taliban if it fails to contain the IS-K threat.
“[The Taliban] commitments will matter little to Afghanistan’s neighbors, who may seek a more aggressive approach if IS-K continues to stoke border tensions.”
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.
In Afghanistan, the War on Terror Continues
The American Prospect: Violence has definitely decreased, but has not disappeared. At least in two mountainous districts, Andarab and Khost wa Fereng, anti-Taliban militias primarily consisting of former army soldiers are still active, biding their time and hoping to increase pressure on the Taliban once the winter snows melt away. It is still not fully known exactly how many Afghans have joined the so-called National Resistance Front (NRF) led by Ahmad Massoud, son of famous Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, to combat the Taliban. Other crucial figures appear to be former warlords and military officials tied to the fallen government. Click here to read more (external link).