8am: Reliable local sources in Nuristan province have reported that Mufti Yusuf, Taliban’s Police Chief, in this province has collected and stocked the military weapons of the former government in his personal warehouse in Waygal district of the province. According to sources, Mufti Yusuf has secretly sold the collected weapons and has bought a luxurious house for 15 million AFN in Jalalabad city, the center of Nangarhar province. Sources have added that this Taliban security member has changed the location of the weapons warehouse in Waygal district to bypass the Taliban intelligence checkpoints safely. This is not the first case that Taliban members purchase luxurious properties by selling public properties and former government weapons and equipment leftovers. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Claim Ignorance about Slain Al-Zawahiri’s Presence in Kabul
Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
August 4, 2022
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Afghanistan’s Taliban administration claimed Thursday that it had “no knowledge” that slain al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was residing in Kabul and warned of unspecified “consequences” if the United States breached Afghan territorial sovereignty in the future.
The official declaration in local and English languages came several days after an American aerial attack killed the fugitive terror mastermind in an upscale neighborhood in the heart of the Afghan capital.
U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed al-Zawahiri’s assassination late Monday.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no information about Ayman al-Zawahiri’s arrival and stay in Kabul,” the Taliban statement said, using the official name of the hardline group’s government.
The Taliban leadership has ordered a “serious and comprehensive” investigation into “various aspects of the incident,” according to the statement.
The Islamist group again condemned the U.S. action as a violation of Afghan territory and international laws. The statement said the Taliban government “wants to implement the Doha pact and the violation of the pact must end.”
“If such action is repeated, the responsibility of any consequences will be on the United States of America,” the Taliban said without elaborating.
Zawahiri’s presence in the heart of Kabul is seen a humiliating blow to the Taliban, who seized power nearly a year ago and have been seeking international legitimacy for their rule.
The February 2020 agreement the Taliban and Washington sealed in the Qatari capital of Doha called for U.S.-led foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan and the then-insurgent group to prevent transnational terrorists from operating in the country.
Washington, however, accuses the Taliban of violating the 2020 pact.
“By hosting and sheltering the leader of al-Qaida in Kabul, the Taliban grossly violated the Doha Agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries,” according to a U.S. State Department official.
A senior U.S. official said on Monday that al-Zawahiri, the 71-year-old Egyptian jihadist leader, was on the balcony of a three-story house in the Sherpur area of the Afghan capital when two Hellfire missiles fired from an unmanned aircraft struck him.
“The Haqqani Taliban members acted quickly to remove Zawahiri’s wife, his daughter and her children to another location, consistent with a broader effort to cover up that they had been living in the safe house,” stated the U.S. official. The slain terror leader carried a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head.
The weekend drone strike came just days after Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi reassured an international conference hosted by neighboring Uzbekistan that his government would not allow any groups, including al-Qaida, to use Afghanistan for terrorism against any country. He cited the specific counterterrorism clause in the pact.
“Last week in Tashkent we heard the Taliban trying to convince countries and organizations committed to supporting the Afghan people that they had full control over Afghan territory. They repeated their commitment that Afghanistan would not become a safe haven for terrorists,” Tomas Niklasson, the European Union’s special envoy for Afghanistan said on Twitter Wednesday.
“The killing of Mr. al-Zawahiri by the U.S. in central Kabul reinforces previous doubts about such claims. Were the Taliban unaware, unable or unwilling to take action against the AQ leader?” the envoy asked.
Niklasson went on to question whether the Taliban would be able to deliver on their commitments that they would rule the country through an “objectively inclusive government” and respect human rights. “Are they more capable of delivering on these promises to the Afghan people?”
U.S. officials have said that al-Zawahiri was hosted in Kabul by senior members of the so-called Haqqani Network, a powerful militant faction within the Taliban with deep al-Qaida ties and links to the Pakistani spy agency. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the network, is the powerful interior minister in the Taliban government and carries a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head.
Analysts quickly questioned Thursday’s Taliban declaration.
“Not so smart on the part of Taliban to say on one hand they control the entire country and on the other hand they didn’t know who lived in this house,” said Torek Farhadi, a political commentator and former Afghan official.
“The best course of action would have been to recognize the truth and move on; to address the real challenges of Afghanistan,” said Farhadi, citing humanitarian and economic hardships facing the war-torn and calamity-hit country’s nearly 40 million population.
Washington and the world at large have declined to give legitimacy to the Taliban rule, linking such a move to easing of restrictions the hardline group has placed on women to restrict their access to work and education, and upholding counterterrorism pledges.
The U.S. has imposed strict financial sanctions on the Taliban and has withheld from them about $7 billion of Afghanistan’s foreign financial reserves.
The United States and its allies invaded the South Asian country 20 years ago and dislodged the then-Taliban government in Kabul for permitting al-Qaida leaders Osama Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to plot the September 2001 deadly terrorist strikes against America.
The Taliban later waged a deadly insurgency and took over the country last August when the Western-backed government and its security forces collapsed in the face of stunning insurgent attacks as international forces withdrew.
Bin Laden, the founder of the al-Qaida network, was located and killed by U.S. forces in his hideout in the Pakistani city, Abbottabad, in 2011, and al-Zawahiri became his successor.
Two Taliban Police Officers Killed In Kabul By Alleged Islamic State-Khorasan Gunman
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 4, 2022
A gunbattle in Afghanistan’s capital on August 3 left at least five people dead, including two Taliban police officers, the Taliban spokesman for the Kabul police chief said.
The gunbattle erupted after police launched an operation against a hideout in the Karti Sakhi neighborhood in western Kabul heavily populated by Shi’a, said spokesman Khalid Zadran.
The officers killed at least three of the gunmen, who Zadran said were Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) militants.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Four Taliban police officers were wounded, Zadran said, adding that one of the two police officers killed was a woman. One gunman was arrested.
IS-K has recently increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country and is seen as the greatest security challenge facing the country’s Taliban rulers.
Since the Taliban seized power in August last year, they have launched a sweeping crackdown against the Islamic State headquarters in eastern Afghanistan.
Residents of the Shi’ite neighborhood were busy preparing for the upcoming Ashura holiday when the violence took place.
With reporting by dpa, AP, and RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
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.
What Do We Owe Afghanistan?
Nathan J. Robinson and Noam Chomsky via Current Affairs: The 20-year war in Afghanistan is often spoken of as a well-intentioned failure. In fact, it was a major crime originating in bloodlust and an indifference to Afghan lives. The U.S. bears a major responsibility for the present suffering of Afghans and has an obligation to undo the damage it has inflicted. Abdul Haq had insisted that the U.S. was actually undermining the anti-Taliban resistance through its bombing campaign, and if the U.S. had left the country alone, that resistance might someday have been able to build a government with popular support. We will never know, but the U.S. may well be the main reason that Afghans are now expected to suffer indefinitely under strengthened Taliban rule. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Tolo News in Dari – August 3, 2022
Taliban Turns Afghanistan Into a Safe Haven for Global Terrorism, Supreme Council of Resistance Says
National Supreme Council
8am: The Supreme Council of Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan, an anti-Taliban movement based in Turkey, has called for more sanctions against the Taliban in reaction to the murder of the leader of Al-Qaeda by an American drone in Kabul. The Supreme Council of Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan said in a statement on Wednesday (August 3rd) that the killing of the Al-Qaeda leader once again revealed the depth of the Taliban’s relationship with terrorist groups. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
- Ayman Al-Zawahiri Killed, but More Extremists Revived in Taliban Support: NRF
- US Says Terror Threat Hasn’t Died With al-Qaida Leader
- What Zawahri’s Death Tells Us About Afghanistan’s Future
- Zawahri strike puts Taliban in tight spot between U.S., jihadis – Afghan rulers take heat for hosting al-Qaida boss — and failing to protect him
Ministry of mines reports AFN 13.2 billion in revenue generated in one year
Ariana: Speaking at a press conference as part of the new ministerial accountability program, Shahabuddin Delawar, acting minister of mines and petroleum, said that the ministry signed contracts for the extraction of 158 small mines over the past year. Click here to read more (external link).
Fighting Ongoing in Karta-e-Sakhi Area of Kabul
Taliban Militants in Kabul (file photo)
Tolo News: Gunmen have engaged in clashes with Islamic Emirate [Taliban] forces in the Karta-e-Sakhi area of Kabul city. Earlier Kabul security department spokesman Khalid Zadran said security forces were conducting a clearing operation when gunfire came from a house. He said the residence was surrounded by Islamic Emirate forces. Click here to read more (external link).
Al-Qaeda Chief Killed In Posh Kabul Neighborhood Largely Built With U.S. Taxpayer Money
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
Abubakar Siddique
August 2, 2022
For years, Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri was believed to be hiding in the remote, mountainous areas straddling Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
But in an ironic twist, the terrorist network leader was killed by a U.S. drone strike in a posh neighborhood in central Kabul that was largely built with U.S. taxpayer money.
The house where Zawahri, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, was hiding at the time of the July 31 attack was located in Shirpur. He was believed to have lived for months in the quiet, leafy neighborhood located within the city’s diplomatic quarters.
Built following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Shirpur was home to the country’s new political elite. The heavily fortified neighborhood was lined with multimillion-dollar villas, some of which were rented out to foreign companies and governments for exorbitant prices.
The neighborhood came to embody the endemic corruption and impunity of the post-Taliban era. Most of the land in the area was allegedly grabbed by high-ranking government officials and powerful former warlords, who were empowered and enriched by the international military presence.
Many Kabul residents referred to Shirpur as “Churpur.” “Chur” means stolen in the local Dari language. After a major corruption scandal in 2003, Afghan police forcefully evicted several hundred people from Shirpur. But many powerful figures who had illegally acquired land in the area, including six cabinet ministers, defied the evictions, despite a public outcry.
After seizing power in August 2021, Taliban leaders and their families moved into the empty villas in Shirpur. One of the walled houses in the area — a pink three-story building surrounded by high walls and barbed wire — was believed to be where Zawahri and his family were hiding.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Zawahri was killed when he appeared on the balcony of his safe house and was hit by Hellfire missiles from a U.S. drone. Zawahri was believed to have moved to Shirpur after the Taliban captured Kabul.
A Taliban official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that the house belonged to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister and the leader of the Haqqani network, a powerful faction of the militant group. Haqqani, who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, is one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives.
The Taliban official said security around the house where Zawahri lived was extremely tight. He said only Haqqani and Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob visited the house on occasion.
“After the drone attack, the street where the house is located was completely cordoned off,” said the Taliban official. “No one is allowed to go there.”
Kabul residents fear that Zawahri’s killing in the city’s most secured area will herald more violence in a country reeling from the Taliban’s harsh rule.
“Why do international terrorists still live in Kabul?” asked Safa, who spoke to Radio Azadi. She said Zawahri’s killing in the heart of Kabul proved that the Taliban still harbored terrorists.
“Why are the Taliban unable to destroy and expel the terrorists from our country?” she asked.
Zawahri’s killing has intensified scrutiny of the Taliban and further undermines its efforts to gain international recognition and secure desperately needed aid.
Under the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in Doha in 2020, which paved the way for the international military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the militant group pledged that it would not host members of Al-Qaeda.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Taliban had “grossly violated” the agreement by hosting and sheltering Zawahri. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid did not comment on Zawahri’s killing but alleged that Washington had violated the Doha agreement by launching the drone strike.
Zawahri became Al-Qaeda chief after the founder of the terrorist network, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011. The 71-year-old was one of the masterminds of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. In retaliation, the United States invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban regime, which had harbored the Al-Qaeda leadership. Zawahri and bin Laden were believed to have escaped to Pakistan.
Another Kabul resident, who did not want to reveal his name for fear of retribution, told Radio Azadi that he feared that Afghanistan would once again become a sanctuary for international terrorists.
“We are worried that these terrorists will exploit Afghanistan again,” he said, “and war will return.”
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 – August 2, 2022