8am: A family in Sar-e-Pul province has sold its four daughters because of starvation. Since the collapse of the former administration, there have been many reports of child trafficking in many territories. Ever since, poverty and unemployment have also escalated to an uncommon stage in the country. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan U19 Futsal Team Beats Uzbekistan 8-1
Tolo News: Afghanistan’s U-19 futsal team beat Uzbekistan team 8-1 during the CAFA U-19 Futsal championship on Thursday afternoon. It was Afghanistan’s fourth match at the championship, where Afghanistan’s futsal team gained three victories and one loss. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Sports News
Taliban Says New Troops Near Central Asian Borders Will Bring Stability. The Neighbors Are Not So Sure
By Farangis Najibullah
Mustafa Sarwa
February 16, 2022
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led Defense Ministry has established several new military units in three border provinces in the country’s north, northeast, and west, deploying an estimated 4,400 additional troops in the region.
The ministry said on February 14 that the Omar Salis division was officially launched by the Taliban army chief of staff, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, in Badakhshan Province bordering Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. Though the ministry didn’t provide the number of troops deployed, similar divisions are thought to comprise about 3,000 soldiers.
Meanwhile, the ministry said four battalions were established as part of the Al-Farooq Corps in Badghis Province, bordering Turkmenistan. Another battalion was launched in Farah, which borders Iran. Similar battalions usually consist of about 350 soldiers each.
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi local correspondents confirmed on February 15 that the troops are already stationed in the area.
Similar troop deployments in the past have raised suspicion in neighboring countries, especially Tajikistan, which frequently voices concern about security issues in Afghanistan and their potential impact on Central Asia.
The Taliban insisted the placement of the new “special forces” is aimed at strengthening domestic security.
Zabihullah Mujahid, chief Taliban spokesman and deputy information minister, told RFE/RL that the latest troop deployment in the border provinces will also contribute to regional stability.
“The deployment of the strong forces is a response to certain [security] needs….It’s not a threat to any other country; in fact, it will be to the benefit of security in the region,” Mujahid told RFE/RL.
“We’d like to reassure all our neighbors that upholding security in Afghanistan contributes to security in their countries, too,” he added, reiterating his previous statements that the Taliban “will never allow anyone to use Afghanistan to harm its neighbors.”
Despite many warnings and concerns, there has been no major cross-border infiltration from Afghanistan to neighboring countries since August, when the Taliban swept to power in Kabul.
But in the past two months, Taliban soldiers have skirmished with Turkmen and Iranian border guards in two separate incidents. Iran described it as a “misunderstanding” on behalf of the Taliban soldiers. Turkmenistan made no public comment.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan — a staunch critic of Afghanistan’s new rulers — continues to warn about what it describes as serious security threats posed by groups based in northern and northeastern Afghanistan.
In January, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon urged the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to create a security belt around Afghanistan to address alleged internal fighting among various Taliban factions in the border areas.
Rahmon added that there were more than 40 terrorist camps with about 6,000 militants in northeastern Afghanistan, a claim swiftly rejected by the Taliban.
Just weeks after taking power in Kabul, the Taliban deployed exclusive battalions of suicide bombers known as Lashkar-e Mansoori in the Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, adding to anxieties in Tajikistan.
The two provinces are home to hundreds of militants from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and other countries who have fought alongside the Taliban for many years.
Various sources inside Afghanistan and among Tajik border guards claimed in October that the Taliban has rearmed Tajik militants in Badakhshan with new military vehicles, weaponry, and other equipment left behind by U.S. forces.
There have been fears in Central Asian capitals that the militants might want to infiltrate their home countries.
Taliban Fears Internal Resistance
But many experts believe the Taliban has no intention of initiating or provoking a military conflict with its neighbors.
Afghan military expert Omar Sapi told RFE/RL that the Taliban, which “recently emerged from many years of war, has no interest in entering another one.”
The reason behind the latest troop developments is that the Taliban is worried about internal resistance to its rule, he said.
“There is a lot of speculation that certain forces — both political figures and former warlords who have left Afghanistan — might try to stir tensions or organize military attacks, especially in northern Afghanistan, in the spring,” Sapi said.
He added that by sending reinforcements to border provinces the Taliban wants to be prepared for potential attacks and also send a message to neighboring countries that “if you’re harboring our enemies, we’re here on standby near your borders.”
The Taliban’s die-hard opponents, led by Ahmad Masud, the son of legendary commander Ahmad Shah Masud, created the National Resistance Front in the predominantly ethnic Tajik province of Panjshir on August 16.
But the Taliban eventually took over Panjshir and the resistance leaders left the country. Some of them are believed to be based in or maintain contacts with Tajikistan, which was a big supporter of the resistance.
Former warlords and politicians Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Muhammad Noor — natives of the northern Jawzjan and Balkh provinces — left for Uzbekistan after the Taliban takeover in Kabul. They were among several prominent Afghan figures who backed the resistance and spoke out against Taliban rule.
The remaining resistance fighters reportedly continue guerrilla attacks against the Taliban in northern provinces. But their leaders have never publicly said if they would use friendly neighboring countries like Tajikistan to regroup and stage attacks against the Taliban.
RFE/RL Radio Azadi correspondent Nahib Moqim contributed to this report.
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.
Harassment of Civilians in Panjshir: Dozens of Families Leave the Province Daily
8am: Some citizens in Panjshir claim that dozens of families leave the province every day due to harassment by current government forces. According to them, after the armed attacks against the government forces, local government forces conduct house-to-house inspections, even beating and imprisoning the residents of the same neighborhoods. Click here to read more (external link).
These sisters fled Afghanistan, hoping to find safety. Now they fear war in Ukraine
CNN: Having fled the Taliban and decades of war in their native Afghanistan, the sisters find themselves at risk of being caught up in another conflict in their adopted home, Ukraine. Click here to read more (external link).
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Dutch court puts Afghan ‘prison chief’ on trial for war crimes
Al Jazeera: Prosecutors say that from 1983 to 1990, he was the chief of Pul-e-Charkhi prison east of Kabul, where regime opponents were held without fair trial in “appalling conditions”. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – February 16, 2022
US Not Backing ‘Armed Opposition’ to Islamic Emirate: West
Tolo News: The US special envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West said at an event on Monday that Washington is not backing “organized armed opposition” to the Islamic Emirate and that it would “discourage other powers from doing so as well.” Click here to read more (external link).
Islamic State, Al-Qaida Building Support in Afghanistan, Report Says
Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri
Jeff Seldin
VOA News
February 15, 2022
WASHINGTON — Despite lingering concerns among some officials in Washington that Afghanistan is on its way to once again becoming a terrorist haven, recent U.S. defense and intelligence assessments seem to indicate that at least for now, groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida are not ready to use the country as a launch pad for attacks against the West.
The appraisal from U.S. Central Command, the Defense Intelligence Agency and others is part of a just-released report by the Defense Department Inspector General examining the potential threats emanating from Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal from the country six months ago.
It runs contrary to concerns voiced since October by top Pentagon officials, who warned IS-Khorasan could be ready to strike at the West and at the U.S. in as little as six months, with al-Qaida regenerating the same capacity in as little as a year.
“Both al-Qaida and ISIS-K have the intent to conduct external operations,” Colin Kahl, Defense Department undersecretary for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, using an acronym for Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate.
The new assessments agree the intent is still there, just that leaders from both terror groups have other priorities.
IS-Khorasan Province, as the IS affiliate is also known, in particular seems more focused on solidifying its support within Afghanistan instead of preparing to strike at enemies further afield.
“The DIA assessed that ISIS-K is prioritizing attacks within Afghanistan over external operations,” the report said, noting a series of attacks against Taliban security checkpoints, as well as a deadly attack in November at a military hospital in Kabul that killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 50.
“ISIS-K’s targeted attacks on critical infrastructure highlighted the Taliban regime’s inability to provide basic security and worked to delegitimize the Taliban with the local population,” the report said.
It added that the DIA assessed IS-Khorasan “has probably exploited anti-Taliban sentiment and governance shortfalls to boost its recruitment, especially among marginalized populations.”
The report also warned that the group “maintains connections to fighters from countries across Central and South Asia, probably making the group a threat to U.S. interests in those countries.”
Intelligence shared by United Nations member states for a report issued earlier this month warned that IS-Khorasan has almost doubled in size since the U.S. withdrawal to nearly 4,000 fighters, and that the group again controls limited territory in the eastern part of the country.
Taliban officials have launched several efforts to crack down on IS-Khorasan, though a number of analysts have noted the various operations have met with limited success.
The same U.N. member states warned that al-Qaida, which has a longer history in Afghanistan, has enjoyed a “significant boost” since the U.S. withdrawal, noting “some of its closest sympathizers within the Taliban now occupy senior positions in the new de facto Afghan administration.”
The inspector general report, however, says U.S. agencies believe the Taliban are still keeping al-Qaida officials somewhat isolated.
“The Taliban has not permitted al-Qaida members to play a significant role in its so-called “interim government” and will likely aim to prevent al-Qaida attacks on the United States as it attempts to gain international legitimacy,” the report states, citing CENTCOM and the DIA.
But U.S. officials also assess that Taliban leaders are in no rush to sever ties with the terror group, despite their assurances to Washington as part of the Doha Agreement.
“The Taliban very likely will allow al-Qaida elements in Afghanistan to maintain a low profile within the country to preserve legacy relationships and avoid upsetting the most militant Islamic elements within the Taliban,” according to the inspector general report.
U.N. officials estimate the al-Qaida core has several dozen officials living in Afghanistan, including the group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, a key affiliate, is thought to have up to 400 fighters in Afghanistan, some embedded with Taliban units.
Taliban Foreign Policy Chief Accuses US of Breaking Reconstruction Promises
Muttaqi
Michael Hughes: The U.S. government has violated several commitments outlined in the Doha accords including promises to cooperate with the Taliban on reconstruction efforts, Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in an interview.
The comments come as donor states struggle with a no-win situation in facing current distribution requirements in Afghanistan, which include: (1) the obvious need to let the Afghans use their own money to rescue a starving nation, and (2) the need to circumvent the Taliban from purportedly abusing funds.
The radical movement is none too pleased with how the U.S. and its allies have approached both humanitarian funding and reconstruction.