8am: A resident in Kabul has reported that the Taliban rebels have brutally tortured his younger brother on the way back from school after he fought with another boy in the area of Safa Township, located in Kotal Khairkhana. Click here to read more (external link).
By RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service
April 19, 2022
Uzbekistan has rejected claims by a regional affiliate of Islamic State that it carried out a rocket attack on the Central Asian nation from neighboring Afghanistan.
The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) said on April 18 that it had fired 10 rockets at an Uzbek military base in the border town of Termiz, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks terrorist propaganda.
But Uzbek presidential spokesman Sherzod Asadov denied the claim on April 19, calling on Uzbek citizens to disregard what he called “provocations.”
“The information distributed by some Telegram channels about a so-called rocket attack from the territory of Afghanistan at units of Uzbekistan’s armed forces near the town of Termiz absolutely do not correspond to the reality. According to the Defense Ministry and Uzbekistan’s border guard troops, there are no active military developments along the Uzbek-Afghan border, the situation is stable,” Asadov said in a statement placed on Telegram.
IS-K, meanwhile, claimed that it fired the rockets from the Afghan town of Hairatan near the Uzbek border.
IS-K has increased attacks in and around Afghanistan following the U.S.-led military withdrawal from the country in August after 20 years.
The terrorist group has conducted several attacks in neighboring Pakistan, including a deadly suicide bombing of a Shi’ite mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar last month.
In February, the United States offered a $10 million reward for information that helps identify and locate the leader of IS-K in Afghanistan, Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir.
The U.S. State Department says Ghafari was appointed to lead IS-K in June 2020 and that he is responsible for approving all IS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding for activities.
The State Department has designated Ghafari and two other leaders of the extremist group’s affiliate in Afghanistan as global terrorists.
With reporting by VOA and The Tech Agents
Ariana: [Taliban] Badakhshan deputy governor Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi said there has been incidents of insurgency by groups linked to Daesh and the so-called Resistance Front. According to Badakhshan officials, eight so-called resistance fighters have been killed and one arrested in the latest clashes in Badakhshan’s Kohistan district. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: The United States is working with Pakistan to bring about a more stable, secure and prosperous Afghanistan that respects the fundamental rights of all Afghans, including minorities and women, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday. During the news conference, Price would not be drawn on commenting on the recent airstrikes by Pakistan against Afghanistan. He deferred the question to the Pakistani government but did say the US was aware of such reports. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
April 19, 2022
At least six people were killed and 11 wounded in three blasts that rocked a boys’ school in a Shi’ite Hazara neighborhood of Kabul on April 19, police in the Afghan capital said.
Khaled Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul Police Command, told RFE/RL that the explosions occurred at the Abdul Rahim Shahid High School, located in the capital’s western neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi.
There were children among the casualties, although it was not immediately clear how many.
A security official told the German news agency dpa that the blasts were caused by hand grenades.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.
The school is located in the capital’s western neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi, an area mainly inhabited by the Hazara community and previously targeted by the militant Islamic State group.
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said on Twitter that the blasts “caused casualties among our Shi’ite brothers.”
A Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman said a team of investigators had begun work at the scene.
The explosions occurred as students were coming out of their morning classes, a witness said.
In May 2021, bombings near a school in the same area of the Afghan capital killed at least 85 civilians, mainly schoolgirls, and injured dozens of others.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
Aamaj: Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, Ata Mohammad Noor and Mohammad Mohaqiq are the “powerful men” who have played a key role in political developments of Afghanistan in particular in north in past few decades. Where is Marshal Dostum, and what are his plans? Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Local sources in Logar province have confirmed that at around 1:00 AM Monday night anonymous armed men attacked a Taliban base in Pol-e Alam city, the center of Logar province. This is the first armed attack on Talibans’ base in Logar province since the Taliban returned to power. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Resistance News
8am: Sources told Hasht-e Subh that the Taliban rebels arrested and tortured Moheb Jalili, the host and presenter of 1 TV channel, in the 15th security district of Kabul at 8:00 AM on Saturday night, April 15. In an interview with Hasht-e Subh, Moheb Jalili confirms his detention, saying that he still does not know for what crime he was arrested and tortured. Click here to read more (external link).