8am: Local sources in Nangarhar province confirmed that three people, including a cleric, have been killed in three separate incidents in the provincial capital. It is worth noting that after the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the number of criminal incidents and suspected serial killings has increased unprecedently in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Click here to read more (external link).
Pakistan Reopens Major Border Crossing To Afghanistan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 2, 2021
One of the main border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan has reopened after being closed for almost a month, allowing the passage of thousands of commuters and hundreds of trucks.
The Chaman crossing is an important transit hub for trucks moving fruit and produce exports from the area of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
Its closure had been a serious hit to farmers unable to get their produce to market. Half of Pakistan’s $2.5 billion worth of annual exports to Afghanistan also passes through Chaman.
The reopening of the border point comes as a relief to the Taliban-led government as Afghanistan’s cash-strapped economy has few legitimate sources of foreign revenue besides customs revenues from the border posts.
Thousands of people including women and children crossed into Pakistan on the first day of reopening, according to Hazrat Ali, a local official in Chaman.
Nearly 200 trucks carrying food, medicines, and other supplies crossed the border into Afghanistan, local exporter Imran Kakar said.
Trucks carrying pomegranates, one of Afghanistan’s main exports, have started arriving in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s province of Balochistan, Pakistani media reported.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Militants Storm Main Afghan Military Hospital in Kabul
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 2, 2021
ISLAMABAD — A group of gunmen, reportedly including suicide bombers, assaulted Afghanistan’s main military hospital in Kabul Tuesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more.
A Taliban security official confirmed the casualties on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for the Taliban government said the assault began with a powerful explosion at the entrance to the hospital in the Afghan capital’s Wazir Akbar Khan area. A second bomb went off inside the facility, said Bilal Karimi.
Taliban forces engaged the assailants in a gun battle that killed four of them while one was captured alive to end the siege at the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan hospital, Karimi told VOA. He said investigations were underway to determine the circumstances that led to the attack and promised to share further information later. There were no claims of responsibility for the attack.
The official Afghan news agency quoted witnesses as saying “Daesh” was behind the raid. The agency used a local name for the regional affiliate of the Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province. It gave no further details.
A spokesman for the Taliban government said the assault began with a powerful explosion at the entrance to the hospital in the Afghan capital’s Wazir Akbar Khan area. A second bomb went off inside the facility, said Bilal Karimi. He promised to share more details later.
Taliban forces were reportedly battling the assailants inside the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan hospital. The extent of the casualties was not known immediately nor were there any claims of responsibility for the attack.
There has been an uptick in attacks in Afghanistan by IS-Khorasan since the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August. The violence has mainly targeted Taliban fighters and members of the minority Shi’ite community, killing and injuring hundreds of people.
Islamic State militants stormed the military hospital in 2017 and killed more than two dozen people. The Taliban also had targeted the facility while waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed Afghan government and U.S.-led foreign troops.
Our Top 10 vinyl albums to listen to
The Afghan music scene has gone silent under the Taliban rule and things will never be the same. But the human spirit finds ways, so we look back to our favorite albums to listen to.
We’re delighted to know that most of our favorite artists have released albums on vinyl thanks to the accessibility of affordable vinyl pressing and if you are interested to learn everything about custom vinyl pressing, there are vinyl record pressing companies where artists can make as few as 50 copies.
Here are our top 10 favorite albums to listen to:
#1 TIME CHOSE US – SONGS OF THE WARRIORS OF THE INTERNATIONALISTS
– SOVIET AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERANS
The album is a compilation album of songs by different Afghan artists that were chosen by war veterans from the Soviet-Afghanistan war. The entire compilation album had four separate vinyl pressings for its four-part album with 6-7 tracks per side.
#2 RAGAS AND TALAS – RAVI SHANKAR
The 4-tracked album was pressed on 180 grams black audiophile vinyl. It is housed by a white-vellum dust sleeve and a vinyl jacket with the artist playing with his instrument gracing it.
#3 AHMAD ZAHIR HIP 70s AFGHAN BEATS
Ahmad Zahir’s “Hip 70’s Afghan Beats!” is a 9-tracked album pressed on black vinyl record. It’s an album with rock, folk, world, and country music mixed with pop, prog, and psychedelic styles. And just like most albums on this list, the vinyl record is housed inside a vinyl jacket printed with a photo of the artist doing something, this time it’s singing.
#4 SONGS OF OUR MOTHERS – KEFAYA AND ELAHA SAROOR
Songs Of Our Mothers is an album by singer Elaha Soroor and acclaimed duo producer Kefaya. The album is one that showcases spiritual jazz, dub, Indian music and electronica as they take listeners through Afghan folk music with a vibrant and fresh feel. It is a collection of folks songs that are traditionally performed by Afghan women which tells Elaha’s stories of joy, pain, and perseverance. The album of Afghan women resilience was pressed on orange custom vinyl records that are housed on tribal-designed vinyl jackets.
#5 CHANTS OF INDIA – RAVI SHANKAR
In celebration of Ravi Shankar’s Centennial, Dark Horse Records re-released Shankar’s 1997 album, “Chants of India”. It was produced by his old friend and Dark Horse founder, George Harrison. The re-released album had a custom vinyl pressing with the album’s tracks pressed on red custom vinyl records. They were put inside printed vinyl record sleeves and blue- themed vinyl jackets.
#6 IN CONCERT – PANDIT HARI PRASAD CHAURASIA
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian classical flutist that worked for tons of Indian classical music legends for this album. He also collaborated with John Mclaughlin, Jan Garbarek, and Zakir Hussain that showed a very inspiring fusion of East and West classical music. The black vinyl records were housed inside a white vinyl jacket printed with a black and white Chaurasia playing his flute.
#7 CALL OF THE VALLEY BY PANDIT HARI PRASAD CHAURASIA, BRIJ BHUSHAN KABRA AND SHIVKUMAR SHARMA
The 1976 classical album, “Call of the Valley”, is an album by the flutist, Chaurasia, the guitarist, Kabra, and the santoor player, Sharma. The album tracks focus on a day in the life of an Indian shepherd. It is an album worth buying that people love to recommend.
#8 Classical Vocal Album – Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan
Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan’s Classical Vocal Album was released on June 13 1988 and had a vinyl pressing for it. The album, with all its three tracks, is pressed on black vinyl records and is housed by a single printed vinyl jacket graced with the artist’s face and string instrument.
#9 AT ITS BEST – SHREYA GHOSHAL
The award-winning Indian playback artist, Shreya Ghoshal, released a compilation album in September of 2018. The album is composed of 10 soundtracks from different films she had sung for that were pressed on a single 12 inch vinyl record with 5 tracks each for side A and B.
#10 MAGIC MOMENTS – ASHA BHOSLE
The Indian singer, Asha Bhosle, was best known for being a playback singer in Hindi cinema, however, she has a wider repertoire than just that. She has been in the industry for around six decades and has already done playback singing for probably a thousand Bollywood films. The album “Magic Moments” with all fourteen tracks of it are pressed on 12 inch black vinyl records. It is a compilation album of the artist’s Hindi soundtracks.
CONCLUSION:
Listening to music is so much more enjoyable when it’s played on vinyl. No wonder vinyl has made a major comeback lately.
Which of these albums do you like the most and would you buy them on vinyl?
U.S. Steps Up Scapegoating of Ghani Amid Scrutiny of Afghan Collapse
Ashraf Ghani
Michael Hughes: Considering the Americans – for years – have gone to great lengths to obfuscate the reality on the ground in Afghanistan, it is only fitting that Washington is trying to muddy the waters as to how and why the war ended in such a disastrous manner and who bears the most responsibility. Of course, the very moment Kabul collapsed the Biden administration blamed Afghan forces and the government, but efforts to paint its former puppet as villain number one are becoming increasingly hard to swallow as the smoke clears. Click here to read more.
Anti-Taliban Group Registers with US to Try to Build Afghan Resistance
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 1, 2021
ISLAMABAD — U.S. officials have confirmed that a newly formed armed group resisting the Taliban rule in Afghanistan has registered with the United States.
The confirmation came in response to claims by the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front (NRF) that its international office has “received authorization to officially open” in America.
Ali Maisam Nazary, the foreign relations chief for the anti-Taliban group, made the announcement on Friday via a Twitter post, promising the NRF “will soon expand its activities throughout the globe.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told VOA officials “are aware that an entity calling itself “The National Resistance Front” registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on October 26.”
The spokesperson, however, explained the decision to register was made by the registrant and did not require any further action or approval by the Department of Justice or any other American government entity.
“In general, organizations such as this one can open offices in the U.S. and do not require involvement from the Department of State,” the spokesperson said.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August after ousting the Western-backed government in Kabul as American and NATO troops withdrew from the country after 20 years of involvement in the war.
The Islamist group, which comprises mostly members of the ethnic Pashtun majority, announced a blanket amnesty for all those who served in the previous government after regaining control of the country, though Taliban fighters are being accused of carrying out targeted killings of former Afghan security personnel.
The NRF claims it has set up bases in crucial mountainous parts Panjshir Valley, a predominantly ethnic Tajik province, about 100 kilometers northeast of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Taliban officials reject those claims and say leaders of the so-called resistance have long left Afghanistan.
NRF fighters come from the remnants of the U.S.-trained Afghan security forces and from local militias, although their exact number is not known. They are led by Ahmad Massoud, the 32-year-old son of former Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, nicknamed the “Lion of Panjshir” for his efforts to resist Taliban rule in the 1990s.
In 2001, the Northern Alliance helped U.S. forces oust the Taliban following the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11 of that year.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, reacting to the threat posed by the NRF to his government and reports of opening of an office in the U.S., said on Saturday that no entity can threaten the Afghan people in “the name of resistance or anything else” and that no such activities will be allowed.
Mujahid asserted while addressing a news conference in Kabul that American officials in recent bilateral talks conveyed to Taliban interlocutors that they could not confirm the reported opening of the NRF office nor did the U.S. think such activities were needed.
“I don’t know how reliable the message from [the U.S] is, but our message to those raising the slogan of resistance is that Afghanistan needs peace and prosperity, and not wars anymore.”
Despite holding meetings with Taliban representatives, Washington and the global community in general have not granted recognition to the interim Taliban government.
They have been pressing the Islamist group to govern Afghanistan through an inclusive political setup that ensures protection of rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities in line with assurances the Taliban have given to the international community.
A group of prominent politicians, who had directly or indirectly served in the previous Afghan government and fled the country after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, announced last week the formation of a coalition to achieve lasting peace in the country through both political and military means.
The front, called the “Supreme Council of National Resistance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” said in a statement it was formed by a group of “prominent and sympathetic” political parties as well as figures, but mentioned no names.
Russia, which provided political and military support to the anti-Taliban campaign led by Massoud’s father in the 1990s, has been fully supportive of the current Taliban government. On Thursday, Moscow voiced concerns over the emergence of Afghan resistance groups.
“We have noted a declaration published by some of the country’s former leaders on establishing the Supreme Council of National Resistance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for waging an armed struggle against the Taliban,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told her weekly news conference.
“We urge all ethnic and political forces in Afghanistan to renounce militant rhetoric and to do everything possible to complete the process of national reconciliation,” Zakharova said.
Cindy Saine contributed to this report.
Tolo News in Dari – November 1, 2021
Taliban Banned Beard Shaving in Ghor
8am: The Central Dar Al-Iftaa Commission and Jurisprudential and Specialized Councils of the Taliban-led government have banned shaving in the Saghir district of Ghor province. Click here to read more (external link).
American elites have gotten tellingly quiet about Afghanistan
Yahoo: Today, conditions in Afghanistan have only deteriorated, yet the country has virtually vanished from the central stage of the mainstream media as well as the social media feeds of American politicians. The speed of this shift is telling. It overwhelmingly suggests all the maudlin weeping about Afghan civilians was a sham. The American elite mourned wounded imperial pride, not the welfare of Afghan civilians. Click here to read more (external link).
Former Govt Forces Join Daesh: Reports
ISIS Militants
Tolo News: The report said some of these former security forces were trained by US troops over the past two decades of the West’s mission in Afghanistan. “Some former members of Afghanistan’s US-trained intelligence service and elite military units-now abandoned by their American patrons and hunted by the Taliban- have enlisted in the only force currently challenging the country’s new rulers: Islamic State,” The Wall Street Journal said. Click here to read more (external link).