[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS- TALIBAN BREAK-UP WOMEN’S PROTEST IN KABUL – Approximately 30 women activists held a protest in the Pol-e Sokhta neighborhood to denounce the Taliban’s ban on women’s education. The women held signs calling for education, work, and freedom. The march was forcefully dispersed by Taliban security forces and some injuries were reported after the event. 3 protestors were reportedly arrested during the protest and their whereabouts are currently unknown.
- ISIS WEAPONS CACHE DISCOVERED IN JAWZJAN PROVINCE – A source within the Ministry of Defense said that intelligence gathered from recent counter-ISIS-K operations in Kabul had led them to an arms cache in Shiberghan (Sakhi Abad neighborhood), Jawzjan Province on Sunday. Security forces seized rifles, suicide vests, and bomb-making materials in the subsequent search of the facility. No arrests were reported and the source thought the ISIS-K members may have been alerted prior to the raid.
- TAJIKISTAN DISAVOWS KNOWLEDGE OF REPORTED TALIBAN VISIT TO CONSULATE IN GORNO-BADAKHSHAN – The Taliban announced that it had sent an official team to visit the consulate of the former regime in Khorugh (Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan) this past week. New reports say that Government officials in Dushanbe claim no such visit took place. Tajikistan has been the most critical of the Taliban out of Afghanistan’s neighboring states and has continually condemned the IEA since Kabul fell.
- GRAZING RIGHTS CLASH IN FARYAB LEAVES 3 PEOPLE DEAD – In what has been reported as a family feud, 3 people were killed when gunfire erupted over an argument about grazing rights. The families were described as ‘nomads’ and were reputed to be cousins. 3 people are under arrest and an investigation by Dawlat-Abad District police has begun.
- KHAN GOES ALL IN ON THE TALIBAN – The former Prime Minister held his rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore yesterday. By most accounts, several thousand attended but an accurate figure has yet to be reported and photos/video of the event seem to show far less than the 100,000-plus event he was hoping for. He laid out his comprehensive plan for getting the country out of its current economic predicament. On Thursday, the former PM was interviewed by a British news channel and repeated his statements regarding the Taliban and urged the world to grant recognition as a path forward. Later in the interview, he appeared to backtrack on his words and said that Pakistan could not be the first country to recognize the Taliban for risk of joining the IEA at the pariah’s table. Some observers quipped that Khan may have been inadvertently seeking Taliban (and TTP) support by reiterating statements he made on the subject in February 2022.
- AFGHANISTAN TRIUMPHS OVER PAKISTAN WITH ANOTHER WIN IN THE T20 SERIES – The Afghanistan Men’s Cricket team defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets on Sunday evening and swept the series. It is the first-ever T20 series win for Afghanistan in the heated rivalry.
CONFLICT TRACKER
Baghlan: Several unidentified gunmen shot the Taliban’s TAPI pipeline project intelligence unit chief for Balkh province yesterday. No group has claimed credit for the assassination, and it is not clear why the man was targeted.
Balkh: Either ALM or AFF fighters conducted a night attack on a Taliban checkpoint at one of the entrances of Mazar-i-Sharif. Both groups claimed credit for the purported operation. It may have been a joint operation. Two Taliban were reportedly killed and 3 others injured in the attack.
NEXT 24 HOURS
- FLOOD WARNINGS FOR NEXT 36 HOURS – The biggest threat over the next two days will be flooding in Central Afghanistan. Torrential rains have combined with snow-melt in the mountains to create extremely dangerous conditions. The Ministry of Energy and Water has issued flood warnings in 21 Provinces and is warning people to stay away from rivers if at all possible. At-risk Afghans considering travel over the next few days should cancel plans and wait until the waters recede.
- T20 WIN A SORE SPOT FOR PAKISTAN – At-risk Afghans are encouraged to mute their celebrations of the recent T20 series win over Pakistan. Several fights were reported in cities across the country and while most of them involved internal disagreements between Pakistan fans, a few included Afghans. Overzealous fans could easily instigate mob-like activity and set off a xenophobic response.