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Recent Appearances... Rantburg
Jalaluddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani Supreme Council of Global Jihad Terror Networks 20030813  
  Jalaluddin Haqqani Taliban Afghanistan/South Asia Afghan At Large 20020311  
    Reported dead of hepatitis; His strongholds remain, Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, and Khost provinces. His legacy of fending off the Soviet's largest offensive of the Soviet-Afghan war, Operational Magistral, is remembered fondly by many of Afghanistan's eastern residents. His high public regards and 'war hero' status helped ensure his safety over the last five years as Coalition forces vehemently hunted him down.
  Jalal-ud-Din Haqqani Taliban Afghanistan 20020929  
  Jalal ud-Din Haqqani Taliban Afghanistan/South Asia 20011203  
  Jalaludin Haqani Taliban Afghanistan/South Asia 20050706  

India-Pakistan
Pakistan to 'ascertain facts' on Afghan minister using its passport
2023-12-08
[GEO.TV] Pakistain said Thursday it will first ascertain facts before issuing a comment on a report that claims that Afghanistan’s acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
possessed a Pak passport until recently.

In her weekly press briefing, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: "I have seen the report on the use of a Pak passport by the Afghan minister. The matter will be answered after [ascertaining] the facts."

A report published in The News today revealed that Haqqani was issued a Pak passport for five years which he used to travel abroad, particularly to Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
for negotiations with the United States for the signing of the Doha Agreement that resulted in the latter's exit from Afghanistan.

The publication, via the interior ministry officials, learnt that these passports were issued from different cities of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, and Sindh.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Big Shirley was still trying to snatch Nunzio bald-headed. She was already halfway there...
two passport officials involved in issuing Haqqani's passport have been arrested, one of whom had retired from service by the time the action was initiated against him.

The issue around the minister using the Pak passport comes at a time when Pakistain continues to repatriate illegal foreigners, most of whom are undocumented Afghan migrants colonists.

Baloch also briefed the presser about brass hats from the United States visiting Pakistain this week.

"The focus of these visits is not only Afghanistan. These visits are related to the multifaceted aspects of Pakistain-US relations," she said, adding that Pakistain has decided to talk to America.

Link


Afghanistan
Sirajuddin Haqqani in Panjshir Stresses Trust-Building
2023-09-30
Trust? An interesting concept, under the circumstances.
[ToloNews] The acting Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, called for trust-building between the people and the interim government.
Playing Good Talib/Bad Talib.
His visit to Panjshir was the first since the Islamic Emirate came to power.
Then he did a "Trust Fall" and nobody caught him. So he had everyone in the room executed
"Such meetings will be normal among us so I will feel he is my brother. Then the challenges and problems which exist among us, will solve themselves," he said.

Haqqani in a visit to Panjshir told the gathering that the doors for the leader of Panjshir are opened based on a "guarantee by the people of Panjshir."

Haqqani said that the people of Panjshir should not consider themselves strangers and that they will be provided with all Sharia rights.

"You have remained very loyal to your leaders. For your people's sake (people of Panjshir) and because of your people's guarantee, all doors have been opened for them (out-of-country leaders of Panjshir)," he said.

Some of the participants talked about the negative impacts of the 20-year presence of western countries in Afghanistan.

"We have sustained severe damages from our politicians who made us victims. They have ignited fighting among us," said Qiamuddin Hanif, head of the Ulema council for Panjshir.

"In more than 20 years, malicious propagandashas been injected into the minds of people by the enemies of the Islamic government," said Rohullah Rohani, a religious holy man.
Related:
Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-08-20 IEA has more than 400,000 security forces: deputy PM
Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-08-10 Taliban rejects Pakistan’s accusations, says 18 Pakistani fighters killed last year
Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-08-05 Germany arrests Syrian man accused over 2013 Tadamon massacre
Related:
Panjshir: 2023-09-25 The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan: The Taliban have killed 17 Hazaras in Uruzgan Province in the Last Two Years
Panjshir: 2023-09-16 'They Deserve Some Peace': U.S. Envoy Rejects Support For Anti-Taliban Factions In Afghanistan
Panjshir: 2023-09-16 Taliban Detain Four Former Government Soldiers in Parwan
Link


Afghanistan
IEA has more than 400,000 security forces: deputy PM
2023-08-20
[ArianaNews] Abdulsalam Hanafi, the administrative deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, on Saturday, claimed that the IEA has more than 400,000 security force members between the ministries of defense and interior and the intelligence agency.
Golly.
Hanafi revealed this during a ceremony to celebrate the 104th anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from Britannia.

He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate wants healthy relations with all the countries of the region, but does not allow interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

"We do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of any country. Of course, respect and relationships come from both sides. If someone intervenes, then we consider it our right to reciprocate," Hanafi said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Black Bart's gun out of his hand......
the Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said the Islamic Emirate will not allow Afghanistan to suffer war and insecurity again. He expressed hope that peace and stability and the ruling system in the country will last.

Deputy PM for Political Affairs Abdul Kabir reiterated that the world has no choice but to interact with the Islamic Emirate.

"The politics of the world is moving in a positive direction. The world is now trying to extend the hand of interaction towards the Islamic Emirate because the world understands that there is no other solution without interacting with the Islamic Emirate. The security of the world and the region depends on the security of Afghanistan. If the world wants Afghanistan to be safe and not get harmed by Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate has done it and can do it," Kabir said.

In the meantime, the Acting Minister of Interior Affairs Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
said that the Islamic Emirate has adhered to the commitments it made in Doha, but the world is creating problems for Afghans with various excuses.

"The world should no longer abuse and coerce the Afghans, but opt for healthy interaction," he said.

The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs also criticized the British post-colonial government and said that the one who made sacrifices in order to gain freedom did not gain power. He said that Afghanistan was headed towards faithlessness, and although it was apparently free, it was still intellectually under the influence of outsiders.
Link


Afghanistan
Man Shot by Taliban for Daring to Speak Out: Criticism Comes at a Deadly Price
2023-06-26
[8am] In a shocking incident, a man in Samangan province was shot by a local Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
commander for criticizing the group’s performance.

Local sources confirm that a resident of Roy-e Duab district, following his attempt to lodge a complaint regarding harassment and intimidation by local Taliban commanders to the group’s Interior Minister, was apprehended and subsequently shot on the orders of Qari Muawiya on Tuesday, June 13.

The victim, identified as a farmer, had no prior military background, as stated by the sources.

So far, the Taliban have not commented on the matter.

It is worth mentioning that last week, Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, the Minister of Interior Affairs for the Taliban, visited several provinces during his trip to the northern region of the country.

This is not the first instance of non-combatants being targeted by the Taliban in Samangan due to criticism of the group’s actions. Previously, Abdullah, a resident of Dar-e-Suf Payin district in this province, was shot after filing a complaint against the mistreatment of individuals by a local Taliban commander in the district.

The Taliban have previously warned that no one has the right to criticize the group’s operations.
Related:
Samangan: 2023-06-16 Madrasa Graduates Lack Knowledge to Work for Govt Institutions, Says PM Kabir
Samangan: 2023-05-25 Daily Evacuation Brief May 25, 2023
Samangan: 2023-05-22 Daily Evacuation Brief May 22, 2023
Link


Afghanistan
IEA’s supreme leader brings changes to government, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani utters platitudes
2023-05-06
[ArianaNews] In a new decree, the Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader Mawlavi Hibatullah Akhundzada has brought changes to various government posts in order to improve and advance the administration’s affairs.

According to the decree, most of the changes are provincial and relating to the military.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Alamo, Davy was wondering if Buck was okay. He suspected he wasn't...
the new governor of Kandahar province officially started his work on Thursday and a number of high-ranking officials of the IEA, including Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, the minister of interior affairs, participated in his introduction ceremony.

Some experts say that change is the principle of governance and can lead to work improvement.

"Change and new appointments is a must in every office, the recent changes can play an important role in improving the relevant offices and public services," said a military analyst.

According to the decree, 12 IEA officials have been appointed to new posts.

Haqqani: Our behavior should not be such that people hate Islam

[ArianaNews] Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani has asked members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to treat the citizens of the country properly.

Haqqani, who was speaking at the ceremony to introduce the new governor of Kandahar, warned that any kind of harsh behavior makes people hate Islam.

"With our behavior, people should love Islam and get interested in it, not that we make Islam so much hated that people run away from us," Haqqani said.

The Minister of Interior also added that there is no ethnic discrimination among the forces of the Islamic Emirate and emphasized that the Islamic Emirate will always move forward unitedly as it has been for the past 20 years.

"It is not that the mujahid of Kandahar is superior. There is leadership here. By your good performance, the leader becomes good and your history is honored. With your poor performance, people will also be suspicious of the leadership," Haqqani said.

Based on the new decree of the IEA leader, more than 13 government officials have been appointed or reshuffled. Muhammad Ali Hanafi, known as Mullah Shirin, has been appointed as the governor of Kandahar.
Related:
Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-03-23 Hidayatullah Badri Appointed as Afghanistan Central Bank Governor
Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-03-20 Taliban anti-corruption drive: Officials must sack own sons in their department, barred from submitting tenders
Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-03-20 Daily Evacuation Brief March 20, 2023
Related:
Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-03-23 Taliban Members Secretly Send Daughters To School Amid Supreme Leader's Ban: Report
Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-03-04 Islamic Emirate Leader Meets With Ministers, Clerics
Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-02-18 The Azadi Briefing: Taliban Divisions Come Out Into The Open
Link


Afghanistan
Engaging With Mullah Yaqoob is Easier, NRF’s Resistance not a Challenge: Brookings
2023-02-11
[KhaamaPress] Research findings of the Brookings Institution of the United States indicate that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada is an irreconcilable leader, whereas Mullah Yaqoob is a pragmatic person, and it is easier to engage with him for the West.

It is also highlighted that the National Resistance® Front’s (NRF) military resistance does not pose any immediate threats to the country’s ruling regime.

Vanda Felbab-Brown author and political analyst in the foreign policy programs at Brookings say that serious disagreements exist among the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
leaders over the group’s policies.

After contacting reliable sources in Afghanistan and the West, Brown claims that pragmatic figures such as Mullah Yaqoob, and Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
do not oppose the Taliban supreme leader’s decrees fearing death penalties and the group’s division.

Despite the Taliban’s negotiation team in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
repeatedly emphasizing that the group’s policies towards political factions and women have changed, they have restricted women from participating in education and work as they seized power in August 2021. Brown says by forming a ’monopolistic Pashtun government’ the Taliban have kicked other political groups out of the government circle.

Brown belongs to those Western politicians and analysts who recently discuss ’moderate and extreme’ Taliban members. They believe that the moderate group of Taliban would take control of power in Afghanistan and revise the group’s policies and engagement with the western world.

The political analyst reiterates that the Taliban council based in Kandahar led by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada exclusively issues the implementation of murderous Moslem decrees in Afghanistan. This comes as the moderate branch of the Taliban believes that the introduction of such policies will weaken the current regime and lead to losing control of power in the long term.

Pragmatic Taliban want the group to sustain power in Afghanistan. As per their analysis, if the economic challenges and the international isolation of the ruling regime are not resolved, and the foreign cash aid ended, the group will not sustain itself in power for longer.

According to Brown, Mullah Yaqoob, Defense Minister, Mullah Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, Interior Minister are among the pragmatic Taliban Leaders.

She further adds that the three senior Taliban leaders including Mullah Yaqoob, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Mullah Baradar are not united and do not trust each other. Therefore, it is difficult for them to bring most of the Taliban commanders with them.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
the chances are high that these senior Taliban leaders might even lose their lives due to deep intergroup disagreements, which may lead to the division of the group.
Link


Afghanistan
Top Taliban Leaders Consider Deposing Supremo Akhundzada Over Afghan Women’s Education
2023-02-01
[News18] First Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar front-runner as issue of women’s education splits Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
, a high-level source tells News18


Senior Taliban functionaries are considering deposing supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, top sources in Afghanistan said, as mounting frustration on the issue of women’s education threatens to rupture the unity of the government.

First Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is emerging as the person most likely to supplant Akhundzada if the Amir-ul-Momineen is ousted, a high-level source told News18, emphasizing that the discussions are at an early stage.

The decision, in December last year, to ban women from universities, has become a flashpoint in the top echelons of the Taliban. As News18 reported, Interior (Home) Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
and Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqub are not in favour of the crackdown by the hardliners and want the government to reverse course.

But their negotiations with the supreme leader have not borne fruit as Akhundzada is insisting that he will not reverse the ban under international pressure. But Haqqani and Yaqub are unwilling to accept this position, arguing that international support is vital for Afghanistan, the sources said.

"This (Akhundzada’s) is not a logical reason," a top source said. "High officials are therefore thinking about a solution and how to change the leader."

The doors of education are shut to women and girls from middle school onwards, and all women in public are required to cover themselves from head to toe in a burqa. Recently, the government also banned women from working in non-governmental organizations which help provide aid in the impoverished country.

Haqqani and Yaqub (the son of Taliban founder Mullah Muhammad Omar), who lead the moderate faction, have been attempting a rapprochement with major foreign powers as they struggle to manage Afghanistan’s shattered economy. Together they control the security forces and hold sway over large swathes of the country.

One of the options that Taliban officials considered was to have Haqqani as the Amir-ul-Momineen but the interior minister is not interested in the position. Besides, he may not enjoy acceptance in the southern region of Kandahar, which is the Taliban’s headquarters. Yaqub was also considered for the job, but his youth (he is thought to be about 33 years old) went against him. This meant that Baradar has emerged as the likeliest contender for the top post in the Taliban.

It will not be easy to depose the Kandahar-based Akhundzada, though, as he enjoys the support of key governors and has loyalists in several branches of the government. The governors of Kandahar and Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
s are thought to be loyal to Akhundzada, and so also some military commanders.

Afghanistan said it had outlawed university education for women because women were dressing ’improperly’: in the words of the higher education minister, ’as if they going to a wedding instead of college.’

The ban came in the backdrop of a widening political schism between the moderate and Death Eater factions of the Taliban. The moderates, led by Haqqani and Yaqub, are pitted against the supreme leader Akhundzada and his allies in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar.
Link


Afghanistan
Profiling Hibatullah’s ‘right hand man’
2023-01-28
[AMUtv] Almost a year and a half into the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
’s rule, the group’s secretive leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada continues to remain elusive, surrounding himself with select, ultraconservative loyalists — one of which is Sheikh Habibullah Haqqani.

Mullah Hibatullah has led the Taliban since 2016, is seldom seen in public, and is never photographed, but soon after the fall of the previous government, he reportedly returned from Pakistain and settled in the southern province of Kandahar.

He soon established a 24-member council of religious scholars, all strong loyalists and at the same time appointed Sheikh Habibullah Haqqani, an ultra-conservative religious scholar, as his special representative.

After being appointed to the position, Habibullah Haqqani automatically garnered support from the Taliban’s hard-line leadership and was granted authority to make decisions by the group’s leader.

Like Mullah Hibatullah, Habibullah Haqqani is also a Kandahari. He was born in Nalgham village in Zherai district in 1975. His primary school education was under the guidance of religious scholars but he later studied at madrassas in Pakistain.

He returned to Kandahar during former president Mohammad Daud’s government where he then trained many students in religious studies. He also wrote a number of books on religious subjects.

Aides close to the Taliban leader confirmed that Mullah Hibatullah had himself been a student of Habibullah Haqqani.

Habibullah Haqqani had been a friend of Jalaluddin Haqqani
...founder and until he pegged out titular head of the Haqqani Network. Jalaluddin was one of the few Pashtun warlords who was worth spit...
, the founder of the Haqqani Network, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He was also a key figure in circles close to the Taliban’s founder and former leader Mullah Mohammad Blinky Omar
...a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality. Died of an unspecified ailment in a Pak hospital...
and his successor Mullah Mohammad Mansoor; and he played an active role as an advisor over the years to Mullah Hibatullah. Sources close to him say he enjoys an elevated status within the leadership ranks as he also played a key role in the formation of the group.

Habibullah Haqqani has also reportedly called for the full implementation of all Sharia laws — along with other Taliban leaders; and he is known to stand in for Mullah Hibatullah at many important meetings.

"A number of external and internal enemies are carrying out propaganda against the Islamic Emirate, but the Taliban needs to ensure unity and goodwill among themselves to keep the system stable," Habibullah Haqqani was reported to have said at one recent Taliban meeting.

According to sources, he meets with Mullah Hibatullah once or twice a week at the former provincial council compound in Kandahar and in July 2022, he led an assembly of Taliban religious scholars in Kabul.

According to the Institute for the Study of War and the Critical Threats Project it was this gathering that Mullah Hibatullah leveraged to consolidate power and advance efforts to implement a hardline governance program.

More than 3,500 people from across Afghanistan were brought together for an "Assembly of Ulema" and the attendees were primarily religious leaders affiliated with the Taliban.

Each district sent two religious scholars and one tribal elder as representatives and each province sent two elders, a religious scholar from the thriving provincial capital, and five representatives from the provincial Ulema Council.

Critics said at the time Mullah Hibatullah used the Ulema gathering to assert his authority over the Taliban and receive pledges of obedience from religious leaders across Afghanistan. In fact, Habibullah Haqqani stood by this and used his opening remarks to emphasize total obedience to the Taliban leadership.
Related:
Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-01-25 Amazon under criticize for selling Afghani burqa
Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-01-08 Daily Evacuation Brief January 8, 2023
Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-01-01 Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan in 2022
Related:
Zherai district: 2021-07-05 Taliban Increases Pressure on Zherai District in Kandahar, 2 kaboomed in gov’s Kandahar city compound
Zherai district: 2021-05-01 Residents ‘Concerned’ as Clashes Continue in Kandahar
Zherai district: 2021-04-30 ANDSF kills 118 Taliban during separate operations across Afghanistan
Link


Afghanistan
Afghanistan: The Taliban's punishment of women is an act of desperation
2023-01-16
A few key paragraphs to give a sense of the essay. Go to the link to read the whole thing.
[MiddleEastEye] Ever since signing a peace deal with the US in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
in 2020, the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
hoped for formal recognition. But not a single country has recognised them. In July last year, this mistrust reached new heights. The Taliban received their first major blow when al-Qaeda’s top leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...
, a criminal mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was killed in a US dronezap in Kabul’s high-security zone. He lived with top Taliban leaders as a "state guest"
[love toy?]
in a "safe house".

Zawahiri’s death raised many questions. Who gave on-the-ground intelligence for the US attack? Is Kabul safe anymore? Reportedly, even top Taliban leaders left the capital city for fear of more attacks.

Another side of the Taliban’s challenge is existential. Zawahiri’s death has confirmed the rumours that there are widening gaps in its ranks.

From the start, the militia was divided into two main groups: one led by its deputy prime minister, Abdul Ghani Baradar, called the Kandahari group, which is entrenched in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second city, near Pakistain’s southern border; the other led by its hardline interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, with links to the Pakistain military.

The Haqqani group controls Kabul and the provinces leading to Pakistain’s northwestern border and beyond, a strategic advantage it availed during fighting against the US-led NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
forces.

This division seems dormant, but the mutual tensions from time to time weaken the Taliban's grip over the country. The barometer of this division is their rival krazed killer group, the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Khorasan (IS-K). The IS-K’s numbers doubled in 2022, spreading its operations to all of the country’s 34 provinces, targeting with precision the Taliban's interests, including attacks on Chinese, Russian and Pak missions in Kabul.

Without admitting the presence of the IS-K, the Taliban, however, understands that this challenge could not arise without defections in its own ranks. This rising threat can make the IS-K a site of convergence for anti-Taliban groups, including resistance in the country’s northern parts, and especially the Panjshir Valley.

Unleashing the current oppression against women, therefore, also reveals the Taliban leaders’ efforts to make their foot soldiers realise that their ideology of implementing their own violent mostly peaceful brand of sharia is intact, a system in which women are forced to stay at home.
Link


Afghanistan
A Look at Afghanistan’s Security Situation in 2022
2023-01-01
[ToloNews] Attack on embassies of Russia and Pakistain as well as US announcement of al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...
’s killing were part of security-related incidents in Afghanistan in 2022.

People expressed happiness over the security situation in the country
Did they, indeed?
but urged the Islamic Emirate to prevent bombings across the country.

There were less fewer security incidents between January to April 2022. But in April, 12 security incidents happened in the provinces of the Kabul, Balkh, Badakhshan and Kunduz, in which over 110 people were killed and 270 others were maimed.

On April 19th, 20 students were killed and 30 others were maimed in bombing on Abdul Rahim Shaheed Highschool in Kabul.

One day later, the Si-Dokana mosque located in Mazar-e-Sharif was attacked, leaving 31 people dead and more than 90 others maimed.

On April 20th, 33 people were killed and 43 others were maimed in a blast in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz.

On October 2nd , a blast targeted Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
rgah mosque of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
. On November 30th, a blast happened at Jahadia seminary in Samangan

SECURITY INCIDENTS IN KABUL:
On April 30th a mosque (Khanqa) in Darul-Aman was attacked.

On July 29th, a blast happened in cricket stadium.

On August 23rd, blast happened nearby the Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque.

On October 1st, a blast happened at the Kaaj educational center.

On October 5th, a blast happened at a mosque of the Interior Ministry.

On September 5th of 2022, for the first time the Russian embassy in Kabul was attacked, in which two Russian diplomats were killed alongside several Afghans.

On December 5th, the embassy of Pakistain in Kabul was attacked. The attack aimed to murder the Pakistain ambassador for Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman Nizami.

Nizami escaped the attack unhurt but one of his guards was severely maimed.

On December 12th, three attackers stormed into a hotel which was housed for Chinese citizens as well as common Afghan citizens.

The attack left three dead and 18 others maimed.

On August 2nd, the US President Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass. Don't say he didn't warn us...
in a live address said: "Justice has been delivered" in US strike killing al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahri; "this terrorist leader is no more."

"On Saturday at my direction, the United States successfully concluded an Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed the emir of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. You know, Zawahiri was bin Laden's leader. He was with him all that whole time. He was his number two man, his deputy at the time of terrorist attack 9/11. He was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11. One of the most responsible for the attacks and murdered 2,977 people on American soil," Biden said.

But the Islamic Emirate front man Zabiullah Mujahid in a statement confirmed that a strike took place and strongly condemned it, calling it a violation of "international principles."

"On August 1, 2022, an air strike was carried out on a residential house in the Sherpoor area of Kabul city. At the outset, the nature of the incident was not revealed. The security and intelligence agencies of the Islamic Emirate investigated the incident and found in their preliminary investigations that the attack was carried out by American drones. IEA strongly condemns this attack on any cause and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement," the statement of Islamic Emirate reads.

Mujahid also said that the killing of Zawahiri in Kabul has been on a level of allegation.

Following the flying of drones over Afghan air space, the acting Minister of Defense blamed Pakistain for providing facilities to the drones to enter Afghanistan’s air space.

On August 31st of 2022, the caretaker government of Afghanistan has celebrated its victory against the US in Bagram Air Base, which was once the biggest US military base in Afghanistan.

On March 2022, in a police graduation ceremony, the acting Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
appeared for the first time in public.

Haqqani then promised the international community that there will be no threat from Afghan soil to any world countries.

"The world should not bargain with us and don't consider us a threat to themselves," he said.

The citizens across the country expressed happiness over the reduction of security incidents in the country in 2022 compared to the previous years.

The border festivities between the Islamic Emirate and the neighboring countries were unprecedented in 2022.

The Islamic Emirate’s forces have engaged into clash eight times with Pakistain, two times with Iran, and one time with Uzbekistan.

The festivities at Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing have left several people dead and maimed on the two sides.
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India-Pakistan
Calling Off Ceasefire, TTP to Launch Attacks Across Pakistan
2022-12-31
[KhaamaPress] Tehrik-e-Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
Pakistain (TTP) has ordered its top commanders to resume attacks across the country on Pak security forces after calling off their months-long ceasefire with the government of Pakistain.

The peace talks suffered several deadlocks as Pakistain’s government refused to fulfill TTP’s demand, which included the release of TTP’s key operators in major terrorist attacks in Pakistain, and the withdrawal of Pak forces from former tribal areas.
Release? Kill em.
Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, the interior minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had hosted the peace talks between Pak Taliban and Lt General Faiz Hammed, the then Corps Commander Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
. This was aimed at easing tension between the Taliban and Pak government over the use of Afghan soil for the activities of the TTP.

The grinding of the peace processor failed after months resulting in deadlock as the TTP was reluctant to its demand if accepted, which would have undermined the illusory sovereignty of Pakistain.

The murderous Moslem group has intensified its attacks targeting Pak security personnel and headquarters across the county. According to the Pakistain Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), the TTP carried out 282 attacks in 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 500 law enforcement personnel, followed by another 42 attacks in January 2022.

After ending their ceasefire with the government of Pakistain, the TTP conducted several fatal attacks in December alone, causing to the death and injury of scores of security personnel and civilians. These terror attacks took place in Islamabad, Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, and Peshawar respectively. The TTP and other murderous Moslem groups pose an eminent threat to the internal security of Pakistain. to counter this threat, Pakistain needs to formulate a comprehensive strategy by using public sentiment against the terror groups — to indemnify, prevent and prosecute them, TTP members, in particular. Furthermore, the Pak government needs to increase the number of security officers in Tribal areas and closely patrol the newly fenced border with Afghanistan. Doing so would not allow the terror group to increase its domain operations and conduct cross-border activities.
Link


Cyber
Taliban is reaching your living rooms, and YouTubers are helping
2022-11-09
[ThePrint] After maximizing it's reach on Twitter, the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
now has YouTubers to push its narrative. Even Indian creators have started to land at Kabul airport.


In October this year, the Taliban ran a hashtag promotion on Twitter called #UnitedAfghanistan. At one point, Twitter showed that over 1,25,000 tweets on the platform were using the hashtag with many pro-Taliban social media accounts also participating in making sure the message finds its legs online. The hashtag in all probability was magnified further by using bots. The idea behind this campaign by the Taliban was to promote the message, largely to the global audience, that the Pashtun-led Taliban now in power sought a ’united’ Afghanistan, made up of all ethnicities. It showed Taliban leaders with other ethnic leaders in the country. And to dispel rumours of internal strife between the prevailing power blocks of the Kandaharis and the Haqqanis, it showed photos of Mullah Yaqoob, Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Blinky Omar
...a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality. Died of an unspecified ailment in a Pak hospital...
’s son and acting defence minister along with Sirajuddin Haqqani
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, of the notorious Haqqani Network who is also the acting interior minister. Twitter has been a boon for the Taliban, which as of today, has a very well devised, understood, and designed media strategy. The Taliban know what kind of narrative the West wants to hear, and approaches its interactions with foreign media with that in mind.

The ISIS ecosystem, fuelled by young and tech-savvy recruits, specifically from Europe, developed robust information creation and distribution ecosystems that prevail and are replicated even today. Many pro-ISIS cases in India during this period were also radicalisation by the online materials and propaganda released by ISIS and its affiliates. These included well-produced and high-definition videos shot in Hollywood style action movies, online magazines with infographics and data visualisation, and even podcasts. A lot of these publications, at the peak of the Islamist group’s reign over territories that at the time were as large in geography as the United Kingdom, continue to be released despite the territorial defeat of the caliphate. Today, the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Khorasan Province (ISKP) has its own propaganda outlets targeting India, Pakistain, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Maldives, and South Asia in general. It is imperative to remember here that two of the most destructive attacks attributed to Islamic State took place in South Asia in Bangladesh in 2016 and Sri Lanka in 2019.
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