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Afghanistan

The horrifying rise of 'Bacha Bazi': How young Afghan boys from poor families are sold onto pedophile warlords

2025-03-10

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] …dressed up in skirts and make-up then forced to dance for groups of powerful men - before being sexually abused

In the dimly lit rooms of Afghanistan's private gatherings, young boys adorned in makeup and brightly coloured women's clothing are forced to dance for the amusement of powerful men.

But these boys - some as young as ten - are not merely dancers.

They are victims of Bacha Bazi, an ancient practice that often turns them into sex slaves for Afghanistan's elite.

The barbaric tradition, whose name translates to 'boy play', has persisted for centuries, surviving empires, wars, and political upheavals.

Now, while Afghanistan's current Taliban leadership claim to oppose it, Bacha Bazi continues as an open secret.

A 2024 UK government report found that boys remain at high risk of commercial sexual exploitation through Bacha Bazi, with the practice thriving under the same warlords and power brokers who have ruled Afghan society for generations.

Though some boys reportedly volunteer, many are sold into this life by their own impoverished families desperate to get by.

And under the Taliban, more are impoverished and desperate, while foreign aid flows directly into Taliban pockets and coffers. Hopefully shutting down USAID has reduced the flow somewhat, since it hasn’t been helping the target populations anyway.

Others are quite simply abducted, including by police officers - the very people supposed to prevent Bacha Bazi from resurging.

Victims often face further violence upon returning home, and the suspension of international aid to Afghanistan since the Taliban returned in 2021 has left them with little access to support or rehabilitation.

All this in a country where homosexuality attracts the death penalty and pederasty is supposedly punishable by long prison sentences.

So long as the powers-that-be get a cut, all is fine.

The roots of Bacha Bazi stretch back to at least the 13th century and the practice has been widely documented by domestic and foreign intellectuals, historians and politicians visiting the region.

But its most infamous resurgence came during the Mujahideen's war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

Afghan commanders who fought in the resistance were notorious for keeping young boys as their personal possessions, treating them as status symbols as well as objects of abuse.

When the Taliban first rose to power in the 1990s, they claimed one of their chief grievances was this 'perversion' among the warlords, and they outlawed the practice.

But after the Taliban was ousted in 2001 amid the US invasion of Afghanistan, the old power structures returned, and so did Bacha Bazi.

The foreign forces operating in Afghanistan were well aware of the heinous practice, but did little to intervene.

During the US occupation, American and British soldiers gave disturbing accounts of scenarios in which men they were ordered to work alongside routinely abused young boys.

One US Marine, Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley Jr., confided to his father that he could hear Afghan police officers raping boys on a military base at night.

'At night we can hear them screaming, but we're not allowed to do anything about it,' Buckley junior was reported as saying by his father.

The Marine was later gunned down by local Afghan forces his unit was tasked with training - one of many so-called 'green on blue' incidents that blighted US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.

Other Western soldiers told how their commanding officers warned them to 'look the other way' and ignore the rampant abuse of children because confronting Afghan allies about the practice could damage diplomatic relations.

The horror of the situation was laid bare when Dan Quinn, a former US Special Forces captain, was relieved of his command and pulled from Afghanistan for attacking an American-backed Afghan militia commander who had kept a boy chained to his bed as a sex slave.

'The reason we were here is because we heard the terrible things the Taliban were doing to people, how they were taking away human rights,' Quinn later said.

'But we were putting people into power who would do things that were worse than the Taliban.'

By 2015, the scale of the problem was undeniable.

A New York Times investigation revealed that child rape by government-affiliated Afghan commanders was so common that it became an open secret among US troops.

The Taliban, meanwhile, exploited Bacha Bazi to their own advantage, infiltrating US-backed Afghan police and military headquarters by sending in boys to entertain their enemies as Trojan Horse 'honey traps'.

These boys, once inside the American-allied Afghan law enforcement compounds, would either poison their abusers, shoot them, carry out suicide bombings - or simply open the gates for Taliban fighters to carry out deadly attacks of their own.

In one 2016 operation in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province, this method led to the deaths of dozens of Afghan soldiers and police officers.

Meanwhile, in his harrowing documentary 'The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan', Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi exposed the ease with which men acquire these children.

Once young boys are sold by their families or abducted, many are harangued into harems and flogged by pimps and traffickers.

Some boys are kept effectively as personal property, with their owners wary of allowing other men to see the children for fear they would try to steal them away.

Others, however, are traded willingly as a commodity.

One powerful figure in the north of Afghanistan named Dastager, when asked how he selected a boy, responded chillingly: 'He should be attractive, good for dancing. Around 12 or 13, and good-looking.

'I tell their parents I will train them. I'll give the family money and tell them I'll look after him.'

The reality is far worse. That man admitted he had been with more than 2,000 boys, using them until they were no longer useful.

Another individual whose name was given as Mestary said that every military commander had a young companion as part of a sick game.

'I had a boy because every commander had one. There's competition amongst the commanders. Without one, I couldn't compete with the others.'

In 2024, the EU Agency for Asylum claimed: 'Afghan security forces, in particular the Afghan Local Police, reportedly recruited boys specifically to use them for Bacha Bazi in every province of the country.'

With the US departure in 2021 and the Taliban's return to power, one might assume the practice has been stamped out once more.

Officially, it is illegal. In reality, it remains rampant.

Despite the Taliban's public stance against Bacha Bazi, reports indicate that many of its own members continue the practice.

A 2024 US State Department report revealed that Taliban officials had engaged in sexual slavery, including employing child soldiers who were also victims of abuse.

The Taliban's own morality police - the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - focus almost exclusively on policing women's behaviour, while crimes like Bacha Bazi continue in the shadows.

Many of the same men who were warlords before 2001 - former Mujahideen fighters, tribal leaders, and wealthy elites - still wield influence, even under Taliban rule.

And with Afghanistan now more isolated than ever, there is little external pressure to stop them.

Reports from human rights organisations indicate that boys are still being bought, sold, and raped - sometimes by the very figures who claim to uphold the Taliban's strict moral code.

Once in their captors' hands, the children are forced to wear women's clothing and subjected to systematic sexual abuse.

Photographs and videos that have surfaced online show boys at these gatherings, forced to perform in front of groups of men who later pass them around as objects of pleasure.

Survivors who have escaped speak of beatings, rape, and psychological torment, only to be cast out once they grow facial hair and are no longer considered desirable.

Many turn to prostitution, drug addiction, or suicide, unable to escape the trauma they have endured.

A report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said: 'The victims of bacha bazi suffer from serious psychological trauma as they often get raped.

'Such victims suffer from stress and a sort of distrust, hopelessness and pessimistic feeling. Bacha bazi results in fear among the children and feelings of revenge and hostility develop in their mind.'

In turn, many adolescent victims are said to grow up to have boy lovers of their own, repeating the cycle.

'In the absence of any services to recover or rehabilitate boys who are caught in this horrendous abuse, it's hard to know what happens to these children,' said Charu Lata Hogg, a London-based fellow at Chatham House, told MailOnline.

'We have heard anecdotal reports that many grow up to keep their own bachas, perpetuating the revolving door of abuse.'

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan Digest: Week of October 21-27

2024-11-10

It seem that while we weren’t working, the Afghan Digest went from daily to irregularly weekly reports. Here are a few highlights — go to the link to read the rest.
The Afghan Digest archive can be explored here, for those who don’t want to wait for me to get around to working up another post in a few weeks or months — or you can work up a post yourself, dear Reader, and then we all can enjoy the result. ;-)

SECURITY AND CONFLICT
House to House Searches Kabul – Beginning on Monday, various sources confirmed that the Taliban conducted house-to-house searches in Kabul's PD 4, PD 11, and PD 17. The Taliban stated that they were looking for ISKP members, criminals, and narcotics. Locals reported that the Taliban prevented any filming during the searches. The areas selected suggest the searches may be targeting individuals suspected of sympathizing with resistance fighters.

House to House Searches in Nimroz – This week, the Taliban began conducting house-to-house searches in several provinces, including Nimroz, which has sparked strong reactions from residents. In Khang district, protests erupted after Taliban forces entered a home occupied solely by women and children, leading to the detention of at least 50 protesters, some of whom were reportedly beaten. The Taliban claimed these searches aimed to target drug dealers.

Taliban Fire on Protestors in Ghor – On Saturday, in Feroz Koh, Ghor province, at least six people were injured when Taliban forces opened fire on protesters who were opposing body searches conducted on local women. Demonstrators had gathered to demand an end to these invasive searches, highlighting mounting public anger over the Taliban’s treatment of women. Witnesses described a tense atmosphere as the Taliban used firearms to disperse the crowd, underscoring the growing unrest with their restrictive policies and prompting similar protests across Afghanistan.

IS Attack in Ghor – On October 20, Taliban forces clashed with ISIS fighters in the Nurkoh area of Ghor province. The fighting, which lasted several hours, involved both light and heavy weaponry. The Taliban later claimed they attacked an ISIS hideout, killing two members, although they did not disclose any of their own casualties. Photos circulated online of Engineer Saifullah, a Taliban fighter killed in the clash. Taliban officials allege that ISIS in Ghor operates from Balochistan, Pakistan, where it recruits and trains fighters. ISIS activity has increased in central and western Afghanistan, complicating Taliban efforts to maintain security and targeting civilians in areas beyond Taliban control.

Explosion in Pamir Cinema Market – On Wednesday, an explosion occurred around 2:00 p.m. local time in the Pamir Cinema area of Kabul, targeting the crowded Lailami Market, known for selling second-hand clothes. The blast killed one child and injured 11 people, including a three-year-old girl, a four-year-old boy, a sixteen-year-old boy, two women, and six men, one of whom is in critical condition. The attack struck one of Kabul's most densely populated and impoverished neighborhoods. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
Further Bans on Women's Voices – Taliban minister Khalid Hanafi recently declared it forbidden for adult women in Afghanistan to let their voices be heard by other adult women, specifically prohibiting them from reciting the Quran or performing the Takbir aloud. This new directive, which is part of broader restrictions on women’s rights, mandates full-body covering, including the face. Hanafi’s comments have sparked significant backlash from Afghan women, who are advocating for their rights against what many see as increasingly oppressive Taliban policies. It remains unclear how this extreme directive will be enforced or if it is an official policy.

Political Analyst Detained – On October 19, Jawed Momand, a university professor and political analyst, was detained by Taliban intelligence agents in Kabul's Karte Naw district. The Taliban have not provided any statement regarding his detention.

Women Prevented from Riding Buses Without Masks – The Taliban’s vice and virtue police in Kabul have barred women and girls from boarding city buses if they are not wearing masks, according to multiple local sources.

Retirees Protest unpaid Pensions – On Saturday, retirees in Kabul protested three years of unpaid pensions, blocking the street leading to the Ministry of Finance. The Taliban dissolved the pension system and cut retiree salaries, exacerbating economic hardships for many. During the protest, one retiree was arrested, underscoring the widespread discontent amid ongoing financial struggles.

Floggings – On Monday, a man and a woman were flogged in Logar province, with similar punishments meted out in Bamiyan the same day. On Wednesday, 17 people were flogged in Khost, followed by the flogging of one man in Kabul on Thursday and one individual in Faryab on Sunday.

INTERNAL POLITICS
Acting Minister Of Education Statement on Jihadi Madrassas – The Taliban's acting minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadim, emphasized the role of jihadi madrasas in maintaining the jihadist mindset in Afghanistan. In the past 40 days, 16 new madrasas have been established across 10 provinces at a cost of 54 million Afghanis. Afghanistan now has 21,000 madrasas, surpassing the 18,000 schools in the country. Critics, including Afghan citizens and international observers, express concerns that this increase could promote extremism and radicalization, further destabilizing the nation.

Dissent on Banning Living Images – TTaliban officials in Kabul, including Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Acting Defense Minister Yaqoob Mujahid, and three Acting Deputy Prime Ministers, oppose Mullah Hibatullah’s ban on broadcasting images of living beings. They argue that the law undermines the Taliban's interests, particularly in media and diplomacy. The Haqqani network, which manages propaganda centers, also criticizes the restrictions. Despite Mullah Hibatullah’s orders, enforcement has been inconsistent, with some officials permitting audio recordings and defying full implementation.

Saleh Statement on Doha Process – On Friday, former Vice President Amrullah Saleh claimed that the Doha process, backed by NATO, effectively constituted a coup against Afghanistan’s Republic. He argued that it was a carefully orchestrated effort to sideline Ashraf Ghani and destabilize the government. Saleh asserted that many Afghan political leaders supported anti-republicanism, viewing it as a means of securing personal gain, under the assumption that the U.S. would integrate the Taliban into the government. Instead, he contended, this strategy resulted in national disgrace and authoritarian rule.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
NYT Publishes Interview with Haqqani – On Thursday, the New York Times published an interview with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's acting interior minister and a wanted terrorist. In the interview, Haqqani portrays himself as a dissident within the Taliban and attempts to present himself as a diplomat. He has a $10 million bounty on his head from the U.S. for orchestrating terrorist attacks against international forces, Afghan officials, and civilians.

CSTO Approves Plan to Strengthen Afghan-Tajik Border – On Saturday, Imangali Tasmagambetov, secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), announced plans to enhance Tajikistan's border security with Afghanistan at an upcoming CSTO meeting in Astana. The draft plan has been reviewed and agreed upon by CSTO member states. The organization has expressed ongoing concerns about the potential spread of extremism from Afghanistan to Central Asia over the past three years. Representatives from over 40 countries recently warned that rising extremism and radical teachings could lead to catastrophic consequences.

OCHA report on Projects in Afghanistan – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that in September 2024, 83 humanitarian projects were temporarily suspended due to 173 incidents, 98% of which were attributed to Taliban interference. This marks a 66% increase from last year. The incidents involved disruptions to operations, violence against staff, and movement restrictions. The Taliban also imposed illegal taxes, seized aid, delayed document processing, and enforced strict regulations on female staff, threatening the safety of humanitarian workers.

Afghan Consulate in Germany to Close – On Thursday, Germany requested that Afghanistan’s ambassador in Berlin and its consul in Bonn step down, refusing to accept Taliban-appointed representatives. However, technical staff will continue to provide consular services at the embassy and consulate, according to a diplomatic source. The German government maintains its position against recognizing Taliban officials.

BRICS Statement on Afghanistan – At the Kazan summit on Thursday, BRICS leaders, including those from China and Russia, urged the Taliban to lift the ban on girls' and women's education. They emphasized the need to respect the fundamental rights of Afghan citizens, including women and ethnic groups, and called for immediate humanitarian aid. The leaders also stressed the importance of taking action against terrorism in Afghanistan and highlighted the role of regional platforms in addressing the country’s challenges. BRICS reaffirmed its support for a peaceful, independent Afghanistan.

Afghan Representative Speaks at UN – On Wednesday, Nasir Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan's acting representative to the UN, urged the international community to take decisive action regarding Afghanistan’s crisis. Speaking to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, he emphasized the Taliban’s oppressive policies, particularly gender apartheid, and called for its criminalization under international law. Faiq highlighted the Taliban’s focus on extremism in education and the erosion of fundamental rights, especially for women and girls.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Ban on Living Images and TV Station Shutdowns – Television stations in Badghis province have ceased operations following a Taliban directive banning live images, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC). Both state-run and private TV stations are now limited to written and audio content. The ban, enforced under the "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" law, extends to other provinces, posing a significant threat to press freedom. On Thursday, sources reported that the Taliban have expanded the ban on broadcasting images of living beings to at least 10 provinces, including Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Kunar, Khost, Takhar, Badghis, Panjshir, and Laghman.

400 Books Banned in Kabul – The Taliban have banned 400 books in libraries across Kabul, mandating their removal if they conflict with Taliban principles, according to local librarians. The ban targets works related to Shia Islam, democracy, political freedoms, civil rights, art, and prominent figures such as Ahmad Shah Massoud. Librarians report that the Taliban have already begun collecting these titles and promoting works deemed acceptable by the regime. Booksellers fear financial losses and potential crackdowns as enforcement is expected to intensify starting in November.

MISCELLANEOUS
Report on Afghan Migration – Between July and September 2024, 786,769 Afghan citizens left Afghanistan while 973,696 returned, according to the IOM. The report, Mobility Dynamics at Afghanistan’s Borders, highlights migration driven by economic opportunities, healthcare access, family visits, and safety concerns. Nearly six million Afghans now reside in Iran and Pakistan, with 3.75 million in Iran and 2.05 million in Pakistan, making Afghans the world’s largest refugee population, surpassing Syrians. The full report can be accessed here

Lack of Electricity at Mes Aynak – Afghanistan’s Aynak copper mine faces setbacks due to unreliable electricity, according to the Chinese company Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC). During a recent meeting, MCC emphasized that insufficient power could hinder progress on the project, despite a $2.5 billion investment agreement. Persistent delays, mainly due to security concerns, have stalled significant work on the mine, which holds one of the world’s largest untapped copper reserves.

Link

Afghanistan

Two arrested for setting fire to Girls’ school in Panjshir

2024-10-01

[KhaamaPress] Authorities confirmed on Monday, September 30, that the Bibi Amina High School, located in Paranda, Bazarak, Panjshir province, was torched at around 9 p.m. the previous night.

Officials further stated that the fire department arrived promptly after the incident and extinguished the fire.

Police have arrested two individuals accused of setting fire to a girls’ school in Panjshir province. The suspects have confessed to the crime, and their case is now under legal review.

Their case will be processed through the legal system.

The motive behind the arson and the identities of those involved remain unclear.

A similar incident had occurred in Panjshir province previously, indicating a worrying trend.

Since 2021, girls in Afghanistan have been banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade, deepening the country’s educational and humanitarian crisis. The ban has left millions of girls without access to education, worsening poverty and hopelessness in the nation.

This policy has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community, with many calling it a violation of basic human rights. Amid dire poverty, the denial of education only exacerbates the country’s suffering, leaving a generation of girls without prospects for a better future.

Link

Afghanistan

Explosion rocks a New Kabul Bank branch in Kandahar, injuring 8

2024-03-22

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

[Regnum] An explosion occurred on March 21 at a branch of New Kabul Bank in the Afghan city of Kandahar. Eight people were injured, crisis24 portal reported. garda.com.

The department is located near the city police building.

According to the police, the explosion was aimed at people who came to the bank to collect their salaries. All of them are members of the Taliban (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation).

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

As Regnum reported, in early February, an explosion occurred near the headquarters of a political party in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Eight people died.

The incident occurred the day before the parliamentary elections.

Link

Afghanistan

Resurgent al-Qaida training camps latest black eye from Biden Afghanistan withdrawal

2024-02-25

[JustTheNews] UN report claims al-Qaida now has eight training camps in Taliban-controlled country.

Two reports released just days apart are providing stark new evidence of the lasting consequences of President Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and his administration’s dealings with the Taliban ever since.

The United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reported late last month that the terrorist group al-Qaida, though weakened from its heyday in the early 2000s, has reconstituted as many as eight training camps and five religious training schools known as madrassas on Afghan soil under the Taliban’s rule while also increasing its propaganda operations and recruitment.

“The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remains close, and the latter maintains a holding pattern in Afghanistan under Taliban patronage,” the report stated bluntly. “Regional States assess that the presence of Al-Qaida senior figures in the country has not changed and that the group continues to pose a threat in the region, and potentially beyond.”

You can read the full report here.

While the UN report blamed the Taliban for its hosting of al-Qaida, the Biden administration continued to send massive humanitarian dollars to the Afghan regime, in many cases through the UN and global charities, according to a separate report from an American watchdog.

John Sopko, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, reported a few days after the UN report was issued that the United States accounted for all but $300 million of the $2.9 billion in humanitarian aid sent to the Taliban since the withdrawal of American troops in August 2021. Most of it, he noted, came in cash.

“The U.S. is the largest international donor, having provided about $2.6 billion in funding for the UN, other PIOs, and NGOs operating in Afghanistan since August 2021,” the report noted. “More than $1.7 billion of that funding came from State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support humanitarian activities.”

You can read Sopko's report here.

Experts said the flow of cash to help the Taliban while it allows al-Qaida to flourish sends a dangerous message to bad actors, and much of it is routed through the very UN that issued the report.

“America is the biggest funder of this thing. So the United States taxpayer is disproportionately on the hook paying for these activities,” former Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates said recently.

And coupled with the billions in high-tech weaponry Biden left behind in Afghanistan, the dynamic is creating heartburn in Congress.

“This administration has a history of giving money to terrorist organizations, abandoning $80 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan so the Taliban can run around with our M4s and our Blackhawks, and all of our equipment. They have an American last agenda,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told the Just the News, No Noise television show last week.

The Taliban, of course, claims it does not harbor al-Qaida and that the UN report was “propaganda.”

"There is no one related to al Qaeda in Afghanistan, nor does the Islamic Emirate allow anyone to use the territory of Afghanistan against others," the Taliban said in a statement.

But U.S. officials told Just the News they have significant intelligence of al-Qaida’s presence and reconstitution inside Afghanistan since the Taliban overthrew the democratically elected government as U.S. troops were withdrawing in 2021.

They noted that when U.S. drones killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022, he was living inside a Taliban Cabinet member’s guest house in Kabul’s diplomatic district.

U.S. officials added they are concerned by al-Qaida’s resilience, especially since American intelligence efforts have less visibility inside Afghanistan since the bungled withdrawal.

The UN report, culled from intelligence from its various member nations, said that while al-Qaida does not have the capability to command and conduct long-range terror attacks like 9/11 right now, it is clearly showing signs of expansion and regional reach after years of diminishment from the Bush to the Trump years.

“Al-Qaida was reported to have established up to eight new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in Ghazni, Laghman, Parwan and Uruzgan Provinces, with a new base to stockpile weaponry in the Panjshir Valley,” the report said. “Some camps might be temporary.

“Five Al-Qaida madrasas operate in Laghman, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Parwan Provinces,” it added. “The group maintains safe houses to facilitate the movement between Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Provinces of Herat, Farah and Helmand, with additional safe house locations in Kabul.”

Equally troubling, the Islamic State terrorist group is also showing resiliency in several regions of the world, particularly Afghanistan, the UN warned.

“Member States assessed that, despite the recent loss of territory, casualties, and high attrition among senior and mid-tier leadership figures, ISIL-K continued to pose a major threat in Afghanistan and the region,” it noted.

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.

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban’s Disruption of Aid Programs Push Hazaras To the Brink

2023-09-28

[KabulNow] Residents in Afghanistan’s central Daikundi province accuse the Taliban authorities of misappropriating foreign aid assistance from Hazara-populated areas to the ones they prefer.

Unexpectedly.

Ali Daryab, an activist in Daikundi, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said that the Taliban have diverted aid to Pashtun areas in the neighboring provinces, such as Ghazni and Uruzgan.

Jan Mohammad, also an alias, a resident of the provincial capital Nilli, said that the Taliban’s governor, Aminullah Obaid has distributed ration cards to Pashtuns, mostly Taliban fighters, who move into Nilli from other areas only to receive assistance, including cash handout, and then return to their original homes.

Link

Afghanistan

The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan: The Taliban have killed 17 Hazaras in Uruzgan Province in the Last Two Years

2023-09-25

[8am] Following the recent killing of two Hazara
...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...
individuals in the Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province, the National Resistance® Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan has asserted that, in the past two years, the Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Hazara residents.

The National Resistance® Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan issued a statement on Saturday night, September 23, denouncing this act by the Taliban as a "systematic massacre" of Shia and Hazara people.

The statement by this council reads: "In the recent incident, two individuals named Haji Hassan and Ali Khan, who were father and son, were brutally martyred and beheaded in the Tangi Mami area of Joye- Naw region in Khas Uruzgan district of the province. Prior to that, on September 12, a person named Sayed Amir Alawi suspiciously lost his life in the Joye- Naw region."

According to this statement, armed local individuals, with Taliban support, have set farms, and houses on fire, cut down trees, and looted the belongings of the people in this region.

The National Resistance® Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan continues to remind that Taliban members are also engaged in suppressing residents in Panjshir province, and the Andarab districts of Baghlan province.

This council calls for investigations into the committed crimes and immediate actions to prevent similar events in Afghanistan by international bodies, especially the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office in Kabul.

This comes as two days ago, Muhammad Mohaqiq, the leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, claimed that Talibs had killed a father and son in the province of Uruzgan.

The Taliban have not made any statements regarding this matter yet.

Link

Afghanistan

Islamic Emirate Leader Visits Nimroz Province

2023-09-25

[ToloNews] Zabiullah Mujahid, the front man of the Islamic Emirate, reported a visit of Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, to Nimroz province.

Mujahid told TOLOnews that during this trip the leader of the Islamic Emirate met with religious scholars, elders, and residents of the province and heard their problems and demands.

"He assessed Nimroz's state and closely observed government operations there. He said that the complaints of people should be carefully considered. In the area of service delivery, he provided guidelines. The trip was ended last night," the front man said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his shoulder. Ow! he exclaimed, with feeling......
some religious leaders and elders in Nimroz said that they had discussed the difficulties that the people of this province are currently facing, and the leader of the Islamic Emirate promised to address those challenges.

"I was sitting close to him. On behalf of the council of Ulema and influential people, I shared Nimroz's difficulties with him, including those related to the Kamal Khan Dam, the center's own issues with a shortage of water, storms, and other issues that haven't yet received attention. We hope that with his arrival, a new page will be opened for the people of Nimroz," said Subhanullah Sediqi, a member of the Provincial Ulema Council of Nimroz.

"We shared with him the issues that we have at the level of roads, hospitals, municipality and city cleanliness, traffic, and other problems in the water sector," said Habibullah Rahimi, Khatib of Nimroz Jame Mosque.

According to some political analysts, this kind of trip of the bigwigs of the Islamic Emirate is important for addressing people's problems.

"There are many questions for people that the head of the Islamic Emirate is not actually present, or from the perspective of the politicians, there are rumors that people has less faith in him. It is good that he visits the provinces," said Safiullah Arabzada.

Previously, the leader of the Islamic Emirate visited Uruzgan Province and ordered the officials of the province to address the challenges of the province based on Islamic Sharia.

Link

Afghanistan

Daily Evacuation Brief August 21-22, 2023

2023-08-22

Daily Evacuation Brief | August 22, 2023

[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS

BLAST REPORTED IN KABUL – An explosion occurred in Police District 6 of Kabul (Darul Aman) yesterday afternoon. Initial reports indicate that a motorcycle bomb detonated prematurely and it is thought the intended target was a Taliban checkpoint. There are discrepancies concerning the number and types of casualties that resulted from the attack. Most reports agree that 2 people were killed and several were injured. No group has claimed credit for the attack.

8 FEMALE ACTIVISTS WHO WERE DETAINED DURING A PROTEST IN KABUL HAVE BEEN RELEASED – A spokeswoman for the Afghan Women’s Unity and Solidarity Movement announced that the women had been freed after being held for several hours by Taliban security forces. Initial reports indicate that none were harmed but it is not clear if the women were threatened or coerced in any way.

TURKISH COURT SENTENCES 2 SOLDIERS TO NEARLY 70 YEARS IN PRISON FOR RAPING AFGHAN REFUGEE – The incident took place in January of this year when the 2 Turkish soldiers were escorting a group of 9 Afghan refugees to the border in the Saray District of Van Province where they would be deported. The soldiers separated the unidentified Afghan woman from the group and reputedly raped her. Turkish military authorities arrested the soldiers three days after the incident and the verdict was delivered yesterday after several months of investigation and a long trial.

TALIBAN MAYOR FROM BAGHLAN WHO WAS ACCUSED OF RAPE AND ARRESTED, RELEASED – A Taliban Mayor (Mullah Nemat Fateh) who was reportedly arrested over charges of raping a woman four weeks ago was released from prison and returned to his office in the Barka District yesterday. A source in Kandahar said that senior officials in Kabul said that a trial would be detrimental to the reputation of the IEA and that an Imam had spoken with the accused prior to his release. It is not clear if the victim and her family were approached by Taliban officials over the matter. The source went on to say that an unnamed senior Taliban leader said that ‘It wouldn’t matter’ as the family would probably kill Fateh in the coming months.

Well, there's that

TAJIKISTAN REMOVES RUSSIAN/SOVIET PLACENAMES, REPLACES WITH TAJIK NAMES – Following in the footsteps of other Central Asian countries, Dushanbe is rewriting its maps and replacing names for geographic locations and cities/towns with Tajik names. The undertaking is important because Tajikistan often demarcates its borders by referencing them in relation to mountains and other geographic features.

CONFLICT TRACKER

Kabul: A motorcycle bomb was detonated in the Darul Aman neighborhood of Kabul. Eyewitnesses say that 2 people were killed and an unknown number were injured in the blast. The incident took place in the afternoon, and it is thought that a Taliban security checkpoint was the intended target but the device detonated prematurely.

Kapisa: An NRF strike team reportedly attacked a Taliban security position near the Sayad Bridge in the province. 4 Taliban were reportedly killed and 2 others were wounded in the attack.

Uruzgan: Forces Of The Unknown Soldier (FOUS) fighters claim to have targeted and killed 2 Taliban security personnel in an operation that took place in the Chora district yesterday evening.

NEXT 24 HOURS: No Threats Reported

Daily Evacuation Brief | August 22, 2023

LAST 24 HOURS

11 WORKERS KILLED IN PAKISTAN WHEN IED DETONATED UNDER VEHICLE TRANSPORTING THEM TO WORK – The workers had been employed on a project at an Army base in Waziristan, near the Afghan border. The IED detonated as the transport was passing over it and immediately killed 11 while wounding others. No group has yet claimed credit for the attack but a source in Punjab said it was almost certainly a TTP operation that was implemented from across the border. A drone had been reported in the area an hour prior to the attack so it is possible that some evidence may be available to Pakistani authorities. The source went on to say that Pakistan’s intelligence services were monitoring multiple threats after an air strike in Khost that killed a senior TTP leader.

SUNNI CLERIC IN IRAN ASKS FOR RETURN OF LAND ALONG AFGHAN BORDER IN BALOCHISTAN – Mawlawi Mohammad Hossein Gergich appealed to the Taliban to return roughly 2000 hectares of land that was surrendered during a partition of the border several years ago. According to the cleric, the land was surrendered inadvertently after Iranian military forces built a border wall that divided the traditionally Baloch-held land, and Afghanistan ‘absorbed’ the farmland. The cleric said that if the Taliban would not make good on water rights to the Province, the least they could do was to return the disputed land. There were multiple claims that the Army failed to take into account the local population’s claims when the border wall was constructed and the cleric hinted at corruption being involved in the speedy implementation of the project. It is not clear if the Taliban intend to take the request seriously.

ACTIVIST MALALA YOUSAFZAI ADDS HER VOICE TO CHORUS DEMANDING FIFA RECOGNIZE THE AFGHANISTAN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM – The Nobel laureate visited the women’s team in Melbourne, Australia this past week to discuss the campaign she was working on to gain recognition for the team. For its part, FIFA put out a statement claiming it could not recognize the team outright and that it must first be recognized by the Member Association. FIFA had reached out to Afghanistan’s Football Federation but was told that the group could neither oppose nor support the women’s team and that returning to Afghanistan would violate restrictions on women’s sports put in place by the de facto regime. Supporters of the campaign say the response by FIFA has been a dodge and are urging the organization to amend its rules in this case.

TALIBAN SECURITY FORCES DISRUPT WOMEN’S PROTEST IN KABUL – Late reporting indicates that Taliban personnel intervened when women attempted to demonstrate in an undisclosed location in Kabul. The Taliban dispersed the protestors and reputedly arrested 8 unidentified females from the group. This information has yet to be verified.

CONFLICT TRACKER:

Kapisa:

NEXT 24 HOURS: No Threats Reported

Link

Down Under

Australia's Most Decorated War Veteran 'Responsible for Murder': Judge

2023-06-06

[ToloNews] Australia's most decorated soldier was "complicit in and responsible for the murder" of three Afghan men on deployment, a judge said, elaborating on his finding against the former SAS special forces corporal in a blockbuster defamation trial.

Ben Roberts-Smith, holder of the Victoria Cross and other top military honours, was also "not an honest and reliable witness in ... many areas" and a bully toward other Australian soldiers, Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko said in his full judgement released on Monday.

Besanko on Thursday threw out Roberts-Smith's defamation case against three Australian newspapers which had accused him of unlawful killings in Afghanistan. Besanko said the media outlets had proven substantial truth in their reporting, ending a case which lifted the veil of secrecy over the elite SAS.

Australian civil courts require a lower threshold to prove accusations than criminal courts do. Roberts-Smith has not been charged with any offences and has not commented since the ruling. His lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
"I can say no more!"
Roberts-Smith has since quit his job as a television executive.

Besanko delayed releasing reasons for his judgement until Monday to allow the Australian government time to ensure it did not inadvertently divulge national security secrets.

"I have found that the applicant (Roberts-Smith) was complicit in and responsible for the murder of EKIA56 ... in 2009 and the murder of Ali Jan at Darwan on 11 September 2012 and the murder of the Afghan male at Chinartu on 12 October 2012," Besanko said in his 736-page civil court judgment.

Roberts-Smith was accused by the newspapers of ordering a lower-ranking soldier to shoot dead an "older Afghan male", identified in the case as EKIA56, to "blood the rookie", he said.

In addition, Besanko said: "I find that in a compound in Chinartu ... the applicant, through an interpreter ordered (an un-named person) to shoot an Afghan male who was under detention".

A soldier who was there "shot the Afghan male in circumstances amounting to murder. The applicant (Roberts-Smith) was complicit in and responsible for murder," the judgment said.

Besanko found Roberts-Smith engaged in a "campaign of bullying" against another Australian soldier, including what he called a "death threat" when Roberts-Smith said: "if your performance doesn't improve on our next patrol, you're going to get a bullet in the back of the head."

He also said Roberts-Smith was not a reliable witness in one of the country's longest-running defamation cases and had reasons to lie.

"The applicant has motives to lie, being a financial motive to support his claim for damages in these proceedings, a motive to restore his reputation which he contends has been destroyed by the publication of the articles and significantly, a motive to resist findings against him which may affect whether further action is taken against him," Besanko said wrote.

"I find that the applicant was not an honest and reliable witness in ... many areas," he added.

Roberts-Smith, 44, was seen as a national hero, with his portrait hanging in the Australian War Memorial, for his actions during six tours of Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012 and military citations. A 2020 report found credible evidence that members of Australia's Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) killed dozens of unarmed prisoners in the lengthy Afghan war. Only one soldier has been charged.

The Australian government is looking for "a way forward" to compensate families of victims of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, the defense minister told legal advocates, the Guardian reported.

Officials continue to warn about the complexity of the compensation issue, one of the key outstanding recommendations from the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces soldiers, according to the Guardian.

TOLOnews reached out to some family members of the victims in Uruzgan provinces, where the Australian soldiers were settled under the command of ISAF/Resolute Support forces.

The residents claim that hundreds of people were either killed or maimed in night raids being conducted by Australian forces in Uruzgan.

Link

Down Under

Australian soldier loses war crimes defamation case

2023-06-02

[DW] In 2018, media reports alleged decorated SAS veteran Ben Roberts-Smith was involved in the murder of six unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan.

A contentious trial filled with allegations of murder, domestic violence, witness intimidation and war crimes saw one of Australia's most decorated soldiers lose a landmark defamation case against major newspapers on Thursday.

Ben Roberts-Smith, a former member of Australia's elite Special Air Services (SAS) regiment, had sued three newspapers — the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, and the Canberra Times — over reports published in 2018 that alleged his involvement in the unlawful killing of six unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan.

The reports had painted the former special forces corporal as someone who violated the moral and legal rules of military engagement, he claimed.

The Australian court dismissed the case saying the newspapers had substantiated many of their allegations as "substantially true."
For varying degrees of "substantially" and "true", including "none"
The Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
group, the Islamist de facto ruler of Afghanistan before the 2001 US invasion as well as since August 2021, said the incidents investigated by the Australian court were all but a "small part" of the many alleged crimes which took place during the 20-year war.

The group's administration front man Bilal Karimi was cited by the Rooters news agency as saying foreign forces had committed "uncountable crimes" throughout the war. He added that the group did not trust any court globally to follow up all crimes.

AUTHORITIES LOOK INTO ILLEGAL CONDUCT BY SOLDIERS
In March, Australian police charged the first veteran in connection with an alleged killing in Afghanistan, following the Brereton investigation that identified potential illegal conduct by 19 Australian special forces soldiers during the conflict.

Oliver Schulz, a former SAS trooper, faced a murder charge for the death of an Afghan individual shot in the Uruzgan province in 2012.

The Australian police, in collaboration with the Office of the Special Investigator established in 2021, are actively working to build cases against elite SAS and Commando Regiment troops who served in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016.

Over the course of 20 years, more than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan until the withdrawal in 2021, with 41 casualties suffered during the mission.

US FEAR SAS 'TAINTED'
The United States had previously cautioned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could hinder cooperation with Australia's Special Air Service Regiment.

General Angus Campbell, Australia's defense force chief, revealed that he had received a letter in March 2021 from the US defense attaché in Canberra, suggesting that the elite SAS may have been "tainted" by the war crime allegations highlighted in the Brereton report.

The report contained "credible information" indicating that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, the letter said.

It also warned that these allegations could trigger a US law that prohibits military collaboration with units associated with grave human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
violations.

Link

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