3 Taliban Members Killed in Herat, Claims NRF
The National Resistance Front (NRF) reported a successful assault on a Taliban checkpoint in the Shindand district of Herat province on Saturday evening, resulting in the deaths of three Taliban members.
The National Resistance Front (NRF) reported a successful assault on a Taliban checkpoint in the Shindand district of Herat province on Saturday evening, resulting in the deaths of three Taliban members.
The NRF confirmed that their forces suffered no casualties during the operation. There has been no comment from local Taliban officials regarding the incident.
The NRF, led by Ahmad Massoud and active since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, stated in their announcement that they continue to conduct targeted operations nationwide aimed at overthrowing the Taliban regime.
According to the NRF, their ongoing guerrilla attacks have so far resulted in numerous Taliban casualties.
Zakia Wardak, the Afghan Consul General in Mumbai, resigned shortly after a report surfaced linking her to gold smuggling.
Indian authorities revealed that over 25 kilogrammes of gold, valued at more than $2.2 million, was found in her possession at the Mumbai Airport.
In her resignation letter, shared on the social media platform X, Wardak did not explicitly address the gold smuggling allegations. However, she mentioned facing "personal attacks and defamation" over the past year, which significantly impacted her family.
Previously, The India Times reported that on April 25, Wardak attempted to smuggle 25 kilogrammes of gold from Dubai to India. Despite this, she was not arrested due to her diplomatic immunity.
Residents of Badakhshan have informed Afghanistan International that the people of Argo district initiated large-scale protests against the Taliban on Saturday.
This follows earlier protest movements in Darayim district, making Argo the second district in Badakhshan where locals have now stood up against the Taliban to demand their expulsion from the province.
The protests in Argo have reportedly escalated into violence. Locals are adamant about removing the Taliban's influence from Argo, but the Taliban officials are yet to respond to these developments.
Images sent by residents of the district to Afghanistan International show many of Argo's market shops shuttered in the wake of these demonstrations. Videos from the district, showcase how people are vocally opposing the Taliban, chanting and expressing their dissent.
According to reports from Badakhshan residents, the situation in Argo has dramatically spiralled beyond the Taliban’s control. Despite the Taliban's attempts to suppress these protests using force, the demonstrations persist, with locals continuing to stand up against the Taliban rule.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of India has reported the discovery of more than 25 kilogrammes of gold, valued at over USD 2.2 million, in possession of Zakia Wardak, Afghanistan's Consul General in Mumbai, at the city's airport.
According to The Times of India, Indian officials allege that Wardak intended to "smuggle" this gold from Dubai into India. The incident took place on April 25.
Indian authorities have seized the gold and initiated a "smuggling" case against Wardak. However, due to her diplomatic immunity, she has not been arrested. The Indian law mandates detention and criminal prosecution for suspects involved in smuggling gold valued over USD 100,000.
It is unclear where Wardak obtained the gold from.
In response to The Times of India, Wardak expressed surprise at the allegations and awaits further investigation. She mentioned facing personal challenges during her tenure at the embassy and consulate and quoted her absence from Mumbai for medical treatment.
This incident marks the first instance of a senior foreign diplomat being accused of smuggling in Mumbai in recent times, according to Indian officials.
The DRI had received specific information regarding Wardak and deployed personnel at Mumbai airport.
On April 25, Wardak, accompanied by her son, arrived in Mumbai from Dubai. The police stopped them at the airport exit for customs inspection, during which they initially denied carrying any items. Subsequent searches revealed the hidden gold in Wardak's customised jacket, knee caps, and waist belt. Nothing was found with the diplomat's son.
Indian officials valued the confiscated gold at 18.6 crore Indian rupees, equivalent to over USD 2.23 million.
Wardak and Mohammad Ibrahimkhil, another Afghan Consul in India, also oversee the Afghan Embassy in Delhi in cooperation with the Taliban government.
Wardak has not responded to inquiries from Afghanistan International regarding these allegations.
Fereshta Abbasi, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher, wrote in an article that with the Taliban's takeover of power, ISIS Khorasan has also grown and targeted mosques and schools in predominantly Hazara and Shia areas.
Abbasi wrote that like the previous government, the Taliban government has not taken adequate measures to protect the Hazaras and other vulnerable communities.
She stated that following the ISIS attack in Dashte Barchi, a predominantly Hazara neighbourhood in western Kabul, which resulted in the deaths of at least 143 people, global attention was once again drawn to ISIS.
According to Abbasi, ISIS has been carrying out bloody campaigns targeting mosques, schools, and other facilities in Shia and Hazara neighbourhood since 2015.
Recently, armed individuals opened fire on Hazara worshippers in Herat province, resulting in the deaths of at least six people, including a child. ISIS claimed responsibility for this attack.
On April 20, a magnetic bomb exploded in a passenger bus in a Hazara-populated area in western Kabul. In this incident, one person was killed, and 10 were wounded.
In her article, Abbasi stated that on January 6, in a similar attack on a bus in Dashte Barchi, five people were killed.
Western Kabul has been repeatedly targeted by ISIS and other quasi-militant groups.
According to HRW, following multiple ISIS attacks from 2015 to 2021, over 2,000 civilians have been killed in Kabul, Jalalabad, and Kandahar.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, ISIS continued its attacks, and the group has killed and wounded more than 700 people since August 2021.
However, ISIS, in addition to Hazaras and Shias in Afghanistan, also targeted Taliban personnel on March 21, in front of a bank in Kandahar, resulting in 21 deaths and 50 injuries.
This is while sources told Afghanistan International that more than 40 people were killed in this attack.
Many of the victims were reportedly employees of the Taliban's Ministry of Interior who went to receive their salaries.
According to Abbasi, attacks on Hazaras and other religious minorities violate international humanitarian laws. She called the deliberate attacks on civilians as war crimes and highlighted the grave physical, psychological, economic, educational, and public life consequences.
“Beyond the immediate loss of life, such attacks incur lasting damage to physical and mental health, cause long-term economic hardship, and result in new barriers to education and public life,” she wrote.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), on World Press Freedom Day, stated that the Taliban have forced journalists, especially female journalists, to leave their jobs using threats, imprisonment, and coercion.
The Front emphasised that the Taliban uses domestic media to propagate "terrorism and extremism”.
In a statement released on Friday, AFF wrote that the Taliban imposed severe restrictions on media activities.
According to AFF, over the past two and a half years, the Taliban have dismantled all the progress made during the 20-year tenure of the republic government in fostering freedom of expression and media engagement.
AFF said that the Taliban disregards access to information as a fundamental human right.
Furthermore, AFF expressed concerns over the Taliban's restructuring of Afghanistan's educational system, fearing it may jeopardise the nation's future.
The "Talibanisation" of the education system, as per AFF, fosters extremism and violence, enticing the younger generation into the fold of terrorist organisations.