Taliban Casualties Have Doubled, Claims NRF’s Political Head

In an interview with Afghanistan International, Khanjani said that the operations of this front have increased by 25% during this period.

However, he declined to provide exact figures regarding Taliban’s casualties. So far, no independent source has confirmed this claim of the official of the National Resistance Front.

In recent weeks, two major anti-Taliban groups have said that they have attacked Taliban bases and outposts in the cities of Kabul, Herat, and Ghor. The National Resistance Front and Afghanistan Freedom Front have said in their statements that Taliban forces have been killed and wounded in their attacks.

In the most recent case, the Afghanistan Freedom Front announced this week that it had carried out a rocket attack on the Kabul airport. The unprecedented attack prompted the Taliban to once again launch house-to-house searches in Khair Khana area in Kabul.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the increase in attacks by opposition groups.

In September, the United Nations announced in a report that in the first three months of this year, anti-Taliban fronts, including the NRF and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, carried out 73 attacks against the Taliban.

The report stated that between May 14 and July 31, 2,127 security incidents were recorded in Afghanistan, an increase of 53 percent as compared to the same period last year.

Also, 80 cases of armed conflict were recorded in Afghanistan during this period, compared to 37 cases at the same time last year.

The full interview with Abdullah Khanjani, the political head of the National Resistance Front, will be broadcast on Afghanistan International TV on Wednesday evening, October 23.

With Restrictions On Visual Media, Taliban's Ministry of Defence Launches Its Radio

Oct 23, 2024, 09:26 GMT+1

With the Taliban's efforts to prevent the broadcast of images of living creatures in the visual media, the group's Ministry of Defence announced the launch of operations of "Sada-e-Khalid" radio.

The Taliban's Ministry of Defence said that the radio station has started broadcasting from the 201st Corps.

According to a statement from the Taliban's Ministry of Defence, the radio will be broadcast live every day at a specific time.

The Taliban's Ministry of Defence said that this radio station will transmit Islamic and religious rules.

The radio station was launched after reliable sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban was planning to stop broadcasting on Afghanistan's national television.

According to sources, Yousuf Ahmadi, the head of the Taliban-controlled National Television, said during a meeting with the directors of this channel that the suspension of the broadcast of this channel is the decision of the Taliban leader.

Previously, the Taliban had stopped broadcasting on national television in Kandahar and Takhar.

National television is a state-owned media outlet. Over the past three years, the Taliban has suspended many of the cultural and social programmes of this media outlet and dismissed the female employees of this channel.

The Taliban's controversial Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice prohibits the publication and distribution of live images by media outlets.

According to information obtained by Afghanistan International, the Taliban is launching several new radio stations that will defend the group's policies and broadcast its religious views.

Sources say that "Radio Batman-e-Shamal" with its equipment will be renamed "Radio Hurriyat" and its broadcasts will be managed by the Taliban's intelligence. The Taliban is also planning to set up a radio station for their Interior Ministry.

Iran Human Rights Reports Execution of Two Afghans At Qom Central Prison

Oct 22, 2024, 16:41 GMT+1

Iran Human Rights announced that five prisoners, including two Afghan nationals, were executed at the Qom Central Prison.

The human rights organisation said on Tuesday that the men had been executed for murder.

The death sentence of an Afghan named Abdul Qadir was carried out on October 10, and another Afghan, whose identity is unknown, was executed by the Islamic Republic on October 16, the Iran Human Rights Organisation wrote in a statement.

The organisation reported that both Afghan citizens were executed on charges of premeditated murder.

The human rights organisation also reported the execution of three other prisoners, Shahin Dehghani, Mohsen Khodabandehlu, and Milad Badinlu, on charges of murder at the Qom Central Prison in October.

The executions of the five men have not been confirmed by Iran's domestic media or official sources in the Islamic Republic.

Hamoun Wetlands Drying Up After Taliban Built Dams, Says Iranian Official

Oct 22, 2024, 15:18 GMT+1

The Director General of Bureau for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Wetlands has said that the Taliban government has diverted the main water source of the Hamoun wetland.

Arezou Ashrafizadeh said that this wetland has been drying up due to the diversion of rivers and the construction of dams in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the Iranian Labour News Agency, Ashrafizadeh said that the Taliban government has diverted the course of the Helmand River to the Godzareh depression (a saline wetland) for the past three years and has prevented the water from reaching the Hamoun wetland in their natural course.

The official of Iran's Environment Organisation emphasised that the Taliban is also building the Bakhshabad dam on the Farah River, which will also be bad for the Hamoun wetland.

According to her, the Taliban government has implemented small and large water resources control projects on these rivers.

The official of the Environment Organisation of Iran emphasised that based on international law and customs related to the Hamoun wetland, the water needs of this ecosystem must be met and the natural and historical water supply route should be established.

Ashrafizadeh warned that the consequences of the drying up of the Hamoun wetland will affect countries on both sides of the border, and the dust from the dry bed of the wetland will also disturb the residents and infrastructure of Afghanistan.

Ashrafizadeh said that the organisation has asked the Taliban government and international communities to cooperate in the restoration of the Hamoun wetland.

Dozens Of Humanitarian Projects Suspended Due To Taliban Interference, Says UN

Oct 22, 2024, 13:55 GMT+1

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan said that 83 humanitarian aid projects were temporarily suspended in September this year due to 173 incidents.

The office said that 98 percent of these cases occurred due to the Taliban's interference, and these incidents increased by 66 percent compared to last year.

According to a report released by OCHA on Tuesday, October 22, two facilities in Afghanistan were temporarily closed in September this year, and one project was moved to another location.

Among the incidents, the southern, eastern and western regions of the country suffered the most, respectively, the organisation added.

According to the report, these incidents included interference in humanitarian activities, violence against employees, and restrictions on the movement of institutions, employees, or goods within the country.

The OCHA report shows that during this period, nine humanitarian operations employees were arrested by the Taliban and three establishments were forcibly closed.

"These incidents continuously disrupt the operational environment, where the safety of human workers is at stake," OCHA added.

In September, 73 cases of direct Taliban interference in the implementation of programmes, 35 cases of interference in the recruitment of employees, 19 cases of interference in requesting sensitive information from employees, five cases of influencing the supply of goods, five cases of limiting the participation of female employees, and three cases related to women's clothing were reported.

According to the report, other instances of Taliban interference have also been reported, including illegal tax requests, confiscation of aid, delays in signing documents, and the employment of facilities.

The report shows that after the Taliban's law for the promotion of virtue was signed, the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue has interfered in humanitarian activities in 48 cases.

According to OCHA, these interventions included surveillance visits to offices, staff detentions, segregation of work spaces, requests for sensitive information, and dress requirements for female employees.

Taliban Launches House-To-House Searches In Kabul's Khair Khana Area Again

Oct 22, 2024, 13:01 GMT+1

Local sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban members began house-to-house searches in Kabul's Khair Khana on Tuesday.

According to sources, Taliban members have surrounded the area from the 11th district to parts of the 17th district in Sar-e-Kotal Khair Khana and were searching houses.

Local residents said that the Taliban has increased their checkpoints in the 315th Khair Khana crossing, Russ Road and parts of Khair Khana Hill.

Over the past three years, the Taliban has repeatedly searched the homes of Kabul residents, especially in the Khair Khana and northern areas of the city.

Taliban members have not yet officially commented on these searches.

The Taliban has repeatedly searched the homes of Afghan citizens in many provinces. The Taliban had earlier said that they were searching houses to find weapons.

House-to-house searches in Kabul's Khair Khana area comes as the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the group's military and political opposition, recently targeted the Kabul airport in an unprecedented operation.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front said on Sunday evening that it had attacked the military section of the Kabul airport from several directions. The front added that the operation began with the firing of several rockets and caused casualties to the Taliban.

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