#Islamabad terror attack

[newscast1]

After US & UK, Saudi, Australia issue security alert for citizens in Pakistan's Islamabad

After US & UK, Saudi, Australia issue security alert for citizens in Pakistan’s Islamabad

Embassies of the US and the UK have issued advisories for their citizens in Pakistan’s Islamabad warning them of a possible terror attack as the capital city remains on high alert after the recent suicide bombing. New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 26, 2022 23:09 IST A suicide bomber killed at least one police officer on December 23 in the Pakistan capital Islamabad. (File photo: AFP) By India Today Web…

[mariacallous]

Afghan refugees who fled their country to escape from decades of war and terrorism have become the unwitting pawns in a cruel and crude political tussle between Pakistan’s government and the extremist Taliban as their once-close relationship disintegrates amid mutual recrimination.

On Oct. 3, Pakistan’s government announced that mass deportations of illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, would start on Nov. 1. So far, at least 300,000 Afghans have already been ejected, and more than a million others face the same fate as the expulsions continue.

The bilateral fight appears to center on Kabul’s support for extremists who have wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in Pakistan over the last two years—or at least that is how Islamabad sees it, arguing that it is simply applying its own laws. The Taliban deny accusations that they are behind the uptick of terrorism in Pakistan by affiliates that they protect, train, arm, and direct.

Mass deportations are a sign that Pakistan is “putting its house in order,” said Pakistan’s caretaker minister of interior, Sarfraz Bugti. “Pakistan is the only country hosting four million refugees for the last 40 years and still hosting them,” he said via text. “Whoever wanted to stay in our country must stay legally.” Of the 300,000 Afghans already ejected, none have faced any problems upon returning, he told Foreign Policy. As the Taliban are claiming that Afghanistan is now peaceful, he said, “they should help their countrymen to settle themselves.”

“We are not a cruel state,” he said, adding: “Pakistanis are more important.”

The Taliban—who, since returning to power in August 2021, have been responsible for U.N.-documented arbitrary detentions and killings, as well forcing women and girls out of work and education—have called Pakistan’s deportations “inhumane” and “rushed.” Taliban figures have said that the billions of dollars of international aid they still receive are insufficient to deal with the country’s prior economic and humanitarian crises, let alone a mass influx of penniless refugees.

The expulsions come after earlier efforts by Pakistan, such as trade restrictions, to exert pressure on Kabul to rein in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, whose attacks on military and police present a severe security challenge to the Pakistani state. Acting Prime Minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar said earlier this month that TTP attacks have risen by 60 percent since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, with 2,267 people killed.

The irony is that Pakistan bankrolled the Taliban throughout their 20-year insurgency following their ouster from power during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Taliban leaders found sanctuary and funding from Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. When the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated them, as did groups such as al Qaeda and Hamas. But rather than continuing as Islamabad’s proxy, the Taliban have reversed roles, providing safe haven for terrorist and jihadi groups, including the TTP.

“While it’s still too early to draw any conclusions on policy shifts in Islamabad, it appears that the initial excitement about the Taliban’s return to power has now turned into frustration,” said Abdullah Khenjani, a former deputy minister of peace in the previous Afghan government. “Consequently, these traditional [Pakistani state] allies of the Taliban are systematically reassessing their leverage to be prepared for potentially worse scenarios.”

Since the Taliban’s return, around 600,000 Afghans made their way into Pakistan, swelling the number of Afghan refugees in the country to an estimated 3.7 million, with 1.32 million registered with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees. Many face destitution, unable to find work or even send their children to local schools. The situation may be even worse after the deportations: Pakistan is reportedly confiscating most of the refugees’ money on the way out, leaving them in a precarious situation in a country already struggling to create jobs for its people or deal with its own humanitarian crises.

Border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been clogged in recent weeks, as many Afghan refugees preempted the police round-up and began making their way back. Media have reported that some of the undocumented Afghans were born in Pakistan, their parents having fled the uninterrupted conflict at home since the former Soviet Union invaded in 1979. Many of the births were not registered.

Meanwhile, some groups among those being expelled are especially vulnerable. Hundreds of Afghans could face retribution from the Taliban they left the country to escape. Journalists, women, civil and human rights activists, LGBTQ+ advocates, judges, police, former military and government personnel, and Shiite Hazaras have all been targeted by the Taliban, and many escaped to Pakistan, with and without official documents.

Some efforts have been made to help Afghans regarded as vulnerable to Taliban excess if they are returned. Qamar Yousafzai set up the Pakistan-Afghanistan International Federation of Journalists at the National Press Club of Pakistan, in Islamabad, to verify the identities of hundreds of Afghan journalists, issue them with ID cards, and help with housing and health care. He has also interceded for journalists detained by police for a lack of papers. Yet that might not be enough to prevent their deportation.

Amnesty International called for a “halt [to] the continued detentions, deportations, and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees.” If not, it said, “it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.” The UNHCR and International Organization for Migration, the U.N.’s migration agency, said the forced repatriations had “the potential to result in severe human rights violations, including the separation of families and deportation of minors.”

Once back in Afghanistan, returnees have found the going tough, arriving in a country they hardly know, without resources to restart their lives, many facing a harsh Himalayan winter in camps set up by a Taliban administration ill-equipped to provide for them.

Fariba Faizi, 29, is from the southwestern Afghanistan city of Farah, where she was a journalist with a private radio station. Her mother, Shirin, was a prosecutor for the Farah provincial attorney general’s office, specializing in domestic violence cases. Once the Taliban returned to power, they were both out of their jobs, since women are not permitted to work in the new Afghanistan. They also faced the possibility of detention, beating, rape, and killing.

Along with her family of 10 (parents, siblings, husband, and toddler), Faizi, now eight months pregnant with her second child, moved to Islamabad in April 2022, hoping they’d be safe enough. Once the government announced the deportations, landlords who had been renting to Afghans began to evict them; Faizi’s landlord said he wanted the house back for himself. Her family is now living with friends of Yousafzai, who also arranged charitable support to cover their living costs for six months, she said.

With no work in either Pakistan or Afghanistan, Faizi said, they faced a similar economic situation on either side of the border. In Pakistan, however, the women in the family could at least look for work, she said; their preference would be to stay in Pakistan. As it is, they remain in hiding, afraid of being detained by police and forced over the border once their visas expire.

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 1/18/2024 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 1/18/2024

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

OpenAI Cuts ‘Military and Warfare’ Ban From Permissible Use Policy AWC

Biden White House Set Up Secrative Court to Oversee Privacy Rights Politico

UK

Defense Secretary: UK in Pre-War Phase With Several Nations AWC

Ukraine

Ukraine Ground Forces Commander Says His Troops are on ‘Active Defense’ AWC

Zelensky Pushes Unrealistic ‘Peace Formula’ in Davos AWC

Korea

North Korea Labels South Korea a ‘Principal Enemy,’ Will No Longer Work Toward Reconciliation AWC

Israel

Israeli Defense Minster: ‘Intensive Phase’ of Ground Offensive in North Gaza Is Over AWC

Biden Ignores Palestinian Deaths in Statement on 100 Days of Gaza War AWC

Israel Buys Tech for Mass Influence Operations Haaretz

Israeli Military Warns West Bank “On Brink of Implosion” Haaretz 

Israel Can Now Detain Palestinians Without a Lawyer for Half a Year Haaretz

Senate Votes Down Bernie Sanders Resolution to Probe Israel’s Gaza Slaughter AWC

Israel Government Divided on Making a Deal to Free Hostages and End the War in Gaza WSJ

War in Gaza Will Cost Israel About 10% of GDP BI

Report: Netanyahu Says Israel’s Campaign in Gaza Could Continue Into 2025 AWC

Israel Has Over 3,000 Detained Palestinians Without Charge or Trial France24

California Senator Says Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza is “Dehumanizing Language” LA Times

Israeli Forces Attacking Near Largest Reaining Hospital in Gaza and Cause Major Damage to Second Facility Reuters

Israeli Drone Strikes on West Bank Refugee Camps Kill 9 Palestinians MEE

White House “Looking Past Netanyahu” for Solutions in Middle East NBC News

Lebanon

Israel Pounds Southern Lebanon With Airstrikes, Artillery AWC

Middle East

Tehran Orders Strikes in Pakistan, Islamabad Responds with Strikes in Iran WashPo

New Caucus Forms in Congress to Support Iranian Exiles Formally Listed as Terror Group RS

Iraq, Pakistan Protest Iranian Missile Strikes on Their Territory AWC

Iraqi PM Says Country No Longer Needs International Soldiers WSJ

Iran Launches Ballistic Missile Strikes in Iraq and Syria AWC

New Jersey National Guard Prepares to Deploy to Iraq and Syria Amid Attacks AWC

Yemen

Houthi Missile Hits US-Owned Cargo Ship in Gulf of Aden AWC

Two US Navy SEALs Missing After US Seized Alleged Iranian Weapons Shipment to the Houthis AWC

US-UK Airstrikes Force Aid Groups to Suspend Operations in Yemen AWC

Houthis Say Terrorist Label Will Not Deter Their Commitment to Blocking Israeli-Linked Red Sea Shipping Newsweek

US Re-Designates Houthis as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’ AWC

US Conducts Fourth Round of Strikes Against Houthis APAWC

Houthis Attack Another US-Owned Commercial Vessel in Gulf of Aden AWC

Biden Admits Bombing Yemen Is Not Stopping Houthis But Says He Will Continue Ordering Strikes The Hill

Read More

[codmw2019-2022]

Modern Warfare® Campaign: Biographies of the Story’s Major Players.

Part 2 (2 of 2): Kate Laswell

October 01, 2019 by Call of Duty Staff

Kate Laswell

Supervisor, Special Activities Division (SAD), CIA

Kate Laswell was born in Annapolis, Maryland. Kate believes that past is prologue, witnessing both diplomatic and military failures in the war on terror, her tradecraft is largely dedicated to breaking this repetitive cycle. Kate has a Master’s degree in strategic intelligence analysis and studied Near East linguistics at the American University of Beirut. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cornell University with a BA in International Affairs.

Laswell began her career as a communications analyst. Her earliest evaluation showed an advanced aptitude for strategic analysis. Kate’s acumen was quickly recognized by the Islamabad Station Chief, and she was relocated to Pakistan, where she served as a “targeter” – a critical support role in the early days of the lethal drone strike program.

On the fast track, Laswell was transferred to U.S. Africa Command at Camp Lemonnier. Shortly thereafter, the base was ground zero for a shocking attack by a suicide bomber. She considered her survival, a calling to serve the greater good and has devoted her career to global security.

As she climbed the CIA ranks, Kate looked for a female mentor who could show her how to retain her personal life and still be respected for her operational judgment. Not finding that role model, Laswell worked with unapologetic obligation to her mission. Laswell has always been hard to manage but brings reliable maneuvers to the table. A retired colleague said, “when it comes to unconventional information warfare, Kate Laswell rewrote the book.”

In 2008, the historically paternal agency broke its glass ceiling, calling on Kate to supervise a Special Activities Division (SAD) “black site” program in Europe, Asia and South America, a post with no official commission. Kate’s leadership post with the SAD was considered controversial, after she refused to testify in open hearing, on the use of rendition. Often polarizing but always respected, over her tenure, Laswell developed detainee information that saved tens of thousands of lives. Evaluation reports credit Kate’s success with not being risk averse.

Laswell currently reports directly to the CIA Inspector General, through an elite category of Top Secret called “Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented” or TS/SCI. This clearance authorizes select special agents, largely unconstrained latitude in responding to critical terrorist activity, at home and abroad. To execute her missions, Kate works closely with the special activities paramilitary ground branch officers under her command (Alex), and has a close professional relationship with Captain Price.

[mightyflamethrower]

Pakistan: Muslim Mobs Hunt Christians

by Uzay Bulut September 1, 2023 at 5:00 am

Hundreds of Christians fled their homes on August 16 when, in the eastern Pakistani district capital of Jaranwala, Muslim mobs started an anti-Christian riot, vandalizing churches and setting churches and Christians' homes on fire -- all based just on an accusation that a Quran had been desecrated.

At least 20 churches throughout the city were set on fire and more than 400 homes belonging to Christians damaged.

"Two Christian individuals are accused of desecrating the Quran. People are demanding life imprisonment, but the accusation is false. They have done nothing. The accusation was fabricated by an Islamist group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik." — Faraz Pervaiz, a Christian Pakistani asylum-seeker who fled to Thailand after being accused in Pakistan of blasphemy for criticizing political Islam, reporting through his sources on the ground, August 2023.

"On August 16, 2023 a woman carrying these documents with torn pages of Quran knocked the door of Raja and Rocky, later be accused of blasphemy. When they opened the door, the woman started shouting at the family and accusing them that you have desecrated the Quran. The family was shocked. Meanwhile this woman started making loud noises to wake the people up. 'Raja and Rocky has committed blasphemy,' she was shouting, 'and you Muslims are sleeping!'" — Faraz Pervaiz, August 2023.

The Muslim mobs then started attacking Christian homes and churches; the Christians fled and slept outside to avoid being burned alive, Pervaiz said.

"Christians are sleeping under open sky now. They are helpless. They get no support from any organization or the Government. They get no food support, and no new shelter is provided. They are starving. They are too scared to go back to their homes. They fear being killed... The police were helping the perpetrators and the vigilantes. There was no military intervention to stop the attacks. ...The newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan has condemned the incidents, but Christians need help, which he could have provided. But he did not because he knew that entire Muslim community would stand against him." — Faraz Pervaiz, August 2023.

To urge Muslims to hunt down Pervaiz, mullahs in Pakistan have led demonstrations where the crowds were encouraged to chant: "There is only one punishment for insulting the Prophet. Sever the head from the body! Sever the head from the body!"

In 2019, Pervaiz's home address in Bangkok, Thailand, was revealed in a video released on social media, with calls to every Muslim to find and kill him and his family. Several mullahs also attached fatwas to the video calling on Muslims to kill him. Posters with his photograph were plastered across many cities, including outside mosques and government offices in Lahore and Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Islamists have placed a bounty on Pervaiz. The Tahreek-e-Labbaik political party announced the first bounty of $62,000 in 2015. The next year, a cleric doubled it to $124,000. Pervaiz told Gatestone that many Islamist parties in Pakistan have placed a bounty on him; the amount now totals $400,000.

The UN and other members of the international community seriously need to reconsider their relations with the government of Pakistan. It is a systematic violator of human rights and a major supporter of Islamist terrorism. A government that treats its minorities so unjustly and inhumanely needs to be held to account.

I've been to Pakistan. Trust me. You could wipe the entire country off the map and no one would ever miss it.

[tfgadgets]

Farooq Abdullah Calls Out Pakistan

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader and ex Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah (File). New Delhi: National Conference boss Farooq Abdullah has called out Pakistan as the source of terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and warned that country to “put an end” to its constant attacks. He urged Islamabad to “find a way to be friends… otherwise issues will arise”. His comment follows a worrying…

[jobaaj]

🚨𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚🚨 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞?🤔 🤔 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐳?

🗣️ Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif is making headlines with his call for better relations with India!

He urged both nations to ‘bury the past,’ move beyond the long-standing tensions, and focus on building a brighter future together. ✨

Notably, he applauded S. Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan, calling it a ‘promising start’ that could pave the way for enhanced trade and diplomatic ties. 🤝

But hold on! S. Jaishankar’s own comments seem to paint a different picture. 🤷‍♂️

🧐𝐖𝐡𝐲? - At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Islamabad, EAM Jaishankar made very clear statements. - He spoke of the ‘three evils’: terrorism, separatism, and extremism. - "If activities across borders are characterized by terrorism, extremism, and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges in parallel," he said!! - In fact, before leaving for the meeting, EAM Jaishankar had made it clear that he wasn’t heading to Pakistan for bilateral talks, but to attend the SCO!!! 😲𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲: - Pakistani businessmen want the government to resume trade with India. - India chose to suspend the bus service to Kashmir, halted all trade across the LOC, and imposed a 200% import duty on Pakistani goods. - This was in response to the devastating 2019 Pulwama attack and a message to Pakistan! - Kashmir is still facing terror attacks, the most recent one killing 7 people in Ganderbal!! ❓𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏?? Follow Jobaaj Stories (the media arm of Jobaaj.com Group for more)

For more updates and insightful stories like this one, follow Jobaaj Stories, the media arm of the Jobaaj Group. We’re dedicated to informing, educating, and inspiring young professionals and students with stories that truly matter!

[dpr-lahore-division]

With compliments from, The Directorate General Public Relations,

Government of the Punjab, Lahore Ph. 99201390.

No.1054

HANDOUT(A)

CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif Aggrieved Over Martyrdom of Police Constable in PTI Protest

 

Lahore, 06 October 2024: “Violence and terrorism are not allowed under the guise of protest. You will get an answer,” said Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif while strongly condemning acts of violence and terrorism by PTI protestors in which a constable of Islamabad, Police embraced martyrdom. She added,”People ask, what kind of peaceful protest it was in which hundreds of police officers were attacked and injured.” She highlighted,”The movement has taken the form of an armed group.”

 

Madam Chief Minister said,”Because of the so-called protest, people's business was affected, millions of citizens faced problems.” She added,”Torturing others and committing violence against the police officers, deputed to protect life and property of people, is what kind of politics?” She underscored,”There should be no mercy and exemption for those who take the path of violence and terrorism.”

 

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed a deep sense of grief and sorrow over the incident. She offered condolences and expressed her heartfelt sympathies with the bereaved family of the martyred Constable Hameed Shah. She also strongly condemned violence on constable Hameed Shah Shaheed and other duty personnels.

**  **

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.20 (after 1960)

1961 – Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece. 1962 – James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi. 1965 – Following the Battle of Burki, the Indian Army captures Dograi in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. 1967 – The Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched in Clydebank, Scotland. 1971 – Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific. 1973 – Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome. 1973 – Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana. 1977 – Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations. 1979 – A French-supported coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I. 1982 – NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike. 1984 – A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people. 1989 – USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people. 1990 – South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia. 2000 – The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile. 2001 – In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror". 2003 – Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards. 2007 – Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate. 2008 – A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others. 2011 – The United States military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time. 2017 – Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis. 2018 – At least 161 people die after a ferry capsizes close to the pier on Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. 2019 – Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.

[zuberjournalist-blog]

Now Iran put finger over Saffron Terror of India, behind border attack.

Reported by Journalist Zuber Tehran / Islamabad Monday Jan 29, 2024 Indian Saffron Terror, its master mind Modi exposed across the world for spreading terror activities in Muslim, Christian Countries and killing of Muslims, Christians & Sikhs in India.  After Canada, America, England, Pakistan now Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Monday without naming India & Israel said…

[businessinsiderofpakistan]

Islamabad condemns Iran terror attack, killing Pakistani nationals

http://dlvr.it/T1ztDn

[economic-outlook]

Islamabad condemns Iran terror attack, killing Pakistani nationals

http://dlvr.it/T1zTrT

[mariacallous]

The Taliban are losing their grip on power in Afghanistan as attacks on diplomats and foreign nationals leave a trail of casualties and as border clashes threaten to spill into war. Investors are leaving the country in fear for their lives, scuppering what little hope there was of reviving the war-ravaged economy. Meanwhile, the United States continues to pour in millions of dollars with no clear idea of where the money goes.

On the country’s eastern border, Taliban gunmen trade fire with Pakistani soldiers, killing or wounding scores of people, including women and children, in recent weeks. Islamabad has effectively withdrawn its ambassador, Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani, after he was attacked at the embassy in Kabul on Dec. 2. Some commentators say the two countries are now at war. Two Russians were among six people killed in a suicide attack on their embassy in September. Clashes have erupted on Afghanistan’s border with Iran. Regional countries that were relieved to see the United States and NATO leave last August now worry about the flow of drugs, migrants, and left-behind U.S. weapons out of Afghanistan as the country nears collapse.

But it’s the latest attack that has rattled what appears to be an emerging status quo, as China sniffs the wind for secure investment opportunities in Afghanistan’s promising minerals sector and sets itself up as the dominant partner of a Taliban eager to make some progress toward recognition as the legitimate government. All that fell apart on Dec. 12, when gunmen laid siege to a multistory hotel in downtown Kabul used by Chinese businessmen. China’s foreign ministry said five Chinese were injured; the Italian-based nonprofit Emergency Hospital said it received 18 injured people and three dead. The hourslong assault happened the day after Taliban leaders assured China’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, that Chinese nationals were safe. Wang has since ordered all Chinese to leave the country as soon as possible.

With them go any immediate prospects of economic development. The World Bank said two-thirds of households can’t afford enough to eat as the Taliban have been incapable of attracting investment, creating jobs, or convincing the international community to lift damaging sanctions on the banking and financial sectors.

“China can’t rely on the Taliban now, so it’s over for the foreseeable future,” said a former Afghan diplomat close to Beijing, speaking on condition of anonymity. The arrival of hundreds of enthusiastic Chinese businesspeople on the lookout for money-making opportunities had given some hope that things were about to turn. They had thought they could ride China’s decadeslong relationship with the Taliban and plans flagged by Wang to develop the minerals sector and extend China’s Belt and Road infrastructure network through Afghanistan to speed Chinese products to markets in Eurasia and Europe. Its major state corporations had already earmarked the big Mes Aynak copper deposit near Kabul, with a $3 billion, 30-year agreement signed in 2008. They’ve also been visiting gold, lithium, and uranium mines as well rare earths and other minerals, mining sources said.

China’s aversion to risk has precedent in Afghanistan: Taliban attacks on Chinese workers at Mes Aynak soon after the deal was done saw those workers withdraw, with work yet to resume—though control of a copper deposit said to be one of the biggest in the world is a useful hedge for the world’s biggest consumer of the metal. Yu Minghui, who heads the China-Afghanistan Trade Committee and founded a Chinese residential development outside Kabul, said he doesn’t expect many of his compatriots to return to Afghanistan after the Lunar New Year in late January. He told Reuters that around 500 Chinese businesspeople had arrived since the republic’s 2021 collapse. “I think maybe 80 percent will not return,” he said.

China investment isn’t the only casualty of the hotel attack. The Haqqani network, a Taliban offshoot and al Qaeda affiliate, has a long relationship with China’s ruling Communist Party, and its boss, Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, has lucrative trade deals with China. Haqqani has risked going against the wishes of the Taliban’s grassroots supporters by secretly agreeing to Chinese demands for the deportation of Uyghur militants—fellow Muslims who fought alongside the Taliban with the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks to overthrow the Chinese state—throughout the war on the U.S.-supported republic. Documents seen by Foreign Policy show he signed off on the return of seven Uyghurs to China in the summer.

“For Haqqani, this was a pragmatic decision for his own survival; he’s always been close to China and needs to maintain that relationship,” said a former Afghan security official. But he’s risking losing support among core Taliban fighters and battlefield commanders, and there are plenty of other jihadi groups they could join, including the local franchise of the Islamic State, called Islamic State-Khorasan, he said.

Uyghurs were “the men who cleaned our weapons. They were our vehicle mechanics. They did everything we could not do ourselves. They won us the war,” the official quoted Taliban commanders as telling him. There’s little doubt Uyghurs face execution on return to China. A million Uyghurs are said to be incarcerated in concentration camps as the ruling Chinese Communist Party seeks to extinguish nationalistic sentiment and ethnic and religious identity in what the United States calls a genocide.

Questions are now swirling about future targets among the countries and organizations with embassies in Kabul and which Taliban faction or jihad group would benefit. The United Nations is consolidating its presence in Kabul, sources in the capital said, scaling down multiple locations to one fortified compound. The Islamic State-Khorasan generally claims responsibility for major attacks and could boost recruitment by undermining the Taliban’s Islamist credentials—for instance, by targeting the anti-Muslim Chinese regime. A variety of sources from the U.S. government, the former Afghan regime, and others close to the Taliban say, however, that the Islamic State-Khorasan’s capacity was exaggerated by the Taliban to gain U.S. financial and intelligence support under the guise of counterterrorism cooperation. Although its presence in Afghanistan does pose a threat to the Taliban, it’s also seen as a useful cover, as the attacks it claims as its own often bear the hallmarks of Haqqani network attacks during the war.

The security official said an exodus of Taliban supporters to the Islamic State-Khorasan has already begun and could explain the similarities in attack methodology. “Jihadists are like drug addicts; they just want to wage jihad, and a lot of Taliban supporters are diverting to [the Islamic State-Khorasan] to wage jihad against the Chinese as they’re the Taliban’s new friends now the Americans have gone,” he said, referring to disillusion among many supporters about the Trump administration’s 2020 Taliban deal, which led to the U.S.-NATO withdrawal. “There will be a jihadist rebellion within the Taliban as the number of defections grows.”

Since their victory, the Taliban have invited dozens of terrorist and jihadi groups into Afghanistan, including al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is now attacking Pakistan from Afghanistan. Last week, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated concerns about terrorism and border security as well as other Taliban excesses like banning girls from school and the lack of rule of law and justice in his quarterly report. On Tuesday, the Taliban, which had previously banned girls from secondary education, barred women from universities as well, furthering the fundamentalist agenda they had promised not to implement.

Yet while the Taliban alienate their backers, the United States delivers tens of millions of dollars in cash every month for distribution via the United Nations, ostensibly for humanitarian relief, though much of it reportedly ends up in Taliban hands, further entrenching their sense of impunity. American officials regularly meet with Taliban figures in third countries. But that doesn’t seem to be a prelude to any sort of official diplomatic presence, which means the Taliban will—more than a year after their return to power—continue as isolated, friendless, and unrecognized as they are now.

As the threat to embassies and foreigners escalates and the Taliban press ahead with public executions and floggings, the optics of an official presence “just won’t work right now,” the former diplomat said. “No one is going to take that risk now or for some time. No one is safe.”

[pakistannewswire]

Islamabad condemns Iran terror attack, killing Pakistani nationals

http://dlvr.it/T1zTCj

[pakistannewsdigest]

Islamabad condemns Iran terror attack, killing Pakistani nationals

http://dlvr.it/T1zSQM

[news-makers]

Islamabad condemns Iran terror attack, killing Pakistani nationals

http://dlvr.it/T1zP7n