Latest Updates On Afghanistan, 16 May 2024

1- Kabul:
On May 3, forces of Ahmad Massoud (National Resistance Front of Afghanistan) claimed that during a previous night attack on the Taliban’s security checkpoint in the Paktia Kot neighborhood in the 12th security district of Kabul city, one Taliban armed force was killed and two others were wounded.

2- Badakhshan:
– On May 4, in the course of protests by the residents of Argu district in Badakhshan province against the destruction of poppy crops by Taliban militants, one person was killed and several others were injured. This conflict took place between Pashtun Taliban militants and Uzbek farmers, turning the tension into an ethnic conflict.

– On May 5, the Taliban sent a delegation led by Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, the head of the Taliban army staff, to Badakhshan province to resolve the tensions that had arisen. This action was taken following public protests against the Taliban’s decision to destroy poppy crops in the Darayim and Argu districts of Badakhshan province. The confrontation between Pashtun Taliban militants and the Uzbek protesting farmers in Badakhshan province has also prompted the people of Badakhshan to protest against the appointment of Pashtuns in this province, turning the recent tensions into an ethnic conflict as well.

3- Paktia:
– On May 14, Pakistani border forces and Taliban militants engaged in clashes from 5:30 p.m. local time at the border between Aryob Zazi town and the Kharlachy border crossing in Dand Wa Patan district of Paktia province. The border clashes and exchange of fire between the two sides continued until Tuesday evening, resulting in casualties and damage.

– Some media sources reported one Pakistani military personnel was killed and five others wounded in the border clashes with the Taliban. No data on Taliban casualties have been released.

4- Ghor:
On May 15, following the crash of a Mi-17 helicopter in the residential areas of Firozkoh city in Ghor province, one person was killed and 12 others were injured. Taliban authorities attributed the cause of the helicopter crash to technical failure.

5- Key statements by Asif Ali Khan Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, at a meeting of the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad: “India is providing financial assistance to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) through Afghanistan. India has allocated around 35 billion rupees for the war expenses of the Pakistani Taliban. India is spending this money to keep the insurgency alive in Pakistan. There are between 5,000 to 6,000 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan fighters in Afghanistan. The number of family members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan fighters in Afghanistan is around 70,000.”