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Hundreds of Daesh and Taliban prisoners on the run after prison siege
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An Afghan MP on Tuesday claimed as many as 800 ISIS (Daesh) and Taliban prisoners are on the loose after escaping during Sunday’s deadly prison attack in Jalalabad.
Abdul Karim Karimi, a Member of Parliament, said: “1,700 prisoners were inside the jail during the attack, they all attempted to escape. Out of which, 500 of them failed to escape, whereas 800 more prisoners including Daesh, Taliban, and criminals fled.”
According to officials, prisoners being held in that particular jail were political prisoners and criminals. Among them were Taliban and Daesh militants.
The Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Ataullah Khogyani, confirmed that hundreds of prisoners escaped but that the matter will be investigated in order to ascertain whether there was any negligence on the part of prison staff.
“So far, hundreds of prisoners including Daesh, Taliban, and other criminals are missing,” Khogyani said.
Local officials did not give details as to the identity of the missing prisoners but said search operations were underway in a bid to capture the escaped convicts.
Sources meanwhile added that out of five prisoners killed in Sunday’s attack, three of them were Taliban commanders.
Meanwhile, Daesh sent out letters overnight to residents of Jalalabad warning them not to hand over any CCTV footage they might have that recorded events outside their shops or houses during the time of the siege.
Sunday’s prison attack started with a car bomb just after 6.30pm and lasted for at least 18 hours before security forces were able to bring the situation under control.
Soon after militants stormed the facility, Daesh claimed responsibility. Officials said 11 Daesh militants had been involved.
While the siege was underway, security forces also raided a property in Behsoud district in Nangarhar and seized hundreds of weapons and military hardware.
The prison siege started just a day after Afghanistan’s intelligence services announced the Afghan special forces had killed a high-ranking Daesh member in an operation in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
A statement late Saturday by the National Directorate of Security said the slain militant was Assadullah Orakzai, an intelligence leader for the IS affiliate (Daesh) in Afghanistan. The statement said he was killed near Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. IS has its headquarters in the province.
Orakzai was suspected of being involved in several deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets in Afghanistan.
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Floods in Farah and Kandahar claim the lives of 29 people
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Officials from the disaster management departments of Farah and Kandahar report that floods in these two provinces have resulted in 29 fatalities and nine injuries.
Mohammad Israel Sayar, the head of disaster management in Farah, confirmed to Ariana News that 21 people lost their lives and six others were injured due to floods on Tuesday in the Qala-e-Kah district of the province.
According to Sayar, the victims had gone to the mountains of Qala-e-Kah for recreation purposes when floodwaters suddenly swept them away.
Officials from the disaster management department in Kandahar also stated that floods in the province have caused 11 deaths and injuries.
They reported that in the seventh district of the province, one woman and three children died when the roof of a house collapsed.
They added that in the fifth security district of the province, three women and one child lost their lives due to the floods. Two children and one man were also injured.
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US senator pushes bill to block US funds from reaching Afghanistan
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Republican Senator Tim Sheehy said on Monday night that he is leading efforts to push the No Taxpayer Funding for Terrorists Act in the US Senate, which will prevent American financial aid from reaching Afghanistan.
In a post on X, the Montana senator, who is a former Navy Seal, said: “After fighting terrorists for years in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’m proud to lead the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act in the U.S. Senate.”
The bill was originally introduced in the House of Representatives by Republican Congressman Tim Burchett to oppose financial and material support from going to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). The bill was passed during President Joe Biden’s administration but failed to secure Senate approval.
However, on Monday, Congressman Tim Burchett issued a statement saying he will hold a press conference on Tuesday, February 25, on the Act.
He said in Monday’s statement that while working on the bill “it was brought to our attention that weekly cash shipments of around $40 million USD were being sent to the Afghanistan Central Bank.
“Additionally, after a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in December of 2024, Secretary Blinken admitted that around $10 million had been paid to the Taliban (IEA) in the form of taxes.”
He said the bill was “passed unanimously through both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.”
“This legislation has been sat on long enough. We need to move this through both chambers and get it to President Trump’s desk,” said Burchett.
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Torkham remains closed after Pakistan-Afghanistan talks fail
The Pakistani authorities have requested that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) refrain from constructing new facilities along the Durand Line.
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The Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained closed on Tuesday after four days of negotiations between officials from the two countries failed to yield results.
Torkham commissioner Abdul Jabbar Hikmat reported that discussions held Monday were chaired by the deputy governor of Nangarhar but ended without any agreement.
The Pakistani authorities have requested that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) refrain from constructing new facilities along the Durand Line.
According to Bakhtar news agency, Pakistan also said Afghanistan should not obstruct Pakistan’s own development projects in the area.
Hikmat confirmed that this request was rejected by the Afghan side, which resulted in Pakistan maintaining its closure of the Torkham gate.
The ongoing closure has left thousands of travelers, including medical patients and commercial convoys stranded on both sides of the border.
Torkham is a key crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially for trucks. Closures of this border crossing result in huge losses for traders as many rely on this route to move fresh produce between the two countries.
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