A suicide bomber struck a Shiite cultural center in Kabul, which was holding a discussion program on the anniversary of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. More than 40 people are reported killed. The Islamic State in Afghanistan claims responsibility for the attack.
It was the latest in a series of mass-casualty attacks against Shiite targets by the militant group’s Afghan affiliate. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has documented more than a dozen attacks since January 2016, with hundreds of Shiites dead or wounded. One of the deadliest was in October, when suicide bombers killed at least 57 worshipers in a Shiite mosque in Kabul, the capital, and injured dozens more.
“I have little doubt that this attack deliberately targeted civilians,” said Toby Lanzer, the acting head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan. “Today in Kabul we have witnessed another truly despicable crime in a year already marked by unspeakable atrocities.”
Islamic State Claims Deadly Blast at Afghan Shiite Center, Fahim Abed, Fatima Faizi and Mujib Mashal, New York Times
Student Mohammad Hasan Rezayee told Tolo News: "We were inside the hall in the second row when an explosion from behind took place. After the blast there was fire and smoke inside the building and everyone was pleading for help."
Another witness, Sayed Jan, told reporters from his hospital bed: "There was a book reading event and academic discussion, and I was one of the participants. During the speech a huge bang was heard and smoke rose from inside the hall.
"My face was burning. I fell down from the chair and I saw the other colleagues around me on the ground. The smoke was everywhere."
Afghanistan suicide bomb attack: Dozens killed in Kabul, BBC
Mujib Mashal has a portrait of the war against the Islamic State in Khogiani district, Nangarhar province.
A visit this month to Khogyani, a district in the east where Islamic State fighters have shifted, showed the increasing complexity of the Afghan conflict, and underlined how daunting a task it will be to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
The Afghan government’s authority in Khogyani, in a remote region of Nangarhar Province, has long been confined to the district compound and the immediate surroundings. The Taliban ruled the rest. Opium has been grown all around.
After years of war with no clear victor, the region had settled into a strange sort of calm as the Taliban and the government found ways to coexist, as has happened to varying degrees around the country.
In Tangled Afghan War, a Thin Line of Defense Against ISIS, Mujib Mashal, New York Times
There is a question about what relation there might be, between fighters affiliated with the Islamic State in rural parts of Nangarhar, and the string of sectarian suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State in the city of Kabul. We are in a war against an unclearly defined and constantly changing enemy.
And two years into the joint United States-Afghanistan operation, a clear understanding of the Islamic State affiliate, the latest enemy in the long Afghan war, still evades even some of those charged with fighting it.
At a press conference in November, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. and NATO military forces in Afghanistan, said that the Taliban has become a criminal organization, masquerading as religious and political leaders, but profiting from drug trafficking, kidnapping, and murder. This was in announcing military airstrikes against opium processing facilities, in Helmand province.
A CNN article lists the F-16s, the B-52s, the F-22 stealth fighters, the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and such, used by the U.S. military in their fight against Afghan crime.
A Voice of America article on the airstrikes speaks of the rule of law.
Narcotics trade fuels official corruption and undermines governance as well as rule of law in Afghanistan.
US General: $50 Million Worth of Taliban Narcotics Destroyed in Afghanistan, Ayaz Gul, Voice of America
High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems wielded by Marine expeditionary forces, or 2,000 pound bombs dropped by strategic bombing commands, are not actually how crime is fought under the rule of law.
Under the rule of law, you would fight crime with a system of law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges, and juries.
Eric Schmitt, at the New York Times, was given a ride in a B-52, over Nangarhar province. A man chopping wood, and a woman doing laundry, are discussed in terms of “potential targets.”
For six hours, the B-52 flew tightly banked routes to give Soar the best view of his potential targets. Black-and-white images flickered across his screen: A man chopping wood. A woman doing laundry. Suddenly, he spotted something suspicious: a man pulling a long cylindrical object out from under a tarp. Was it just a long piece of wood or pipe, or was it a surface-to-air missile?
Hunting Taliban and Islamic State Fighters, From 20,000 Feet, Eric Schmitt, New York Times
Peering at people doing laundry, from 20 thousand feet in the air, and making calculations whether to drop B-52 loads of bombs on them, is not actually how rule of law would be brought to a place, at all.
The American-backed strongman, General Abdul Raziq, de facto chief power in Kandahar, held a gathering of strongmen politicians.
Raziq is under Leahy Law prohibition of direct funding, for the considerable record of credible information about his gross violation of human rights, but the American military manages to back him despite the ban.
In an article on recent political Afghan maneuverings, Mujib Mashal also reports a bit on American General John W. Nicholson’s role.
Playing host behind the scenes was Gen. Abdul Raziq, the province’s police chief, whose influence stretches across much of southern Afghanistan, largely because of the American military’s support for him.
Afghan and Western officials say that American military leaders — including the senior commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr.— spoke to General Raziq as the rally got underway, though their message for him was unclear.
A spokesman for General Nicholson, Navy Capt. Tom Gresback, would not comment on the nature of his “many engagements across Afghanistan,” but said that the commander encourages Afghan police and military leaders to remain apolitical.
Before the Kandahar rally, Mr. Ghani barred government employees from attending such opposition gatherings. He ordered an investigation into the private township in Kandahar developed years ago by the Karzai family — which happened to be where the rally was taking place.
Afghan President Under Fire as Critics Chafe at Overdue Vote, Mujib Mashal, New York Times
In an article on the sacking, by President Ashraf Ghani, of Independent Election Commission head Najibullah Ahmadzai, and related election issues, Pamela Constable points to what gets called “foreign donor” pressure for the sacking.
The conflict came to a head in October when the election commission chairman, Najibullah Ahmadzai, was forced out for incompetence at strong international urging. In turn, Ahmadzai publicly accused aides to Ghani of trying to convince the other commissioners to get rid of him. He also declared that no election could be held in July because the public had lost faith in the process.
Disputes have put Afghan elections in jeopardy. Is the country’s democracy also at risk?, Pamela Constable, Washington Post
In a long-running political battle, President Ashraf Ghani has attempted but failed to sack Atta Mohammad Noor, American-backed strongman governor of Balkh province. The rhetoric Atta is using here, about Jamiat-i-Islami party member Abdullah Abdullah, is distinctly striking.
A powerful Afghan governor fired by the country’s president refused on Saturday to leave a post he has held for 13 years, raising fears that the escalating political tensions could undermine the country’s fragile security.
Speaking to a crowd of about 2,000 people in Mazar-i-Sharif, the governor, Atta Muhammad Noor, said that President Ashraf Ghani did not have the power to unilaterally remove him because his party had half of the seats in the coalition government.
“I have said many times that no one can remove me with a decree,” Mr. Noor said, adding that he would remain governor unless an understanding was reached.
When the 2014 presidential election ended in a deadlock, the United States brokered a deal that made Mr. Ghani president and put the runner-up, Abdullah Abdullah, in a post similar to prime minister. Mr. Abdullah is a leader of Mr. Noor’s party, Jamiat-i-Islami.
“Your teeth will not sink into us,” Mr. Noor said, referring to Mr. Abdullah. “We will break your teeth.”
The crowd chanted: “Death to Dr. Abdullah.”
Afghan Governor Refuses to Leave His Post, Escalating Showdown, Mujib Mashal, New York Times