UN Report Warns of Impending Taliban Power Play
Voice of America
The Taliban appear poised to take by force what they do not get through negotiations once U.S. and coalition troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a new assessment based on intelligence from United Nations member states. #alQaida in the Indian Subcontinent "reported to be such an 'organic' or essential part of the insurgency that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to separate it from its #Taliban allies" per @UN report
The report, issued Thursday by the U.N. sanctions monitoring team for Afghanistan, warns that while the Taliban are still technically in compliance with the terms of last year's agreement with the United States, they have tightened their grip on power, exercising direct control over more than half of the country's district administrative centers while contesting or controlling up to 70% of territory outside of urban areas. And U.N. member state intelligence agencies caution this may be just the beginning. "Taliban rhetoric and reports of active Taliban preparations for the spring fighting season indicate the group is likely to increase military operations for 2021, whether or not a spring offensive is announced," the U.N. report said.A vendor with an umbrella over his head throws water over the bananas on a hot summer day in Varanasi on May 27, 2024. Children run behind a truck spraying water along a street on a hot summer day in New Delhi on May 28, 2024. Roadside food vendor Atma Prakash Singh in New Delhi says standing on the hot road in the sizzling summer is a problem. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) Ice cream vendor Jai Singh in New Delhi says he gets skin rashes due to the sizzling heat. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) People buy air coolers from a roadside vendor on a hot summer afternoon in New Delhi on May 20, 2024, amid the ongoing heatwave.
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This undated handout photo taken by the UN Development Programme and released on May 28, 2024 shows locals digging at the site of a landslide at Mulitaka village in the region of Maip Mulitaka, in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province. This photo released by UNDP Papua New Guinea, shows a landslide in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. Authorities fear a second landslide and a disease outbreak are looming at the scene of Papua New Guinea's recent mass-casualty disaster.
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