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KABUL: At least 160 people have been killed and 117 others injured as rainstorms and flash floods hit major parts of the provinces of Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan and Ghor of war-ravaged Afghanistan, local officials said on Saturday, reported Xinhua.

Recent flash floods hit most parts of the province including Gozargah-e-Noor, Jelgah, Nahrin, Dushi, Baghlan-e-Markazi, Dahna-e-Ghori, Tala-o-Barfak, and Barka districts, as well as the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri, leaving 130 dead and injuring 100 others, spokesman of Baghlans governor Mullah Alam Majidi said on Saturday.

The natural mishap mostly affected local people in Barka and Baghlan-e-Markazi districts, said Majidi, adding that the number of causalities will be increased.

Meanwhile, foreign media quoted the United Nations International Organisation for Migration as saying that over 200 people were killed, and thousands of houses were destroyed or damaged in Baghlan.

Storms and floods also killed 20 people and injured 14 in Namak Ab, Ishkamish, Farkhar and Kafgan districts of Takhar province, Ahmad Sir Sajid, head of Takhars disaster management authority, said Saturday.

He added that 300 houses as well as electricity and communications facilities were seriously damaged.

Seven people were killed and three others injured following flash floods lashed Chaharsada, Murghab, Saghar, Al-Farouq, Tewara districts, and Firoz Koh city, the provincial capital of western Ghor province, spokesman of Ghors governor Abdul Wahid Hamas said.

Additionally, three people lost their lives and two others are missing due to rainstorms and floods in most parts of northern Badakhshan province, Mawlawi Mohammad Akram Akbari, head of Badakhshans disaster management authority, reported.

Afghanistan has been experiencing heavy rain and floods in the past month, leading to casualties and property damage.

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Death toll from Afghanistan's floods rises to 160: Officials - theSun

In a new report slated for release on May 14, a USIP bipartisan Senior Study Group says that Washington needs to be prepared for a rising terrorist threat in the region and, crucially, the threat this poses to the U.S. homeland. The Senior Study Group on Counterterrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan report evaluates ongoing terrorism threats from Afghanistan and Pakistan and assess options for a sustainable counterterrorism policy. Its findings identify dominant terrorist threats, stakes of the threats for U.S. interests, and policy options for the United States.

Study group members Ambassador Anne Patterson, Dr. Tricia Bacon, Ambassador Michael P. McKinley, Dr. Joshua White and Dr. Brian Finucane reflect on the key findings and insights of the report.

Patterson: I am one of many Americans who was deeply involved in the war on terror which saved many lives. But many of us also wonder that if due to the two-decade long focus on the war on terror, we forever lost the opportunity to successfully counter China. Unfortunately, our policy adjustment to this sentiment has overcompensated, resulting in dramatically reduced attention to counterterrorism in South Asia. Americans want to see Afghanistan and Pakistan in the rearview mirror. Even though American intelligence was able to give the Russians a stunningly precise warning about the recent ISIS-K attack in Moscow, our knowledge of threats from Afghanistan has and will continue to erode over time.

This report argues that more attention and counterterrorism effort should be focused on South Asia. It argues that stepped up, counterterrorism-focused regional cooperation can give us insights we don't have and pressure the Taliban into curtailing space for terrorists. It argues that the India-Pakistan relationship and the China-India rivalry have complicated the counterterrorism picture in the region, increasing the potential for wider conflict triggered by terrorist violence. And it argues, alarmingly, that the U.S. is fundamentally unprepared for a terrorist resurgence in the region, including threats against the U.S. homeland. We must recalibrate our counterterrorism approach to better protect American lives and U.S. interests, prevent distractions by provocations, and shield our vital strategic competition priorities.

Bacon: The study group identified the key terrorist threat in the region as the Afghanistan-based affiliate of the Islamic State, ISIS Khorasan (ISIS-K). Unfortunately, that threat did indeed come to fruition with the Moscow attack as the study group completed its assessment. Policymakers must take stock of the ISIS-K threat above all because the group has ambitions to directly strike the United States. ISIS-K is opportunistic and will look for ways to strike that do not require building extensive capability. Moreover, it is highly indiscriminate and thus willing to attack soft targets that even most fellow Sunni jihadist groups eschew.

Beyond the direct threat to the United States, ISIS-Ks attacks stoke regional tensions, breed mistrust between governments and distract allies from strategic competition. Concerningly, the threat from ISIS-K shows no signs of diminishing. Counterterrorism cooperation against the group has been hampered by international rivalries and mistrust. And though the Taliban has incentives to counter ISIS-K, its ability to conduct multiple attacks outside of Afghanistan demonstrates that the Taliban is either unable or unwilling to fulfill its pledge in the U.S.-Taliban Doha agreement to prevent terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.

At the same time, long-standing threats in the region persist and, in some cases, have worsened. Al-Qaida and al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent are seeking to exploit the war in Gaza to rebuild their safe haven under Taliban rule. In addition, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been emboldened by the Talibans victory. It is using its sanctuary in Afghanistan to pose a growing threat to Pakistan at a time when the country is grappling with political and economic instability. Finally, though the Pakistani security establishment has restrained anti-India militant groups in recent years, a terrorist attack in India with links back to Pakistan still has the potential to ignite a conflict between the two nuclear-armed states.

McKinley: The debate since the fall of Kabul in August 2021 is whether Afghanistan could be a base for new attacks on the United States at home and abroad. What the study drives home is that the terrorist groupings supported by the Taliban in South and Central Asia can challenge broader U.S. foreign policy objectives. It acknowledges the primacy and importance of responding to greater international challenges like Russias invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and the emergence of China but underscores that the United States can and should do more to monitor and, where feasible, counter the Talibans support for regional terrorism.

The report offers practical suggestions on strengthening the United States counter-terrorism capabilities, keeping in mind the resource constraints and challenges of working on a threat emanating from a country where we no longer have a presence. The recommendations are also timely: recent developments in the Middle East and elsewhere make crystal clear that extreme terrorist attacks can surprise even the best prepared of governments.

White: It is undeniable that the United States' attention on Pakistan has waned since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021. That is understandable given the pressing global imperatives that have resulted from China's dramatic rise. This study group therefore sensibly proposes a set of modest recommendations for U.S. policy toward Pakistan, designed to ensure that the counterterrorism relationship however fraught it might be can be sustained as a way of hedging against the very real risk of heightened terrorist activityin the region focused on the United States and its partners. Part of this involves recognizing that there can be some measure of reciprocity in the counterterrorism relationship, as Pakistan struggles to deal with the violent anti-state TTP and, to a lesser extent, ISIS-K.

Finucane: Despiterecent regional attacks attributed to or claimed by ISIS, the prospects for renewed U.S. counterterrorism direct action (capture or lethal targeting) in either Afghanistan or Pakistan appear slim. If the Biden administration foresees a continued need for the use of military force for counterterrorism in this region, or more generally, the study group recommends it should work to clarify the scope of the use of Authorization for the Use of Military Force (2001 AUMF) to improve political accountability of U.S. military operations. This can be done by reforming the 2001 AUMF, which is out-of-date.

The administration should work with Congress to update and better specify groups and the locations of operations, as well as introduce a sunset provision to the 2001AUMF. Another option, which is not mutually exclusive, is to share publicly the executive branchs interpretation of the scope of authority under both the 2001 AUMF and Article II of the Constitution for counterterrorism direct action.In addition, should the United States resume direct action in Afghanistan or Pakistan, it should incorporate lessons learned on avoiding and minimizing civilian casualties, particularly since the tragic August 2021 strike in Kabul. The study group, for example, honed in on the importance of checking confirmation bias and interrogating assumptions on identities amid military operation.

PHOTO: More than 250 Islamic State fighters turn themselves in to the Afghan government to avoid imminent capture by Taliban insurgents, in Sheberghan, Afghanistan, Aug. 1, 2018. (Najim Rahim/The New York Times)

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s).

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Why Counterterrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan Still Matters - United States Institute of Peace

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Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan after heavy rains, UN says - The Bakersfield Californian

Kabul, Afghanistan , May 11, 2024 Major flooding has hit at least seven provinces in Afghanistan, with over 250 lives lost and thousands more stranded without access to services.

Alongside the tragic loss of life, infrastructure including roads and power lines, has been destroyed in Baghlan, Ghor, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Samangan, Badghis and Takhar provinces. The International Rescue Committee is preparing to scale up its emergency response in affected areas.

Salma Ben Aissa, IRC Afghanistan Director, said,

These latest floods have caused a major humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, which is still reeling from a string of earthquakes at the beginning of this year as well as severe flooding in March. Communities have lost entire families, while livelihoods have been decimated as a result.

The continuation of climate-induced disasters in Afghanistan ought to be cause for grave concern: devastated by decades of conflict and economic crisis, the country has faced setback after setback as it tries to find its feet. Ordinary Afghans have paid the price of economic crisis that left millions of people without a source of income, and the recent barrage of disaster threatens what little stability people have strived for over the years.

This should sound an alarm bell for world leaders and international donors: we call upon them to not forget Afghanistan during these turbulent global times. Afghans need our support now more than ever.

See here for latest IRC stories, photos and video footage from the flood affected areas in Afghanistan.

The IRC began working in Afghanistan in the 1980s and for more than four decades we have providedlife-changing support to people affected by conflict and natural disasters. Currently, we have 5,002 staff members in Afghanistan and 99% of them are Afghan. Our staff are responding to the triple threat of hunger, economic collapse and the near-total breakdown in public services. The IRC delivers services in 13 provinces; in 2023, we reached 7 million clients.

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IRC: At least 250 lives lost in major flooding in Afghanistan; thousands of families cut off from essential services - International Rescue Committee

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More than 300 dead in Afghanistan flash floods: WFP - The Caledonian-Record