JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN // Days after at least 33 people were killed and dozens more injured by bombings in the city of Jalalabad, torn clothing and pieces of flesh were still stuck in the branches of a tree high above a busy street.
They hung there in the bright sunshine as civilians below struggled to come to terms with the first major attack in Afghanistan to be claimed by ISIL. Government and Nato officials have since cast doubt on whether the movement was responsible, but it hardly matters to those who were there.
Survivors and witnesses told The National that their lives had changed irrevocably when a bank packed with customers was among the targets hit on the morning of April 18. After years of war and countless scenes of devastation, a line had been crossed and they had finally lost hope.
Zahidullah Rahmani had not long arrived at work when the first explosion threw the contents of his stationery shop over him. Struggling outside, he came across limbs and bits of flesh that he compared to leaves scattering the ground in autumn.
“I saw people naked and burnt,” he said. “I saw people with half their bodies missing.”
Mr Rahmani tried to help the injured but was so shocked he could not even speak. He remembered hearing some of them loudly praying, pleading with God to take them as martyrs. “I feel like I have died with all the city,” he said.
Situated near Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan, Jalalabad is the strategically important capital of Nangarhar province. It is one of the few places in the country where US forces retain a significant presence, conducting what are formally described as counterterrorism operations – including drone flights – throughout the region.
While the situation in surrounding districts has been deteriorating for some time, the city itself has always been viewed as relatively safe. This has only added to the confusion about exactly what happened on April 18.
The blast that caused most of the casualties occurred in front of a branch of New Kabul Bank and is believed to have been carried out by a suicide bomber targeting government employees collecting their salaries. Two more explosions were heard soon afterwards. One hit a religious shrine and, according to police, the other was the controlled detonation of a bomb found by security forces. A fourth explosion happened outside town.
Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for ISIL, purportedly took credit for the attacks via Facebook. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, then repeated this claim without offering any evidence to back it up. Other Afghan officials, including a ministry of defence spokesman, have joined Nato in doubting ISIL’s culpability.
Among people in Jalalabad there were various theories about who was responsible, with some even speculating it was an act of revenge carried out by the Americans for the April 8 killing of a US soldier in the city by a member of the Afghan army.
Analysts, meanwhile, have claimed the Taliban may have only denied it was involved because of the large number of civilian casualties. In February 2011 its fighters attacked the same branch of Kabul Bank, killing scores of people and causing widespread anger.
For generations, Timor Shah Wafa’s family have looked after the shrine that was hit. That day he had cleaned it and gone out to buy oil to power a generator when a huge blast shook the air. With his house just metres away, his wife and son were wounded by flying glass. His brother was also slightly injured.
Judging by the wreckage left behind, a bomb appears to have been planted on the tiled floor of the shrine, at the top of a small set of steps. Mr Wafa said the device must have been put there very quickly, given that he had been around moments earlier and had noticed nothing suspicious. Debris lay scattered on the ground.
Crying, he told The National he would leave the country as soon as he could if he had the chance. "When I was in the ambulance carrying my family to hospital and I saw the wounded on the way, I swear to God my heart turned black from life," he said. "I wished I could stop living."
There have been growing rumours, media reports and public statements from government officials about ISIL’s attempts to establish a foothold in Afghanistan. In reality, little is known about the movement’s presence here. In February, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who had claimed allegiance to ISIL was killed in an airstrike in Helmand province.
Survivors of the Jalalabad attacks were furious with the government, accusing it of presiding over growing insecurity since taking power more than seven months ago.
A coalition made up of political rivals, the government has struggled to remain united and has still not appointed a minister of defence. Internal discord within the administration recently led the governor of Nangarhar to resign, saying he had been unable to prevent corruption.
Borhanullah Hamidi, another shopkeeper, said that ambulances had arrived late on the scene on April 18, causing some people to rush the dead and injured to hospital in civilian vehicles.
Describing the government as “two-headed”, he said: “If they continue to fight among themselves for power and money, our future is dark.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Pathaan
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Bawaal%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company%C2%A0profile
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
The biog
Name: Atheja Ali Busaibah
Date of birth: 15 November, 1951
Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”
Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
