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Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2021 06:40:13 +0000 (UTC)
From: INSO_AFG_NORTHEAST_SA <sa.northeast@afg.ngosafety.org>
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Subject: INSO REPORT =?UTF-8?B?4oCTIEFGRyDigJM=?= KUNDUZ: OAG Abduction of An
 NGO Staff Member
To: Faisal Ahmadzai <faisal.ahmadzai@jack.ngo>

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; padding: 0; font-family:'Arial', sans-serif; color:#182748">&nbsp;&nbsp;&=
nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ATTENTION RECOMMENDED</span></div>
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								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">LOCATION=
</div>
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">Afghanistan, Kunduz Province, C=
hahardara District, <a href=3D"https://goo.gl/maps/FH33zfQSUmkqvZHw8">Ergan=
ak</a> Area, Kunduz-Mazar-e Sharif Road</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">INCIDENT=
 TYPE</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								OAG Abduction of An NGO Staff Member								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">DATE & T=
IME</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								12/02/2021 13:00								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">INFORMAT=
ION</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">On Friday, 12 February, OAG mem=
bers established a checkpoint searching for ANSF personnel and/or GOA emplo=
yees along the Kunduz-Mazar-e Sharif Road, via Chahardara District. At arou=
nd 1300 hrs, the armed men forced the driver of a passing minibus to stop.<=
br /><br />The OAG members searched and questioned the passengers of the mi=
nibus and suspected that 11 of them&mdash;all men, including one NGO staff =
member, worked for the Afghan government. The NGO employee denied having an=
y connection with ANSF/GOA, however, the armed men took him, along with the=
 10 other passengers, to another location in Chahardara.<br /><br />The NGO=
 staff member informed the OAG members about his employment in the humanita=
rian sector, with these verifying the information with the NGO management b=
y phone. At approximately 1600 hrs on 18 February, following mediation by l=
ocal elders and relatives of the victim, the OAG members released the NGO s=
taff member unharmed.</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">ANALYSIS=
</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">Neither the NGO staff member no=
r his humanitarian agency were considered being a target, with OAG members =
in Chahardara District believed to be only searching for ANSF personnel and=
/or GOA employees, or civilians cooperating with the Afghan government. The=
 local OAG members likely kept the NGO staff member in captivity for a few =
days to verify whether the information provided by the victim and his NGO w=
as true. The mediation by local elders and the civilian&rsquo;s family appa=
rently helped the opposition group to confirm the information regarding the=
 profile of the victim. As of the time of writing, it is unclear whether th=
e 10 other victims of the title incident had been released or not.<br /><br=
 />Even if OAG members in Kunduz Province and, indeed, across the country, =
generally target ANSF/GOA personnel, abductions of civilians mistakenly bel=
ieved to have a connection with ANSF/GOA or who are blamed of cooperation w=
ith the government are not uncommon. As in the title incident, the abductee=
s who are later found to have no link with ANSF/GOA are usually released af=
ter a few hours or days of detention. In addition, OAG members have often a=
bducted civilians in Kunduz for having transgressed certain behavioural rul=
es which had been previously established by OAG members. Lastly, OAG member=
s have also abducted civilians for having disobeyed demands, namely, agains=
t the provision of telecommunication network services during the night-time=
, or financially-motivated demands addressed to drivers of commercial and f=
uel trucks.<br /><br />The segment of the Kunduz-Mazar-e Sharif Road from t=
he Nawabad area to Kotal-e Erganak, within Chahardara District, is under OA=
G control. Reportedly, OAG members rarely establish checkpoints along this =
route due to the low number of potential targets, such as ANSF members or G=
OA employees&mdash;off-duty and/or wearing civilian clothes&mdash;travellin=
g between the two provincial capitals. Establishing permanent positions wou=
ld help, in any event, pro-government air forces identifying and targeting =
them in a rather unpopulated area. Criminal activity along this route, howe=
ver, is assessed to be relatively high, although it is unclear whether the =
individuals behind such activity are independent groups or members of warri=
ng parties acting individually.<br /><br />Since late 2019, the Kunduz-Maza=
r-e Sharif Road has seen an increased traffic as a result of a deterioratin=
g security along the alternative route, via Pul-e Khumri City of Baghlan Pr=
ovince. Until then, due to either the risk of being mistaken for ANSF/GOA p=
ersonnel or the victim of OCG activity, civilians travelling between Kunduz=
 and Balkh usually opted for the latter road, rather than for the road cros=
sing Chahardara District. Given the new context, OAG members may believe th=
at some ANSF members and GOA employees have recently taking the Kunduz-Maza=
r-e Sharif Road, with opposition groups likely establishing checkpoints mor=
e often.<br /><br />As of INSO records, OAG members have abducted NGO staff=
 in the provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan on six more occasions since the beg=
inning of 2020, all incidents taking place along main roads (see AFGHANISTA=
N/NORTHEAST/R/20032020/#001 and AFGHANISTAN/NORTHEAST/R/15092020/#001). Mul=
tiple reports suggested that part of the OAG abductions of civilians commit=
ted last year could be consequence of the exchange of prisoners agreed by t=
he US and the IEA in Doha, Qatar, on 29 February 2020. In this context, the=
 IEA may not have had 1,000 prisoners in their custody back then to exchang=
e for up to 5,000 IEA prisoners who were in ANSF jails&mdash;as committed i=
n the above-mentioned agreement, with such pressure potentially leading OAG=
 members to, intentionally or mistakenly, abduct civilians unrelated to ANS=
F/GOA, including NGO staff. Other abductions appeared to be related to tran=
sgression of certain behavioural rules which had been previously establishe=
d or communicated by OAG members.</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">ADVICE</=
div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">NGO staff members are advised t=
o never resist armed men and, within reason, comply with their demands, as =
well as work to deescalate a conflict situation which appears likely to lea=
d to violence.<br /><br />At the same time, NGO staff members are recommend=
ed to make conflict actors aware of their employment and be prepared to exp=
lain the nature of their programming, while emphasizing the neutral, impart=
ial, and independent nature of their work. NGO personnel are also encourage=
d to avoid carrying any distinctive sign of affiliation with any party to t=
he conflict, including clothing, printed or digital material such as pictur=
es, messages or contacts on personal and professional phones, as this could=
 put them and their NGO at risk.<br /><br />Furthermore, NGOs are advised t=
o build a local network which could help them resolve an incident affecting=
 their staff, including abductions or instances of intimidation.<br /><br /=
>Lastly, NGOs are encouraged to closely monitor political developments arou=
nd the country and conflict activity in areas where they operate and their =
staff reside.</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">ISSUED B=
Y</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<p>SA Northeast, Rub&eacute;n Rivero</p>
<a href=3D"mailto:sa.northeast@afg.ngosafety.org">sa.northeast@afg.ngosafet=
y.org</a>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">INSO SER=
IAL #</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								AFGHANISTAN/NORTHEAST/R/11032021/#001								</div>
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				INSO exists to provide dedicated security services to the NGO community=
. As a free service, INSO and its donors or partners, accept no liability w=
hatsoever for claims as may result from the provision or utilisation of the=
se free services. Whilst every effort is made to the verify data, INSO cann=
ot guarantee the accuracy of information provided. Reproduction of INSO inf=
ormation is prohibited.									<br>
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