Two Killed In Roadside Blast In Southern Afghanistan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 21, 2019
Two civilians have been killed in a roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, officials said on September 21.
Five people were also wounded in the September 20 attack in southern Kandahar Province, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the Spin Boldak district, but the Taliban are active in the province.
Elsewhere, two blasts rocked the capital, Kabul, late on September 20, police said, adding no casualties were reported.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for those attacks.
Across Afghanistan, militant attacks have continued as the country prepares for presidential elections later this month, while U.S.-Taliban talks over a peace deal have collapsed.
Casualties since the talks fell apart less than two weeks ago are now at least 331, including 96 killed, according to a count from Reuters.
A Taliban truck bombing destroyed a hospital in southern Afghanistan on September 19. Afghan officials on August 20 said 39 people had died in the attack, nearly double the original figure given, with 140 wounded.
The Taliban said the target of the attack in Qalat, the capital of Zabul Province, was a nearby building housing the government’s intelligence department.
President Ashraf Ghani promised measures on September 20 to prevent civilian casualties in the war against militants, a day after at least 30 civilians were killed in a U.S. drone strike in eastern Nangarhar Province.
Ghani said he had introduced “checks and balances” to stop night raids and attacks leading to the loss of innocent lives.
He was speaking at an election rally in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province.
Ghani said he had ordered investigations into recent incidents in which the Afghan forces accidentally targeted civilians. He did not comment directly on the U.S. drone strike.
U.S. security officials in Afghanistan said the drone strike was intended to destroy a hideout used by Islamic State fighters.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, AP, and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Afghan Officials Cause Stir at Torkham Crossing Ceremony
Durand Line
Tolo News: The opening ceremony of the 24-hour crossing at Torkham was held on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Imran Khan and a number of Afghan government officials, including Nangarhar governor Shah Mahmoud Miakhail and acting Minister of Public Works Yama Yari, in attendance. The presence of Afghan officials at the 24-hour Torkham Crossing ceremony has caused a controversy, because Torkham is on the Durand Line, which Pakistan claims as its border and Afghanistan does not. Former national security chief and presidential candidate Rahmatullah Nabil says he has information that President Ghani has recognized the Durand Line as a border between Afghanistan and Pakistan for his own personal interests. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Toofan Harirod Wins APL Cup For Third Time
Tolo News: Toofan Harirod F.C. won the Afghanistan Premier League’s (APL) Cup for the second year in a row and for the third time in its career after beating Shaheen Asmayee F.C. which has won the title four times. The only goal of the match was scored by Toofan’s Hatam Shirdil at 95th minute of the match. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Sports News
Rabbani Accuses “Presidential Palace” Of Monopolizing Power
Salahuddin Rabbani
Tolo News: Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, during Friday’s eight-year anniversary of the death of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, said that the Presidential Palace’s efforts to monopolize power in the last five years have weakened the system. Speaking in the ceremony at the Loya Jirga tent Rabbani warned that the election commission will be responsible for any tragedy that occurs due to electoral fraud. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – September 20, 2019
CIA behind US drone strike on Afghan civilians: Analyst
Press TV
September 20, 2019
US drone strikes that have left a host of innocent civilians dead or injured over the past years in Afghanistan have not been conducted as Americans claim on wrong intelligence or a “mistake” but are coordinated by the CIA, a political analyst and former US intelligence officer says.
“Unfortunately a lot of the casualties that are civilians are not a mistake; these are just the decisions that are made at the CIA, that we are going to go ahead and sacrifice these civilians in order to target these particularly high value targets,” said former American intelligence linguist, Scott Rickard, during an interview with Press TV’s The Debate program on Thursday, referring to militant hideouts the US military claims to target via its indiscriminate drone attacks.
“So there are many situations in which the Americans do knowingly target civilians,” Rickard added.
The American political analyst also went on to say that the CIA was “very much in charge” of deciding whether or not Washington would withdraw troops from Afghanistan and that US President Donald Trump had “no say” in troop withdrawals since Washington enjoyed financial gains from the opium trade rampant in and out of the war-inflicted country.
“The elephant in the room not being discussed is the tremendous financial gain that is being made by the opium and heroin industry and the involvement of not only the Americans but other players in the region that have made tremendous amounts of cash and revenue off of this opium industry for decades now… The Americans are seen as occupiers and they are absolutely gaining the most from the opium industry, from both illicit drugs and the pharmaceutical industry,” Rickard said.
About 14,000 US troops are in Afghanistan, allegedly to train and advise Afghan security forces and prepare them to take on the Taliban and Daesh.
The Taliban’s five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end following the US invasion in 2001, but 18 years on, Washington is seeking a truce with the militants, who still control large swathes of territory.
The Taliban has so far rejected a proposal to lay down arms and instead called on the US to end the use of force in Afghanistan. It also insists that talks cannot move ahead until foreign forces leave the country.
Trump ended the talks and canceled a possible meeting with Taliban leaders in the US after finding out that an American soldier had been killed in a Taliban attack that killed 12 people in the capital Kabul on the same day as talks were to take place.
According to the United Nations, nearly 4,000 civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of the year.
Afghan President Vows Steps To Prevent Civilian Casualties After Deadly Attacks
Ghani
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
September 20, 2019
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has promised to take steps to prevent civilian casualties in the war against militants, a day after at least 30 civilians were killed in a U.S. drone strike in eastern Nangarhar Province.
Ghani said on September 20 that he had introduced several “checks and balances” to stop night raids and attacks leading to loss of innocent lives, and added that new measures to protect civilians were being implemented.
He made the pledges while addressing an election rally in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province, ahead of presidential polls scheduled for September 28.
The September 19 drone strike in Nangarhar killed at least 30 people who were working in a pine-nut field and wounded at least 40.
The Afghan Defense Ministry and a U.S. military spokesman confirmed the strike.
The drone strike came despite village elders from the Wazir Tangi area having warned the local governor in a letter about their plans to recruit 200 workers and children to pluck the pine nuts.
The letter, dated September 7, was sent in an effort to help protect workers from getting caught in clashes between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Islamic State militants in the mountainous region.
Meanwhile, a local official said on September 20 that a Taliban suicide bombing of a hospital in southern Afghanistan the previous day killed 39 people, almost doubling the initial death toll of 20.
Gul Islam Syaal, a spokesman for the governor of the southern Zabul Province, said the number of wounded in the attack in the provincial capital of Qalat also rose to 140.
“Only two of those killed were security force members, and the rest of them are civilians, including women, children, patients, and visitors,” he said. “The hospital is completely destroyed.”
The attacks, which came after the collapse of peace negotiations between Washington and the militants, occurred the same day U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad briefed U.S. lawmakers in a closed-door session on his talks with the Taliban.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa
Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Related
Team Kabul Conquers Women’s Quadrilateral Football Tournament
Tolo News: The final match of the Afghanistan Women’s Quadrilateral Football Tournament was held on Thursday in the Football Federation stadium in Kabul. The final match pitted Kabul against Herat and Kabul was victorious, 1-0. Women’s teams from Balkh, Kabul, Bamyan and Herat provinces participated in the tournament. Click here to read more (external link).
Top US diplomat accuses Afghanistan’s government of corruption
Pompeo (front-left), and Ghani (back-right).
Press TV
September 19, 2019
The administration of US President Donald Trump has accused Afghanistan’s government of corruption and financial mismanagement, and said it would cut more than $160 million in direct funding to the war-torn country.
“We stand against those who exploit their positions of power and influence to deprive the Afghan people of the benefits of foreign assistance and a more prosperous future,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Thursday.
“Due to identified Afghan Government corruption and financial mismanagement, the US Government is returning approximately $100 million to the US Treasury that was intended for a large energy infrastructure project,” he added.
The top US diplomat said the United States was taking back $100 million committed for a major energy project, saying that Washington would instead fund it directly rather than sending the money to Afghan authorities.
He also said the United States would withhold $60 million in planned assistance to Afghanistan’s procurement authority.
“We expect the Afghan government to demonstrate a clear commitment to fight corruption, to serve the Afghan people and to maintain their trust,” Pompeo said.
“Afghan leaders who fail to meet this standard should be held accountable.”
Washington has repeatedly complained of graft in Afghanistan, but the latest criticism comes after new tensions with President Ashraf Ghani over US talks with the Taliban militant group.
Ghani, who is up for re-election on September 28, has voiced strong concern about the talks between the US and Taliban because it has excluded the Afghan government.
The militant group, which now controls or has influence in about half of Afghanistan’s territory, says it does not recognize the government in Kabul.
The Taliban have held several rounds of direct talks with US officials in the Qatari capital Doha since October to pull out American forces in exchange for concessions.
Last week, Trump abruptly canceled secret talks with the Taliban at his Camp David retreat that were planned for September 8 and has since said the talks are “dead”.
Trump called off the negotiations after a US soldier and another NATO service member from Romania were killed in a bombing Thursday in Kabul that was claimed by the Taliban.
Trump has repeatedly advocated for bringing US troops back from Afghanistan. He said last month that the US plans to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan from 14,000 to 8,600 and then will determine further drawdowns.
US troops were first sent to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks to overthrow a ruling Taliban regime.