Pashtun Rights Movement Complicates Pakistan-U.S. Endgame in Afghanistan

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Manzoor Pashteen

Michael Hughes: A crackdown of Pashtun activists in Pakistan has drawn international opprobrium at an inconvenient time for Islamabad and Washington as they try to shape a public narrative to make a peace pact with the Taliban as palatable as possible.

The Trump administration wants the U.S.-Taliban exit deal to be seen as a victory for peace rather than a humiliating defeat at the hands of rag-tag insurgents who will continue destabilizing Afghanistan and the region.

In order to do this, the United States wants the world to believe that Pakistan has suddenly stopped using its northwest tribal areas as an extremist incubator to “keep the pot boiling” in Afghanistan. However, allegations suggesting otherwise that have recently gone viral threaten to upend Washington’s story line.

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There is ‘Chance’ of Taliban Deal: Trump

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Donald Trump

Tolo News: US President Donald Trump has told reporters on Tuesday that there is a chance of making a deal with the Taliban, AP reported. “So, we are negotiating with the Taliban. We’ve been negotiating with them for a while. We will see what happens. It’s a chance of making a deal. It is a chance,” Trump said. Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghan Vice President Tells Supporters To Protest Ghani’s Reelection

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Dostum

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 19, 2020

KABUL– Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum has called on his supporters to take to the streets to protest the reelection of President Ashraf Ghani.

But reports from across Afghanistan say that, despite Dostum’s rallying cry, there was little sign of major protests or celebrations by Afghans weary of the dragged-out election process.

Ghani was declared the winner of the presidential election on February 18 – nearly five months after the vote was held. The long delay was caused by a lengthy recount undertaken amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud.

The results were immediately rejected by Ghani’s main rival, Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, and his running mate, Dostum.

Abdullah vowed on February 18 that he would set up an “all-inclusive” separate government – a move reminiscent of the angrily contested 2014 election in which Ghani was also declared the winner.

Abdullah also sent letters on February 19 to foreign embassies in Kabul asking them not to recognize what he described as the “illegal” election results.

Meanwhile, Dostum said on February 19 that the final official vote count by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) amounted to a “coup.”

Dostum called on supporters at a rally in his northern home province of Jowzjan to “hit the streets” to celebrate what he described as a victory for Abdullah.

“I, as your leader…ask you to support Dr. Abdullah with all your life and power,” Dostum told his supporters at the gathering.

There has been a muted response from the international community to the release of the final official vote count.

Dostum had been Ghani’s running mate in Afghanistan’s 2014 presidential election. But the 65-year-old ethnic Uzbek warlord has switched allegiances many times since the 1970s — fighting alongside Soviet forces against mujahedin guerrillas and then with the former Northern Alliance that opposed the Taliban regime.

Dostum has been vice president mostly in name alone, spending most of the past four years in exile after being accused of rape and kidnapping.

With additional reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and TOLONews

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

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‘11 Civilians’ Killed in Herat Drone Strike: Residents

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US MQ-9 Reaper drone (file photo)

Tolo News: A group of Herat residents on Tuesday claimed that “at least eleven civilians were killed” in a drone strike in Kashk-e-Kohna district in the western province on Monday evening. Massouda Karokhi, an MP from Herat, also confirmed the incident and the casualties. According to the residents, “eight children” were among those killed in the “drone attack.” Click here to read more (external link).

Human Rights Group Report ‘Confirms’ Sex Abuse in Logar

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Tolo News: The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in a report on Tuesday claimed confirmation of the involvement of several teachers and school officials in the sexual abuse of children in Logar province. According to the Human Rights Commission, “credible evidence” shows that a number of students who became the victims of sexual abuse either left the schools or were dropped from their schools. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghan President Ghani Wins Second Term, Abdullah Denounces Results

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Ashraf Ghani

Ayesha Tanzeem
VOA News
February 18, 2020

ISLAMABAD – Five months after Afghanistan’s presidential election, the country’s top electoral body Tuesday declared incumbent President Ashraf Ghani a winner for a second term while his top rival Abdullah Abdullah’s team called the decision “illegal.”

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan said Ghani won 50.6 percent of the votes cast while Abdullah had 39.5 percent, which fell in line with the preliminary results announced in December.

“This announcement is unacceptable. We stand against it. We will use all options on the table,” Faridoon Khwazoon, the spokesman of Abdullah’s election, team told RFE / RL’s Pashto language Radio Azadi.

Days earlier, Abdullah’s supporters, including General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the first vice president of Afghanistan and a key political figure in the northern parts of the country, warned of setting up a parallel government if the commission announced what they said were fraudulent results.

Calling the elections “historic,” the head of IEC Hawa Alam Nuristani announced that 31.5 percent of the total turnout of 1.8 million voters were women.

She also said her commission implemented all of the decisions taken by the Independent Election Complaints Commission, including carrying out a partial recount of 300,000 disputed votes.

The results of the election held in September of last year were repeatedly delayed due to technical issues, allegations of fraud, and protests from candidates. After the announcement of preliminary results in December, thousands of complaints were filed with the Independent Election Complaints Commission triggering audits and recounts.

With just over 50 percent of a total votes cast, Ghani has less than a million votes to his credit in a country of an estimated 34 million. Around 10 million registered to vote in this election.

The results come days ahead of an expected deal between Taliban and the United States that could pave the way for the U.S. to withdraw its troops and end its longest ever war.

The deal is also expected to lead to the start of formal negotiations between Taliban and a representative group of other Afghan factions, including women and civil society activists.

Afghanistan has its first robotic waiter – but is that a good thing?

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One fast-food restaurant in Afghanistan recently made a buzz by employing a robot as a waiter. Source: @IsmailHotak1

France24:  One fast-food restaurant in Afghanistan recently made a buzz by employing a robot as a waiter. Many customers duly headed to the Times Restaurant in Kabul to see this high-end tech in action. Interestingly, just by having this robot in Afghanistan’s capital as a waiter has highlighted some of the concerns among the country’s conservative families. For example many of these families have not been happy with having male waiters, so this robot waiter has solved a problem. Click here to read more (external link).