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).
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.
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
Related
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).
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.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 19, 2019
At least 50 people have been killed in an air strike and a car bombing in Afghanistan, as U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad prepares to brief U.S. lawmakers on his peace talks with the Taliban.
The September 19 incidents come after the collapse of negotiations between Washington and the militants and just days ahead of a presidential election.
Officials said at least 30 civilians were killed and 40 wounded in an air strike conducted by the Afghan security forces, backed by U.S. air support, in eastern Afghanistan, while at least 20 people were killed and almost 100 wounded in a car bombing in the war-wracked country’s south.
The air strike was aimed at destroying a hideout used by Islamic State militants, but it accidentally targeted farmers near a field, three government officials said.
Sohrab Qaderi, a provincial council member in eastern Nangarhar Province, said a drone strike killed 30 workers in a pine-nut field and at least 40 others were injured.
Attullah Khogyani, a spokesman for Nangarhar’s governor, told RFE/RL the air strike occurred in the Khogyani district. “There are fears civilians are among the dead, and we are carrying out an investigation to identify the bodies,” he said.
The Afghan Defense Ministry confirmed the strike, but refused to share casualty details immediately. U.S. forces were not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, officials said a Taliban car-bomb attack in Zabul Province killed at least 20 people and wounded 97 on September 19.
The attack targeted an intelligence-services building in the city of Qalat and also hit the city hospital, Rahmatullah Yarmal, the provincial governor, told RFE/RL.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, said his group was responsible for the attack.
Officials told Tolo News that “ambulances have also been called from Kandahar city to transfer the wounded to hospitals in Kandahar Province. Most of the victims have been taken to private hospitals.”
Two recent attacks claimed by the militants killed at least 48 people in Afghanistan, although Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s chief negotiator, told the BBC on September 18 that the “doors are open” to a resumption of talks to end the 18-year war.
Taliban negotiators have refused to talk directly with the government in Kabul, labeling them as “puppets” of the West.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, is due to brief a House of Representatives committee on peace negotiations.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee said that Khalilzad will hold a classified briefing for the entire panel early on September 19.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa
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Khalilzad
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 19, 2019
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, will brief a House of Representatives committee on peace negotiations in a compromise after the panel subpoenaed him in frustration over his refusal to meet with its members.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee said that Khalilzad will hold a classified briefing for the entire panel early on September 19.
The closed session will be followed by a public hearing on the U.S. administration’s Afghanistan policy with Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs. Karen Freeman, assistant to the administrator in the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development, will also testify.
Democrat Eliot Engel, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement on September 18 that “while I would have preferred to hear from Ambassador Khalilzad in an open setting, I’m glad our members will have this long overdue opportunity to press for answers on the peace plan.”
The Democrat-led House committee said it had been frustrated over the Trump administration’s failure to allow briefings by Khalilzad. Khalilzad has briefed members of the Senate, which is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, but he had declined three requests to appear before the House committee.
The panel had issued a subpoena on September 12, ordering Khalilzad to testify on September 19.
“It shouldn’t have taken a subpoena to get the State Department to work with this committee and allow us to perform our oversight duties,” the congressman added.
Khalilzad has held nine rounds of talks with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, but has said little in public about the negotiations to end the 18-year war. The Taliban negotiators have refused to talk directly with the Afghan government.
Khalilzad reported that he had reached an agreement in principle with the Taliban in which Washington would pull out troops and the militants would promise to break with Al-Qaeda and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for terrorists.
However, the peace talks collapsed last week after President Donald Trump cited an attack that killed a U.S. soldier as his reason for calling off negotiations.
Trump proclaimed the negotiations “dead” and he scrapped planned secret talks with the group at Camp David.
The Taliban on September 18 said “doors are open” to resuming talks with the United States despite continuing violence ahead of a presidential election in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, made the statement after two recent attacks claimed by the militants killed at least 48 people in Afghanistan.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
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Ashraf Ghani
Ariana: The state-builder electoral ticket held a campaign rally inside the presidential palace on Wednesday. The fortified compound hosted thousands of Ghani’s supporters. The participants of the gathering entered into the palace through the building of the Administrative Office of the President. Rival candidates have always accused President Ghani of misusing government resources. Click here to read more (external link).
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