Michael Hughes: President-elect Joe Biden may have no choice but to allow Zalmay Khalilzad to stay on as U.S. envoy to Afghanistan for reasons of continuity amid the ongoing negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban. Khalilzad, a native Afghan turned American cowboy, is not taking any chances, however, as he aggressively pushes President Ashraf Ghani
Ariana: Former Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal said President Ashraf Ghani has violated 80 percent of the constitution during his presidency. Zakhilwal said the Afghan peace process is a US initiative that has caused concern for Ghani. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Kai Eide, former head of UNAMA has pointed a finger at Afghanistan’s leaders and said there is little unity among them and that hostile statements made could undermine the peace process. Referring specifically to the first vice president, Eide said: “I see Amrullah Saleh, the vice president, constantly (making) what I would call rather
Ariana: On Monday, the New York Times reported that after Ahmad Jawad Hijri, the spokesman for the governor of Takhar Province, told the media that children were wounded in an Afghan airstrike in the province in October, government jailed him for three days and then fired him. …Ghani administration has muzzled provincial spokesmen and district
Ariana: Some Afghan politicians said on Sunday that President Ashraf Ghani has cultivated new friendships with some of his critics in order to avoid an interim government and to stay in power. This comes after Ghani appointed Mohammad Mohaqiq, head of the Wahdat-i-Islami Party, as his senior political and military adviser and introduced Rahila Dostum
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 9, 2021 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said that his goal is to transition power to an “elected successor,” and that he seeks a “positive peace” with the Taliban. Speaking alongside first lady Rula Ghani in an interview with CNN on January 8, the Afghan president addressed the start
Tolo News: The Ministry of Interior Affairs says the government plans to take control of a network of over 5,000 madrassas as part of a drive to mainstream religious schools by putting them under the control of the state. “It will be a good move if they operate under the control of the government. This
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 7, 2021 At least 17 Afghan civilians and members of the Afghan security forces were reported killed across Afghanistan as fighting continued to rage — despite the resumption of intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha aimed at finding an end to decades of war. Afghan government negotiators in the Qatari capital
Ariana: Former Balkh governor and politician Atta Mohammad Noor said he has recently started considering the option of an interim government which he said could help resolve the current crisis. He said he only recently started thinking about this as an option and only after President Ashraf Ghani’s move to summarily dismiss the health minister
Tolo News: The former minister of mines, Wahidullah Shahrani, who was sentenced to 13 months in jail and fined $1.5 million on charges of misuse of authority, on Wednesday accused President Ashraf Ghani of trying to interfere in his judicial proceedings in the court. Shahrani’s aide quoted the Afghan Attorney General Farid Hamidi as saying