Al Jazeera: United States President Donald Trump has said he hopes the release of two Western prisoners held hostage by the Afghan Taliban this week could help pave the way to an end to the war in Afghanistan. Trump thanked Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for his support in securing the release of US citizen Kevin King and Australian Tim Weeks as part
Tolo News: NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, referring to the delayed election process in Afghanistan, said “it is important” for Afghan electoral organizations to ”finalize the counting” and “present their results.” Click here to read more (external link). Related We Cannot Invalidate Differing Votes: IEC Chairwoman (Hawa Alam Nooristani) Mohaqiq Accuses IEC of Favoring Ghani’s Team
Ariana: An official at the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) stated on Monday that preparations for a possible runoff are underway in the commission. However, election watchdogs stress that IEC does not have the capability of managing a possible runoff. Click here to read more (external link). More Election Related News Nabil Boycotts Vote Recounting
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 17, 2019 Kabul has blamed the Taliban for a delay in the exchange of three extremist prisoners held in Afghanistan for two Western hostages that the militant group has been holding. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office on November 16 said the Taliban prisoners “are still being held by the Afghan
Ariana: Afghan lawmakers on Wednesday described the release of Taliban’s top prisoners by President Ashraf Ghani as a national treason. Nilofar Ibrahimi, a member of parliament from Badakhshan province, said it was “a shameful deal” for the releasing of the killers of Afghan people. “If peace is an excuse, the releasing of 850 prisoners was enough.
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan November 12, 2019 KABUL — The Afghan government has released three key Taliban prisoners, including Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajjuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network, in exchange for two professors of the American University of Afgahnistan in Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced. The prisoners
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 10, 2019 The leading challenger to incumbent Ashraf Ghani in Afghanistan’s presidential election more than a month ago has withdrawn his team of observers from the ongoing and acrimonious official recount. Candidate and longtime Ghani rival Abdullah Abdullah, the current chief executive in a power-sharing deal that cleared the path
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 5, 2019 Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has criticized a new peace plan put forward by President Ashraf Ghani as an unrealistic “wish list.” In September, U.S. President Donald Trump stopped months-long negotiations with the Taliban amid ongoing militant violence. Ghani’s team last month released a seven-point proposal aimed at
Michael Hughes: It is impossible to decipher the true motives that drove Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani to suddenly resign from his post although his allegiance to CEO Abdullah Abdullah, President Ashraf Ghani’s primary electoral opponent, is likely a factor. However, there are also other reasons to be considered including the reality that he was
Tolo News: Newly-available documents seen by TOLOnews indicate that the acting minister of finance–and top adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani– Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi, received a $450,000 salary from California State University in 2015, where he had served as president between 2011 and 2014. These documents—along with others shown to Tolonews earlier in the month—reveal a