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US Sees Significant Decline in Fatalities Among Afghan Forces, Civilians

25th July, 2020 · admin 5 Comments

Khalilzad

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 25, 2020

ISLAMABAD – The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan said Friday that violence in the war-torn country had lately been “too high,” but that fatalities among Afghan government security forces battling the Taliban insurgency had dropped 35 percent to 40 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the special representative for Afghan reconciliation, also noted that no American or coalition solider had been killed by the Taliban since the United States signed a landmark agreement with the insurgent group in February to end the nearly 19-year-old Afghan war, America’s longest.

Khalilzad, who negotiated and sealed the deal, shared the assessment while speaking to an online forum in Washington arranged by the United States Institute of Peace.

“This year, the number of Afghan security forces killed is between 35 and 40% less than last year for the same period and the number of civilians killed is also significantly lower for the same period compared to last year,” the Afghan-born U.S. envoy said.

Hurdles to peace talks

Khalilzad’s assessment of the conflict contradict assertions by Afghan authorities that insurgent violence has sharply risen to record levels after the US-Taliban deal, killing hundreds of government security forces and civilians.

He lamented, however, that the recent intensification in violence and a protracted prisoner swap between the Kabul government and the Taliban stand in the way of the opening of much-awaited peace negotiations between Afghan parties to the conflict. Both crucial next steps are stipulated in the U.S.-Taliban pact.

Khalilzad said the Trump administration was “not satisfied” with the current level of violence and was working with both Afghan adversaries to encourage them to reduce it further.

“I am hoping that as we move closer to intra-Afghan negotiations, which I hope will happen in the coming weeks, that violence will be less than it is now,” Khalilzad stressed.

A spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, in an apparent response to Khalilzad’s remarks, tweeted Saturday that insurgent violence has not decreased.

“Taliban killed 46 civilians and wounded 93 in 401 terrorist activities in just one week. Peace requires commitment and will, which aren’t visible in the actions of the Taliban, said Javid Faisal.

The proposed dialogue is aimed at reaching a permanent cease-fire and a political formula for ending decades of hostilities in Afghanistan. But the opening of the dialogue is directly tied to the conclusion of the prisoner swap, as outlined in the February 29 accord.

Khalilzad said Friday that he was pleased to see the Afghan government had released more than 4,400 insurgent prisoners out of the promised 5,000 in its custody. In turn, the Taliban have released 861 from the objective of 1,000 Afghan forces, he added.

“Most of the distance has been traveled in this difficult road but the last mile remains very challenging,” the U.S. envoy said. He added that Washington was committed to working with both sides to help complete the prisoner release so that intra-Afghan negotiations could begin.

Khalilzad spoke a day after the Taliban announced that if the prisoner swap is concluded before the Muslim festival of Eid ul Adha starting July 31, the insurgent group was ready to engage in intra-Afghan talks immediately after the three-day festivities.

600 still held

But the Afghan government has refused to free a last set of about 600 insurgent prisoners, saying they were involved in serious crimes, including killing innocent Afghans. The Taliban have denounced the charges as baseless, saying Kabul is using “lame excuses” to delay the peace process.

Washington has also repeatedly urged the Afghan leadership to wind up the prisoner swap to pave the way for the peace talks. The Taliban have ruled out participation in the talks until all their 5,000 prisoners are set free.

Khalilzad said that the United States has been delivering on its commitments since signing the agreement with the Taliban and has been reducing the number of U.S. forces to the level of 8,600 personnel, as well as vacating five bases in Afghanistan.

The remaining American troops and their coalition partners are required to withdraw by July 2021.

“But the withdrawal is very much conditions-based and we will see whether the Taliban honor their commitments, because our decisions, our commitments, are contingent on their commitment,” Khalilzad said.

He elaborated that, among other commitments, the Taliban are required to prevent transnational terrorists from using insurgent-held Afghan territory for attacks against the U.S. and its allies. The insurgents, he added, have also committed to participate in the intra-Afghan talks and agree on “a comprehensive permanent cease-fire.”

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Posted in Civilian Injuries and Deaths, Peace Talks, Security, Taliban, US-Afghanistan Relations | Tags: Afghan Army, Ashraf Ghani Government, Taliban prisoner release, Zalmay Khalilzad |
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5 thoughts on “US Sees Significant Decline in Fatalities Among Afghan Forces, Civilians”

  1. Samarqandi says:
    July 25, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    You sick *dogs; just,
    love
    to
    see the
    paid combatants get killed
    under
    your imposed savageries- all
    on
    expenses
    of
    the
    lives of the young people
    of
    Afghanistan.
    *

  2. Samarqandi says:
    July 25, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    *GET OUT !!!!!
    ===
    ==
    =
    You
    stupid invaders; all
    have
    mental illness- obviously;
    severe
    cases
    of it !
    ^

  3. Samarqandi says:
    July 25, 2020 at 11:25 pm

    *Unbelievable; right,
    in
    front
    of
    the
    whole world- COWARDS !
    *

  4. Samarqandi says:
    July 26, 2020 at 3:35 am

    Creating
    killing fields
    across the country .
    *

  5. Samarqandi says:
    July 26, 2020 at 3:37 am

    *TURKEY AND *IRAN
    ===============
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    HOLD
    THE
    “ KEY”
    to
    PEACE
    IN
    AFGHANISTAN
    •———————•
    •———————•
    *YES !
    ••••••••
    Believe it or not- it won’t matter either, if
    *you
    like it or not !
    ==============
    ==============
    Turkey and Iran
    together,
    have
    the
    *real key
    to be able to
    initiate
    a
    viable peace process
    for
    Afghanistan-
    *************
    BEYOND THE SHADOW
    OF
    ANY
    DOUBT !
    ================
    ===========
    =====
    HERE
    ARE THE
    PROOFS !!!!!
    ================================
    ================================
    —————-
    —————-
    —————-
    GENERAL FACTS
    ============
    ============
    .
    Turkey :>—
    ((with a population
    of
    over 83 millions))
    .
    is
    still,
    ((directly and/or indirectly))
    heavily manipulated,
    by
    the
    political games and displays
    of
    the
    Western World.
    .

    Turkey have had
    close diplomatic ties, with the west, especially, since the era
    of
    the
    Westernized
    Atta Turk. As a later
    NATO member
    it was obligated
    to join the
    Western alliance
    by
    taking
    a nominal but, surely, an active
    role
    in
    Western
    military invasion
    of
    Afghanistan.
    .
    Turkey is host
    to
    many
    important
    Western military bases
    and
    most
    Turkish
    generals, are
    educated and trained
    in
    the
    West.
    .
    —————————————
    —————————————
    —————————————
    Iran :>—
    ((with a population
    of
    over 83 millions))
    .
    Iran, ((which has a long
    and
    closely interactive
    case history with
    the
    Western World)),
    is
    highly dependent
    on
    oil revenues
    and
    easy access
    to
    global markets
    for its
    urgently-needed
    domestic consumptions and exports.
    .
    Tight embargoes and other forms
    of
    restrictions could easily disrupt
    normal lives
    for
    the
    ordinary local folks
    inside
    Iran. That is how the
    Anglo/US allies, pull it all
    against
    Iran
    on
    their up and down
    diplomatic interactions nowadays- which,
    of coarse,
    turns it always
    flaky and unpredictable.

    Iran, as a strategic
    Middle Eastern country,
    carries
    considerable weights
    in
    politics
    of
    the
    region and even beyond.

    —————————————
    —————————————
    —————————————
    —————————————
    —————————————

    ARGUMENTS :
    ******************
    *********
    *****
    —————————————
    There are more than
    450 million
    Muslims
    living
    in and around
    Afghanistan; including nearby Turkey.
    ===========================
    .,,,.Pakistan; more than 200 millions
    …..Afghanistan; about…40 millions
    …..Central Asia about….80 millions
    …..Iran; more than………,83 millions
    …,,Turkey; more than……83 millions;
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    -which
    all
    adds up to almost
    half
    a
    billion- more than the combined population
    of
    the
    US and Britain..

    We all know that the Islamic leaders
    of
    Central Asia would never be able
    to
    help
    initiate any independent
    “peace initiative”
    on
    their own without the
    Russian’s
    approval- by the same toke,
    it
    is
    well-known that Pakistani
    politicians and field generals
    are all
    serving the exclusive nterests
    of
    their
    Anglo/US overlords
    =============
    =============

    We
    can only
    appeal directly
    to
    people of Pakistan and Central Asia
    to
    stand by the people
    of
    Afghanistan in regards
    to
    any facilitation
    in getting
    help
    to be able to initiate any
    civilized peace process that will bring
    honor, peace and harmony
    to
    all the oppressed people
    of
    the region.
    ========
    ========
    ========
    logically though;
    Turkey and Iran
    are the only
    Islamic countries
    that could be functional as an integral part
    of
    the equation that would
    be able
    to,
    somehow, launch dialogues and persuade
    the
    Western
    military and political leaderships
    to
    stop savage continuation
    of
    aggressive policies
    and
    seek honorable and impartial ways
    to
    seeks for find
    a
    workable route
    for the
    restoration
    of
    a
    normal and civilized
    environment
    in
    Afghanistan.
    •
    It is all obvious
    that
    the
    Western military and political
    megalomaniacs are
    still heavily
    counting
    and
    relying
    on
    a
    unilateral war of attrition that, some how someday hopefully would magically
    deliver them
    to
    the verge
    a; so called,
    “hypothetically unconditional victory”.
    .
    It is a case history which has always worked out
    aa
    a
    last
    resort
    by
    the
    Western intense
    International
    “political and military involvements”
    in
    various hot spots around the globe.
    which, ironically, had always been
    aggressively and relentlessly
    backed up
    and
    played out; specially,
    at
    their final
    stages- obviously; all
    on
    expense of the local
    innocent lives during various modern
    times since the Second World War- Afghanistan
    is
    no exception
    to
    “the rule” !
    ===============================
    ===============================
    .
    Turkish and Iranian
    unified and impartial stand
    would definitely be the only way
    to
    encourage the
    Western
    military and political leaders to
    formulate
    a
    realistic
    “peace plan”.

    It could really happen, if those two
    populous Islamic countries
    resolve their irrelevant
    historic difference
    and
    voice
    their sincere concerns
    as one unified Islamic front.

    We don’t want
    to
    see similar
    naive approaches, by taking sides with the artificially Western-created
    fanatic combatant
    that led
    to
    destruction
    of
    “Great Syria”.

    The foreign-imposed fanatics were used
    to ignite
    the
    warfares and then
    Turkey and Iran
    were forced
    to
    actively take side
    that then
    led
    to
    further
    destruction and division
    of
    proud ancient Syria.
    ===================
    ===================
    ===================

    To
    make it short; we
    ask
    all the
    honorable
    Muslim people
    of
    Great
    *Turkey and *Iran
    ==================
    “DIRECTly”
    to
    encourage their
    governments
    to
    unify under one
    “impartial umbrella”
    for
    the sake
    of
    restoration
    of
    a viable peaceful environment
    for all
    the
    people
    of
    Afghanistan.
    •

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