Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani’s Special Representative for Reforms and Good Governance Ahmad Zia Massoud on Tuesday said that the majority of cabinet ministers were appointed on the basis of political connections. He said that even the president was not able to question the weak performance of these ministers because of the political support they have.
Tolo News: A Ministry of Interior (MoI) general was on Monday sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Center’s (ACJC) primary court after being found guilty of accepting a substantial bribe. The ACJC prosecutor said the deputy chief of MoI policy, Gen. Wase Rauofi, was arrested after accepting a $150,000 USD bribe
Michael Hughes: US and Afghan intelligence agencies apparently cannot stop themselves from supporting human rights-abusing strongmen like Perim Qul in their desperate effort to defeat the Taliban despite all evidence indicating the strategy has completely backfired. The insurgency cannot be defeated, however, if the Afghan government continues to alienate the population by backing predatory militias who
The Boston Globe: There is much that is compelling about the story of Captain Niloofar Rahmani, Afghanistan’s first female military pilot, who just completed flight training in the United States. It is a remarkable achievement for any Afghan woman to rise to such public professional heights. All of which makes her recently revealed request for asylum
Washington Post: For 30 years, Gen. Abdurrashid Dostum has reigned as northern Afghanistan’s untouchable warrior-king: first as a ruthless pro-communist general, later as an armed U.S. ally against the Taliban and finally as a reliable, if unsavory, political boss who could deliver votes from his ethnic Uzbek followers. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Batur Eshchi, son of Ahmad Eshchi, the former governor of Jawzjan province, has dismissed so-called forensic evidence issued by the first vice president’s office regarding his father’s case and said the document is fake. Eshchi claims to have been beaten and sexually assaulted on First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum’s orders. On Friday,
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan December 22, 2016 Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum has refused a summons by the country’s attorney general over allegations that he and his bodyguards assaulted and abducted a political rival at a sports event in northern Afghanistan last month. On December 22, Dostum’s chief of staff, Enayatullah Babur Farhamand, called
Tolo News: The office of Mohammad Sarwar Danish, the second vice president of Afghanistan, on Thursday rejected reports that former Hizb-e-Islami warlord Zardad Faryadi was released from detention on the basis of a letter of guarantee by Danish. Danish’s office said in a press release that Faryadi was not detained following his return to Kabul and
Tolo News: The United States has called for an impartial and serious investigation into allegations made by former member of National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, Ahmad Eshchi, against the First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum. A spokesman for U.S Secretary of State John Kirby said they are upset about the alleged illegal arrest and treatment of
Tolo News: Michael McKinley, United States (U.S) ambassador to Afghanistan, on Saturday said allegations lodged by Ahmad Eschi, against First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum should be investigated transparently. McKinley said he was shocked to hear of the allegations by Eshchi that Dostum had allegedly ordered his men to beat him up and sexually assault