The U.S. President, An Afghan ‘Princess,’ And The Impostor

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: If the photos didn’t exist, it might be hard to believe what took place inside the U.S. White House in the summer of 1921. News pictures from the presidential lawn capture the immediate aftermath of a meeting between an Afghan “princess” and President Warren G. Harding. Prominent in the photos is a short, snappily dressed man who identified himself as Rodney S. Wyman, a “naval liaison officer” for the U.S. State Department. Click here to read more (external link).

Construction of Kabul Volleyball Gymnasium to Take Six Months

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Tolo News: The construction of a volleyball gymnasium at the National Olympic Committee’s compound will take six months as its work has progressed by 25% so far, officials said on Friday.  The government has invested 43 million Afs ($55,000) in the construction of the gymnasium that officials said will meet international norms. Click here to read more (external link).

At Least 11 Afghan Civilians Killed In Attacks On First Of Three-Day Cease-Fire

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Radio Free Afghanistan
May 13, 2021

Four separate bomb attacks have killed at least 11 civilians and wounded 13 others just hours after a three-day cease-fire took effect as Afghanistan celebrates the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Fighting has been soaring ahead of a planned pullout of remaining U.S. and other international forces by September 11, but the Taliban and Afghan government earlier this week declared a nationwide cease-fire during the Eid holiday.

Roadside bombs accounted for the bulk of the civilian casualties on May 13, despite no reports of direct fighting between Taliban militants and government forces as they observe the holiday cease-fire.

Five civilians, including a woman and children, were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in the Panjwai district of the southern province of Kandahar, said provincial police spokesman Jamal Naser Barekzai.

Two children were killed and three adults wounded in a separate roadside bomb explosion that struck a taxi in the Maiwand district of the same province, Barekzai added.

In the central province of Ghazni, two civilians were also killed by a roadside bomb, officials said.

In the northern province of Kunduz, the explosion of a sticky bomb attached to a vehicle killed two civilians and wounded 10 others, according to Enhamuddin Rahmani, a spokesman for the province’s police chief.

Afghan security forces had mounted an operation to retake a Taliban-held district outside the capital, Kabul, in the neighboring province of Wardak on May 12 but it was halted to observe the cease-fire.

A day earlier, Taliban fighters had killed or captured some government soldiers and forced others to retreat after storming the district of Nerkh, less than an hour’s drive from Kabul.

On May 13, Afghan men, women, and children around the country flocked to mosques or gathered in open grounds to offer morning prayers at the start of Eid festivities that will last until May 15.

Authorities deployed security personnel to prominent mosques in the capital, Kabul.

President Ashraf Ghani used his annual Eid address to urge the Taliban to agree to a permanent cease-fire now that U.S. and international troops are leaving.

“We don’t want you to surrender, but we want you to accept a political solution. War is not a solution,” he said.

Intra-Afghan peace efforts have stalled since the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban launched talks in Qatar in September 2020, despite international efforts to jump-start the negotiations.

The EU diplomatic mission and UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called for a lasting peace.

During the days before the cease-fire, intense fighting was reported in several provinces, with the Taliban capturing a district some 40 kilometers from Kabul late on May 11.

Around 10,000 U.S. and NATO soldiers were still in the country at the beginning of the month, according to official figures.

The U.S. military’s Central Command, or Centcom, on May 11 estimated that it had completed up to 12 percent of the withdrawal process.

U.S. generals and other officials have expressed concerns that the pullout might lead to the collapse of the Afghan government in the absence of progress on peace talks with the Taliban.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and TOLOnews.com

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036

Blame game begins as Afghanistan situation worsens

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Politico: The U.S. and NATO military withdrawal may still be in its early phases, but the finger-pointing over who will be to blame for losing Afghanistan has already begun. New battlefield gains by the Taliban and a spate of terrorist attacks, including the weekend bombing that killed at least 50 girls, are renewing calls for President Joe Biden to consider leaving some forces behind. Click here to read more (external link).

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The U.S. Is Leaving Afghanistan? Tell That to the Contractors. American firms capitalize on the withdrawal, moving in with hundreds of new jobs.

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NYMag: … 3,300 U.S. troops in the entire country, who, like their NATO colleagues, are all scheduled to leave by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Yet contractors who make up America’s largest force in Afghanistan are beefing up their presence just in time to plug the vacuum that will be left behind. Click here to read more (external link).

‘It’s A Jail’: Afghan Migrants Shun Romanian Asylum Center For Squalor Of Abandoned Buildings

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Humanitarian groups are calling on Romanian authorities to help hundreds of migrants who are living in abandoned buildings in the city of Timisoara. The majority come from Afghanistan and say the squalid conditions are better than living in the local asylum center, where some have claimed they faced abuse.

Taliban Seizes District Near Kabul Ahead Of Eid Cease-Fire

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 11, 2021

Afghan officials say the Taliban have captured a strategic district some 40 kilometers from Kabul, ahead of a three-day cease-fire agreed for later this week and amid the ongoing withdrawal of U.S. and international forces from the war-torn country.

Special forces were deployed in the area on May 12 to win back the Nerkh district after troops made a “tactical retreat,” the Defense Ministry said, adding that the government carried out air strikes at the start of the operation.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group had captured the area the previous day, and that the insurgents seized the police headquarters and an army base.

Several important highways to the country’s central and southern provinces go through Nerkh district, located in Maidan Wardak Province, west of Kabul.

Large swathes of Maidan Wardak and neighboring Logar Province have been controlled or contested for years by the Taliban and have long been used by insurgents as gateways to reach the capital and launch attacks.

The capture of Nerkh comes after the Taliban and the Afghan government declared a cease-fire during the religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan.

The holiday will begin on May 12 or 13, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Fighting has been soaring across the country ahead of a planned pullout of remaining U.S. and international forces by September 11, with Taliban fighters last week taking control of a district in the northern province of Baghlan last week.

On May 11, the U.S. military’s Central Command, or Centcom, estimated that it had completed up to 12 percent of the “retrograde process” — a technical term used by the military to describe a withdrawal of forces and equipment.

It also announced that a base in the southern province of Helmand has been turned over to Afghan forces.

U.S. generals and other officials expressing concerns in recent weeks that it might lead to the collapse of the Afghan government in the absence of progress on stalled peace talks with the Taliban.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036

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