Joe Biden
1TV: US President Joe Biden would not be okay if the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, the White House said on Tuesday. “I don’t think he would say he’d be okay with that,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters when asked if Biden is okay with the Taliban ruling Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
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Taliban militants (file photo)
Radio Free Afghanistan
February 24, 2021
The Taliban has told its members to avoid recruiting or harboring foreign fighters amid doubts about the militants’ commitment to a deal reached with the United States last year that provided for severing links to terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda.
“All chiefs and mujahedin are directed to avoid arbitrary moves to bring in foreign nationals into their ranks or harbor them,” the Taliban said in a statement on February 23.
The group warned its fighters that anyone who makes such an attempt will be removed from their assignments, their group will be dissolved, “and will be referred to the military affairs commission for further punishment.”
Under a U.S.-Taliban deal reached in February last year, all foreign forces are to leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for security guarantees from the militant group, including severing ties with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and refusing to harbor any foreign terrorists.
But the militants have been under criticism by Afghan and U.S. officials for continuing their ties with terrorist groups, in particular with Al-Qaeda. The Taliban has denied the accusations.
“We believe that the top leadership of Al-Qaeda is still under Taliban protection,” Edmund Fitton-Brown, coordinator of the UN’s Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and Taliban Monitoring Team, said earlier this month.
According to the UN monitoring team’s report last month, there are 200 to 500 Al-Qaeda fighters across about 11 Afghan provinces.
The Taliban’s move comes as peace talks between the group and Afghan government resumed on February 22 in Qatar after a hiatus of more than one month.
With reporting by TOLOnews, AP, and BBC
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 18 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,049 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry says the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 55,680, the total number of reported deaths is 2,438, and the total number of recoveries is 49,086. Click here to read more (external link).
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Radio Free Afghanistan
February 23, 2021
Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have resumed in Qatar after a delay of more than a month amid escalating violence in the war-wracked country as the United Nations called again for an immediate cease-fire to curb civilian casualties.
Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem tweeted late on February 22 night that talks had resumed.
TOLOnews quoted Naeem as saying that a meeting was held between the delegation heads and some members of the negotiating teams in Doha and the continuation of the negotiations was discussed.
Naeem said the working groups would continue their meetings on the agenda.
Talks ended abruptly last month, just days after beginning.
The reduction in violence that would lead to a cease-fire is the top priority for the Afghan government, the United States, and NATO. The Taliban has said it is negotiable, but until now has resisted any immediate cease-fire.
The UN said in a report released on February 23 that while the number of Afghan civilians killed and wounded in violence fell 15 percent last year compared to 2019, violence increased during the last months of 2020.
The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Human Rights Office said the drop in civilian casualties was due in part to what looked like a tactical change by militants to targeted killings, fewer suicide bombings, and a stark drop in casualties attributed to international military forces.
But the report noted with alarm the sharp uptick and historically high civilian casualties in the final three months of last year, when the peace talks began.
The overall number of civilian casualties last year was 8,820 — including 3,035 killed and 5,785 wounded — a figure that fell below 10,000 for the first time since 2013.
Afghan women and children make up 43 percent of all casualties.
Washington is reviewing peace agreement the previous Trump administration signed with the Taliban in February last year, a deal that calls for the final withdrawal of international forces by May 1.
There is growing consensus in Washington for a delay in the withdrawal deadline, but the militants have resisted suggestions of even a brief extension.
Both the United States and NATO have yet to announce a decision on the fate of an estimated 10,000 troops, including 2,500 U.S. soldiers, still in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration has emphasized a political solution to the protracted Afghan conflict and retained top negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad.
In an open letter to the American people last week, Taliban lead negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar urged compliance with the deal.
But the UN report warned in its report that a cease-fire should be the top priority for the militants.
Last year “could have been the year of peace in Afghanistan. Instead, thousands of Afghan civilians perished,” said Deborah Lyons, head of UNAMA. “Parties refusing to consider a cease-fire must recognize the devastating consequences.”
With reporting by AP and Reuters
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Ariana: Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reported Tuesday as many as 2,019 children have been killed or injured in the conflict in 2020. This comes as UNAMA in its latest report said Tuesday that civilian casualties have increased following the start of peace talks in September 2020. Click here to read more (external link).
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Tolo News: Afghanistan officially launched its coronavirus vaccination program on Tuesday at an event held at the Presidential Palace. President Ashraf Ghani participated, along with officials from the Health Ministry and elsewhere. In this first round, Afghan security force members, journalists and doctors received the vaccine. Click here to read more (external link).
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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 22, 2021
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s military said Monday that efforts aimed at moving forward a stalemated peace process in neighboring Afghanistan are “progressing in a very positive direction.”
Comments by army spokesman Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar follow last Friday’s visit to Pakistan by U.S. Central Command Chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, where he discussed with the country’s military leadership political reconciliation and peace between Afghan warring parties.
The statement also comes as U.S. President Joe Biden is nearing a decision whether to pull out the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1 in line with a February 2020 agreement his predecessor, Donald Trump, signed with the Afghan Taliban.
“There are all the reasons to be optimistic about how things are advancing,” Iftikhar said at a news conference on Monday. He did not elaborate.
Iftikhar reiterated that his country is helping in the Afghan peace process because “peace in Pakistan is absolutely connected to peace in Afghanistan.”
Islamabad maintains close contacts with the Afghan Taliban and played a key role in facilitating U.S peace negotiations with the insurgents that produced the February 29 agreement the two adversaries signed in Doha, Qatar.
But soon after taking charge, the Biden administration decided to review the arrangement amid growing criticism the Taliban has not lived up to its commitments outlined in the deal and instead increased violence across Afghanistan.
The U.S. decision to review the document has raised concerns that any unilateral changes in mutually agreed timelines would disrupt the understanding and intensify Afghan bloodshed.
“Yes, there are hurdles in between, but those hurdles have been overcome before, and I am sure they will be overcome in times to come, as well,” Iftikhar said.
A crucial outcome of the deal was the start of peace talks between the Taliban and an Afghan government-sanctioned team.
The dialogue started last September after several months of bickering and little progress, but the Taliban stopped the process in January after the Biden administration announced it would conduct a review of the agreement.
The diplomatic efforts to bring the two Afghan foes back to the negotiation table in Doha seem to have encouraged them to resume some contacts after a gap of more than one month.
Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem said on Twitter that leaders of the two negotiating teams held a meeting in the Qatari capital Monday evening in a “cordial atmosphere” and both sides agreed to continue discussions on “setting the agenda” for the peace negotiations.
The Taliban warned of a “dangerous escalation” in the Afghan war if the U.S. reneged on its obligations outlined in the deal.
The group rejects allegations they are violating the terms of the agreement or are behind a recent wave of assassinations of government officials, journalists and civilian society figures in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Instead, the insurgents accuse Afghan security forces of launching new operations against Taliban-held areas, saying the military actions force the group to take “only defensive actions.”
Critics are skeptical whether the Taliban will agree to any changes in the deal and will demand more concessions in return if they decide to renegotiate the timelines.
Asad Majeed Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, said last Friday that Washington should not decide unilaterally on any extension of the May 1 deadline.
“If that is an agreement between the United States and [the] Taliban, I think the first party that needs to be consulted is [the] Taliban, and that’s where this process should start,” Khan told an online forum sponsored by the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.
“I am sure if there is a strong justification and reasoning for having that extension for logistical or other reasons, the parties have overcome difficulties before, in terms of reaching common ground. But to present this as a fait accompli, I think, will only create difficulty,” the Pakistani ambassador said.
“It’s really also a question of the credibility of the United States as an interlocutor,” he stressed.
After a deadly bombing in the Afghan capital on February 21, a video went viral showing two children crying for their wounded mother, who was hospitalized afterwards. The video provoked strong emotions and debates over which scenes of violence are too shocking to share. [Warning: Disturbing images]