Pakistan-based terror groups disrupting Afghanistan peace process: India

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1TV: India has said that terrorist groups enjoying safe havens in Pakistan have disrupted the peace process in Afghanistan. “It is essential that we don’t lose sight of the ease with which the proscribed Haqqani Network and its supporters, especially the Pakistani authorities, have worked along with prominent terrorist organizations like Al-Qaida, ISIL K, Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan, etc. in South Asia, said India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti while speaking at the Security Council Briefing on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts’ on Tuesday. Click here to read more (external link).

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After 20 Years, The Establishment Is Still In Denial About Afghanistan

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The American Conservative: The Afghanistan Study Group has a new report out and its recommendation remains ever the same: more troops.  With the 20th anniversary of the Afghanistan war now just around the corner, Americans might reasonably wonder whether the nation’s longest war is ever going to end. After carefully considering the question, two retired four-star generals, two former U.S. senators, three ambassadors, a former national security adviser, and several other august personages have weighed in with an opinion: not if they can help it. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan: 25 New Cases of COVID-19, 5 Deaths Reported

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday reported 25 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,136 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry says the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 55,445, the total number of reported deaths is 2,424, and the total number of recoveries is 48,279. Click here to read more (external link).

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District Police Chief Killed As Morning Blasts Rock Afghan Capital

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By Radio Free Afghanistan
February 10, 2021

KABUL – Afghan officials say a district police chief and his bodyguards were killed after multiple bomb blasts rocked Kabul early on February 10.

One of the attacks struck a police car in a western Kabul neighborhood, killing the city’s Police District 5 chief and his three bodyguards, a police source told RFE/RL.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but First Vice President Amrullah Saleh blamed the Taliban for the killing of the local police chief, named Mohammadzai Zai Kochi.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said four civilians were wounded in another blast in the Afghan capital.

There were no casualties reported in a third blast that targeted a police vehicle in another part of the city.

All three explosions were reportedly caused by so-called sticky bombs, explosive devices attached to vehicles that are remotely detonated or set off by timers.

The bombings follow a pattern of attacks during morning rush-hour traffic targeting government officials, politicians, journalists, and activists as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled.

The local affiliate of the Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, but many have gone unclaimed.

Afghan and U.S. officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, although the militant group has rejected the charge.

On February 9, unidentified gunmenshot dead four government employees in an ambush in Kabul that no one has so far claimed responsibility for.

With reporting by AP

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

Ghani Administration Seeks Allies as Talk of Interim Govt Mounts

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Ghani

Tolo News: Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency—the National Directorate of Security (NDS)–who is also a critic of Ghani, has said that the president is politically isolated and is trying to gain the support of Afghanistan’s major political parties and political movements. Click here to read more (external link).

Pakistan Approves Temporary Extension in Afghan Transit Trade Pact

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 9, 2021

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has approved a three-month extension in its decade-old transit trade agreement with landlocked Afghanistan, allowing the two sides to finalize and sign a revised version of the document currently under review.

The February 2010 Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) is due to expire on February 11.

In a meeting Tuesday, the Pakistani Cabinet allowed the temporary extension of the APTTA until Islamabad and Kabul conclude their ongoing discussions on the proposed “amendments, suggestions and additions” in the updated agreement.

The arrangement allows Afghanistan access to Pakistani seaports, as well as land routes, to conduct international trade and export Afghan goods to India, Pakistan’s arch-rival. In return, Islamabad gets access through Afghanistan to markets in Central Asian states.

The Pakistani Commerce Ministry informed Cabinet members that more than 832,000 containers of Afghan transit trade, carrying goods worth $33 billion, have passed through Pakistan during the last 10 years.

“It is estimated that 30% of Afghan Transit Trade passes through Pakistan,” the ministry noted in is summary.

Top Pakistani and Afghan Commerce Ministry officials have regularly met in recent months to discuss the revised agreement, but differences have apparently prevented them from finalizing the deal.

Kabul has long demanded access for Afghan trucks to transport export-related goods through Pakistani over land routes up to Indian destinations. Afghan officials also want their trucks to be able to load goods Afghanistan wants to import from India.

Pakistan allows Afghan trucks to unload their goods not far from the Indian border and return empty.

Islamabad maintains the APTTA is a bilateral arrangement and is reluctant to provide unhindered two-way access to Afghan trucks, citing security concerns stemming from increased bilateral tensions with New Delhi.

The APTTA was concluded in 2010 after years of effort, with the United States playing the facilitating role at the time, and replaced an outdated agreement dating from 1965.

18 New Cases of COVID-19, 1 Death Reported in Afghanistan

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 18 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,098 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry says the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 55,420, the total number of reported deaths is 2,419, and the total number of recoveries is 48,133. Click here to read more (external link).

Women in Journalism Thrive in Afghan Province 

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A weekly newspaper run by a team of female journalists is thriving in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province, despite threats against journalists in parts of the country. Gulrahim Niazman from VOA’s Afghan service has more in the report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.

India-Funded Dam Project Promises Clean Water For Kabul Residents

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By Radio Free Afghanistan
February 9, 2021

KABUL – Afghanistan and India have signed an agreement to build a $236 million dam that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says will provide residents of the capital, Kabul, with clean water.

The document was signed during an online summit between Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 9.

India is to cover the cost to build the Shah Toot dam on the Kabul River, south of the Afghan capital.

According to Afghanistan’s authorities, the project is expected to take several years to build and supply around 2.2 million people with clean water.

It will also be able to irrigate thousands of hectares of an agricultural land.

Shah Toot would be the second dam in Afghanistan to be funded by India after the Salma dam in the western province of Herat.

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