Ariana: The Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) on Saturday voted in favor of 10 nominated ministers, including those for defense, interior, and foreign affairs. Haneef Atmar secured 197 votes of confidence for the position of the foreign minister; Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal got 205 votes as finance minister; Asadullah Khalid with 206 votes as defense minister and Massoud Andarabi, with 214 votes as interior minister. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan Government Blames Taliban For Deadly Rocket Attacks In Kabul
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 21, 2020
KABUL — Afghanistan’s government has blamed the Taliban for about two dozen rockets that hit residential areas of Kabul during the morning rush hour on November 21, killing at least eight people and wounding about a dozen more.
The violence occurred just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in Qatar with the negotiating teams of the Taliban and the Afghan government in an attempt to kick-start stalled peace talks.
It also comes two days before a major donor conference for Afghanistan was due to begin in Geneva.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a video statement that “the Taliban fired 24 rockets” into five different districts of Kabul, including areas close to the diplomatic enclave where foreign embassies are located.
Arian described the rocket attacks as “a clear sign of defeat on the part of the Taliban,” adding that “revenge will be taken for this heinous act.”
The Taliban promptly denied any involvement in the attack.
The Islamic State (IS) extremist group later on November 21 claimed that it carried out the rocket attacks on Kabul.
Call For Cease-Fire
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks and reiterated his call for a reduction in violence followed by a cease-fire.
Pompeo met separately with negotiators from the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha.
“I would be most interested in getting your thoughts on how we can increase the probability of a successful outcome,” Pompeo said after meeting with the Afghan government side.
He also told members of the government’s team that the United States will “sit on the side and help where we can” in the peace negotiations.
Pompeo is on a seven-nation tour of Europe and the Middle East following a U.S. presidential election that was lost by the incumbent, President Donald Trump.
He also met Qatar’s ruler and foreign minister during his stop in Doha, which is the Taliban’s base for diplomacy.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced it would soon withdraw about 2,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan, speeding up the schedule established in a February agreement between Washington and the Taliban that envisions a complete U.S. troop withdrawal in mid-2021.
Attacks by the Taliban and other extremist militants have been on the rise in Afghanistan — and particularly, in Kabul — since peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban stalled.
Early in November, gunmen stormed the campus of Kabul University and killed at least 35 people, most of them students.
More than 50 people were wounded in that attack, which was claimed by extremists in IS.
Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, a body that oversees the peace talks with the Taliban, condemned the latest attack in Kabul as a “cowardly” act.
He told AFP in an interview on November 21 during a visit to Turkey that while the talks in Doha haven’t moved toward the “the main agenda,” they are “very close” to getting to substantial issues such as security.
Abdullah held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 20 in Istanbul as Afghanistan seeks support for the negotiations from Turkey.
Abdullah also said U.S. troops should withdraw from Afghanistan “when the conditions are met.” He said the U.S. move to reduce its troops early next year will have “some impact” and the Afghan side “would have preferred it differently.”
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Related
China’s next border friction may be with Afghanistan, the ‘graveyard of empires’
South China Morning Post: The US plan announced this week to speed up the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Afghanistan may have troubling consequences for China, which shares a border with the war-torn country in its far west region of Xinjiang. While China found the presence of the US military in its own backyard unsettling, it used the opportunity to link Washington’s anti-terrorism war to its own drive to suppress Muslim Uygur opposition groups in Xinjiang. Clashes between Uygurs and Han Chinese in 2009 killed hundreds of people. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – November 20, 2020
Conflicts, Poverty Threaten Nearly 4M Afghan Children: Official
Tolo News: Conflicts and poverty are two severe problems facing nearly four million children in Afghanistan while 1.2 million children are associated with child labor and 3.7 are deprived of schooling due to conflicts, according to data by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Click here to read more (external link).
186 New Cases of COVID-19, 13 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Friday reported 186 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,599 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 44,363, the number of total reported deaths is 1,663, and the total number of recoveries is 35,370. Click here to read more (external link).
Australian War Crimes Report Shows Young Soldiers Were Encouraged to Shoot Afghanistan Prisoners to Get First Kill
By Phil Mercer
VOA News
November 19, 2020
SYDNEY – A four-year inquiry into Australian special forces in Afghanistan has found “credible evidence” of the “murder” of 39 prisoners, farmers or other civilians. Australian Defense Force Chief Angus Campbell released the final report Thursday.
Nineteen Australian soldiers are suspected of executing 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians between 2005 and 2016. The war crimes report found junior soldiers were encouraged to shoot prisoners to get their first kill. Army commanders were condemned for allowing “criminal behavior” to be “conceived, committed … and concealed.”
The inquiry was conducted by the inspector general of the Australian Defense Force. Over four years, it examined 57 incidents of alleged misconduct and heard from hundreds of witnesses. It found that none of the alleged crimes could be discounted as “disputable decisions made under pressure in the heat of battle.”
Australian Defense Force chief Angus Campbell said the report has uncovered a “shameful record” of a “warrior culture” by some troops.
“Today the Australian Defense Force is rightly held to account for allegations of grave misconduct by some members of our special forces community on operations in Afghanistan,” he said. “To the people of Afghanistan on behalf of the Australian Defense Force, I sincerely and unreservedly apologize for any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers, and to the people of Australia I am sincerely sorry for any wrongdoing by members of the Australian Defense Force.”
The war crimes report published Thursday is heavily redacted. The full classified document will remain secret. Its allegations will be investigated by Australian police and federal prosecutors.
Prime minister Scott Morrison has said previously that Australia had to confront “brutal” truths about the actions of some of its soldiers.
Related
- Afghans recall days when Australians unleashed dogs, gunfire
- Soldiers would plant weapons, radios, and grenades to support false claims the prisoners were enemies killed in action
- Human Rights Watch: War Crimes Investigations Should Be Prompt, Independent to Ensure Justice
- Troops from the United States and United Kingdom, two of Australia’s coalition partners in Afghanistan, have also faced allegations of committing unlawful killings
Tolo News in Dari – November 19, 2020
Pakistan Vows to Help Afghanistan Achieve Cease-Fire
Ashraf Ghani (left) and Imran Khan (right)
By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 19, 2020
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan assured leaders of war-torn neighboring Afghanistan Thursday his government will do its utmost to help them in their bid to seek a reduction in Taliban-led violence.
Khan made the remarks at the conclusion of his day-long maiden visit to Kabul where he held extensive talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on bilateral security and economic ties, as well as matters related to regional peace.
Both the leaders later spoke at a joint news conference and vowed to enhance cooperation between their security institutions to further the Afghan peace process.
“Pakistan played its role in getting first the Taliban to talk to the Americans and then [participate in] the intra-Afghan dialogue,” Khan said.
“We notice with concern that despite the [intra-Afghan] talks in Qatar. the level of violence is rising. So, my idea of choosing this time to come was to assure you that Pakistan will do everything, whatever is possible we will do to help reduce this violence and in fact move toward a cease-fire,” Khan vowed.
The months-long U.S.-Taliban negotiations produced a landmark deal this past February aimed at closing the 19-year-old war, initiating a “conditions-based” withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan by May 2021.
The pact also opened the first-ever direct talks between the Taliban and representatives of the Ghani government in September, being hosted by the Gulf state of Qatar.
The so-called intra-Afghan dialogue, however, has stalled for most part, and battlefield hostilities between Afghan security forces and the Taliban also have spiked to unusually high levels.
Pakistan’s links with the Taliban have been the primary source of political tensions with Afghanistan. Kabul has long alleged insurgent leaders direct their violent campaign from Pakistani soil. Islamabad denies the charges, although officials say the approximately 3 million Afghan refugees Pakistan still hosts serve as a hiding place for insurgents,
“Our common objective is to take a leap of faith to overcome the distrust that has haunted our relationship,” Ghani told the news conference.
“Practically, we have agreed to form committees to deal with key topics to make sure that the foundation for trust that has been established with your trip today becomes an enduring process,” the Afghan president stressed.
Khan noted that border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan were devastated by the U.S.-led war on terrorism, millions of people were internally displaced, and their livelihoods were badly affected.
The Pakistani prime minister said an increased trade connectivity between the two countries can only help the affected population and his delegation has had “fruitful” discussions with Afghan counterparts to strengthen economic cooperation.
“We hope that this trade and connectivity will increase between the two countries and for that it is imperative that the level of violence goes down,” Khan stressed again.
“So, I repeat again Mr. President, that the whole objective of this visit is to build trust to communicate more to assure you that wherever you need our help more than your expectations we will be helping you,” the Pakistani leader said.
The U.S.-initiated Afghan peace process has allowed President Donald Trump to reduce the number of American soldiers to 4,500 from about 13,000 since singing the deal with the Taliban on February 29. This week, the Trump administration announced it plans to bring home another 2,000 troops from Afghanistan by mid-January.
U.S. officials, however, have linked a complete troop withdrawal to the Taliban living up to its pledges outlined in the agreement.
The insurgents are bound to prevent transnational terrorist groups from using Afghan soil for international attacks and negotiate a permanent cease-fire, as well as a political power-sharing deal through the ongoing talks with Afghan rivals.
International donors of Afghanistan have linked future financial commitments to an accelerated productive dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban that would significantly reduce violence or move the country toward a cease-fire.
Meanwhile
253 New Cases of COVID-19, 5 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday reported 253 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,334 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 44,177, the number of total reported deaths is 1,650, and the total number of recoveries is 35,339. Click here to read more (external link).
Related