Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday reported 213 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,194 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 43,681, the number of total reported deaths is 1,638, and the total number of recoveries is 35,160. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan politicians likely to meet Taliban as peace talks stall
1TV: Afghan politicians will likely meet the Taliban if stalemate in peace talks in Doha continues, a peace official said on Monday. Din Mohammad, deputy of High Council for National Reconciliation, said that there was a debate suggesting that the Taliban should talk to a number of Afghan elites including those who are not represented in the negotiating team. Click here to read more (external link).
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – November 16, 2020
Woman Behind SAS ‘War Crimes’ Report Breaks Her Silence
Tolo News: The woman who interviewed hardened special forces soldiers to uncover horrifying ‘war crimes’ by Australian troops in Afghanistan has broken her silence, Daily Mail reported. She said SAS members were ‘obsessed’ with the ‘kill boards’ they kept on their walls that included murdered prisoners and civilians to increase their counts. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan: Anarchy in Practice
Modern Diplomacy: Afghanistan is not only posing severe hurdles to neighbouring countries, but it is a menace to global peace. Notwithstanding, a full-fledged Afghan government, Taliban are accompanying with Al-Qaeda is the major key players in the region. They entirely disregard the policies of the government, also seeks to counterbalance the power politics in its favour. In praxis, there is no indivisible supreme authority with the capability to command over the whole territory which renders sufficient space for anarchy and turbulence in the region. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan father is charged over the death of his six-year-old son who died while trying to reach Greek island on migrant dinghy
The Daily Mail (UK): The 25-year-old man has been charged with endangering his young son’s life; The two were among a group of 25 people whose boat reportedly capsized ; The unnamed father faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty in Greece; Lawyers and NGOs have criticised the unusual legal action as another obstacle for those seeking asylum in Europe. Click here to read more (external link).
COVID-19: 228 New Cases, 15 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 228 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,251 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 43,468, the number of total reported deaths is 1,632, and the total number of recoveries is 35,136. Click here to read more (external link).
India, Afghanistan Reject Terror-Related Charges by Pakistan
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 15, 2020
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Afghanistan and India Sunday refuted allegations they are the source of terrorist attacks in Pakistan and instead questioned counterterrorism credentials of their South Asian neighbor.
The strong rebuttal comes a day after Islamabad accused New Delhi of running some 66 militant training camps on Afghan soil to plot “terrorism” to destabilize Pakistan and hurt its economic partnership with China.
The Pakistani government, in a nationally televised news conference, presented what it said was “irrefutable evidence” to substantiate the charges.
“The so-called claims of ‘proof’ against India enjoy no credibility, are fabricated and represent figments of imagination,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said in a statement issued Sunday.
“We call upon Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism…. Concocting documents and peddling false narratives will not absolve Pakistan of such actions,” Srivastava said.
He reiterated long-running Indian allegations that Pakistan trains Islamist militants and helps them infiltrate into Indian-administered Kashmir to foment separatist violence in the Muslim-majority region.
“The incessant infiltration of terrorists and induction of weapons to fuel terror activities continues unabated,” alleged Srivastava.
Pakistan, which administers one-third of Kashmir, denies the accusations, saying they are an attempt by the neighboring country to cover up alleged human rights abuses being inflicted on Kashmiris.
The two nuclear-armed rival nations have fought several wars and low-intensity conflicts over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. India and Pakistan claim the region in its entirety and it remains the primary source of bilateral military tension and acrimony.
Afghan denial
Officials in Afghanistan also rejected allegations that its territory or citizens were being used for carrying out subversive activities against Pakistan.
In a statement Sunday, the foreign ministry said that Afghanistan itself is a major victim of terrorism. Kabul, it said, is “committed to a policy of combating all forms of terrorism…and will never allow Afghan territory to be used for destructive activities against other countries.”
The statement noted that as the Afghan government is preparing for this week’s maiden visit to Kabul by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, it is expected Islamabad will raise “issues of bilateral interest and debate” through existing cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600-kilometer border but mutual ties are marred by mistrust and suspicion. Kabul accuses Islamabad of supporting the Afghan Taliban’s violent campaign aimed at dislodging the Afghan government.
For its part, Pakistan maintains that militant groups fleeing years of counterterrorism security operations have taken shelter in Afghan border areas and orchestrating cross-border attacks.
Pakistani army spokesman Major-General Iftikhar Babar on Saturday displayed what he said were documents, banking transactions worth millions of dollars, audio clips and details of contacts between Indian intelligence operatives and diplomats with fugitive Pakistani militants operating out of Afghanistan.
“Uncontrivable evidence reveals that Indian embassies and consulates operating along Pakistan’s borders have become hub of terror sponsorship against Pakistan…We have verifiable evidence of terrorists funding by India. Indian ambassadors in Afghanistan have been regularly supervising various terrorist activities,” Babar said.
Acting U.S. Defense Chief Signals Accelerated Withdrawal Of U.S. Troops
A file photo of American soldiers at an unknown location in Afghanistan.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 15, 2020
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher Miller has signaled that he could accelerate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Middle East.
In his first message to the U.S. armed services since his appointment by President Donald Trump, Miller wrote on November 13 that “all wars must end” and “it’s time to come home.”
He did not specifically mention Afghanistan or the Middle East, but did stress that the United States was still be committed to “finishing the war that Al-Qaeda brought to our shores in 2001,” a reference to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in a war that has lasted 19 years.
The United States currently has fewer than 9,000 troops in Afghanistan. The United States is also involved in military efforts to counter Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the Middle East.
“This is the critical phase in which we transition our efforts from a leadership to supporting role,” Miller wrote. “Ending wars requires compromise and partnership. We met the challenge; we gave it our all.”
The Taliban militant group and the Afghan government are currently engaged in intra-Afghan talks, in keeping with a deal signed by the United States and the Taliban in Doha under which foreign forces are to leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for the Taliban committing to cut ties with Al-Qaeda and other international militant groups.
However, no breakthrough has been reported since Afghan government representatives and the Taliban inaugurated the negotiations in September, while violence has been ramping up throughout Afghanistan with the militant fighters attacking provincial capitals, in some case prompting U.S. air strikes.
Questions have also been raised over Al-Qaeda’s links with the Taliban, with United Nations monitors saying in a report released in June that the two continue to maintain ties.
Based on AFP, Reuters, and TOLOnews
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.
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