Saleh Sees Taliban Behind Kabul University Attack
Amrullah Saleh
Tolo News: First Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Tuesday blamed the Taliban for Kabul University attack and said there are many evidences to prove his claim. Giving details about his daily morning meetings with security officials, Saleh said the weapons used by the attackers do not match the weapons shown by “fake” Daesh statement in which they claimed responsibility for the attack. Saleh said the two men shown in “fake” Daesh statement do not resemble with the “terrorists” killed in Kabul University attack. The first vice president said that the Taliban flag was also found in a box belonged to the “terrorists.” He added that the last words they wrote on the walls of the classrooms were “long live Taliban.” Click here to read more (external link).
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Donors likely to pledge less aid for Afghanistan: Reuters
1TV: International donors are likely to pledge less aid for Afghanistan when they meet in Geneva next month, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The donors are also likely to impose stricter conditions and commit funds for a shorter period at the conference on Afghanistan which takes place every four years. Click here to read more (external link).
On Afghan Highways, Even the Police Fear the Taliban’s Toll Collectors
NYT: Since the United States signed a troop withdrawal agreement in February with the Taliban, the militants have established new checkpoints along major highways, seizing control of long stretches of roadways, extorting millions of dollars a month from truckers and travelers and even displacing the police’s own efforts to extort bribes. Click here to read more (external link).
Islamic State Claims Kabul University Attack That Kills 22
Islamic State claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack on Kabul University that killed at least 22 people and injured a dozen more. Afghan security forces said the attack ended after an hours long gunfight. VOA’s Hikmat Sorosh reports from Kabul.
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Trump’s Afghan Peace Envoy Visits Pakistan on Eve of US Election
Khalilzad
By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 2, 2020
ISLAMABAD – The U.S. envoy for Afghan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, visited Pakistan Monday and reviewed Afghan peace-building efforts with the country’s military leadership.
The visit came on the eve of the Nov. 3 presidential election in the United States, although analysts say they don’t expect any significant change in Washington’s current Afghan policy regardless of who wins the contest.
A Pakistani army statement said its chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, and Khalilzad’s delegation discussed the ongoing U.S.-brokered Afghan peace process “and (the) way forward for (a) lasting peace” in Afghanistan.
It was referring to weeks of direct negotiations under way in Qatar between the Taliban insurgency and representatives of the Afghan government aimed at reaching a political settlement that ends almost two decades of Afghan war.
The intra-Afghan peace dialogue is an outcome of the agreement U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration sealed with the Taliban in late February to extricate U.S. forces from the conflict in Afghanistan, America’s longest.
Pakistan is credited with bringing Taliban leaders to the negotiating table and helping broker the February 29 deal that requires all U.S. and NATO troops to leave Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the insurgents are bound to fight terrorism and negotiate a peace deal with rival Afghan factions.
Monday’s army statement noted that Khalilzad “appreciated Pakistan’s untiring efforts for facilitating the process towards the mutual objective of peace in the region.”
The intra-Afghan talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, however, have not delivered the desired results and instead battlefield hostilities in Afghanistan have intensified, killing dozens of people every day.
The increased violence has raised concerns about the sustainability of the peace process. Despite the rise in violence, however, Trump has repeatedly said he wants to bring home U.S. troops to close what he often refers to as America’s endless war.
Gunmen, Firing, Chaos at Kabul University
By Ayesha Tanzeem
VOA News
November 2, 2020
ISLAMABAD – Several gunmen entered Kabul university Monday morning and opened fire, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 20 others.
Students and faculty rushed out of classes and tried to escape the campus, some climbing the barbed wired walls of the university to get to safety. A video uploaded to Twitter by Afghan TV channel Tolo news shows students running as gunshots are heard in the background.
“My students and I tried to leave the university. The situation was very tense. Everyone was running,” said one professor who did not want to be named.
Security forces soon surrounded the area and cordoned it off. Several armored security vehicles could be seen outside the university. Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the ministry of interior, said the security forces were combing the university but moving slowly to avoid civilian casualties.
Eyewitnesses said they saw several gunmen open fire on students inside the campus.
Most students, staff, and faculty members were evacuated, according to Hamed Obaidi, a spokesman for the ministry of higher education. Security personnel were seen distributing water to those who escaped and helping the wounded into ambulances. Obaidi said the shots were heard near the schools of law and political science.
In a video shared by Tolo news, a student described how he was rushed out from the playground.
“We were playing football . . . when we heard gun shots. Meanwhile, police came and told us to run since there was an attack,” the student Safiullah said.
The Afghan Taliban have denied responsibility.
While the reason for the attack is not clear, Monday was the inauguration of an Afghan-Iran book exhibition at the university.
Several senior Afghan officials and Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan were expected to be there. It was not clear whether any officials were on campus at the time of the attack.
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – November 2, 2020
‘We Will Never Go Back’: Afghan Women On Taliban Peace Talks
Three successful Afghan women — a model, a musician, and a poet — tell RFE/RL’s Gandhara they won’t accept restrictions on their rights as part of any peace agreement negotiated by the Afghan government and Taliban militants. Under Taliban rule between 1996 to 2001, girls and women couldn’t go to school, work, or go out without male accompaniment. The talks began in Doha on September 12.
132 New Cases of COVID-19, 5 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 132 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 453 samples tested in the last 24 hours. According to the Public Health Ministry’s data, the cumulative number of total cases is now 41,633, the number of total reported deaths is 1,541, and the total number of recoveries is 34,342. Click here to read more (external link).