COVID-19 increased IS, al-Qaida threat in conflicts including Afghanistan: UN experts

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ISIS trainees

1TV: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the threat from the Islamic State and al-Qaida in conflict areas including Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, UN experts said in a new report. The report to the UN Security Council said that the threat continued to rise in conflict zones in the last half of 2020 because “the pandemic inhibited forces of law and order more than terrorists” who were able to move and gather freely despite COVID-19 restrictions. Click here to read more (external link).

Hekmatyar warns of surrounding Afghan presidential palace

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Hekmatyar (left) and Ghani (right)

1TV: Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbduddin Hekmatyar on Sunday warned that his followers will surround the presidential palace and force end of existing rule if the government doesn’t implement their deal. Speaking in a ceremony to mark Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Hekmatyar said that thousands of Hizb-i-Islami prisoners are still in government prisons and its supporters have not been given jobs and shelters promised. Click here to read more (external link).

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Hekmatyar Blames Afghan Govt, US for Talks Stalemate

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Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

Tolo News: Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar at an event on Sunday blamed the Afghan government and the US for the deadlock in the Doha negotiations, saying that the United States has “failed” in its fight against the Taliban while calling the incumbent government “occupied.” Click here to read more (external link).

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Ghani: Soviet Lack of Plan, Not Pullout, Led to Civil War

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Ashraf Ghani

Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday said that the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was not the cause of the civil war; instead, he said, there wasn’t a plan for the country in the Soviet exit plan. Afghan leaders, said Ghani,  believe this lack of planning led the country into a civil war. Click here to read more (external link).

The Killing Field

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Al Jazeera: They are Australia’s elite special forces. For more than 10 years, they were on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan. But explosive revelations expose a series of killings by some of these highly trained soldiers. In this revealing programme, a special forces operative who was on these covert missions speaks out about what he saw. What he has to say will shock and appal. In an investigation that was months in the making, drawing upon sources in Australia and Afghanistan, 101 East exposes a culture of impunity and cover-up among members of Australia’s special forces.

Five Police Officers Killed, 12 Wounded In Afghanistan Attacks, Officials Say

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By Radio Free Afghanistan
February 13, 2021

At least five policemen have been killed and 12 wounded in two attacks in Afghanistan, officials said on February 13.

A Taliban suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a security checkpoint in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province on February 13, wounding 12 policemen, the Interior Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the attacker was identified and targeted before he could reach the checkpoint located in Kandahar’s Arghandab district.

Five policemen were killed in a separate overnight attack in the Chapa Dara district of the eastern province of Kunar, provincial council member Mohammad Sapai said.

The attacks came amid a sharp increase in violence across Afghanistan despite the ongoing efforts for peace between the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry said that 30 Taliban militants were killed when a device exploded off during a bomb-making training session in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh Province — a report disputed by a Taliban spokesman.

According to the ministry, six of those killed in the explosion at a mosque in the Dawlat Abad district were foreign nationals.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the explosion but said that it had occurred in an empty room and caused no casualties.

Car bombs and roadside bombs are the Taliban’s weapons of choice.

Separately, Afghan officials reported that a gas tanker exploded on February 13 at a customs post in Afghanistan on the Iranian border.

Officials were assessing the damage caused by the massive fire, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

Iranian media quoted an Iranian customs spokesman in the northeastern province of Khorasan as saying the blast had occurred around noon at the Islam Qala border customs post in Afghanistan.

With reporting by dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP, and Tolonews.com

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

Taliban Controls 52% of Territory in Afghanistan: Survey

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Taliban fighters (file photo)

Tolo News: The survey conducted by Pajhwok Afghan News shows that the Afghan government controls 46 percent of the territory.  A Taliban spokesman has claimed in this survey that they control or have influence over 70 percent of the country’s territory, but a spokesman for the Interior Affairs Ministry has said that the Taliban does not have permanent presence in any part of the country.  The claim by the Taliban was rejected by National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib at a weekly briefing on Saturday. Click here to read more (external link).

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