Scott Miller
1TV: Special operations forces were the first US troops deployed in the war in Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago and likely will be the last troops to leave the country, US acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said after visiting in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Click here to read more (external link).
Freshta Kohistani
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 24, 2020
Prominent Afghan women’s rights activist Freshta Kohistani has been assassinated in a village in the Kapisa Province northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said on December 24.
The killing of Kohistani was the latest in a string of targeted killings that have prompted international concern.
“At around 5:00pm today, unidentified gunmen riding on a motorcycle martyred Freshta Kohistani in the Hes-e-Awal area of the Kohistan district of Kapisa. Her brother was wounded in the attack, [and] the intelligence units have launched an investigation into the attack,” Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the ministry, said in a statement.
Police in Kapisa said that Kohistani’s brother was also killed in the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in Kabul in recent months, including on educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students.
Kohistani’s killing comes a day after Yusuf Rasheed, the head of an Afghan independent election-monitoring group, was slain in Kabul.
On December 21, Rahmatullah Nikzad, a freelance reporter and head of a media-safety union in the central Ghazni Province, was killed in an attack by unknown armed men in the province.
The attack occurred near his home, according to local officials.
Amnesty International South Asia in a tweet said that the assassination of Nikzad “is a horrific crime.”
Targeted killings of prominent figures, including journalists, clerics, politicians, and rights activists, have become more common in recent months amid rising violence and chaos across Afghanistan despite ongoing talks between government negotiators and the Taliban in Qatar to try to put an end to decades of war.
Former TOLOnews presenter Yama Siawash, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan reporter Elyas Daee, Enekaas TV’s presenter in Nangarhar Malala Maiwand, and Ariana News presenter Fardin Amini have all been killed in separate incidents since November 7.
The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has voiced alarm over the “deeply disturbing” numbers of targeted killings in the war-torn country.
In a tweet on December 23, UNAMA reiterated its call for “a sustained reduction in violence” in Afghanistan , where it said “targeted killings of civilians are taking place at a deeply disturbing rate.”
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Mujeeb Zadran
Tolo News: Middlesex has re-signed Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman for the 2021 T20 season, according to Crickbuzz’s report. “The 19-year-old spinner previously represented the club in the 2019 edition of the tournament, claiming 7 wickets from 10 appearances at an economy of 7.23 helping the Lord’s-based team to progress past the group stages,” said Crickbuzz. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday reported 234 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,568 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The Health Ministry reports the cumulative total cases at 51,594, the number of total reported deaths at 2,135, and the total number of recoveries at 40,582. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 23, 2020
ISLAMABAD – Officials in Afghanistan say gunmen Wednesday killed the head of an independent elections watchdog in Kabul, the latest casualty in a string of mostly unclaimed recent attacks against prominent civilians.
The violence has claimed the lives of dozens of people, particularly in the Afghan capital. The victims include civil society activists, journalists, politicians and government officials.
Police said Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, executive director of the Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA), was traveling to his office in the city when unknown assailants sprayed his vehicle with bullets. The attack also left his driver wounded.
Elsewhere in Kabul, officials said a bomb attached to a police vehicle went off, killing an officer in the vehicle and injuring two others.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, condemned Rasheed’s assassination and other attacks against “so many outstanding citizens,” urging authorities to bring to justice those responsible.
“Targeted killings of civilians are taking place at a deeply disturbing rate in Afghanistan,” said a mission statement.
UNAMA noted that in the last four days alone, the conflict-torn country has seen the killing of a lawmaker as well as a well-known journalist and a group of medics.
“Such dreadful attacks are rarely claimed and frequently focus on those working for an open society,” it said.
The bomb blast on medics was, however, claimed by the Afghan branch of Islamic State terror group. The attack killed three doctors and two other persons onboard a vehicle that was targeted.
The United States also denounced Rasheed’s assassination. “I am appalled by his murder, another in a cacophony of senseless & endless violence. My condolences to all those who knew him,” tweeted Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador in Kabul.
Wilson hailed Rasheed as a dedicated and steadfast advocate for representative democracy in Afghanistan.
“He worked tirelessly for years to ensure free & transparent elections that engaged all Afghans. His death is a loss for his family, friends & nation,” the U.S. ambassador said.
Critics fear the wave of targeted killings and increased battlefield hostilities between Afghan security forces and the Taliban insurgency could derail ongoing U.S.-brokered peace negotiations between the two adversaries.
The slow-moving dialogue started September 12 in Qatar and a second phase is expected to resume next month after a three-week break. The recent spike in violence is seen as a threat to the Afghan peace process.
“The U.N. repeats its call for a sustained reduction in violence. Lives and gains must be protected, with spoilers prevented from undermining the vital peace negotiations, due to resume 5 January,” UNAMA said in its statement.
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Tolo News: Archeologists have made new discoveries in fourteen sites on the Tapa-e-Narenj hill in Kabul over the past eight years, Afghan archeologists said on Wednesday. All new discoveries belong to the Buddhist era . The new discoveries include several stupas, one fireplace, 24 broken statues, two complete statues, one statue of a princess and one statue of a prince. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 271 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,057 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 51,360, the number of total reported deaths is 2,126, and the total number of recoveries is 39,920. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 22, 2020
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Chris Miller has held consultations with Afghan officials about on the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban. The Pentagon said in a statement on December 22 that Miller’s trip was not announced ahead of time due to security concerns.
Miller held talks with President Ashraf Ghani on the ongoing U.S. military support for the Afghan Army and also met with the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, to discuss “the overall security situation to include the current counterterrorism and Train, Advise and Assist missions, the level of Taliban violence and the ongoing drawdown of U.S. forces,” the statement added.
Miller also met with U.S. military personnel deployed in Afghanistan, “where he was able to thank them and acknowledge their sacrifice of being away from their Families during a difficult holiday season,” it said.
Violence in Afghanistan has skyrocketed in recent months even as the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators try to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of war.
The peace talks in the Gulf state of Qatar were suspended earlier this month, three months after they began. They are expected to resume in January.
There have been regular clashes in various parts of the country and bomb and rocket attacks in Kabul.
On December 22, a roadside bomb killed at least five prison doctors and health workers in Kabul while they were on their way to the country’s largest jail, officials said.
The five were on their way to the Pul-i-Charkhi prison housing hundreds of prisoners, including scores of Taliban insurgents.
The Taliban said it was not involved in the attack.
With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa