First Lady’s Remarks Continue to Draw Criticism

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Rula Ghani

Tolo News: First Lady Rula Ghani’s recent statements dismissing public criticism of her husband’s administration and policies and calling the Afghan parliament a “vote-trading ground” continued to spark responses from critics and members of the public who said such remarks show the government’s disregard for the principle of freedom of expression. “The people are showing a lack of understanding. It is their own problem. It is not my problem or Mr. President’s problem. The people should understand the value of Mr. President,” Rula Ghani said. Click here to read more (external link).

Ghani allocates land in Kabul for new cricket stadium

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Ariana: Twelve thousand square meters of land in the Alokhail area in Kabul has been set aside for the construction of a new cricket stadium, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced on Sunday.  The ACB said in a statement that the move was agreed to in a decree signed by President Ashraf Ghani. Click here to read more (external link).

More Afghan Cricket News

Afghan Lawmaker Survives Deadly Car Bombing In Kabul

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 20, 2020

Afghan authorities say a car bombing targeting a member of parliament killed at least nine people in the capital, Kabul.

Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi told reporters on December 20 that lawmaker Khan Mohammad Wardak was among 20 people wounded in the attack.

Andarabi said the lawmaker was in “good condition.”

The interior minister warned that the death toll could rise, adding that all the casualties were civilians.

The explosion occurred while the lawmaker’s convoy was passing through an intersection in the Khushal Khan neighborhood.

The blast set surrounding civilian vehicles on fire, and also damaged nearby buildings and shops.

Television footage showed at least three cars on fire, with billowing plumes of thick black smoke.

“The terrorists have carried out a terrorist attack in Kabul city,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said.

“The enemies of Afghanistan carried out a terrorist attack on Khan Mohammad Wardak,” President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement condemning the bombing. “Terrorist attacks on civilian targets and facilities will endanger the opportunity for peace.”

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although officials have blamed similar incidents in the past on the Taliban.

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 15, a bomb blast and a shooting attack in Kabul killed at least three people, including a deputy provincial governor.

The Interior Ministry said on December 19 that Taliban militants have killed at least 487 civilians and wounded nearly 1,050 in the past three months.

The ministry said the group had conducted 35 suicide bombings and detonated 507 improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The Taliban rejected the figures as government propaganda.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Tolo News

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.

Afghanistan: 141 New Cases of COVID-19, 20 Deaths Reported

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported 141 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,431 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 50,677, the number of total reported deaths is 2,074, and the total number of recoveries is 39,158. Click here to read more (external link).

IEC announces Ghazni to go to the polls in October

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Hawa Alam Nuristani

Ariana: The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Saturday that the delayed parliamentary elections in central Ghazni province will be held in October next year. Addressing a press conference, Hawa Alam Nuristani, the chairperson of the IEC, stated that the provincial council, municipal, and parliamentary elections will be held in Ghazni simultaneously. Click here to read more (external link).

Rare UN-Taliban Agreement to Set Up 4,000 Schools in Insurgent-Held Afghan Territory

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 19, 2020

ISLAMABAD – UNICEF has struck a rare agreement with the Taliban in war-ravaged Afghanistan to establish thousands of informal schools in areas controlled by the Islamist insurgent group.

The program will reach up to 140,000 Afghan boys and girls, said Sam Mort, the agency’s chief of communications, advocacy and civic engagement in the South Asian nation, where an estimated 3.7 million children are out of school.

“Through this agreement, UNICEF will support the establishment of 4,000 community-based education classes across Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Faryab,” Mort told VOA, naming the four Afghan provinces where the Taliban controls or influences swaths of territory.

The UNICEF official said that currently there are 680 such informal classes already taking place across these provinces. The agreement will scale those up to 4,000, she added.

Mort said that each class could accommodate up to 35 students, and classes are expected to start in March, when the new school year begins in Afghanistan.

She said the plan aims to ensure that every child, especially girls, in remote areas, can go to school safely and securely.

“Currently, 60% of the children that are out of school are girls and that increases to 80% in some hard-to-reach areas,” Mort said.

She said the program is the result of about two years of conversations with local Taliban leaders and those based in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the insurgent group runs its political office.

Mort said that ongoing U.N.-led polio vaccination drives had prompted the discussions about what other services the Taliban and their community wanted. UNICEF is “excited” to work with the Taliban and all parties to give every child the best start in life, she added.

“The fact that the Taliban asked UNICEF to support them with other services, beyond polio drops, to help their children survive and thrive, is a breakthrough moment,” she said.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the insurgent group’s agreement with UNICEF.

“We believe it is a good step and we will prepare the ground for the establishment of these schools in areas under our control,” Mujahid told VOA.

Mort said UNICEF informed the Afghan Education Ministry that it would be expanding into hard-to-reach areas. She said the recruitment tests for new teachers will be the same as tests used by the ministry and will be carried out by UNICEF’s implementing partners.

Helmand Sangin Workplan

Community-based education, which establishes classes in remote or insecure areas, scattered villages and other underserved areas, is an alternative education approach in Afghanistan and has proved to be successful to reach children not in school, especially girls.

The UNICEF-Taliban agreement, known as the Helmand Sangin Workplan, is valid until the end of December 2021, renewable based on mutual understanding of both parties.

The cost of operating the informal schools is to be shared among several groups, including the Global Partnership for Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

The Islamist Taliban is currently in slow-moving peace negotiations with the Afghan government to agree on a power-sharing deal and nationwide cease-fire.

The United States has pushed the rivals to the negotiating table to pave the way for a complete drawdown of American forces from what has become the longest war in U.S. history.

However, domestic and International rights groups remain skeptical about the Taliban’s participation in the future Afghan governance system.

The skepticism stems from the five-year Taliban rule in Afghanistan, starting in 1996, when girls were banned from education and women were barred from outdoor work.

Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan government adviser and political commentator, has hailed the UNICEF-Taliban agreement as great news for his country.

“Education is a universal right, and it was clear to the international community that Kabul is unable to deliver services to areas controlled by the Taliban,” Farhadi said.

“All and all, it is much better for our kids to have schools and study than not at all,” he said.

First Lady’s Statement on Ministerial Nominees Sparks Criticism

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Rula Ghani

Tolo News: In her interview with Radio Azadi earlier this week, Rula Ghani described the parliament as a vote-trading ground, saying that the acting ministers who were rejected by the parliament will continue their jobs whether the lawmakers want them to continue their jobs or not. Lawmakers described Rula Ghani’s statement as an insult to the parliament and the democratic values. Click here to read more (external link).

Pakistani Anti-Terror Court Puts Pashtun Leader At Center Of Protests In Custody

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By Radio Mashaal
December 19, 2020

An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on December 19 handed over a lawmaker and Pashtun-rights leader to be held in custody for 12 days over a sedition charge that has sparked protests all over northwestern Pakistan.

Lawmaker Ali Wazir was arrested in the city of Peshawar on December 16 after the case was lodged against him in Karachi, alleging he made remarks against the state during an unsanctioned rally 10 days earlier.

Earlier on December 19, Wazir was flown from Peshawar to Karachi.

Wazir’s Pashtun Tahafuz Movement ( PTM) rejects the accusation and insists its campaign to defend the rights of ethnic Pashtuns is peaceful and constitutional.

Thousands of people rallied in dozens of cities and towns in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere on December 18 to protest his arrest.

PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen called for the demonstrations in a live video posted on Facebook late on December 17, after the authorities announced that Ali Wazir would face prosecution.

The PTM movement has campaigned since 2018 for the civil rights of Pakistan’s estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom live near the border of Afghanistan.

It has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army’s heavy-handed tactics in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups.

International rights groups say Pakistani authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM, while some of its leading members have also been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country.

Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

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.