VOA Exclusive: 21-Point Code of Conduct Hailed as Breakthrough in Afghan Peace Talks

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By Tahir Khan
Ayesha Tanzeem
VOA News
December 9, 2020

ISLAMABAD – Negotiation teams from the Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed to refer differences in interpretation of Sharia law to a joint committee, protect the confidentiality of ongoing peace talks, and carry out the process with “truthfulness, sincerity, and determination,” according to a code of conduct agreed upon by both sides last week.

VOA has obtained a copy of the 21-point code that was hailed as a breakthrough after nearly three months of negotiations between the two sides that officially started on September 12.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States special representative for Afghan reconciliation, called it a “milestone” and tweeted: “The people of #Afghanistan now expect rapid progress on a political roadmap and a ceasefire.”

The preamble of the code sets up four principles as the basis of negotiations.

The first one of them is the agreement signed on February 29, 2020, in Doha, between the United States and Taliban. The Afghan government was not a party to that deal and the government negotiation team strongly resisted its inclusion, according to sources familiar with the talks.

The Doha deal announced a timeline for withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and release of Taliban prisoners in return for guarantees the Taliban will sever ties with groups like al-Qaida and will prevent anyone from planning or carrying out a terrorist attack on the U.S. or its allies on Afghan soil.

In the end, the U.S.-Taliban agreement was included but diluted with three other principles, all of them focusing on the demand for “durable peace.”

The rest of the document defines how the two sides will behave during the negotiation process and what issues could or could not become part of the agenda.

“The agenda will not include any subject that is against the sacred and blessed religion Islam or the interests of the country,” the code says.

Initially, the Taliban team wanted to specify the Hanafi jurisprudence, part of the Sunni school of thought in Islam, as the basis for negotiations. However, it encountered stiff resistance from the government team, which pointed out the religious diversity in Afghanistan, including Shi’ites.

“If differences emerge in the interpretation of Sharia law, a joint committee of the negotiation teams will make a decision,” the agreed code says.

Another interesting point of the code is about showing “respect for the other side” during the process. Multiple Afghan and Western sources told VOA over the last two months that when the negotiations started, the Taliban were acting like the victors and were treating the Afghan side as the losers in this conflict.

The three-page document emphasizes the need to take time, “not be in a haste” when discussing important issues, and “carefully listen to each other’s statements with patience.”

It also sets down a protocol for note-taking that involves each side nominating three members to record the minutes, which then would be compared by both sides at the end of a meeting.

“The approved text of the minutes would be verified by both sides,” the document says.

The two teams also have agreed to avoid irresponsible comments in the media and to release only agreed upon statements.

“Protecting the confidentiality of the documents is essential and both sides should avoid disclosure of secrets,” the code says as it emphasizes the need to keep media and unrelated people from accessing the site of negotiations and the need to reject speculation.

“Once an issue is decided, there will be no further discussion on it. It will become part of the final agreement,” according to the document.

The code of conduct also specifies that no one other than members of the two teams will be in the room while negotiations are under way, including anyone from the host country or other countries that have facilitated the process.

The negotiations on finalizing the agenda continue at a time when Afghanistan has faced a spate of violence it has not seen for years.

“Violence, especially driven by Taliban attacks, continues to undermine the peace process and must end,” said a NATO statement issued Wednesday.

A car bomb attack on an army base Tuesday night killed two in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. In Balkh province Wednesday, Taliban killed seven members of an anti-Taliban local force. A car bomb attack Monday in Kandahar wounded at least 35 people.

Charity organization Save the Children reported 2020 to be a “terrible year for the children of Afghanistan, nearly 1,900 of whom have been killed or maimed in the fighting.”

Meanwhile, a report published by the Cost of War project of Brown University said civilian casualties caused by airstrikes carried out by the United States and its allies have risen more than 300 percent since 2017.

The United States military Tuesday refuted as “one-sided” that report that civilian casualties caused by American and coalition airstrikes in Afghanistan had spiked to record levels. U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said the report “relies on disputed data and ignores civilian casualties caused by Taliban and ISIS attacks.”

“This includes ongoing Taliban use of car bombs, IEDs [improvised explosive devices], rockets and targeted killings to intimidate, harass and instill fear across Afghanistan,” he added in a written response shared with VOA via email.

The U.S. reduced its airstrikes after reaching a deal in February with the Taliban.

Even without the violence, Afghan analysts like Tareq Farhadi think the talks will take time, especially when the teams start negotiating the future form of government in Afghanistan.

The Taliban do not accept the current Afghan constitution.

Afghan Security Forces Hit By Surge Of Taliban Suicide Car Bombings

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Taliban fighters (file photo)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Frud Bezhan
December 9, 2020

The Taliban is employing a fight-and-talk strategy in Afghanistan, seeking to gain leverage in peace talks through gains on the battlefield.

The militant group carries out targeted killings and assassinations against civilian targets in major urban areas.

In rural areas, where the Taliban holds sway, the militants are also staging mass casualty attacks against Afghan government military targets.

In its attacks against Afghan military bases and outposts, the Taliban is increasingly utilizing a deadly and effective terror tactic: suicide car bombings, or what military experts call “suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices” (SVBIEDs).

The Taliban has carried out suicide car bombings for years. But in recent months, there has been a major escalation with dozens of the attacks staged across Afghanistan.

The surge in the use of the tactic has coincided with peace talks that started in September in Doha, Qatar, between Afghan government representatives and the Taliban.

The intra-Afghan negotiations are a key part of a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February. Under that agreement, foreign forces are to leave Afghanistan by May 2021.

In exchange, the Taliban has vowed security guarantees to prevent future terrorist attacks out of Afghanistan and to negotiate with Kabul on a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement.

Fragile and deeply divided, the Afghan government has come to the negotiating table in a position of relative weakness.

With about half of the territory in the country controlled or contested by the Taliban, Kabul lacks the military advantage to drive a hard bargain.

“The Taliban is attempting to pressure the Afghan government into concessions at the negotiating table by continuously conducting these attacks on a regular basis,” says Hugo Kaaman, an independent researcher focused on SVBIED design and tactics by militants and terrorist groups.

Kaaman has documented at least 50 Taliban SVBIED attacks in Afghanistan since August 20. That, on average, is about three SVBIED attack every week.

“The Taliban is showcasing that they have the capability to conduct these attacks far more often than they have actually done previously, and that it will continue like this until they give up,” Kaaman says.

‘Taliban’s Most Powerful Weapon’

Experts say SVBIEDs are effective at causing mass casualties and are notoriously difficult to stop.

The vehicles used are often either flatbed trucks or U.S.-built Humvees – armored vehicles given to Kabul by the U.S. military that have been captured from Afghan government forces by the Taliban.

The trucks usually are equipped with armor plating to protect the vehicle for as long as possible. Once a vehicle is driven into its intended target, the driver detonates explosives packed inside to trigger a powerful blast.

Experts say the explosives are being carried by the vehicle rather than the driver. Although a driver may also wear a suicide bomber’s vest in addition to the vehicle’s explosive cargo, suicide vests are never the main charge.

Kaaman says the Taliban’s use of Humvees as SVBIEDs is “particularly scary” given that the vehicles are sometimes able to pass through security checkpoints and gain access to government military facilities before they are detonated.

Taliban suicide drivers often prepare for the attacks by shaving off their long beards and wear captured uniforms from the Afghan National Army, he says.

“It’s the Taliban’s most powerful weapon,” Kaaman says. “It’s a force multiplier that allows them to knock out hardened positions despite a technological disadvantage.”

Besides SVBIEDs, the Taliban’s usual arsenal also includes rockets, mortars, small arms, and the group’s signature weapon — improvised explosives devices (IEDs).

Kaaman says the main reason the Taliban has been increasing its use of SVBIEDs is to expand the territory under its control.

“They’re trying to seize land and using SVBIEDs to knock out crucial Afghan Army bases and outposts in their way using one of the more effective ways to do so,” he says.

The Taliban has carried out most of its SVBIEDs against military targets in its traditional strongholds in the country’s south and east where the militants retain larger resource bases and operational capabilities.

In the most recent attack, the Taliban rammed a captured military vehicle packed with explosives into an Afghan Army post in the southeastern province of Ghazni on December 9, killing at least three Afghan soldiers and wounding five others.

A week earlier, on November 29, a Taliban SVBIED attack killed at least 30 Afghan security personnel at the entrance to an Afghan Army base in Ghazni.

“The pace of such attacks seems likely to continue, both because of the large numbers of casualties they cause and the demoralizing effect they have upon the Afghan security forces,” says Ted Callahan, a security expert on Afghanistan.

Ceaseless Violence

The Taliban’s growing use of suicide vehicle bombs comes as part of its intensified wave of attacks across Afghanistan.

In recent months, the Taliban has launched major offensives aimed at seizing control of two provincial capitals in southern Afghanistan: Lashkar Gah and Kandahar City.

Involving hundreds of Taliban fighters and lasting for weeks, the onslaughts were eventually quelled by U.S. air strikes.

The Taliban has also been behind a surge of targeted killings and assassinations in Afghan cities that have targeted government workers as well as journalists, rights activists, cultural figures, moderate religious leaders, and women in public roles.

The attacks are a violation of the U.S.-Taliban deal, which is thought to include a Taliban pledge to reduce violence.

U.S. forces have retaliated by increasing air strikes against the Taliban. That has provoked a war of words between the U.S. military and the Taliban, which alleges that the air strikes violate the U.S.-Taliban deal.

The U.S. military said it reserves the right under the deal to defend Afghan security forces who come under Taliban attack.

Observers say the Taliban is likely to continue its attacks because violence is the group’s main leverage in the Doha peace talks.

The militants, analysts say, will resist a cease-fire because violence is a source of new recruits and motivates its fighters.

But the Taliban’s relentless violence has sapped a fragile trust between the two sides.

Afghan and Taliban negotiators had been deadlocked for months. In a small breakthrough on December 2, the two parties reached an agreement on the rules and procedures for the talks to go forward.

But they have yet to agree on an agenda for the negotiations. Talks on substantive issues appear to be a long way off.

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.

Russian Helicopters accuse Ukraine of endangering lives of US, Afghan troops

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Ariana: Russian Helicopters, the manufacturer of Mi-17V-5 choppers used in Afghanistan, has warned that the lives of US and Afghan soldiers could be at risk as the helicopters are being repaired by unauthorized enterprises in Ukraine. Click here to read more (external link).

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COVID-19: 177 New Cases, 13 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan

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Illegal Hunting Of Rare Birds On The Rise In Badakhshan

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 8, 2020

By Nimatullah Ahmadi and Nilly Kohzad

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan, home to a plethora of rare and nearly extinct animals, is seeing an increase in illegal bird hunting despite a ban on such practices to preserve the region’s rich biodiversity.

Environmental officials in Badakhshan say uncontrolled hunting of wild and rare birds has substantially increased in the remote province, threatening several key species and pushing some toward complete extinction.

Rohullah has been a shopkeeper in the bazaar of the old city of Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, for 12 years. Besides selling the usual fruits and vegetables in the winter season, he also sells partridges and pheasants.

“People in the area hunt wild birds, and we buy from them,” he told Radio Free Afghanistan. “We sell birds for four months from November to February,” he added. “Our customers are often rich because poor people cannot afford to buy game meat.”

He makes $1 or $2 in profit from selling a partridge, which he typically buys for $3. Local varieties of pheasants are more expensive because of their prized meat and cost him some $15 per bird, which leaves him a greater profit margin.

The sharp rise in wild bird hunting has raised concerns among officials in Badakhshan. Shabir Ahmad Malekzadah, the provincial head of the National Environment Protection Agency, says markets in both Badakhshan and in the Afghan capital, Kabul, are filled with the hides of rare and endangered animals.

“We are very concerned about the continuation and rise in hunting,” he told Radio Free Afghanistan. “In the market today, you can see that all kinds of endangered species are being sold,” he added. “They are killed by hunters, who include amateur hunters with no hunting licenses and even members of the government forces.”

Badakhshan police spokesman Sanaullah Rouhani also noticed the ongoing increase in bird hunting and underlined the need for robust government measures to curb such practices.

“With the arrival of winter, some people have begun hunting the birds in great numbers,” he noted. “But like last year, a commission of relevant institutions will be established to curb illegal hunting,” he said. “Those violating this ban will no doubt be referred to the courts by this commission.”

Malekzadah says the uncontrolled and unprecedented hunting of birds has caused rare birds such as partridges, pheasants, and eagles to leave Badakhshan completely.

“When our animals and birds are hunted, our rural people witness that some of them perish as a result of the hunt, and others leave the country completely and fly to neighboring countries,” he added.

Officials from Badakhshan’s agriculture department say that every year some remote residents of the province are trained and taught not to hunt animals and birds. But Kikaus Shuja, the press officer of the department, says their efforts have so far yielded no significant results.

“Those who hunt think only of their own benefit, and all in all, the continuation of this process has caused serious damage to our birds,” he told Radio Free Afghanistan. “Every year, we launch advertising programs in various areas of Badakhshan to prevent this unwanted practice of animal hunting from thriving.”

The northeastern province is one of the most mountainous provinces of the country and home to rare animals such as snow leopards, Marco Polo sheep, mountain goats, and birds such as eagles, owls, partridges, and pheasants in the heart of the Pamir and Hindu Kush Mountains.

The presence of rare animals in Badakhshan also attracts tourists from across Afghanistan and abroad, making it a destination for those seeking atypical wildlife.

According to the Afghan branch of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WSC), an international NGO, Afghanistan hosts a “surprising diversity” of birds with more than 450 species. In 2008, the organization discovered in Badakhshan a breeding population of large-billed reed warblers, which are dubbed the world’s least- known bird. The region is also considered the main habitat for the rare Tibetan snowcock and the Tibetan sandgrouse.

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.

The Taliban are megarich – here’s where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan

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Taliban fighters (file photo)

Hanif Sufizada via The Conversation: In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Taliban reportedly brought in US$1.6 billion, according to Mullah Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who revealed the Taliban’s income sources in a confidential report commissioned by NATO and later obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Click here to read more (external link).

U.S Military Rejects Report On Jump In Afghan Civilian Deaths After ROE Relaxed

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Injured Civilian (file photo)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 8, 2020

The number of Afghan civilians killed in air strikes increased dramatically after the U.S. military relaxed its rules of engagement in 2017, according to a study by a U.S. university researcher that was rejected by the U.S. military as “one-sided.”

The number of civilians killed rose from 250 in 2016 to 700 in 2019, more than in any other year since the beginning of the war in 2001, according to the research released on December 7.

The study, conducted as part of the Cost of War project at Brown University and Boston University, said the number of civilians killed by air strikes carried out by international forces has varied depending on the tactics and the priority the United States has placed on preventing civilian casualties.

The research was an attempt to understand why even as the war in Afghanistan is supposed to be winding down large numbers of civilians have been killed in air strikes in the past several years.

The study attributed the rise in civilian deaths in air strikes between 2016 and 2019 to the U.S. decision to relax its rules of engagement in 2017.

In 2008, for example, international forces’ air strikes killed 552 civilians. After that, the United States and its allies committed to reducing the number of civilians killed by air strikes, and by 2014 the number of civilians killed in air strikes by international forces dropped to 101.

But in 2017, the United States relaxed its rules of engagement so that U.S. forces did not have to be in direct contact with enemy forces to be able to make air strikes. This meant that narcotics factories could be targeted and that Afghan military forces could call in air strikes.

“When the United States tightens its rules of engagement and restricts air strikes where civilians are at risk, civilian casualties tend to go down; when it loosens those restrictions, civilians are injured and killed in greater numbers,” the report said.

The increase in air strikes also reflected that there were fewer U.S. troops on the ground in the years when the number of air strikes increased, and the increase came at a time when the United States was pressuring the Taliban to negotiate and bring an end to the war.

The research was based on data from the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Defense, and other sources.

After the United States and the Taliban reached an agreement in February 2020, air strikes by the United States and other international forces declined along with the harm to civilians, the study said.

The U.S. military disagreed with the “one-sided analysis” presented in the report, saying it “relies on disputed data and ignores civilian casualties” caused by Taliban and Islamic State (IS) attacks.

“This includes ongoing Taliban use of car bombs, IEDs, rockets and targeted killings to intimidate, harass and instill fear across Afghanistan,” U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett said in a written statement sent to RFE/RL.

Leggett cited an October report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as saying civilian casualties caused by U.S. airstrikes “all but ceased” since late February.

That same report attributed 3,450 civilian casualties to “anti-government elements” such as the Taliban and the IS group between January to September.

The Afghan government is now negotiating with the Taliban, and the study said as part of a broader offensive possibly aimed at increasing Afghan government leverage in the talks, air strikes by the Afghan Air Force (AAF) have increased.

The AAF this year has killed 156 civilians compared with 83 killed by air strikes carried out by international forces.

The study says some of the deaths could have been avoided by tighter rules of engagement and better training.

With reporting by AFP

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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230 New Cases of COVID-19, 6 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan

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