Afghan Forces Report Capture Of ‘Mastermind’ Behind Deadly Attack On Kabul University

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Amrullah Saleh

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 14, 2020

Afghan forces have captured the “mastermind” of a deadly terrorist attack on Kabul University that came amid a rise in violence across the country, a senior official said on November 14.

At least 22 people were killed and another 27 wounded when three gunmen rampaged through the university on November 2, spraying classrooms with bullets for several hours.

“The mastermind behind the Kabul University attack has been arrested,” Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on his Facebook page.

The attack, which ended after the three attackers were killed in an hours-long battle with security forces, was planned by a militant called Adil, Saleh said.

Adil was recruited by the Haqqani network, Saleh said, giving only one name of the arrested suspect.

Haqqani network, a key Taliban faction, is believed to have been behind some of the deadliest attacks on Afghan and international forces, as well as Afghan civilians. It has been branded as a terrorist group by Washington.

“The attack was carried out to pressure, defame, and make the government look weak in front of the people,” Saleh added.

Adil, a resident of the Panjshir Valley, had been a student of the Islamic Shari’a law, he said, adding that his family lives on the outskirts of Kabul.

“Adil had been missing for three years amid rumors that he had gone to receive training in war and fighting,” Saleh said.

During his questioning, Adil said that he had received weapons from the Haqqani network to carry out the attack, Saleh added.

The extremist group Islamic State (IS) had claimed responsibility for the attack on Kabul University, which was the second on an educational institution in the Afghan capital. An attack late last month on an education center in Kabul killed 24 people, mostly students.

Last year, a bomb outside the gates of Kabul University killed eight people.

Violence has continued in Afghanistan even as the Taliban and a government-appointed negotiating team hold talks in Qatar to end more than four decades of war in the country.

A U.S. deal with the Taliban in February set the stage for the talks in Doha. The deal also allows for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

With reporting by AFP and TOLOnews

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.

Pakistan Claims ‘Irrefutable Evidence’ of Indian Links to Terrorism on Pakistani Soil

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 14, 2020

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has accused rival India of running dozens of training camps in Afghanistan for multiple globally outlawed militant groups to plot terrorism on Pakistani soil to destabilize the country.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and army spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikhar, at a joint news conference Saturday, presented what they said was “irrefutable evidence” linking India directly to almost all recent terrorist attacks across Pakistan.

Babar displayed for the first time what he said were documents, banking transactions worth millions of dollars, audio clips and details of contacts between Indian intelligence operatives and diplomats with fugitive Pakistani militants operating out of Afghanistan.

“Uncontrivable evidence reveals that Indian embassies and consulates operating along Pakistan’s borders have become hub of terror sponsorship against Pakistan,” the general said.

“We have verifiable evidence of terrorists funding by India. Indian ambassadors in Afghanistan have been regularly supervising various terrorist activities,” Babar added.

Neither Indian officials nor the Afghan government have immediately commented on the Pakistani allegations, though both New Delhi and Kabul have in the past rejected similar allegations levelled by Islamabad.

“The evidence provided by Pakistan provides concrete proof of Indian financial and material sponsorship of multiple terrorist organizations, including U.N.-designated terrorist organizations Jamaat ul Ahrar, Bloch Liberation Army and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan,” Qureshi said.

The groups Qureshi named are believed to have taken shelter in Afghanistan after fleeing years of sustained Pakistani counterterrorism operations. U.S. drone strikes against suspected militant hideouts in the neighboring country have also killed top fugitive leaders of these groups.

The foreign minister said his government would share the “dossier” with the United Nations and five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, including the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France to pressure India to halt its terrorist actives inside Pakistan.

“We are now presenting irrefutable evidence to the world to demonstrate the Indian state’s direct sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan that has resulted in the deaths of innocent Pakistanis. The international community can no longer turn a blind eye to this rogue behavior,” Qureshi said.

Michael Kugelman, deputy director Asia program at Washington’s Wilson Center, observed that Pakistan’s allegations about Indian-sponsored terror are not new at all.

“They’ve been made for years. What is new is providing more detail on the allegations and placing these details squarely in the public [and global] eye,” tweeted Kugelman.

Kashmir clashes  

Pakistan’s allegations came a day after military skirmishes with India along the de facto frontier in disputed Kashmir killed at least 13 people on both sides. One injured nearly 30, with both sides accusing each other of initiating the fighting in violation of a mutual cease-fire.

“It’s a serious escalation … We have given them a very befitting reply. There have been massive losses on Indian side in men and material,” Babar told reporters Saturday.

Pakistan confirmed the clashes had killed one of its soldiers and four civilians while 17 other people, including five soldiers, also were wounded.

For their part, Indian military officials accused Pakistani troops of committing “unprovoked” cease-fire violations and reported the death of four soldiers and four civilians on their side of the Kashmir ceasefire boundary, known as the Line of Control. The de facto border splits Indian- and Pakistani-administered parts of the Himalayan region, which both India and Pakistan claim in its entirety

The nuclear-armed rival countries have fought several wars and low-intensity conflicts over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Pakistan and India mutually declared a cease-fire on the LoC in 2003 in a bid to ease regional tensions.

However, the truce has been almost torn apart in the face of frequent military clashes in recent years, fueling tensions and plunging bilateral relations to historic lows.

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Afghanistan: 66 New Cases of COVID-19, 10 Deaths Reported

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 66 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 174 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 43,035, the number of total reported deaths is 1,605, and the total number of recoveries is 35,063. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan Hit By Surge Of Targeted Killings, Assassinations

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By Frud Bezhan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 13, 2020

A surge of targeted killings and assassinations has swept Afghanistan, where violence has soared despite peace efforts aimed at ending the war.

Many of those being targeted are civilians — journalists, rights activists, cultural figures, moderate religious leaders, and women in public roles.

The latest victim was RFE/RL journalist Mohammad Ilyas Dayee, who was killed on November 12 when a magnetic bomb placed on his car detonated.

Three others, including Dayee’s brother, a former journalist for German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle, were wounded in the explosion in the southern city of Lashkar Gah.

Rights groups say the killings are intended to silence and intimidate independent voices and civil society in Afghanistan, which has made inroads on women’s rights and free speech since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the fundamentalist Taliban regime.

Most of the targeted killings have gone unclaimed. The Taliban has denied involvement in many cases. But Afghan officials and observers have blamed the militants.

‘Chilling Effect’

Dayee was the second journalist to be killed in less than a week.

Yama Siawash, a former presenter on Afghanistan’s TOLO TV, was killed in a similar attack in the capital, Kabul, on November 7. A magnetic bomb attached to his car exploded, killing the journalist and two others.

Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militants have threatened and deliberately targeted major TV and radio stations and their staff members, carrying out attacks that have killed dozens of journalists and media employees in recent years.

The attacks have made Afghanistan one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists and forced media companies to adopt new security measures.

“It’s a chilling message for all members of the media in Afghanistan,” said Patricia Gossman, a senior researcher on Afghanistan at Human Rights Watch (HRW). “This is part of a pattern of increased threats and attacks on journalists.”

Dayee reported on southern Afghanistan, a volatile region that is a stronghold of the Taliban.

“Reporters and other civilians in Taliban-held areas have long expressed fear of retaliation if they complain about the way the Taliban carry out military operations or enforce restrictions,” added Gossman.

Dayee’s death takes to at least four the number of journalists and media workers killed in Afghanistan this year.

Journalist Mir Wahed Shah and technician Shafiq Amiri — employees of the private Khurshid TV — were killed in Kabul on May 30 when a bomb blast targeted a minibus carrying employees of the local television station.

The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee reported five journalists were killed in 2019. The media freedom group Reporters Without Borders said 15 Afghan journalists were killed in 2018, the deadliest year ever for the Afghan media.

‘Environment Of Fear’

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said last month that 533 people had been killed and 412 wounded in targeted assassinations in the first six months of the year.

“[There is] news about targeted attacks on activists, government officials, religious scholars, and other civilians every day,” said Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the AIHRC.

“This has created an environment of anxiety and fear at a time when we most need to engage, mobilize, raise our voices, and shape our peace process.”

In a report published in October, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it was concerned by the increasing number of attacks “deliberately targeting civilians, including education, health and humanitarian workers, members of the judiciary, tribal elders, religious leaders, and civilian government employees.”

UNAMA said at least 2,117 civilians were killed and 3,822 injured from January 1 to September 30 this year. It said that targeted killings accounted for 16 percent of all the civilian casualties.

Among the victims were the well-known religious scholars Maulvi Mohammad Ayaz Niazi and Maulvi Azizullah Mufleh, who were killed in two separate attacks in Kabul in June.

Human rights activist Fatima Khalil was killed along with her driver in a bomb blast in Kabul in June.

The surge in targeted killings comes despite ongoing peace talks between Afghan government representatives and the Taliban aimed at ending the 19-year war.

Afghan and Taliban negotiators have been deadlocked at the negotiating table since the historic talks started in September, unable even to agree on a framework and agenda for negotiations over a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing formula.

The Taliban has pursued a fight and talk strategy, hoping to gain leverage in talks with gains on the battlefield. But its relentless attacks that are killing scores of Afghans every week have sapped the fragile trust between the sides — and even endangered the continuation of the negotiations.

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.

Abdullah Criticizes Lack of Progress in Doha Talks

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A. Abdullah

Tolo News: Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, on Friday said the peace negotiations in Qatar have no progress, adding that “what is the sense for the presence of the negotiating team—of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan—then the conflicts are intensifying.”  Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghanistan: 174 New Cases of COVID-19, 4 Deaths Reported

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 174 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 591 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The data by the ministry shows that the cumulative number of total cases is now 42,969, the number of total reported deaths is 1,595, and the total number of recoveries is 35,036.  Click here to read more (external link).

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Australia Appoints Special Prosecutor To Investigate Possible War Crimes In Afghanistan

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 12, 2020

Australia will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on November 12 warned Australians to expect allegations of “serious and possibly criminal misconduct” ahead of the release a report into the conduct of elite Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

In 2016, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defense Forces launched a four-year probe examining allegations of unlawful killings and other possible breaches of the law of armed conflict by elite special forces units between 2005 and 2016.

The probe came amid allegations by Australian media and whistleblowers about the killing of Afghan civilians and unarmed prisoners – including an instance of a prisoner being shot dead to save space in a helicopter and the killing of a six-year-old child in a raid.

Earlier this year, the Inspector-General identified 55 separate potential incidents, most relating to the unlawful killings of non-combatants or people who were no longer combatants.

Morrison said a redacted version of the Inspector-General’s report would be released within days.

“Given the likely allegations of serious and possibly criminal misconduct, the matters raised in the inquiry must be assessed, investigated and where allegations are substantiated, prosecuted in court. To undertake this role, the government is establishing the Office of the Special Investigator,” Morrison announced.

The prime minister said soldiers, if charged, would be dealt with through the Australian justice system, in a move partially designed to prevent any action by the International Criminal Court.

Nearly 40,000 Australian soldiers have served in Afghanistan alongside U.S. and allied forces following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“There is some disturbing conduct here, but we cannot then take that and apply it to everyone who has pulled on a uniform and if we did this, that would be grossly unjust,’’ the prime minister said.

“We all share a deep respect for our defense forces, but we also share a deep respect for justice. It is about managing those two issues to the highest standards I think we place on them in Australia,” he said.

The alleged war crimes first came to public attention in 2017 when public broadcaster ABC published leaked secret documents of special operations in Afghanistan, including cases of soldiers killing unarmed men and children.

In response, Australian police launched an investigation into ABC over what became known as the Afghan Files, but journalists Daniel Oakes and Sam Clark were ultimately not prosecuted.

With reporting by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, AFP, and Reuters.

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.