Tolo News: Afghanistan’s Cricket Board (ACB) on Thursday appointed four new members to its nine-member board who were approved by President Ashraf Ghani, according to a statement by the ACB. The new members include the Women’s Affairs Minister Hasina Safi, Kandahar MP Rohullah Khanzada, senior vice-presidential advisor Haroon Mir and Mohammad Nabi, the former cricket captain and member of Afghanistan’s National Cricket Team. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Cricket News
Donald Trump
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 20, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on August 20 to retaliate if countries were found to have offered bounties for attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
U.S. media reported at the end of June that U.S. intelligence officials concluded months ago that Russian military intelligence offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill American soldiers. The New York Times went on to claim that Trump was briefed on the matter, but did nothing in response.
Earlier this month, CNN reported that U.S. intelligence had also indicated that Iran paid the Taliban bounties to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Iran denied the report as “entirely false.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House on August 20, Trump said that if the reports were determined to be a fact, then “we would hit them so hard, your head would spin.”
Trump had previously said he was not told about the reported Russian effort to get the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers because many U.S. intelligence officials doubted it was true.
Democrats in the U.S. Congress who were briefed on the matter have said U.S. sanctions on Russia should be beefed up if the allegations, which Russia and the Taliban deny, are confirmed.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
August 20, 2020
Afghan officials say Taliban militants have killed at least 18 people and wounded eight others in two fresh attacks in Takhar and Nangarhar provinces.
The insurgents attacked pro-government militia forces in Takhar’s Khwaja Bahauddin district overnight, killing at least 13 members of the force, local police said on August 20.
Security sources said one army soldier was also killed and two others wounded when they went to support the militia forces that came under Taliban attack.
The officials said the clash in Takhar lasted several hours. Many districts in the northeastern province are contested between the militants and government forces.
The Afghan spy agency supports pro-government local militia groups – known as Public Uprising Forces — in remote areas across the country to fight against the Taliban insurgency.
Meanwhile, officials in eastern Nangarhar Province say at least four security officers were killed and two others wounded in an overnight Taliban assault in areas bordering Pakistan.
Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for provincial governor said on August 20 that 10 Taliban fighters were also killed in fighting between security forces and the militants.
The latest violence comes as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani urged the Taliban to accept a permanent cease-fire and began peace talks with the government.
But the prospect of intra-Afghan peace talks sought by the United States was thrown into more uncertainty as the government said it would not release the last 320 Taliban prisoners it holds until the militants freed more captured Afghan soldiers.
Kabul has already freed 4,600 Taliban inmates out of the 5,000 pledged in a landmark U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February.
The Taliban says it has freed all 1,000 government prisoners it had pledged in the agreement with the United States.
The prisoner swap was a precondition for launching peace talks.
With reporting by dpa and Tolonews.com
More Security News
Ghani
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 20, 2020
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says that “all barriers and excuses have been removed” ahead of expected peace talks between the government in Kabul and the Taliban militants.
In a televised message to Afghan security forces on August 20, Ghani said his government had “met all conditions for a peace with dignity.” He called on the Taliban to accept a permanent cease-fire and start negotiations with the government soon.
“We have shown our will and our commitment,” he said, citing the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners, a major precondition for the peace talks sought by the United States.
Ghani’s message comes amid new uncertainties over the start of the intra-Afghan peace talks. The government said it would not release the last 320 Taliban prisoners it holds until the militants freed more captured Afghan soldiers.
The decision goes against that of the Loya Jirga, a traditional Afghan council held earlier this month, and is likely to further delay the talks.
Ghani himself had announced on August 9 his intention to release the remaining 400 militants, many of whom have been convicted for deadly attacks on Afghans and foreigners.
Kabul had already freed 4,600 Taliban inmates out of the 5,000 pledged in a landmark U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February.
Afghan officials have described the remaining prisoners as the most dangerous, accusing them of masterminding attacks on embassies, public squares, and government offices, killing thousands of civilians in recent years.
Australia and France have urged the Afghan government not to free several Taliban fighters accused of killing Australian and French nationals.
Ghani also told a British newspaper that all NATO leaders would be complicit if there was an increase in the international drug trade caused by the release of the prisoners. Afghanistan has been the world’s largest opium producer since 2001 and the Taliban is accused of using the drug money to fund itself.
In an interview with The Times, Ghani warned that a wave of narcotics could hit the West if the final batch of Taliban fighters was released from prison.
“If drugs go through the roof in the United Kingdom and Europe, all your leaders have been part of this,” Ghani said in the interview published on August 18.
“If amphetamines reach the shores of the United States, we should know that these are the consequences, and if these people commit crimes, there’s shared international responsibility.”
The Taliban says it has freed all 1,000 government prisoners it had pledged in the agreement with the United States.
In addition to the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition troops, the U.S.-Taliban deal calls on the Taliban to guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a staging ground for terrorist attacks on the United States or its allies.
Meanwhile, near-daily attacks continue across Afghanistan. Officials said at least 13 security forces were killed in northern province of Takhar on August 20.
With reporting by Tolo News, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, dpa, and AP
Related
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
August 19, 2020
KABUL — Police say two sticky bombs that targeted Afghan government employees in Kabul killed two people on August 19 and wounded two others.
The attacks came a day after a rocket salvo that hit residential and diplomatic areas in the city claimed the lives of three people and wounded 16, according to the Interior Ministry.
One of the sticky bombs was attached to a police vehicle, while the other was attached to a car belonging to the Education Ministry, according to Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz.
Abdulbaqi Amin, head of the Education Ministry’s Science Council, was killed in the second blast, a spokeswoman for the ministry was quoted as saying.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said he was not aware of the attacks, which took place as the United States is withdrawing troops while trying to usher in peace talks between the Taliban and the Western-backed government in Kabul to end nearly 19 years of war.
On August 18, officials said a total of 14 rockets were fired into central Kabul as Afghanistan marked the 101st anniversary of its independence.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said that those killed in the strikes included two government employees.
He did not specify who the employees were, but the AFP news agency quoted two officials as saying they were members of President Ashraf Ghani’s guard of honor.
Another six honor guard members were reportedly wounded when one of the missiles landed in the presidential palace compound.
The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for these attacks.
With reporting by AFP, AP, and dpa
Related
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 40 new cases of the coronavirus out of 162 samples tested over the last 24 hours. The number of total cases is now 37,759, the total reported deaths is 1,383, and the total recoveries is 27,316. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
PTI: Describing Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan as “endangered minorities”, a resolution introduced in the US Congress has sought to resettle these persecuted religious communities from the war-torn country to America. Introduced in the House of Representatives last week by Congresswoman Jackie Speier and co-sponsored by seven others, the resolution supports refugee protection for Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan, noting the “systematic religious persecution, discrimination and existential danger” faced by members of these communities. Click here to read more (external link).