Osmani
1TV: Coronavirus positivity rate has declined to 30-40 percent in Afghanistan, the country’s acting public health minister said on Thursday. Ahmad Javad Osmani told reporters that 60 to70 percent of samples that were tested daily were coming back as positive over the past 45 to 60 days, but now that has declined to 30 to 40 percent. Afghanistan has registered 33,908 cases of coronavirus infections and 957 deaths attributed to it. Click here to read more (external link).
By RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service
July 9, 2020
Turkish authorities have moved the Fourth World Nomad Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The games, an international competition dedicated to ethnic sports, were scheduled to be held in the Turkish city of Bursa in autumn this year.
The President of the Turkey-based World Ethnosport Confederation, Bilal Erdogan, said on July 9 that the decision was made after consultations with Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Health Ministry to prevent a surge in coronavirus cases.
The World Nomad Games were initiated by Kyrgyzstan and held for the first time in the Central Asian nation in 2014.
The second and third World Nomad Games were also held in Kyrgyzstan’s picturesque northern region of Issyk-Kul in 2016 and 2018.
The nomad games include horse racing, archery, mounted archery, falconry, and different types of wrestling, including wrestling from horseback.
The games have gained in popularity, prompting teams representing Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Russia, and even the United States to regularly attend the event.
The last World Nomad Games in 2018 hosted athletes from 66 countries, including several European nations, such as Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
This year, for the first time, the games were scheduled to be held outside of Kyrgyzstan.
With reporting by Anadolu, TRT Haber, and Yeni Safak
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
July 8, 2020
At least six Afghan police officers have been killed in two separate Taliban bombings amid a surge in attacks across the war-torn country.
Three officers were reported killed and 20 other people wounded in a truck bomb explosion in the southern province of Kandahar on July 8.
The police chief of Shah Wali Kot district and civilians were among those wounded.
The predawn blast damaged the district police headquarters and the nearby administrative office, according to provincial governor spokesman Ahmad Bahir Ahmadi.
Ahmadi said there was prior intelligence information about a plot to attack the police headquarters.
The suicide bomber was shot by security forces before he could reach his target, but the explosives detonated, the spokesman said.
In southeastern Ghazni Province, officials said a roadside bomb killed three police officers, including the police chief of Dayak district.
The police chief was inspecting checkpoints early in the morning when the attack occurred, according to the provincial governor’s spokesman, Wahidullah Jamazada.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Hundreds of members of Afghanistan’s security forces and civilians have been killed in recent weeks as the Taliban continued to launch attack across the country.
President Ashraf Ghani on July 6 warned that the spike in violence poses a “serious” threat to the peace process with the Taliban.
A peace deal signed by the Taliban and the United States in February calls for direct negotiations between the militant group and the Western-backed government in Kabul aimed at putting an end to the nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan.
With reporting by dpa and AP
Tolo News: The Afghan Women’s National Hockey Team on Wednesday called for broader support by the government, particularly the National Olympic Committee, to help young women playing on the team demonstrate their abilities on the international stage in the future. The Afghan Women’s National Hockey Team was established in 2012 under the National Olympic Committee. However, the team didn’t manage to grow because of a lack of support and facilities. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 210 new positive cases in the past 24 hours out of 591 tests. The ministry also reported 17 deaths due to COVID-19 over the last 24 hours while 549 others have recovered. With this, the total known COVID-19 cases in the country reached 33,594, the total deaths reached 937 and the total number of recoveries is at 20,700. Click here to read more (external link).
AP: The top U.S. general [Frank McKenzie] for the Middle East said Tuesday that the intelligence suggesting that Russia may have paid Taliban militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan was worrisome, but he is not convinced that any bounties resulted in U.S. military deaths. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 7, 2020
ISLAMABAD – China, Afghanistan and Pakistan are calling for a “responsible” withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces from Afghanistan to prevent what they say is “potential terrorist resurgence” in the conflict-torn nation.
Top Chinese, Afghan and Pakistani foreign ministry officials issued the statement Tuesday at the end of the latest round of trilateral “strategic dialogue” the neighboring countries held via video link.
“The three sides urged for an orderly, responsible and condition-based withdraw of the foreign troops from Afghanistan to avoid potential terrorist resurgence,” said a joint post-meeting statement.
The discussions came as the United States presses the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgency to quickly conclude a contentious prisoner swap to allow the start of the long-awaited negotiations between Afghan parties to the deadly conflict.
An eventual peace deal would enable U.S. and allied forces to withdraw from the country by July 2021 under a February 29 landmark agreement between Washington and the Taliban to end nearly two decades of Afghan war, America’s longest.
The U.S. military has pulled out several thousand personnel from Afghanistan since signing the pact, bringing the troop level to around 8,600. Washington, however, has stated that the drawdown of remaining troops will be “conditions-based,” and linked to whether the Taliban lives up to its counterterrorism pledges.
The proposed intra-Afghan dialogue was originally scheduled for March, but controversies plaguing the prisoner exchange and increased Taliban attacks against Afghan security forces have been blamed for the prolonged delay.
Afghan officials have freed about 4,000 insurgent prisoners but have linked the release of the remaining 1,000 to a reduction in Taliban violence and initiation of peace talks.
The Taliban says it has set free 737 out of the promised 1,000 Afghan security personnel from its custody. The group maintains it is working to release the remaining Kabul detainees but will not engage in peace talks until all 5,000 Taliban prisoners are released.
In Tuesday’s joint statement, China and Pakistan called for a reduction in violence and a humanitarian cease-fire, with both countries vowing to enhance cooperation with the Afghan government in support of “the peace reconciliation process, [and] the launch of intra-Afghan negotiations at an early date.”
Beijing is credited with establishing the trilateral dialogue process to help Kabul and Islamabad ease bilateral tensions and enhance economic as well as security cooperation.
“China will continue to play a constructive role in improving Afghanistan-Pakistan relations,” the statement said.
“The three sides agreed to continue to strengthen counter-terrorism and security cooperation, combat the “East Turkistan Islamic Movement”, and all other terrorist forces and networks posing threats to our common security,” it noted while referring to an anti-China terrorist group.
Leaders in Kabul and U.S. military commanders have long alleged the Afghan Taliban directs insurgent activities from sanctuaries on Pakistani soil, charges Islamabad rejects.
The Trump administration, however, has hailed Pakistan for facilitating Washington’s talks with the Taliban and the eventual peace-building pact between the two adversaries.
Pakistani officials insist insurgent fighters use communities hosting several million Afghan refugees in the country as hiding places. Islamabad repeatedly has called on the international community to help repatriate the refugee community to Afghanistan. The issue also came under discussions in Tuesday’s trilateral conference.
“The three sides agreed that the return of Afghan refugees should be part of peace and reconciliation process and underlined the role of international community for a time-bound and well-resourced roadmap for the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honor,” said the statement.
Ashraf Ghani
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
July 7, 2020
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has warned that a spike in violence by militants in the country poses a “serious” threat to the peace process with the Taliban.
Speaking on July 6 during an online conference aimed at briefing the international community on the expected talks with the militant group, Ghani said the current level of violence was higher compared with last year even though preparations are being made for peace talks.
“If the Taliban continues fighting, the Afghan peace process will face serious challenges,” Ghani told online attendees.
Afghan authorities and the Taliban are preparing to engage in direct negotiations aimed at putting an end to the nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan.
But Afghan officials have blamed the Taliban for killing hundreds of security personnel and civilians in recent weeks, following a three-day cease-fire at the end of May.
The Taliban has denied responsibility for many attacks but has acknowledged targeting Afghan security forces in rural areas.
Officials said on July 7 that a suicide car bombing in the eastern province of Nangarhar killed a police commander and his two bodyguards.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the Kuz Kunar district.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State extremist group are active in Nangarhar Province.
The videoconference was attended by senior Afghan officials, as well as representatives of more than 20 other countries, including the United States, Russia, Pakistan, India, Iran, China, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. International organizations such as the United Nations also participated..
Ghani will host two other videoconferences later this week.
The Western-backed government in Kabul has released more than 4,000 Taliban prisoners as part of a deal between the militants and Washington that was signed in February. The Taliban has so far released about 750 government prisoners.
Under the U.S.-Taliban accord, the United States agreed to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from 12,000 troops to 8,600 by mid-July. If the rest of the deal goes through, all U.S. and other foreign troops will exit Afghanistan by mid-2021.
With reporting by AFP, AP, and dpa
Related
Karim
Tolo News: Rights groups on Tuesday strongly criticized the Afghan government for not managing to arrest the former head of the Afghanistan Football Federation, Keramuddin Karim, who is accused of being involved in sexual abuse against female members of the football federation. The arrest warrant for Karim was issued last June, but so far he has not been arrested. He has been banned from the sport for life and has been fined $1 million by FIFA. Click here to read more (external link).