1TV: A leading Afghan human rights group confirmed on Thursday that Iranian guards beat, tortured and drowned Afghan migrants at the border earlier this month. In a report, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said that a total of 46 migrants crossed the river flowing at the border between the two countries by boat and with the help of smugglers from Herat’s Gulran district. They were aged between 12 and 40 years. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Thursday reported 580 new positive cases of COVID-19 across the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases in Afghanistan to 13,036. The total number of reported deaths from the coronavirus in Afghanistan is now 235. The number of recoveries nationwide is 1,209. Click here to read more (external link).
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Taliban militants (file photo)
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
May 28, 2020
A Taliban delegation has arrived in Kabul for talks over a prisoner swap, just hours after Afghan officials blamed the militant group for a deadly attack in the country’s north.
The prisoner exchange is part of a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February that called on the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the militants to free around 1,000 government captives as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks.
“A technical delegation of the Taliban is in Kabul to work with a technical team of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the release of prisoners of both sides,” said National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal on May 28.
In April, Afghan government representatives met with a three-member Taliban team in Kabul to discuss a prisoner swap, the first time an official Taliban delegation had been in the city since the group was driven from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
But the militant group broke off the talks days later, saying they had made no progress.
Since then the militants have intensified attacks on government forces, leaving the U.S.-Taliban peace deal on the verge of collapse.
But the Taliban’s announcement of a May 24-26 cease-fire to coincide with the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday has created new momentum.
In the first major incident since the three-day truce ended, Afghan officials said the Taliban killed seven Afghan soldiers in an attack in the northern Parwan Province.
Waheeda Shahkar, spokeswoman to the provincial governor, said on May 28 that the militants attacked a checkpoint in Parwan.
“The Taliban have also suffered casualties,” Shahkar added.
District police chief Hussain Shah said militants set fire to the checkpoint, killing five security force personnel. Two more were shot dead.
The Taliban has not immediately claimed the attack.
The government has called on the militants to extend the cease-fire so long-delayed peace talks could begin.
During the cease-fire, Afghan authorities released some 1,000 Taliban prisoners — part of a pledge by the government to free up to 2,000 militants in response to the Taliban’s cease-fire move.
A senior member of the Taliban on May 27 told AFP that militants were planning to free about 50 to 100 Afghan security-force members as early as May 28.
Earlier, a senior Taliban figure was quoted as saying the group is considering an extension of the cease-fire “if these developments, like the announcement of prisoner releases, continues.”
The prisoner exchange is part of a February 29 U.S.-Taliban agreement that did not include the Afghan government. Under a key point of the deal, Washington agreed to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 by mid-July in a first stage, before a complete withdrawal by May next year.
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 26 said he has not set a target date for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, amid speculation he may make ending America’s longest war a campaign issue ahead of November’s presidential election.
But U.S. and NATO officials speaking on condition of anonymity said U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan is down to nearly 8,600, well ahead of schedule, in part because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump said there were “7,000-some-odd” U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, but officials clarified that number was slightly over 8,600 troops.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa
Donald Trump
By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 28, 2020
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – President Donald Trump has renewed his resolve to “bring our soldiers back home” from Afghanistan, publicly questioning again the goal of the current U.S. military mission to the war-torn country.
Trump reiterated his intention amid reports that the ongoing U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan “is well ahead of schedule” outlined in a landmark peace-building pact the United States signed with the Taliban in late February to end the nearly 19-year-old Afghan war.
“We are acting as a police force, not the fighting force that we are, in Afghanistan,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. After 19 years, it was time for Afghan authorities to police their own country, he wrote.
“Bring our soldiers back home but closely watch what is going on and strike with a thunder like never before, if necessary!” Trump added.
Under the Feb. 29 U.S.-Taliban agreement, Washington has committed to reduce its military footprint in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 by mid-July before withdrawing all troops, along with several thousand partners in a NATO-led non-combatant mission by mid-2021.
The drawdown started within days of the signing of the agreement in Qatar, and U.S. military officials say the process has since been on track.
In return, the Taliban is committed to preventing terrorist groups from using Afghanistan for international terrorism. It has also promised to reduce battlefield violence and engage in a political reconciliation process with other Afghan stakeholders to negotiate a permanent cease-fire and power-sharing arrangement in post-war Afghanistan.
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Ashraf Ghani
Tolo News: Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) on Wednesday strongly criticized the Afghan government’s anti-corruption policy, saying actions promised by the Afghan government to curb corruption have been vague and there is a need for transparency for efforts to crack down on graft at customs. The watchdog says that President Ghani’s promises regarding the elimination of corruption have not been fulfilled. Click here to read more (external link).
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Tolo News: The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 625 new positive cases of COVID-19 across the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases in Afghanistan to 12,456. The total number of reported deaths from the coronavirus in Afghanistan is now 227. The number of recoveries nationwide is 1,138. Click here to read more (external link).
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Ariana: The unprecedented increase in the outbreak of typhoid in Afghanistan has caught eyes. The outbreak of a seasonal disease, referred to as typhoid, in Afghanistan, has emerged concerns. The disease, also known as typhoid fever, has similar symptoms to that of the COVID19. Residents of eastern Nangarhar province say that typhoid has quickly spread among the people, and two to three members of each family are likely to be infected. Click here to read more (external link).
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Donald Trump
1TV: US President Donald Trump wants to complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by election in November, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Senior US military officials are set to brief Trump in the coming days on options for pulling all American troops out of Afghanistan, with one possible timeline for withdrawing forces before the presidential election, NYT reported. Click here to read more (external link).
By Frud Bezhan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 27, 2020
Afghanistan’s flagging peace process was on the verge of collapse following weeks of devastating militant attacks, mounting public anger, and the halt of a major prisoner swap.
But a brief cease-fire between the government and the Taliban has breathed new life into efforts to negotiate an end to the nearly 19-year war.
The May 24-26 truce, which coincided with the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday, largely held across the country. In what it said was a “goodwill” gesture, the government freed 1,000 Taliban prisoners — 900 of them in a single day — the largest group so far.
The developments have raised prospects of an extended cessation of hostilities and the long-delayed launch of direct talks between the government and militants over a permanent cease-fire and a future power-sharing agreement.
The negotiations are a key component of the U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February that called for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in exchange for counterterrorism guarantees from the Taliban, which has agreed to open talks with the central government.
But despite the renewed momentum, there are concerns that the government’s unprecedented release of Taliban prisoners is a gamble that could weaken its future leverage in negotiations and give the Taliban an advantage on the battlefield.
“The government is taking a leap of faith, despite significant political and military risks,” said Javid Ahmad, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. “Many of the Taliban fighters [being] released could pick up their guns again.”
‘Fewer Bargaining Chips’
The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the Kabul government, which was not a signatory to the bilateral deal, to free up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners before the start of intra-Afghan talks that were originally slated for March 10. The Taliban committed to releasing 1,000 Afghan officials and security personnel.
The government initially balked but grudgingly accepted, releasing around 1,000 Taliban inmates in separate groups before the truce. The staggered releases were criticized by the Taliban, which demanded that all of the prisoners be freed at once.
In total, the government has released some 2,000 Taliban prisoners so far under the U.S.-Taliban deal. The Taliban says it has released 240 Afghan officials and security personnel.
The Taliban prisoners reportedly signed written pledges not to return to the battlefield, although there is no guarantee they will not rejoin the fight.
The government did not reveal the identities or ranks of the latest Taliban militants who were released. It said the first 1,000 were low-rank fighters who had served the majority of their prison terms.
Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission has expressed concern about the prisoner releases and whether individual Taliban prisoners had been charged with violent crimes against civilian and military targets.
“It’s a big gamble for Kabul to release so many prisoners before peace talks even start,” said Michael Kugelman, South Asia senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
“Those prisoners are, bar none, the Afghan state’s main tool of leverage. If you free too many of them before talks start, then you’ll have fewer bargaining chips once the talks do begin,” he said.
Kugelman added that if the Taliban agreed to a new reduction-in-violence agreement or a longer cease-fire, then Kabul might feel that freeing all those prisoners was worth the risk.
“At the end of the day, the Afghan state and the United States believe that it’s so much more favorable to go into talks with your enemy when that enemy is scaling down its violence,” he said.
The Taliban has yet to respond to calls by the government to extend the three-day cease-fire.
There are an estimated 10,000 Taliban prisoners being held in Afghanistan. But the militants have said that some of those detained were accused of being sympathizers or members of the group, often to settle old scores, and were never combatants.
‘PR Move’
The Taliban’s surprise cease-fire offer came after weeks of intensifying attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians.
According to data from Afghan and Western sources seen by Reuters, the Taliban has mounted more than 4,500 attacks since signing the deal.
On May 12, gunmen massacred 24 people, including two newborns, at a maternity clinic in the capital.
Even in a country ravaged by war for more than 40 years, the attack on a maternity clinic targeting infants and mothers sparked international outrage and shocked many Afghans, who fear an endless war.
The government blamed the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and the Taliban, which denied responsibility.
President Ashraf Ghani ordered government forces on the offensive after being in a months-long defensive mode.
His national-security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, said the escalating attacks illustrated that the Taliban “did not intend to pursue peace” and there “seems little point in continuing to engage the Taliban in ‘peace talks.'”
Kugelman said the Taliban’s announcement of a brief cease-fire was a public-relations move.
“The Taliban knows that it’s been taking a lot of criticism, and rightly so, from other Afghans and from an international community that is disgusted by all the violence in the country in recent weeks,” he said.
“The Taliban is a national insurgency and it worries about its image, both because of a desire to win hearts and minds and to be seen by international capitals as a legitimate and responsible player in peace talks,” he added.
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