Trump Ready To Sign Peace Deal With Taliban If Truce Holds

·

Donald Trump

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 24, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is ready to sign a peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan if a temporary truce between the two sides holds.

“We think they want to make a deal, we want to make a deal. I think it’s gonna work out, we will see,” Trump told reporters before departing for India on February 23.

Earlier this month, the two sides announced a weeklong “reduction in violence” that took effect from the start of February 22.

If the truce holds, it will be followed by the signing of the peace accord that would end the United States’ longest war.

“You know we have a certain period of nonviolence. It’s been holding up, it’s a day and a half so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said, adding that “after 19 years” of war, it was time for U.S. forces “to come home.”

There are more than 12,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Afghan media, however, reported that the Taliban carried out several small-scale attacks on checkpoints manned by Afghan security forces in provinces in the past two days.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on February 21 that the United States and the Taliban have been engaged in talks to facilitate a political settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan and reduce the U.S. presence in the region.

Pompeo said that if the truce holds, the “signing of the U.S.-Taliban agreement is expected to move forward.”

“We are preparing for the signing to take place on February 29,” Pompeo said.

He said that intra-Afghan negotiations will start soon thereafter, with the final aim of delivering “a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire and the future political road map for Afghanistan.”

The Taliban confirmed the planned signing of a deal on February 29 “in front of international observers” and said that “the groundwork for intra-Afghan talks will be resolved.”

Trump arrived in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on February 24 for his first trip as president to the world’s fifth largest economy.

Addressing a rally of around 100,000 people at the second-largest stadium in the world, Trump vowed to boost trade ties between Washington and New Delhi, and said the United States was prepared to supply India with the “best and most feared military equipment,” ranging from drones to helicopters and missile systems.

He said he looked forward to expanding space cooperation between the two countries, and that both sides were at the early stages of reaching an “incredible” trade deal.

Trump also had words of praise for Modi, who attended the event.

Accompanied by First Lady Melania, Trump later traveled to Agra in northern India to visit the famed Taj Mahal mausoleum.

He will then fly to New Delhi to hold delegation level talks with Modi on February 25.

With reporting by AP, dpa, AFP, VOA, 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.

Related

Polio Vaccination Ramped-Up After 4 New Cases

·

Child getting polio drops (file photo)

Tolo News: Following the registration of four polio incidents in the country’s west zone, the vaccination campaign has intensified, Herat’s health directorate said Sunday. The directorate said nearly one million children in Herat, Farah and Badghis will receive anti-polio vaccine. According to the officials, the campaign will kickoff after a few days’ delay because of cold weather in Ghor province and in the Farsi district of Herat province. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan’s First Case of Coronavirus Confirmed

·

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 24, 2020

The turmoil-hit country lacks quarantine facilities and protocols, trained health care personnel and medical supplies

ISLAMABAD – Officials in Afghanistan said Monday a patient who recently visited neighboring Iran has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in isolation in a hospital in the western border province of Herat.

The revelation comes as the outbreak of the disease, known as COVID-19, has killed at least 12 people in Iran and infected dozens more since last Wednesday when the country reported its first case

Afghan minister of public health, Ferozuddin Feroz, told reporters in Kabul a state of emergency has been declared in Herat in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. “I ask people to try to stay at home and restrict their movements,” he said.

The Afghan government on Saturday suspended all air and ground travel to and from Iran, hours after authorities in the border province detected three suspected coronavirus cases.  It also halted the import of Iranian poultry products, mainly chicken and eggs.

Feroz said one of the three cases had been confirmed. The three Afghans had returned from the Iranian holy city of Qom, the center of the outbreak.

Critics fear a coronavirus outbreak could pose a serious challenge for authorities in Afghanistan, where years of war and corruption have turned an already poor healthcare system, to which many Afghans have limited or no access, into one of the world’s worst.

The turmoil-hit country lacks quarantine facilities and protocols, trained health care personnel and medical supplies.

Iranian fatalities are the largest number of reported coronavirus-linked deaths outside China, where the disease was first detected in late December.

Tehran announced on Saturday a weeklong closing of schools, universities and cultural centers across 14 Iranian provinces in an effort to curb the coronavirus.

Pakistan has also temporarily closed its border with Iran.

Abdullah and Ghani Both to take Oath of Office

·

Abdullah (left) and Ghani (right)

Tolo News: President Ghani to plans to take the oath of office for the presidency on Thursday.

Ariana: Abdullah has formed a commission to administrate the ceremony where he would take the oath of the office as the president of the inclusive government.

Related

Afghanistan Detects 3 Suspected Coronavirus Cases Linked to Outbreak in Iran

·

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 23, 2020

ISLAMABAD – Health officials in Afghanistan reported three suspected cases of coronavirus Sunday in a western province next to the border with Iran, where the outbreak of the disease has killed at least eight people amid a rise in new cases.

The reported cases prompted the Afghan government to temporarily suspend air and land travel with Iran and halt the import of chicken and eggs from the neighboring country, said an official statement.

An Afghan health ministry spokesman in Kabul told VOA the three patients have been admitted to an isolated ward in the provincial center of Herat.

Waheedullah Mayar said blood samples of the three Afghans have been brought to a lab in the national capital for testing and results would be available soon.  He stressed, however, it was too early to speculate on whether the persons were suffering from the disease, known as COVID-19.

Tehran has reported around two dozen cases, including at least eight deaths in the past few days. However, the Iranian cases still pale in comparison to those recorded in China, where the virus was first detected in late December.

Since then, Chinese have reported nearly 77,000 infections and 2,442 deaths.

Critics fear a coronavirus outbreak could pose a serious challenge for authorities in Afghanistan, where years of war and corruption have turned an already poor healthcare system, which many Afghans have limited or no access, into one of the world’s worst.

The turmoil-hit country lacks quarantine facilities and protocols, trained health care personnel and medical supplies.

The suspected coronavirus cases emerged in Afghanistan on second day of a weeklong reduction in violence mutually agreed between  Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops and Taliban insurgents in their bid to end the 18-year-old war.

Pakistan closes Iran border

Meanwhile, officials in Pakistan said Sunday they have temporarily shut the country’s border with Iran and deployed emergency preventive measures to screen people for coronavirus infections who have recently returned from the neighboring country.

Trade convoys and hundreds of Pakistanis, mostly Shi’ite Muslims, travel daily to visit holy sites in Iran using the Taftan border crossing in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan.

Pakistan has not reported any confirmed cases of the coronavirus diseases. Authorities have installed tight monitoring mechanisms at airports, seaports and overland routes for travelers from with neighboring China which hosts around 30,000 Pakistanis, mostly students.

Moreover, some 10,000 Chinese nationals are also based in Pakistan, mostly working on infrastructure development and power plant construction projects that Beijing is funding and building under its global Belt and Road Initiative.

Related

Abdullah-Loyal Governor Installed in Sar-e-Pul

·

A. Abdullah

Tolo News: The Stability and Convergence team led by Abdullah Abdullah introduced Mohammad Noor Rahmani as the governor of Sar-e-Pul at a gathering in the province on Saturday. They also took down President Ghani’s portrait from the provincial governor’s office. Meanwhile, Kamaluddin Nizami, governor of the central province of Panjshir, appeared at a press conference on Saturday and said that he will not implement Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s orders afterward in the province. Click here to read more (external link).

Related