Despite Reported Deal At Peace Talks, Taliban Kills Five Afghan Troops In North
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
February 17, 2020
Afghan officials say at least five Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed a base in northern Afghanistan, despite expectations for a “reduction in violence” before a U.S.-Taliban deal.
The attack occurred in the Shora Khak district of Kunduz Province on February 16, days after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said an agreement with the Taliban was in place for a “conditions-based” weeklong reduction in violence.
“Unfortunately, five army soldiers were martyred and three wounded,” the Afghan Defense Ministry said on February 17. There were also casualties among the Taliban, the ministry said.
Enhamuddin Rahmani, a spokesman for Kunduz police, said the fighting lasted several hours and both sides suffered casualties.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed on Twitter that the militants killed 19 security forces in the attack and destroyed four armored personnel carriers, seizing a large amount of weapons and other military equipment.
Separately, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah told a meeting of ministers on February 17 that the Taliban has agreed to a seven-day reduction of violence ahead of a peace deal with the United States that was “finalized” and may be signed as soon as February 29.
It was not immediately clear when the reduction in violence was scheduled to begin.
A Taliban spokesman based in Doha, the capital of Qatar, said an agreement between the the militants and the United States will be signed by the end of the month.
“According to the agreement, all foreign troops will leave Afghanistan,” Suhail Shaheen, told the DPA German news via the WhatsApp messaging service. “We will not allow anyone to use Afghanistan’s land [to launch attacks] against another country.”
Some 5,000 Taliban prisoners are to be released following the signing of the agreement and before the beginning of intra-Afghan negotiations, Shaheen added.
There was no immediate confirmation from the United States.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Tolonews.ro
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.
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Khan Tells Conference There Are No Militant Safe Havens In Pakistan
Imran Khan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 17, 2020
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has again rejected accusations that his country is harboring militants, and insisted that his government has done “everything” to facilitate the peace process in neighboring Afghanistan.
“Normally there was an idea that the security forces in Pakistan had their own policy, and the government a different one. This is not the case in Pakistan anymore,” Khan on February 17 told an international conference in Islamabad marking 40 years since hundreds of thousands of Afghans found refuge in the country.
Pakistan is seen as key to helping secure and implement any peace deal in Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan officials have long accused the country’s military spy agency of harboring Taliban militants. Islamabad has repeatedly rejected the accusation.
“Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now I can tell you, all of us, there is one thing we want is peace in Afghanistan,” Khan said.
With about 2.7 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, it was impossible to rule out militants hiding among them, he said, adding that his government has done all it could to prevent attacks in Afghanistan, including by building a border fence.
His comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.
Addressing the Islamabad conference, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres praised Pakistan for supporting Afghan refugees.
“For 40 years, the people of Afghanistan have faced successive crises, for 40 years, the people of Pakistan have responded with solidarity,” he said, while calling on the international community to do more for refugees.
Guterres also said he was very encouraged by Pakistan’s strong commitment for peace in Afghanistan.
He said it was “time for Afghans to have peace” and that “no Afghan will forgive us if this opportunity is not seized.”
The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the conference he was “cautiously optimistic” about progress toward an eventual peace deal with the Taliban.
Khalilzad has for more than a year led talks between the Taliban and Washington.
On February 17, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah said the Taliban had agreed to a seven-day reduction of violence ahead of a peace deal with the United States that may be signed by the end of the month.
However, bloodshed continued over the weekend, including a deadly Taliban attack in the northern province of Kunduz.
With reporting by dpa and AFP
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.
1TV Afghanistan Dari News – February 16, 2020
Poll Results Will be Announced Within Next Two Days: IEC
Tolo News: The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has started the audit of disputed votes and will announce the final results of the September presidential elections within the next two days, the deputy of the commission said. The process was delayed for three days because of a protest from Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s campaign team. Click here to read more (external link).
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UN Chief in Pakistan to Renew Focus on Afghan Refugees
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 16, 2020
ISLAMABAD – United Nations Secretary General António Guterres Sunday began a three-day visit to Pakistan by urging the international community to support countries that continue to host millions of refugees from war-shattered Afghanistan.
Guterres is in Islamabad for meetings with Pakistani leaders and to deliver a keynote address to an international conference Monday marking 40 years of hosting of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran, one of the world’s largest and longest-standing refugee populations.
“My fist meeting in Pakistan: generations of Afghan refugees shared their deeply moving stories, hopes & dreams,” Guterres tweeted after his interaction with representatives of the displaced population in the Pakistani capital. “For 40 years, Pakistan has sheltered Afghan refugees. I urge the world to support host countries and show similar leadership in standing with refugees,” he added.
The U.N. chief’s visit comes amid renewed hopes a United States-led peace initiative could help bring an end to the deadly Afghan war, which continues to cause more displacements and civilian sufferings.
The U.N. estimates that some 4.6 million Afghans, including 2.7 million registered refugees, still live outside of Afghanistan. Around 90 per cent of them are being hosted by Pakistan (1.4 million) and Iran (1 million).
Officials say Monday’s ministerial conference, convened jointly with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will highlight the “generosity, hospitality and compassion” of Pakistan, Iran and other countries in hosting the refugee population impacted by more than four decades of unrest in Afghanistan.
The meeting, organizers say, is also meant to remind the global community about the fate of millions of Afghans living as refugees, “many of whom feel the rest of the world may have already abandoned them.” It will seek to “galvanize greater support” to establish conditions for voluntary repatriation and sustainable reintegration of refugees in Afghanistan, according to a UNHCR statement.
UNHCR says funding levels have dropped for its already under-resourced operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran over the years — making it hard to invest in Afghan lives and continue support to affected local host communities.
Nine Homeless Drug Users Killed in Afghan Capital
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 16, 2020
Gunmen have shot dead nine homeless drug users in the Afghan capital, officials said on February 16.
The incident took place late on February 15 in a cave on the outskirts of Kabul near the Koh-e Qurugh mountain, police spokesman Faramarz Tamanna told dpa.
One addict was found wounded and was taken to hospital, police added.
The motive for the attack in Kabul was not clear and police said they were investigating.
Drug addiction has been reportedly on the rise in the war-torn country that produces the majority of opium and heroin consumed in the world.
Afghanistan’s National Drug Use Survey has found that there are between 2.9 to 3.6 million drug users in the country of roughly 37 million.
“It’s a social crisis,” Dr Shokoor Haidari, deputy of the ministry’s counter-drugs department, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The ministry can only treat 40,000 people a year but far more seek help, said Haidari.
Lack of social services, unemployment, and easy access to drugs have fueled drug abuse in Afghanistan, Haidari said.
Based on reporting by dpa 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.
Pashtun Rights Leader In Pakistan Released On Bail
Manzoor Pashteen
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
February 15, 2020
A court in Pakistan on February 15 ordered the release of a Pashtun leader, weeks after he was arrested charges including sedition.
A lawyer for Manzoor Pashteen told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that his client had been granted bail and ordered released.
Pashteen was arrested in the northwestern city of Peshawar early on January 27 on five charges, including sedition, hate speech, incitement against the state, and criminal conspiracy.
Pashteen’s lawyer Saeed Akhtar said his client had already received bail over three of five charges against him. He said Pashteen was granted bail over the remaining two charges on February 15.
Akhtar added that he hoped Pashteen would be released from jail later in the day.
The 28-year-old Pashteen is the leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), which defends the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan, the country’s largest ethnic minority.
The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for ethnic Pashtuns since 2018.
The group has attracted tens of thousands of people out to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani army’s heavy-handed operations in the militancy-hit tribal regions and the military’s alleged connection with Islamist militants.
The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to “enforced disappearances” in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process.
Pakistan’s government rejects allegations that security forces or its intelligence service are responsible for enforced disappearances.
His detention was condemned both in Pakistan and abroad, including in Afghanistan, where Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) had urged Pakistani authorities to release Pashteen and drop the charges against the activist, saying that “using criminal laws to chill free expression and political opposition has no place in a democracy.”
The activist had been “arbitrarily detained for exercising his human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” according to Amnesty International.
In a post on Twitter, Mohsin Dawar, a Pakistani parliamentarian and a PTM leader, expressed his thanks to all who had called for Pashteen’s release.
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.
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – February 15, 2020
Afghans Mark 31st Anniversary of Soviet Withdrawal
Soviet Troops (file photo)
Tolo News: Afghans across the country on Saturday marked the 31st anniversary of former Soviet Union troops withdrawal from the country. Meetings and gatherings were held in various parts of the country where the speakers paid homage to the “bravery” of those who fought against the then Soviet forces and forced them to end the 10-year occupation of the country. Click here to read more (external link).