Tolo News: At least eight civilians were killed in an airstrike in Surkh Rod district in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Friday evening, a spokesman for Nangarhar governor, Attaullah Khogyani, said. Khogyani said that one child was also among those killed in the airstrike that was carried out in Karak village in Surkh Rod district in the north of Nangarhar. Click here to read more (external link).
Esper: U.S., Taliban Deal On Reducing Violence In Afghanistan ‘Promising,’ But With Risks
Esper
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 15, 2020
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said a deal between the United States and the Taliban on a weeklong reduction of violence in Afghanistan “looks very promising,” but warned it was not without risk.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 15, Esper said it was time “to give peace a chance” through a political solution to the nearly 19-year conflict.
“That means taking some risk,” he said. “That means enabling our diplomats and that means working together with our partners and allies on the ground to affect such a thing.”
The Afghan presidential palace said in a statement on February 15 that the deal was conditions-based and would be finalized possibly in the next few weeks.
The palace statement said that U.S. officials told President Ashraf Ghani that the Taliban was ready to “quit violence” and accept a “pluralistic society.”
The remarks came a day after a senior U.S. official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, told reporters at the sidelines of the Munich conference that the United States and the Taliban had reached a deal on a weeklong reduction of violence that would take effect “very soon.”
If successful, the weeklong truce could lead to the signing of a broader agreement between the United States and the Taliban on the withdrawal of around 20,000 foreign troops from the country.
That deal would trigger the start of intra-Afghan peace negotiations over the political future of the country.
The truce deal was announced after a meeting between Esper, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the conference.
U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and General Scott Miller, the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan, also attended the meeting.
The unnamed U.S. official who addressed reporters said the Taliban had committed to stopping roadside and suicide bombings as well as rocket attacks.
The official said the deal was “very specific” and covered the entire country, including Afghan forces.
The United States would monitor the truce and determine if there were any violations, the official said.
With reporting by AP
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 14, 2020
Dostum Threatens ‘Parallel Govt’ if Election Results are Rigged
Abdul Rashid Dostum
Tolo News: First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum has threatened to form a “parallel government” under the leadership of Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive of the National Unity Government, if the election commission “announces fraudulent results of the presidential elections,” which were held on September 28, 2019. Speaking at a gathering in the northern province of Jawzjan on Thursday, Dostum strongly criticized the constant delays that have encumbered the election process, and said that he will never accept a government that is based on “fraud.” Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan President Meets Key US, NATO Officials in Munich
Tolo News: Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani is meeting with top US and NATO officials on Friday in Germany at the Munich Security Conference, according to tweets from the Presidential Palace. This comes as events in the US-Taliban peace negotiation talks in Doha appear to accelerate, following an announcement earlier this week of US President Trump’s “conditional” approval of a peace plan that would apparently lead to the withdrawal of US troops, and Thursday’s statement by Defense Secretary Mark Esper of a seven-day reduction in violence agreement with the Taliban, made in Doha, Qatar. Click here to read more (external link).
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – February 13, 2020
US, Taliban Negotiated 7-Day Reduction in Violence: Esper
Esper
Tolo News: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper at a press conference on Thursday, the second and final day of the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, announced that the Trump administration and the Taliban had negotiated a seven-day reduction in violence proposal. “The United States and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence. I am here today consulting with allies about this proposal and we had a series productive bilateral and collective meetings about the path forward,” said Esper. “Progress has been made on this front and we will have more to report on that soon,” said Esper. Click here to read more (external link).
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Afghanistan Urged To Prosecute ‘Powerful’ Perpetrators Of Sexual Assaults
Karim
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 13, 2020
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging the Afghan government to take immediate steps to provide “justice, support victims, and protect witnesses” in sexual-assault cases implicating “powerful people.”
In a statement on February 12, the New York-based watchdog said that two recent cases highlighted the Afghan authorities’ failure to prosecute such cases.
Senior officials of the Afghan Football Federation (AFF) charged for sexually assaulting female players and for participating in a cover-up of the abuse have not been arrested, while officials in Logar Province are “seeking to end” an investigation into an alleged pedophile ring operating in state schools, according to HRW.
“Prosecuting sexual violence has long been difficult in Afghanistan, but the problems are magnified when the suspects are powerful people,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at HRW.
“These two horrific cases are a litmus test of the Afghan government’s commitment to ending impunity for sexual violence,” Gossman added.
Gossman called on Afghanistan’s donors to press the government to prosecute those responsible for the alleged sexual abuse of hundreds of schoolchildren in Logar.
Two activists who reported the abuse last year have received threats on social media, some from local officials, and were detained by Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
The activists were later released and subsequently left Afghanistan.
The Attorney General’s Office initiated an investigation into the allegations and 18 people have been detained, but no police or senior officials alleged to have been responsible for abuse were included in the detentions, HRW said.
The group quoted activists as saying provincial officials were seeking to terminate the probe, regardless of whether it has made progress, while the authorities “have not put into place any measures to protect survivors and witnesses from retaliation.”
HRW said the Afghan authorities have also failed to make progress in the investigation of multiple cases of alleged sexual assault of female soccer players by former AFF head Keramuddin Karim.
Soccer’s global governing body, FIFA, last year banned Karim for life and fined him about $1 million, and the Afghan attorney general issued a warrant for his arrest.
However, Karim has yet to be detained, while most of his accusers have left Afghanistan after receiving threats, according to HRW.
Gossman said the authorities now had to arrest Karim and investigate soccer federation officials who “facilitated the abuse or helped cover it up.”
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 12, 2020
Trump gives ‘conditional’ approval to peace deal with Taliban
Donald Trump
Ariana: US President Donald Trump has conditionally approved a peace deal with the Taliban, CNN reported, citing US officials. According to the report, the agreement will go ahead only if the Taliban abide by a pledge to “reduce violence” over a seven-day test period later this month. Click here to read more (external link).
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