Pakistan Captures 5 Suspected al-Qaida Operatives

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pakistanAyaz Gul
VOA News
December 27, 2019

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Authorities in eastern Pakistan announced Friday counterterrorism forces have captured five suspected al-Qaida operatives planning attacks on security officials.

The operation in Punjab province targeted a facility serving as a media cell and a financing network for militants linked to al-Qaida’s regional affiliate, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the provincial counterterrorism department said in a statement.

It described the five detainees as important members of AQIS, saying one of them was a close aide of the militant group’s current “operational commander” based in neighboring Afghanistan and was coordinating terrorist activities on both sides of the border.

Officials said the raid in Gujranwala city also seized laptops with encrypted data, mobile phones, a printing press, suicide vests, explosives, weapons, including five Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition, cash and maps of “sensitive” places in Punjab.

The AQIS cell had recently relocated from Karachi, the country’s largest city and commercial center.

Pakistani military forces have conducted major operations against militant strongholds over the past decade in the northwestern remote tribal districts on the Afghan border, clearing most of them and killing thousands of militants.

Officials say retaliatory suicide bombings and other terrorism-related incidents have killed tens of thousands of Pakistanis, including security forces. The security crackdown, however, has significantly reduced militant violence across Pakistan.

Militants who fled the security action in border areas have reportedly moved to other parts of Pakistan, including the country’s richest and most populous province of Punjab.

The United States designated AQI as a global terrorist organization in 2016. It reportedly operates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, claiming responsibility for attacks in the region.

AQIS’s Indian-born chief, Asim Omar, was killed in September in southern Afghanistan in a joint operation by Afghan and U.S. security forces.

The U.S. military, in a unilateral operation in 2011, located and killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan.

American University of Afghanistan could close next year if federal funding is cut

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usa_flagCNN: The American University of Afghanistan is drawing up plans to shut down next year, a casualty of anticipated US government budget slashing of the school’s steady stream of funding, three sources familiar with the planning tell CNN. The university is widely regarded as a top university in Afghanistan and the only one that provides a Western-style education. Click here to read more (external link).

UN: Afghan War Caused 100,000 Civilian Casualties Since 2009

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Yamamoto

Yamamoto

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 26, 2019

ISLAMABAD – The United Nations says the war in Afghanistan has killed or injured more than 100,000 civilians in the past ten years, urging all warring sides to take “genuine and concrete” steps toward ending the 18-year-old hostilities.

The announcement comes as Taliban insurgents in a pre-dawn attack Thursday in the northern Balkh province reportedly killed at least 10 Afghan soldiers.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) lamented in a statement the war continues to take an appalling toll on civilians.

“I recognize with extreme sadness that civilian casualties recently surpassed 100,000 in the past 10 years alone, from the time the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began systematic documentation of civilian casualties in 2009 to the present,” said Yamamoto.

He urged all stakeholders to seek ways to reduce levels of violence to prevent civilian casualties, saying it will also help create an environment to further efforts aimed at starting intra-Afghan negotiations to find a political settlement to the war.

“The United Nations maintains that intra-Afghan talks which include women and youth are essential for an Afghan-owned peace process and are fundamental to all ongoing peace efforts,” Yamamoto stressed.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said Thursday’s insurgent raid in Balkh targeted a military base and confirmed the death of only six soldiers, saying three others were wounded in it.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement noted the attack began with a suicide car bombing before a group of insurgents stormed and captured the base in a district also named Balkh. He claimed the fighting left 12 Afghan soldiers dead and eight others wounded, though insurgents often issue inflated claims.

On Monday, Taliban insurgents also assaulted an army base in another district of Balkh, killing at least 15 Afghan soldiers and wounding several others.

Insurgents have lately intensified battlefield attacks in northern Afghan provinces where violence usually subsides during this time of the year because of extremely harsh weather conditions.

On Monday, the Taliban detonated a roadside bomb near a joint U.S. and Afghan military convoy in the volatile northern Kunduz province, killing an American soldier and his Afghan partner.

The latest U.S. fatality brought the number of American service members killed in Afghanistan this year to at least 19.

The Taliban controls or contests about half of Afghanistan and continues to plot attacks on local and U.S.-led foreign troops in the country. Insurgent attacks have killed some 50,000 Afghan security forces since late 2014, according to Afghan officials.

Peace talks

The United States is trying to negotiate an agreement with the Taliban to end the war, America’s longest overseas military intervention. U.S. negotiators are pressing Taliban interlocutors to reduce violence and enter into intra-Afghan negotiations to find a permanent end to decades of hostilities.

But the Taliban wants Washington to sign an agreement on the withdrawal of all U.S. and coalition troops from Afghanistan before the insurgent group commits itself to a nationwide cease-fire and participate in intra-Afghan negotiations.

But the dialogue has suffered setbacks in recent weeks due to the Taliban’s refusal to reduce violence.

The negotiation process had resumed earlier this month after a suspension of three months before the United States paused it again citing a major Taliban attack on the largest American military base in Afghanistan.

A U.S.-led military coalition invaded the country in 2001 to outset the Taliban regime at the time for sheltering the al-Qaida terrorist network blamed for the terrorist attacks on the United States in September of that year.

The war has since reportedly killed more than 150,000 people, including local security forces, civilians, insurgents and foreign troops. Some 2,300 U.S. soldiers also among those killed.

The conflict has cost the Untied States around a trillion dollars. More than 12,000 American troops and around 8,000 forces from NATO allies are still stationed in Afghanistan, conducting counterterrorism operations in addition to advising and assisting Afghan forces in battles against  the Taliban.

Leaders Unite Against Rise of ‘Fraudulent’ Govt

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A. Abdullah

A. Abdullah

Tolo News: Some of Afghanistan’s mainstream political leaders and former mujahideen figures on Thursday vowed to defy the establishment of a government arising from “electoral fraud.” Among the main critics was CE Abdullah Abdullah, who reiterated that he will always defend the valid votes of the Afghan people. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Kidnapped Afghan Peace Marchers ‘Released Without Harm’

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Herat-Farah-Afghanistan

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 26, 2019

Twenty-seven Afghan peace activists who were kidnapped by the Taliban in the country’s west have been freed “after being held by the militants for 45 hours,” an official has said.

The activists from the People’s Peace Movement (PPM) were released “without harm,” PPM spokesman Bismillah Watan Dost said on December 26. He didn’t provide further details.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

The activists were kidnapped in the Bala Buluk district of Farah Province while traveling from the neighboring province of Herat, the PPM and Farah officials said.

Farah police had said efforts were under way to track the kidnappers. A PPM member also said tribal elders in Farah were to negotiate with the Taliban to release the abducted activists.

According to the PPM, the activists were in the middle of a fresh round of rallies, traveling around the country to spread a message of peace and urging all sides of the conflict in Afghanistan to agree upon a cease-fire.

The group said this was the fourth time the militant group had abducted PPM peace marchers.

The most recent incident was in June, when the Taliban detained 25 peace activists who traveled to the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala in Helmand Province in an attempt to meet with militants and plead with them to seek peace. They were released several days later.

The PPM attracted international attention last year with its peace marches across Afghanistan and in Kabul during which they warned about the record levels of violence across the country.

The movement has always claimed to be an impartial movement, only advocating for peace in the war-torn country.

Based on reporting by Tolo News and dpa

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Suicide Car Bomb Hits Afghan Army Compound

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balkhRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 26, 2019

At least six Afghan soldiers have been killed in a powerful suicide car bombing that targeted a military compound in the country’s northern Balkh Province in the early morning of December 26, officials say.

After the bomber detonated the explosives-packed car, a group of militants stormed the compound, the Defense Ministry said in a statement, calling the assault a “terrorist attack.”

At least three soldiers were wounded in the explosion and the ensuing fighting between the militants and Afghan security forces.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the ministry and local officials blamed it on the Taliban.

Munir Farhad, a spokesman for the Balkh provincial governor, said clashes inside the compound continued for several hours before the attackers were repelled.

It comes two days after the Taliban stormed a checkpoint in Balkh’s Dawlat Abad district, killing seven Afghan soldiers.

Six other members of the security forces — three soldiers and three intelligence agents — were wounded in that attack on December 24.

Taliban militants continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces, as well as government officials — even as the group holds peace talks with a U.S. envoy tasked with negotiating an end to the military conflict in Afghanistan.

Based on reporting by AP and Tolo News

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Latest Policies Of Kabul Police To Decrease Air Pollution

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Photo: Akmal Dawi/IRIN

Photo: Akmal Dawi/IRIN

Ariana: Kabul Police said that they have identified 62 locations in Kabul which are the main reasons for air pollution. They will be penalized seriously by the law. Kabul police identified locations like general bathrooms, swimming pools, factories, and living blocks which are said to be the main causes of air pollution in Kabul. They said that they will be fine. Kabul has the highest air pollution in the world… Click here to read more (external link).