Powerful Quake Strikes Northern Afghanistan

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earthquakeRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 20, 2019

A strong earthquake has struck northern Afghanistan, forcing residents into the streets in the Afghan and Pakistani capitals, Islamabad and Kabul, reports say.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the December 20 earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit 51 kilometers southwest of Jurm — a sparsely populated, remote mountain area in Badakhshan Province, and was more than 200 kilometers deep.

The Indian weather office put its magnitude at 6.3.

The quake could be felt as far away as the Indian capital, New Delhi.

In Lahore, southern Pakistan, panicked people came onto the streets and got out of their cars, AFP reported.

Earthquakes are common in the region.

In October 2015, a quake killed more than 400 people and left several thousand homeless in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

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.

Why Both Russia And America Failed In Afghanistan

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afghansoldierThe National Interest:  It’s well past time to let Afghans decide Afghanistan’s future without foreign “assistance.” During the early days after the 9/11 attacks and the initiation of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, it was relatively common to reference the woeful Soviet experience in that country. Here was a clear paradigm of what not to do in order to avoid getting stuck in a quagmire. Surely, American leaders would be more adroit. By employing advanced U.S. technology along with a more sensitive effort to win “hearts and minds,” the Taliban—what was left of it—would be quickly vanquished. Click here to read more (external link).

Pompeo Hopes Reduced Violence Will Lead to Ceasefire

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Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo

Tolo News:  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a joint news conference in Washington with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that he hopes that a reduction of violence in Afghanistan will lead to a ceasefire.” “We are hopeful that all of the relevant political participants in Afghanistan, the Afghan government, non-Afghan government leaders inside of Afghanistan, the Taliban—we’re hopeful they will all conclude that the right answer is a significant reduction in violence, leading to a ceasefire,” Pompeo said. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Early Afghanistan Poll Results Expected in Coming Days, Official Says

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ballot_boxAFP:  Preliminary results from Afghanistan’s delayed presidential polls will be announced in the coming days, an election official said Thursday, after a main candidate ended his boycott of a recount. The country has been stuck in political limbo since the vote, with the two top candidates – President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah – locked in a close race. Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman Zabih Sadat told AFP the key recount and audit of votes from the Sept. 28 election had been completed in all but one province. Click here to read more (external link).

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Iran, Russia warn about Daesh relocation from Mideast to Afghanistan

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isis_khorasanPress TV
December 18, 2019

Security chiefs of Iran and Russia have warned about the deliberate relocation of remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terror group from their former Middle East bastions to Afghanistan.

Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, made the remarks at the second edition of the Regional Security Dialogue conference in Tehran on Wednesday.

The event was also being attended by top security officials of China, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“Since Daesh’s defeat in Iraq and Syria, one of the [pressing] security concerns has been the relocation of the defeated Daesh elements from the two countries to Afghanistan,” Shamkhani said.

The purpose behind the relocation is providing the terror group with a base for planning, organizing and carrying out acts of terror against the Central Asian country and its neighbors, he added.

He named terrorism and radicalism as the most serious challenges facing the region, saying the presence of extra-regional forces in regional states are fueling such threats.

Patrushev, for his part, said Afghanistan currently is home to between 2,500 and 4,000 Daesh terrorists.

The Russian official, meanwhile, pointed the finger at the US for relocating Daesh terrorists to Afghanistan.

This is not the first time that the alarm has been set off about the outfit’s presence in the war-torn country, as well as Washington’s role in transferring its members there.

Observers put the blame for the group’s emergence on the chaos that ensued the US 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group has also been operational in parts of Afghanistan, where close to two decades of US-led military presence has been followed by unremitting militancy.

The Russian official said despite the long-drawn-out US presence, Afghanistan has come to experience more violence.

Washington has no clear-cut plans to leave Afghanistan, he said, adding that the US leadership is of mixed opinions about a potential pullout.

Patrushev dismissed Washington’s attempts at engaging the Taliban as diversionary and ineffectual, saying the only way out of Afghanistan’s current woes is through direct and unconditional talks between the militant group and Kabul.

He, meanwhile, referred to an increase in drug production and supply in Afghanistan as one of the principal sources of funding terrorism, and said around $600 million in drug deal proceeds are funneled to terrorist outfits in the region each year.

 

Three Afghan electoral teams call for prosecution of commissioner Danishyar for ‘faking age’

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Danishyar

Danishyar

1TV:  Three Afghan electoral teams on Wednesday jointly urged the Attorney General’s Office to prosecute election commissioner Mohammad Hanif Danishyar for allegedly faking age. In a letter to AGO, the campaigns of Abdullah Abdullah, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Rahmatullah Nabil said that Danisyar did not complete the minimum age of 35 required for the post, adding he falsified his national identity card and passport. Click here to read more (external link).

 

Khalilzad in Kabul for Peace Talks: Officials

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peaceTolo News: US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is in Kabul to meet Afghan leaders about peace talks, said Mujiburahman Rahimi, a spokesman for the Chief Executive Office, on Wednesday. Khalilzad met with President Ghani at the Presidential Palace and briefed the president about the US-Taliban talks in Doha and the recent Islamabad meeting, said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for President Ghani. His trip comes after a break was called in the US-Taliban negotiations following a Taliban-claimed attack on Bagram airbase on December 11.  Click here to read more (external link).

Qaisari’s Arrest ‘Ordered by Deputy Interior Minister’: Police

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Qaisari

Qaisari

Tolo News: Gen. Khoshal Sadat, the deputy interior minister, ordered the arrest of former local forces commander Nizamuddin Qaisari in the northern province of Balkh and deployed 60 members of the police special unit from Kabul, Balkh Police Chief Gen. Ajmal Fayez said. The police chief said they are not regretting conducting the operation – which according to locals turned the city of Mazar into a war zone for almost two days. At least eight of Qaisari’s aids were killed in this operation that continued for at least 20 hours, according to local security officials. Click here to read more (external link).