1TV: Afghan government has included a project to build a nuclear laboratory in the draft of 2020 national budget. The project is expected to cost 41 million afghanis and is among 11 large projects in the budget proposal. Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran for cooperation on nuclear energy as a delegation from Afghanistan Atomic Energy High Commission visited the neighbouring country in June this year. Click here to read more (external link).
At Least Five Wounded In Kabul Grenade Attack
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 18, 2019
KABUL – At least four Afghan National Army soldiers and one civilian have been wounded in an attack on a military training center in Kabul, officials say.
Defense Ministry spokesman Fuad Aman told RFE/RL that unknown attackers threw two grenades at the gate of the military facility on the western edge of Kabul on November 18.
An Interior Ministry spokesman initially said the two explosions were caused by suicide bombers.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes five days after a suicide car bombing targeted a private security firm’s convoy in Kabul, killing 12 people.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group frequently target Afghan security forces and government officials in the Afghan capital and elsewhere across the country.
Last week, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced the release of three high-level Taliban prisoners but later had them sent back to custody.
Two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, U.S. national Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, were to be exchanged for them.
The Taliban kidnapped the academics in 2016.
With reporting by AP
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.
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Herat Bomb Blast Injures 10 Including Three Children
Ariana: At least 10 people including three children wounded after a magnetic bomb went off in western Herat province late on Sunday afternoon, an official said. The sticky bomb was attached to the vehicle of traffic police near the Money Exchanger’s market in the city. No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan Blames Taliban For Delay In High-Profile Prisoner Swap
Sediq Sediqqi
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 17, 2019
Kabul has blamed the Taliban for a delay in the exchange of three extremist prisoners held in Afghanistan for two Western hostages that the militant group has been holding.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office on November 16 said the Taliban prisoners “are still being held by the Afghan government.”
“The inability of the Taliban to meet the conditions has delayed the exchange process,” spokesman Sediq Sediqqi wrote on Twitter, adding that the Afghan government will review the situation and make decisions based “on the country’s best interests.”
The Western-backed Afghan government did not immediately give specifics on what conditions it believes the Taliban had not met.
Ghani had announced the deal on November 12, saying the Taliban prisoners held at Bagram prison would be “conditionally” released.
The deal was seen by the Afghan government as a key move in securing direct talks with the Taliban, which has so far refused to engage with what it calls a “puppet” regime in Kabul.
The United States has been holding a series of negotiations with Taliban representatives in Qatar over recent years in an attempt to end the 18-year war.
But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on November 15 said the Taliban prisoners to be freed did not show up at an exchange site that had been agreed upon and were still in custody.
Mujahid on November 15 told VOA the deal had been suspended and that it was up to U.S. officials to explain what happened.
“As per the deal with the Americans, our prisoners were to be taken to the mutually agreed safe location and freed there. We would have then released and handed the American [and his colleague] over to them,” Mujahid said in a Pashto-language audio message sent to VOA.
The United States did not immediately comment.
The Taliban prisoners were to be swapped for two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who had been abducted by gunmen wearing military uniforms in August 2016, U.S. citizen Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks.
Mujahid said the Taliban was still holding King, 60, and Weeks, 48.
The Taliban prisoners to be released were Anas Haqqani — the younger brother of Sirajjuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network — and two other prominent militants, Hafiz Rashid Omari and Haji Milli Khan, officials said.
The Haqqani network, known for carrying out brutal attacks in Afghanistan, is part of the Taliban group and is believed to be based in Pakistan.
With reporting by VOA, AFP, AP, Reuters, 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.
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Abdullah Blasts IEC for ‘Ignoring’ Candidates’ Demands
A. Abdullah
Tolo News: Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, a three-time presidential contender, on Sunday criticized the Independent Election Commission, or IEC, for “ignoring” the demands of presidential candidates to sort out disputed votes, saying efforts are underway to add “fraudulent votes” into the total number tallied from the September 28 election day. Click here to read more (external link).
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – November 17, 2019
Afghanistan Beat West Indies by 41 Runs in T20I Match
Tolo News: Afghanistan’s National Cricket Team beat West Indies by 41 runs during Saturday night’s match to level their three-match Twenty20 series 1-1. The final match is also at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, India—where Afghanistan plays their home games—on Sunday at 6 pm (Kabul time). Click here to read more (external link).
More Afghan Cricket News
Campaign Launched Against Coal Use in Kabul
Photo: Akmal Dawi/IRIN
Tolo News: The Environment Directorate launched a campaign in Kabul against the use of coal, in order to protect the environment during the coming winter. In this one-week campaign, the activists will collect over 124,000 signatures from Kabul residents pledging to avoid using coal for heating during winter and to restrain from using old cars in order to prevent air pollution in the city. Click here to read more (external link).
Trump Pardon Sparks Reaction in Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) warned on Sunday that Trump’s decisions to pardon two American soldiers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan will cause the repeat of such crimes. On Nov. 14, Trump granted clemency to two US Army officers convicted of or charged with war crimes in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
US-Afghan Mission Fails to Check Islamic State Khorasan’s Surge
Michael Hughes: It is quite baffling to continually hear American military leaders say U.S. troops must remain in Afghanistan to ensure the country will never again be used as a terrorist launching pad given that it is already is. For, despite years of airstrikes and counter-terror operations, the local franchise known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) is – as I write this – using Afghanistan as a base for expanding its footprint across all the former Soviet republics in Central Asia. Click here to read more.