Critics: Dermalog Company Could Influence Election Results

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dermalogTolo News:  The German company providing biometric devices, and now aiding with the tally of voting results, has attracted scrutiny – Naeem Ayoubzada, head of the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA), said: “Unfortunately, Dermalog is not an electoral company to know the management of the election process, secondly, if this company takes responsibility, there is no trust and confidence in it and there are chances of fraud. Dermalog company has its own links with the government and also with international players.” “What is Dermalog is really trying to do with the votes of the people?” asked Mobinullah Emaq, an observer. Click here to read more (external link).

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No need for international troops if peace comes: Afghan CE

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Dr. Abdullah

Dr. Abdullah

1TV: Speaking in an interview with Russian broadcaster RT, Abdullah said that the international troops including those from the United States were in Afghanistan due to presence of terror groups like al-Qaeda, Daesh.“I think efforts for facilitating peace should be expedited, that is what the Afghans want” Abdullah said. “Once there is peace, there will be no need for international troops in the country.” Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghanistan says Baghdadi’s death will reduce terror attacks in country

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ISIS leader, "Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi"

ISIS leader, “Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi”

1TV: The killing of Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was the biggest blow to the militant group, Afghan government has said. Calling Baghdadi one of the most dangerous terrorist leader, Afghanistan presidency in a statement said that his death was the biggest blow the militant group. It said that Baghdadi’s death will not only reduce terror attacks in Afghanistan, but it will also have positive impact on the security of the region and the world. Click here to read more (external link).

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Massive Changes Made to Afghan Cricket Team

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Afghanistan's National Cricket Team

Afghanistan’s National Cricket Team

Tolo News: Afghanistan’s Cricket Board (ACB) has announced the lineup for their One-Day International (ODI) squad on Friday for the three-match series against West Indies. In addition to the suspended duo of Mohammad Shahzad and Aftab Alam, there was no place for the fast-bowling duo of Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan, and Hashmatullah Shahidi, Noor Ali Zadran and Samiullah Shinwari. These players have been replaced by Javed Ahmadi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Ibrahim Zadran, Yamin Ahmadzai and Naveen-ul-Haq. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan’s Presidential Election Results Delayed Until November

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Hawa Alam Nuristani

Hawa Alam Nuristani

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 27, 2019

Afghanistan’s electoral authorities said preliminary results from last month’s presidential election will be delayed for weeks.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the preliminary results of the September 28 election will be announced on November 14.

The preliminary results were originally meant to be released on October 19.

IEC chief Hawa Alam Nuristani told reporters in Kabul on October 27 that the election was a ” fate-determining issue” and that they could not “accept sacrificing transparency for speed.”

The release of the results have been hampered by widespread accusations of misconduct during voting and technical problems with transferring ballot papers and data from the biometric voter verification system.

The postponement is likely to fuel political uncertainty and allegations of fraud.

The two front-runners, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, have both claimed victory and accused the other of vote-rigging.

If no candidate obtains more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held.

Based on reporting by AFP and 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.

IS Leader Dead, Trump Announces

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ISIS leader, "Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi"

ISIS leader, “Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi”

Steve Herman
VOA News
October 27, 2019

WHITE HOUSE – A U.S. military special forces operation in northwest Syria successfully targeted and “violently eliminated” Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, President Donald Trump announced in a nationally televised Sunday morning address.

“Last night the United States brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice,” said Trump, speaking from the Diplomatic Room of the White House, explaining that the IS leader detonated a suicide vest in a tunnel, also killing three children.

“When he blew himself up, the tunnel collapsed,” said Trump.

“No (US) personnel were lost in the operation,” but a large number of al-Baghdadi’s fighters were killed and others were captured, according to Trump. He said the Islamic State leader, who was hiding in a tunnel tried to flee, “was screaming, crying and whimpering” in his last moments.

“He died like a dog. He died like a coward,” added Trump.

Baghdadi’s remains were positively identified in 15 minutes, according to Trump.

“They have his DNA and they brought it with them with lab technicians who who were with them” to perform “an on-site test” after getting to Baghdadi’s body following clearing some debris in the “dead-end” tunnel, explained Trump when asked about the identification by reporters.

“We’ve already got them in our sights,” replied Trump when asked about successors to the IS leader.

“I wanted to make sure this was kept secret,” said Trump when asked if he had notified Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the raid.

Eight U.S. helicopters encountered local gunfire as they approached the raid site, according to Trump, who said “that gunfire was immediately eliminated.”

There were also “many other ships and planes” supporting a large group of U.S. fighters who “blasted their way in so quickly” and then “all hell broke loose,” said Trump.

Russia “did not know the mission,” explained Trump but allowed the helicopters to fly over areas in Syria it controlled.

Trump also thanked Iraq, Syria and Turkey for unspecified cooperation and expressed appreciation to the Syrian Kurds for providing helpful information.

Eleven hours earlier Trump had tweeted: “Something big has just happened!”

In the following hours, there were reports from news agencies, including VOA, and officials in the Middle East that the IS founder and leader was dead. The reports were greeted with a degree of skepticism as Baghdadi’s demise had previously been erroneously reported several times.

Since 2016, the United States had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information to help bring Baghdadi to justice. Only one other person, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, has a reward that high.

Trump’s announcement turned into an extended question-and-answer session with a group of reporters in the room, who asked about his sudden recent pullout of U.S. forces from Syria.

“I don’t want to guard Turkey and Syria for the rest of our lives,” replied Trump. “Now I will secure the oil.”

Jeff Seldin and Carla Babb contributed to this report.

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US Peace Envoy Makes First Afghan Visit After Trump Ended Taliban Talks

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Zalmay Khalilzad

Zalmay Khalilzad

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 27, 2019

ISLAMABAD – The U.S. chief peace negotiator for Afghanistan met leaders in Kabul Sunday after arriving in the country on an unannounced visit, his first since President Donald Trump halted talks with Taliban insurgents on ending the Afghan war.

Officials said Zalmay Khalilzad was accompanied among others by Lisa Curtis, senior director for South and Central Asia at the U.S. National Security Council.

The visit came on a day when the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) set November 14 as the new day for releasing preliminary results from the September 28 controversy-marred presidential polls

The commission was originally scheduled to announce the first results on October 19 but missed the deadline, citing technical problems and efforts to protect the transparency of the process.

Officials said Khalilzad held separate meetings with incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, the two front-runners in the last month’s presidential election.

An Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters “U.S. peace envoy Khalilzad met with President Ghani and briefed him about recent developments.” He did not  elaborate further.

Moscow, Islamabad talks 

Renewed international diplomatic efforts in recent days have raised hopes the stalled U.S.-Taliban talks may resume soon.

On Friday, Khalilzad visited Moscow for a four-party meeting with Russian and counterparts from China as well as Pakistan to review efforts the countries are jointly making to promote a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war.

A post-meeting statement said participants stressed the need for all parties to the Afghan conflict to immediately reduce violence to “create an environment conducive” for peace negotiations. Russia,

It noted Russia, China and Pakistan expressed their support for “the earliest resumption of negotiation process and reaching an agreement” between the U.S. and the Taliban, saying it will pave the way for launching intra-Afghan talks.

In early October, Islamabad hosted informal talks between Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators. While the negotiating sides did not publicly discuss or even confirm the interaction, Pakistani officials said they had facilitated the meetings to help resurrect the U.S.-Taliban dialogue.

‘Draft deal’

The draft agreement Khalilzad negotiated with the Taliban before the dialogue collapsed had required insurgents to engage in intra-Afghan negotiations to permanently end decades of hostilities and prevent transnational terrorist groups from using Afghan soil as a sanctuary in future. In return, U.S. and allied nations would withdraw their troops from the country.

The Taliban insists the agreement was just awaiting signatures from the two adversaries in presence of international guarantors and the signing ceremony was to be hosted by Qatar, which played host to the U.S.-Taliban talks, just before Trump declared the process “dead.”

Insurgent officials in recent days have repeatedly urged the U.S. to return to the negotiating table and conclude the deal.

The Taliban maintains it will engage in internal Afghan negotiations only after foreign troops leave the country and has ruled out talks with the existing Kabul government, denouncing it as an American puppet.

Intra-Afghan meeting 

China, meanwhile, has invited Taliban representatives and delegates from Afghanistan, including government officials, for an intra-Afghan conference.

The two-day event was originally scheduled for October 28 in Beijing but it has now been delayed for unclear reasons.

“The Beijing conference is not a negotiation. It is just a dialog, and may or may not be effective. We are working on the participants’ list and will soon share it with the Chinese government,” said Afghan Presidential spokesman Sediqqi while talking to reporters Sunday.

He reiterated official stance that for peace efforts to be effective, they must be led and owned by Afghans in line with the Kabul government’s plan for peace.

“If you ask Afghans, they will say the peace process should be led by Afghans, and for us our national priority is peace. All of us, including US, should support (the) Afghan peace plan,” Sediqqi stressed.

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In Afghanistan’s War and Peace, WhatsApp Delivers the Message

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whatsapp

NYT: WhatsApp has proliferated in the highest echelons of the Afghan government — as well as among the Taliban.  In the last five years, WhatsApp has become second only to Facebook as a way for Afghans to communicate with one another, and with the outside world. The app, which is owned by Facebook, has now also fully penetrated the highest echelons of the Afghan government and military. But American officials say that despite WhatsApp’s advertised “end-to-end” encryption, it is a security risk. Click here to read more (external link).