UN Says 14,000 ‘Grave Violations’ Against Afghan Kids In Four Years

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kids_photosRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 4, 2019

The worsening security situation in Afghanistan over the past four years has led to over 14,000 “grave violations” against children, including nearly 3,500 deaths, a UN report says.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned “the alarming level” of grave violations committed by all parties and the fact that children “continue to bear the brunt of the armed conflict.”

Some 9,000 children have been also injured in the same period, the report says.

Of serious concern, Guterres said, was that the children verified to have been killed or injured in 2015-18 represented almost one-third of all civilian casualties. That was “an increase of 82 percent in child casualties compared with the previous four years,” he wrote.

The report, the fourth on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan, said the rise was traced to “an increase in child casualties resulting from ground engagements, explosive remnants of war, and aerial attacks.”

According to the document, child casualties from air strikes “have significantly increased since 2015,” reversing a reduction in numbers during the four preceding years. The UN verified 1,049 child casualties from air strikes in 2015-18, including 464 killed.

The report said that figure represented 40 percent of civilian casualties from aerial attacks.

Guterres said he was “extremely concerned,” by the high numbers of children killed and injured as a result of “aerial operations conducted by government and pro-government forces.”

The UN chief said armed groups were responsible for 43 percent of child casualties — 3,450 killed and 9,149 wounded. Government and pro-government forces were responsible for 30 percent of child casualties, Guterres said.

The report says that while the UN also verified the recruitment and use of 274 children by armed groups and government forces, the actual number of children recruited and used in the Afghan conflict “is estimated to be much higher,” citing reports that over 3,000 children were recruited, mainly by armed groups in 2016.

It also documented sexual violence against 13 boys and four girls, but Guterres indicated that the actual number was higher, saying that rape and other forms of sexual violence against children “is known to be underreported as a result of prevailing social norms, fear of retaliation, and impunity.”

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.

Pakistan Says Visiting US, Taliban Negotiators to Hold Direct Talks

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Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 3, 2019

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan says that visiting U.S. and Taliban delegates will hold a direct bilateral meeting to discuss resumption of peace talks aimed at ending the nearly two decades of conflict in neighboring Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while making the announcement, told reporters Islamabad is optimistic the stalled U.S.-Taliban dialogue will resume soon.

Qureshi expressed optimism after holding official talks in Islamabad with a high-level delegation of the Taliban insurgency, which arrived in the Pakistani capital the previous day.

Qureshi noted that the U.S.-Taliban dialogue had almost finalized a peace deal in nine long rounds of meetings before the process broke down nearly a month ago.

“Pakistan is trying to help restart the dialogue process to bring it to its logical conclusion,” the foreign minister said. “I am happy to share with you that I have returned satisfied from my meeting with them (Taliban),” Qureshi asserted.

A Pakistani foreign ministry statement issued after Qureshi’s meeting with the Taliban noted that “both sides agreed on the need for the earliest resumption of the peace process.” Qureshi was accompanied at the meeting by the head of the Pakistani spy agency, ISI, Lt. General Faiz Hameed.

U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled the Afghan peace process on September 7, citing continued Taliban attacks on civilian and American troops in Afghanistan.

The Taliban delegation, which mostly consists of insurgent leaders who negotiated the peace deal with the U.S., arrived in Islamabad a day after the head of the American negotiating team, special reconciliation envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, landed in the Pakistani capital.

While U.S. officials insisted Khalilzad is visiting Islamabad for bilateral “consultations” with Pakistani leaders, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told VOA on Wednesday “I don’t rule out” a direct meeting with the U.S. delegates.

The Taliban delegation is being led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the political deputy chief of the insurgent group and head of its office in Qatar, which played host to the now defunct U.S.-Taliban dialogue.

Taliban leaders were also expected to call on Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Foreign Minister Qureshi.

In his meetings with Trump and Khalilzad last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Khan urged the U.S. side to urgently revive the talks with the Taliban, stressing the war in Afghanistan could only be settled through political negotiations.

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U.S. Fuels Anxiety Over Afghan Vote Count

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Afghan Election Workers (photo courtesy of IEC)

Afghan Election Workers (photo courtesy of IEC)

Michael Hughes: It did not take too long for the United States to ramp up efforts to delegitimize the recent Afghan presidential election – a process that was already destined to fail due to Washington’s interference. In light of the recent collapse in the U.S.-Taliban talks, it is not clear as to why the Trump administration continues to share the insurgents’ goal of undermining the ultimate victor, whether it be Ghani, Abdullah or another party. But, rest assured, dark forces are likely hard at work in Foggy Bottom machinating a new roadmap for Afghanistan. Click here to read more.

Taliban are Pakistan’s proxy, Afghanistan would never accept to be ruled by Pakistanis: NSA Mohib

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Hamdullah Mohib

Hamdullah Mohib

1TV:  “If we didn’t accept the Soviet rule – superpower – it would be beyond imagination to accept the proxy of a backward country which has a hard time feeding its own people,” Mohib said speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US think tank in New York. Mohib welcomed US President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel talks with the Taliban saying the Taliban are not ready to make peace with anybody. “They are ready to take Afghanistan over and return their regime. They had been preparing their victory speeches,” Mohib said. Click here to read more (external link).

Blast Kills 6 In Kapisa, Women and Children

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kapisaTolo News: At least six members of the same family were killed by a roadside IED blast on Tuesday in Kapisa province, according to local officials. Two children and four women were killed in Baies Khail village of Najrab district in Kapisa province, when an improvised roadside mine placed in farmlands by Taliban insurgents detonated, said Abdul Shayeq Shoresh, spokesman for the Kapisa Police. Click here to read more (external link).

US, Taliban Peace Negotiators Arrive in Pakistan

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pakistanAyaz Gul
VOA News
October 2, 2019

ISLAMABAD – U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political negotiators have arrived in neighboring Pakistan amid a renewed diplomatic push to resurrect peace talks between Washington and the insurgent group.

The Taliban delegation arrived in Islamabad early Wednesday hours after the Khalilzad-led team landed in the Pakistani capital. Both the teams will stay in the country for several days.

While both sides insisted they are visiting Pakistan for official meetings with representatives of the host government,  Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told VOA “I don’t rule out” direct talks between the 11-member insurgent team and the U.S. delegation.  He said the Taliban delegation will stay in Islamabad until October 6.

The widely unexpected visits come several weeks after President Donald Trump abruptly called off the yearlong U.S.-Taliban talks just when the two adversaries had come close to signing a peace agreement that could have ended the 18-year-old Afghan war, America’s longest overseas military intervention.

A U.S. embassy spokesperson told VOA Khalilzad, who led the U.S. team in the peace talks with the Taliban, is in Islamabad “this week participating in consultations” with Pakistani counterparts

“These consultations follow discussions held between the United States and Pakistan during the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week,” said the spokesperson without giving further details.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in his separate meetings with Trump and Khalilzad in New York urged the United States to resume and conclude the peace process with the Taliban to bring an end to the deadly Afghan war.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said the Taliban visit would provide the opportunity “to review the progress made under U.S.-Taliban peace talks so far, and discuss the possibilities of resuming the paused political settlement process in Afghanistan.

Sources said Taliban visitors also are expected to call on Prime Minister Khan, though neither the ministry nor the Taliban would confirm the meeting.

Shaheen told VOA that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy Taliban chief for political affairs and head of the group’s office in Qatar, is leading the Taliban delegation, saying it comprises members of the team that held nine rounds of peace negotiations with the U.S. side.

Shaheen said in their meetings with Pakistani foreign ministry officials, Taliban delegates will discuss “a wide range of key issues” and the fate of the defunct peace deal with the United States.

In his surprising twitter announcement on September 7, Trump said he was canceling the dialogue process because of continued Taliban attacks on Afghans and American troops.

“The agreement has been finalized and it only needs to be signed. Even both sides had agreed to ink the document a week later on September 13 and intra-Afghan negotiations would have then started ten days later on September 23. But Trump’s tweet disrupted everything,” Shaheen lamented.

He asserted that the American side has backtracked from the peace deal, but that the Taliban “still stands by it steadfast” and wants to conclude it to carry the Afghan peace process forward.

“If someone is interested in a resolving the conflict in Afghanistan, the agreement we have worked out after a yearlong effort offers the solution,” Shaheen said.

But he warned that if the other side remains focused on using military force to seek a solution the war in Afghanistan will go on as it has been for the last 18 years, saying the Taliban is determined to fight until the country is freed from the “foreign occupation.”

 

Nabil Suggests Second Round Vote Because Of ‘Fraud’

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Rahmatullah Nabil

Rahmatullah Nabil

Tolo News: Presidential candidate Rahmatullah Nabil at a press conference on Tuesday said he knows of widespread fraud by two specific teams and there is a need for a second round to ensure a legitimate winner and a substantial voter turnout.  According to Nabil, almost 1.5 million to two million people have voted in the election which is not sufficient for one candidate to have legal legitimacy for making major decisions as president,  such as a decision on peace.  Click here to read more (external link).

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