Taliban Says Killing Of Leader’s Brother Won’t Derail Peace Talks
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 17, 2019
Afghanistan’s Taliban says the killing of the brother of their leader in an August 16 bomb attack in Pakistan will not derail peace talks with the United States.
Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada was not in the mosque when the bomb went off but his younger brother, Hafiz Ahmadullah, was among those killed, according to Afghan Islamic Press and Reuters.
“If someone thinks martyring our leaders would stop us from our goal, they’re living in a fool’s paradise,” a senior Taliban figure told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location on August 17.
“We are close to our goals,” the Taliban leader said, referring to the talks with the United States.
Pakistani police say four people were killed and more than 20 injured in the explosion at the mosque about 25 kilometers outside of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan Province.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bomb attack.
The White House said on August 16 that President Donald Trump’s national-security advisers had spoken positively about the Afghan peace talks during a briefing in Washington, telling Trump that negotiations with the Taliban “are proceeding.”
Officials said Trump was meeting with his top advisers to review negotiations with the Taliban on issues that include a possible U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and a political settlement to the nearly 18-year conflict.
In a tweet following the briefing, Trump wrote: “Just completed a very good meeting on Afghanistan. Many on the opposite side of this 19 year war, and us, are looking to make a deal — if possible!”
The White House statement said Trump met with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, national-security adviser John Bolton, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
“In continued close cooperation with the government of Afghanistan, we remain committed to achieving a comprehensive peace agreement, including a reduction in violence and a cease-fire, ensuring that Afghan soil is never again used to threaten the United States or her allies, and bringing Afghans together to work towards peace,” the statement said.
Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy, has conducted eight rounds of peace talks with Taliban negotiators in Qatar.
Washington has said it wants a peace deal finalized by September 1. Some U.S. officials have hinted at the possibility that the Afghan presidential election set for September 28 could be canceled in the event of a peace settlement and the formation of an interim government that the Taliban would join.
Despite the talks with U.S. representatives, Taliban negotiators have so far refused to talk directly to the Afghan government in Kabul, calling it a puppet of foreigners.
As U.S. and Taliban negotiators appeared to be closing in on an accord, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on August 11 said Afghanistan’s future “cannot be decided outside.”
Ghani insisted that peace was only possible “between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement.”
Senior administration officials say that no decisions have been made, but they added that Trump “has been pretty clear that he wants to bring the troops home.” About 14,000 troops are in Afghanistan, mainly training and advising government forces.
The possibility of a U.S. troop withdrawal has raised concerns within the U.S. military and among some U.S. lawmakers that the security situation in Afghanistan could quickly deteriorate — plunging the country into a new civil war and potentially turning Afghanistan into a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda and other extremists.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina), a vocal Trump ally, said any final deal should allow the United States to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan to pursue resurgent terror groups.
“Any peace agreement which denies the U.S. a robust counterterrorism capability in Afghanistan is not a peace deal,” Graham said.
“Instead, it is paving the way for another attack on the American homeland and attacks against American interests around the world.”
There has been no letup in violence in the war in Afghanistan even as talks continue.
More than 3,800 civilians were killed or injured in the conflict during the first six months of this year, according to UNAMA.
With reporting by Reuters, 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.
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Most Afghans certainly have a right to shame Ghani if the reports are true that Khalilullah Ferozi, the official involved in the $1 billion scandal that collapsed the Kabul Bank in 2010, will serve the final year of his sentence at home after donating $30 million to the president’s campaign fund.
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Hekmatyar Says Incumbent Govt Will ‘Collapse’ After US Withdrawal
Ghani (left) and Hekmatyar (right)
Tolo News: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hizb-e-Islami party who runs for president, says the incumbent government is “weak” and cannot decide on major issues in the country and that it will “collapse” if the US forces leave the war-ravaged Afghanistan. “There is no doubt in US forces withdrawal [from Afghanistan]. They will definitely leave [the country],” Mr. Hekmatyar said. “There is no doubt in peace. Peace is coming.” Hekmatyar linked the current situation with that of the early 1990s in Afghanistan when the then USSR forces left Afghanistan and left former president Dr. Najibullah in danger of collapse. Click here to read more (external link).
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Brother Of Afghan Taliban Leader Reportedly Killed In Pakistani Mosque Blast
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
August 16, 2019
The brother of the leader of the Afghan Taliban is reported to have been among those killed in a bomb blast at a mosque in southwest Pakistan.
Police said four people were killed and more than 20 injured on August 16 in the explosion at the mosque some 25 kilometers from the city of Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan Province.
Taliban leader Haibatullah was not in the mosque when the bomb went off but his younger brother, Hafiz Ahmadullah, was among those killed, according to Afghan Islamic Press and Reuters, which cited two Taliban sources.
Pakistani police have not confirmed the identity of any of the victims.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province, which has been plagued by a series of attacks recently.
Five people, including two policemen, were killed and 27 injured in a blast near a police station in Quetta in July, a week after a similar explosion killed two people.
Balochistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources.
Balochistan is also key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative.
CPEC seeks to connect China’s western province of Xinjiang with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, giving Beijing access to the Arabian Sea.
With reporting by AP, 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.
U.S. Envoy ‘Disturbed’ By Afghan Government’s Stance On Graft
Bass (left) and Ghani (right)
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
August 15, 2019
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass has said he is “disturbed by reports” that a former bank manager convicted of multimillion-dollar fraud has been moved into house arrest from prison in exchange for allegedly making a large campaign donation to the incumbent’s presidential-election campaign.
“Countless Afghans suffered in the past decade because international assistance funds were stolen for personal gain,” Bass tweeted on August 15, referring to the Kabul Bank that collapsed in 2010 after losing nearly $1 billion, mostly deposited by international donors.
The ambassador’s comments were prompted by local media reports that former banker Khalilullah Ferozi would continue to serve the one-year remainder of his sentence at home after donating $30 million to President Ashraf Ghani’s campaign fund.
He and the bank’s founder, Sherkhan Farnood, were convicted in 2013 for their involvement in the embezzlement, while the brothers of former President Hamid Karzai were granted immunity.
“This action, along with the continued failure to execute warrants for those accused of corruption, calls into question the government’s commitment to combating #corruption and making best use of donors’ support,” Bass said.
In comments to AP, presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi called the local reports “a big lie,” and said Ferozi’s deteriorating health was the reason for his transfer to house arrest.
Speaking about Bass’s tweets, Seddiqi said he “was very sad to see this.”
Farnood died in prison on August 28. Ghani’s spokesman said the president approved Ferozi’s transfer after the judiciary system examined his health.
Part of Ferozi’s conviction was an order to repay more than $800 million and Seddiqi called his release a “humanitarian act” so that he could stay alive to repay the money.
Combating “endemic corruption” is an impediment for achieving peace in the country, Washington’s Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction said in a report earlier this year.
The agency monitors billions of dollars of U.S. assistance to the country.
With reporting by AP, BBC, and The Guardian
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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