Ghani Lays Foundation Stone Of Biggest Administrative Complex
Ashraf Ghani
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani laid the foundation stone for Darulaman Administrative Complex on Sunday morning, the Presidential Palace said in a statement. The complex covers 100 hectares of land and 27 government institutions will be transferred to the complex within the next 20 years. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Journalist Killed In Eastern Afghanistan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
July 14, 2019
Afghan police say a radio journalist has been killed in the eastern province of Paktia.
The body of Nader Shah Sahibzada, a newsreader for Radio Gardez, was found on July 13, a day after he disappeared.
Police chief Mohammad Hosman Jahnbaz said it was not immediately clear if the killing was linked to his work or a personal dispute.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing.
The Taliban and the extremist group Islamic State have both attacked reporters in the past.
Afghanistan was the deadliest country for journalists worldwide last year, with at least 13 of them killed in relation to their work, according to the New York- based Committee to Protect Journalists.
Based on reporting by AP and Tolonews
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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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – July 13, 2019
Afghanistan’s Flights Will Be ‘Out Of Europe’s Blacklist’
Ariana: Mohammad Qasim Wafayee, the chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of Afghanistan, says that it has been over ten years that Afghanistan’s flights are in the blacklist of European countries. He adds that the efforts are taking place to solve this problem. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban militants storm hotel in northwestern Afghanistan, kill at least 8 people
Press TV
July 13, 2019
Members of the Taliban militant group have bomb attacked a hotel in Afghanistan’s northwestern province of Badghis, killing at least eight people and wounding nearly a dozen more, officials say.
According to Interior Ministry’s spokesman Nusrat Rahimi, three Taliban militants assaulted a commercial building housing a hotel in Chawk-e-Pesta neighborhood in the provincial capital of Qala-e-Naw at around 12:40 pm local time on Saturday.
Afghanistan’s Tolo News TV further quoted him as saying that the militants began firing indiscriminately at people after entering the hotel, killing eight security officials and ten others, seven of whom were security forces.
Rahimi added that two of the assailants were killed in an ongoing exchange of fire with security forces. He also said the death toll may rise in the hotel, which is located near the police headquarters and the governor’s house.
Taliban has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
Abdul Latif Rustayee, the director of a hospital in Qala-e-Naw, said the wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital.
The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan under the guise of the war on terror. While the invasion ousted a regime of the Taliban, it failed to eliminate them. Some 18 years on, Washington is seeking truce with the militants as the Taliban has only boosted its campaign of violence across the country.
Washington is currently engaged in direct talks with the militants, excluding the Kabul government. The peace efforts have not, however, stopped Taliban from launching attacks.
In April, the Taliban announced the beginning of its spring offensive in Afghanistan despite involvement in the peace talks with the US.
US Soldier Killed ‘in Action,’ Taliban Attack Afghan Police Base
Taliban militants (file photo)
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 13, 2019
The NATO-led security alliance in Afghanistan says an American soldier was killed “in action” Saturday, which brings to 11 the number of deaths among the U.S. military this year in the Afghanistan.
The Resolute Support mission gave no further details and withheld the name of the service member until the next of kin were informed. The fatality reportedly has brought to 2,430 the number of U.S. service members killed since the Afghan war started in October of 2001.
The Taliban insurgency said in a brief statement its fighters had planted a road side bomb in Sayedabad district of the eastern Afghan province of Wardak.
It went on to claim the powerful blast struck an American armored personnel carrier, killing two “invaders [references to foreign troops] and injuring three others”, though the insurgent claims are often inflated.
A Taliban ambush in the same Afghan district late last month had killed two American soldiers.
The NATO-led security mission of about 20,000 foreign troops consists mainly of American soldiers and it is mandated to train, assist and advise Afghans security forces battling the Taliban.
Suicide bombers
Meanwhile, Afghan officials told VOA that a group of heavily armed “suicide bombers” stormed a police base in Qala-e-Naw, the capital of the northwestern Badghis province, killing at least three security personnel and wounding eight others.
The Afghan interior ministry said security forces were locked in an intense exchange of fire with the assailants, killing two of them and trying to neutralize the rest. The attackers were said to be holding up in a nearby hotel.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it “killed and injured” a large number of “enemy fighters.”
The violence comes amid intensified U.S.-led efforts to strike a deal with the Taliban to bring an end to the 18-year-old Afghan war.
But the peace negotiations have not deterred the insurgents from resorting to violence and there has been an upsurge in recent weeks, killing scores of Afghan forces.
The Taliban rejects calls for a cease-fire until Washington agrees and announces a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
On Thursday, China hosted senior officials from Russia, the United States and Pakistan for consultations on the Afghan peace process. “The four sides encouraged all parties to take steps to reduce violence leading to a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire that starts with intra-Afghan negotiations,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting in Beijing.
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1TV Afghanistan Dari News – July 12, 2019
Envoy: U.S. Not ‘Cutting And Running’ From Afghanistan
Khalilzad
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
July 12, 2019
The U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, says the United States is not “cutting and running” from the war-torn country as it negotiates a peace agreement with the Taliban.
Khalilzad’s prerecorded video statement, shown at a conference held at Georgetown University in Washington on July 11, came two days after the Taliban and a delegation representing Afghan society agreed at talks in Qatar on a road map for a future political settlement in what was seen as a major step toward ending Afghanistan’s nearly 18-year war.
“We would like to leave a very positive legacy here,” Khalilzad said. “We are not cutting and running. We’re not looking for a withdrawal agreement. We’re looking for a peace agreement. And we’re looking for a long-term relationship and partnership with Afghanistan.”
Khalilzad has held eight rounds of peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar, describing the latest round that ended on July 9 as the “most productive” ever.
In his video statement, Khalilzad said that “we have made substantial progress” on four key issues.
Those issues include the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, a permanent cease-fire, a Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for attacks in other countries, and an inter-Afghan dialogue that leads to a political settlement.
The Taliban has so far refused to hold direct negotiations with the Afghan government, although Khalilzad said he expected those to begin in the “near future.”
Khalilzad departed for China on July 9 from where he said he would return to Washington.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
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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Suicide Bomber Kills At Least Nine At Afghan Wedding Party
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
July 12, 2019
Afghan officials say at least nine people have been killed, including a pro-government militia commander, after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a wedding party in the country’s east.
Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province, said on July 12 that the bomber, a young boy, set off his explosives inside the house of militia commander Malek Tor, who was killed in the attack in Pacheragam district.
Tor had led a group fighting against the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
Khogyani said the dead included Tor’s two sons, a child, and five other civilians.
Khogyani said 12 people were wounded and rushed to hospital.
Hazrat Khan Khaksar, the Pacheragam district governor, put the death toll at 14 killed and 14 wounded.
No group has claimed responsibility for the wedding-party attack, although both the Taliban and IS militants are active in Nangarhar Province.
The province is a stronghold of IS militants, who are active on Afghanistan’s porous eastern border with Pakistan.
The group has carried out a string of suicide bombings and attacks on government offices, schools, and aid groups in recent years in Nangarhar.
The U.S. military estimates that there are about 2,000 IS militants in Afghanistan.
The hard-line Sunni group has targeted minority Shi’ite civilians and government security forces in deadly attacks since it emerged around 2015.
With reporting by Reuters
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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