Rashid Khan Appointed As Afghanistan’s Captain

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Rashid Khan (left) and Asghar Stanikzai (right)

Rashid Khan (left) and Asghar Stanikzai (right)

Tolo News: Afghanistan Cricket Board on Friday appointed Rashid Khan Arman as the National Cricket Team’s captain. By this decision, the Cricket Board has put an end to split captaincy. This comes after Asghar Afghan, the former captain of the team was removed from the post on April 19 after the cricket board opted for split captaincy, with Gulbadin Naib for ODI, Rahmat Shah for the Test side, and Rashid Khan Arman for Twenty20 International matches. Click here to read more (external link).

Other Cricket News

Afghan warrior Massoud’s image becomes national icon

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Ahmad Shah Massoud

Ahmad Shah Massoud

AFP: In Kabul, it is hard to miss the late Ahmad Shah Massoud. His bearded visage is painted onto blast walls across the city, his photo adorns the windscreens of pro-government forces. And a central roundabout bears his name. More than 17 years since his assassination, the legendary fighter who battled the Soviets and the Taliban has become something of an Afghan icon. Click here to read more (external link).

US veterans, public say Afghan, Iraq wars unworthy fights

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A file photo of American soldiers at an unknown location in Afghanistan.

A file photo of American soldiers at an unknown location in Afghanistan.

Press TV
July 11, 2019

Nearly 18 years since the US has invaded Afghanistan and almost 16 years after it attacked Iraq, the majorities of American military veterans and the public believe the two wars were “not worth fighting,” a new poll shows.

According to the survey, by the Pew Research Center, whose results were published on Wednesday, 58 percent of veterans and 59 percent of the American adults said the war in Afghanistan “was not worth fighting.”

The US war in Iraq was also “not worth fighting,” according to 64 percent of veterans and 62 percent of the public, the results of the poll revealed.

“Veterans who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan are no more supportive of those engagements than those who did not serve in these wars. And views do not differ based on rank or combat experience,” the Pew Research Center said.
It added that the polling had a margin of error of 3.9 percent for veterans and 3.1 percent for members of the general public.

Nearly 2,300 American soldiers have died and more than 20,400 have been wounded in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. While the invasion ousted a regime of the Taliban, it failed to eliminate them. Members of the group have since been only increasingly involved in militancy.

Washington is now seeking truce with the militants through direct talks.

In 2003, the US, backed by Britain, invaded Iraq, claiming that the regime of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), which it said posed a threat to the US. No such weapons were ever found in the Arab country.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as a result of the invasion and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

In the aftermath of the invasion, the Daesh terrorist group emerged, later overrunning vast swathes of land in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014, without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

According to the Pew poll, 55 percent of US veterans and 58 percent of the public believe that the US military campaign in Syria was not “worth it” as it has been too costly both in terms of casualties and expenses.

Surveys of the US veterans were conducted from May 14 to June 2, while those of the American adults were conducted on May 14-26, the Pew Research Center said.

Radical Pakistani Cleric Who Fought U.S. Forces In Afghanistan Dies

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Pakistan's pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad (file photo)

Pakistan’s pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad (file photo)

By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
July 11, 2019

Sufi Muhammad, a radical Pakistani cleric who waged war against foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan, has died.

Family members said the pro-Taliban cleric died on the morning of July 11 in a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

He is due to be buried in his home village in the Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, in northwest Pakistan, later in the day.

Believed to be in his 90s, Muhammad was the head of the banned group Tehreek Nifaz-e Shariat Muhammadi and the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistani authorities arrested him in 2009 after he returned from Afghanistan, where he commanded a group of fighters battling foreign and Afghan forces.

Muhammad was held in a maximum-security prison and was on trial on charges of murder, treason, terrorism, and rebellion.

He was released in January 2018 on health grounds.

Muhammad had long suffered from kidney issues and was diabetic.

In the 1980s, Muhammad fought alongside the mujahedin, the Islamist rebels fighting against occupying Soviet forces and the Moscow-backed Kabul government.

In the 1990s, he launched an armed rebellion against the government in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.

Muhammad returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban’s overthrow in 2001.

The United States and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of harboring militants.

Pakistan denies the allegations.

With reporting by AP and Express News

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. General: Premature Afghan Pullout Would Be ‘Strategic Mistake’

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Mark Milley

Mark Milley

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
July 11, 2019

A premature withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan would be “a strategic mistake,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the top military officer said on July 11.

General Mark Milley, currently the Army’s chief of staff and nominee to head the joint chiefs of staff, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that he believed the war would eventually be brought to an end through a negotiated settlement with the Taliban.

He said that there was “some progress” in that effort.

Milley also said the U.S. should keep a “modest number” of forces in Iraq and Syria to maintain stability.

The United States and the Taliban continue negotiations on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in return for a commitment from the militants that Afghan territory will never again be used to launch terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies.

U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has described the latest round of talks with the militant group as the “most productive” yet.

Based on reporting by Reuters 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.

Trump to Host Pakistani PM at White House

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Khan (left) and Trump (right)

Khan (left) and Trump (right)

By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 10, 2019

ISLAMABAD – U.S. President Donald Trump will host Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, at the White House on July 22 for official talks aimed at “creating conditions” for an “enduring partnership” and cooperation to secure a peaceful South Asia.

The White House said Wednesday that that the two leaders would discuss such issues as counterterrorism, defense, energy and trade.

Peace efforts in Afghanistan are expected to be high on the agenda.

“The visit will focus on strengthening cooperation between the United States and Pakistan to bring peace, stability and economic prosperity to a region that has seen far too much conflict,” a White House statement said.

Khan’s first interaction with Trump is seen in the region as signaling a thaw in the often acrimonious relationship between Washington and Islamabad.

The acrimony stems from U.S. allegations that, despite having received billions of dollars in financial assistance as an ally in the war against terrorism, Pakistan has harbored Taliban leaders and fighters and other militants who plot deadly attacks against American and NATO troops in Afghanistan and rival India. Islamabad rejects the charges.

Since taking office, Trump has suspended all military cooperation and assistance to Pakistan, alleging the country has “given us nothing but lies and deceit.”

Khan took office nearly a year ago and argued with Trump on Twitter a few months later about the U.S. allegations. He defended Pakistan’s counterterrorism successes, saying the country had suffered tens of thousands of casualties and billions of dollars in losses to its national economy while fighting America’s war on terrorism.

However, Islamabad has since helped arrange direct peace talks between the U.S. and the Taliban aimed at ending the 18-year Afghan war. The effort is credited with easing tensions, which prompted Trump to acknowledge in February that the two countries had recently “developed a much better relationship.”

Analysts do not expect anything major to emerge from the Trump-Khan meeting, but they note it could still go a long way toward improving bilateral ties because both leaders dislike the status quo and have strong personalities.

Trump has consistently been critical of U.S. involvement in foreign wars while Khan is known for leading anti-war campaigns and calling for seeking a politically negotiated settlement to the Afghan war, even when his party was in the opposition.


How Afghanistan is haunted by its history of insecurity

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afghanistanNasir Shansab via The Washington Times: A recent international study finds that Afghanistan is the world’s most insecure country. What has gone wrong? After Soviet forces quit Afghanistan in February 1989, and the Mujahedin toppled the Afghan Communist regime in 1992, Washington was in a hurry to forget war-shattered Afghanistan. That policy of neglect and abandonment of a Cold War ally was the harbinger of other policy mistakes which have led to America’s complete failure in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).

Peace Process Should Be Fully Afghan-Owned: Karzai

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Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai

Tolo News:  The Afghan peace process “must be fully Afghan-owned and Afghan-led,” former President Hamid Karzai said at the 8th World Peace Forum in China on Tuesday, according to Xinhua report. “Progress is there between the United States and the Taliban, and hopefully, it is one that will ensure lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Karzai said. Click here to read more (external link).

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