Bomb Blast In Afghan Mosque Kills At Least Two People

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ghazniRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
June 6, 2019

At least two people have been killed and some 20 others wounded in a bomb blast inside a Shi’ite mosque in the Afghan city of Ghazni, officials said on July 6.

The explosion occurred late on July 5 when the Mohammadiya mosque in Ghazni’s Khak-e-Ghariban area was packed with worshipers attending evening prayers, provincial governor’s spokesman Arif Noor said.

Up to 70 people were present at the time of the explosion, according to Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, the head of Ghazni provincial council, and councilor Amanullah Kamran.

The explosive device was thought to be planted ahead of the prayers.

The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, the Taliban denied involvement in the mosque attack and condemned the bombing.

IS, which has a limited presence in Ghazni, is also suspected by locals of destroying a shrine known as Shams Sahib in the west of the city in May.

In recent months, Ghazni police have arrested several people on suspicion of having links to IS.

With reporting by dpa, tolonews.com

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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Police ‘Blackmailed’ Protesting Candidates

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protestsymbolTolo News: A group of twelve women candidates who launched a three-month sit-in camp to protest what they called fraud and corruption in last year’s parliamentary elections, said police “blackmailed” them to make public their photos after they confiscated their cells phones following a brawl on Wednesday evening.  The sit-in camp of the protesting candidates was removed by police on Wednesday, July 3, and the candidates claim that they were “beaten up” and “mistreated” by police that evening. Click here to read more (external link).

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Thousands Of Internally Displaced Afghans Return Home

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nangarharBy RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
July 5, 2019

More than 2,000 families who had left their villages in eastern Afghanistan amid military operations and militant attacks have returned home as the security situation improved, local authorities in the province of Nangarhar say.

Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar, told RFE/RL that the internally displaced people returned to their villages in Bati Kot, Kot, Momand Dara, and Shinwar districts.

“In total, some 14,000 families have expressed willingness to come back to their homes,” Khogyani said late on July 4.

He said fighting in their villages forced the residents to flee to the provincial capital, Jalalabad, and neighboring provinces.

Both the Taliban and a local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group remain active in Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan’s tribal areas.

The IS affiliate has carried out a string of suicide bombings and attacks on government offices, police, schools, and aid groups in Jalalabad since it first emerged in Nangarhar in 2015.

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

‘We’re in crisis’: The high price of deforestation in Afghanistan

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afghanistanAl Jazeera: Years of war and fighting have had a devastating effect on forests. Many were destroyed, and Afghan authorities caught up in fighting did not see the disappearing forests as a priority. Meanwhile, by 2013, at least half of Afghanistan’s forests had disappeared. Timber trade has become a profitable business. In the eastern provinces, local people and armed groups have been involved in illegal logging of trees which are then transported and sold in neighbouring Pakistan. Click here to read more (external link).

Pakistan Hopes First Trump-Khan Meeting Will Mean Change in Often Acrimonious Relations

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Pak-afg-usaAyaz Gul
VOA News
July 4, 2019

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Pakistan announced Thursday Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Washington for talks with President Donald Trump on July 22.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Khan is undertaking the visit at the invitation of Trump.

“The agenda of the meeting is being developed through diplomatic channels. The focus will be to refresh the bilateral relationship,” Faisal said at his weekly news conference in Islamabad.

The Trump administration has not made an official announcement about the meeting.

Officials and analysts in Islamabad say they hope the first interaction between the two leaders could mean a change in often-acrimonious bilateral relations, although it is widely perceived the talks will focus on peace efforts in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan has played a pivotal role in facilitating and taking forward the (Afghan) peace process. We are doing this in good faith and as shared responsibility. The ultimate decision regarding a political settlement is in the hands of Afghans only,” Faisal said. Pakistan has served as an intermediary in getting Washington and the Taliban to talk with each other. The talks between the two sides began nearly a year ago and a new round is under way in Qatar.

Tensions in relations between Washington and Islamabad stem from allegations that, despite having received billions of dollars in U.S. financial aid, Pakistan has harbored the Taliban and other militants who plan deadly attacks against U.S.-led foreign troops in Afghanistan and rival India. Islamabad denies the allegations.

Shortly after taking office nearly a year ago, Khan got into an argument with Trump on Twitter over the allegations, defending Pakistan’s “unmatched” sacrifices and successes in countering regional terrorism.

Mushahid Hussain, who heads the Pakistani Senate’s foreign affairs committee, told VOA that better U.S.-Pakistan ties are needed to promote peace in Afghanistan.

Both Taliban and American negotiators say they have come close to finalizing a draft text that could pave the way for ending the longest overseas U.S. military intervention.

Michael Kugelman, at Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Center, says the Trump-Khan meeting will have a single-issue agenda focused almost exclusively on Afghanistan because a peace deal with the Taliban is the biggest goal in South Asia for the U.S.

The Trump administration believes Pakistan can be helpful in that regard, he added.

Analysts in Pakistan are not anticipating anything major to emerge from the first interaction between Trump and Khan, but they note it could still go a long way in improving ties because both leaders “abhor the status quo” and are “immensely strong” personalities.

The American president has consistently been critical of U.S. involvement in foreign wars while Khan is known for leading anti-war campaigns. Khan opposed the use of U.S. military power to resolve the Afghan conflict even when his party was in the opposition.

The prime minister indicated he would also discuss his concerns over rising military tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which shares a nearly 900-kilometer border with Pakistan.

The prime minister noted that only after fighting for more than 17 years in Afghanistan, the U.S. has come to the conclusion that there is no military solution to it, so Washington must seek a peaceful resolution of the issue with Tehran.

In Afghanistan, experts work to restore a trove of Buddha figurines smashed by the Taliban

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restored_buddhaThe Washington Post: Fabio Colombo picked up a clay-colored fragment, one of hundreds arrayed on tables in a room in Afghanistan’s National Museum. He applied several adhesive drops and pressed it carefully to a larger fragment. A figure was beginning to take shape — a Buddha sculpted in ancient times, one of an estimated 2,500 such objects that were destroyed or damaged by the country’s Taliban rulers nearly two decades ago. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan Coach’s Infantino Criticism ‘Unjustified’

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Coach Kelly Lindsey

Coach Kelly Lindsey

AP: Criticism of FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the handling of sexual abuse investigations was “ill-informed and unjustified,” the governing body said Thursday after the coach of the Afghanistan women’s national team said she was “disgusted” with him. Coach Kelly Lindsey had demanded Infantino’s departure from FIFA for claiming the organization was not being rigorous enough in pursuing officials in the Afghanistan soccer federation. Click here to read more (exernal link).

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