Taliban Wants An ‘Inclusive Post-Peace Govt’

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Taliban militants (file photo)

Taliban militants (file photo)

Amir Khan Muttaqi, a member of Taliban who attended the Moscow meeting, said the group wants an inclusive government to come on power in Afghanistan after a possible peace deal. Muttaqi’s remarks came following a two-day meeting between the Taliban members and Afghan politicians in Moscow this week where they discussed Afghan peace and declared a joint statement.  “We want all Afghans to stay united and the future government should be an inclusive system,” Muttaqi said.   Fawzia Koofi, a former MP and a delegate of Moscow meeting  meanwhile, said the Taliban is not interested to be part of the current government and that the group still wants an Islamic emirate.  “The Taliban does not have the morale of harmony and living together. They say that you will all have a place under the Islamic emirate,” Koofi said at a press conference in Kabul on Friday. Click here to read more (external link).

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No logical reason for Taliban’s refusal to accept ceasefire: Noor

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Atta Mohammad Noor

Atta Mohammad Noor

1TV: There was no logical reason for Taliban’s refusal to accept ceasefire, Ata Mohammad Noor, executive chief of Jamiat-i-Islami political party, said after Afghan politicians’ talks with Taliban in Moscow. Afghan politicians and Taliban discussed ceasefire, civilian protection, prisoners, foreign troop exit, foreign interference, establishing Islamic system, maintaining territorial integrity and national unity, and women’s rights during the two-day conference in Moscow that ended on Wednesday, according to a joint statement. Click here to read more (external link).

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Deadly Suicide Blast Hits Afghan Military Academy

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ISIS in Afghanistan

ISIS members in Afghanistan – photo by PBS

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 30, 2019

ISLAMABAD — Afghan police say a suicide bomb blast near a military training academy in Kabul has killed at least six security personnel and injured 16 other people.

The Interior Ministry confirmed Thursday’s bombing at the entrance gate of Marshal Fahim National Defense University in the capital but gave no further details.

A string of recent attacks in Kabul have killed dozens of people, including prominent Islamic scholars.

Meanwhile, Afghan forces raided a Taliban-run detention facility in the volatile southern Zabul Province and freed 18 prisoners, including 12 security personnel.

The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the regional branch of IS, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The violence comes amid intense deadly clashes between U.S. backed forces and Taliban insurgents elsewhere in Afghanistan.

The Afghan intelligence agency also announced in a separate statement its special forces killed 60 Taliban fighters in overnight ground and airstrikes in the Maidan Wardak province.

The insurgent group in a statement rejected official claims as “enemy propaganda,” saying the clashes killed only three Taliban fighters and injured eight others. It went on to claim that 12 Afghan security forces were killed and the Taliban captured a security outpost in the process.

Both sides routinely make inflated battlefield claims, which are difficult to verify from independent sources.

Intra-Afghan talks in Moscow

The Taliban announced Thursday its two-day talks with prominent Afghan opposition politicians as well as civil society representatives have ended in Moscow.

A join statement issued by the insurgent group, however, did not offer any substantial outcome from the intra-Afghan dialogue such as a Taliban cease-fire during upcoming Muslim festival of Eid, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

No Afghan government representatives attended the meeting because the Taliban refuses to engage with them until all U.S. and NATO forces leave the country.

The insurgents have maintained the same stance in ongoing direct negotiations with Washington.

Counterterrorism concerns

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford on Wednesday again emphasized American forces will not leave Afghanistan “without our counter terrorism interest being addressed.” He was speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“Our fundamental interest, our counterterrorism present in South Asia in support of a broader South Asia strategy, that’s not negotiable in terms of our counterterrorism interest,” Dunford stressed.

The top U.S. commander spoke a day after the Taliban delegation, at a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, again called for a full U.S. military withdrawal, denouncing the foreign presence in the country as an obstacle to Afghan peace.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov while addressing the gathering backed the insurgent demand. “We believe all foreign military [forces] should be withdrawn from the country and the society of Afghanistan should unite in finding a solution,” Lavrov said.

Russia hosted the meeting to mark the 100th anniversary of bilateral ties with Kabul. Taliban envoys as well as representatives of the Afghan government and opposition parties, and top presidential election candidates were among the participants of the special meeting.

After their last round of talks in Qatar earlier this month, U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban officials acknowledged they have reached a preliminary framework agreement that, if finalized, would bind insurgents to not allow international terrorists to use Afghan soil against any country in return for a foreign troop drawdown.

But the dialogue appears to have slowed down, if not stalemated, lately over Taliban’s refusal to cease hostilities and engage in talks with the Afghan government. The insurgents group insists Washington must announce the troop drawdown timetable before discussions on Afghan peace and political issues could take place.


Afghanistan Postpones Two Local Elections

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Hawa Alam Nuristani

Hawa Alam Nuristani

By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
May 29, 2019

KABUL — Afghanistan’s election authorities say they have postponed two local elections that were scheduled to be held in September.

The September presidential election was due to be held simultaneously with provincial and district council elections, as well as a previously postponed parliamentary vote in Ghazni Province.

But the head of the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission (IEC), Hawa Alam Nuristani, said on May 29 that time and budget constraints and security issues were among the reasons for the decision to delay the provincial, district, and Ghazni elections.

However, the presidential election remains scheduled for September 28.

“Holding three elections together was very difficult for us,” Nuristani told reporters in Kabul.

Nursitani did not announce a new date for the postponed polls.

Meanwhile, the Election Support Group of Ambassadors, which is comprised of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), NATO, and key donor countries, said in a statement that the IEC’s decision to prioritize the holding of the presidential election “is essential given the very tight timeline and the practical challenges.”

The presidential election has been delayed twice due to delays in registration and technical issues.

The IEC is trying to avoid a repeat of the widespread technical and logistical problems during the October parliamentary vote.

The 2014 presidential election was marred by allegations of widespread fraud.

With reporting by dpa

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.

Afghan United: Hope through Football for Refugees in Iran

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Al Jazeera: For a group of alienated young Afghan refugees in Iran, football proves a powerful force that gives them a much-needed boost in pride, identity and self-worth. They call their team ‘Wahdat’ meaning ‘unity’ and assemble a talented and determined squad. They overcome all the odds to form a team, obtain sponsorship and enter one of the Iranian futsal, five-a-side competitions played in evenings after iftar during Ramadan. They not only make it through the early rounds but go on to win the final and lift the Ramadan Cup. Click here to read more (external link).

Moscow Talks: Taliban Rejects Calls For Ceasefire

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russia_flagTolo News: A group of Afghan politicians led by former President Hamid Karzai and a 14-member Taliban team led by the co-founder of the group Abdul Ghani Baradar sat for the second day in Moscow to discuss the Afghan peace, but behind the closed doors.   The group rejected the calls for a ceasefire which was the main demand by Afghan politicians – who publicly raised the demand at a ceremony in Moscow on the centenary of Afghanistan-Russia diplomatic ties on Tuesday, May 28. Click here to read more (external link).

‘Two Out Of Five Children’ Are Not In School In Afghanistan

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child_laborTolo News: Save the Children’s annual Global Childhood Report released on Tuesday shows that two out of five children are not in school in Afghanistan.  The report says that Afghanistan is ranked 157th among 176 countries on children’s access to health care, education, nutrition and protection – as well as child labour, child marriage, displacement due to conflict and child homicide.  While Afghanistan has made huge progress over the past two decades, for example by reducing rates of child marriage by 44% over the past 20 years, millions of children are still missing out on their childhood. Click here to read more (external link).

Why is Afghanistan unable to extract its vast mineral wealth?

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ministryofminelogoAl Jazeera: Rich in copper, lithium, talc, marble, gold, uranium and others, Afghanistan’s vast mineral wealth is estimated to exceed one trillion dollars. But according to data, every year the government loses around $300m in revenue from mining. Poor security, the lack of proper legal framework and organisational capacity, as well as corruption, have prevented the development of the sector.  Deficient infrastructure makes transport and export difficult, while high royalties and taxes imposed by the Afghan government have discouraged potential investors.  As a result, the mining sector currently contributes only between seven and 10 percent of Afghanistan’s GDP.  Click here to read more (external link).