May 28, 2019: Years of war and poverty have had a devastating effect on Afghanistan’s healthcare system. The country’s largest children’s hospital treats up to 1,200 patients every day. But children need to share beds and a lot of the equipment doesn’t work. Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reports.
Lavrov
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 28, 2019
Hosting Taliban delegates and Afghan politicians in an effort to promote itself as a peacemaker in Afghanistan, Russia has called for the complete withdrawal of international forces from the war-ravaged country.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke at a May 28 ceremony in Moscow marking what the government says is the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Russia and Afghanistan.
The ceremony was followed by talks between the Taliban members and Afghan politicians, including senior regional leaders and candidates challenging President Ashraf Ghani in a presidential election due to be held in September.
“We are calling for a total pullout of foreign forces from the country. We are calling on all Afghan sides to start talks as soon as possible involving a broad range of social and political forces,” Lavrov said in welcoming the Taliban delegation, despite the fact that the militant movement is designated a terrorist organization in Russia.
The remarks appeared aimed in part at the United States, which has thousands of troops in Afghanistan nearly two decades after leading an invasion that ousted the Taliban from power following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States because the Islamic extremists were harboring Al-Qaeda leaders.
“Russia is convinced that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan,” Lavrov said. “The only possible way…is to achieve peace by political and diplomatic means.”
The leader of the Taliban delegation, chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund, said later that the group “wants peace but the first step is to remove obstacles to peace and end the occupation of Afghanistan.”
The meeting in Moscow comes amid a push by the United States for a peace settlement with the Taliban as fighting and attacks persist. Afghan officials said on May 28 that a a total of at least 23 members of the security forces were killed in two Taliban attacks targeting security checkpoints, one in western Ghor province and one in Logar province in the east.
The meeting in Moscow comes amid a push by the United States for a peace settlement with the Taliban as fighting and attacks persist.
Afghan officials said on May 28 that a total of at least 23 members of the security forces were killed in two Taliban attacks targeting security checkpoints, one in western Ghor Province and one in Logar Province in the east.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban, has held several rounds of talks with the militants in Qatar in recent months.
The sides have made progress, but the Taliban has so far rejected the idea of direct negotiations with the Afghan government, and a summit planned for April in Qatar was canceled.
Advocates of talks like those held in Moscow say meetings between Taliban members and political figures not formally associated with the Afghan government are a way of laying groundwork for broader negotiations, but critics contend that they undermine the government and strengthen the Taliban.
After the Soviet military withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 following an unsuccessful nine-year war of occupation and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, partly due to the cost of the conflict in terms of money and morale, Moscow had less involvement in Afghanistan. But Russia has been assuming a more prominent role in diplomacy over Afghanistan in recent years, as President Vladimir Putin has sought to increase its clout around the world.
Taliban officials met a delegation of powerful Afghan power brokers in Moscow in November and February, but those talks did not include members of Ghani’s government.
Khalilzad welcomed Russia’s efforts in the peace process, although some U.S. officials have said Moscow is promoting itself as a power broker in order to challenge the U.S.-backed peace process with the Taliban in Qatar.
The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a 23,000-strong NATO-led mission that is training and assisting the government’s security forces in their fight against Taliban militants and other extremist groups such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, Reuters, TASS, Interfax, and AFP
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 28, 2019
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says militant attacks on schools in Afghanistan increased almost threefold last year, making it increasingly difficult to ensure education for children in many parts of the country.
The agency, which promotes education and children’s rights, said in a report on May 28 that the number of attacks against Afghan schools jumped from 68 in 2017 to 192 in 2018.
It was the first time since 2015 that a rise in attacks had been recorded.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said that “education is under fire in Afghanistan.”
“The senseless attacks on schools; the killing, injury, and abduction of teachers; and the threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children,” she said.
More than 1,000 schools across the country remain closed because of security threats from militant groups like the Taliban and Islamic State, which have sought soft targets for attacks.
Although Taliban leaders say they have shifted from their previous opposition to all forms of girls’ education, the militant group faces regular accusations of shutting down schools run in a way they do not approve.
UNICEF said the use of school buildings as voting stations during the 2018 parliamentary election might have been a factor behind the increased number of attacks.
Although Afghanistan has a young and fast-growing population, UNICEF said on May 28 that about 3.7 million Afghan children — nearly half of all school-age children — were not enrolled in formal education.
Based on reporting by Reuters and The New York Times
Photo: Akmal Dawi/IRIN
FP: Air pollution is killing more Afghans than the war. According to the State of Global Air, a collaborative initiative between the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, more than 26,000 Afghan deaths could be attributed to pollution in 2017. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented nearly 3,500 civilian deaths from pollution for the same time period. The root cause is the burning of anything possible to get Afghans the energy and heat they need in harsh winters—including plastic, coal, and rubber. Mixed into that is the use of leaded fuels banned in the West decades ago, as well as waste energy plants and heavy industry. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 27, 2019
ISLAMABAD — Prominent opposition politicians from Afghanistan and representatives of the Taliban insurgency will meet in Russia on Wednesday for discussions on promoting a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war that continues to cause dozens of casualties every day.
The intra-Afghan conference comes as months of direct peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban appear to have slowed down, if not deadlocked, over insurgents’ refusal to cease hostilities until all U.S.-led international forces withdraw from Afghanistan.
Washington has linked its troop withdrawal move to counterterrorism assurances by the Taliban, a comprehensive cease-fire and the insurgent group’s participation in a peace dialogue with the Afghan government and other groups to end years of hostilities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that prior to Wednesday’s peace-related talks, Taliban and Afghan delegates are scheduled to attend a meeting on Tuesday, marking the 100th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Moscow and Kabul. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will deliver the welcome address, it said.
That special gathering will be attended, among others, by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Mohammad Karim Khalili, the head of Afghanistan’s official High Peace Council (HPC), which is tasked with promoting reconciliation with armed opposition groups. Afghan diplomats in Moscow will also be in attendance.
A Taliban spokesman announced Monday the head of its Qatar-based “political office,” Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, will lead the 14-member team of senior insurgent officials at this week’s meetings in Moscow.
“The delegation of Islamic Emirate (Taliban) will also hold closed-door meetings with senior officials of the Russian Federation,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, without giving further details.
It was not immediately known whether Khalili and other members of the HPC will be part of Wednesday’s intra-Afghan discussions because the Taliban refuse to engage in any peace talks with anyone associated to the U.S.-backed Kabul government.
The intra-Afghan talks would mark the second time Taliban officials have met with Afghan opposition politicians in Russia. The first such interaction took place in February, but no government representatives were present because of objections by the insurgents
Russia has stepped up its diplomatic involvement in pushing a peaceful settlement to the Afghan war, using its growing influence and contacts with the Taliban. Russia, the U.S. and China announced at a meeting last month that the three countries had reached a consensus on a framework for a peace deal the U.S. is negotiating with the Taliban. They did not elaborate.
BBC: England completed their World Cup preparations with a nine-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan at The Oval. On the ground where they will open the tournament against South Africa on Thursday, the hosts dismissed Afghanistan for 160, then chased the target in only 17.3 overs. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Afghan security forces retook control of Dih Yak district of Ghazni province after two years, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday. According to the statement, Afghan forces conducted a joint operation and retook control of the district center from the Taliban militants on Monday. Taliban used to take innocent people hostage in order to prevent security forces to capture Dih Yak district, the statement said. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Security News
1TV: Afghanistan Embassy in Washington has told Amazon.com to remove products that are considered as disrespecting national flag of the country. Toilet seat covers, underwear and other items emblazoned with national flags of Afghanistan are spotted on website of Amazon which is the world’s biggest online retailer. Click here to read more (external link).