Al Jazeera: Conflict has displaced millions of Afghans, many of whom have lived in squalid camps for decades, and face the threat of eviction. But the government has embarked on an ambitious project across several provinces which aims to properly house and register them. Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis reports from Jalalabad.
Ariana: The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) on Monday said that 20 percent result sheets of Kabul parliamentary elections are missing. Mohammad Qasim Elyasi, a member of the IECC told Ariana News that due to the missing result sheets the electoral bodies are unable yet to announce the final result of Kabul elections. He added that the electoral bodies were unable to find a solution to the problem yet. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban militant seized with wine bottles.
1TV: A key Taliban member has been arrested with 11 bottles of wine and a hookah in northern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Monday. The militant identified as Yousuf was detained in an operation by special unit of the Afghan police in Balkh’s Nahr-i-Shahi district. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 6, 2019
Peace talks between U.S. negotiators and Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar, have been interrupted to mark the beginning of Ramadan.
The two sides are apparently at loggerheads over the key sticking point of when foreign forces might leave Afghanistan.
The two sides have been involved for much of the past week in a sixth round of negotiations aimed at ending the almost 18-year war — the United States’ longest ever — but the Taliban says talks have become bogged down.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that the talks were pausing for the first day of the holy month of Ramadan — when Muslims fast during the day — but would be resumed “the following day.”
Shaheen told AFP news agency late on May 5 that talks hit an impasse over when foreign forces would depart Afghanistan.
Before agreeing to any withdrawal, Washington is demanding that militants establish security guarantees, a cease-fire, and make other commitments including an “intra-Afghan” dialogue with the Kabul government and other Afghan representatives.
The Taliban has said it will not take any of these steps until the United States announces a withdrawal timeline.
At the end of a wide-ranging peace gathering in Kabul last week, President Ashraf Ghani offered the Taliban a cease-fire to begin on the first day of Ramadan, but the militants rejected it.
Ghani on May 6 reiterated his call for the Taliban to observe demands from last week’s gathering that saw thousands of tribal elders and Afghans meet in Kabul.
At least 13 people were killed and dozens more wounded on May 5 after a Taliban suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked a police headquarters in the northern Afghan city of Pul-e Khumri.
Based on reporting by AFP and Tolo News
Related
Ariana: Nearly four million children are deprived of education in Afghanistan, though President Ashraf Ghani vowed this year to improve the quality of education in the country. The Law on Protection of Child Rights was officially launched on Sunday by Afghanistan’s Second Vice President Sarwar Danish and other government and non-government officials in Kabul. Speaking at the event, VP Danish said that 44 percent of eligible children have no access to education across the country. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Yousuf Nuristani
Tolo News: A primary court in Kabul on Sunday sentenced Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, the former head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), former governor of Herat and an incumbent member of Afghanistan’s Meshrano Jirga, the Upper House of Parliament, to one year and one month jail term and AFs1 million fine. The case prosecutor Payenda Adil said Nuristani had received AFs1 million through bullying from the former chairman of Milli Bus Enterprise while he was serving as the governor of western Herat province. He said the allegations against Nuristani have been proven following investigations. Click here to read more (external link).
Ashraf Ghani (left) and Imran Khan (right)
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 5, 2019
ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani telephoned Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday and the two leaders discussed ongoing Afghan peace efforts, security as and bilateral economic cooperation.
Afghan and Pakistani officials said Ghani accepted Khan’s invitation to visit Islamabad “for a comprehensive exchange of views on all issues of mutual interest.”
An official statement issued in Islamabad quoted the Pakistani leader as noting the prolonged Afghan conflict had damaged Afghanistan and “adversely affected” his country.
“For the sake of the two peoples, the aim of the leadership should be to help build peace, promote economic progress, and advance connectivity for regional prosperity,” Khan said.
He underlined that Pakistan will spare no effort to advance the common objectives of building peace in Afghanistan and having a fruitful bilateral relationship between the two brotherly countries, the statement said.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul are marred by years of suspicions and mistrust over mutual allegations of harboring militants waging attacks in both countries.
Pakistan takes credit for arranging ongoing talks between the United States and the Taliban insurgency, hoping it would lead to ending decades of hostilities in Afghanistan.
Insurgent leaders have allegedly used Pakistan for sustaining and expanding the Afghan insurgency. Islamabad rejects the charges, citing its successful counter militancy operations and construction of a robust fence, as well as new security outposts on the traditionally porous Afghan border to stop illegal infiltration in either direction.
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 5, 2019
ISLAMABAD — A Taliban suicide car bomb-and-gun attack against a provincial police headquarters in northern Afghanistan has killed at least 13 security personnel and injured more than 55 other people.
Afghan officials said the assault in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, began around midday Sunday with a Taliban bomber detonating an explosive-laden U.S.-made humvee military vehicle at the main entrance before a group of seven heavily armed insurgents stormed the facility.
Afghan security forces quickly engaged the assailants in a gunfight and neutralized all of them to end the siege that lasted six hours, said an Afghan interior ministry spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi. He noted that 20 civilians were also among those injured.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its fighters inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan security forces. The group’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed the initial massive explosion destroyed most of the building and “multiple” Taliban attackers were engaged in gun battles with Afghan forces. He rejected official claims the siege had ended.
The latest insurgent attack comes as a team of U.S. negotiators holds peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar to seek a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan. The latest round of discussions began Monday, but neither side has reported any significant outcome.
US-Taliban talks
The Taliban has rejected latest appeals made by American chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the United Nations to cease hostilities.
The U.S. side would have to agree and announce a foreign troop withdrawal timetable before the Taliban decides to declare a ceasefire and participate in intra-Afghan peace talks, the group’s chief political spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, told VOA in an exclusive interview.
“The [negotiations] process is going on, maybe slowly, but it is going on. But it has not reached a conclusion. We are trying on our side to have a breakthrough,” Shaheen said.
The spokesman insisted they initiated direct talks with the United States “not under any compulsion” and their ” primary goal” is to seek an end to “foreign occupation” of Afghanistan. “We understand other matters are equally important and we do have a plan to deal with them once we get the issue of occupation resolved.”
Washington wants solid Taliban’s assurances that in the event of a foreign troop drawdown transnational terrorist groups would not be allowed to use Afghan soil for attacks against the United States and other countries.
Khalilzad on Saturday emphasized that all sides need to end hostilities to ensure Afghan peace process is productive.
“All sides laying down arms is the outcome of any peace process. All sides agreeing to reduce violence is a necessary step toward achieving that outcome and the morally responsible choice to make. We stand ready,” the Afghan-born American diplomat tweeted.
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on all parties to halt fighting during the holy month of Ramadan, beginning Monday.
“It is our hope that the observance of Ramadan will provide an opportunity for all communities in Afghanistan to come closer together. In that spirit, the U.N. calls on all parties to the conflict to halt the fighting,” a statement quoted UNAMA chief Tadamichi Yamamoto as saying Sunday.
Related