Dr. Abdullah
1TV: Loya Jirga had no achievements and it should have been held after a peace agreement, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has said. Speaking in an interview with Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency during visit to the country, Abdullah said that that most of what was included in the declaration of the Jirga had already been discussed and decided on at the meeting of Leadership Council for Reconciliation. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 4, 2019
ISLAMABAD — Authorities in Afghanistan said Saturday coalition airstrikes in an eastern province have killed up to 50 Islamic State militants, while Taliban insurgents have killed at least seven government forces in a western district.
The Defense Ministry said the overnight airstrikes were carried out in coordination with Afghan ground forces and they struck IS training centers in the troubled Chapa Darah district of Kunar province. It asserted foreigners, including Uzbeks and Pakistanis were among the slain militants.
The deputy provincial governor, Gul Mohammad Baidar, told VOA that a key IS commander of Uzbek ethnicity also was among the dead. He confirmed there was no letup in clashes in the district involving Taliban insurgents and IS militants.
U.N. humanitarian agencies have reported the fighting in Chapa Darah has forced thousands of Afghan families in recent weeks to flee to safety.
The Taliban and IS routinely attack each other’s positions in Kunar and parts of neighboring Nangarhar province in their bid to expand their influence. Both of the Afghan provinces border Pakistan.
Separately, officials in the western Afghan province of Badghis confirmed Saturday the Taliban late night stormed security check points in the Qadis district, killing seven police officers and injuring several others.
Authorities in the eastern Ghazni province said airstrikes by Afghan forces and their international partners Friday night killed eight civilians, and the incident is being investigated.
US-Taliban talks
Meanwhile, American and Taliban negotiators resumed peace talks Saturday in the Qatari capital of Doha after a one-day break, although neither side has reported whether the discussions are making any headway.
Officials said the talks remain focused on when U.S.-led foreign troops will withdraw in return for Taliban assurances that Afghanistan will not be used by transnational militant groups, including al-Qaida and IS.
U.S. chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, emphasized the need for all parties involved in the Afghan conflict to reduce violence in order to support efforts aimed at reaching a negotiated settlement.
“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,” Khalilzad tweeted Saturday.
In a statement Friday, though, the Taliban again refused to cease hostilities or engage in intra-Afghan peace talks until their ongoing dialogue with Washington produces an agreement on withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Khalilzad repeatedly has stated that a final deal with the Taliban on troop withdrawal and counterterrorism assurances would require the insurgent group to engage in intra-Afghan dialogue and a comprehensive cease-fire.
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1TV: Results of parliamentary election in Kabul will be announced this week, a source told 1TV on Sunday. According to the source, election commissions have finalized their investigation over Kabul vote and will take decision in coming days. The parliamentary vote, held on October 20 after months of delay, was marred by accusations of voter fraud, technical problems with biometric voter verification gear and inaccurate voter lists. Click here to read more (external link).
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Tolo News: Journalists said security threats and lack of access to information are among big challenges for them. An official of Ministry of Information and Culture said that at least 100 media outlets have canceled their licenses over the past two years as the World Press Freedom Day was marked in Kabul on Friday. According to government statistics, there are 96 TV channels, 65 radio stations and 911 print media in Kabul, as well as 107 TV channels, 284 radio stations and 416 print media in other provinces. In total, there are 1,879 active media outlets in Afghanistan, the figures show. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Air Force Times: A program to train Afghan attack pilots has been ended after the airmen kept going absent without leave, or AWOL, while training in the United States. More than 40 percent of the Afghan Air Force students enrolled in the U.S.-based training program to fly the AC-208 Combat Caravan, a light attack combat aircraft, went AWOL, according to a quarterly report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban militants (file photo)
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 3, 2019
ISLAMABAD — An Afghan grand assembly, or loya jirga, ended Friday with the delegates in Kabul demanding peace with the Taliban, as President Ashraf Ghani promised to free 175 Taliban prisoners ahead of Ramadan, which begins in a few days.
The Afghan Taliban, for their part, responded harshly to demands for a cease-fire, saying the United States should end the use of force instead.
“@US4AfghanPeace should forget about the idea of us putting down our arms. Instead of such fantasies, he should drive the idea home (U.S.) about ending the use of force & incurring further human & financial losses for the decaying Kabul administration,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet.
He appeared to be referring to Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, who started a sixth round of direct negotiations with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday as the jirga was taking place.
“It is time to put down arms, stop the violence, & embrace peace,” Khalilzad said on Twitter.
Cease-fire vs. foreign troop exit
The government says the jirga was convened to allow delegates from Afghan society to formulate the parameters of negotiations with the Taliban.
In its final resolution presented Friday, the jirga demanded an immediate cease-fire.
The Taliban in turn issued their own formula for peace in the form of an op-ed on their website, titled, “What is the path towards Peace?”
“[O]ccupation and war are tied on a linear string as cause and effect,” the piece read, adding that without the removal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, peace cannot be achieved.
The Taliban insist on postponement of an intra-Afghan dialogue involving the current Kabul administration until foreign troops are out of the country. Pressure has increased on the Taliban to include the government in peace negotiations as China, Russia and other regional countries add their support to this U.S. demand.
“So, when the occupation ends and the foreign aspect of war [is] removed from the equation, peace then requires the Afghans, especially the political class to be lenient, cordial and forgiving by learning from historic experiences and working hand in hand with one another to achieve the common goal of the people, a peaceful Islamic government,” the opinion piece stated.
Prisoner release
Even though the Taliban have engaged with Afghan stakeholders in the past, including opposition politicians, they refuse to have direct talks with official representatives of the Kabul government, labeling it a puppet of foreign occupiers.
Ghani announced that he was ready to implement more than 20 recommendations of the jirga immediately. As a gesture of goodwill, Ghani pledged to release 175 Taliban from Afghan prisons.
Apart from an immediate cease-fire, the jirga also recommended the opening of a Taliban political office in Afghanistan, a prisoner exchange, preservation of human rights, including the rights of women during negotiations with the Taliban, and the formation of an all-inclusive negotiation team to talk to the Taliban.
Ghani has repeatedly asked the Taliban to move their peace negotiations to Afghanistan and promised them a political office and security. So far, the Taliban have ignored his requests, and usually meet Khalilzad and his team in Doha, where they have maintained an unofficial political office for years.
While the loya jirga does not have legal status, analysts say its recommendations will put public pressure on the Taliban.
The jirga was not without controversy. A majority of opposition politicians, including 12 presidential candidates, boycotted the jirga, calling it a waste of money and a campaign stunt by Ghani, who seeks a second term in presidential elections scheduled for September.
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 2, 2019
Qatar has appointed an ambassador to Afghanistan for the first time, as the Persian Gulf nation hosts peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 18-year Afghan war.
Doha, the Qatari capital, hosts the Taliban’s semiofficial political office and has been the location of the ongoing talks between the United States and the militant group.
The ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, issued a decree on April 29 appointing Saeed Mubarak al-Khayarin al-Hajri as the ambassador to Kabul.
Afghanistan has an embassy in Qatar, but the Gulf nation maintains no diplomatic presence in the Afghan capital.
Kabul has close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Doha’s rivals in the Gulf region.
U.S. and Taliban negotiators began their sixth round of direct talks in Qatar’s capital on May 1.
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has narrowed the gaps on a potential peace deal under which U.S. forces would withdraw in return for guarantees that Afghanistan will not revert to a haven for international terrorists.
The Taliban has refused to hold talks with the government in Kabul, calling it a Western “puppet.”
An Afghan delegation, including government officials, was scheduled to meet Taliban officials in Doha on April 26. But the talks collapsed after disagreements over the composition of the delegation, which was to meet informally with Taliban leaders.
The Taliban political office was opened in 2013 to facilitate peace talks between the militant group, Kabul, and Washington.
But the talks were derailed after former Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected angrily to the presence of the Taliban’s flag and insignia on the grounds of the building.
While Kabul refused to recognize the office, members of the Taliban’s political wing have maintained it and it has been provided for by the Qatari government.
With reporting by BBC Persian, Tolo News, and RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
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