US News: As President Joe Biden nears the August deadline he set to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, one critical feature of the drawdown has become clear: he now owns the precarious situation there, and there’s no turning back. Click here to read more (external link).
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Taliban fighters (file photo)
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 19, 2021
ISLAMABAD – Foreign diplomatic missions in Afghanistan called for the Taliban on Monday to urgently cease their military offensive, saying it runs counter to claims the insurgent group wants a negotiated settlement to the war.
The collective call comes a day after the Taliban and senior envoys representing the Afghan government ended a two-day meeting in Doha, Qatar, Sunday, without reporting any significant progress on peace talks.
The insurgent violence “thwarts efforts to arrive at a negotiated solution to the conflict and harms and displaces the civilian population,” 15 missions, including the United States, along with the NATO envoy in the country lamented in a joint statement.
“The Taliban’s offensive is in direct contradiction to their claim to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict, and to the Doha peace process,” the statement said.
It was widely anticipated the Doha meeting over the weekend would produce a temporary mutual ceasefire to allow war-weary Afghans peacefully celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid starting Tuesday.
But a post-meeting joint statement made no mention of a halt to the escalating Afghan hostilities.
“We agreed to continue the talks, seek a political settlement to the current crisis, avoid civilian casualties, facilitate humanitarian assistance and medical supplies to tackle COVID-19 pandemic,” Abdullah Abdullah, who headed Kabul’s delegation at the talks, tweeted Monday.
No Eid truce
The Taliban over the past three years have observed temporary Eid truces, but this time they have made no such announcement and instead stepped up battlefield attacks.
“This Eid al-Adha (festival), the Taliban should lay down their weapons for good and show the world their commitment to the peace process,” the foreign missions stressed in their statement.
It also condemned alleged rights abuses, such as shutting schools and media outlets in insurgent-controlled areas.
The Taliban have captured several new districts since early May when the United States and NATO allied troops began formally withdrawing from Afghanistan after almost 20 years of war, and they plan to complete the drawdown by the end of next month.
The Taliban claimed Monday their fighters had made new gains in parts of the country while Afghan government forces also reported retaking a number of districts from the insurgents.
Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada in his Eid-related message said he “strenuously favors” a political settlement to the war, but stopped short of asking pro-government Afghan security forces to submit to his insurgent group and pave the way for the establishment of “an Islamic system” in the country.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his government have downplayed Taliban advances, saying security forces are determined to take lost territory.
Ghani travelled to western Herat province next to the border with Iran to review the security situation there. The Taliban have recently captured almost all the districts in Herat, effectively placing the provincial capital under siege.
Turkey to hold talks with Taliban
Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday the Taliban “need to end the occupation of their brothers’ soil and show the world that peace is prevailing in Afghanistan right away.”
Turkish media quoted Erdogan as telling reporters in Istanbul that his government was planning talks with the Taliban over the group’s opposition to Turkey’s plans to secure and manage Kabul’s international airport after U.S.-led international troops leave Afghanistan.
Washington has asked Ankara to secure the Kabul airport in post-troop withdrawal Afghanistan. Erdogan said last week that he had agreed in his recent meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the “scope” of how to undertake the proposed mission.
The Taliban denounced his statement as “reprehensible” and threatened Turkish troops with “jihad” if they stay in Afghanistan after all international forces leave the country.
Erdogan said Monday Turkey was planning to discuss the issue with the Taliban but shared no further details.
“God willing, we will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us,” said the Turkish president.
Erdogan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
July 19, 2021
Turkish Recep President Tayyip Erdogan on July 19 called on the Taliban to “end the occupation” of Afghanistan and said Turkey will talk to the militants over their refusal to let Ankara run Kabul airport after the U.S. troops complete their pullout from Afghanistan.
Turkey has offered to run and guard the airport after the international withdrawal, expected to be completed by the end of next month. Ankara has been negotiating with the United States on financial, political, and logistical support for the airport mission.
The militants last week called Turkey’s offer “reprehensible” and warned Ankara against its offer.
“In the statement made by the Taliban there is no phrase ‘We don’t want Turkey’,” Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul when asked about the comments.
Erdogan and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the airport issue in their first face-to-face meeting on the margins of a NATO summit last month.
Turkey maintains hundreds of troops in Afghanistan.
“God willing, we will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us,” Erdogan said.
Referring to the Taliban all-out offensive against the Afghan government troops ahead of the August 31 self-imposed deadline for the U.S. forces’ departure, Erdogan said Muslims should make peace with one another.
“(The Taliban) needs to end the occupation of their brothers’ soil and show the world that peace is prevailing in Afghanistan right away,” Erdogan said.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 915 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,658 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry also reported 51 deaths and 1,106 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period. Click here to read more (external link).
Petraeus
Press TV
July 18, 2021
Former US commander in Afghanistan and CIA director Gen. David Petraeus has said Afghanistan is falling apart as the United States is withdrawing troops from the country after 20 years of war in the country.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, the retired US general said, “The situation on the ground has become increasingly dire with each passing week.”
“I fear we will look back and regret the decision to withdraw,” Petraeus said. “Sadly, we may regret that sooner than I had originally thought when I said that right after the decision was announced.”
“Beyond that, I think we will also look back and regret the hasty way in which we seem to be doing this,” added Petraeus, who retired from the Army to become director of the CIA in 2011.
US President Joe Biden has announced that American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan, and he recently moved up the date of the final departure to August 31, as the Taliban claimed that they now control 85 percent of the country’s territory.
The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 on the pretext of fighting terrorism and removing the Taliban from power, but after the 20 years of war the country now looks descending into chaos and the Taliban knocking on Kabul’s door. Some high-profile Americans are now suggesting that the US war should not end.
Petraeus praised the Afghan National Security Forces for their fight against the Taliban, saying they “had been fighting and dying in very large numbers. And they still are. The problem now is they’re not sure if someone is coming to the rescue, and that injects a very considerable amount of uncertainty into the battlefield.”
The retired CIA chief went on to argue that withdrawing American troops was not going to end the fighting in Afghanistan.
“No one wants to see endless wars ended more than those who have actually served in them, but we are not ending this war, we are ending US involvement in it,” he said.
Petraeus also said, “What I see now, sadly, is the onset of what is going to be quite a brutal civil war.”
The US withdrawal from the country comes amidst surge in violence and takeover of multiple districts in northern parts of the country by the Taliban militant group.
Biden also said that “the likelihood there will be one unified government in Afghanistan controlling the whole country is highly unlikely.”
The US president has faced criticism at home over the withdrawal, although his Republican predecessor Donald Trump had brokered an agreement with the Taliban to end US involvement in the war.
He has also been accused by Afghan politicians and human rights activists of abandoning the country at a time when the Taliban and its affiliates have upped the ante.
The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 under the pretext of the so-called war against terror.
Washington has spent trillions of dollars waging war on the impoverished country, which has left hundreds of thousands of Afghans dead.
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Tolo News: Ancient sites and artifacts are vulnerable to damage and trafficking due to the ongoing conflicts in various parts of the country, “especially in areas under Taliban influence,” said the acting minister of information and culture, Qasim Wafaeezada. He said most of these artifacts and sites are in Kandahar, Samangan and Balkh. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV: Afghan government on Sunday recalled its ambassador in Islamabad, two days after kidnapping and torturing of her daughter. On Friday, Silsila Alikhel, daughter of Ambassador Najibullah Alikhel, was returning home when she was kidnapped and brutally beaten before being released. Click here to read more (external link).
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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 887 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,930 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry also reported 66 deaths and 966 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period. This is the second sharp drop in reported new cases and deaths in the past week. Recoveries are also on the rise. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Four Afghan athletes have arrived in Japan for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Games, Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee announced on Sunday. The Olympics are scheduled to start on July 23. Fahim Anwari will compete in swimming, Kmimia Yosefi in athletics, Farzad Mansouri in taekwondo and Shah Mahmood Noorzahi in athletics. Mahdi Yovari, in the shooting category, will also soon arrive in Japan, the National Olympic said. Click here to read more (external link).