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MPs Describe Taliban Prisoner Swap Act of Treason
Afghan lawmakers on Wednesday described the release of Taliban’s top prisoners by President Ashraf Ghani as a national treason.
Nilofar Ibrahimi, a member of parliament from Badakhshan province, said it was “a shameful deal” for the releasing of the killers of Afghan people.
“If peace is an excuse, the releasing of 850 prisoners was enough. It is a concession equal to a national treason,” MP Ibrahimi said.
Some lawmakers criticized the judicial system of Afghanistan, adding that the decision will demotivate Afghan security forces.
“Afghanistan’s Attorney General must be summoned to the parliament to clarify the releasing of three members of Taliban’s leadership,” said Hamayoun Shahidzada, a lawmaker from western Farah province.
“If these three prisoners had been released in return for one month ceasefire, the security forces would have kept their high spirit. This shows a lack of independence in the judicial system,” said Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, a parliamentarian from northern Badakhshan province.
This comes a day after President Ghani, in a televised press conference, confirmed that Anas Haqqani, Haji Mali Khan and Hafiz Rashid, three top Haqqani Network commanders, have been “conditionally released” in exchange for the release of two foreign university professors who were kidnapped by the Haqqani Network in 2016.
Ghani added that the negotiation was made in close cooperation with the U.S. in order to pave the way for face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban.
In an interview with Ariana News, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, strongly welcomed Ghani’s decision of releasing key Taliban prisoners.
Bass said Washington hopes the move results in reduction of violence and beginning of peace talks to end the ongoing war in Afghanistan which has continued for too many years.
But, a car bomb in Kabul claimed several lives including children early on Wednesday. At least four foreign national from a security company were also wounded in the vehicle-borne IED attack.
Reacting to the Kabul car bombing, the European Union Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Roland Kobia wrote on Twitter: “I would have thought that an important gesture such as the release of high profile Taliban prisoners would be honoured and saluted by something like a ceasefire rather than a car bomb, killing civilians and children. Symbols should come from both sides”.
Khurasan Faryab defeated Istiqlal Kabul 1-0 in the 35th match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Tuesday, while Sorkh Poshan Khafi thrashed Sarsabz Yashlar 4-1 in the 36th match of the tournament on the same day.
Khurasan’s only goal against Istiqlal Kabul was scored by Farid Ahmad – who was declared man of the match.
In the second match of the day, Sorkh Poshan Khafi’s four goals were scored by Habibullah Hotak and Omid Rajabi.
Khurasan’s Habibullah Hotak received the man of the match award.
Wednesday’s matches will see Abu Muslim Farah FC take on Adalat Farah FC at 1 PM, while Maiwand FC will play Jawanan Wahedi FC at 3:30 PM.
The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
The Ministry of National Defense of Afghanistan (MoD) has strongly rejected Pakistan’s claim that the recent attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan was planned from the territory of Afghanistan.
Late last month five Chinese nationals and one Pakistani were killed in a suicide bombing near Besham, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Inayatullah Khwarazmi, said that Daesh came from Pakistan to the territory of Afghanistan and its goals were organized from there.
He said that Pakistan should respond to these actions.
Khwarazmi, said that in an area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is under the security of the Pakistan Army, the killing of Chinese nationals is either the weakness of the security institutions or their cooperation with the attackers.
Khwarazmi says that the Islamic Emirate has assured China that Afghans are not involved in such incidents.
The territorial tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the rise again. In the latest issue, Islamabad has accused Kabul of harboring terrorist networks.
Pakistan’s intelligence service has claimed that the Besham attack was planned in Afghanistan.
Officials from Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) – Afghanistan’s power utility company said Tuesday government institutions owe them a whopping 1.5 billion afghanis.
Addressing a press conference to report on last solar year’s achievements, officials said they received over 37 billion afghanis in payments last year.
In addition, last year, DABS implemented more than 100 projects in the electricity production sector worth 3 billion afghanis.
They also said they have a five-year plan to move away from dependence on imported electricity.
DABS officials said that from the 37 billion afghanis in revenues last year, part of this was paid to neighboring countries for electricity.
These officials also said there have been improvements in the CASA- 1000 project.
The company is still trying to provide the required electricity from domestic sources, officials said.
These officials add that the work of some half-finished projects has started and the power generation capacity has also increased in the country.
The reconstruction of the substation in Chamtal district of Balkh province at a cost of 68 million afghanis, the start of the 500 KV power line from Shabarghan – Dasht Alwan, the start of the 220 KV power line from Arghandi Kabul to Ghazni and the design of Noor ul Jihad substation are some of their other achievements.
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