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US shares Istanbul Summit agenda with Afghan officials
First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on Sunday in Kabul that the US has shared the agenda for the Istanbul Summit with Afghan officials and that among the topics listed is that of an interim government, a ceasefire and the preservation of gains made over the past two decades.
This comes a day after US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, in Kabul on Saturday to discuss the way forward regarding the summit and the peace process.
On Sunday, in an address to delegates attending the event, Saleh said that the agenda will also include discussions on achievements made by Afghanistan over the past 20 – especially those relating to the rights of the people.
Saleh meanwhile criticized the Taliban for their lack of contribution during the recent Moscow summit and said the group presented nothing but insults.
He also said Sunday that the Taliban were “strangers” and questioned how Afghanistan could hand over the country under such circumstances.
Saleh said that the Taliban was afraid to go to the polls in an election as they “know” they will only secure five percent of the people’s vote.
Meanwhile he stated that one of government’s biggest mistakes was releasing the 5,000 Taliban prisoners last year – as per the US agreement with the group.
He said of these prisoners freed, 75 percent have returned to the battlefields while between 40 and 50 of the freed inmates were in fact drug smugglers how paid the Taliban to help secure their release.
On the system of governance – an Emirate – that the Taliban are insisting on, Saleh said neither the Afghan people nor the countries in the region want this.
President Ashraf Ghani also addressed the gathering, in a recorded video, and said Afghanistan has the capacity and ability to create a plan for peace.
“We have the alternative to any plan prepared by other countries,” he said adding that the next administration must be decided by elections.
He stated that to achieve peace, difficult decisions and sacrifices need to be made.
“We have proven to all that we are ready to shorten our legal term and hold an early election,” he said.
Ghani called on the Taliban to take part in a Loya Jirga and share their problems with the people and make a commitment to denounce war and to solve the problems through talks.
He also said decisions made that bring suffering to the nation need to be prevented.
Tajik authorities say their border guards clashed with militants who crossed into Tajikistan’s Khatlon region from Afghanistan on Tuesday night.
Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement that militants intended to carry out an armed attack on one of the border outposts.
Three militants were killed and two Tajik soldiers died in the clash. From the scene, three firearms—an M-16 rifle and a Kalashnikov assault rifle—three foreign-made pistols equipped with suppressors, ten hand grenades, one night-vision device, explosives, and other military equipment were seized, according to the committee.
This was the third reported attack from Afghanistan into Tajikistan in the past month, with the previous ones targeting Chinese nationals.
The Islamic Emirate previously said it assured Tajikistan it was ready to tighten border security and conduct joint investigations.
Business
Afghanistan’s first aluminum can factory launched in Herat with $120 million investment
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, laid the foundation stone of the “Pamir” aluminum can production company at the industrial parks of Herat on Thursday.
Afghanistan’s first aluminum can manufacturing plant was officially launched on Thursday in Herat province, marking a significant step toward industrial development and economic self-reliance.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, laid the foundation stone of the “Pamir” aluminum can production company at the industrial parks of Herat on Thursday.
According to officials, the Pamir factory is the first of its kind in Afghanistan and is being established with an investment of $120 million. The project will be built on 16 jeribs of land within Herat’s industrial zones.
Once completed, the factory is expected to create employment opportunities for around 1,700 Afghan citizens. Officials say the project will play a key role in boosting domestic production, reducing reliance on imports, and strengthening the national economy.
Authorities described the launch of the project as a clear sign of growing investment in the industrial sector and ongoing efforts to promote economic self-sufficiency in the country.
Latest News
Medvedev: IEA posed less threat to Russia than western-backed groups
He added that such organisations have consistently pursued one objective: “to break apart the multiethnic people of Russia.”
Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) caused less harm to Russia than Western-backed civic organisations that, he claims, sought to undermine the country’s unity.
In an article published in the Russian journal Rodina, Medvedev wrote that while the IEA had long been designated as a terrorist organisation, its actions did not inflict the same level of damage on Russia as what he described as Western-supported institutions operating under the banner of academic or humanitarian work.
“Let us be honest: the Taliban (IEA) movement, long listed as a terrorist organisation, has caused modern Russia far less damage than all those pseudo-scientific institutions whose aim is to dismantle our country under the guise of aiding the oppressed,” Medvedev stated.
He added that such organisations have consistently pursued one objective: “to break apart the multiethnic people of Russia.”
Medvedev’s remarks come amid a shift in Russia’s official stance toward Afghanistan. In April, Russia’s Supreme Court suspended the ban on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had previously been included on the country’s list of terrorist organisations.
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