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Afghan pilot told to rejoin air force or leave US protection

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An Afghan major under US protection at an American base fears he could be in danger of being killed by the Taliban after being given an ultimatum following the Pentagon’s reversal on its asylum decision.

Major Mohammed Naiem Asadi, one of Afghanistan’s few elite attack helicopter pilots, his wife and four-year-old daughter had been approved in October to move to the US but this month that decision was overturned.

According to Asadi he has been told he will be forced to leave the US base in Afghanistan on Monday if he does not rejoin the Afghan Air Force, Stars and Stripes reported.

In a letter to US officials, Asadi’s lawyer Kimberly Motley said she was “extremely concerned” the major would be imprisoned and separated from his family if turned over to the Afghan military.

According to Stars and Stripes, the Afghan government has threatened to imprison pilots in the past for attempting to gain asylum in other countries.

For the last month, Asadi and his family have been living under US military protection, but on Sunday afternoon, US and Afghan military officers told Asadi that if he does not rejoin the Afghan Air Force, he will be forced to leave the base, Asadi told Stars and Stripes.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Defense Ministry has said it is committed to protecting him, Asadi said he doubts the Afghan government’s ability and willingness to protect him at a time when the country is witnessing a wave of assassinations by the Taliban.

Asadi meanwhile is said to have killed more Taliban than any other pilot in the Afghan Air Force during thousands of flight hours, Afghan and US military officers told Stars and Stripes.

In the summer, he protected an American pilot who crashed his A-29 Super Tucano attack turboprop in northern Afghanistan, a letter of commendation signed by US Air Force Captain Robert V. Yost said.

Asadi led a flight of two MD-530 attack helicopters that scrambled to protect the crash site in Taliban-contested territory, and Asadi’s efforts were vital to the pilot’s rescue, Yost wrote.

“The incident was just one of countless events where Maj. Asadi’s actions have protected and saved lives,” he wrote.

Asadi applied for asylum in the US under Significant Public Benefit Parole, a temporary status for noncitizens in need of protection. He then passed several background checks, with a US military contractor confirming the authenticity of the Taliban death threats he received, Stars and Stripes reported.

According to Motley, risks to Afghan pilots from the Taliban dramatically increase once it’s known they are applying for a visa to leave the country.

“It is also quite clear that the Afghan government cannot (or will not) protect the Asadi family from the Taliban,” Motley said in her letter. “They simply do not have the capacity or ability.”

Asadi told Stars and Stripes on Sunday he is concerned with what may happen to him and his family should they leave the base.

“It’s very scary for me,” Asadi said. “My wife, she knows too. She is very sad, she didn’t eat lunch or breakfast; we didn’t sleep last night. It’s a very bad situation.”

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Khalilzad warns Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions likely to worsen after fresh airstrikes

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Former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and recent violence inside Pakistan are part of a wider crisis, saying he sees no indication that the situation is about to change.

In a post on X on Thursday, Khalilzad described the Pakistani airstrikes that have killed Afghan civilians and the increasing use of force against civilians in Pakistan as “interconnected tragedies,” implying both effected by Pakistan’s establishment.

“Unfortunately, I do not see any signs of change,” Khalilzad said, adding that current indicators suggested the use of force against Pakistanis would “likely get worse” in the coming days.

His comments came after Pakistan carried out a new wave of airstrikes inside Afghanistan overnight Thursday, saying it had targeted 10 locations used to launch and store drones.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier and described them as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate.”

Afghan officials said the strikes killed four civilians. The attacks reportedly hit locations including Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have denied launching the drones cited by Pakistan and have condemned the strikes.

The latest attacks follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Kunar and Paktika. Pakistan said those operations killed 28 militants, while the United Nations confirmed that three Afghan civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed, with four others injured.

The renewed airstrikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.

Afghan authorities reject the allegations and say militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.

Khalilzad has previously called for a change in Pakistan’s strategy toward both its internal security problems and Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan summons Pakistani chargé d’affaires over latest airstrikes

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Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Kabul and lodged a strong protest against the violation of Afghan airspace and Pakistani military airstrikes on several Afghan provinces.

The ministry handed the Pakistani diplomat a formal protest note following the attacks on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Wednesday night, which reportedly caused civilian casualties.

The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to Islamic, international, humanitarian and good-neighborly principles.

The ministry also rejected what it called baseless claims that Afghan territory was being used as a source of Pakistan’s recent security incidents.

It said using such claims to justify military action was an attempt to distort facts, mislead public opinion and conceal Pakistan’s internal failures.

The Islamic Emirate further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of avoiding commitments made to regional countries and warned that such actions could further escalate tensions in the region.

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Museum dedicated to preserving ‘Jihadi’ artefacts opens in Kandahar

The museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.

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A museum dedicated to preserving what Afghan authorities describe as “Jihadi artefacts” has officially opened in Kandahar, with officials saying more than 100 items have so far been collected for display.

Mufti Mohammad Tahir Ahmad, Director General for the Preservation of Jihadi Artefacts at the Ministry of Information and Culture, attended the inauguration ceremony alongside Qari Ahmadullah Saeed Khosti, Director of Registration for Jihadi Artefacts and Documents.

Mufti Inamullah Samangani, head of the Kandahar Information and Culture Department, and officials from several government departments also attended the ceremony.

According to the official responsible for preserving the artefacts in Kandahar, the museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.

The collection includes weapons that officials say were captured from British, Soviet and US forces, as well as personal belongings and other items associated with people killed during Afghanistan’s conflicts over the past two decades.

Officials said efforts to collect additional artefacts would continue in order to expand the museum’s collection.

The museum is now open to visitors, according to the officials.

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