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Afghan senators call for unity and talks in wake of troop pullout decision
The planned withdrawal of US troops and the Taliban’s perceived disinterest in the peace talks have raised concerns among members of Afghanistan’s Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) who in turn called on Afghans to stand together and work for peace.
Speaker of the Meshrano Jirga, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, called on all Afghans, and politicians to remain united during peace talks with the Taliban.
“All political sides should accelerate their efforts to preserve the republic system. Concerns should not exist regarding US troops’ withdrawal. They came for their reasons and are leaving,” said Muslimyar.
One senator, Muhammad Hanif Hanafi said on Sunday that terrorist groups are still present in the country and pose a threat.
“[US President Joe] Biden’s speech that they have achieved their goal in Afghanistan is false… Terrorists are present in Afghanistan,” said Hanafi.
“ANDSF provides 98 percent of security [in the country]; foreigners say that Al-Qaeda is defeated in Afghanistan, but they should review whether the Taliban have ties with Al-Qaeda or not,” said Anarkali Honaryar, another senator.
Some other senators, meanwhile, stated that an irresponsible withdrawal of troops will show the US up as having been defeated.
“Concerns over US troop withdrawal remain; the withdrawal shows the US has failed in the fight against international terrorists and it is a historical defeat to the US,” said Golalay Akbari, a Meshrano Jirga member.
Some senators meanwhile called on the Taliban to show that they are also Afghans by joining the peace talks process.
“Taliban should help solve Afghanistan’s problems via talks and prove that they are not servants of foreigners,” said senator Faisal Sama.
The senators also called on warring sides to put their personal grudges aside and to work for peace so as to avoid a civil war in Afghanistan.
Sadai Banowan, a women-run radio station in Badakhshan province has been shut down for playing music during the holy months of Ramazan.
Moezuddin Ahmadi, the director for information and culture in Badakhshan province, told the UK’s Guardian that the station had violated the “laws and regulations of the Islamic emirate” several times by broadcasting songs and music during Ramazan and was shuttered because of the breach.
“If this radio station accepts the policy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and gives a guarantee that it will not repeat such a thing again, we will allow it to operate again,” said Ahmadi.
Station head Najia Sorosh denied there was any violation, saying there was no need for the closure and called it a conspiracy, the Guardian reported. The Taliban “told us that you have broadcast music. We have not broadcast any kind of music,” she said.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says Daesh has been destroyed by the security forces in the country and is not as big a threat as it was a year ago.
In a recent interview with Voice of America, Pashto, Mujahid said that the Afghan security forces “since August 2021, have arrested and imprisoned around 1,600 to 1,700 Daesh militants and have killed more than 1,100.”
The remarks came as the IEA usually downplays the presence and the threat of Daesh militants in Afghanistan.
Mujahid said Daesh hideouts had been destroyed across the country, including in Zabul, Kunar and Jawzjan provinces, and that Daesh fighters were mostly supported by the previous government. Some of them escaped from the prisons during the regime change.
However, he added that the Afghan security forces either killed, arrested, or imprisoned them.
Daesh has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in the past few months including one last month close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which left six people dead and dozens wounded.
The Ministry of Interior says the special forces from the ministry and the 209th Army Corps of Al-Fatah carried out an operation and rescued a businessman who was kidnapped a month ago in Balkh, Mazar-e-Sharif city.
The ministry said on Twitter the trader was abducted in the first district of Mazar-e-Sharif city by kidnappers and a ransom of $300,000 was demanded for his release.
Two of the kidnappers were arrested in this operation, the officials said.
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