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Afghanistan close to peace deal with HIG

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(Last Updated On: October 24, 2022)

argAfghanistan is close to signing a peace agreement with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, President Ashraf Ghani said Monday, in a landmark accord that could pave the way for the Hekmatyar’s political return after years in hiding.

Hekmatyar, who heads the now largely dormant Hezb-i-Islami militant group, is the latest among a series of former Jihadi leaders whom Kabul has sought to reintegrate into Afghan politics in the post-Taliban era.

If inked, the deal with Afghanistan’s second-biggest militant group would mark a symbolic victory for President Ghani, who has struggled to revive peace talks with the much more powerful Taliban.

“The peace agreement will be finalised very soon,” Ghani said in his address on the occasion of the Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Adha.

“We hope for peace in Afghanistan and to end the war in the country.”

Ghani’s statement comes after months of negotiations with Hizb-i-Islami, which has progressed in fits and starts over differences within the government over the final draft agreement.

On Sunday, Hekmatyar’s son said on Facebook the agreement had been reached but the High Peace Council, the government body responsible for negotiations, said talks were still underway.

Hekmatyar was a prominent anti-Soviet commander in the 1980s and stands accused of killing thousands of people in Kabul during the 1992-1996 civil war.

He is widely believed to be living in hiding in Pakistan, but his group claims he is inside Afghanistan.

The potential deal, which is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the security situation in Afghanistan, has sparked revulsion from human rights groups.

According to a draft agreement released , the government will offer Hekmatyar legal immunity in “all past political and military proceedings” as well as release Hezb-i-Islami prisoners.

Hekmatyar is designated a “global terrorist” by the US and is blacklisted by the UN. The Afghan government would work towards lifting those restrictions, according to the draft agreement.

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Pakistan’s army claims TTP is using Afghan soil

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(Last Updated On: May 7, 2024)

Pakistan’s military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry claimed on Tuesday that there is “irrefutable evidence” of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) using Afghanistan against the country.

“There is irrefutable evidence of Afghan soil being used by the TTP […] recent terrorist incidents can be traced back to Afghanistan,” Sharif said while addressing a press conference.

Reaffirming the commitment on counter-terrorism efforts, Chaudhry said that Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the terrorist network.

He stressed that the security forces would go to any extent possible against terrorists. However, the spokesperson noted that the first priority of the Pakistan Army was to maintain law and order in the country.

“The army chief has said that there’s no place for terrorists in Pakistan,” the spokesperson said while reassuring that steps are being taken to bring the miscreants to justice.

On the issue of Afghan refugees living inside Pakistan, he said: “Millions of Afghans are still living in Pakistan, while the country is fighting against terrorism. Pakistan has helped Afghan refugees, which the world has recognised.”

Highlighting that millions of Afghan citizens continue to reside in Pakistan, he revealed that more than 563,000 Afghans have been repatriated.

He said the law and order situation was deteriorating because of the Afghan citizens.

“Militants are spoiling the law and order situation in Balochistan, but the army is [acting as] a wall against the miscreants,” he noted.

The Islamic Emirate has previously denied the presence of TTP in Afghanistan and said that Pakistan’s security problem has nothing to do with Afghanistan.

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IEA’s supreme leader happy with ‘obedient’ ministers

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(Last Updated On: May 7, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said on the last day of a three-day seminar on the coordination and regulation of specialist and religious universities in Kandahar that after the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, all the opponents were forgiven and they now live together like brothers.

Speaking at the seminar Monday, Akhundzada added that he is satisfied with the performance of his acting ministers as they always obey him.

“I am happy with my ministers and they are good people and always obey me. Obey, value and honor them because honor and obedience are not exclusive to the Amir [leader], but include all the commanders,” Akhundzada said.

He also said that the world wants to separate politics from religion, so that even in Islamic countries, scholars do not have a role in politics; but according to him in Afghanistan, scholars should have access to politics.

He asked scholars to follow the orders of the Islamic Emirate to encourage the nation to implement and obey the orders.

Ziaullah Hashimi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Higher Education, says that the three-day seminar brought together department heads, deputies and professors of the General Directorate of Specialist and Religious Universities of the Ministry of Higher Education.

The seminar started on Saturday and ended Monday.

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Kazakhstan Trade House opens in Afghanistan’s Herat province

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(Last Updated On: May 7, 2024)

Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan has officially opened in Herat province with the aim of increasing the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries.

Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Noorudin Azizi called the opening of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan a “positive and effective step” in strengthening and expanding trade relations between the two countries.

He stated that as a result of the trip of an Afghan delegation to Kazakhstan, Afghanistan’s exports to Kazakhstan have increased.

Meanwhile, Arman Yusintayev, head of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan, highlighted that the aim of opening a trade house in Afghanistan is to increase the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries, adding Kazakhstan is interested in expanding trade relations with Afghanistan.

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