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CEO: Kundoz collapse shows Afghanistan still needs foreign forces

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(Last Updated On: October 25, 2022)

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Afghanistan’s Chief of Executive Officer (CEO), Abdullah Abdullah, said he hoped the northern Afghan town of Kunduz would be retaken in one or two days, but said its fall to the Taliban showed the need for continued foreign support for Afghan forces.

Kunduz this week became the first provincial capital to be taken by the Taliban since the hard-line Islamist movement was toppled from power in 2001.

Abdullah said Afghan forces had been shouldering “a huge responsibility” in the past year since the withdrawal of the bulk of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

“I hope that we will recover Kunduz soon, in the coming one or two days, hopefully,” Abdullah told Reuters in New York where was attending the U.N. General Assembly and meeting Afghanistan’s foreign backers.

“At the same time, the need for maintaining support and sustaining support for Afghan forces is more evident,” he said.

Abdullah said it was up to the United States to decide whether to reconsider plans for reducing its presence.

But he said: “As far as I understand, the view of all those (U.S.) Army generals and officers on the ground … in Afghanistan, as well as our own security and military leadership, is that maintaining a level of force beyond 2016 is necessary.”

In May, U.S. President Barack Obama said that by the end of 2015 the American force in Afghanistan would be roughly half of the current total of about 10,000 and would operate only from bases in the capital, Kabul, and Bagram, a giant air base near that city.

The plan is to reduce the force to just a few hundred by the end of 2016, mainly to protect the embassy and other U.S. interests.

The Wall Street Journal reported last Thursday that U.S. and allied defense officials, increasingly wary of the cutbacks, were reviewing new options that include maintaining the current number of U.S. troops beyond the end of 2016.

Asked about criticisms of himself and President Ashraf Ghani over the fall of Kunduz, Abdullah said the reasons for its capture by the Taliban would have to be looked into.

“We knew that the terrorist groups as well as Taliban had concentrated in Kunduz for quite some time. And how they managed and what happened and which were the shortcomings or weaknesses that led to the fall of Kunduz, that has to be studied on its own merit,” he said.

Abdullah said there would be time to address the criticism. “But today is the time to unite around our security forces and back those security forces and help them in whatever way … so the people of Kunduz are rescued.”

Abdullah elaborated on charges he leveled at neighboring Pakistan in his General Assembly address when he called on Islamabad to crack down on militant sanctuaries.

“I would say that without (the) support the Taliban are receiving in Pakistan, the military, security situation would have been different, so it’s an important issue,” he said.

Abdullah and Ghani were persuaded to share power after months of wrangling over a contested election last year. Abdullah took the title of chief executive, while Ghani was named president.

Reuters

 

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Afghan, Turkmen officials discuss early completion of Herat Noorul Jihad substation

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(Last Updated On: April 30, 2024)

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) leadership has met with a delegation from Turkmenistan to discuss the completion and inauguration of the new Herat Noorul Jihad substation.

At the meeting, Mawlawi Abdul Rahman Rahmani, Chief Operating Officer of DABS, provided an update on the progress of the substation and said work on the project is almost complete.

It was agreed that the substation will be operational once all remaining technical issues between the two parties are resolved.

Murad Artikov, Turkmenistan’s Head of International Projects, commended DABS for its cooperation in the construction of the Noorul Jihad substation, and expressed confidence that the project will be completed in the near future.

He also said that a protocol outlining equipment and technical matters will be finalized by both parties.

Upon the completion of this project, the import of electricity from Turkmenistan to Herat is expected to increase, benefiting thousands of new customers in the province.

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Tehran ‘ready to help’ IEA fight terrorism after Herat mosque shooting

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(Last Updated On: April 30, 2024)

Iran’s embassy in Kabul has announced Tehran is ready to work with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to fight terrorism.

This came just hours after a gunman opened fire on worshipers at a mosque in Herat province. At least six people are believed to have been killed in the shooting – which the Iranian embassy labeled a “terrorist incident”.

The embassy said it wants the perpetrators identified and punished.

Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior, said the incident happened on Monday night in Herat province, in the Shahrak area of Guzara District, when an unknown gunman opened fire on worshipers with an AK-47.

Qani said six people died and one was wounded.

He stated that further details would be released later.

So far, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

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IEA’s deputy prime minister meets with Chinese ambassador

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(Last Updated On: April 30, 2024)

China’s ambassador to Kabul Zhao Xing, said in a meeting with Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, the administrative deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate, that relations between the two countries were unique on a regional level and that China wants to expand these relations as much as possible in the political, economic and cultural fields.

Zhao said in order to further strengthen relations between the two countries, China provides scholarships to Afghan students and also organizes short-term training courses to improve the capacity of Afghans.

In addition to expressing his sympathy to the victims of the recent flash floods in the country, the Chinese ambassador also announced his country’s offer of $100,000 in aid to flood victims.

Hanafi in turn described relations between the two countries as historical and emphasized the need to keep expanding these ties.

He also said the IEA appreciates China’s position regarding the Islamic Emirate in international forums and said that the Islamic Emirate supports China’s policy and Beijing’s economic projects such as One Belt and One Road.

Hanafi added that the Islamic Emirate wants good relations with all countries and does not allow anyone to use Afghanistan’s soil against other countries.

He said the IEA expects other countries to treat Afghanistan based on mutual respect.

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