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Defense Minister Claims ‘He Never Falls Asleep’, Gets Testy With Callers When Say He Did
Amid all ongoing challenging problems in Afghanistan, the agenda for Parliament’s Sunday session was about the Kabul hospital attack and the story of defense minister’s allegedly sleep which has recently raised too much complaints.
Afghan parliament members have repeatedly accused the defense minister of neglecting in his duty, particularly the complex Kabul hospital attack incident which killed more than 50 people raised more concerns.
On March 08, insurgents dressed as doctors stormed Sardar Muhammad Dawood Khan hospital near the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan’s capital.
The lower house of parliament decided to summon security officials and ask them for clarification about the recent incidents.
In response to the allegations of the lawmakers regarding sleeping issue, the Afghan defense minister said, “I’ve never slept, even in school. I am not a random minister or general.”
The defense minister, Abdullah Habibi called the neglect and failure of discovery and intelligence organs and security officials of the hospital the main reasons for the occurrence of the bloody attack.
“Our investigation have completed, the discovery and intelligence organs have neglected,” Abdullah Habibi said.
Earlier, Afghan Senators and social media users have also criticized the defense minister for what they claim of falling asleep during the meetings and conferences, citing the minister has neglected in the hospital attack incident and should be blow up with a rocket.
“The defense minister always fall asleep. If we put him in a sack and take him to another country, he would not wake up. He made the security of the country challenging,” Homayoun Homayoun, the first deputy speaker of the upper house said.
Another Senator, Jomauddin Geyanwall has also claimed, “As he is always asleep, the defense minister should be executed by a rocket as the head of North Korea’s military.”
The head of North Korea’s military was publicly executed by anti-aircraft gun in 2015 for falling asleep during a meeting of the country’s president.
Senator Geyanwall noted that the defense minister had committed to recapture all areas under the control of Taliban in the previous winter, but failed to fulfill his commitments as he is always asleep.
Recently, one of the media outlets has also showed the issue of defense minister’s sleeping in a form of comedy that indicated the real facts of security officials.
Head of National Directorate of Security (NDS) who was also summoned in Parliament for clarification said that the Taliban group, Daesh and Lashkar-e Taiba have jointly carried out the attack on Sardar Muhammad Dawood Khan hospital.
“Taliban trained the attackers and made them ready, Lashkar-e Taiba provide the sources and Daesh organized the attack,” Masoum Istanikzai, head of NDS said.
Istanikzai has also said developments made in the investigation process of Kandahar attack; adding the militant group has worked on their plan for about one and a half year.
The withdrawal of international combat troops between 2011 and 2014 left a fragile security environment and a struggling national economy.
Since the disputed 2014 presidential election, friction between the two leaders of the “National Unity Government” has prevented the government from implementing widely supported reforms, notably against corruption and providing security.
By ZackArya
A tripartite meeting between the delegations of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was held in Kabul with the aim of connecting North Asia to South Asia and reducing transit and transportation costs among these three countries, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce said in a statement.
In this meeting, an agreement was reached on the creation of a joint technical committee to continue the talks.
This tripartite meeting was held under the leadership of Nooruddin Azizi, the Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Vice President of Turkmenistan and Srik Zhumangarin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
Earlier, a bilateral meeting was held between the delegation of the Islamic Emirate and Turkmenistan. The ministry of commerce said the participants of the meeting discussed the construction of a large joint logistics center in Torghondi, the trilateral transit agreement between the IEA, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, the expansion of Afghanistan’s railway, solving issues related to Afghan transit and export goods, and a number of other commercial issues.
Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid has said that no destructive groups including Daesh have physical presence in Afghanistan, adding the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) will not allow anyone to pose threat to any country in the region from the Afghan soil.
Mujahid made the remarks in a meeting with a delegation from Malaysia in Kabul on Thursday.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of Defense, Mujahid highlighted Malaysia’s “good treatment” of Afghan refugees and its long-standing relations with Afghanistan, and said that Malaysia is a powerful Islamic country and visits should increase.
He added that with the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, occupation and war ended in Afghanistan, and the country is fully secure.
Based on the statement, the Malaysian delegation called Afghanistan a friendly country and while emphasizing on comprehensive cooperation, it assured that what they have seen in Afghanistan will be shared with the authorities of their country.
The European Union signed an agreement worth 17 million euros with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to improve access to basic services, increased economic opportunities and protection for Afghans on the move and their host communities in Afghanistan.
The needs of women and girls are a particular focus of the programme, EU said in a statement released on Thursday.
The statement noted that from January 2023 until April 2024, over 1.5 million Afghans returned from Pakistan and Iran.
“I am deeply moved by the hardship returnees face when being deported to Afghanistan. In a country suffering from poverty and climate change, and in a city that just saw devastating earthquakes, this truly is a crisis within a crisis.”, said Peteris Ustubs, Director for the Middle East, Asia and Pacific of the European Commission’s Department for International Partnerships during the signing ceremony at the IOM transit centre in Herat.
Raffaella Iodice, EU Chargée d’Affaires a.i. to Afghanistan, added “The solidarity of the Afghan people towards their brothers and sisters is an inspiration. We must assure that communities hosting and helping new arrivals are supported. The partnership with IOM ensures access to essential services and provides protection for Afghan returnees and their host communities. As women and girls can be particularly affected, we make sure that all members of society can benefit”.
“IOM’s continued partnership with the EU has been critical in enabling our teams to reach hundreds of thousands of Afghan returnees and other vulnerable communities in the country”, said IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission, Maria Moita. “Thanks to this renewed commitment, we will be able to focus on addressing the immense challenges in the areas of return and contribute to reintegration, social cohesion, and longer-term solutions for those communities.”
This additional contribution is part of a 5-year programme that is being implemented across Afghanistan and in four countries in the region. It builds on the EU’s previous support to IOM to improve the wellbeing of Afghans forced to return to the country, EU said.
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