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Foreign troops targeted in rocket attack in Kandahar
US Forces Afghanistan hit back at insurgents on Saturday night after foreign forces were targeted in a rocket attack at the Kandahar Airfield.
According to Colonel Sonny Leggett, USFOR-A spokesman: “US Forces conducted a precision strike this evening, destroying additional rockets aimed at the airfield.”
He said Kandahar Airfield received “ineffective indirect fire this afternoon” but added no injuries to personnel had been reported nor had there been any damage caused to equipment.
He also said US commander General Scot Miller has been clear about the Coalition’s intent to protect the force.
“A return to violence would be one senseless & tragic. But make no mistake, we have the military means to respond forcefully to any type of attacks against the coalition and the military means to support the Afghan security forces. That would be a mistake to move in that direction.”
On Saturday, security was ramped up in cities across Afghanistan, including Kabul, ahead of possible attacks by the Taliban due to the presence of foreign troops in the country after the May 1 withdrawal deadline.
On Saturday morning, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted that the US troops presence was in violation of the agreement and that the group reserved the right to take action against the “occupying forces”.
“As withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan by agreed upon May 1st deadline has passed, this violation in principle has opened the way for IEA Mujahidin to take every counteraction it deems appropriate against the occupying forces,” Mujahid tweeted.
“The Mujahidin of IEA (Taliban) will now await what decision the leadership of Islamic Emirate takes in light of the sovereignty, values and higher interests of the country, and will then take action accordingly, Allah willing,” he said.
Under the Trump administration’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban, foreign forces were to withdraw from the country by May 1 while the Taliban held off on attacking foreign troops and bases.
But US President Joe Biden announced last month after reviewing the situation that forces would stay in the country for months beyond May, withdrawing by September 11.
While the Taliban did not attack foreign forces in the year following the signing of the agreement, the group continued to carry out attacks against the Afghan security forces and Afghan civilians.
In recent weeks, more than 100 Afghan security force personnel have been killed. On Friday alone, a massive truck bomb in Logar killed dozens of people.
Washington has however warned that if foreign forces were attacked while carrying out the withdrawal they would defend themselves “with all the tools at our disposal”.
Experts said the Taliban threats should be taken seriously, but a number of factors meant that full-scale attacks against foreign targets could be averted, as the Taliban continued negotiations.
“We can’t rule out attacks,” Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Programme at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington told Reuters.
“That said, the Taliban is less likely to attack foreign forces now that it knows there is a specific date when they will be leaving.”
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Pakistan says Kohat attackers had roots in Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s allegations that Afghan territory is being used to launch attacks against Pakistan.
Pakistan has accused militant groups with links to Afghanistan of carrying out Friday’s deadly attack at a mosque inside the Kohat Police Lines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and has called on the Islamic Emirate to take concrete action against armed groups operating from Afghan territory.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the attackers had “roots in Afghanistan” and urged the Islamic Emirate to dismantle what it described as terrorist networks and sanctuaries operating inside Afghanistan.
The attack took place during Friday prayers when an explosives-laden vehicle was rammed into the police compound near the mosque. Gunmen then attempted to enter the facility, triggering a gun battle with security forces.
The initial death toll was reported at 16, with 57 people injured. Pakistani authorities later said at least 21 people had been killed and more than 100 injured as the rescue and clearance operations continued.
Pakistan has not provided independent evidence establishing that the attack was planned from Afghanistan, but its information ministry said the presence of militant sanctuaries and support networks in Afghanistan posed a direct security threat to Pakistan. It called for “concrete and verifiable” measures against groups it accuses of planning and carrying out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Kohat attack and expressed sympathy with the victims and their families.
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s allegations that Afghan territory is being used to launch attacks against Pakistan. Afghan officials have maintained that the issue of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an internal security matter for Pakistan.
The attack has further highlighted tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, particularly over the TTP. Pakistan accuses the group of operating from bases in Afghanistan and carrying out attacks inside Pakistan, while Afghan authorities deny providing sanctuary for attacks against neighbouring countries.
The TTP, meanwhile, has denied responsibility for the Kohat attack, although a faction of the group, identified as Ittehadul Mujahideen, later claimed responsibility, according to Al Jazeera.
The latest dispute comes amid continued cross-border tensions and a rise in militant violence in Pakistan’s northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan.
Local officials in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province have called on traders to help prevent drug trafficking and invest their capital in legal and productive sectors.
Jamaluddin Haqjo, deputy governor of Badakhshan, made the remarks during the opening of the first branch of the Bank-e-Millie Afghan in Fayzabad, the provincial capital.
Haqjo said thousands of people across Afghanistan are currently addicted to drugs and urged traders not to invest in drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, other local officials attending the ceremony called on people to contribute to the country’s economic development rather than oppose the government.
They said expanding economic activities could help reduce poverty and other challenges affecting thousands of families.
Officials also urged banks and traders to conduct their activities in accordance with Islamic principles.
The newly opened Bank-e-Millie Afghan branch is expected to provide banking services to residents of Badakhshan. Bank officials said government employees receiving their salaries through the bank would also be eligible for loan services in accordance with the bank’s policies.
Residents welcomed the opening of the branch, saying it would make banking services more accessible. They also called for banks to establish branches in remote districts of Badakhshan.
Officials urged traders and government institutions to support the bank by investing and using its services.
Seven Afghan migrants have been killed after a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants collided with a fuel-carrying vehicle in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province.
According to the human rights organization HalVash, the accident occurred on Friday in the Sarbaz area of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Siyavash Mohbi, the head of Iran’s traffic police in Sistan and Baluchestan, said the Afghan nationals had entered Iran illegally.
He added that nine other people were injured in the incident.
Mohbi attributed the accident to the negligence of the driver of the vehicle carrying the migrants.
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