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Ghani hands over Kabul security responsibility to Saleh
Amid rising crime levels in the country, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has handed over the responsibility of overseeing the security of Kabul to First Vice President Amrullah Saleh for the next few weeks.
In a message on his Facebook page on Friday night, Saleh said: “I will be able to reach Kabul security issues directly for a few weeks.”
He said he will take “no pity” on criminals in terms of implementing the law so as “to provide security to the people”.
He stated he will also continue to carry out his other duties, as in the past.
“I will fulfill my other duties and responsibilities as in the past. Implementing the Security Agreement will be part of this program. I know Kabul like the back of my hand. All my other duties and responsibilities will be performed as usual.
“A list of thieves – thugs – harassers – extortionists – lawbreakers – usurpers of public property and people – habitual criminals who operate under the guise of and seemingly law-abiding bullies are all drawn up,” he said.
He also said that further strengthening Afghanistan’s security institutions and bringing them closer to the public is another part of the program.
Saleh called on the public to work with security forces to cut down on crime.
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Regional
US strikes Iran in response to attack on cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. did not immediately respond to Iran’s report of striking American targets, a tactic that has sought to undermine U.S. allies in the region during the conflict.
The U.S. military attacked Iran on Friday in response to an Iranian drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, with each country accusing the other of violating terms of a ceasefire agreed on last week, Reuters reported.
U.S. Central Command said aircraft struck missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites, later publishing a grainy black-and-white video of an explosion labeled “unclassified.” A U.S. official reported the operation had concluded.
Iran said a projectile struck the area around a pier in Sirik in southern Iran, and that Iranian naval forces responded by striking U.S. military targets in the region. Tehran did not provide details about what may have been hit.
Elsewhere, however, there were signs of progress in ending the four-month-old conflict, as Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Both sides framed the deal as an initial step that calls for Hezbollah to disarm and Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, but it was not clear how it would be enforced. Hezbollah said it would not cooperate.
Tehran has said it would control the Strait of Hormuz and warned Gulf states not to side with Washington after Thursday’s attack on a cargo ship traveling near Oman’s coast. President Donald Trump blamed the attack on Iran and said it violated last week’s interim agreement.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” U.S. Central Command said in its statement announcing strikes, which it called “a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
The U.S. military said it would continue to provide “safe passage coordination and support” to commercial vessels transiting the strait.
Vice President JD Vance, once seen as a skeptic on U.S. intervention in Iran but now a Trump administration point person on the conflict, said the Americans have honored the ceasefire deal, also known as a memorandum of understanding.
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence,” Vance said on X.
Iranian state media, citing an unnamed military source, reported the strike at the port of Sirik after an explosion was heard there. The source said several warning shots had been fired from Sirik toward vessels that violated Strait of Hormuz regulations about five hours earlier, adding two warning missiles had also been launched from the nearby Karpan area toward the strategic waterway, read the report.
On Saturday, Iran’s Mehr news agency cited the head of ports at eastern Hormozgan as saying that there was no damage to the port of Sirik after the attack by the U.S. The official said the port was operating normally with no damage reported to facilities and equipment.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that in response its navy “struck the locations where the terrorist U.S. military is stationed in the region” and warned that any further U.S. attacks would be met with a broader response, according to the statement carried on state media.
The ceasefire agreement gives Iran control over ship traffic in the strait, the Guards said.
“However, the United States, by provoking various fronts, sought to violate this commitment, and the necessary response was given and will continue to be given. If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this,” the Revolutionary Guards said.
The U.S. did not immediately respond to Iran’s report of striking American targets, a tactic that has sought to undermine U.S. allies in the region during the conflict.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said in response to the latest strikes that Trump has failed to show a commitment to the principles of negotiation or ceasefire.
“This reckless violation of the ceasefire will, as always, lead to retreat and regret on their part,” Azizi posted on X.
Before the renewed outbreak of violence, oil prices fell about 3% on Friday, on course for steep weekly losses, in response to oil tankers exiting the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, Reuters reported.
Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf, the world’s biggest oil port, after a nearly four-month halt, shipping data showed.
Fertilizer shipments through the strait have also picked up, helping to assuage concerns about a spike in global food prices.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — wrapping up a tour of the Gulf to reassure regional allies about the interim pact — issued a joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council calling for “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” in the strait without tolls or “attempts to assert control.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said the strait should be governed by Iran and Oman, while Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned Washington’s Gulf allies their survival depended on Tehran’s tolerance.
Interviews
Exclusive interview with Polleak Ok Serei, UNODC Representative for Afghanistan
Latest News
TAPI project sees rapid progress in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate says work on the TAPI Pipeline is advancing steadily, with major infrastructure activities continuing at a rapid pace across the country.
Zabihullah Mujahid said around 130 kilometers of the route have been leveled so far, while 91 kilometers of pipeline have already been installed.
He said the total distance from the border of Turkmenistan to the Herat Industrial Park covers 153 kilometers, where the pipeline will extend.
According to Mujahid, completion of the project is expected to bring major economic transformation to Herat, with thousands of factories projected to become operational.
The 1,814-kilometer pipeline, including 816 kilometers passing through Afghanistan to Pakistan, is designed to transport 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Work on the Afghan section began in September 2024, with 52 percent completed so far, while the Herat section is expected to be finished by the end of 2026.
Once operational, the project is expected to provide Afghanistan with millions of dollars in annual transit revenue, while the country will also receive 500 million cubic meters of gas initially, increasing to 1 billion and later 1.5 billion cubic meters in future phases.
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