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Ghani says Afghanistan is ‘not at risk of collapse’
President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday that US President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s decision to withdraw foreign forces set the context for a “reset” of assumptions, alignments, and actions and that the Afghan government is “not at risk of collapse”.
Addressing a virtual event organized by Azerbaijan’s Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Ghani said: “We are not at risk of collapse. The narrative of the Afghan government falling apart is a false narrative.”
According to him, Afghan commandos, special forces, and air force alone are 40,000 strong, and “they have trained among the best, they are among the best in the region.”
“As long as this force stays, there is no risk of state collapse,” Ghani said adding he is proud to be their commander-in-chief.
He also said all these forces have been brought into one command of the Afghanistan National Authority for Special Operations and that they carry out 30 to 40 operations every day “with precision and determination”.
Ghani added that the people of Afghanistan are also armed “and ready to defend their villages and districts”.
He said the nature of the war has become a challenge as there are no rules to it, pointing out that never since the Mongol invasion have women and Ulema been targeted and assassinated.
“It’s this unrestricted war that needs to end,” he said.
Ghani said he had a “very constructive” conversation with Biden on Wednesday night and a good one-and-a-half-hour meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.
He said: “I respect President Biden’s decision,” and that in the 24 hours that followed the phone conversation he spent worked to “help frame the next chapter of our relationship with the United States, NATO, non-NATO allies” including Azerbaijan that has close to 1,000 troops in Afghanistan.
He said the fundamental issue was that as the context changes, Afghanistan must change accordingly.
Ghani pointed out that Biden’s decision was a game-changer as “it forces all actors and stakeholders in the region, in Eurasia, in the Islamic world and globally to rethink their assumptions.”
He said Biden’s decision now removes the uncertainty over whether US troops would be withdrawn adding that this uncertainty has hovered over Afghanistan for the past two years.
“Now the ambiguity has been removed, we have clarity.”
Ghani also stated it brings an end to the narrative of US/NATO being “part of a larger regional competition and Afghanistan as a site of the competition with other big powers”.
“Also, I hope this puts an end to conspiracy theories,” he said adding that for Afghanistan, it is now a narrative of responsibility, of partnership, of nation-building, peacebuilding and market building among others.
Regional countries will also have to rethink the parameters of their own security and their partnerships with Afghanistan he said adding that the UN will get a “renewed importance” in its function as a peacemaker.
Ghani said Biden’s move heralds a new chapter in the strategic partnership with the US and according to Blinken the Strategic Partnership Agreement and the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) will “remain intact” while assistance for the defense and security forces and humanitarian assistance will continue.
He said this was, however “a moment of choice for the Taliban. Will they opt for peace that is on the table? Or will they opt for conquest?”
Ghani stated that Biden and Stoltenberg’s announcement on the withdrawal of troops also provided “a moment of choice for Pakistan.”
He said for Pakistan it is a decision of destiny. “Will it opt for regional cooperation, international partnership, and regional prosperity through joint efforts, or will it give way to the forces that have tendered to support and sustain the Taliban and the wave of extremism for which Pakistan next to Afghanistan has probably paid the highest price? So, it is a moment of decision.”
Ghani also reiterated earlier commitments that for the sake of peace he was willing to hold elections within the next six to 12 months so the people “can choose their leader”.
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Khalilzad warns Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions likely to worsen after fresh airstrikes
Former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and recent violence inside Pakistan are part of a wider crisis, saying he sees no indication that the situation is about to change.
In a post on X on Thursday, Khalilzad described the Pakistani airstrikes that have killed Afghan civilians and the increasing use of force against civilians in Pakistan as “interconnected tragedies,” implying both effected by Pakistan’s establishment.
“Unfortunately, I do not see any signs of change,” Khalilzad said, adding that current indicators suggested the use of force against Pakistanis would “likely get worse” in the coming days.
His comments came after Pakistan carried out a new wave of airstrikes inside Afghanistan overnight Thursday, saying it had targeted 10 locations used to launch and store drones.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier and described them as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate.”
Afghan officials said the strikes killed four civilians. The attacks reportedly hit locations including Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have denied launching the drones cited by Pakistan and have condemned the strikes.
The latest attacks follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Kunar and Paktika. Pakistan said those operations killed 28 militants, while the United Nations confirmed that three Afghan civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed, with four others injured.
The renewed airstrikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Afghan authorities reject the allegations and say militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.
Khalilzad has previously called for a change in Pakistan’s strategy toward both its internal security problems and Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan summons Pakistani chargé d’affaires over latest airstrikes
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Kabul and lodged a strong protest against the violation of Afghan airspace and Pakistani military airstrikes on several Afghan provinces.
The ministry handed the Pakistani diplomat a formal protest note following the attacks on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Wednesday night, which reportedly caused civilian casualties.
The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to Islamic, international, humanitarian and good-neighborly principles.
The ministry also rejected what it called baseless claims that Afghan territory was being used as a source of Pakistan’s recent security incidents.
It said using such claims to justify military action was an attempt to distort facts, mislead public opinion and conceal Pakistan’s internal failures.
The Islamic Emirate further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of avoiding commitments made to regional countries and warned that such actions could further escalate tensions in the region.
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Museum dedicated to preserving ‘Jihadi’ artefacts opens in Kandahar
The museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
A museum dedicated to preserving what Afghan authorities describe as “Jihadi artefacts” has officially opened in Kandahar, with officials saying more than 100 items have so far been collected for display.
Mufti Mohammad Tahir Ahmad, Director General for the Preservation of Jihadi Artefacts at the Ministry of Information and Culture, attended the inauguration ceremony alongside Qari Ahmadullah Saeed Khosti, Director of Registration for Jihadi Artefacts and Documents.
Mufti Inamullah Samangani, head of the Kandahar Information and Culture Department, and officials from several government departments also attended the ceremony.
According to the official responsible for preserving the artefacts in Kandahar, the museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
The collection includes weapons that officials say were captured from British, Soviet and US forces, as well as personal belongings and other items associated with people killed during Afghanistan’s conflicts over the past two decades.
Officials said efforts to collect additional artefacts would continue in order to expand the museum’s collection.
The museum is now open to visitors, according to the officials.
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