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Ghani tells summit Afghanistan extremely vulnerable to climate change

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President Ashraf Ghani said this week that Afghanistan has tremendous potential to produce clean energy and develop an eco-friendly green industry.

Addressing the virtual 2020 Climate Ambition Summit Ghani said: “We have some of the most abundant supplies of sun, water, and wind [in Afghanistan].”

Ghani noted that if all energy sources are harnessed, “this could collectively produce 300,000 megawatts of power.”

He stated that the government is building hydropower stations across the country and scoping the potential for wind and solar farms.

“We recently signed an agreement with Siemens Energy that positions us to become the regional hub for reliable, sustainable and affordable energy,” he noted.

“We have the potential to serve as a platform for environmental cooperation and coordination across the region,” Ghani pointed out.

He also stated that Afghanistan is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world where climate change is concerned.

“For one, the cycle of drought has drastically shortened, from a 33-year cycle to now a five-year cycle. Our seasonal rainfall now comes in spring instead of winter, and with it, lethal floods and destructive erosion,” Ghani said.

He added that the southeastern part of the country is now believed to have gotten 1.5 degrees warmer in the last 40 years and deforestation has been rampant due to the last four decades of conflict.

The Climate Action Summit was held over two days this week and 70 Heads of State, along with regional and city leaders, and heads of major businesses, delivered a raft of new measures, policies, and plans, aimed at making a big dent in greenhouse gas emissions, and ensuring that the warming of the planet is limited to 1.5C.

The number of countries coming forward with strengthened national climate plans (NDCs) grew significantly today, with commitments covering some of the world’s biggest emitters on display.

At least 24 countries announced new commitments, strategies, or plans to reach carbon neutrality, and a number of states set out how they are going even further, with ambitious dates to reach net-zero: Finland by 2035, Austria by 2040, and Sweden by 2045.

Pakistan announced that it’s scrapping plans for new coal power plants, India will soon more than double its renewable energy target, and China committed to increasing the share of non-fossil fuel in primary energy consumption to around 25 percent by 2030.

The US was not however represented, as Donald Trump’s administration shunned the meeting, but president-elect Joe Biden issued a statement promising to hold a major event on the climate in his first 100 days in office.

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Khalilzad warns Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions likely to worsen after fresh airstrikes

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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

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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.

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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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