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Govt confirms it will attend Moscow and Turkey peace summits
The Afghan National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib said Saturday that Afghanistan will attend the Moscow and Istanbul peace conferences scheduled to take place in the next few weeks.
The Russia-backed Moscow summit is scheduled for March 18, while the US-backed peace conference will be held in Turkey in April.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday Mohib said that government will attend both the Moscow and Turkey meetings.
Mohib meanwhile said the Taliban has no intention of ushering in peace in Afghanistan and that “they spread fear among the people.”
This comes after Russia said Friday that it is in favor of the formation of an interim government in Afghanistan that includes Taliban representation.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters: “The formation of an interim inclusive administration would be a logical solution to the problem of integrating the Taliban into the peaceful political life of Afghanistan.”
Zakharova stated that the decision should be made “by the Afghans themselves and should be resolved during negotiations on national reconciliation.”
Afghan NSA Mohib, however, stated that the formation of an interim government would not resolve the current issues in the war-weary country.
A source told ArianaNews that Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation will attend the Moscow meeting.
Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov sent out a letter earlier this week inviting Afghan leaders, politicians, and Taliban representatives to attend the Moscow peace meeting.
Kabulov told Russian news outlets that all the participants invited to attend the Moscow peace meeting next week have confirmed their attendance.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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