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Insecurity increases as Afghans have no defense minister
A number of Parliament members said that the expansion of war and security vacuum in the country is because Afghanistan still does not have a defense minister.
They noted that the existence differences between President Ghani and chief of executive officer Abdullah Abdullah caused the announcement of defense ministerial nominee to Parliament delay.
“The war and insecurity increases as we have no defense minister. We call on government to soon announce the defense ministerial nominee to the Wolesi Jirga for votes of confidence,” Nazir Ahamd Ahmad Zai, second deputy speaker of Wolesi Jirga said.
Simultaneously with the beginning of spring season, the bloody conflicts between Afghan troops and terrorists renewed.
According to Guardian, a Taliban fighter who has met several of their commanders said Foreign fighters who claim allegiance to Islamic State are gathering dozens of recruits in eastern Afghanistan, luring would-be jihadis with generous resources and the group’s powerful brand.
“This is something new in the market,” said the commander, who is based in Ghazni province, south-west of Kabul. “They think Isis is strong compared with the Taliban, and can help them achieve their goals.”
He agreed to the interview because of his concerns about the new arrivals, particularly Isis’s support for sectarian violence, but spoke on condition of anonymity.
Isis said in January it had expanded its self-declared caliphate to “Khorasan”, a historical region that includes Afghanistan and parts of neighbouring countries.
President Ashraf Ghani has warned of the “terrible threat” from the group. “Daesh (Isis) is already sending advance guards to southern and western Afghanistan to test for vulnerabilities,” he told the US Houses of Congress earlier this year.
Taliban commanders reluctant to open up a second front while fighting the government, and well aware that their fighters have been impressed by Isis victories in the Middle East, are warily tolerating the new arrivals.
For their part the Isis leaders insist that they are fighting for a larger Khorasan and have no permanent ambitions in the area, despite rich mineral deposits there.
Meanwhile, Afghan military analysts are also believed that the lack of defense minister made the current war much difficult.
Afghanistan witnesses’ heavy conflicts in the current year, even the terrorist changed their fighting plans; earlier they have beheaded several Afghan soldiers in Badakhshan province.
A tripartite meeting between the delegations of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was held in Kabul with the aim of connecting North Asia to South Asia and reducing transit and transportation costs among these three countries, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce said in a statement.
In this meeting, an agreement was reached on the creation of a joint technical committee to continue the talks.
This tripartite meeting was held under the leadership of Nooruddin Azizi, the Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Vice President of Turkmenistan and Srik Zhumangarin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
Earlier, a bilateral meeting was held between the delegation of the Islamic Emirate and Turkmenistan. The ministry of commerce said the participants of the meeting discussed the construction of a large joint logistics center in Torghondi, the trilateral transit agreement between the IEA, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, the expansion of Afghanistan’s railway, solving issues related to Afghan transit and export goods, and a number of other commercial issues.
Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid has said that no destructive groups including Daesh have physical presence in Afghanistan, adding the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) will not allow anyone to pose threat to any country in the region from the Afghan soil.
Mujahid made the remarks in a meeting with a delegation from Malaysia in Kabul on Thursday.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of Defense, Mujahid highlighted Malaysia’s “good treatment” of Afghan refugees and its long-standing relations with Afghanistan, and said that Malaysia is a powerful Islamic country and visits should increase.
He added that with the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, occupation and war ended in Afghanistan, and the country is fully secure.
Based on the statement, the Malaysian delegation called Afghanistan a friendly country and while emphasizing on comprehensive cooperation, it assured that what they have seen in Afghanistan will be shared with the authorities of their country.
The European Union signed an agreement worth 17 million euros with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to improve access to basic services, increased economic opportunities and protection for Afghans on the move and their host communities in Afghanistan.
The needs of women and girls are a particular focus of the programme, EU said in a statement released on Thursday.
The statement noted that from January 2023 until April 2024, over 1.5 million Afghans returned from Pakistan and Iran.
“I am deeply moved by the hardship returnees face when being deported to Afghanistan. In a country suffering from poverty and climate change, and in a city that just saw devastating earthquakes, this truly is a crisis within a crisis.”, said Peteris Ustubs, Director for the Middle East, Asia and Pacific of the European Commission’s Department for International Partnerships during the signing ceremony at the IOM transit centre in Herat.
Raffaella Iodice, EU Chargée d’Affaires a.i. to Afghanistan, added “The solidarity of the Afghan people towards their brothers and sisters is an inspiration. We must assure that communities hosting and helping new arrivals are supported. The partnership with IOM ensures access to essential services and provides protection for Afghan returnees and their host communities. As women and girls can be particularly affected, we make sure that all members of society can benefit”.
“IOM’s continued partnership with the EU has been critical in enabling our teams to reach hundreds of thousands of Afghan returnees and other vulnerable communities in the country”, said IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission, Maria Moita. “Thanks to this renewed commitment, we will be able to focus on addressing the immense challenges in the areas of return and contribute to reintegration, social cohesion, and longer-term solutions for those communities.”
This additional contribution is part of a 5-year programme that is being implemented across Afghanistan and in four countries in the region. It builds on the EU’s previous support to IOM to improve the wellbeing of Afghans forced to return to the country, EU said.
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