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Khalilzad: Prisoners’ exchange is part of the US-Taliban agreement

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(Last Updated On: March 5, 2020)

Zalmay Khalilzad insisted that exchanging prisoners was a part of the US-Taliban deal, and Washington would try to remove every hurdle on the way to the Intra-Afghan talks; however, the presidential palace underlines that the release of the Taliban prisoners before the Intra-Afghan talks is not feasible.

The US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation is meeting Afghan leaders in Kabul. Khalilzad called the continuation of the violence a boundary against peace. Through tweets, Khalilzad talked about the US commitment to easing up the peace talks.

Khalilzad tweeted, “The US is committed to facilitating prisoner exchange, agreed in both US-Taliban Agreement & US-Afghanistan Joint Declaration. We will support each side to release significant numbers.”

In another tweet, he said, “We must act on all fronts to clear the road of obstacles that slows down our progress toward intra-Afghan negotiations. I once again call on all Afghans to rise to the occasion, put country first and not to lose this historic opportunity.”

The Presidential Palace, however, has a different viewpoint.

Latif Mahmoud, the deputy spokesperson of the Presidential Palace said, “People expect the Taliban to leave killing and start negotiations with the government. Releasing prisoners will be a part of the agenda of the Intra-Afghan talks.” 

This comes as the Wall Street Journal, based on a source at Arg, wrote that President Ghani refused to meet Khalilzad on Wednesday. This was rejected by Mahmoud though.

Noorullah Jalili, leader of Hezb-e-Madarwatan, said, “Both the laterals should use this opportunity and release the prisoners.”

Khalilzad has met Abdullah Abdullah, Hamid Karzai, and other political figures, lately.

Sources in the office of CE indicate that Abdullah Abdullah agreed on releasing the Taliban prisoners.

Omid Maisam, Abdulah’s deputy spokesperson said, “In this meeting, both the laterals talked over peace and the election’s crisis. Khalilzad applauded Abdullah for his goodwill on peace.”

Based on the US-Taliban agreement, the Intra-Afghan talks is supposed to start in five days, however, President Ghani not only disagreed with releasing 5000 prisoners of the Taliban but also hasn’t reached to an agreement with the political figures to form the negotiating delegation.

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Floods leave 50 dead in Baghlan

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

Hedayatullah Hamdard, head of the Natural Disaster Department in Baghlan, says at least 50 were killed on Friday afternoon due to floods in several districts of the province.

Hamdard added the figure is not total and that the death toll may increase.

Over the past two days, floods have also caused huge financial losses in Chaharsada and Murghab districts of Ghor province and two people including a child and an old man have disappeared.

Hundreds of acres of agricultural land were destroyed in Chaharsada district and about 50 livestock were also lost.

According to local officials in Ghor, around 50 residential houses in Chaharsada district are under floods.

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Iran says work underway to block eastern border with Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

Iranian officials say work is intensely underway on the implementation of plan to block the country’s eastern border with Afghanistan.

According to Iranian media, the commander of the Ground Forces of Iran spoke on Thursday at a ceremony in the city of Mashhad about the sealing of the country’s borders with Afghanistan.

Kioumars Heydari added: “According to the measures contemplated by the Islamic Republic, we are in the process of sealing the borders.”

He did not specify the exact timing for the completion of the border sealing plan between Iran and Afghanistan, but added: “Our estimate is that the sealing of the eastern border of the country will be completed as soon as possible.”

Afghanistan and Iran share more than 900 kilometers of common border.

Experts, meanwhile, believe that this will cause a change in dealings with Afghan immigrants.

The Islamic Emirate, however, says fencing on the borders of Iran and Afghanistan will proceed in coordination with the Afghan government.

According to experts, Iran is seeking to solve its security concerns and will spend a lot of money in the process of blocking the border but this border wall will be finished for the benefit of both countries, and drug trafficking and movement of terrorist groups will be at least under control.

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Pakistan rejects IEA’s allegations of Daesh using its territory against Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Thursday rejected the statements of the Islamic Emirate regarding the use of Pakistan’s soil against Afghanistan by Daesh, calling the remarks as “unwarranted and irresponsible.”

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference that instead of such statements, the Afghan authorities should take effective action against all terror groups, based in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the Pakistan Army claimed that last month’s suicide attack that killed five Chinese nationals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been planned in Afghanistan and had been carried out by an Afghan.

In reaction, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan, Inayatullah Khwarazmi, said that in an area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is under the security of the Pakistan Army, the killing of Chinese nationals is either the weakness of the security institutions or their cooperation with the attackers.

He also said: “We have cases where the Daesh entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, and Pakistani soil was used against our soil, and the attacks are planned in that country.”

Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that Afghan soil is being used in attacks against Pakistan, but this was the first time the Islamic Emirate accused Pakistan of not preventing Daesh from entering Afghanistan.

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