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Minister Usmani Faces Travel Ban at Kabul Airport
The Presidential Palace (ARG) has apparently ordered travel ban against Minister of Energy and Water Ali Ahmad Usmani from leaving Kabul.
Based on Ariana News findings, ARG’s travel ban-order against Usmani came after the Minister was about to leave Kabul for inauguration of power stab-station in Khulm district of northern Balkh province.
The findings indicate that the sub-station was expected to be inaugurated by President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday (May 26), however, Minister of Energy and Water wanted to take that initiative before the set date, on Wednesday (May 23).
Prior to the incident, Minister Usmani was told to be part of the team that included the president for inauguration of the sub-station, but he was apparently opposed to the decision.
“Yesterday (May 23), I wanted to travel to Herat. They [police] prevented Ali Ahmad Usmani Minister of Energy of Water of traveling [at Kabul airport],” said Farhad Majidi, a representative from Herat in parliament.
Criticizing the apparent move being taken by ARG, Ahmad Sayedi, a political commentator that the president should be “ashamed” of declaring travel ban against his ministers.
This comes as earlier, Minister Usmani has said that ARG had barred him of attending the inauguration ceremony of TAPI project in Herat province.
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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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