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NATO working with allies on ‘securing’ Kabul airport
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said late Friday the organization is working with its Allies on how to maintain important infrastructure in Afghanistan including the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Speaking at a press briefing ahead of next week’s summit to be attended by NATO leaders, Stoltenberg said the attending leaders will address a wide ranging set of issues including Afghanistan.
“Our military presence is ending, but our support for the Afghan forces and people will continue.
“At our Summit on Monday, we will have far-ranging discussions, and take substantial decisions,” he said.
“We are very clear-eyed about the challenges, the difficulties we all face in Afghanistan. And we are also clear-eyed about the risks the decision to end our military mission entails.
“We will, we’re also working on, with the NATO Allies, how to maintain important infrastructure, such as an international airport in Kabul. Partly this is something NATO will support, and also we’re looking into how NATO Allies can be part of that effort.”
He said Turkey is a key ally when it comes to the running of the airport. “There is a dialogue now going on between different Allies, including Turkey, on exactly how we can try to continue to provide support for the airport and make sure the airport continues to operate at international standards.
“Because this is important not only for NATO, but an airport and all the critical infrastructure is important for the whole international community, for the diplomatic presence of all countries, and of course also for development aid and different aid organizations.
“So NATO Allies are addressing these issues as we speak. And I expect this also to be an issue that will be addressed at the Summit on Monday.
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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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