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Taliban carry out strategic attacks close to three key cities
Taliban militants have made worrying progress towards the gates of three provincial capitals in the country in the past 24 hours, Afghan officials said.
According to officials, Taliban gains across territory came after they launched coordinated attacks in Helmand, Ghazni, and Zabul provinces in this time.
In Helmand, Taliban fighters carried out attacks on the outskirts of the provincial capital Lashkargah city just two days after the US forces withdrew from a local base. However, some sources claim clashes are ongoing inside the city.
Officials from the provincial public hospital said on Tuesday that at least 30 wounded people including five women were taken to the hospital in the past 24 hours.
In addition, hundreds of families have been displaced due to ongoing clashes in the city, local officials said.
“The Taliban’s latest terror attacks on Helmand must not be ignored. Their leaders in Doha must be asked why despite of freeing 6000 Taliban prisoners, foreign troops withdrawal, and meetings of foreign officials with Taliban in Doha, they continue to kill and maim the Afghans!?,” said Sediq Sediqqi, Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs for Strategy and Policies.
The Taliban’s latest terror attacks on Helmand must not be ignored. Their leaders in Doha must be asked why despite of freeing 6000 Taliban prisoners, foreign troops withdrawal, and meetings of foreign officials with Taliban in Doha, they continue to kill and maim the Afghans!? pic.twitter.com/9BRvohzMYT
— Sediq Sediqqi (@SediqSediqqi) May 4, 2021
“The situation in Helmand is concerning. The government needs to take action as people have been displaced,” MP Farhad Bawari said.
However, Afghan commando forces have been deployed to Lashkargah to push back the Taliban, but MP Shegofa Noorzai stated that Helmand is on the verge of collapse.
“However, government forces have put in their efforts but if the Afghan forces do not take immediate action, the province will collapse,” she said.
Meanwhile, militants overran a military base on the outskirts of Ghazni city this week.
MP Arif Rahmani warned that the Taliban wants to capture Ghazni city once again.
“The situation in Ghazni is worrying. The Taliban wants to take control of Ghazni city before Eid-ul-Fitr. The group said they want to perform Eid prayers in Ghazni,” Rahmani said.
Moreover, the group reportedly has security forces under siege in the Qarabagh district of the province. The provincial officials, however, have not commented yet.
“Unfortunately, the Taliban have intensified clashes in parts of the country. The conflicts do not mean that the Afghan security forces will not respond to them; in Ghazni, Helmand, and Kandahar the group suffered heavy casualties,” Fawad Aman, deputy spokesman for the Defense Ministry said.
Meanwhile, sources have said clashes are also underway close to Qalat city in Zabul province.
Officials have not yet commented about this.
In addition to this, reports Tuesday indicated that at least 22 members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group were killed in recent clashes in Helmand. Reports also indicate that dozens of security forces were also killed in the skirmish.
Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Afghanistan tomorrow (Tuesday), officials said on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport said that a Turkish Airlines plane will land in Kabul airport on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow, Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Kabul International Airport. There will be four flights between Kabul and Istanbul per week. This is good news for Afghan travelers. For those Afghans who travel to European countries, they can move easily through Turkey,” said Imamuddin Ahmadi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport.
However, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment emphasized that visas should be provided to businessmen and citizens of the country, otherwise companies will benefit the most, not Afghan citizens and businessmen.
“Not a single passenger is allowed, the reason is that they do not issue visas. If the Turks don’t start issuing visas, or the Arabs don’t issue visas, the plane will come for the cargo and there will be little movement of people,” said Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
In a meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Islamic Emirate will participate in the third Doha meeting if its “position” is accepted.
He said that Afghanistan is under the complete control of the Islamic Emirate and that the country “has an Emir” and the government is “obeyed”.
According to a statement issued by Mawlavi Abdul Kabir’s office, the deputy prime minister told DiCarlo: “The previous meeting in Doha was incomplete due to some shortcomings of its organizers, and the position of the Islamic Emirate should be accepted in the next meeting so that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in it.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations once expressed regret for the Islamic Emirate’s non-participation in the Doha meeting, but at the same time said that accepting the demands of the Islamic Emirate is equivalent to its recognition.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate is asking the United Nations and other countries to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has fulfilled all its obligations and “rules over the entire geography of Afghanistan… There is a central government in all of Afghanistan that has an emir and is obeyed.”
The United Nations is expected to hold the third Doha meeting with the participation of special representatives of countries for Afghanistan, but it has not set a date for it yet.
The Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations meanwhile visited Kabul this week and invited the Islamic Emirate’s officials to participate in the Doha meeting.
According to the deputy prime minister’s office, DiCarlo informed Kabir about the Doha meeting and said that “the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participating in this meeting are not difficult.”
She expressed hope that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate.
She said that representatives of a number of international organizations and countries have been invited to the Doha meeting, including the World Bank.
Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai, and the country’s former CEO Abdullah Abdullah met with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs this weekend, regarding the third Doha meeting.
In a statement issued by Karzai’s office, it is stated that during the meeting they emphasized the need to help and support the people of Afghanistan and said that they considered education in Afghanistan essential.
They also emphasized the need for national understanding to achieve peace.
DiCarlo, who is on a trip to Kabul, has already met and discussed numerous issues with a number of officials of the Islamic Emirate.
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