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What was 1398 – March 2019 through March 2020 – like, in terms of security?
The year 1398, scaling between March 2019 and March 2020, saw a term of reduction in violence for the first time by the parties in conflict.
According to Ariana News reports, the government’s opposition forces, the Taliban and Daesh in particular, conducted at least 21 deadly attacks, killing and injuring hundreds. The Afghan government, on the other hand, marks 1398 as ‘worse’ for the opposition forces coming under thousands of military operations.
The 1398’s bloody attacks are penned as follows:
- Three consecutive blasts on Nawroz – Persian News Year – festival, Kabul; seven killed, four wounded, and no one claimed responsibility.
- Two blasts on Nawroz – Persian News Year – festival, Lashkar Gah; killing 3, injuring 3, the Taliban claimed responsibility.
- Two blasts in Jalalabad; 5 killed, 5 wounded, responsibility unknown.
- Attack on the Counter-Part Organization; 7 killed, 5 wounded, Taliban claimed responsibility.
- A suicide attack on Marshal Mohammad Qasim University; 7 killed, 9 wounded; Daesh claimed responsibility.
- A car bombing in the 9th district of Kabul; 7 killed, 3 wounded, Taliban claimed responsibility.
- A suicide bomber on a police car in Jalalabad; 9 dead, 12 wounded, the responsibility unknown.
- An attack in the Maroof district of Kandahar; eight employees of the Independent Election Commission were killed and the Taliban claimed responsibility.
- An attack in 16th district of Kabul; 9 killed, dozens wounded including 55 children. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
- A car bomb in Ghazni; 7 killed, 5 wounded, Taliban claimed responsibility.
- An explosion on the Khakrez road, Kandahar province; 9 killed, 20 wounded, the responsibility unknown.
- A suicide attack in front of Kabul University; 8 killed, 33 wounded, Daesh claimed responsibility.
- A car of the Ministry of Mines hit by a car bomb; 11 dead, 45 wounded, and the Taliban claimed responsibility.
- An attack in the Kijran district of Daikundi; 10 policemen killed, 7 injured, the Taliban claimed responsibility.
- A car bomb in the Aband district of Ghazni; 4 policemen killed, 11 policemen and 8 civilians wounded, the Taliban claimed responsibility.
- An attack on the office of the Green Trend in Kabul; 30 killed, 50 wounded, responsibility unknown.
- An explosion on the Kandahar-Herat highway, killing 34 civilians, injuring 17, responsibility unknown.
- An explosion in the Jaghato district of Wardak province; 5 civilians killed, 3 wounded, no claimed responsibility.
- A car bomb on a security checkpoint in the 6th district of Kabul; killed 18, wounded 145, and the Taliban claimed responsibility.
- A suicide bomber at a wedding hall in the west of Kabul, killing 63, wounding 182, Daesh claimed responsibility.
- Suicide bombing in Kabul’s Makrurayan; killed 10 civilians and 2 foreign troopers, 42 wounded, Taliban claimed responsibility.
On the other hand, Interior Ministry officials say that this year, the police conducted two thousand and five hundred operations against insurgents. Although the casualties of the Afghan police are kept unrevealed, the year has been fatal for them too.
Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that during 1398, the security forces were able to capture more areas from the Taliban.
This year, the Afghan forces and the armed oppositions took control of some districts on and off, but the Ministry of Defense says fourteen districts have been withdrawn from the Taliban.
Fawad Aman, the deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, also said that this year was a ‘bad year’ for the Taliban.
Airstrikes by Afghan and foreign forces were also accompanied by civilian casualties. Ghani also has been criticized for the continuous attacks. The Independent Human Rights Commission says eleven thousand civilians have been killed and injured this year.
Sher Mohammad Karimi, former Afghan Army Chief of Staff says: “Security forces should have been kept away from political agendas.”
President Ghani announced lately that the Daesh in the east had been defeated – the peace talks were heated up, the war got a bit cold and for the first time, the parties in conflict agreed on a seven-day reduction in violence. Ariana News’ findings suggest that millions of Afghanis were saved of the cost of the Afghan army during the RIV term.
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Japan, UNOPS partner on $9.4m climate adaptation initiative in Afghanistan
Japan and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have signed a $9.4 million grant agreement aimed at strengthening climate adaptation and disaster preparedness in Afghanistan.
The agreement, valued at 1.474 billion Japanese yen ($9.4 million) was signed by UNOPS Afghanistan Country Director Katy Ann Webley and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Afghanistan Chief Representative Sota Tosaka.
The project will be implemented in Kabul province and focuses on improving the capacity of local communities to cope with climate-related disasters.
Using a community-led approach, the programme will support the construction of infrastructure designed to reduce the impact of floods, droughts and other climate risks, alongside training to improve emergency preparedness and response.
Over the next 24 months, UNOPS will carry out activities aimed at enhancing climate risk awareness, strengthening local resilience and protecting livelihoods vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
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Pakistan president claims situation in Afghanistan is ‘similar to or worse than pre-9/11’’
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has warned that the presence of militant groups in the region poses risks to global peace, and repeated Islamabad’s concerns regarding what it describes as the activities of “terrorist organisations operating from Afghanistan.”
Zardari made the remarks in a statement issued Sunday, as he thanked world leaders for expressing solidarity with Pakistan following the recent attack on an imambargah in Islamabad, which left dozens dead and many others wounded. The incident was claimed by Daesh militant group.
According to the statement from the President’s Secretariat, Zardari said Pakistan remains committed to combating terrorism and stressed that no single country can address the threat alone.
“Pakistan has long maintained that terrorism cannot be confronted by a single country in isolation,” he was quoted as saying.
Citing Pakistan’s experience, he said in the statement that whenever “terrorist groups are allowed space, facilitation or impunity beyond national borders, the consequences are borne by innocent civilians all over the world.”
Zardari further claimed that the situation in Afghanistan under the Islamic Emirate authorities has created conditions “similar to or worse than pre-9/11,” and said this has influenced security developments across the region. IEA has repeatedly rejected such allegations, insisting that Afghan soil is not used against any country.
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Fazlur Rehman: Afghanistan’s economic situation is better than Pakistan’s
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), has said that Afghanistan’s economic situation has become better than Pakistan’s, as Pakistan faces deepening financial hardship and increasing emigration.
Speaking at a gathering in Rawalpindi, Fazlur Rehman warned that business activity in Pakistan is collapsing and that many Pakistanis are leaving the country in search of stability. He sharply criticized Islamabad’s policies toward Afghanistan, describing them as “complete failures.”
Addressing Pakistan’s repeated claims that militants enter from Afghan territory, he said: “Authorities say terrorists are coming from there. If they are coming, stop them. If they are coming, eliminate them. The Afghan government has never objected to your actions.”
He also rejected the logic behind these allegations, pointing to the closure of key crossings between the two countries: “When not even a single pomegranate can enter Pakistan from Afghanistan today, how can militants enter?”
Fazlur Rehman argued that Pakistan’s foreign policy is shaped not by the civilian government, but by the military establishment: “One general comes and says we will negotiate; another comes and says we will wage war.”
Pakistani officials have long claimed that attacks inside Pakistan are planned from Afghan soil. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has consistently denied this, saying Afghanistan cannot be blamed for Pakistan’s internal security failures.
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