Based on the report, the Taliban were responsible for 4,568 deaths and injuries of civilians during this period, while the unknown groups were responsible for killing and wounding 2,107, while the security forces were blamed for 1,188 deaths and injuries…reports Asian Lite News
In its latest report, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has revealed that more than 8,500 civilians were killed and wounded due to the war and violence in the country last year.
According to the AIHRC report, there were some 3,000 dead Afghan civilians killed, while over 5,000 were wounded.
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan dropped 21 per cent in 2020 as compared to 2019, TOLO News reported. Unknown armed groups were the second highest cause of casualties after the Taliban, it said.
Based on the report, the Taliban were responsible for 4,568 deaths and injuries of civilians during this period, while the unknown groups were responsible for killing and wounding 2,107, while the security forces were blamed for 1,188 deaths and injuries.
“Civilian casualties are still very high, we can say that there is a catastrophe going on in Afghanistan,” said Naeem Nazari, the deputy head of the AIHRC.
“The Taliban in recent times has committed major crimes without taking responsibility for them. The Taliban have martyred thousands of our civilian compatriots,” said Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.
In 2018 and 2019, complex suicide attacks and car bombing incidents caused most of the casualties.
However, in 2020 targeted killings, assassinations and magnetic mine explosions claimed the most civilian lives, and, more worryingly, no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Afghan officials blame the Taliban militant group for the bomb explosions in recent months…reports Asian Lite News
Three people were killed and 13 others injured in Afghanistan’s twin bomb explosions, the latest in a string of attacks in the militancy-hit country, authorities said on Wednesday.
In the capital city Kabul, two police officers were slightly wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) struck a police pickup truck in Police District 15 Wednesday morning, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz told Xinhua.
The IED was likely to be detonated by remote control and a Criminal Investigation Department team of Kabul police was investigating the case, he said.
In southern Uruzgan province, two police officers and a civilian were killed and 10 civilians, and a policeman wounded in a similar incident on Tuesday night, according to the Provincial Governor.
The police pickup truck was destroyed by the explosion that occurred in Police District 1 of provincial capital Tirin Kot city, Governor Mohammad Omar Shirzad told Xinhua, adding the wounded were receiving treatment in a provincial hospital in Tirin Kot.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Afghan officials blame the Taliban militant group for the bomb explosions in recent months.
The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) discovered a car heavily packed with explosives in Wardak province and defused 32 IEDs in Kandahar province in the past 24 hours…reports Asian Lite News
The Afghan Ministry of Defence said on Monday that the military have discovered a car bomb and defused 32 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in two provinces.
The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) discovered a car heavily packed with explosives in Wardak province and defused 32 IEDs in Kandahar province in the past 24 hours, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.
The IEDs were found in Kandahar’s Panjwaye, Arghandab and Zharay districts, while the forces detected the car bomb allegedly prepared by Taliban militants to target security forces, the statement said.
The ANDSF remains in control of most of Afghanistan’s population centres and all of 34 provincial capitals, but Taliban insurgents control large portions of rural areas, staging coordinated large-scale attacks from time to time.
Two days ago, three people were killed and another person was injured in a blast in Kabul.
The blast on Sunday, according to the official, took place at 8.30 a.m. in Police District 8, Xinhua news agency reported.
Arian said that the victims included Zia Wadan, spokesman for the Public Protection Force.
Without providing details, the official blamed the Taliban outfit for the attack.
The militant group has not responded to the allegation.
Since last month, at least 23 people have been killed and 70 others injured in security incidents in Kabul.
Kabul witnessed 15 security incidents late December 2020, including suicide attacks, car bomb attacks, magnetic IED blasts and targeted killings.
Four blasts occurred in Kabul on December 26.
Most of the magnetic IED blasts targeted security vehicles and were near police headquarters buildings in various areas of the city.
A chief negotiator of the Afghan government has said that the issue of targeted killings will be discussed when the next phase of the peace talks with the Taliban will resume on January 5.
“This (targeted killings) is one of the serious issues that we need to raise and follow,” TOLO News quoted chief negotiator Masoom Stanekzai as saying on Friday.
The remarks come as six journalists have been killed in various incidents of targeted attacks across Afghanistan in the last two months.
On Friday, Bismillah Adil Aimaq, a journalist and civil society activist in Ghor province, was killed in an attack by unidentified armed men in the city of Feroz Koh.
On Thursday evening, Abdi Jahid, a civil society activist from Baghlan was killed in an attack in Kabul’s PD17 area, police said.
“We witnessed the killing of several journalists here in Kabul and in the provinces. This issue has raised concerns among the Afghan media community,” TOLO News quoted Reza Shaheer, a journalist based in the Afghan capital, as saying.
Since January 2020, 11 Afghan journalists and media workers have been killed, making this one of the deadliest years. Meantime, at least 60 militants have been killed and several others injured in clashes and airstrikes in Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province, the army said on Sunday.
On Saturday, Taliban shadow district chief of Helmand, Mullah Shafiullah alias Mawlawi Nazim, and his five associated were killed in airstrikes in surrounding areas of the province, Xinhua news agency quoted the Afghan Army’s Miwand 215 Corps as saying in a statement.
In addition, 54 Taliban militants had been killed and eight others wounded during separate airstrikes and clashes with the army in Sorgodar and Bushran, on outskirts of provincial capital Lashkar Gah, as well as Naway-i-Barakzai, Garmser and Nad Ali districts from early Friday to Saturday morning, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
“Those among the killed militants were a Taliban divisional commander Abdul Salaam and three militants’ bomb experts,” the statement read.
Eight Taliban’s control and command centres, weapons, vehicles and several rounds of guided rockets were destroyed during the airstrikes, according to the statement.
Helmand province, notorious for poppy growing, is a known Taliban stronghold.
The militant group is yet to make comments on the development.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Supreme Court has sentenced Mohammad Adil, the mastermind of the November 2020 Kabul University attack that claimed the lives of 22 people, to death.
In a statement on Friday, the Supreme Court said that five other collaborators of the attack were sentenced to various jail terms on charges of treason, transfer of explosive materials and cooperation with the Islamic State (IS) terror group which claimed responsibility, TOLO News.
Adil, a resident of Panjshir province, was recruited by Sanaullah, a member of the Haqqani Network terror group, according to Vice President Amrullah Saleh.
He was arrested just a few days after the attack.
Adil had been missing for the last three years and it was rumoured that he has gone abroad for “studies and war”, Saleh added.
On November 2, 2020, at least 22 people were killed and over 40 others were wounded after two gunmen attacked the University.
The victims included 18 students — 16 from the Public Administration Faculty and two from the Law Faculty.
Multiple rockets were fired at the Bagram Airfield, a major US airbase in Afghanistan’s Parwan province, on Saturday, officials said, adding that there were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.
“Five rounds of rockets were fired onto Bagram Airfield from an abandoned truck parked in Qalandar Khil locality at roughly 5.50 a.m.,” Xinhua news agency quoted a provincial spokesperson as saying.
She said seven rockets failed to be fired and were defused by Afghan security forces.
The Bagram Airfield, some 50 km north of the Afghan capital of Kabul, has served as the main US and NATO military base in Afghanistan over the past 19 years.
It is staffed by the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing of the US Air Force, along with rotating units of the US Army, US Navy, US Marine Corps, and US Coast Guard.
No group has claimed responsibility yet for the attack.
Afghanistan has witnessed a series of rocket attacks in recent weeks.
On December 12, at least one person was killed and two others were injured after 10 rockets were fired into different parts of Kabul city.
On November 21, at least 23 rockets were fired on different parts of the city that killed eight civilians.
Afghanistan's Abdullah Abdullah meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. (Photo Credit: twitter.com/DrabdullahCE)
Rouhani said that he hoped the peace efforts will work in Afghanistan’s favour and insisted on the implementation of joint economic plans between the two countries…reports Asian Lite News
Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who pledged his countrys support for an enduring and acceptable peace for the people of Afghanistan, an official statement.
According to the statement issued by Abdullah’s office, the meeting took place on Monday, reports TOLO News.
Rouhani said that he hoped the peace efforts will work in Afghanistan’s favour and insisted on the implementation of joint economic plans between the two countries, the statement said.
On his part, Abdullah spoke of recent developments in the peace efforts, the ongoing negotiations in Doha, and stressed Afghanistan’s will to achieve permanent peace with dignity.
He appreciated the “principled” stance of Iran in supporting the Afghan peace efforts and called for the continuation of support, the statement said.
Tehran, May. 27, 2020 (Xinhua) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the opening session of Iran’s new parliament in Tehran, Iran, on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz/IANS)
Abdullah further he supports the effort to implement economic plans for the two countries and said that doing such could provide the foundation for peace and further regional cooperation.
The top Afghan official reached Iran on Sunday on a two-day visit, reports TOLO News.
His trip came amid ongoing peace negotiations between delegates from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban.
The peace negotiation officially started on September 12. But direct talks are yet to begin due to disagreements on procedural rules.
Before this trip, Abdullah had also visited Pakistan and India where he discussed the Afghan peace process.
By visiting Islamabad and New Delhi, Abdullah Abdullah is positioning himself to step in as soon as the opportunity arises. This is not a process that is likely to reach fruition before the end of the year…writes Saeed Naqvi
Donald Trump with Robert O’Brien
President Donald Trump and his National Security Adviser, Robert C. O’ Brien are aching to announce troop withdrawal from Afghanistan as a last-minute sweetener for the American voter, rather like floral touches in an Indian wedding. Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is probably looking at life beyond Trump, unless there is a second coming. He is talking of ending the Afghan war “responsibly”, which means “not in a hurry”.
When President Barack Obama had set firm deadlines for withdrawal, I made an extensive survey of the country for the Observer Research Foundation. I had concluded that the US is “not leaving Afghanistan today; it is not leaving it tomorrow.” A super power enters a major theatre with one set of interests but, over a period of time, develops multiple compelling interests.
Why would a country, which is directly involved in 14 shooting wars in various parts of the globe, walk away from its longest war ever without any identifiable gain. Withdrawing empty handed would be an admission of defeat. Since this is not on the cards, the only conclusion one can draw is that a plan for the future is not being disclosed for now.
US involvement in Afghanistan has been a great tragedy, but its frequent false starts in a rush to the exit door and announce withdrawal, is material for a spoof by someone like Michael Moore. Take for instance the peace agreement the US signed with the Afghan Taliban on February 29 in Doha. So eager was US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad to flourish a peace agreement just when the election campaign in the US was picking up that he would have inserted into the agreement anything the Taliban wished. Read the title headline of that agreement: it is patently absurd.
President Ashraf Ghani
“Agreement for bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America.” The fragility of the agreement is transparent in the pulls and counter pulls that have obviously gone into the headline. There is unbridgeable distance on the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s role, for instance. The Taliban will not talk to Ghani whom they describe quite brazenly as a US “toady”.
Ghani deludes himself if he imagines he is being “firm”. He is coming across to the world at large as a leader with a very thick skin. New Delhi wishes to keep appearances. In the trapeze act, South Block does not wish to be seen loosening the clasp of Ghani’s hand mid-air. The zero-sum game with Pakistan may operate as a factor but, in deference to realism, not a defining one.
If New Delhi is seen to be digging in for Ghani, it will only find itself embarrassed down the line because it is clear as daylight that intra Afghan talks will not move unless Ghani steps aside. By visiting Islamabad and New Delhi, Abdullah Abdullah is positioning himself to step in as soon as the opportunity arises. This is not a process that is likely to reach fruition before the end of the year. So, no confetti on election eve.
One of the advantages the US extracts from its position of being a superpower is to keep making mistakes almost willfully without any fear of being called to account. It is almost a forgotten story that in December 2001 NATO, helped by Russia, Iran, India and the Northern Alliance headquartered in the Panjsher valley defeated Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Punjsher was also the operational headquarters for the Tajik hero Ahmad Shah Masoud. So strong was Masoud’s opposition to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, that he travelled extensively to acquaint various international fora of the danger that Al-Qaeda and Taliban posed to Afghanistan. His address to the European Parliament in the summer of 2001, months before 9/11 was historic by any yardstick.
Afghanistan’s Abdullah Abdullah meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi iin New Delhi
Complete silence on this speech of Masoud’s is surprising. His forces had picked up chatter about a possible Al-Qaeda action in the American mainland. He was speaking in Brussels. On September 9, precisely two days before September 11 (9/11) two Arabs, disguised as journalists, visited him in his hideout near the Tajik border for an interview. Their passports, it was revealed much later, had been forged in Brussels. These “journalists”, while saying goodbye to Masoud, detonated their vests. All three died instantly. Two days later, the twin towers came down in New York. Is there nothing here that deserves investigation?
Maybe not before the US elections, but is the curtain about to be brought down on US involvement? Whether Trump or Joe Biden wins the election, China, Russia, and Iran are likely to remain America’s adversarial concerns.
A little over a year ago, just when US military involvement in Syria was winding down, one common chatter was about Jabhat al Nusra and its variants being flown to newer theatres of action. Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morgulov Igor Vladimirovich told a high-powered conference in New Delhi, with Zalmay Khalilzad in attendance, that militants were being flown from Syria to Northern Afghanistan. “Only the Afghan government and the US controls the Afghan air space.” The blame cannot be placed at any other door. Khalilzad mounted a token protest but nothing more.
U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad during the talks in Doha
The following Friday Iran’s Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei was more specific: Daesh groups were being flown to Afghanistan. The distinguished chronicler of the West Asian scene, Robert Fisk of the Independent made similar allegations. The allegation fitted neatly into the thesis that militants, trained to kill, cannot be sent to the slaughterhouse. They have to be deployed in other theatres where they are proximate to Muslim population into which militancy has to be injected to stir up the Islamic cauldron — Xinxiang, the Caucasus and a handful of Sunni enclaves in Iran.
(Saeed Naqvi is a senior commentator on political and diplomatic issues. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com)
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of High Council for National Reconcialtion Abdullah Abdullah.
Amid reports of a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Afghanistan, the Kabul government is facing mounting criticism over alleged misuse of international funds to battle the pandemic, the media reported
A Kabul-based anti-corruption organization, Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA), on Friday said the government was not ready to provide the details of the money it spent for combating the pandemic, reports TOLO News.
“The Afghan government has not been accountable in spending Covid-19 budget, in many cases, either they provided us incomplete information or refrained from providing details about it,” said Sayed Ikram Afzali, the head of IWA.
The Ministry of Finance said the institutions that were assigned to fight the health crisis have not reported back about the scale and area of the fund spending.
“The overall money provided by international donors and the budget that was allocated by the government for fighting Covid-19 are estimated to 19.8 billion Afghanis,” said Shamroz Khan Masjidi, spokesman for the Ministry.
The Attorney General’s Office said that some cases of corruption against former and current officials of the Ministry of Public Health and a hospital officials in some provinces have been investigated.
“Investigation of the cases related to four provinces has been done. Our colleagues are in the process of concluding them. They will soon issue their verdicts on it,” TOLO News quoted Jamshid Rasouli, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, as saying.
On Friday, the Ministry of Public Health on Friday reported 77 new Covid-cases and two fatalities.
As a result the overall caseload in the country has now increased to 39,639, while the death toll stood at 1,472.
U.S. President Donald Trump. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua/IANS)
Reduction of troops and to pull the country out of “endless wars”, have been a part of Trump’s re-election campaign promises…Reports Asian Lite News
US President Donald Trump has hinted that American troops stationed in Afghanistan should be “home by Christmas”. The Decision came following an announcement last month that Washington would withdraw thousands of military personnel from the war-torn country by November.
Taking to Twitter late Wednesday night, the President said: “We should have the small remaining number of our brave men and women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas.”
No were no other details available immediate on Trump’s remarks.
General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., Commander, US Central Command.
Last month, Kenneth McKenzie, Commander of the US Central Command, told several media outlets that American troops in Afghanistan would also be decreased to about 4,500 level by early November.
In August, Pentagon chief Mark Esper also confirmed that the troops would be lowered to less than 5,000 by the end of November.
The previous month, the Pentagon had said that Washington maintained its force level in Afghanistan at mid-8,000s, meeting the conditions of the US-Taliban agreement signed in late February.
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2019 (Xinhua) — U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Mark Esper testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Ting Shen/IANS)
The agreement had called for a full withdrawal of the US military forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.
Reduction of troops and to pull the country out of “endless wars”, have been a part of Trump’s re-election campaign promises.
The war in Afghanistan, which has caused about 2,400 US military deaths, is the longest one in American history.
