The Taliban’s delegation visited Pakistan to seek “guidance” from Pakistani intelligence agencies….reports Asian Lite News
Ahead of Turkey summit on Afghanistan’s peace, Taliban negotiators have left for Pakistan from Doha to consult and seek guidance from their “leadership”, Tolonews reports.
The Taliban’s delegation visited Pakistan to seek “guidance” from Pakistani intelligence agencies.
“Whenever there is a stalemate in the talks in Qatar, they (Taliban) say that we are going to consult our elders, in reality, ‘elders’ means that ‘we are going to seek suggestions from the ISI and the (Pakistani) army,'” said Afghanistan’s First Vice President Amrullah Saleh.
This comes as the Taliban blamed the extension of the US presence in Afghanistan as the main cause for their non-participation in the Turkey summit which has been postponed from April 24 to May 4.
Intra-Afghan talks in Doha.
Last week, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani had said the announcement of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan will require that Pakistan make a decision on its Afghan policy — whether to opt for cooperation or enmity with its neighbour.
Ghani said, “After two years, we are fully prepared for the day and we have a comprehensive plan for their withdrawal.” He added that “Today, it is a day of decision for Pakistan”.
The US has announced that all its troops will be out of Afghanistan by September 11.
US President Joe Biden earlier this month had said that the United States will start its final withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan on May 1 and complete its pullout ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
US troops in Afghanistan.
‘Our troops capable of fighting Taliban’
Afghanistan’s military has the capacity to fight the Taliban unaided after the withdrawal of US-led foreign troops as it has demonstrated throughout last year, Afghan National Security Council spokesperson Rahmatullah Andar told Sputnik.
“Since last year, Afghan security and defense forces have been conducting 96 percent of operations on their own self. Afghan troops have no problem fighting with the Taliban,” Andar said, noting, however, that Afghanistan would continue receiving assistance from abroad after the pullout of foreign troops.
The official described the Afghan forces as being in “active defensive potion” and stated that the fighting was particularly intense in areas where the Taliban have access to the illicit economy and drug trade. Andar also accused the Taliban of having members of al-Qaeda (banned in Russia) and other terrorist groups in their ranks.
Of the high-value drugs smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan, 10% of the quantity is believed to be for local consumption and 90% for high-end clients in Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities, reports Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFt86QyKNRc
The valley of Kashmir particularly the northern Kupwara district is rapidly turning into a major hub of the narcotics smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the official figures, heroin worth over Rs 300 crore has been seized in the valley in the last 16 months even as the volume of the drugs smuggled in, produced and traded in the same period is estimated to be of the order of Rs 600 crore.
“59 kilos of heroin, 51 kilos of brown sugar and 355 kilos of charas (marijuana) has been seized in Kashmir from 1 January 2020 to 20 April 2021. This is in addition to fukki and processed drugs in the form of capsules, tablets and injections recovered from different individuals and gangs during the same period”, Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, revealed to India Narrative.
According to the official statistics, Police have also seized 2,000 kg of fukki, 73,800 drug tablets and capsules and 245 vials of injections besides cash worth Rs 14820248 (1.48 crore) from the persons dealing with drugs and psychotropic substances since 1 January 2020.
1,498 persons have been booked and arrested in 946 FIRs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Charge-sheets have been produced against 530 persons in different courts in the Union Territory.
The revenue district of Kupwara, comprising Kupwara and Handwara Police districts, is emerging as the epicentre of the drug smuggling with its advantage of being contiguous to the border areas of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). 19 kg of heroin has been seized in Kupwara and 22 kg in Handwara in addition to 10.3 kg of charas in Kupwara and 7.4 kg in Handwara. Police have also recovered 48.5 kg of brown sugar in Kupwara and 0.27 kg in Handwara.
Of the cash recovered from the people engaged in drug smuggling and trafficking, Rs 1,37,91,738 has been recovered in Handwara alone.
Seventy NDPS-related FIRs have been registered in Kupwara and 44 in Handwara, even as 25 cases have been chargesheeted in Kupwara and 18 in Handwara and 86 persons have been arrested in Kupwara and 69 in Handwara.
One of the high profile cases in Handwara has been assigned to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has completed a part of the investigation, taken custody of the accused traffickers from the Police and arrested some of them. The NIA has filed its charge-sheet for prosecution in a designated court in Jammu.
Senior Army and Police officers maintained that the entire Kashmir valley was now affected by the drugs and narcotics being smuggled in from Pakistan and Afghanistan, traded, consumed and also produced locally.
“However, there is one marked difference between North Kashmir and South Kashmir. Almost the entire quantity of drugs in circulation in the North is smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan, mainly to convert it into terror funding. Contrarily, the drugs in circulation in South Kashmir are procured out of the poppy straw grown on large chunks of land in Pulwama, Kulgam and Anantnag districts”, said one Senior Superintendent of Police.
“Militants, growers and traders (of drugs) are not by and large linked to one another in South Kashmir but they do not disturb others. This is different from North Kashmir where terror funds are generated out of the large scale smuggling of the high-value heroin”, said the SSP.
Afghanistan is the source of more than 90% of world’s opium supply and more than 95% of the European opium supply since 2001.
Since the United States military occupation of Afghanistan in 2001, followed by the NATO occupation in 2003, opium production has increased exponentially in Afghanistan. According to Global Research, October 17, 2018, the area under opium cultivation has increased to as much as 3,28,000 hectares in Afghanistan in 2017.
While 25% of the drugs produced locally in the southern Kashmir are believed to be consumed, mostly by the youths in the age group of 14-34 years, around 75% of the productions is smuggled out to traders and consumers in different Indian States. Of the high-value drugs smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan, 10% of the quantity is believed to be for local consumption and 90% for high-end clients in Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities.
According to senior Police officials, including Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Dilbag Singh, gangs of professional smugglers have been receiving drug consignments through different modes, including underground tunnels. In some cases, drones are believed to have dropped the consignments along the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts in Jammu and Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts in Punjab.
During its investigation in different cases in Jammu and Kashmir, the Enforce Directorate (ED) has also detected smuggling of heroin through the cross-LoC barter trade. It has been officially asserted that the proceeds of the contraband were being used for funding of the secessionist militancy. In the wake of such detections, and finally a suicide attack on the CRPF on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in February 2019, the cross-LoC trade and travel has been completely suspended.
(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Both nations agreed to close and frequent coordination in support of a lasting peace and development for the people of Afghanistan…reports Arul Louis
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar have agreed that the two nations will coordinate on efforts to promote stability in Afghanistan, from where Washington and NATO will be withdrawing their troops, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Blinken spoke to Jaishankar “to reaffirm the importance of the US-India relationship and cooperation on regional security issues”, Price said in a readout of their conversation on Monday.
They “agreed to close and frequent coordination in support of a lasting peace and development for the people of Afghanistan”, he said.
Myanmar, where the military has flouted the results of parliamentary elections, imprisoned the democratically elected leaders and cracked down on protesters since the February 1, figured in their talks.
They “reaffirmed their shared commitment to democratic values and mutual support for the restoration of democracy in Burma”, Price said using the old name for Myanmar.
Other issues discussed were cooperation on climate change, for which President Joe Biden is convening a global summit, Covid-19 and “other global challenges”, he said.
Jaishankar said in a tweet that their “conversation covered recent developments in India’s immediate and extended neighbourhood. Exchanged views on the UNSC agenda. Also discussed issues pertaining to our health cooperation”.
Reports that the US was going to lift the embargo on exporting raw materials needed for making Covid-19 vaccines followed the mention of health and the pandemic as topics of their conversation.
However, President Joe Biden’s Spokesperson Jen Psaki would not confirm if there was an agreement on allowing the vaccine raw materials export.
Announcing his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan ending a 20-year-old war, Biden last week asked India and other regional countries to pitch in to help stabilise the country.
India, which was mostly on the sidelines of the US efforts to make a deal with the Taliban to facilitate the troop withdrawal by the September 11 deadline, has been invited at Washington’s suggestion to an Afghanistan peace conference in Turkey this month.
New Delhi has given Afghanistan economic assistance of over $3 billion since 2001 and also provided security assistance through training over 4,000 Afghan military and security personnel and supplying helicopters.
India also built Afghanistan’s Parliament and is constructing a network of roads that would also provide a link for the landlocked country to a port it has constructed in Chabahar, Iran.
Ghani also reiterated that the Afghan government is committed to the peace talks with the Taliban and that it is now up to the latter to act on it.
US President Joe Biden on April 14 announced the unconditional withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by September which will end the 20-year old war.
Biden said that it has been 10 years since former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s death, and it is time to end America’s war in the country and to bring US troops home.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that achieving a peace deal after the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan is one of the priorities of the group but added that it will select the military option if the efforts could not get the expected outcome, TOLO News reported.
During the meeting held in the Afghan Presidential Palace on Thursday, Ghani stressed the common struggle of all countries against terrorism…reports Asian Lite News
A day after US President Joe Biden announced the unconditional withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by September which will end the 20-year old war, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and visiting American Secretary of State Antony Blinken exchanged views on the decision and the war on terrorism.
During the meeting held in the Afghan Presidential Palace on Thursday, Ghani stressed the common struggle of all countries against terrorism, reports Xinhua news agency.
Ghani told Blinken that Afghanistan respects the US President’s decision, adding that the Kabul government will ensure a smooth transition.
The President said that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) were capable enough to defend their country and ensure security.
Ghani, Blinken meet in Kabul(Twitter)
On his part, the top US diplomat said: “The withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan will not mean the weakening of strategic relations between the two countries. The US will honour its commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan.”
Blinken said his visit to Afghanistan was important because he wanted to convey in person America’s commitment to an enduring partnership with the country and its people, TOLO News reported.
“We never intended to have a permanent military presence here. Threat from Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is significantly degraded.
“By our enduing to support to Afghanistan economically, diplomatically, politically, I do want to say that as we proceed, we will remember the extraordinary courage, strength and sacrifices our troops who served in Afghanistan in the past two decades.
“An now we are embarking on a new chapter in our partnership with the Afghan people,” he added.
The Secretary of State also warned the Taliban against attacking the US forces as they are withdrawing from Afghanistan, saying any attack by the Taliban will be met with forceful response.
“We will continue to support Afghan national security forces, but importantly we are doing everything we can now to advance diplomacy to bring in regional and international partners,” he added.
Besides Ghani, Blinken also met Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
“We agreed that a negotiated political settlement remains the only way forward, and the US will continue to support it,” he said of his meeting with Abdullah.
President Joe Biden (www.instagram.comwhitehouse)
Biden on Wednesday announced the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, who have stayed in the country for 20 years.
Biden said that it has been 10 years since former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s death, and it is time to end America’s war in the country and to bring US troops home.
“We will begin our withdrawal on May 1,” Biden said, adding that it will not be a “hasty rush to the exit”, and if the Taliban attacks, the US will defend itself and partners with “all the tools at our disposal”.
Refugees from Afghanistan arrive at Skala Sikaminias, on the island of Lesvos, Greece(Xinhua/Marios Lolos/IANS)
EU will continue to encourage “a politically negotiated settlement through continued direct talks between the parties” said EU spokeperson …reports Asian Lite News
The European Union (EU) has called for “firm commitment and constructive engagement by all parties” in the peace talks in Afghanistan, after the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced the pullout of their troops from the country.
European Commission spokesperson Nabila Massrali told a press briefing on Thursday that the EU will continue to encourage “a politically negotiated settlement through continued direct talks between the parties”, reports Xinhua news agency.
The bloc has also called for an end to the violence in the country, “which remains unacceptably high”, the spokesperson added.
NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to pull out all of their armed forces from Afghanistan after the US announced that all American troops would leave the country by September 11.
Morrison said Australia would follow the US in ending its military presence in Afghanistan after 20 years…reports Asian Lite News
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday that the country’s remaining troops in Afghanistan will leave in September.
Morrison said Australia would follow the US in ending its military presence in Afghanistan after 20 years, reports Xinhua news agency.
“Over the past two years we’ve been reducing our military presence in Afghanistan from a high of over 1,500 personnel to around 80 personnel currently,” he told reporters.
“In line with the US and our other allies and partners, the last remaining Australian troops will depart Afghanistan in September 2021.”
Australian Defence Force personnel arrived in Afghanistan in 2001.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
More than 39,000 Australian troops had been deployed to Afghanistan, 41 of whom died in the country.
He acknowledged that the conflict has “exacted an enormous toll” on the Afghan people and said that Australia would continue to support peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban.
The Australian Defence Force last year released the findings of a four-year inquiry that found “credible evidence” of the special forces soldiers’ murdering of 39 Afghans, including children, in 23 incidents, and none of those killings occurred in “the heat of a battle”.
The killings have been described by many as war crime.
“Once again I am calling upon the Taliban to give up fighting, enmity and observe permanent ceasefire which is the demand of the people of Afghanistan,”…reports Asian Lite News
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday urged the Taliban to halt fighting and observe a ceasefire during the Islamic holy month month of Ramadan aimed at bolstering the peace process.
“Once again I am calling upon the Taliban to give up fighting, enmity and observe permanent ceasefire which is the demand of the people of Afghanistan,” Ghani said in his message to mark the start of Ramadan broadcast by local television channels.
The President made the remarks amid efforts to hold a peace conference on Afghanistan under UN auspices in Turkey.
The Taliban group has to prove its willingness for achieving peace in action and not in word, the Pesident said.
Afghan religious scholars have also called on the warring sides including the Taliban group to observe truce during the holy month.
Afghan security force members are seen at the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan
In war-torn Afghanistan, fighting and violence have been continuing, and in the latest wave, over 50 people including Taliban militants, government security personnel and civilians were killed, according to sources and local media reports.
According to security officials, 18 militants have been killed in Kandahar and 14 more in the neighbouring Uruzgan province since April 10.
At least 16 more insurgents have recently been killed in the Wardak, Kunduz and Samangan provinces.
According to local media reports, a former commander, Sayed Akbar Agha, said that “no sign of observing ceasefire from the Taliban” has been seen.
Local media reports said 79 security personnel and 28 civilians have been killed and 106 others including 57 civilians injured over the past seven days in Afghanistan.
In war-torn Afghanistan, fighting and violence have been continuing…reports Asian Lite News
Afghans from all walks of life are calling for ceasefire to be observed in Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on Tuesday.
In war-torn Afghanistan, fighting and violence have been continuing, and in the latest wave, over 50 people including Taliban militants, government security personnel and civilians were killed, according to sources and local media reports.
An explosive device went off in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province on Sunday afternoon, killing two civilians and injuring another, reports Xinhua news agency.
District chief Nazikmir Akbari has blamed the Taliban militants for planting the explosive device to terrorize the local residents.
Refugees from Afghanistan arrive at Skala Sikaminias, on the island of Lesvos, Greece(Xinhua/Marios Lolos/IANS)
A similar blast claimed the lives of two children in Arghandab district in the southern Kandahar province on Saturday, police spokesperson Jamal Barikzai has said.
According to security officials, 18 militants have been killed in Kandahar and 14 more in the neighbouring Uruzgan province since Saturday.
At least 16 more insurgents have recently been killed in the Wardak, Kunduz and Samangan provinces, according to officials.
“The month of Ramadan is the month of peace and brotherhood and therefore I ask the Taliban and the government to observe cease-fire and let the Afghans to live in peace at least in Ramadan,” Noorul Haq Khan, a Kabul resident, told Xinhua.
First Vice President Amrullah Saleh, at a gathering in the Shamali area outside the capital Kabul on Sunday, called on the Taliban outfit to meet the demand by the Afghan people for cease-fire and reconciliation.
Lawmaker Mohiudin Munsif was quoted by the local media as saying, “Taliban should observe ceasefire at least in Ramadan” if they want peace.
According to local media reports, a former commander, Sayed Akbar Agha, said that “no sign of observing ceasefire from the Taliban” has been seen.
Local media reports said 79 security personnel and 28 civilians have been killed and 106 others including 57 civilians injured over the past seven days in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan continues to shrink despite big claims by the PTP government. It’s trade with Afghanistan fell by 22 percent to reach $1.18 billion during 2019-2020. This is in contrast to the claims of reaching five billion over the next three years …. Writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
Helping Afghanistan prosper economically and supplying essentials to the landlocked Afghanistan was reiterated by Pakistan at the recent Heart of Asia Conference in Dushanbe. However, facts of its trade performance tell a different story of a shrinking trade.
Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan fell by 22 percent to reach $1.18 billion during 2019-2020. This is in contrast to the claims of reaching five billion over the next three years. Official sources in Islamabad as well as Kabul admit that the target is rather ambitious and does not take into account the ground reality, especially, of Pakistan’s own capacity to deliver. Notably, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan declined 13.6 percent to $629.3 million from $728.3 million. A few years ago, Afghanistan was the second largest export destination after the US.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks at a press conference in Kuwait. (Xinhua/Asad/IANS)
Trade Ministry sources in Islamabad explain that low trade performance has much to do with the unsettled conditions on both sides of the border and the Covid-19 pandemic. But the fact is that Pakistan has for long lost the Afghan market to its rivals – China, India and some of the Central Asian countries. The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) explains that the loss of the Afghan market is because Iran, India and China offer value-added products, relatively attractive transit tariffs, and better consignment handling facilities. China, being the supplier of value-added goods is becoming the leading competitor and taking over the lion’s share in Afghan market. Similarly, Iran offers competitive rates, better consignment handling facilities and cost-effective transportation. In Pakistan, costs for all these facilities have increased substantially over the years.
Chief of Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi
Meanwhile, the data of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) indicates that Pakistan’s trade deficit with the other regional countries narrowed only slightly during the period as imports from these countries also decreased. That, again, points to low capacity and poor performance. A conflict-hit Afghanistan has, actually, performed better. Pakistan’s imports from Afghanistan have surged, especially of essential kitchen items like tomatoes, potatoes, onions and fresh and dried fruits, as per SBP data.
As for land-based trade, Afghan trade transit resumed after Pakistani authorities decided to open up Torkham border on a 24/7 basis. However, every time there is a skirmish along the border due to movement of militant that Pakistan is pursuing, the border post gets closed to trade. As bilateral relations suffer, goods lie stranded and get pilfered. Perishable goods like fruit and vegetables get destroyed.
Afghanistan is compelled to explore other trade routes. Chabahar has come to its aid. Behrouz Aqaei, the Director General of Ports and Maritime Department of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province explained that Chabahar is believed to be the best and economical transit route into Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
India has stepped in to help Afghanistan by sending goods via Iran’s Chabahar, or Shahid Behesti, port. In mid-April 2020, a 75,000-metric-ton consignment of Indian wheat heading for Afghanistan arrived at Chabahar to be delivered to the destination country through land borders. According to Aqaei, the Indian government sent the mentioned cargo aiming to support its trade partner during the coronavirus pandemic. The consignment consisted of 203 20-metric-feet containers that had been shipped from Kandla Port in eastern India.
Afghanistan is also acknowledging the prospect of long term change in its trade with Pakistan. Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) say that Afghanistan’s economic dependency on Pakistan has decreased following the establishment of new alternative trade and transit routes with a number of countries.
The deputy head of the ACCI, Tawfiq Dawari, aid trade and transit volume between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been decreasing. “While we use Karachi port and have bilateral trade ties with Pakistan, our trade relations have been maintained with other countries as well and the reason is that we use other countries and international markets as well,” said Dawari.
