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Mon Nov 12, 2018 - Kremlin: US Special Adviser to Afghanistan Plans Moscow Trip as Taliban Gains Ground
Farsnews
After years of struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan, US special advisor Zalmay Khalilzad is planning to visit Russia to discuss a peace settlement, his Russian counterpart Zamir Kabulov said on Monday.
I’ve known Khalilzad for a long time. We’ll meet again – he is planning to visit us,” Kabulov told reporters, adding that the parties may discuss the launch of direct talks between the US-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban if Khalilzad is “ready to do it”, RT reported.
The Russian official stressed that Moscow supports the “regionalist approach” to a peace settlement in the war-torn nation and doesn’t seek competition with the US in Afghanistan, but at the same time can’t just stand by and “idly observe” the ongoing deterioration of the situation on the ground.
A Taliban delegation recently flew to Moscow to hold separate discussions on the ways to end the conflict in the country.
In recent years, US officials became more receptive to the idea of direct peace talks with the Taliban.
“This is not going to be won militarily. This is going to a political solution,” General Austin S. Miller, who lead the NATO mission in Afghanistan, admitted last week. Khalilzad, meanwhile, reportedly met with Taliban officials in Qatar last month.
Despite the US’ decade-long efforts to quell the militants, Afghanistan has seen an upsurge in Taliban activity in recent years. The US government’s own estimates indicate that the Washington-backed government in Kabul has uncontested control of just over 57 percent of the country, while a recent BBC study revealed that the jihadists are “openly active” in about 70 percent of the nation.
Heroin production has skyrocketed, and frequent terror attacks continue to claim the lives of Afghan servicemen and civilians.
Tue Nov 13, 2018 - Report: US Mulls Asking for Delay in Afghan Elections to Help Jolt Taliban Talks
Farsnews
The Donald Trump administration is considering asking the Afghan government to hold off on its upcoming presidential elections to allow Washington to attempt to end the 17-year war against the Taliban, The Wall Street Journal reported.
People briefed on the discussions told the Wall Street Journal that pressing for a delay to the elections, currently set for April, is one of several options US officials are considering.
US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was reported to have raised the idea, but the move is seen as contradictory with DC’s long-promoted rhetoric of a free democracy in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who will seek a second five-year term in the vote, has already opposed the idea.
“Based on the free election, complete inclusive election, people will decide on their future leadership,” Ghani said last week.
The Taliban so far has refused to negotiate with Ghani, who has offered to start talks with the terrorist group without preconditions.
The United States asking Afghanistan to postpone elections would potentially cause a rift between the two countries. Kabul relies on Washington for financial and military support, giving the US significant influence, but Afghan leaders would make the ultimate decision.
The Trump administration hopes a suspension could finally bring about peace talks with the Taliban, which officials fear could be stalled by the political turmoil that often occurs around Afghan elections.
President Trump has long grumbled over America’s continued presence in Afghanistan, threatening to pull soldiers out before reluctantly announcing a new strategy in August 2017. The strategy increased US troop levels by several thousand, to a force of roughly 14,000, but so far has not produced the results the administration wanted.
The administration earlier this year began direct talks with the Taliban as Trump’s plan has floundered.
The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) recently found that the Afghan government only controls about 55 percent of the country's districts. The percentage is the lowest recorded since SIGAR began tracking it in 2015.
Khalilzad has reportedly said that he probably has six to 12 months to come up with a new solution to end the war.
He is set to meet next week with Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar, and may also speak with members in Dubai, according to the Journal.
Mon Nov 12, 2018 - Afghanistan Deploys More Forces to Ghazni to Contain Taliban as Kabul Hit by Suicide Attack
Farsnews
The Afghan government sent additional forces to the Hazara-populated areas of Southeastern Ghazni Province, which has been under attack by the Taliban militant group for several days.
The troops, including special forces, were deployed on Monday to the Jaghori and Malistan districts of Ghazni, where fighters with the local Shia Hazara community are helping government forces in their battle against the Taliban militants, Asia News reported.
We have sent more reinforcements to Jaghori and Malistan districts,” including 40 intelligence officers and 35 members of the security forces, Afghan Army chief of staff General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali said.
“As part of a bigger plan, we are also sending more ground forces and will soon start a big operation in Ghazni,” he added.
The deployment took place after the Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan forces during heavy clashes in Ghazni and the western regions of the country, according to officials.
About 25 Afghan commandos were reportedly killed by the Taliban in Ghazni late on Sunday, while 50 security forces lost their lives in similar clashes in Farah Province.
Yaftali confirmed to reporters that Afghan forces had suffered casualties, without giving more details.
Ghazni – which was briefly overrun by the Taliban in August – is strategically important as it is located on a highway connecting the capital Kabul to the major southern city of Kandahar. It is also a gateway into the mountainous central province of Hazarajat, also home mainly to Shia Hazara people.
The stepped-up violence in Ghazni prompted protests in Kabul late Sunday and on Monday morning, when hundreds of Shia Hazaras took to the streets demanding better security in the troubled region.
As the demonstration was underway on Monday, a bomb attack hit a security checkpoint near the site of the rally in central Kabul, an area that also hosts the finance and justice ministries and is close to the presidential palace.
The blast has occurred near Pashtunistan Square in Kabul’s city centre, the TOLO news broadcaster reported on Monday, adding that it was allegedly carried out by a suicide bomber.
Following the explosion, an Interior Ministry Spokesman told the 1TV that there are casualties, but the exact number of the casualties is currently unknown. According to the Pajhwok news agency, 8 were killed and 6 more wounded in the explosion.
According to the broadcaster 1TV, the Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Wed Nov 14, 2018 - Taliban Commander among 32 Killed, Wounded in Faryab Clashes, Airstrikes
Farsnews
At least thirty two militants including a local commander of the Taliban were killed or wounded during the clashes and airstrikes in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan.
The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said clashes broke out between the security forces and Taliban militants in Kalik village of Qaisar district, leaving at least 18 militants dead, including one of their local commanders Mullah Khal Mirza,
The statement further added that the security forces also received air support and as a result at least 14 militants also sustained injuries.
According 209th Shaheen Corps, at least five vehicles and fifteen various types of weapons of the militants were also destroyed during the clashes and airstrikes.
Faryab is among the relatively volatile provinces in North of Afghanistan where the Taliban militants and other groups are actively operating in some of its districts and often carry out terrorist related activities.
Farsnews
After years of struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan, US special advisor Zalmay Khalilzad is planning to visit Russia to discuss a peace settlement, his Russian counterpart Zamir Kabulov said on Monday.
I’ve known Khalilzad for a long time. We’ll meet again – he is planning to visit us,” Kabulov told reporters, adding that the parties may discuss the launch of direct talks between the US-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban if Khalilzad is “ready to do it”, RT reported.
The Russian official stressed that Moscow supports the “regionalist approach” to a peace settlement in the war-torn nation and doesn’t seek competition with the US in Afghanistan, but at the same time can’t just stand by and “idly observe” the ongoing deterioration of the situation on the ground.
A Taliban delegation recently flew to Moscow to hold separate discussions on the ways to end the conflict in the country.
In recent years, US officials became more receptive to the idea of direct peace talks with the Taliban.
“This is not going to be won militarily. This is going to a political solution,” General Austin S. Miller, who lead the NATO mission in Afghanistan, admitted last week. Khalilzad, meanwhile, reportedly met with Taliban officials in Qatar last month.
Despite the US’ decade-long efforts to quell the militants, Afghanistan has seen an upsurge in Taliban activity in recent years. The US government’s own estimates indicate that the Washington-backed government in Kabul has uncontested control of just over 57 percent of the country, while a recent BBC study revealed that the jihadists are “openly active” in about 70 percent of the nation.
Heroin production has skyrocketed, and frequent terror attacks continue to claim the lives of Afghan servicemen and civilians.
Tue Nov 13, 2018 - Report: US Mulls Asking for Delay in Afghan Elections to Help Jolt Taliban Talks
Farsnews
The Donald Trump administration is considering asking the Afghan government to hold off on its upcoming presidential elections to allow Washington to attempt to end the 17-year war against the Taliban, The Wall Street Journal reported.
People briefed on the discussions told the Wall Street Journal that pressing for a delay to the elections, currently set for April, is one of several options US officials are considering.
US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was reported to have raised the idea, but the move is seen as contradictory with DC’s long-promoted rhetoric of a free democracy in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who will seek a second five-year term in the vote, has already opposed the idea.
“Based on the free election, complete inclusive election, people will decide on their future leadership,” Ghani said last week.
The Taliban so far has refused to negotiate with Ghani, who has offered to start talks with the terrorist group without preconditions.
The United States asking Afghanistan to postpone elections would potentially cause a rift between the two countries. Kabul relies on Washington for financial and military support, giving the US significant influence, but Afghan leaders would make the ultimate decision.
The Trump administration hopes a suspension could finally bring about peace talks with the Taliban, which officials fear could be stalled by the political turmoil that often occurs around Afghan elections.
President Trump has long grumbled over America’s continued presence in Afghanistan, threatening to pull soldiers out before reluctantly announcing a new strategy in August 2017. The strategy increased US troop levels by several thousand, to a force of roughly 14,000, but so far has not produced the results the administration wanted.
The administration earlier this year began direct talks with the Taliban as Trump’s plan has floundered.
The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) recently found that the Afghan government only controls about 55 percent of the country's districts. The percentage is the lowest recorded since SIGAR began tracking it in 2015.
Khalilzad has reportedly said that he probably has six to 12 months to come up with a new solution to end the war.
He is set to meet next week with Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar, and may also speak with members in Dubai, according to the Journal.
Mon Nov 12, 2018 - Afghanistan Deploys More Forces to Ghazni to Contain Taliban as Kabul Hit by Suicide Attack
Farsnews
The Afghan government sent additional forces to the Hazara-populated areas of Southeastern Ghazni Province, which has been under attack by the Taliban militant group for several days.
The troops, including special forces, were deployed on Monday to the Jaghori and Malistan districts of Ghazni, where fighters with the local Shia Hazara community are helping government forces in their battle against the Taliban militants, Asia News reported.
We have sent more reinforcements to Jaghori and Malistan districts,” including 40 intelligence officers and 35 members of the security forces, Afghan Army chief of staff General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali said.
“As part of a bigger plan, we are also sending more ground forces and will soon start a big operation in Ghazni,” he added.
The deployment took place after the Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan forces during heavy clashes in Ghazni and the western regions of the country, according to officials.
About 25 Afghan commandos were reportedly killed by the Taliban in Ghazni late on Sunday, while 50 security forces lost their lives in similar clashes in Farah Province.
Yaftali confirmed to reporters that Afghan forces had suffered casualties, without giving more details.
Ghazni – which was briefly overrun by the Taliban in August – is strategically important as it is located on a highway connecting the capital Kabul to the major southern city of Kandahar. It is also a gateway into the mountainous central province of Hazarajat, also home mainly to Shia Hazara people.
The stepped-up violence in Ghazni prompted protests in Kabul late Sunday and on Monday morning, when hundreds of Shia Hazaras took to the streets demanding better security in the troubled region.
As the demonstration was underway on Monday, a bomb attack hit a security checkpoint near the site of the rally in central Kabul, an area that also hosts the finance and justice ministries and is close to the presidential palace.
The blast has occurred near Pashtunistan Square in Kabul’s city centre, the TOLO news broadcaster reported on Monday, adding that it was allegedly carried out by a suicide bomber.
Following the explosion, an Interior Ministry Spokesman told the 1TV that there are casualties, but the exact number of the casualties is currently unknown. According to the Pajhwok news agency, 8 were killed and 6 more wounded in the explosion.
According to the broadcaster 1TV, the Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Wed Nov 14, 2018 - Taliban Commander among 32 Killed, Wounded in Faryab Clashes, Airstrikes
Farsnews
At least thirty two militants including a local commander of the Taliban were killed or wounded during the clashes and airstrikes in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan.
The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said clashes broke out between the security forces and Taliban militants in Kalik village of Qaisar district, leaving at least 18 militants dead, including one of their local commanders Mullah Khal Mirza,
The statement further added that the security forces also received air support and as a result at least 14 militants also sustained injuries.
According 209th Shaheen Corps, at least five vehicles and fifteen various types of weapons of the militants were also destroyed during the clashes and airstrikes.
Faryab is among the relatively volatile provinces in North of Afghanistan where the Taliban militants and other groups are actively operating in some of its districts and often carry out terrorist related activities.
