Afghanistan

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Pakistan, long at odds with the United States over the war in Afghanistan, has begun to play a behind-the-scenes but central role in supporting U.S. peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, including by facilitating travel to negotiations.

February 8, 2019 - Exclusive: Once spoiler, Pakistan starts behind-scenes aid to US-Taliban talks
Exclusive: Once spoiler, Pakistan starts behind-scenes aid to...

FILE PHOTO - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (R) speaks with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad (3rd L) during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Islamabad, Pakistan, in this handout photo released January 18, 2019. Press Information Department (PID)/Handout via REUTERS

The Pakistani assistance, which has not been reported in such detail before, also includes exerting pressure on Taliban leaders who fail to cooperate, including by detaining members of the militants’ families, the insurgents say.

The Pakistani role in the peace negotiations is a delicate one, with Islamabad seeking to avoid demonstrating the kind of broad influence over the Taliban that Washington has long accused it of having. Sources caution its help could be temporary.

The Taliban also do not want to appear beholden to Islamabad, which has long denied U.S. accusations that it provides safe haven and assistance to insurgents as a way to preserve influence in neighboring Afghanistan throughout its more than 17-year-old war.

Taliban sources said Pakistan’s role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table was instrumental. In one instance, Islamabad sent a message to the militants through religious leaders that they had to talk to the United States or risk a cut-off in ties.

They detained Taliban members’ families as a way to pressure them, a Taliban leader told Reuters.

“I haven’t seen Pakistan so serious before,” the senior Taliban leader said.

The Taliban leader, who declined to be named, said Pakistan had kept “unprecedented pressure” on the militants and their close relatives over the past few months.

“They made it clear to us that we (Taliban) have to talk to the U.S. and Afghan government,” the Taliban leader said.

U.S. General Joseph Votel, who leads the U.S. military’s Central Command, hinted at some kind of Pakistani assistance in a Senate hearing this week, saying Islamabad had “played a more helpful role.”

To be sure, current and former U.S. officials still are highly skeptical of Islamabad and do not see any steps by Pakistan that could not be easily reversed.

Washington appears for now to be sticking to a total freeze in U.S. assistance to Islamabad imposed over a year ago over its alleged support to the Taliban. Trump at the time accused Islamabad of rewarding past U.S. aid with “nothing but lies & deceit.”

“There’s some self-interest obviously involved here ... I would be wary of taking that and extrapolating off that and saying they’re now on board with the peace process,” said Jason Campbell, who was the Pentagon’s Afghanistan country director until last year.

 

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at press conference says that US wants secretly to take the control over the dialogue with the Taliban.
US trying to take full control of talks with Taliban, says Lavrov
February 04, 2019

Events are unfolding in Afghanistan that's supporting FM Sergey Lavrov's statements - "that the US wants to secretly control dialogue with the Taliban" in the Peace talks". Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has arrived in Afghanistan in an unannounced trip, after the Taliban refused to include Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the Peace talks and the Taliban refused an offer by Ghani to move the Taliban's existing office site in Doha, Qatar - to Afghanistan.

Acting U.S. defense secretary Patrick Shanahan arrived in Afghanistan on Monday and said it was important the Afghan government is involved in talks, from which it has so far been excluded, to end the 17-year-old war.

February 10, 2019 - Acting Pentagon Chief lands in Afghanistan, supports Kabal role in Peace talks
Acting Pentagon chief supports Kabul role in peace talks

Acting U.S. defense secretary Patrick Shanahan arrives in Kabul, Afghanistan February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Idrees Ali

Shanahan, who will meet U.S. troops and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on his first trip in his new role, said he had so far not received any direction to reduce the nearly 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

He also said the United States had important security interests in the region.

Ghani’s government has been shut out of the evolving peace talks between Taliban negotiators and U.S. envoys, with the hardline Islamist movement branding his government a U.S. puppet. Kabul is also concerned that a sharp drawdown of U.S. forces could lead to chaos in the region.

“It is important that the Afghan government is involved in discussions regarding Afghanistan,” Shanahan told a small group of reporters traveling with him on the unannounced trip.

Shanahan took over from Jim Mattis, who quit in December over policy differences with U.S. President Donald Trump.

He said he could not make any guarantees because U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was leading the talks.

He also said his goal on the trip was to get an understanding of the situation on the ground from commanders and then brief Trump on his findings.

The next round of talks is due in Qatar on Feb. 25.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday offered the Taliban the possibility of opening an office in Afghanistan but the proposal was swiftly spurned by the group that is determined to keep his government out of accelerating peace talks.

February 10, 2019 - Afghan President offers Taliban local Office, but group wants Doha instead
Afghan president offers Taliban local office, but group wants Doha...

FILE PHOTO: Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani

Ghani has expressed alarm at the Taliban shutting his administration out of negotiations with the United States as well as recent Moscow talks with Afghan opposition politicians, and repeated earlier offers to give the group a secure official address to aid any future diplomacy between the two sides.

Nangarhar is a stronghold of the Taliban, the hardline Islamist movement that now controls or contests districts across nearly half the country, more than 17 years since they were toppled from power.

On Sunday he said Ghani was trying to harm the peace efforts with his latest offer.

Our demand about having an official political office is clear, we want that our office in Doha is recognized by the international community and the United Nations,” Shahin said.

“By this, Ghani is trying to change the topic and harm the on-going peace efforts.”

Some 14,000 U.S. troops are based in Afghanistan as part of a U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some U.S. forces also carry out counter-terrorism operations.

 

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Afghanistan has dismissed 12 election officials amid an investigation into corruption following problems with the organization of a general election last year, with fears growing that the purge could delay a July presidential election.

February 13, 2019 - Afghanistan sacks 12 election officials amid fraud investigation
Afghanistan sacks 12 election officials amid fraud investigation

President Ashraf Ghani’s government agreed to an amendment of the election law to improve transparency following meetings with political, civil society groups and opposition parties, and his spokesman said the removal of the 12 was a consequence.

“After the election law was amended in a grand consensus, endorsed by the cabinet and signed by the president, then the commissioners could no longer stay in their jobs,” said Shah Hussain Murtazawi, a presidential palace spokesman.

He did not elaborate on the reason for the sacking of the seven officials from the Independent Election Commission and five commissioners from the Election Complaints Commission.

Wasima Badghisi, one of the dismissed commissioners, said the decision was political and would not be accepted. Other were not immediately available for comment.

The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday the 12 officials were barred from leaving the country as an investigation had been launched into accusations of corruption, abuse of authority and incompetence.

The Transparent Election Foundation for Afghanistan, an independent election monitoring group, said the dismissals were a hasty political decision rather than a reform that would help the electoral process.

The parliamentary election was held on Oct. 20 after months of wrangling and delay, and marred by accusations of widespread fraud, including ballot-stuffing, technical problems with biometric registration equipment as well as attacks by Taliban insurgents.

Election authorities have yet to announce the final results.

New commissioners, once appointed, will face the task of preparing for the presidential election in which both Ghani and his chief executive, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, are candidates.

The presidential election was originally planned for April this year but was pushed back to July.

Many Afghans believe the vote may not take place on time.

Not only are election agencies dealing with the 12 sackings, but speculation is rising that a postponement might come as part of peace talks between United States and the Taliban to end more than 17 years of war.

The Taliban refuse to talk to Ghani and his government, branding them U.S. “puppets”, and would inevitably reject a presidential election they were not involved in.

U.S. to meet Taliban in Islamabad on Feb. 18: Taliban spokesman
Taliban negotiators will meet their U.S. counterparts on Feb. 18 in Pakistan's capital Islamabad as part of accelerating diplomacy to end more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday.

 

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A U.S. State Department spokesman on Tuesday declined to elaborate on a comment by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday in which he called the Afghan Taliban terrorists.

U.S. declines to elaborate on Pompeo labeling Taliban terrorists March 6, 2019


Speaking to a group of students in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday, Pompeo said: “I have a team on the ground right now trying to negotiate with the Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan.”

The United States has not declared the Taliban a terrorist organization.

Palladino said the peace talks in Doha are making progress but more work needed to be done to reach an agreement.


‘Time to Declare Victory!’ US Senators Seek to End ‘Forever War’ in Afghanistan Mar 06 2019
Senators Rand Paul and Tom Udall introduced a bill to end the ruinously expensive conflict in Afghanistan, declaring ‘victory’ in the longest war in US history after 18 years, some $2 trillion and over 100,000 dead.

“It’s important to know when to declare victory and leave a war,” Paul (R-Ky.) said in a video announcing the American Forces Going Home After Noble Service (AFGHANS) Act, adding, “I think that time has long passed”, RT reported.

“Soon, US service members will begin deploying to Afghanistan to fight in a war that began before they were born,” Tom Udall (D-N.Mex.) said in a statement issued alongside the bill, pointing out that al-Qaeda – the stated target of the invasion way back in 2001 – is practically nonexistent in Afghanistan nearly two decades later, and Osama bin Laden is long dead.

The bill sets aside $7 billion for bonuses to the war’s veterans – which sounds like a lot until it is compared with the $51 billion yearly cost of actually fighting the war.

Paul listed a few of the more ridiculous “nation-building” projects the US has funded since getting bored with fighting the Taliban, including a luxury hotel in Kabul, a natural gas station for a nation where hardly any cars run on natural gas, and an electrification project for land under Taliban control.

"Why does Uncle Sam have to be Uncle Sap and pay for everything? The list is ongoing and incredibly insulting to American taxpayers," he noted.


At least 16 killed in bomb, gun attack in eastern Afghanistan March 6, 2019

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a construction company office in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday killing 16 employees of the Afghan company, a provincial official said.

The attack began when two suicide bombers set off their explosives outside the company office and gunmen then opened fire, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.

As well as the 16 dead at the company, including several of its guards, five attackers were killed - the two bombers and three gunmen, he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province, which is on the border with Pakistan.


Flash floods, snow and rain kill at least 59 in Afghanistan
Flash floods, heavy rains and snowfall have killed at least 59 people across Afghanistan during the past two weeks and left thousands homeless, with the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar the worst-hit, an Afghan official said on Wednesday.

 

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I don't know who their interior designer is ... but they need to get rid of that rug! It looks like a snake den. Then again, maybe it is?

U.S. and Taliban negotiators wrapped up their longest round of peace talks on Tuesday with progress made but no agreement on when foreign troops might withdraw, officials from both sides said.

U.S., Taliban talks end for now with no Afghan peace deal

Undated Handout picture of U.S., Taliban and Qatar officials during a meeting for peace talks in Doha, Qatar. Qatari Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

The 16 days of talks, in which the United States also sought assurances that the Taliban would not allow militant groups to use Afghanistan to stage attacks, are expected to resume in late March.

The negotiations in Doha, Qatar included the Taliban’s political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and a U.S. team led by special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran U.S. diplomat, said the sides made progress on discussions about counter-terrorism assurances and a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The conditions for peace have improved. It’s clear all sides want to end the war. Despite ups and downs, we kept things on track and made real strides,” Khalilzad said on Twitter.

The Taliban have held multiple rounds of peace talks with the American team led by Khalilzad but have so far refused to talk to the Afghan government.

“When the agreement in draft about a withdrawal timeline and effective counter-terrorism measures is finalised, the Taliban and other Afghans, including the government, will begin intra-Afghan negotiations on a political settlement and comprehensive ceasefire,” Khalilzad said.

U.S., Taliban make 'meaningful progress' in talks: State Department
The United States and the Afghan Taliban made "meaningful progress" in recent talks and concluded that peace will require agreement on four main issues, including counterterrorism, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

World Bank: Mideast Wars Cost $900bln in Economic Losses Since 2010
Wars in the Middle East have incurred an estimated $900 billion in economic losses since 2010, a senior World Bank official stated on Monday.

Mahmoud Mohieldin – the World Bank Group's senior vice president for the 2030 development agenda, UN relations and partnerships – said conflicts in Arab countries between 2010 and 2018 resulted in massive economic losses due to physical destruction and missed development opportunities, according to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Mohieldin cited the Arab Spring in 2011, followed by wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

He added that Arab countries have the worst income distribution in the world, with 10 percent of the population of these countries holding 60 percent of the national income. This ratio is closer to 45 percent in European countries.

The World Bank expects oil prices to stay between $69 and $74 per barrel in 2019 and 2020, Mohieldin noted.

The average price of crude oil among Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was $69.52 per barrel in 2018, according to Statista.

 

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The United States and Afghanistan clashed publicly on Thursday over U.S. peace talks with the Taliban, with a visiting Afghan official accusing the chief U.S. negotiator of "delegitimizing" the Kabul government by excluding it from the deliberations.

U.S.-Afghan tensions erupt over Kabul's exclusion from peace talks
The remarks by Hamdullah Mohib, a former ambassador to Washington who serves as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s national security adviser, drew a blistering rebuke from the State Department, which said they impeded U.S.-Afghan ties and the peace process.

The feud thrust into the open tensions that have been building between the allies over U.S. efforts to forge a peace pact with the Taliban paving the way for a U.S. troop withdrawal that Kabul fears could weaken its own negotiating position.

Mohib leveled a fierce attack on U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad’s conduct of the talks during a news conference at the Afghan embassy, accusing the Afghan-born veteran U.S. diplomat of a lack of transparency.

“Knowing Ambassador Khalilzad’s history, his own personal history, he has ambitions in Afghanistan. He was wanting to run for president twice,” said Mohib. “The perception in Afghanistan and people in government think that perhaps, perhaps all this talk is to create a caretaker government of which he will then become the viceroy.”

Viceroy is a politically loaded term in South Asia as it was the title of the colonial administrator of British-ruled India.

Mohib’s comments were the most strident public complaints to date by an Afghan official over the Kabul’s government’s exclusion from the negotiations.

America’s Special Representative for Afghan affairs, Zalmay Khalilzad has announced that a preliminary draft agreement between the Afghan Taliban and Washington has been reached. Although it is clear that nothing has been finalised as of yet, this week’s announcement is the most throughout to-date when it comes to understanding America’s position vis-a-vis the Taliban.

March 13, 2019 - America Has Gone Full Circle in Afghanistan
America Has Gone Full Circle in Afghanistan - Eurasia Future

Khalilzad said the following: “Just finished a marathon round of talks with the Taliban in Doha. The conditions for peace have improved. It’s clear all sides want to end the war. Despite ups and downs, we kept things on track and made real strides. Peace requires agreement on four issues: counter-terrorism assurances, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghan dialogue, and a comprehensive ceasefire. In January talks, we “agreed in principle” on these four elements. We’re now “agreed in draft” on the first two.

When the agreement in draft about a withdrawal timeline and effective counter-terrorism measures is finalized, the Taliban and other Afghans, including the government, will begin intra-Afghan negotiations on a political settlement and comprehensive ceasefire.

My next step is discussions in Washington and consultations with other partners. We will meet again soon, and there is no final agreement until everything is agreed”.

Whilst Khalizad’s statement ping-pongs between clarity and State Department jargon, several things become clear upon reading the text.

First of all, the United States appears more serious about leaving Afghanistan than Syria. This is to say that the US appears to be on the verge of solidifying a timeline for withdrawal that is being agreed upon through cooperation with Afghanistan’s strongest indigenous military force, the Taliban.

Secondly, based on what Khalilzad said has been accomplished when contrasted with what he said has yet to be accomplished, he has (perhaps unintentionally) alluded to the fact that it is now easier for the US and Taliban to agree on a framework for the future than it is for the US and the Kabul regime to do so. This is the case because Khalilzad indicated that of the four goals that must be achieved to finalise a peace deal, the two that have been agreed upon at the highest level thus far, are those which only require cooperation between American officials and Taliban officials. Counter-terrorism assurances and troop withdrawal in this context means that the Taliban will commit themselves to fighting various terror groups (they are already fighting Daesh for example), whilst the Taliban will work with the US to assure an orderly withdrawal of American troops.

The second too principles, “intra-Afghan dialogue, and a comprehensive ceasefire”, require not only the consent and cooperation of the Taliban, but also that of the current Kabul regime, in order to be fulfilled. Therefore, without saying so directly, Khalizad has tacitly admitted that the US is further along in its agreements that only require discussions between American and Taliban officials than it is with discussions that involve American officials, the regime, the Taliban and other smaller factions.

This about face from the US should not surprise Afghanistan’s putative leader Ashraf Ghani. The US is infamous for being a friend one day and an enemy the next, when it comes to international relations. As Ghani remains a figurehead who even with US assistance cannot control a majority of Afghan territory, the US looks as though it is on the verge of dumping its bad investment in favour of working with a reformed Taliban that might actually be able to get things done in the country.

By working with a reformed Taliban rather than a de facto illegitimate, albeit UN recognised Ganhi regime, the US would be able to save both money and save the lives of US troops, whilst still ostensibly retaining the right to exploit some Afghan resources, whilst maintaining the presence of some American mercenaries to guard US economic interests in the country. The fact that this would happen under a government that leans heavily towards the Taliban, does in fact make it clear that both sides are willing to compromise and that for Taliban officials, removing an illegitimate government and removing uniformed US troops is now more important than a blanket extrication of American economic interests from the country. The comparative rapidity with which the US became a key economic partner of Vietnam after the Cold War is a clear model for the kind of US-Afghan relationship that could well be on the horizon. If indeed the US retains economic ties with a Taliban led Afghanistan, it would perhaps be the greatest geo-economic surprise since American Presidents have embraced a Vietnamese government whose founding father is the anti-American fighter Ho Chi Minh. That being said, whilst Afghanistan remains a more difficult place in which to do business than Vietnam was in the late 1970s, the prospect for sustained economic ties looks more and more likely in respect of the US and an Afghanistan led by a new generation of Taliban.

Furthermore, as the kind of peace process that Khalilzad has said is progressing in a positive manner,
is that which Pakistan has advocated for over a decade, a proper peace in Afghanistan could help to ease Pakistan-US tensions at a time when the US is leaning heavily towards India, but still seeks to retain what is left of its partnership with Pakistan. In this sense, whilst the US is more comfortable playing zero-sum games in foreign affairs, when it comes to Pakistan, the US won’t be willing to see Islamabad fully exit from the US sphere of influence and as such, by settling Afghanistan’s crisis in a manner consistent with Pakistan’s long held views, this will eliminate at least one point of contention between Washington and Islamabad. As such, the US may well be trying to engage in some sort of balancing act in the region that leans towards India, but one which is not yet willing to see Pakistan fully alienated.

In this sense, the agreement of which Khalilzad has spoken could potentially be a major win-win. China, Russia and Pakistan are now on the same page when it comes to an all parties peace settlement and ceasefire that mandates an orderly withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Even Iran is largely in this camp now that the Taliban have assured Tehran that a new Taliban government will neither be anti-Iranian nor anti-Afghan Shi’a. For Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, it goes without saying that a stable Afghanistan is in their interests.

Finally, while India does not border Afghanistan, New Delhi has for decades sought strong relations with Kabul as part of a wider Indian desire to encircle Pakistan. This has been especially true since the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan. Just as it is increasingly likely that a new Taliban government will work with some US business firms after a formal US troop withdrawal, the same is true of Indian firms. The difference is that without US troops or those from the current regime there to protect Indian assets, India might find that investing in Afghanistan is more effort than it is wroth. In many ways, some in India are already reaching this conclusion.

In this sense, while India’s plans to encircle Pakistan may be on the verge of being thwarted, for all other parties involved, including the US and Taliban, this new reality is increasingly looking like a win-win conclusion to a war that should have never been fought in the first place. Now that American and Taliban officials are shaking hands and making agreements, many will begin to question the wisdom of a war which began in 2001 for the stated purpose of removing the Taliban from power…only to see the US help to re-legitimise the Taliban eight years later.

 

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At least 50 members of the Afghan security forces have surrendered to the Taliban in a fight for control of Afghanistan’s western province of Badghis that has created heavy casualties, officials said.

March 17, 2019 - Taliban captures 50 border police as fighting intensifies in western Afghanistan

Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified even as Taliban and U.S. officials finished the latest round of peace talks on Tuesday, with both sides citing progress.

Afghanistan usually sees a marked increase in violence in spring.

Some 100 Afghan personnel who are part of the interior ministry’s border police attempted to flee their posts into neighboring Turkmenistan on Saturday, but they were prevented from entering that country, Badghis provincial council chairman Abdul Aziz Bik said on Sunday.

About 50 Afghan border police surrendered, while the remaining 50 continued fighting in the district of Bala Murghab, he said. Bala Murghab is the province’s most populous district.

Kabul summons diplomat over remarks by Pakistan's Khan

Afghanistan summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat on Saturday to account for remarks by Prime Minister Imran Khan speculating about a new government in Kabul following a possible peace settlement.

The summons by the Afghan foreign affairs ministry marked the second time in just over three weeks that Kabul has demanded an explanation from Pakistan, illustrating the longstanding tensions between the two neighbors at a sensitive time.

Khan, at a rally in Bajaur, in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, predicted “mutual peace” in Afghanistan as an outcome of recurring talks between the United States and the Taliban to end the country’s 17-year-old war.

“A good government will come in Afghanistan,” Khan said. “I mean a government will come in which all will be represented. War will end and there will be peace.”

The Afghan ministry summoned Pakistan’s counselor to clarify the remarks, spokesperson Sibghatullah Ahmadi tweeted.

“Afghanistan expressed its grave objection on Pakistan’s government and deemed such remarks a flagrant interference in its internal affairs,” he said.

 

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In fallout from a feud over U.S.-Taliban peace talks, a senior U.S. diplomat has told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that U.S. officials will no longer deal with his national security adviser, four knowledgable sources said on Monday.

U.S. freezes out top Afghan official in peace talks feud: sources March 18, 2019

FILE PHOTO: Afghanistan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their meeting at the Zhongnanhai Leadership Compound in Beijing, China January 10, 2019. Andy Wong/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

The decision to end U.S. contacts with Hamdullah Mohib will almost certainly raise tensions between the allies over Kabul’s exclusion from negotiations that have mainly focused on a U.S. troop pullout and how the Taliban would stop militant groups from using Afghanistan as a springboard for attacks.

Mohib had launched a blistering public attack last Thursday on the chief U.S. negotiator, Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad.

The following day, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale told Ghani by phone that Mohib would no longer be received in Washington and U.S. civilian and military officials would not do business with him, the sources said.

“Hale called Ghani and told him that Mohib is no longer welcome in D.C. The U.S. will not deal with him in Kabul or in D.C. any more,” said a former senior Afghan official, who like the other sources requested anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.

Kabul fears that Washington is intent on finalizing a U.S. troop pullout to fulfill a vow by President Donald Trump, undermining its ability to reach a political pact with the Taliban that preserves gains, such as women’s education, won since the 2001 U.S. invasion ended the militants’ harsh version of Islamic rule.

The former Afghan official said he saw the move as an effort to compel Ghani to “oust” Mohib, who became the president’s national security adviser after serving as his envoy to Washington.

A second source, a congressional aide, agreed that pressuring Ghani to end contacts with Mohib was “one way of looking at this” because“Hale called Ghani and told him that Mohib is no longer welcome in D.C. The U.S. will not deal with him in Kabul or in D.C. any more,” said a former senior Afghan official, who like the other sources requested anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.

Kabul fears that Washington is intent on finalizing a U.S. troop pullout to fulfill a vow by President Donald Trump, undermining its ability to reach a political pact with the Taliban that preserves gains, such as women’s education, won since the 2001 U.S. invasion ended the militants’ harsh version of Islamic rule.

The former Afghan official said he saw the move as an effort to compel Ghani to “oust” Mohib, who became the president’s national security adviser after serving as his envoy to Washington.

A second source, a congressional aide, agreed that pressuring Ghani to end contacts with Mohib was “one way of looking at this” because the State Department provides funding for the Afghan president’s national security council staff.

 

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The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, will meet with Chinese, Russian and European Union diplomats on Afghanistan on Thursday as he tries to forge a peace deal with the Taliban to bring an end to America's longest war.

U.S. envoy to Afghanistan to brief counterparts on peace effort

FILE PHOTO - Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, listens to speakers during a panel discussion on Afghanistan at the Conservative Political Action conference (CPAC) in Washington, February 12, 2011. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

“Discussion topics include international support for the Afghan peace process, the role each party can play in bringing an end to the war, and progress to date in peace talks,” the State Department said in a statement.

The meeting at the State Department will include Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s presidential envoy to Afghanistan; Deng Xijun, his Chinese counterpart; and Roland Kobia, the EU’s special envoy.

Khalilzad will brief them on his recent talks in Doha, Qatar, with the Taliban, where the United States reported progress but no final deal on a withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces.

The Taliban rejects direct negotiations with the Kabul government led by President Ashraf Ghani, accusing it of being a U.S. puppet.

U.S. negotiators are pressing the Taliban to accept a ceasefire and talks on Afghanistan’s political future with representatives of Afghan society, including Ghani’s government. But the talks have primarily focused on the Taliban’s counter-terrorism assurances and a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Washington May Drop Kabul from Talks with Taliban over Official’s Criticism

US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale reportedly informed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that Mohib is no longer welcome in Washington or the US in as a whole and that no American officials would deal with him.

It means that Afghanistan may be left out of the next round of talks between Washington and the Taliban, unless it sends someone else.

One former Afghan official told Reuters that the move is an attempt to force Ghani to "oust" his national security adviser.

In a heated speech during a press conference in Washington, Mohib accused US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad of "delegitimising the Afghan government", while granting legitimacy to the Taliban and holding talks with them on issues officially regulated by Kabul.

The national security adviser also suggested that Khalilzad was attempting to create a "caretaker government" by using the Taliban, in which he would be a "viceroy".

Afghanistan presidential election postponed to September

Afghanistan's presidential election has been postponed by two months to Sept. 28, as authorities try to iron out problems with the voting process, the election board said on Wednesday.

 

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Several explosions in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday killed six people and wounded 23 in an attack during celebrations to mark the Persian new year, government spokesmen said.

Explosions in Afghan capital Kabul kill six during new year festival

The attacks came on Nowruz, an ancient Persian festival to mark the start of spring that is widely celebrated in Afghanistan but has also faced opposition from some hardline Islamists, who say it is un-Islamic.

There were conflicting reports about of the cause of the blasts near the Kart-e Sakhi shrine, in a heavily Shi’ite Muslim area in the west of Kabul.

An interior ministry spokesman said mortar bombs had been fired. The defense ministry said in a post on twitter that three rockets were fired at civilian homes and Nowruz gatherings.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s news agency AMAQ said, without providing evidence of its claim.

Broken windows and collapsed walls were visible on homes and shops near the blast site. Blood stained the side of the road.

Afghanistan’s defense ministry said police had arrested Thursday’s attacker and secured the area.

Two U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan
Two U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan on Friday while conducting an operation, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

Afghan suicide bomber hits family, kills one, injures four
A suicide bomber on Friday killed one person and injured four, all members of the same family, in an attack in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, police said.

 

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Afghanistan has recalled its ambassador from Pakistan over reported remarks by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that suggested Kabul should set up an interim government, calling the comments "irresponsible."

March 26, 2019 - Afghanistan recalls ambassador in row over Pakistan PM remarks

FILE PHOTO: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a welcome ceremony hosted by China's Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 3, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

Khan told Pakistani journalists on Monday that forming an interim Afghan government would smooth peace talks between U.S. and Taliban officials since the militant group refuses to speak to the current government, according to comments published in The Express Tribune.

“The Afghan government was a hurdle in (the) peace process that was insisting that Taliban should talk to it,” Khan was quoted as saying.

He also said he had canceled a scheduled meeting with Taliban leaders because of objections by the Afghan government.

Afghanistan summoned Pakistan’s deputy ambassador to discuss the “irresponsible” remarks by Khan, foreign affairs ministry spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi said in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

The Afghan government deemed Khan’s statements as “an obvious example of Pakistan’s interventional policy and disrespect to the national sovereignty and determination of the people of Afghanistan,” Ahmadi said.

U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief U.S. negotiator with the Taliban, weighed in on Kabul’s side, saying on Twitter that while Pakistan had made “constructive contributions” to the peace process, “Khan’s comments did not.”

“The future of Afghanistan is for Afghans, and only Afghans, to decide. The role of the international community is to encourage Afghans to come together so they can do so,” Khalilzad added.

The Afghan-born U.S. diplomat’s comments come amid tensions between Washington and Kabul over Khalilzad’s exclusion of the Ghani government from the talks with the Taliban. Khalilzad is pressing the Taliban to hold talks on Afghanistan’s political future with a broad spectrum of Afghans, including government officials.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan row marks the third time in just over a month that Kabul demanded an explanation from Islamabad over comments related to peace talks, illustrating the flaring tensions between the two neighbors at a sensitive time.

U.S. and Taliban officials have held recurring talks to end the 17-year war, but the Taliban considers the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani as illegitimate.

Ghani’s mandate expires in May, and pressure is mounting on him to step down before the next presidential election, scheduled for Sept. 28. Ghani has rejected the idea of an interim government.

US Airstrike Kills 14 Members of One Family in Afghanistan March 24, 2019
The United States carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan's Northern Kunduz province after a fatal insider attack, leaving at least 14 civilians dead, mostly women and children.

 

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March 26, 2019 - Afghanistan recalls ambassador in row over Pakistan PM remarks

Pakistan tries to cool row over PM's comments on Afghanistan
Pakistan moved on Wednesday to cool a row with Afghanistan over reported comments by Prime Minister Imran Khan that were taken to suggest that Kabul should set up an interim government to help smooth peace talks with the Taliban.

Afghan ambassador to return to Pakistan after PM Khan's remarks clarified
Afghanistan will return its ambassador to Islamabad after Pakistan clarified Prime Minister Imran Khan's remarks that Kabul had deemed to be political interference, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Thursday.

In U.S. pursuit of peace talks, perilous rift opens with Afghan leader

Washington's relationship with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appears increasingly at risk of permanent damage, the consequence of a U.S. policy shift that has so far excluded his government from talks with the Taliban and of his own determination to retain power and manage peace efforts himself.

 

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Afghanistan's vice president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, escaped unhurt from an attack that killed one of his bodyguards on Saturday, dodging death for the second time since returning from exile last year.

Afghan vice president narrowly escapes death for a second time

Attackers ambushed Dostum’s convoy on the way from Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in Balkh province, to Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan, said Bashir Ahmad Tayenj, spokesman for Dostum’s Junbish Party. Two other bodyguards were wounded.

Dostum was aware of a planned attack but decided to travel anyway, the spokesman added.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt, which comes eight months after Dostum avoided injury in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport. In a tweet, the militant group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said four guards were killed and six wounded in the attack.

Last summer’s bombing, which was claimed by Islamic State, took place as Dostum returned home from more than a year in exile in Turkey over allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival.

Dostum had left Afghanistan after heavy pressure from Western donors including the United States.

Less than a year since his return, the general remains a significant, if polarizing, political figure. His Junbish Party is supported mainly by his fellow ethnic Uzbeks.

Dostum has joined the election team of Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, one of several contenders in a presidential election scheduled for Sept. 28.

 

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The United States has revoked the entry visa of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, her office said on Thursday, a response to her inquiry into possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

U.S. revokes ICC prosecutor's entry visa over Afghanistan investigation

FILE PHOTO: Public Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda attends the trial of Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda at the ICC (International Criminal Court) in the Hague, the Netherlands August 28, 2018. Bas Czerwinski/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month the U.S. would withdraw or deny visas to ICC staff investigating such allegations against U.S. forces or their allies.

United Nations human rights experts called the reaction “improper interference” in the work of the world’s permanent war crimes court. It also drew criticism from within the European Union.

“We can confirm that the U.S. authorities have revoked the prosecutor’s visa for entry into the U.S.,” Bensouda’s office told Reuters in an e-mail.

It said it understood the move should not impact Bensouda’s travel to the U.S. to meet her United Nations obligations.

The ICC is not a U.N. court, but Bensouda travels regularly to brief the U.N. Security Council on cases referred to The Hague by the UN body.

A State Department spokesman said members of international organizations planning official travel to the U.N. could apply for diplomatic visas. “We recommend that applicants apply as early as possible to maximize the chances of being found eligible,” the spokesman said.

The U.S. in not a member of the ICC, along with other major powers Russia and China.


Double blast kills three people, injures 20 in east Afghanistan
Twin explosions on Saturday in the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad killed three people and injured 20 others, local officials said.

 

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The United States has revoked the entry visa of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, her office said on Thursday, a response to her inquiry into possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

U.S. revokes ICC prosecutor's entry visa over Afghanistan investigation

Bolton and Pompeo as the acting "Gatekeeper's" ...

Sun Apr 07, 2019 - EU Backs ICC After US Revokes Prosecutor's Visa over Probe into Afghan War Crimes
Farsnews

The European Union expressed its “full support” for the International Criminal Court (ICC), voicing “serious concern” after the United States revoked the entry visa for the intergovernmental organization’s chief prosecutor over a possible probe into US soldiers’ actions in Afghanistan.

On Friday, the office of ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer, confirmed that Washington had slapped a visa ban on her, stressing that according to the Rome Statute governing the organization, she has an “independent and impartial mandate”,
World News reported.

“The EU expects the US to ensure that any measures adopted by the US in relation to the ICC is in full compliance with their international obligations, having also due regard to the ICC-UN Relationship Agreement,” the EU said in a statement.

“The EU fully supports the ICC and its independence and remains committed to cooperate with the ICC to guarantee its effectiveness and efficiency and expects States to lend the necessary assistance and support,” it added.

The European bloc highlighted the “key role” of the ICC in its fight against impunity. It also emphasized that “protecting the neutrality and judicial independence of the ICC is paramount to its effectiveness and proper functioning”.

Back in November 2017, Bensouda asked ICC judges for authorization to launch an investigation into purported war crimes in Afghanistan by the Taliban militant group, Afghan government forces and international forces, including American troops.

The court, however, has not yet decided whether to open a full-scale investigation.

The move against Bensouda came less than a month after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced restrictions on ICC staff who investigate US or allied personnel.

“I'm announcing a policy of US visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any ICC investigation of US personnel,” Pompeo stated at a State Department briefing in mid-March.

Washington has refused to cooperate with international investigators over their probe into alleged war crimes committed by US military personnel in Afghanistan, claiming they violate US sovereignty.

The US insists that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over American citizens because the US never ratified the Rome Statute, which established the court in the first place.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has already rebuked and questioned the ICC. One of National Security Adviser John Bolton's first speeches was about the ICC, condemning its investigation into the conduct of US personnel.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time. But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.

The ICC has repeatedly highlighted alleged abuses of detainees by American troops between 2003 and 2005. It believes the human rights violations have not been adequately addressed by the US government.

Washington, however, claims that it has its own robust procedures in place to deal with American soldiers who engage in misconduct.

President Donald Trump’s administration is considering reducing its diplomatic footprint in Afghanistan as part of a broader effort to extricate the United States from its costly and deadly 18-year conflict, US officials told Foreign Policy.

Sun Apr 07, 2019 - US Eyes Plans to Cut Diplomatic Staff in Afghanistan, Iraq
Farsnews

The State Department is preparing to cut by half the number of US diplomats posted in Kabul in 2020, according to three US officials familiar with internal deliberations. It may also advance plans to reduce the number of diplomats posted to the US Embassy in Iraq as Washington winds down its war footing in the Middle East and South Asia to prepare for what it calls an era of “great-power competition” with China and Russia.

The deliberations coincide with US peace talks with the Taliban and assessments on how to withdraw US military forces from Afghanistan.

Once obscure diplomatic outposts, the US embassies in Kabul and Baghdad ballooned into the largest and costliest diplomatic missions in the world following US military interventions there. Diplomats comprise only a portion of embassy personnel in both Kabul and Baghdad, which includes officials from other federal agencies, contractors, and security staff.

In February, NPR reported on a leaked internal document from the US Embassy in Kabul that called the outpost too big and urged a “comprehensive review” of its size, though the document did not outline the scale of the proposed cuts.

The State Department’s presence in Afghanistan pales in comparison to the US military’s, but the embassy in Kabul, along with the embassy in Baghdad, makes up a disproportionate size of State’s budget and personnel compared with embassies in other parts of the world. Some diplomats believe it’s time to shift those resources elsewhere.

“We are regularly hearing from Africa that we are outnumbered by the Chinese diplomats working on economic or other issues 4 or 5 to 1,” said a senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding, “We cannot continue to concentrate all that money in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

It’s a matter of “where can we best deploy our very limited resources to avoid losing further ground to major competitors who are rising at a speed that we can barely comprehend”, the official stressed.

The plans under consideration envision eliminating only 20 to 30 diplomatic positions this year from Iraq, where the US diplomatic mission includes the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil. Up to 30 to 50 percent of the mission to Iraq could be cut in 2020, two of the US officials said, providing details of plans that have been in the works for months.

The embassy in Baghdad has around 16,000 staff, 2,000 of whom are diplomats, according to a New York Times report in February that outlined some of the plans.

The State Department does not publicly discuss precise numbers of personnel at embassies or consulates for security reasons, according to a State Department spokesperson.