Posts published in “Day: April 2, 2016”

The Hizb-e-Islami party led by Gulbudin Hekmatyar put forward the removal of restrictions as a condition for joining peace process. Sources in High Peace Council (HPC) say Hizb-e-Islami wants the United States and other countries to remove all restrictions imposed on it. The demand was probably made by a delegation of Hizb-e-Islami that visited Kabul about 13 days before. The delegation had also demanded a share in power by placing members of Hizb-e-Islami in civil…

A number of analysts have lashed out at the High Peace Council (HPC) for what they say is incompetence. They said the only thing the council has done is spend money. Mohammad Abda, Chairman of the Judicial Commission of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament), blasted the HPC for its incompetence. “The HPC, since starting to work, was not able to account to the people in Afghanistan about the money that they have spent,”…

A key leader of the Taliban group involved in recruitment of militants for the group has been killed along with 47 others in the latest counter-terrorism operations. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Mawlavi Abdul Wahab was killed along with 9 others and 16 more were wounded during a raid in Marjah district of Helmand. According to a statement by MoD, at least 39 others were killed in separate operations conducted in Kunduz, Takhar, Ghani…

The writer is deputy director of the Stimson Centre’s South Asia Programme. RECENTLY the top UN representative in Kabul grimly remarked that in 2016, success for Afghanistan would be measured in binary terms: whether it survived or not. Afghan security forces are routinely approaching collapse. Annual fatalities of Afghan civilians and security forces have doubled in five years to roughly 10,000 in 2015. Since 2001, Afghanistan has suffered roughly 75,000 fatalities. For perspective, that death…

AFGHAN President Ashraf Ghani is a man under pressure. While the famously temperamental technocrat-turned-politician has tried to project an air of confidence as president, occasional frustration — and possibly fear — makes itself apparent.   In an interview with the BBC, Mr Ghani railed against fellow Afghans who are choosing to flee to Europe and argued that for Afghanistan to be a country, its countrymen should not abandon it.   As the BBC itself noted, Mr Ghani’s…

Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC) and Hizb-e-Islami (HIA) are set to convene the third round of peace negotiation talks in Kabul within a day or two, the HPC said in a statement on Friday, referring to their recent rounds of formal talks with the second largest militant group after the Taliban in Afghanistan. Led by former Jihadi commander, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Hizb-e-Islami announced in March that its leaders have decided to enter a face-to-face dialogue with…

A number of high ranking government officials and political leaders on Friday blasted Pakistan for what they said was their support of the war in Afghanistan. Speaking at the first death anniversary of Hakmatullah Haqmal, the former police chief of Gereshk district in Helmand province, a Council of Protection and Stability in Afghanistan member Mohammad Omar Daoudzai said that Pakistan has imposed several demands on Afghanistan, demands the current government is not able to respond…

The former Afghan interior minister Mohammad Omar Daudzai has said Pakistan is against peace and stability in Afghanistan, insisting that the Afghan government should not expect the country to help in bring peace in Afghanistan. In his speech during a ceremony to mark the death anniversary of a senior police official Hekmatullah Haqmal, Daudzai said Pakistan was never in favor of peace in Afghanistan. This comes as Daudzai earlier said Pakistan is approaching its own…

The former Afghan defense minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi slammed the Taliban group for assassinating the Afghan security officials on the orders of Pakistan’s military intelligence, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). He was speaking during a gathering to commemorate the first death anniversary of Hekmatullah Haqmal who was assassinated in Helmand province a year ago. Mohammadi hailed the Afghan security forces for their devotion and sacrifices in fight against terrorism and said the Afghan people will always…

BEIJING — Chinese diplomats are known to be tough, but it is rare to hear descriptions of how tough. A senior Singaporean diplomat has pulled back the veil and has talked about China’s efforts to put smaller Asian countries in their place. In a speech on Wednesday, the diplomat, Bilahari Kausikan, ambassador at large and policy adviser in Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is known around Asia and in Washington for his candor, said…