Hamid Shalizi

Afghanistan Seeks Explanation on Trump Talk of ‘Wiping It Out’

The US president said he could end the Afghan war in ten days by “wiping out Afghanistan”, but did not want to kill 10 million people.

Kabul: Afghanistan called on Tuesday for an explanation of comments by US President Donald Trump in which he said he could end the Afghan war in just ten days by “wiping out Afghanistan” but did not want to “kill 10 million people”.

Trump‘s remarks followed a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House on Monday, during which Trump voiced optimism that Pakistan could help broker a political settlement to end the nearly 18-year-old war in Afghanistan.

The comment about wiping out Afghanistan prompted a stiff response from its president Ashraf Ghani, who issued a statement. Afghanistan has been excluded from talks between the US and the Taliban, and the country accuses Pakistan of supporting the insurgency.

“The Afghan nation has not and will never allow any foreign power to determine its fate,” the presidential palace said in a statement.

“While the Afghan government supports the U.S. efforts for ensuring peace in Afghanistan, the government underscores that foreign heads of state cannot determine Afghanistan’s fate in absence of the Afghan leadership,” it said.

Also read: Misguided Talks With the Taliban Won’t Bring Peace to Afghanistan

It called for clarification of Trump‘s statement.

During his comments in Washington, Trump said that Pakistan was helping the US “extricate” itself from Afghanistan, where the US was acting as a “policeman” rather than fighting a war.

“If we wanted to fight a war in Afghanistan and win it, I could win that war in a week. I just don’t want to kill 10 million people,” Trump told reporters at the White House where he was hosting a visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I have plans on Afghanistan that, if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth. It would be gone,” he said.

“It would be over in – literally, in 10 days. And I don’t want to do – I don’t want to go that route.”

Trump‘s comments could further complicate efforts to reach a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who travels to Kabul on Tuesday to continue meetings, said on Twitter that Trump had reiterated the need for a negotiated peace.

“There is no reasonable military solution to the war in Afghanistan, and that peace must be achieved through a political settlement,” Khalilzad said.

(Reuters)

Afghanistan’s Ghani Announces His First Ceasefire With Taliban

Ghani announced a laying down of arms until June 20. The ceasefire would not include US counterterrorism efforts against Islamic State and al Qaeda, it said.

Kabul: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday announced for the first time an unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban, coinciding with the end of the Muslim fasting month, but excluding other militant groups, such as Islamic State.

The decision came after a meeting of Islamic clerics this week declared a fatwa, or ruling, against suicide bombings, one of which, claimed by Islamic State, killed 14 people at the entrance to the clerics’ peace tent in Kabul, the capital.

The clerics also recommended a ceasefire with the Taliban, who are seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after their ouster in 2001, and Ghani endorsed the recommendation, announcing a laying down of arms until June 20.

Ghani has urged ceasefires with the Taliban before, but this was the first unconditional offer since he was elected in 2014.

“This ceasefire is an opportunity for Taliban to introspect (sic) that their violent campaign is not winning them hearts and minds,” Ghani said in a message on social network Twitter after a televised address.

There was no immediate reaction from the Taliban but an international political analyst based in Kabul was unimpressed.

“It’s a one-sided love story,” he said.

US Forces-Afghanistan said they would honour the ceasefire.

“We will adhere to the wishes of Afghanistan for the country to enjoy a peaceful end to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and support the search for an end to the conflict,” Gen. John Nicholson, US Forces-Afghanistan and the NATO-led Resolute Support commander, said in a statement.

The ceasefire would not include US counterterrorism efforts against Islamic State and al Qaeda, it said.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was “really not too much to say” from NATO’s point of view.

“It is completely Afghan-originated and, as you know, it is our policy to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process,” he told reporters.

Former Afghan army general Atiqullah Amarkhel said the ceasefire would give the Taliban a chance to regroup.

“From a military prospect, it is not a good move,” he told Reuters.

He also said he doubted the Taliban would lay down arms and deny themselves the opportunity of fighting during the holy month of Ramadan, in which attacks have intensified.

The Eid al-Fitr holiday ending Ramadan falls at the end of next week.

Ghani in February offered recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political group in a proposed political process that he said could lead to talks to end more than 16 years of war.

Ghani proposed a ceasefire and a release of prisoners among options including new elections involving the militants and a constitutional review in a pact with the Taliban to end a conflict that last year alone killed or wounded more than 10,000 civilians.

In August, US President Donald Trump unveiled a more hawkish military approach to Afghanistan, including a surge in air strikes, aimed at forcing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Afghan security forces say the impact has been significant, but the Taliban roam huge swaths of the country and, with foreign troop levels of about 15,600, down from 140,000 in 2014, there appears little hope of outright victory.

(Reuters)

Islamic State Claims Assault on Afghan Interior Ministry in Kabul

Attackers armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers stormed the heavily-fortified ministry headquarters, but could not breach any key buildings.

Kabul: Gunmen armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers stormed the heavily fortified headquarters of the Afghan interior ministry on Wednesday, battling security forces for more than two hours in the latest attack on the capital Kabul.

A car bomb was detonated at the entrance of the ministry to launch the attack and then several gunmen managed to get inside the compound, said a senior police official.

The Islamic State said it was behind Wednesday’s attack on Afghanistan’s interior ministry in Kabul, but provided no immediate evidence for its claim. The group released a statement online via its Amaq news agency.

Najib Danish, the ministry spokesman, confirmed the attack was carried out by a group of 10 militants and at least one policeman was killed and five were wounded.

A senior ministry official said one attacker blew himself up inside the compound and another was resisting from a watchtower as a plume of dust and smoke rose over the sprawling site.

Officials inside the ministry said the attackers could not breach key buildings as they are located far from the main entrance and there is a wide flat space inside the compound, helping Afghan forces to subdue the attack quickly.

This is the latest in a series of deadly attacks in Kabul this year that have killed and wounded hundreds of people despite repeated official pledges to improve security in the capital.

Last month, two explosions in Kabul killed at least 26 people, including nine journalists who had arrived to report on an initial blast and were targeted by a suicide bomber. ISIS fighters later claimed responsibility for the attack.

A week before that, 60 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration centre in the city.

The attacks underline a worsening security situation ahead of parliamentary and district council elections scheduled for October 20. The Taliban have threatened to attack voter registration centres.

Security in and around Kabul has been on high alert in recent days with more checkpoints and patrols as the government warned of “complex attacks” by the Taliban on the government or foreign installations in coming weeks.

Provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban, seeking to reimpose hardline Islamic rule, have stepped up fighting across the country since they announced the beginning of their annual spring offensive in April.

(Reuters)

Kabul Hotel Attack Prompts Debate on Private Security Firms

The guards of the private agency, which had won the contract to guard the Kabul hotel three weeks ago, had offered little resistance, according to a senior government security official involved in the investigation of the attack.

Afghan security forces keep watch as smoke rises from the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, January 21, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani

Kabul: A bloody Taliban raid on a high-end hotel guarded by a private company in the Afghan capital has stirred fresh debate about the role of security firms in the violence-plagued country.

Five gunmen dressed in army uniforms made their way through two checkpoints before getting in to the hilltop Hotel Intercontinental on the weekend, killing at least 20 people, including 13 foreigners.

Americans were among the dead and wounded, a US State Department spokesperson said without giving details. Seven Ukrainians and one German are also known to have died.

On Tuesday, security officials were meeting in the hotel, as guards of the Kabul Balkh Safety and Security Organisation (KBSS) stood outside, with rifles slung across their chests.

KBSS won the contract to guard the hotel three weeks ago, the government said.

The company’s president, Sayed Rahimi, issued a statement saying it was “too early to come to conclusions as to how this occurred” and expressing condolences to the bereaved.

“We will fully cooperate with the government in the investigation. I don’t have anything else to say,” Rahimi told Reuters when contacted by telephone.

The company has been operating since 2004, providing security services to numerous clients including businesses, the government and foreign forces, Rahimi said in his statement.

A senior government security official involved in the investigation said the guards had offered little resistance.

“There were 15 guards on duty at time of the attack and none of them engaged the attackers,” said the official, who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“They were either watching the whole thing or hiding.”

Former President Hamid Karzai issued a decree in 2010 banning private security firms.

At the time, the government said the firms, which were estimated to employ some 40,000 people, were involved in weapons smuggling and shootings.

The ban raised concern in Washington that aid work would suffer as many development projects rely on private security firms for protection.

Exceptions were later made for companies guarding embassies and military installations and diplomatic residences and personnel. The ban was delayed for companies with existing contracts and doing development jobs.

Most of the companies were operated by Afghans with good government connections and many with foreign partners, often ex-military men.

‘Very concerning’

KBSS said on its website it has been operating since 2004. It also displays certificates of appreciation including some from the EU and US military.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said investigators were looking into how the company got the job of guarding the Intercontinental Hotel, which is in public ownership and no longer part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group.

A finance ministry official said the hotel management asked for the privatisation of its security, and the National Security Council (NSC) had approved it. Neither the hotel‘s manager nor NSC officials were available for comment.

Merdad Nejrabi, a member of parliament and chairman of its internal security committee, said private security was more of a problem than a help.

“These companies were disbanded for a reason,” Nejrabi told Reuters. “They were involved in arms smuggling, corruption, kidnapping and all that. Now that they have re-emerged, it is very concerning.

“The privatisation of security for Kabul, and particularly at important sites, has never been helpful.”

Another critic of the private security firms, member of parliament Farhad Sediqi, said the assembly planned to hold a special session to discuss the issue.

“It’s wrong to hand over the security responsibility for important sites to private companies,” Sediqi told Reuters.

President Ashraf Ghani’s office declined to comment.

(Reuters)

At Least 72 Killed in Suicide Bombings at Two Afghan Mosques

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but a statement from the group did not provide evidence to support its claim.

An Afghan policeman stands guard outside a mosque where a suicide bomber detonated a bomb, in Kabul, Afghanistan June 16, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Kabul: Suicide bombers attacked two mosques in Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 72 people including children, officials and witnesses said.

One bomber walked into a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in the capital Kabul as people were praying on Friday night and detonated an explosive, one of the worshippers there, Mahmood Shah Husaini, said.

At least 39 people died in the blast at the Imam Zaman mosque in the city’s western Dasht-e-Barchi district, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but a statement from the group did not provide evidence to support its claim.

Shi’ite Muslims have suffered a series of attacks in Afghanistan in recent months, many of them claimed by the Sunni Muslim militants of IS.

Separately, a suicide bombing killed at least 33 people at a mosque in central Ghor province, a police spokesman said.

The attack appeared to target a local leader from the Jamiat political party, according to a statement from Balkh provincial governor Atta Mohammad Noor, a leading figure in Jamiat.

(Reuters)

Former Afghan Warlord Hekmatyar Calls for Peace With Afghan Taliban

Calling his former allies in the Afghan Taliban “brothers”, he portrayed himself as a mediator for peace, which would end foreign presence in Afghanistan.

(L-R) Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan former Jihadi leader Abdul Rabb Rasool Sayyaf and Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah walk to attend a ceremony at the Presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan May 4, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Shah Marai/Pool

Kabul: Former Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul on Thursday, May 4, after two decades in hiding, calling for peace with Taliban insurgents and criticising the Western-backed government, which he said was not working.

Hekmatyar‘s comments in a ceremony at the presidential palace highlighted the complications likely to face President Ashraf Ghani, who signed a peace deal with Hekmatyar last year that brought his Hizb-i-Islami party into the government fold.

Even before the ceremony, Hekmatyar‘s arrival in Kabul, the city his forces bombarded ruthlessly during the 1990s civil war, appeared aimed at reinforcing his status as a major new force on the political scene.

A convoy of dozens of white pickup trucks carrying armed men and draped in Afghan flags and green banners made its way through the capital as it brought Hekmatyar from Jalalabad, the eastern city where he has been based for the past few days.

Calling his former allies in the Afghan Taliban “brothers”, Hekmatyar, a charismatic speaker whose address was frequently interrupted by shouts of acclamation, portrayed himself as a mediator able to bring peace.

That, he said, would remove the justification for the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Ghani and the Americans have long pursued a negotiated peace with Taliban militants, but their efforts have come to little and the insurgency has gained ground in recent years, claiming thousands of lives each year.

“The most important issue for me is to end this war and rescue the country from crisis,” said Hekmatyar, calling on neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Iran not to interfere.

Important step

The Hizb-i-Islami leader said he had accepted the constitution drawn up following the US-led campaign that ousted the Taliban in 2001, but wanted it amended and said a parliamentary system was not appropriate for Afghanistan.

The national unity government led by Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, painstakingly brokered by Washington after the disputed election of 2014, was “not working”, he said, and either Ghani or Abdullah should resign.

“It is not suitable for the current condition of the country,” he said, but added that he was not seeking any formal position for himself. “I am not here for partnership. I have no conditions, I don’t want ministries.”

Hekmatyar also made a pointed call to politicians, many of whom keep their families abroad: “Bring your families back to Afghanistan. I have returned with my family.”

International partners including the US have welcomed the agreement with Hekmatyar, seeing it was a possible precursor to a deal with the Taliban, the country’s dominant militant group.

The Taliban has shown no sign of accepting any arrangement with Hekmatyar, but Ghani thanked him for accepting the deal and said the Afghan people wanted peace and prosperity.

“We have promised the nation that we will pave the way for the peace and today an important step has been taken,” he said.

But in Kabul, where he is widely known as “Rocketyar” after the thousands of bombs his forces fired into the city, Hekmatyar has been awaited with a mixture of anticipation and mistrust.

Over recent days, posters of his face had been plastered all over the city, many immediately defaced by opponents.

His arrival also risks fuelling ethnic divisions and complicating Ghani’s already difficult relationship with partners including Abdullah, who is from Hekmatyar‘s civil war rivals, the old Northern Alliance.

Abdullah’s mainly Tajik Jamiat-i-Islami party has been particularly suspicious of Hekmatyar, who draws most of his support from the Pashtuns, traditionally Afghanistan’s strongest ethnic group.

Human rights groups have also been strongly critical of the agreement, saying it reinforces a culture of impunity that allows political strongmen to get away with gross abuses.

(Reuters)

Kabul Tense as Former Notorious Warlord Plans Return

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s rehabilitation has been welcomed by the US and President Ghani, who see it as a possible precursor to broader peace with the Taliban.

Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar speaks to supporters in Jalalabad province, Afghanistan April 30, 2017. Picture taken April 30, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Parwiz

Kabul: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is due to meet the Afghan president this week ahead of a return to politics, a remarkable turnaround for a leader widely reviled for his part in a civil war that killed thousands in the capital Kabul and razed much of the city.

Hekmatyar, who was removed from the UN terrorism sanctions list only this year, made his first public appearance on Saturday since a 2016 peace deal and he has since been in the eastern city of Jalalabad gathering support.

His rehabilitation has been welcomed by the US and President Ashraf Ghani, who see it as a possible precursor to broader peace with the dominant militant group, the Taliban.

Some others see the return of a former warlord accused of human rights abuses as a risky gambit, and one that could expose divisions within a “unity” government that has struggled to live up to its name.

“There are still uncertainties as to what he is going to do,” said one senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “Is he going to be a partner in the government or a rival?”

A spokesman for his Hizb-i-Islami movement said Hekmatyar would meet Ghani in the presidential palace on Thursday, with a rally a day later in Ghazi stadium, the Kabul sports ground where the Taliban once held public executions.

A former anti-Soviet “mujahideen” commander, before switching and siding with the Taliban, Hekmatyar is one of the most notorious figures in Afghanistan’s four decades of war.

His beard now turning grey and often wearing a black turban, he briefly held the position of prime minister during the turbulent 1990s and is believed to have spent several years in Iran before returning to Afghanistan in the early 2000s.

Hizb-i-Islami initially attacked coalition forces but has played little active part in the insurgency in recent years and Hekmatyar dropped his opposition to the Western-backed government when he agreed to the peace deal.

Nevertheless, the mood is wary among government officials still trying to work out where he and his followers will fit into a fragile government.

Already Hekmatyar, in his late 60s or early 70s, has signalled that he does not intend to take a back seat, questioning the US-brokered power-sharing agreement between President Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah.

“Why don’t you do something historic and let one withdraw in favour of the other?” he said at the weekend.

Ethnic divisions

That kind of comment has fuelled concern that his arrival may destabilise the government and deepen ethnic divisions that never lie far from the surface in Afghan politics, and which have worsened in recent years.

An Afghan man rides on his bicycle past a banner with pictures of Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in Kabul, Afghanistan May 2, 2017. Picture taken May 2, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani

That mistrust has undermined US and Afghan efforts to defeat a stubborn Taliban insurgency which claims thousands of lives each year, while an offshoot of ISIS, known locally as “Daesh”, has added to the bloodshed.

Like Ghani, Hekmatyar is a Pashtun, the group that has traditionally dominated Afghanistan’s patchwork of different ethnicities, and his return has jarred with former civil war rivals including Persian-speaking Tajiks around Abdullah.

While a string of influential Pashtun politicians have welcomed his return, for Tajiks in Abdullah’s Jamiat-i-Islami party, or the mainly Shia Hazaras, his arrival is an ominous sign that Pashtun dominance will be further entrenched.

“Hekmatyar’s rhetoric about being dominant and controlling has never changed and he is after power and authority,” said Abdul Hodod Paiman, a Tajik member of parliament from Hekmatyar’s home city of Kunduz.

Western officials have downplayed concerns about the Hizb-i-Islami leader, saying the government is obliged to make peace with its enemies however bitter their enmity may have been.

The hope is that his example will show that reconciliation is possible and that he will use his position to bring different sides together.

“He is an influential figure and has a lot of support across the country and he can be a key in bringing peace to the country,” said Safiullah Muslim, a member of parliament from the northern province of Badakhshan.

But on the streets of Kabul, where Hekmatyar’s nickname “Rocketyar” carries bitter echoes of the tens of thousands of rockets his forces fired into the city during the 1990s civil war, there is considerable anxiety.

“His arrival isn’t going to relieve any pain,” said Mohammad Ajmal, who remembers the days of the civil war. “If the government really wanted peace, they should make a deal with the Taliban and Daesh.”

(Reuters)

In Afghanistan, Trump NSA Promises Coordinated Response Against Enemies

McMaster met President Ashraf Ghani and other senior Afghan officials to discuss bilateral ties, security, counter- terrorism, reforms, and development, according to a palace statement.

Newly named National Security Adviser army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster listens as US President Donald Trump makes the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida US February 20, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/Files

Kabul: US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser met Afghan officials in Kabul on Sunday and said the new administration was weighing diplomatic, military and economic responses to its Taliban and ISIS enemies in Afghanistan.

The adviser, H.R. McMaster, was making the first high-level visit by a Trump official. He spoke to ABC News’ This Week programme in the US.

On Thursday, the US military dropped a GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, one of the largest conventional weapons ever used in combat, during an operation against ISIS militants in eastern Afghanistan.

While military officials said the strike was based solely on tactical needs, it led to speculation that Trump’s defence advisers are planning to escalate the war against militants in Afghanistan.

The strike was estimated to have killed nearly 100 militants and no civilians, according to Afghan officials, although this has not been independently verified.

Interviewed from Afghanistan, McMaster said the US had a more reliable Afghan partner than before but at the same time had reduced the degree and scope of its effort in that country.

“Our enemy sensed that and they have redoubled their efforts and it’s time for us, alongside our Afghan partners, to respond,” he said.

Trump, who took office on January 20, had asked US officials, including some in the Treasury and Commerce departments, to work together to integrate the various political, diplomatic, military and economic responses available, McMaster said.

“We’ll give him those options. And we’ll be prepared to execute whatever decision he makes,” he said.

McMaster met President Ashraf Ghani and other senior Afghan officials to discuss bilateral ties, security, counter- terrorism, reforms, and development, according to a palace statement.

McMaster praised anti-corruption efforts and assured Ghani that the US would continue to support and cooperate with Afghanistan on a number of issues, according to the palace.

Ghani told McMaster that “terrorism is a serious issue for the security of the world and the region” and if serious steps are not taken it would affect “generations” of people, according to the statement.

Illicit drugs and corruption also top the list of threats to Afghanistan’s security, Ghani told the visiting officials.

The Afghan government refers to both the Taliban and ISIS as terrorists. Afghan forces have struggled to contain Taliban insurgents since most international troops were withdrawn in 2014, leaving them to fight largely alone.

At the peak in 2011, the US had more than 100,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Nearly 9,000 US troops remain there to train and advise Afghan forces, provide close air support to soldiers on the ground and form a separate counter-terrorism unit that targets ISIS, al Qaeda and other militant networks.

The top US commander in Afghanistan has said he needs “several thousand” more troops to help the Afghans take on a resurgent Taliban and battle other insurgents, but no official plan has been announced.

(Reuters)

Taliban Suicide Bomber Kills 33 in Kabul

The militant movement immediately claimed responsibility for the attack saying its target was a minibus carrying staff from the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency.

Men carry an injured woman to an ambulance after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

Men carry an injured woman to an ambulance after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: Reuters/Mohammad Ismail

Kabul: A Taliban suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday killed more than 30 people and wounded some 70 others, as twin blasts hit a crowded area of the city during the afternoon rush hour.

Saleem Rasouli, a senior public health official, said 33 people had been killed and more than 70 wounded in the attack on the Darul Aman road, near an annex to the new Indian-financed parliament building. He said most of the victims were parliamentary staff members.

On the same day, at least another 14 people were killed and dozens injured in separate incidents in the volatile southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

The Islamist militant Afghan Taliban movement, which immediately claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack, said its target had been a minibus carrying staff from the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency.

It put the casualties at more than 70 and said they were all members of the security forces.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a suicide bomber attacked the minibus in the Darul Aman area, and was followed almost immediately by a car bomber, who killed security forces attending the scene.

“‎We planned this attack for quite some time and the plan was target some senior officers of the intelligence agency. We sent one suicide bomber to target a mini bus that was carrying these officers,” he said. “We did exactly what we planned.”

One witness, Sajadullah Khan, said he saw numerous wounded people lying on the ground after the explosion which he said “totally burned out” the minibus.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the “criminal” attacks and vowed the perpetrators would not be safe anywhere in the country.

“The Taliban shamelessly claim credit for the attack on civilians and they’re proud of it,” he said in a statement.

Ambassador wounded

The attack underlined the security threat posed by Islamist militants fighting to topple the Afghan government and drive out foreign troops stationed there for the last 15 years.

Hours after the Kabul incident, at least seven people were killed and 18 wounded in an explosion in the southern city of Kandahar. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Among the wounded were the provincial governor and the United Arab Emirates ambassador, officials said.

Afghan armed forces control no more than two thirds of national territory, and have struggled to contain the Taliban insurgency since the bulk of NATO soldiers withdrew at the end of 2014.

Several thousand, mainly Americans, remain in training and counter-terrorism roles.

The US has announced plans to send 300 Marines to the volatile southern province of Helmand, large parts of which are under Taliban control, as part of a regular rotation of troops helping train and advise Afghan forces.

Earlier on Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded nine when he detonated his explosives in a house in Helmand used by an NDS unit.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in the 15 years since the Taliban government was brought down in the US led campaign of 2001.

In July, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that 1,601 civilians had been killed in the first half of the year, a record since it began collating figures in 2009.

As well as the Taliban and associated groups including the Haqqani network, militants pledging loyalty to ISIS have carried out major attacks in Kabul, most recently in November when more than 30 people were killed by a suicide bomber in a Shi’ite mosque.

(Reuters)

Infighting Hinders Installation of Kabul’s Security Gates

A giant set of security gates brought in from China to protect Kabul from large bombs and drug smuggling has not been installed for five months.

Afghan policemen inspect passengers at a Kabul entrance gate checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 7, 2016. Credit: Reuters

Kabul: A set of giant security gates financed by China and intended to protect Kabul from large bombs and drug smuggling lie stored in a warehouse more than five months after they arrived, while Afghan authorities bicker over who should install them.

Intended for the four main entry points into Kabul, they have been delayed by infighting between departments and by a land dispute, underlining the difficulty of getting things done in a country where conflict and corruption have slowed progress.

The hangar-style gates, each weighing around 30 tonnes, are to reinforce the so-called ‘Ring of Steel’ that surrounds Kabul, a city of five million people already protected by blast walls, armed checkpoints and eye-in-the-sky surveillance cameras.

Although there are many entrances to the city, security officials believe channeling large vehicles through the gates could help reduce the risk of big truck and car bombs that have previously wrought devastation in Kabul.

The gates are to be equipped with control rooms and surveillance scanners to enhance inspections of vehicles.

Civilian deaths are rising across the country as Afghan Taliban insurgents fight to topple the western-backed government and drive out foreign troops, while an offshoot of ISIS has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the last year.

Not all are carried out by car or truck bombs, but in September a car bomb went off outside a central Kabul security office during rush hour, killing dozens of people.

“It shows that the ministry’s different departments are sadly incapable of setting them (the new gates) up, and Kabul police is delaying them for no reason,” said a senior interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

“These gates are made with the latest technology, and delaying their installation is a big injustice to the residents of Kabul,” the official added.

He said the interior ministry’s support and procurement office, which had agreed to pay for and organise the installation of the gates, had tried to subcontract the work, but the bids were too high.

Now responsibility has been transferred to a similar body run by Kabul police, who, in turn, rejects accusations that they have been dragging their feet.

“We understand it is our department that is responsible for the gates, but the government has to purchase the land first and then we need a budget for it from donors,” said Salem Almas, deputy chief of Kabul police.

Thirteen million dollar deal

Sorting out exactly who is responsible for what in Kabul has proved a challenge.

The chief of police comes under the authority of the interior ministry, but officials there have said he prefers to report to the National Security Council, a body that answers directly to President Ashraf Ghani.

The fact that Afghan power is shared between Ghani and a chief executive and former political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, can add to the confusion of reporting lines and decision making.

Almas said the police chief understood and respected his reporting line to the interior ministry. A spokesman for the presidential palace declined to comment and referred questions to the interior ministry.

According to documents seen by Reuters, the security gates were part of a $13 million deal signed between China and Afghanistan in September, 2012, called an Agreement of Economic and Technical Cooperation.

China, which fears an Islamist insurgency may by stoked by fighters from Pakistan and Afghanistan, has taken a keen interest in the Afghan conflict, but major investment plans in the mining sector have been held back by deteriorating security.

The documents show that the security gates built by Chinese firm NUCTECH Co. Ltd, in addition to 400 items of associated equipment including scanners and jammers, arrived in Kabul via neighbouring Uzbekistan in eight shipping containers on July 2.

Twelve Chinese engineers worked for two months to assemble the parts for the security gates. Two Chinese engineers are still in Kabul, waiting for installation work to begin.

The company did not respond to questions.

“We are not familiar with the situation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a regular briefing last week.

(Reuters)