Afghan Weekly (Dec 24 – Dec 30, 2016)

Last week on December 27, Russia, Pakistan and China held a trilateral meeting on Afghanistan in Moscow that the Afghan government was not represented at. The three countries expressed particular concern about the rising activity in the country of extremist groups including the Afghan branch of IS (Daesh). The United States, which still has nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan more than 15 years after the Taliban was toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces, was not invited to the Moscow talks. In a joint statement issued after the trilateral meeting, Russia and China, being permanent members of the UN Security Council, decided to work towards delisting the Afghan Taliban from the world body’s sanctions list in a move, they said, aimed at launching peaceful dialogue between Afghanistan’s government and insurgent groups.[1] Representatives from the three countries also agreed to invite the Afghan government to such talks in future, the Russian Foreign Ministry later said.[2] Voicing Afghanistan’s concerns over the trilateral meeting, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stated: “Talking on Afghanistan without consulting the country raises serious questions for the Afghan people. We are worried about what the reasons behind the meeting are and want the relevant parties to explain.”[3]

Below follow other updates on the security, internal politics, international engagements and socio-economic developments in Afghanistan from the past week.

Security Overview

Former Taliban envoy to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef’s house in Kabul attacked by unknown gunmen last Friday killing one of his guards.[4]
11 policemen killed early Saturday in a Taliban attack on a check post in in Shamalgah area of Farah city.[5]
4 policemen killed in a roadside blast in Ghabargah Weyala area in Qalat city of Zabul province last Saturday morning.[6]
3 insurgents killed and 2 others injured in an operation launched in Buz-e-Qandari, Hazrat Sultan, Taloka villages and some districts of the northern Kunduz province to clear the area of insurgents.[7]
At least 500 of Helmand residents belonging to different districts in the country’s south picked up arms against Taliban in a bid to defend their province and support the security forces.[8]
5 insurgents killed and 5 others injured in clashes with security forces in northern Jawzjan province on Sunday.[9]
Senior Taliban Commander Mullah Firoz Jahadi, along with 5 other armed Taliban, killed in Aab Band district of Ghazni province in an Afghan National Police operation.[10]
Senior Taliban leader named Shaista Mohammad arrested during a special operation in Qala-e-Ghafar village, Pul-e-Alam City capital of Logar province while at least 60 others killed.[11]
10 Taliban insurgents killed, 19 wounded in a series of air and artillery strikes in the restive Qaisar district of Faryab.[12]
4 Taliban insurgents killed in a clash with security forces in Karimdad area of Narkh district of Wardak province on Tuesday night.[13]
Security forces launched a military operation to clear a number of insecure areas in Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar province. The officials said at least 13 villages have so far been cleared of Taliban in the district.[14]
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Wednesday revealed that the Afghan National Police (ANP) Special Forces have killed at least 1,551 insurgents including 400 key insurgent commanders in 1,482 special operations carried out over the past nine months.[15]
4 Taliban insurgents killed and 7 other wounded in a clash with security forces in the Karimdad area of Narkh district of Wardak province on Tuesday night while.[16]
30 Taliban insurgents killed in Afghan Security Forces’ clearance operations in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.[17]
5 Taliban militants killed and 8 other wounded in an Afghan security forces operation in the Alishing district of Laghman province on Thursday.[18]
Sikh community leader Lala Dilsuz shot dead in Kunduz city in North of Afghanistan by unknown gunmen.[19]
Nai-Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan’s annual report reports 415 cases of violence against journalists this year, compared to a total of 95 last year. This equates to a 336 percent increase. [20]

Update on Afghan Refugees

Severe cold hampering IDPs’ return to tribal areas

The Government of Pakistan is set to miss the deadline to take the over 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) back to their homes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, that had taken refuge in Afghanistan when the Pakistan Army launched the operation Zarb-i-Azb in June 2014, by the end of December 2016 due to severe cold weather in some parts of the conflict-affected region.[21]

Repatriation of thousands of tribesmen who had fled to Afghanistan to start on start on January 15, 2017

Intelligence sources fear that some of the tribesmen who had fled to Afghanistan might have contacts with hostile spy agencies. “Some tribesmen from North Waziristan were receiving assistance from hostile agencies. We have decided to repatriate them to cut this link,” one source said.[22]

International Engagements

France Quiet after Objecting to Clearing of Hekmatyar’s Name

A credible source told TOLOnews that the reason for France objecting to the removal of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s name from the UN’s blacklist has not been clarified, but some political commentators have linked their reluctance to the killing of ten French soldiers in 2013 by the Hizb-e-Islami group.[23]

MoFA Voices Displeasure over Upcoming Trilateral Meeting

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) voiced concerns on Monday regarding the planned trilateral meeting between China, Russia and Pakistan on Afghanistan in Moscow on Tuesday. “Talking on Afghanistan without consulting the country raises serious questions for the Afghan people. We are worried about what the reasons behind the meeting are and want the relevant parties to explain,” said Ahmad Shekib Mustaghni, spokesman for the MoFA.[24]

Russia, China favor taking Taliban off UN sanctions list at the Trilateral Meeting in Moscow

Russia and China, being permanent members of the UN Security Council, have decided to work towards delisting the Afghan Taliban from the world body’s sanctions list in a move, they said, aimed at launching peaceful dialogue between Afghanistan’s government and insurgent groups.[25]

Moscow meeting: Kabul rejects peace overtures without its input

Kabul will not accept any decision taken without its input, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday, a day after senior Pakistani, Chinese and Russian diplomats held talks in Moscow on peace in the war-torn country. “Other countries should deal with the Afghan government rather than [other Afghan] groups,” Dawa Khan Meenapal said.[26]

U.S, CIA-Backed Commanders Accused Of Human Rights Violations

An article published in the UK’s Guardian revealed that foreign money for the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) is used to arm groups to fight the Taliban but that some of these militia commanders are using the weapons to target local officials. “The U.S military and the CIA are turning a blind eye as Afghanistan’s spy agency spends foreign donor money on militias which are committing human rights abuses that help destabilize the fragile country, according to local and western officials,” the report reads.[27]

Russia, Iran ties with Taliban stoke Afghan anxiety

Allegations over Russia and Iran’s deepening ties with the Taliban have ignited concerns of a renewed ‘Great Game’ of proxy warfare in Afghanistan. Moscow and Tehran insist their contact with the insurgents is aimed at promoting regional security, but local and US officials have expressed bitter skepticism.[28]

Relations with Pakistan

Afghanistan never accepted Durand Line as border: Karzai

Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, on Saturday said at a New Afghanistan Research and Studies Center (NARSC) conference in Kabul that “Afghanistan has never accepted this border (Durand) line since the beginning (1893), and will never accept it in future.” He said that it was correct that Pakistan was the successor of British imperialism, and the line was imposed on Afghanistan by Britain while Pakistan was not in existence. “Thus, we don’t have grievance from Pakistan”.[29]

Karzai wishes Sharif on his birthday, calling Pak nation as ‘brother’

The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai joined the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to wish the Pakistani Prime Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. “Honourable Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sahib, happy birthday! Best wishes to you and the brotherly people of Pakistan,” Karzai said in a Twitter post.[30]

Pakistan backed HIA-Kabul talks, says Hekmatyar’s aide

A senior leader of the Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) has said that Pakistan has neither interfered nor opposed its peace talks with the administration of President Ashraf Ghani. “Pakistan had supported the HIA-Kabul negotiations which led to the signing of a peace deal in September,” Dr Ghairat Baheer, the head of HIA’s political affairs committee, told The Express Tribune in an exclusive interview.[31]

10 Afghans arrested for trying to sneak into Pakistan

Officials said that a Khasadar patrolling party, Pakistan’s locally raised police force, signalled a group of at least 10 Afghans who were trying to clandestinely cross the border into Pakistan at midnight about a kilometre north of the main border crossing. The khasadar party resorted to fire after the illegal Afghans tried to escape from near the Jumagai security checkpost.[32]

Mullah Omar not visited Pakistan over the past 25 years, claims Taliban

The Taliban group founder and ex-supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has not visited Pakistan over the past 25 years, the insurgent group claimed Wednesday. The group released a statement to reject a report regarding a meeting between Mullah Omar and a Norwegian diplomat in a luxury hotel in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.[33]

Internal Politics & Governance

Dismissed Ministers Continue Their Work

The seven ministers dismissed by the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) early last month for under-spending on their development budget are all still at work – despite MPs’ repeated calls for their removal.[34]

Ex-Warlord Faryadi ‘Regrets Committing War Crimes’

Former warlord and commander of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar-led Hizb-e-Islami party Zardad Faryadi has said he regrets his actions during the civil war, but is ready to appear in the court for the sake of justice.[35]

Dostum Criticized For Being Absent From Work

A number of lawyers and lawmakers on Wednesday said the continued absence of the First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum from work since his alleged assault against former Jawzjan governor Ahmad Eshchi last month is against the national interests.[36]

Hekmatyar’s Son Calls Taliban, Other Militants Foreigners’ Slaves

“Recently, these murderers and slaves are named as Khawarij in media, but I must say that they [Taliban] are worse than Khawarij,” Junior Hekmatyar said. Habiburrahman Hekmatyar, son of reconciled leader of Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, at a gathering on Thursday termed the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the country slaves of foreigners.[37]

Taliban Welcomes Moscow Talks

Suhail Shahin, Taliban’s spokesman for their political office in Qatar, said in a press release on Friday that removing the names of Taliban members from UN sanctions list is a good step to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan. Taliban has welcomed the trilateral session between Russia, China and Pakistan held this week in Moscow.[38]

Economy & development

Karzai Voices Concern over Afghanistan’s Water Security

Ex-President Hamid Karzai, while speaking at a conference in Kabul, stated that a large amount of water goes to Iran and Pakistan and that those countries need to respect Afghanistan’s water rights. “The water that is for our neighbors is being given to them. If we have more water, we will give a part of it to our neighbors,” he said. Karzai said he is worried about water security in future, especially in light of climate change.[39]

Obama Authorizes $4.26 Billion for Afghan Forces

U.S President Barack Obama authorized a total of $4.26 billion for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) for the fiscal year 2017. The funding will cover expenses of Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry where the Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry will receive a total of $3,332,458,000 which will include $2,173,341,000 for sustainment, $48,262,000 for infrastructure, $821,716,000 for equipment and transportation, and $289,139,000 for training and operations.[40]

Kandahar School Enrolment Up 30 Percent This Year

Kandahar Education Directorate said that 35,000 new students enrolled for this year’s school year in Kandahar – which is an increase of 30 percent against last year.[41]

Women in Afghanistan

Senate Approves Anti-Harassment of Women and Children’s Act

Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) on Sunday approved the law on prevention and prohibition of harassment of women and children in Afghanistan. The three-Chapter, 29-Article legislation seeks to end harassment of women and children in the country, senators said. Under the law, jail terms and cash fines will be imposed on perpetrators committing harassment against women and children.[42]

Armed Men Linked To Taliban ‘Behead’ Woman in Sar-e-Pul

A 30 year old woman was beheaded on Monday evening in Sar-e-Pul province by a group of armed men that Provincial governor spokesman Zabiullah Amani said were linked with Taliban. The woman was beheaded because she visited the city alone without her husband. Amani said that the victim’s husband is in Iran and they don’t have children.[43]

Deport Niloofar Rahmani to Afghanistan, Open Letter to Obama requests

A group of Afghan activists have requested the US President Barack Obama to reject asylum application of Captain Niloofar Rahmani and deport her to Afghanistan, insisting that the first fixed-wing female Afghan pilot does not face any kind of threats.[44]

This weekly is compiled by Sitwat Waqar Bokhari who is a Research Fellow at CRSS.

Sources:

[1] http://tribune.com.pk/story/1277084/russia-china-favour-taking-taliban-off-un-sanctions-list/

[2] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/russia-pakistan-china-warn-increased-daesh-threat

[3] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/mofa-voices-displeasure-over-upcoming-trilateral-meeting

[4] http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/24/afghan-official-says-gunmen-attack-former-taliban-leaders-home-in-capital.html

[5] http://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-attack-kills-police-officers/3649260.html

[6] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/zabul-roadside-blast-kills-4-policemen

[7] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/three-insurgents-killed-kunduz-operation

[8] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/helmand-residents-take-arms-against-taliban

[9] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/five-insurgents-killed-jawzjan-clash

[10] http://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/top-taliban-commander-among-six-killed-ghazni