ISIS consolidating its power base in Achin district
Afghan officials are claiming that ISIS is consolidating its power base in Achin district of eastern Nangarhar province and impressed upon a sense of urgency on international community and asked for tangible measures in the fight against it. ISIS spy-master Taj Gul has been arrested in Haska Mina District of Nangarhar province in one of the counter-terrorism operations carried out by Afghan National Police (ANP) this week. 13 ISIS militants also killed in a separate air-strike in Achin and Deh Bala districts of Nangarhar province. In another air-assault, 19 militants belonging to Taliban were killed in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province. Two days later, Taliban killed 3 Afghan soldiers and wounded 4 in an attack taking place in Uruzgan province. Same day, a US drone killed Al-Qaeda commander Qari Yasin and three Taliban when it hit a car in Paktika province. On the other hand, Qari Yasin has been found to be involved in numerous high-profile terrorist attacks, including the assassination attempt on ex-president General Pervez Musharraf, attack on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and a bomb blast at Data Darbar in Lahore. Moreover, latest news brought skepticism of US General of probable involvement of Russian supplying logistic to Taliban.
Moscow to host Afghanistan Global Peace Conference on April 14, 2017
Russia is continuing to expand its diplomatic circle in its efforts to gain support for carving out a peace road map for war-torn Afghanistan. Coming April 14 next month, Moscow is hosting another peace conference on Afghanistan which will be attended by representatives of twelve countries. This time, United States has also been invited to the conference along with some Central Asian states and the European Union. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Adviser to Kabul government, has shown his gratitude regarding Russian’s sincere peace efforts for stability in Afghanistan. During an interview with Sputnik – Russian News Agency, Atmar said, “We are very grateful to Moscow for these efforts in building up genuine regional cooperation on facilitating peace process in Afghanistan”.
Earlier, Kabul and Moscow did not agree on inviting Taliban for such peace talks fearing their acceptance as legitimate actors by international community may be marred. However, Kremlin has assured Afghan Government lately that all potential connections with Taliban will only be aimed at facilitating a peaceful political settlement in Afghanistan. While responding to the said global peace conference, Taliban nodded positively and have shown willingness to join in, if invited. On the other hand, the United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of UN assistance operation in Afghanistan until March 17, 2018. Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary James Mattis and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met in Washington and discussed the existing state of affairs in Afghanistan and the global fight against ISIS.
Pakistan reopens border with Afghanistan as a goodwill gesture
Pakistan has reopened its border with landlocked Afghanistan on March 20, 2017. The step was taken as a goodwill gesture by Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, merely on a humanitarian basis. The Prime Minister of Pakistan also hoped that Afghan leadership will address the reasons that escalated their mutual tensions, consequently leading to border closure. Border reopening is a great sigh of relief for the hundreds and thousands of people and trade convoys stranded on two major border crossings points of Chaman and Torkham. The development came after Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz met Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and held the highest-level face-to-face discussion on cross-border terrorism in London last week, in which both sides agreed to form a joint mechanism to fight the common threat of terrorism.
Kabul has also put forward the idea of a third party role in helping, monitoring and verifying the work regarding the list of most wanted terrorists exchanged between the two neighboring countries. Apart from United Kingdom’s role, intense lobbying by business community and civil society through Track 1.5/II channels also played their role. The Center for Research and Security Studies’ Track 1.5/2 diplomacy initiative called Beyond Boundaries incessantly rallied in the re-opening of the border last week as it convened six business leaders each from ACCI and PAJCCI and FPCCI in a dialogue to discuss the difficulties arising out of the closure of the border. In the end, the joint committee of the Afghan and Pakistani business leaders unanimously finalized a joint declaration which primarily urged the Government of Pakistan to reopen the border to allow the stranded cargo to pass through. This was presented to the National Standing Committee on Commerce and Trade Chairman Siraj Muhammad Khan, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir, National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua, Director General Afghanistan Mansour Khan, amongst several other high-level government officials. The details of the meeting of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Committee on Business and Trade by the Center for Research and Security Studies can be found here.
. On a lighter note, the Peshawar Zalmi’s management has revealed that is in contact with Afghan Cricket Board to explore likelihoods of two-sided matches for promotion of peace in the region. With ice melting between Islamabad and Kabul, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqbal Zafar Jhagra reached Balkh province and met the Governor Atta Muhammad Nur on the invitation of Afghan Government on the eve of Nowroz, to consolidate the progress in easing tensions.
China injecting $300m for construction of 10,000 apartments in Afghanistan
The Chinese Government has promised to pour in about $300 million for the construction of 10,000 apartments in Afghanistan. The initial phase, which will be starting shortly, comprises of 1400 apartments in Kabul. Afghanistan’s Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Sayed Saadat Mansour Naderi, and the Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan, Yao Jing, signed the contract on March 16. The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) of Afghanistan, on the other hand, has stated that Germany will be providing 20 million euros in aid for employment generation across the country. Besides that, MRRD will also be establishing development projects in villages, the statement by MRRD further added. President Ashraf Ghani approved five contracts amounting to a billion Afghanis in the recent sitting of the National Procurement Commission; this also comprises procurement of tables, chairs, and solar power system for schools in 22 provinces. Also, bringing some good news for Afghanistan, the country’s Central Statistics Organization (CSO)’s figures show a 2% growth in domestic economy in year 1395 where the exports have gone up by 8% and imports experienced a 19% drop. Likewise, trade deficit also declined significantly.
Also this week in Afghanistan…
Mohammad Sarwar Danish, Second Vice President of Afghanistan, has shown his deepest concerns over the mounting illiteracy rate in the country which is 64%. He urged the Afghan people to fight this menace; however he was hopeful as now large numbers of children are being sent to school. On the other hand, Ata Muhammad Nur may soon decide upon his resignation, anticipating his busy political activities in the coming election. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (UNOCHA) stated on 20th March that the humanitarian community provided life-saving, emergency humanitarian assistance to more than 3.6 million Afghans in 2016. While finally, Seema Ghani – an Afghan activist who adopted 16 children – won the Bond Outstanding Individual Award on March 20 in London, an international development award for women empowerment and creating jobs.
This weekly is written by Saddam Hussein who is a research intern at the Center for Research and Security Studies.