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Statement by Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, on the Situation in Afghanistan
Dateline: United Nations Security Council, 7844th meeting, December 19, 2016. “We are following the security situation in Afghanistan very carefully. We are concerned by the fact that it has sharply worsened; especially in the north of the country, where recently the Taliban have become increasingly active. Eliminating the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mansoor, has strengthened the influence of irreconcilable radicals which only compounds the current situation in the country. The recent attacks by fighters against the American military base in Bagram and the German Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif are very sharp examples of this. We support the course of the Government of Afghanistan to achieve national reconciliation. We stand ready to help in moving the negotiating process forward, including through a flexible approach to the possible easing of the sanctions regime by Committee 1988, if this does not run counter to the national interests of Afghanistan. We took into account the fact that the peace agreement was signed between the Government of Afghanistan and the Hekmatyar party. A lot depends on how this will be implemented in practice. The main goal of the national reconciliation process is to involve the Taliban in the peace process and, so far, this goal has not been attained and the four party contact group format has not arrived at a breakthrough. Unfortunately, the main goals the international military contingents had for themselves in the last 15 years are still unresolved. This refers to the previous NATO international security assistance force in Afghanistan which led the country and this also applies to the current Resolute Support Mission. We would especially like to underscore that only the Afghan security forces can provide for the stabilization of the military and the political situation in their country, and that is why we are providing them with multi-dimensional support. The Ministry of the Internal Affairs of Russia has provided ten thousand...
Sabawoon Showcase: Role of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Preventing Corruption
December 26, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon[1], flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), was about the role of NAB and Provincial Accountability Commission (PAC) in controlling corruption and prompting accountability. The program reviewed the role of NAB and PAC, complaints systems in NAB and PAC, political interference in NAB, and public responsibility in eradicating corruption. The program also highlighted the plea-bargain, voluntary returns, and national accountability ordinance. It was aired under the theme of Jarga Marrakka (debate and council). Mr. Khitab Gul, Deputy Director NAB Peshawar, and Mr. Arshad Aziz Malik, Resident Editor Daily Jang Peshawar, took part as the studio guests. A radio report shed light on the performance of NAB since its foundation. Five callers participated live in the show. They urged the government to make NAB fully independent and powerful for the sake of a corruption-free country. Mr. Gul said: “Public support is direly needed to inform authorities about the culprits so as to prevent corruption in the county.” Mr. Malik said: “As long as there is no proper legislation to make NAB and other anticorruption institutions free of political interference, corruption cannot be eliminated.” Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [1] Sabawoon is a flagship radio program by CRSS in the KP/FATA region, designed to highlight local issues, and promote fundamental global values such as women’s rights, rule of law, equal citizenry, democracy, governance and accountability. It airs four times a week, under four themes. On Monday, Jarga Marrakka covers current affairs and issues, coupled with government and other senior officials. On Tuesday, Da Semi Jaaj gives a holistic regional overview of the most important stories across the length and breadth of KP/FATA. On Wednesday, Jwandai Jazbey covers issues most important to...
Sabawoon Showcase: The Effects of Militancy on Fine Arts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
December 22, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon[1], flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), was about the effects of terrorism and militancy on fine arts. The program overviewed artists in KP, fine arts in time of war, fine arts in KP universities, and its revival after the war-on-terror. The program was aired under the theme of Ranra (light). Two Peshawar based young artists, Mr. Afaan Gul and Mr. Asim Khan, participated as the studio guests. A radio report shared the views of experts about the progress and development of fine arts in KP in the post-militancy era and the opportunities available both at national and international level. Five callers took part live in the show. They highlighted the importance of arts and artists in presenting the prevailing situations. Mr. Asim Khan discussed the negative impacts of militancy on the field of fine arts. He was of the view that the current situation was relatively conducive to the revival of fine arts. Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [1] Sabawoon is a flagship radio program by CRSS in the KP/FATA region, designed to highlight local issues, and promote fundamental global values such as women’s rights, rule of law, equal citizenry, democracy, governance and accountability. It airs four times a week, under four themes. On Monday, Jarga Marrakka covers current affairs and issues, coupled with government and other senior officials. On Tuesday, Da Semi Jaaj gives a holistic regional overview of the most important stories across the length and breadth of KP/FATA. On Wednesday, Jwandai Jazbey covers issues most important to youth, students and females. Finally, on Thursday, Ranra covers social issues that have a cultural angle and/or impact.
Russia, Partners Say Kabul Welcome at Future Talks on Afghan Security
Russia, China and Pakistan bowed to Afghan complaints Tuesday, announcing after talks in Moscow that Kabul will be invited to participate in future meetings on the threat posed by Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. Afghan officials had objected to being left out of the three-way talks in the Russian capital, ostensibly held to discuss "the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan." The three nations also said they were interested in facilitating peace talks between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban. The long-running Taliban insurgency poses by far the greater threat to Afghanistan, whose forces have been on the defensive for the past year. But members of the so-called Islamic State group have been trying to establish a foothold in Afghanistan, in some cases fighting directly with the Taliban. Participants in Tuesday's meeting said it was the third session of their trilateral "working group" on Afghanistan. In a joint statement released by Pakistan after the talks, they expressed "particular concern" over "increased activities of the extremist groups including the ISIL (Daesh) affiliates in the country." ISIL is another acronym for IS. The statement said Beijing, Islamabad and Moscow had agreed to continue their consultations in an expanded format and would welcome the participation of Afghanistan. The group previously suggested it might include Iran in future talks. "The participants agreed to continue their efforts towards further facilitating the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan according to the known principles of reintegration of the armed opposition into peaceful life," the statement said. Hours before the Moscow meeting, Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Shekib Mostaghani said that regardless of the good intentions of the participants, the Moscow talks would not help the situation in Afghanistan, where government forces have been battling Taliban insurgents for 15 years. The joint statement...
Over Half a Million Afghans Flee Conflict in 2016: A Look At The IDP Statistics
In 2016, more than half a million Afghans fled conflict to places of safety inside Afghanistan’s borders. Over a third of the yearly total fled in just one month – October. This mass movement was caused by heavy fighting between government and insurgent forces. At the year’s end, AAN’s Jelena Bjelica looks at the statistics of Afghanistan’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). The newly displaced: facts and figures More than 580,000 people – 84,257 families – had been displaced within Afghanistan by mid-December 2016, the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported. (For background on how IDPs are counted and recorded, statistics, see footnote (1)). More than half of the newly displaced population – 56 percent – were children under 18 years of age. In all but three of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, UNOCHA recorded some level of forced displacement, while all 34 provinces hosted the displaced. Kunduz, Uruzgan, Farah and Helmand produced the highest numbers of displaced people in 2016, while those receiving the most were Helmand, Takhar, Farah, Kunduz, Kandahar. That the same or nearby provinces appear in both lists show that many people seek safety near their homes. October was the worse month. There were simultaneous assaults by the Taleban on several provincial capitals: on Kunduz city (see AAN reporting here), Farah city in the west, Faryab’s Maymana in the north and Helmand’s Lashkar Gah in the south. Over a third of the yearly total fled in this month alone, with 213,000 people (31,402 families) on the move. (More in-depth information on displacement is available from an interactive UNOCHA ‘dashboard’ . The northeast The highest number of displaced persons was recorded in the northeast region (Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz and Baghlan), where over 198,000 people – 28,354 families, fled from conflict. Almost half of them – 93,500 people – fled their home province in October 2016. However, there were other monthly peaks – 30,000 in...
President Ghani Thanks Govt. Entities for Security, Defense Forces Support
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, in a meeting of different government entities, thanked them for extending their full support to the country’s security and defense forces. He said: “This doesn’t mean that we have been facing no crisis, but we could overcome the crises successfully.” Following management of the crisis, for strengthening of the country’s security and defense forces, based on the country’s national interests and strategic cooperation between Afghanistan and the US, we could restore friendly relations and international consensus about Afghanistan, said the president. “In a government to government talks, when I arrived in a Pakistani military base, roughly all the people criticized me, as they had only realized a single perspective of the issue, they had not differed between talk and the assessment, when I told them Pakistan is posed in an unannounced war against Afghanistan and I made them to accept the definition.” He said if he was not behaving them as deserved he couldn’t reject their fund. “I rejected their fund and asked to spend their announced money in war on terrorism in their own soil. He said as the country’s armed force commander in chief, would continue supporting them until the last moment, as he said 2015 was the year of their survival as each week, there was crisis and lack trust atmosphere, but the country’s true children would defend the country. The president praised the country’s security forces of being successfully deployed in 15 battlefields of war and added that a work could complete in one week, now being done in a single day. “The upcoming year was the year of our success and capability and this land [Afghanistan] would reach stability. The country’s security and defense forces and our next three years of plan would help us access big achievements,” said the president. According to the president, in the last 14 years, Afghanistan safety had been depended on the security forces, but in the next three years, the responsibility...
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. Afghan diplomatic sources endorsed Dr Baheer, saying that Pakistan had not interfered in peace talks with the HIA. “It’s a fact that no one from Pakistan has ever dissuaded us from peace negotiations with Kabul. Conversely, Islamabad fully supported the peace process,” said Dr Baheer, who is now part of a six-member committee that oversees the implementation of the agreement that allows the HIA to play an active role in politics. On the Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions, he called for an end to hostile statements by leaders from the two countries which, according to him, increase mutual mistrust. “If there is war or instability in Afghanistan, it will naturally affect Pakistan,” he said. “Therefore, the two governments should pursue a policy that can bring their peoples closer.” When his attention was drawn to the Taliban’s demands for peace talks with Kabul, Dr Baheer said neither side should set any preconditions for dialogue. “All sides should put their conditions on the table,” he said and referred to the unconditional talks between the HIA and the Kabul administration. The Taliban have long asked for the reopening of their political office in Qatar and lifting of international sanctions on their senior leaders before they could think about sitting across the table with Afghan negotiators. “Those who do not join the peace process will stand isolated,” the HIA leader said in a veiled reference to the Taliban. Asked to comment on the impression created by some circles that Kabul has made peace with the HIA to make it join the fight against the Taliban, Dr Baheer said...
China, Pakistan, Russia to Meet on Afghanistan, Angering Kabul Leaders
Top Foreign Ministry officials from China, Pakistan and Russia will meet in Moscow on Tuesday to review what they perceive as a "gradually growing" threat to their frontiers posed by Islamic State extremists in Afghanistan. "This is an existing forum for undertaking informal discussions on issues of regional peace and stability, including the situation in Afghanistan," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told VOA. Pakistan's foreign secretary, Aizaz Chaudhry, will lead Islamabad's delegation, he added. Officials say future meetings could include Iran. Chinese, Pakistani and Russian officials say they were driven to joint action by the efforts of IS affiliates to establish a foothold in Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's national unity government has reportedly questioned the motives of the trilateral dialogue, which will take place without Kabul being represented. Russian officials maintain the "working group on Afghanistan" is one of several initiatives Moscow has undertaken with regional countries, including Afghanistan, to develop a "wider partnership" for containing IS influence. Beijing, Islamabad and Moscow say the three-way talks will also explore ways to bring the Taliban to the table for peace talks with the Afghan government. All three governments maintain overt contacts with the insurgent group. Russia and officials in Pakistan argue that military operations by the U.S.-led international forces and their Afghan partners have not weakened the Taliban but instead created ungoverned areas where terrorist groups like IS, also known as Daesh, can establish a foothold. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told the U.N. Security Council last week that the deteriorating security situation has encouraged IS militants fleeing Syria and Iraq to look at Afghanistan for shelter. He said they will eventually pose a threat to Russia through neighboring central Asian states. Using another acronym for IS, he said, "There...
How Peace Between Afghanistan and the Taliban Foundered
At a corner table of the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s capital, an emissary from the Taliban’s supreme leader arrived with a message of peace. It was 2007, as the Afghan Taliban insurgency was growing bolder. The United States-led international coalition was fixated on defeating the Taliban militarily, and that mission would only intensify when President Obama sent in tens of thousands more troops starting in 2009. But that evening at the Marriott in Islamabad, the talk was about diplomacy, and there were no Americans in the room. Alf Arne Ramslien, a senior Norwegian diplomat who had cultivated relationships and trust within the Taliban for years, was meeting with a confidant of Mullah Muhammad Omar, the movement’s reclusive founder, who was directing the insurgency from exile in Pakistan. The Taliban emissary gave Mr. Ramslien a list of five names that Mullah Omar had tasked with exploring the possibility of peace talks. They needed the help of a facilitator, he said, and Mr. Ramslien was it. Continue reading the main story That exchange would initiate an intense, secretive process that over three years involved two or three meetings a month between Norwegian diplomats and fugitive Taliban representatives across cities in Asia and Europe, including Karachi, Bangkok and Oslo. Astoundingly, the diplomats said they even had one direct, late-night audience with Mullah Omar himself — years after even senior Taliban leaders said they had last been in a room with him. The Norwegian peace track overlapped with efforts by other countries to bring the Taliban to the table, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, and for years seemed to be making the most progress toward bringing the Taliban and Afghan officials together. But it all eventually fell apart under the weight of military and intelligence maneuvering and of distrust among a host of countries that were taking a hand in Afghan affairs. Mr. Ramslien maintains that Pakistan, in particular, has been a central...
Taliban: Peace Talks Not Possible Until Foreign 'Occupation' of Afghanistan Ends
The Taliban has rejected latest United Nations calls for engaging in peace talks with the Afghan government, and instead demanded the world body pressure U.S.-led foreign troops to end their “occupation” of Afghanistan if the U.N. truly wants an end to the 15-year war. “Our fight is for independence, and as long as foreign occupation forces are present here (in Afghanistan) any talk about peace and reconciliation is meaningless,” Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told VOA Friday. He was responding to a renewed call for Afghan peace talks earlier this week by Tadamichi Yamamoto, who heads the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA. In his quarterly briefing to the Security Council in New York on Monday, Yamamoto urged the Taliban to enter into direct talks with the Kabul government, without preconditions, to prevent further bloodshed in the country. “We all know that the conflict in Afghanistan has no military solution. The Taliban leadership must reconsider the notion that their objectives can only be achieved on the battlefield,” noted the UNAMA chief. However, the Taliban spokesman insisted that all parties interested in resolving Afghanistan's problems should pressure on foreign forces to leave Afghanistan and let its people decide the kind of governing system they need for their country. "Afghans neither like a foreign-imposed regime nor do they accept presence of foreign forces in their country," he said, citing presence of American and NATO in Afghanistan as the main cause of the conflict. The Taliban maintains President Ashraf Ghani’s national unity government is not a “sovereign administration,” alleging it works under U.S. direction. The Islamist insurgency has recently called for direct talks with the U.S. administration to find a solution to the Afghan war. But Washington rejected the offer and reiterated its support for an Afghan-led reconciliation process. “We believe that’s the right approach. We’ve always believed that that’s the...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.