Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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Cyrano
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Cyrano »

They could have done a televised joint inspection and sign off before sealing the containers at Wagah.

Could also be deliberate to make Pakis salivate or if they pilfer, expose their turpitude to Afghans and the world. we'll see...
chetak
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by chetak »

Cyrano wrote:The day long awaited by pakis has arrived!

I'm aghast the wheat is not being sent in sealed containers but in open trucks where it can get damaged from rain/frost and of course easily pilfered on the way.
the afghans will react very violently to theft/pilferage and it is way beyond the capacity of bajwa and his band of merry men to manage a rampaging taliban

durand line fencing is a case in point. The pakis are getting their asses handed to them.

may be that was India's intent all along, to mitigate and transfer the operational risk to the afghans by cutting the pakis out of the picture.
chetak
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by chetak »

Cyrano wrote:They could have done a televised joint inspection and sign off before sealing the containers at Wagah.

Could also be deliberate to make Pakis salivate or if they pilfer, expose their turpitude to Afghans and the world. we'll see...
why

the taliban will believe what their drivers tell them, besides, there will taliban armed guards riding shotgun, just in case "a tyre or two needs to be changed" enroute


all these afghan vehicles carry GPS so, the routes, stops, and diversions if any, will show up on record
chetak
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by chetak »

let's hope that this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass

@MEAIndia

An important milestone in India’s humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

Today, India dispatched first convoy of 2500 MT of wheat assistance from ICP Attari to Jalalabad, Afghanistan.


5:46 pm · 22 Feb 2022


Image

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Ambar
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Ambar »

400% it will ! Our stupidity has no bounds ! Even after a 1000+ years we have failed abysmally in understanding islamism.
Cyrano
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Cyrano »

For once let me not second guess this Govt and believe they are exercising "daana" to create "bheda" while retaining "danDa" for the right moment.
Anoop.G
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Anoop.G »

First shipment of 2,500 MT of wheat from India reaches Jalalabad - The Economic Times

https://m.economictimes.com/news/india/ ... 853018.cms
Vips
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Vips »

Ambar wrote:400% it will ! Our stupidity has no bounds ! Even after a 1000+ years we have failed abysmally in understanding islamism.
Right after we made provision of some Crores on our budget as help for Afghanistan, these parasites raised the Panipat Brigade to cook a snook at us. The right way to treat them is like what Ranjit Singh's army did. Make them bow their head and not raise their eyes in their presence.
chetak
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by chetak »

Image
chetak
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by chetak »

Vips wrote:
Ambar wrote:400% it will ! Our stupidity has no bounds ! Even after a 1000+ years we have failed abysmally in understanding islamism.
Right after we made provision of some Crores on our budget as help for Afghanistan, these parasites raised the Panipat Brigade to cook a snook at us. The right way to treat them is like what Ranjit Singh's army did. Make them bow their head and not raise their eyes in their presence.
with russia and ukraine in extremis, wheat prices are expected to rise sharply, these panipat brigadiers will be back to beg for more wheat and aid

effectively, our 50,000 tons of wheat will go mostly to feed the taliban

OTOH, India is in for a bumper crop
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by SRajesh »

Hmm Chadori/Burkha is back and so is the bread below the chin(anyways there is no wheat what with Pak stealing some and India maybe unwilling to dole anymore given Panipat Regiment, chewing the facial growth may come in handy).
Why this is the question??
Is this Fiaz's doing to cock a snook at Waist-B Jernail!!
Or opportune time now that Goras are busy in Pakraine.
What can West do now??
Ruski boss will hold the mirror to Sleepy Joe and maybe give some gyan to Volodmyr!
But what I am pissed off is how Doval/EAM combo did not see this coming but fell for the sweet talking Talibwa!!
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

Taliban Faces Rising Armed Resistance From Former Government Factions
For nearly two decades, the Taliban launched an annual deadly spring offensive in a bid to regain the power it lost in 2001.

As the snows melted in the Afghan mountains, Taliban fighters hastened their attacks on officials and troops of the pro-Western Afghan republic and soldiers from dozens of NATO-led Western countries allied with it.

Now, in an apparent reversal of roles, factions of the fallen Afghan republic are claiming attacks on the Taliban in many provinces in what seems to be an uncoordinated spring offensive.

Those groups are tapping into vast reserves of potential guerrilla fighters from among the hundreds of thousands of Western-trained security forces that served the former government but lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan eight months ago.
Former leaders of the West-backed republic hope the rebellion will eventually turn into a national uprising against what they view as Taliban rule that has repressed women and alienated ethnic and religious minorities.

They are also banking on attracting help from Afghanistan’s weary neighbors and global powers concerned by the return of terrorist groups to the country already reeling from rising violence by the radical Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K).

The Taliban, however, considers the resistance small and insignificant.

“There is nothing that has improved since the Taliban seized power,” said a former official of the Afghan Foreign Ministry close to the emerging resistance. “I am sure we will see a much bigger uprising against the Taliban,” he added, requesting anonymity because of security fears.
One of the most visible anti-Taliban groups is the National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Masud, son of the Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Masud who successfully prevented the Taliban from overrunning Afghanistan until he was killed by Al-Qaeda assassins two days before the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who like Masud hails from the northern province of Panjshir, is a close ally. The two left Panjshir in September, just weeks after the Taliban takeover of Kabul the previous month. But their supporters are still launching sporadic attacks against the Taliban in remote Panjshir valleys.

Supporters of former Interior Minister Masud Andrai have offered the most formidable resistance with somewhat regular attacks on the Taliban in Andrab, a high-altitude valley in the northern province of Baghlan.


One of the most significant attacks was in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif last week when supporters of former warlord Atta Mohammad Noor clashed with the Taliban.
Some reports suggest the supporters of late anti-Taliban police commander Abdul Raziq are ready to join the resistance in Kandahar.

Attacks have also been reported in recent weeks in the Kapisa, Parwan, Badakhshan, Takhar, Ghor, Sar-e Pol, and Jawzjan provinces. The violence is distinct from the IS-K attacks that have mainly targeted Shi'ite mosques and schools in Kabul and several Afghan cities this month.

Former Defense Minister Bismillah Khan, ex-General Staff chief Yasin Zia, and Abdul Ghani Alipur -- an ethnic Hazara militia leader -- are other notable names in the resistance.

His nephew, Sohail Zmarai, was reportedly killed in an intense firefight that was acknowledged by the Taliban.
ramana
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by ramana »

Dilbu thanks for keeping an eye on that front.
It was expected that melting snow would resume attacks on NRF in Panjshir.

There was a recent blast in a Shia Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif.

* Also the reporter wrote a book: The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan.
KL Dubey
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by KL Dubey »

I remember BRF was ahead of the curve at least on this topic, but it's official in Afghanistan now:

https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/women- ... -takeover/
chetak
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by chetak »

sure, why not..............

baap ka maal hai


https://indianexpress.com/article/india ... i-7892394/





Need more India visas… Afghans feel abandoned: Saad Mohseni, business baron


says "Saad Mohseni, business baron" who is sitting comfortably in the gelf

why not he ask his gelf buddies to issue visas to his countrymen, so that they too can enjoy the izlamic environment, the free halal food and the free stay too

why pile on to the kaffirs


In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August, thousands have fled the country, and many had hoped to come to India, like they did in the 1990s, during a previous Taliban regime.

Besides, many who had been studying in India and had gone home to Afghanistan around the time of the takeover, and wished to return to continue their studies, or visit for medical treatment, also found found that they were no longer welcome.

In December 2021, Parliament was told that India had granted just 200 emergency e-visas to that Afghan citizens.

“In view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, the Government of India has started an ‘e-Emergency X-Misc visa’ for a period of 6 months for Afghan nationals. …As on 24.11.2021, 200 e-Emergency X-Misc visas have been issued (since the takeover),” Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The government has allowed extensions on the visas of Afghans who were staying in the country from before the Taliban take over and remained here.

“Further, stay visa is granted to Afghan nationals staying in India keeping in view the present situation in that country. Presently, 4,557 Afghan nationals are staying in India on stay sisa after extension of their visas,” Rai said.

Mohseni urged the Indian government to engage with the Taliban regime. “I know the problems India has with Afghanistan,” he said, mentioning the 1999 hijacking episode during which Taliban, then in power, allowed an Indian Airlines plane hijacked by Pakistani terrorists to land in Kandahar, and negotiated on behalf of the hijackers. But, he said, the absence of engagement was hurting the Afghan people more.

Pakistan could no longer take for granted the Taliban, Mohseni said. “The formula is simple: Afghan + Kabul = closer ties with India, no matter who the Afghan is,” he said, explaining that after Taliban took Kabul, the distance between the Taliban and Pakistan had grown, as evident from clashes at the border, and the Pakistani bombing of Afghan areas that had killed civilians.

“Look at the TTP, the Taliban are sheltering them in Afghanistan,” he said, referring to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, which has targeted Pakistan since its formation in 2007.

“India must engage with the Taliban directly, must engage with the world and the region on the way forward in Afghanistan, and must engage with Pakistan also on the Taliban,” he said.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

Northern Afghanistan and the New Threat to Central Asia
The contest for control of northern Afghanistan between the Taliban, the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups is a major security concern for the states of Central Asia. Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have relied on the Taliban to prevent non-state actors from operating in northern Afghanistan and launching cross-border attacks. In recent months, however, the Islamic State has bombed mosques near the border with Central Asia, and claimed to have launched a rocket attack into Uzbekistan. The deteriorating situation in the region demonstrates the limits of Central Asian states’ security strategies, and highlights that they have few options in dealing with a new threat on their border.
The Taliban are losing control in northern Afghanistan to the Islamic State. In April 2022, the terrorist group carried out a series of bombings at Shia mosques in Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif, killing dozens.[1] The Islamic State released a video of a purported rocket attack from Afghan territory toward military targets in Uzbekistan, although the Taliban and Uzbekistan challenged the claim.
Stability in northern Afghanistan will be important if the Taliban hope to maintain their informal truce with their northern neighbors. However, the predominantly ethnic Pushtun Taliban are already finding it difficult to bring this region—inhabited mainly by Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities—under control. And Central Asia governments are more concerned about some of the Taliban’s allies in northern Afghanistan than ISK. Jamaat Ansarullah, for instance, is a terrorist group from Tajikistan that claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber attack in the northern Tajik city of Khujand in September 2010 that killed four people. The Tajik government launched a crackdown on suspected Jamaat Ansarullah members and since then the group has been operating alongside the Taliban in northern Afghanistan.
The governments in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will continue to pin their hopes on the Taliban bringing stability to Afghanistan. Uzbekistan’s response to the attempted ISK attack suggests that the Uzbek government, at least, is willing to go a little further in shoring up Taliban control when it is in both parties’ interests.

The Uzbek government has not commented on reports the country’s military aircraft were sent to the area of the alleged attack. If those reports are true, it raises some interesting questions. It seems unlikely Uzbekistan sent military aircraft over Afghanistan without informing the Taliban, or perhaps being requested to do so by the Taliban. That would suggest a new level of cooperation has been reached between the two parties, at least concerning ISK.

But if the Taliban cannot stop the violence in northern Afghanistan, or if some group does succeed in launching an attack from Afghan territory on a neighboring Central Asian state or crosses the border into one the countries to carry out terrorist attacks, it is difficult to see how that would not change the Central Asian governments’ policies toward Afghanistan and the Taliban. An uneasy truce is easy to shatter and confidence can be hard to restore, but none of the Central Asian countries want ISK gaining control of areas in north Afghanistan near or on the border. And if the Taliban lose influence with the Central Asian militants allied to them, what would those Central Asian militants do next?
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by vijayk »



Look at Afghanistan in 1960-70s... If they continued this, they would have owned Paki filth. Thanks to US, USSR, Pakis and Mujahideen, they became like this
Anujan
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Anujan »

https://twitter.com/bsarwary/status/1526191455601041415
Faiz Hameed head of Peshawar army corp command along with his delegation has arrived in Serena hotel in Kabul for negotiations with TTP.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Manish_P »

Anujan wrote:https://twitter.com/bsarwary/status/1526191455601041415
Faiz Hameed head of Peshawar army corp command along with his delegation has arrived in Serena hotel in Kabul for negotiations with TTP.
I just remembered that it is Mango season.. I wonder if Jernail Bajwa has ordered some :twisted:
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

US-Taliban Deal Pushed Afghanistan to Collapse: Watchdog
The US deal with the Taliban -- forged under President Donald Trump and implemented under President Joe Biden -- was “the single most important factor” in the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s forces as American troops withdrew last year.

As in Vietnam decades earlier, the US “spent years and billions of dollars training and equipping” the Afghan National Security Forces “only to see them quickly collapse in the face of far less-equipped insurgencies once US logistical, equipment enabler and air support were withdrawn,” John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said in an “interim” lessons-learned report released Wednesday.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

India looks at reopening mission in Kabul minus senior diplomats
India is exploring the possibility of reopening its embassy in Afghanistan soon, but without top-level diplomatic representation, according to sources.

The Indian Express has learnt that a team of security officials flew to Kabul in February to assess the ground situation.

The plan for reopening does not include sending diplomats at senior levels — the embassy will likely function only with personnel for liaison purposes that may extend to consular services, the sources said. It would not mean a recognition of the Taliban regime.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Haresh »

For desperate Afghans, risky crossings into Iran are worth chancing

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/News ... sings-Iran
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Rudradev »

Great article in The National Interest by friend of India, Michael Rubin.

Afghanistan Rising

Please click the link and read the article at the website so Shri Rubin gets the benefit of multiple unique visits to his article.

I realise that Rubin has written this article in the tone of praising Zelensky and the Ukrainian resistance against the Russians. He has done this because his target audience is centrist and conservative Americans-- they have already swallowed the MSM narrative that Zelensky is a big herrow. Rubin is using this narrative as a springboard for his own argument that the US should actively back Ahmed Shah Massoud and Amrullah Saleh's resistance against the Taliban and its Paki masters.
While Biden may wish to put Afghanistan behind him, deflect blame, and tarnish all Afghans with the actions of their former president, the reality is many Afghans never gave up the fight. Freed from Washington’s efforts to micromanage the Afghan politics, true leaders have arisen who refuse to accept the subjugation of their people.

Consider the case of Ahmad Massoud, the son of the late “Lion of the Panjshir” Ahmad Shah Massoud. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul might have spent millions of dollars in polling to tell them how Afghans felt outside the embassy compound’s walls, but those polls were always snake oil: A far better way would simply be to drive around the city and into the countryside. In my years visiting Kabul and its environs, portraits of Massoud became more numerous and prominent than Afghanistan’s top elected leaders in shops, homes, and on billboards.

...
In recent weeks, Massoud’s National Resistance Front launched its spring offensive. It was able quickly to take most of three districts in Panjshir, a district in Takhar, and several villages in Andarab. The Taliban lost considerable local credibility when its spokesman denied fighting in the north while media disseminated photographs of dead fighters and coffins transported to Helmand and Kandahar. Massoud’s forces then ambushed Taliban reinforcements, inflicting casualties on the Taliban force in southern Panjshir and in the Abdullah Khel district. Compounding the Taliban’s problems are is the fact that reinforcements from southern Afghanistan are like fish out of water in Panjshir and the surrounding valleys.

The Taliban also lost fighters and vehicles in Qasan village in Andarab. There have been similar ambushes of Taliban forces in northern Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Takhar, Baghlan, and Badakhshan. The Taliban, therefore, now face resistance across hundreds of miles.

...
Momentum matters in Afghanistan. I learned this the hard way while visiting Mazar-e-Sharif in 1997. I went to sleep in an area controlled by non-Taliban forces, with the front-line dozens of miles away. When I woke up, the Taliban were marching on the city after convincing a neighboring warlord to defect. (The Indian Embassy in Uzbekistan helped evacuate me to Termez, just across the Afghanistan border).
Read it all!
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by ramana »

Yes NRF is making a dent but no thanks to US.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

NSA Ajit Doval to bat for inclusive Afghanistan govt at Dushanbe meet
NEW DELHI: NSA Ajit Doval will travel to Dushanbe later this week for a security conference on Afghanistan that will review the situation in the country 9 months after the Taliban took over the country, TOI has learnt. The meeting on May 26-27 is expected to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and also security challenges including the threat from cross border terrorism.

Doval is expected to underline India’s position that Afghanistan needs a fully inclusive government that can take care of the fundamental rights of women, children and minority communities and that it should not be allowed to turn into a safe haven for terrorism.
This will be the 4 regional security dialogue on Afghanistan. The last conference was hosted by Doval himself himself here on November 10. While China and India had not participated then, the conference still saw expanded presence with participation by Russia, Iran and all central Asian countries. ToI couldn’t confirm if Pakistan was going to participate. The new government in Pakistan is yet to appoint a national security adviser.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Maria »

Rudradev wrote:Great article in The National Interest by friend of India, Michael Rubin.

Afghanistan Rising

Please click the link and read the article at the website so Shri Rubin gets the benefit of multiple unique visits to his article.

I realise that Rubin has written this article in the tone of praising Zelensky and the Ukrainian resistance against the Russians. He has done this because his target audience is centrist and conservative Americans-- they have already swallowed the MSM narrative that Zelensky is a big herrow. Rubin is using this narrative as a springboard for his own argument that the US should actively back Ahmed Shah Massoud and Amrullah Saleh's resistance against the Taliban and its Paki masters.
While Biden may wish to put Afghanistan behind him, deflect blame, and tarnish all Afghans with the actions of their former president, the reality is many Afghans never gave up the fight. Freed from Washington’s efforts to micromanage the Afghan politics, true leaders have arisen who refuse to accept the subjugation of their people.

Consider the case of Ahmad Massoud, the son of the late “Lion of the Panjshir” Ahmad Shah Massoud. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul might have spent millions of dollars in polling to tell them how Afghans felt outside the embassy compound’s walls, but those polls were always snake oil: A far better way would simply be to drive around the city and into the countryside. In my years visiting Kabul and its environs, portraits of Massoud became more numerous and prominent than Afghanistan’s top elected leaders in shops, homes, and on billboards.

...
In recent weeks, Massoud’s National Resistance Front launched its spring offensive. It was able quickly to take most of three districts in Panjshir, a district in Takhar, and several villages in Andarab. The Taliban lost considerable local credibility when its spokesman denied fighting in the north while media disseminated photographs of dead fighters and coffins transported to Helmand and Kandahar. Massoud’s forces then ambushed Taliban reinforcements, inflicting casualties on the Taliban force in southern Panjshir and in the Abdullah Khel district. Compounding the Taliban’s problems are is the fact that reinforcements from southern Afghanistan are like fish out of water in Panjshir and the surrounding valleys.

The Taliban also lost fighters and vehicles in Qasan village in Andarab. There have been similar ambushes of Taliban forces in northern Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Takhar, Baghlan, and Badakhshan. The Taliban, therefore, now face resistance across hundreds of miles.

...
Momentum matters in Afghanistan. I learned this the hard way while visiting Mazar-e-Sharif in 1997. I went to sleep in an area controlled by non-Taliban forces, with the front-line dozens of miles away. When I woke up, the Taliban were marching on the city after convincing a neighboring warlord to defect. (The Indian Embassy in Uzbekistan helped evacuate me to Termez, just across the Afghanistan border).
Read it all!
In a perverted way, losses for the Talibunnies equals to them getting closer again with the Paikhanistanis across the Durand line with the bad state relations between the Yahoo sides, right now. If a compliant Taliban begs the Pakistanis for assistance, the Pakistanis will oblige.

The last thing the Massoudi forces need now is Pak F-16s bombing them again (despite reports of unknown forces attacking the PAF and the Talibs on the ground the last time).
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Rudradev »

Well... in Afghanistan, it's rarely as simple as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". It's more like "the enemy of your enemy is my enemy too, since you are inevitably my enemy." :mrgreen:

What actually happened with the SSG (and some PAF units) getting involved in Panjshir, shortly after the US withdrawal, remains largely a mystery. The picture appears to have been something like this: the operation was masterminded by then-ISI chief Faiz Hamid (who is a Deobandi, and whom Dimran wanted to promote as army chief while ousting Qamar Bajwa). Remember, Faiz had been visiting Kabul, having tea with the Taliban and trying to broker a pro-Islamabad unity government between its different factions right around that time. Quite possibly the quid-pro-quo was that Faiz would organize Pak army help to retake Panjshir from the NRF.

Bajwa has always been suspicious of Faiz, and hates Dimran, so it's possible he saw the operation as an end-run by these two guys to undermine his own authority. It didn't help that the operation was a disaster: the SSG got their clocks cleaned by the Panjshiris, and yes, there were reports of unmarked aircraft getting involved on the NRF side, which probably caused the PAF to brown its pants and stay home rather than providing any sustained level of CAS. At the same time the Taliban regime in Kabul seemed perfectly willing to let the TTP do its thing in Pakistan, killing Chinese engineers in Dasu and attacking Pak army units all over the place. Bajwa was probably incensed by this evidence of sloppy deal-making, and removed Faiz as the head of ISI (I believe he was transferred to head up XI Corps in Peshawar). edited corps

Since then, Bajwa has been chilly towards the Kabul Taliban regime, even sending a PAF strike package into Afghan airspace to hit TTP positions recently. The Faiz-Dimran initiative to form a strategic working relationship with the Taliban appears to have blown up entirely, and to have left a bitter taste in all mouths concerned (continuing TTP attacks within Pakistan appear to suggest this). So I don't know if the Taliban is in any mood to ask Paikhanistan for help, or the Paikhanis (at least while Bajwa remains COAS) are in any mood to provide assistance against the Panjshiris.

Islamabad is probably playing a waiting game, hoping that a nonexistent economy and continued resistance by the NRF, ISIS-K, and other factions will eventually bring the Taliban crawling on their knees to Pakistan for assistance. The Taliban is playing a needling game, letting TTP and perhaps some Baluch militia stage attacks into Pakistan, particularly (and very cleverly) against Chinese targets. In time-dishonored Afghan Ghazi tradition, they are waiting to see what ransom Islamabad offers in exchange for calling off the TTP.

I don't expect the NRF to be able to overthrow the Kabul Taliban regime on its own, but I think it can continue to make life very difficult for them.
Last edited by Rudradev on 26 May 2022 20:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

In Afghanistan you will never know when enough warlords decide to switch sides. If and when that happens NRF should be there waiting to take up the lead to form a winnable coalition against Taliban. Just like how Taliban appeared out of nowhere to seize power in Kabul.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Maria »

Dilbu wrote:In Afghanistan you will never know when enough warlords decide to switch sides. If and when that happens NRF should be there waiting to take up the lead to form a winnable coalition against Taliban. Just like how Taliban appeared out of nowhere to seize power in Kabul.
However, the issue is that Panjshiris are a coalition of different ethnicities without any Pashtun elements. At best, they can seize areas in the North.

The role of both the Americans and Russians (with the Iranians in toe) is all but dubious. The Northern Alliance of the yester years is in tatters and the Russians (along with the Iranians) have now been supporting the Taliban. Dostum, one of the biggest bulwarks against the Talibs has fled to Anatolian Turds (I guess owing to age). And we Endians would not budge on our positions (rightfully so) to assist the Panjshir alliance. I don't see a very bright future until the Russo-Pakrainian war is over. Things may change after that.

Mi dos pesos
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

As Taliban battles Massoud-led resistance in Afghanistan’s Panjshir, civilians in the line of fire
India Today spoke to Shafi Karimi (@karimi_shafi), a freelance journalist who follows the events unfolding in Afghanistan, specifically focusing on updates from Panjshir and Andarab battles. On the current situation, Shafi says, “The fighting is taking place in parts of Dara, Panjshir and Andarab. According to the news coming to me from local sources, the members of the Resistance Front are present in the Panjshir districts; Dara district, Shaba base, Arezoo valleys, Shotol, Andarab and in the areas of Deh Salah, Banu, and Pol Hesar.”
“The Taliban have largely succeeded in pushing back NRF rebels from some locations. But clashes are still reported from time to time in some areas where NRF still has cells active. While this is the biggest assault by NRF since the fall of Panjshir to the Taliban, it doesn't appear likely that NRF will be able to capture and then hold even a few districts in Panjshir unless there's direct foreign intervention in their favour,” he says.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Dilbu »

There seems to be another resistance front being formed against Taliban, brokered by Turkey. The leaders being announced are Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ahmad Wali Massoud, the younger brother of the late Lion of Panjshir Ahmad Shah Massoud. Sounds like a paki move to take the winds out of NRF's sails if ever there is an uprising against Taliban, now that TSP and Taliban have had a fallout.
Fresh moves to launch an anti-Taliban resistance
Nine months after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, a plan to launch resistance against the Kabul regime was initiated in Ankara on the 19th of May. Former Afghan vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum invited forty political figures and they agreed to form High Council of National Resistance against the Taliban. Even though back in August some opposition figures, particularly Dostum and Ahmad Wali Massoud of the National Resistance Front, gave a free hand to the Taliban, they are no longer interested in providing the Taliban with more time and space. The Taliban have failed to establish a broad-based government and adhere to human rights as agreed in the Doha accord in February 2020.
National resistance thinks that the situation is ripe for the launch of a full-fledged offensive against a regime that already lacks popular support and is unable to get international recognition. In a statement, the group said that the council should pave the way for the liberation of Afghanistan. “We demand the Taliban end their destruction and set the table for talks to find solutions to the current problems of Afghanistan. The Islamists should learn from the experiences of history that no group can have a stable government through acts of force and pressure.”
Most political figures in the alliance are old faces with notorious pasts, particularly age-old warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. Even Ahmad Wali Massoud, the younger brother of the late Lion of Panjshir Ahmad Shah Massoud, was ousted by the Taliban from his stronghold in Panjshir Valley in the fall of 2021. During the first Taliban regime, the Northern Alliance had controlled around 10% of Afghan territory but this is the first time that the Taliban regime controls the whole country. Had the opposition groups in Afghanistan been strong and powerful, they would have controlled some parts of the country today. Unity, leadership skills, tactics and strategy will determine the future success of the resistance council. The Taliban will continue strengthening their hold until and unless the forty Afghan leaders who attended the Ankara meeting can deal with the ground realities of the country. Launching an offensive against Taliban forces would require both material and military resources, which the resistance council can mobilise as the Taliban regime is unpopular both within the country and globally.
Second, the resistance council’s plan for a post-Taliban Afghanistan needs to be examined. The heterogeneous combination of the council cannot ensure peace in the country. They will be required to resolve the issues that have previously caused civil conflict and required foreign armed intervention. Perhaps, the council is confident that the absence of legitimacy and recognition of the Taliban’s rule and Pakistan’s perceived neutrality if the Taliban face an offensive from their opponents will lead to their success.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by g.sarkar »

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/31/pa ... liban-ttp/
Pakistan Sponsored Terror Next Door. Now, It’s Back to Roost
Afghans rue the return of the Taliban. So does Pakistan, as al Qaeda-linked militants run rampant.
Lynne O’Donnell, MAY 31, 2022

The United Nations Security Council has confirmed the resurgence of al Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that is closely tied to the Taliban and is using their return to power in Afghanistan to find safe haven, attract recruits, and boost fundraising for their never-ending jihad.
Al Qaeda’s leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden in 2011, and other core members of the group’s leadership are living in eastern Afghanistan as the Taliban’s guests, a report by the U.N. Security Council notes. The U.N. report says Zawahiri is churning out propaganda videos, apparently comfortable that he can “lead more effectively” than was possible before last year’s Taliban victory over the United States.
The biggest loser of the Taliban’s resurgence, other than the Afghan people, is perhaps Pakistan. The U.N. report throws a harsh spotlight on Pakistan’s dilemma as it struggles with an insurgency on its own soil after 20 years of supporting the Taliban’s war over the border in Afghanistan. The growing militant threat in Pakistan now comes largely from Afghanistan, where the Taliban are harboring an al Qaeda affiliate that aims to bring down the government in Islamabad.
The report says the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has up to 4,000 armed fighters based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and in the past two years has reabsorbed 17 former affiliates. “The group is focused on a long-term campaign against the Pakistani state, suggesting that ceasefire deals have a limited chance of success,” it said, referring to apparent attempts at mediation by Sirajuddin Haqqani, a Taliban cabinet minister, sanctioned terrorist, and notorious go-between for violence between the two countries.
The TTP, the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, has repeatedly attacked Pakistan from its new safe havens in eastern Afghanistan since August 2021, drawing airstrikes from Pakistan military and prompting Haqqani to reprise his role as moderator in peace talks between the two sides.
After the death of bin Laden in 2011 and the subsequent killings of al Qaeda leadership in border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, al Qaeda became increasingly indirect in its attacks. Its strength lies in its influence. Footage of an unknown date released in November 2021 shows Zawahiri branding the United Nations and the permanent members of the Security Council as “the biggest criminals on the face of the Earth.”
.....
Gautam
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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Taliban term Indian delegation’s Kabul visit a ‘good beginning in ties’
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has termed the visit of an Indian delegation to Afghanistan a “good beginning” in bilateral ties between the two countries.

“Today, IEA Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi received Indian MEA Joint Secretary J.P. Singh and accompanying delegation. The meeting focused on India-Afghan diplomatic relations, bilateral trade and humanitarian aid,” an official statement issued by the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
India has sent a team of foreign ministry officials to Afghanistan's capital of Kabul for talks with senior members of the ruling Taliban, the first such meeting since the chaotic US withdrawal last year.

FM Muttaqi welcomed the first Indian delegation to Kabul, “calling it a good beginning in ties between the two countries”.

He also expressed gratitude for the recent Indian humanitarian and medical assistance to Afghanistan.

The foreign minister stressed the resumption of projects by India, their diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and the provision of consular services to Afghans, particularly to students and patients, the statement added.

The Indian delegation sought positive relations with Afghanistan as in the past and pledged that they would continue their assistance to the war-torn country, as per the statement.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by Aditya_V »

Frankly, I dont see why we should be dealing with the Taliban who are essentially a puppet of Pakistan
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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If things are not going that great between Taliban and TSP why can't we act as a pressure point to needle TSP further. I don't think Indian govt will lose sight of the fact that Taliban will always be anti India at the end of the day. But there is no reason for us to stay away from playing the game. We should exploit whatever opportunities we can have on the chess board to further our interests.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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Al-Qaida enjoying a haven in Afghanistan under Taliban, UN warns
Al-Qaida has a haven in Afghanistan under the Taliban and “increased freedom of action” with the potential of launching new long-distance attacks in coming years, a UN report based on intelligence supplied by member states says.

The assessment, by the UN committee charged with enforcing sanctions on the Taliban and others that may threaten the security of Afghanistan, will raise concerns that the country could once again become a base for international terrorist attacks after the withdrawal of US and Nato troops last year.

Critics of the US president, Joe Biden, will point to the report’s description of a “close relationship” between al-Qaida and the Taliban as evidence that his decision to pull out all US forces was an error.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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:shock:
Taliban willing to send Afghan troops to India for training: Mullah Yaqoob
Afghanistan’s all-powerful Defence Minister Mullah Yaqub, son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, has expressed willingness to send Afghan army personnel to India for military training, saying they “don’t have any issue with it”.

He made these comments in an exclusive interview with India’s News 18 TV channel when asked would Taliban be willing to send their army officers to India for military training.
{Why would an Indian TV channel ask this question?}

“Yes, we don’t see any issue with it. Afghan-India relations get strengthened and set the ground for this. There will be no issues with it,” he remarked.

When asked would current regime in Afghanistan wish to have a close defence ties with India, Mullah Yaqub said first they wanted to establish strong diplomatic relations with all countries including India. “When we will together have cordial political and diplomatic relations, then only we would be ready for defence relations. Neither there will be any problem with it nor do we see any issue with it,” he added.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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Interesting. Taliban is desperately trying to get legitimacy.
Taliban to act against Pak LeT/JeM terrorists in Afghanistan on specific intel
During the bilateral meeting in Kabul last week, the Taliban top leadership assured India that it will not allow terrorism against third country from its soil but also act against terrorists of Pak-based groups on basis of pin-pointed intelligence.

It is learnt that India’s delegation leader and Af-Pak expert J P Singh met Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani apart from Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at Kabul on invitation from the Taliban government. The meeting came after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at a Regional Security Summit in Dushanbe asked fellow NSAs of Russia, China, Iran, and Central Asian Republics to enhance the capability of Afghanistan to counter terrorism and terrorists who pose a threat to regional peace and security.

According to information available from Kabul and New Delhi, the Taliban leadership not only promised action against India specific groups based in Pakistan like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen but also terrorists from Al Qaeda in the Sub-Continent (AQIS) provided specific information was provided.
The Indian perception from the bilateral meeting is that relationship of the Taliban regime with Al Qaeda is not the same as during Osama bin Laden days in past decades but there is a question mark on the Taliban foot-soldiers commitment and capability to take on the Salafist terrorist group. The AQIS has been trying to take credit for terrorists attacks in the sub-continent with the objective of enhancing its foot-print in the region. On June 5-6, it threatened both Bangladesh and India with suicide bomb attacks for trying to defame Islam and the Prophet.

Intelligence inputs indicate that AQIS and the so-called Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) are also branded products of terror factories based in Pakistan with the involvement of its deep state. India has already informed stake-holders in the region and in the west that any terror attack in Indian hinterland would be met with strong retaliation.
While the top Taliban leadership is committed to act against terror against India, the Modi government has decided to continue with humanitarian aid and revival of infrastructure projects and power stations in the strife torn country. With New Delhi directly engaging the Taliban on shared interests and stability in Afghanistan, the salience of Central Asian republics like bordering Tajikistan in the context of Kabul has gone down a few notches below in priority. Fact is that India no longer needs to operate a hospital across Amu Darya or have a presence at a military base in Tajikistan, which is opposed to the Taliban regime and is virtually caught in a Chinese debt trap.

The direct dialogue with Taliban will not only take care of India’s strategic interests in the region but also keep Pakistan and its Middle-East allies like Turkey on tenterhooks and also act as a deterrent to any mischief against New Delhi.
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

Post by sum »

Fact is that India no longer needs to operate a hospital across Amu Darya or have a presence at a military base in Tajikistan, which is opposed to the Taliban regime and is virtually caught in a Chinese debt trap.
Is this some kind of a face-saver claim to show all is well when in reality, we might be in the process of loosing out in the base at Tajikistan ( am guessing by the tone in the article)?

Why should it be a either/or situation and both cant be maintained, Taliban relations and Tajikistan base?
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Re: Afghanistan News & Discussion - April 2016

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India expresses concern about discriminatory, inferior status accorded to women in Afghanistan
India on Wednesday expressed its concern about the discriminatory inferior status accorded to women in Afghan society which has adversely impacted the education of girls in the war-torn country, while underlining the need for the Security Council to focus its attention on consequences of terrorism on the rights of women.

Addressing the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women and Peace and Security, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said discriminatory social and political structures have made violence against women systemic and deeply entrenched, making women easy targets in situations of armed conflict.

He underlined India’s deep conviction that a conducive environment for the participation and inclusion of women in political processes is indispensable for peace.
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