Afghanistan News & Discussion

salaam · Post by **salaam** » 11 Aug 2015 16:54

The ISI's grim message for Afghanistan

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/mk-bh ... 150811.htm

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 11 Aug 2015 16:59

Falijee wrote:Dostum Joins The Fray

Former Afghan warlord (And Now Vice President ) set to take offensive to Taliban

Dostum was a dost of India. Is Doval making a play in the game?

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 11 Aug 2015 18:49

Can some gurus throw some light as to why massa is silent on the latest spat between Ghani and Pakistan ; after all, both are their pets

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 11 Aug 2015 19:12

Falijee wrote:Can some gurus throw some light as to why massa is silent on the latest spat between Ghani and Pakistan ; after all, both are their pets

Probably shocked and divided over their pet monster's perfidy at attacking the smaller pet.
One section(old gang) might even have encouraged Pakis in strategic depth khyali to restore India-Pak balance.

This balance is their biggest concern.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 12 Aug 2015 12:06

Falijee wrote:Can some gurus throw some light as to why massa is silent on the latest spat between Ghani and Pakistan ; after all, both are their pets

U.S. tells Afghanistan, Pak. to fight extremism together - PTI

The U.S. has called for reducing tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan and has asked leaders of both the countries to work together to combat violet extremism.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday called up Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss situation on the ground in the aftermath of the series of terrorist attacks in Kabul over the last one week. Kerry’s call has come in the wake of accusation from Ghani that terrorist safe havens continue to exist in Pakistan.

“It is in the urgent interest of both countries to eliminate safe havens and to reduce the operational capacity of the Taliban on both sides of the border,” said State Department spokesperson John Kirby.

“Now is the time for the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, to work together to achieve the shared goal of defeating violent extremists,” he said as he referred to the terrorists detonating a car bomb at Kabul international airport.

Kerry and Ghani talked about the terrorist attacks, the issue of the safe havens and of the need for both countries to continue to work at this to try to eliminate those safe havens, Mr. Kirby said. “Nobody said it was going to be easy, and while we did cite progress, that doesn’t mean that anybody on either side is going to sort of let their foot off the gas on the need to continue to talk continue to try to deal with these safe havens,” he said.

“These attacks, all of them, have resulted in now hundreds of casualties and at least 56 deaths, including children, demonstrate again the insurgency’s complete disregard for the lives of innocent Afghans,” Mr. Kirby said, adding that the people of the region had suffered far too much at the hands of terrorists and violent extremists. {In fact, the people of the region suffered only because of the US and its ally-in-terror, Pakistan} — PTI

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Aug 2015 06:36

‘Pak. hand behind Kabul attacks’ - AP

Afghanistan’s intelligence agency claimed on Wednesday that Pakistan was involved in last week’s attacks on Kabul that killed almost 50 people and wounded hundreds.

“Special circles of the Pakistani military were behind all those attacks,” said Hasib Sediqi, spokesman for the Afghanistan National Directorate of Security. He said that the Pakistanis were working through the Haqqani network.

There was no immediate reaction from Islamabad.

“Suicide bombers are receiving their training in Pakistan, there are factories in Pakistan that are making bombs and explosives, which are used to kill and wound civilians in Afghanistan,” Sediqi said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Afghan authorities recovered the corpses of four men kidnapped in the country’s east last week, while at least eight others have been newly abducted.

The four corpses, found in Nawur district near the Pakistani border, all had been shot dead.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 14 Aug 2015 01:19

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 15 Aug 2015 17:07

Afghan LUH

arun · Post by **arun** » 16 Aug 2015 11:35

X Posted from the “ISI-History and Discussions” thread.

Former Afghan Warlord and present First Vice President of Afghanistan, Gen. Rashid Dostum, implicates the notorious Mohammadden terrorist fomenting intelligence arm of the uniformed Jihadi’s of Punjabi dominated military of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI in violence targeting Aghanistan:

The Afghan First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum joined the Afghan security institutions and top government officials for blaming Pakistan’s military intelligence for the ongoing violence in the country.

Gen. Dostum is currently in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan to coordinate military operations against the anti-government armed militant groups amid deteriorating security situation in this province.

He said the Pakistani military generals and the country’s powerful military intelligence – Inter service Intelligence (ISI) are plotting and coordinating attacks across Afghanistan, under the name of al Qaeda, Islamic State affiliates and Taliban militants.

According to Gen. Dostum, the ongoing violence in Afghanistan could end only if Pakistan’s military and ISI truely coopeate with the Afghan government.

From Khaama Press:

Gen. Dostum: Pakistan’s ISI behind ongoing violence in Afghanistan

Abhay_S · Post by **Abhay_S** » 18 Aug 2015 04:30

http://thediplomat.com/2015/08/a-house- ... ign=buffer

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani seems to have arrived at the same conclusion about Pakistan that his predecessor did but after making a sincere 10-month effort to reach out to his meddlesome neighbor. The realization, therefore, is that much starker.

After a series of bloody attacks on the Afghan army, police and U.S. special forces in Kabul over the weekend that killed more than 57 people, Ghani accused Pakistan of sending “messages of war” and sheltering suicide bombers, supplying them with military-grade explosives and doing nothing to halt their plans.

Within hours of his angry statements, the U.S. State Department came to Pakistan’s rescue, saying Washington did not have “specific intelligence” to conclude whether Islamabad was involved in the attacks. Privately, officials conveyed a sense that Ghani was “posturing” since he had gone out on a political limb to make peace with Pakistan and was disappointed.

The attacks followed revelations that Mullah Omar had died in 2013 in Karachi, a fact that was kept hidden both by the Taliban and its mentors, the Pakistani army and the ISI. The Pakistan-sponsored “peace talks” collapsed as a bitter struggle ensued to claim Omar’s mantle.

Pakistan’s man is Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur, who had been acting in Mullah Omar’s name, with ISI’s help. He is believed to have endorsed peace talks with Afghanistan but Mansur’s first act to prove his leadership was to let loose a dance of death against the Afghan people and security forces.

In Pakistani and American reckoning, Ghani is supposed to “understand” and absorb the attacks in the context of various Taliban factions vying for control. An editorial in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper justified the violence with these remarkable words: “The wave of Taliban attacks may be partly for the new leadership, or the leadership contenders, to establish their bona fides as genuine Taliban leaders and not mere power-hungry leaders.”

So twisted has Pakistan’s logic become that even respectable newspapers casually suggest that only violence justifies “genuine” leadership.

The end result – to quote former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad – is that the “Pakistan-led, Pakistan-owned” peace process has collapsed like a “house of cards.” Pakistan’s ability to “deliver” the Taliban is in question.

The unfortunate part is that the United States seems to have played along in keeping Omar’s death under wraps. U.S. press reports indicate that Washington had its suspicions but didn’t push the Pakistanis for proof. The reasons why are not clear.

U.S. officials deny they knew of Omar’s death and believe that Pakistan didn’t know either. It was not a “giant ruse” in the words of one official. But the calculation appears to have been in favor of keeping the appearance of a unified enemy as opposed to exposing the lie.

The developments of the last two weeks raise important questions about how U.S. policy in the region is unfolding. There is no question that Washington will stay engaged – and it should – with both Pakistan and Afghanistan but “how” is what concerns Pakistan’s two immediate neighbors – Afghanistan and India.

Do these developments warrant a re-think and tweaking of U.S. policy in the region? So far Washington seems to give all the rope needed to Pakistan’s army-ISI combine to figure it out while it defends Islamabad in public and private. But the space for rationalizing Pakistan’s behavior is shrinking.

The sense among U.S. officials remains that Pakistan is trying hard and is frustrated with the Taliban. They believe the Pakistanis can’t and don’t effectively control the Taliban leadership. They reject Indian and Afghan arguments that the ISI does indeed exercise control by providing lines of communication, weapons, access, shelter and a window to the outside world.

Even if Pakistan’s control is not positive but “negative” – through threats to kill family members or other coercion – Pakistani minders give enough evidence of being more influential than Washington believes.

U.S. officials say Pakistan wants a “relatively stable” government in Afghanistan but one that is not overly sympathetic to India. But by endorsing this veto on how the Afghans fashion their future, the Americans also become complicit in the mess.

At the same time U.S. officials also insist they no longer see Pakistan with the old rose-tinted glasses and don’t necessarily buy the argument that it has made a “strategic shift” in favor of peaceful co-existence or that it’s ready to shed its terrorist tool box.

But if Pakistan hasn’t made a strategic shift then why give its deceptive arguments so much weight? The only logical explanation can be that the U.S. government agrees with and accepts that the government in Kabul should accommodate Islamabad’s insecurities by keeping India at a distance.

In the end, this is not a good remedy and we all know it.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 23 Aug 2015 18:17

In an interview, former Afghan secret service chief Amrullah Saleh discusses the recent wave of Taliban violence aimed at cementing power for its new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. He says the attacks are backed by Pakistan.

Ex-Intelligence Chief: 'Pakistan Is at War Against the Afghan People'

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 23 Aug 2015 18:47

Austin wrote:In an interview, former Afghan secret service chief Amrullah Saleh discusses the recent wave of Taliban violence aimed at cementing power for its new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. He says the attacks are backed by Pakistan.

Pakis would have the rest of the world believe that it is the other group led by the disappointed Zakir who is behind these attacks !

Abhay_S · Post by **Abhay_S** » 27 Aug 2015 22:07

India-Afghanistan friendship Dam
http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/ ... ndship-dam

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 29 Aug 2015 12:41

India rebuffs Afghanistan on strategic meet - Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu

Stung by Afghanistan’s security and strategic shift towards Pakistan in the past year, India has rebuffed another invitation from Kabul to revive the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) signed in 2011 to hold a meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).

Diplomatic sources at the highest level have confirmed to The Hindu that India has conveyed its inability to hold the meeting that would be chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani “due to prior commitments.”

New Delhi has also conveyed that Ms. Swaraj will not attend the upcoming Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Kabul on September 3 and 4, and instead Sujata Mehta, Secretary, Multilateral and Economic Relations, will represent India at the conference. India’s representation will be in sharp contrast to some of the other regional countries participating at the Foreign Minister-level, while Iran is expected to send its Interior Minister and Pakistan its National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, RECCA official Asadullah Hamdard confirmed to The Hindu .

While India’s decision to not attend the RECCA conference, which is essentially a development and donor conference, may not affect relations given India’s $2.3-billion strong commitment to Afghanistan, Afghan officials said the delay in the SPC meeting is more significant. India and Afghanistan have held only one meeting of the SPC (in 2012) since former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and former India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the historic agreement in 2011.

“We can’t understand what the agreement means if we can’t even schedule a meeting for three years,” an Afghan official told The Hindu , adding that Afghanistan has made four requests since January for the meeting, the fourth request being made in August.

Officials in Delhi confirmed they had received “at least two to three written requests, and several oral requests had been raised as well.”

India was the first country Afghanistan chose to sign a strategic partnership agreement with, despite the U.S. and Pakistan keen on doing so. Since then, however, India has significantly withdrawn from its strategic promises to Afghanistan for a number of reasons.

To begin with, a barrage of attacks from the Taliban supported by Pakistan as a “backlash” to Indian presence have forced India to reconsider its strategic and military assistance there.

Next, said officials, after President Ashraf Ghani took charge in 2014, he made a decisive shift towards mending fences with the Pakistan Army, including visits to the Pakistan General Headquarters and inviting the Army and intelligence chiefs to Kabul, and signing an MoU between intelligence agencies NDS and ISI, even as his government joined talks with the Taliban hosted by Pakistan.

Trust deficit

“After Karzai, we have never trusted Ashraf Ghani’s motivations given the overtures he made to the Pakistan Army,” said the former Ambassador to Kabul Rakesh Sood, adding, “India has always been hesitant about what it wanted from the SPA anyway. The demand for defence equipment, for example, was something we were never able to deliver on.”

India’s development commitment remains robust, and Mr. Modi's visit is expected to take place once the Afghan Parliament is completed by the Indian Public Works Department by January 2016.

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » 29 Aug 2015 18:06

If this is true, it's perhaps not terribly wise... Though the article is by Suhasini Haider, so then again....

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 29 Aug 2015 18:33

^^^ Is this one of those unwritten concessions to Pakistan, US?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 29 Aug 2015 20:54

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articl ... ave-5-dead

5 dead in fighting between rival Taliban factions as group tries to resolve leadership crisis
Associated Press Aug. 29, 2015 | 7:17 a.m. EDT + More

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Gunbattles between rival Taliban factions left at least five dead in southern Afghanistan, a top official with the insurgent group said Saturday as its members meet in Pakistan to resolve a leadership crisis following the death of its former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

It was the first confirmed report of deadly Taliban infighting after an announcement last month that Mullah Omar had been dead for more than two years. Mullah Omar's family objected after his former deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, was named the new Taliban leader and rivalries have spilled into violence, said Ahmad Rabbani, head of a committee trying to reunify the group.

Rabbani spoke from the Pakistani city of Quetta, where hundreds of Taliban loyalists are meeting in an effort to resolve the split.

The five deaths came after Taliban commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, loyal to Mullah Omar's family, led hundreds of gunmen against Mansoor supporters in the southern Afghan province of Zabul, where the Taliban have long had a fighting presence, Rabbani said.

Rabbani said his committee hoped to reach a decision on who should lead the Taliban — whose leaders have been based in Pakistan since their regime was overthrown in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001 — by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, at least 13 police were reported killed in separate attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan.

Col. Asadullah Ensafi, the deputy police chief in eastern Ghazni province, said at least eight officers were killed and 15 wounded in separate Taliban attacks on police checkpoints Friday in Andar and Qarabagh districts.

Insurgents have intensified attacks on police checkpoints in recent months, as they typically have few men and are vulnerable. Casualties have soared.

Separately, Ensafi said an Afghan forces airstrike killed 16 insurgents and wounded 17 late Friday in Ghazni's capital.

The war with the Taliban has been particularly tough this year for Afghan forces, who are fighting without international combat troops backing them up after the U.S. and NATO pulled out last year.

Separately, in the Chora district of southern Uruzgan province, five police officers were killed when their vehicle hit roadside bomb, said Abdul Qawi, the Chora police chief.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 31 Aug 2015 12:41

Afghan Taliban admit covering up Mullah Omar's death - AFP

The Taliban on Monday admitted covering up longtime leader Mullah Omar's death for more than two years, saying he died in 2013 as was first claimed by the Afghan intelligence.

The group had continued as recently as July to release official statements in the name of Omar, who had not been seen in public since the Taliban were toppled from power in Kabul in 2001.

They confirmed on July 30 that he had died but did not say when, deepening internal divisions as many insurgents accused the leadership of covering up his death for two years.

A Taliban statement Monday admitted for the first time that he died on April 23, 2013. The detail was buried in a biography of new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Omar's longtime deputy.

"Several key members of the supreme leading council of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) and authentic religious scholars together decided on concealing the tragic news of passing away of (Omar)... and keep this secret limited to the very few colleagues who were already informed of this incorrigible loss," the biography said.

"One of the main reasons behind this decision was... that 2013 was considered the final year of power testing between the mujahidin and foreign invaders who... had announced that at the end of 2014, all military operations by foreign troops would be concluded."

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Sep 2015 11:41

MoU with ISI dropped: Karzai - Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu

Former President Hamid Karzai holds no official post, but he continues to be influential in Afghan politics and both President Ghani and CEO Abdullah have served in his cabinet. In an interview in Delhi to a select group of journalists that included Diplomatic Editor Suhasini Haidar, he spoke about the strain in Afghan-Pakistan ties as well as reviving the Indo-Afghan Strategic Partnership Alliance council.

Qun: India and Afghanistan relations seem strained at present. What is the view from Kabul, is there disappointment over the “list” of defence equipment that India has not delivered?

Karzai: When I signed a strategic partnership agreement (SPA) with India, the purpose was not only military but about a comprehensive relationship with India that we wanted. The “list” (of defence equipment and ammunition) was a small part of that, that we understood India could not deliver upon. The SPA was an intention of a broader relationship, not an expectation of delivery of goods.

Qun: What has changed in the India-Afghanistan relationship after the swearing in of President Ghani?

Karzai: Well, relations between the two countries are always people based. Our civilizational links are beyond governments. So no matter who is in power, relations remain strong. India has proved to be a steadfast friend of Afghanistan over the past 13 years. Thousands of youth who have been educated. More than 2billion dollars of assistance that paid for the Zaranj Delaram Highway, the Salma Dam, the new Parliament building which I hope the PM of India will iniaugurate soon, a thousand scholarships. No country has done for us what India has done for us, keeping its circumstances in mind. After my retirement as President, I have seen the massive impact of the education has had in Afghanistan. A critical mass of students, the middle class, the workforce of Afghanistan has been built by India through the educational opportunities it provides. We have a problem in the terror that affects both India and Afghanistan. And I hope the people of Pakistan realise it. Afghanistan has a lot of respect for the people of Pakistan, they received us and treated us well as refugees. The issue is with the military and intelligence there. I am sure India is seeking an end to all the violence of the kind we have seen in Gurdaspur or in Kabul recently.

Qun: Could we be specific about the Strategic Partnership? Since 2012, there has been no meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council. The Hindu had recently reported on how India has rebuffed Afghanistans proposals to hold the dialogue between foreign ministers….

Karzai: I would strongly recommend that India launch the strategic partnership council at the earliest. The Afghan government wants this dialogue, and India must start it.

Qun: Why do you think India isn’t accepting the offer for the dialogue? There have been four requests from the Afghan government this year, with no response.

Karzai: Let me not venture into this area.

Qun: You envisioned this strategic partnership in 2011. Today, all that it has come down to is 182 jeeps, 3 helicopters, and training a thousand plus ANA soldiers in the Indian Academy. Is this what you had envisioned 4 years ago?

Karzai: Not at all. In terms of reconstruction, India has done far more than anyone. In terms of education, India has gone far beyond anyone else. In terms of security assistance, India has been hesitant, for reasons known to India, which we in Afghanistan would hope would have been better. India should be more forthcoming and forward looking with the Afghan government and people much more. I know the Afghan government has asked for the launch of this strategic dialogue for years now, my recommendation that India do this as soon as possible, and carry the torch forward.

Qun: In India the question is, how can one trust the new government in Afghanistan? The President’s close ties with the Pakistani military, the recently signed MoU between the ISI and NDS (Afghan intelligence) …

Karzai: We also saw President Ghani speak of his frustrations with Pakistan just a few days ago. As I mentioned earlier, the relationship is based on the people. So India must engage with the Afghan government, thinking of the Afghan people. Things will change no doubt.

Qun: Are you saying President Ghani is moving away from the closeness with Pakistan?

Karzai: That is not for me to say. What I can say is India and Afghanistan are intrinsically linked in terms of security and prosperity. The options for India are limited in Afghanistan so we have to be together.

Qun: Despite that, when it comes to the Taliban talks recently, India was cut out of the picture entirely. The US and China were invited, but India was not taken into confidence about what the Afghan government was going to do….

Karzai: India is a huge country, it has relevance wordwide. For us in the region, it is not only a neighbour, and has an essential contribution for keeping peace in the region. Therefore if someone is working on a peace deal India must be part of it. For any peace talks to be successful, India, Iran and Russia must also be taken into confidence. But I would also ask India to be seeking that role. India should not be hesitant. India must play its role.

Qun: In the post Mullah Omar scenario, the Taliban has named Siraj Haqqani the deputy leader to Mullah Mansour. Given Haqqani’s role in attacks on Afghan security forces, what kind of impact will this have on the peace talks?

Karzai: Yes, many attacks have been attributed to the Haqqani network, and they must be investigated. Now that one of their leaders has been named the deputy leader of the Taliban, we as Afghans would hope that they will work for Afghanistan, and not work for any other power to undermine Afghanistan. The Taliban must begin to act as Afghans in Afghanistan’s interests, and that includes in our interests with India.

Security for us means security for India and security for India is good for us. This doesn’t mean that the Taliban or Afghans cant be friends with Pakistan. We are neighbours, we can have a brotherly relationship but a sovereign Afghanistan can have a good relationship with both, and cant take dictation from either. Pakistan must choose a peaceful coexistence with Afghanistan and not a destructive role. If it pursues a destructive role, it will have no bearing on us, as it has not had any in the past 13 years.

Qun: What about your own role? We have seen international reports that you are trying to undermine President Ghani. That you are an extra constitutional authority over the government, and the accusation that you are a part of an Indian design to re- establish its influence on Kabul.

Karzai: (Laughs) I wish India had a design! It’s none of that. I am fully behind the government. I fully support President Ghani. Of course, it is true, I have issued a statement about my concern over the MoU between Afghanistan intelligence NDS and the ISI. That was a national issue, and as a citizen of Afghanistan I have a right to speak that it was wrong. Other than that I am fully behind the government and my services are always available and I am a man of some experience.

Qun: Despite that the NDS-ISI MoU still remains…

Karzai: The MoU does not remain…No. We[President Ghani and I] had a conversation about that which will bear fruits as time will move on. It is something the Afghan people rejected, they have not accepted..It is clearly against Afghan interests.

Qun: So what was behind the MoU?

Karzai: I can’t say what was behind it, but can tell you it was not in the interests of Afghanistan. Not that we don’t want to be friendly with Pakistan, we want to be very friendly with the people of Pakistan but the ISI, the Pakistani intelligence is not a good example to emulate for Afghanistan. For that reason, that partnership was not right for us.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Sep 2015 11:58

Stop ‘baseless propaganda’, Pakistan tells Afghanistan -DT

Pakistan on Thursday acknowledged that confidence level between Islamabad and Kabul on security matters was at a historic low and urged the Afghan leadership to stop its anti-Pakistan propaganda.

An official of Foreign Office said on Thursday that National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz will deliver a clear message to the Afghan leadership in this regard when he meets it on Friday (today). “Afghanistan has to stop anti-Pakistan remarks and carry out measures to build trust,” remarked the FO official, who requested not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Aziz, the official maintained, would also stress that “peace and stability in Afghanistan lies in intra-Afghan dialogue and therefore Kabul must sit in the second round of peace talks with Taliban and other groups”.

Moreover, the official rejected Afghan allegations that Pakistan abetted the recent attacks in Kabul. He maintained that 80 percent of the insurgency in Afghanistan originates from within the country. The official admitted that the agreement on security and counter-terrorism between the intelligence agencies of the two countries was now a dead document because it was not approved by the Afghan parliament. {Confirms what Karzai said in the interview posted above} Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Foreign Office in a statement confirmed that the adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, will visit Kabul today.

During his visit Aziz will lead the Pakistani delegation in the ministerial meeting of the sixth Regional Economic Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA-VI). The FO spokesman said the premier’s adviser will also hold consultations with the Afghan leadership on important bilateral issues. Tensions have flared in recent weeks, with Ghani accusing Islamabad of failing to act against extremists operating along the porous border.

Pakistan embassy in Kabul has been deeply concerned because of the anti-Pakistan campaign in Afghanistan. Despite anti-Pakistan statements from Kabul recently, it said Pakistan had not reacted by not issuing any tit-for-tat statement because Islamabad was genuinely committed to see the return of peace to the war-devastated country. During his day-long sojourn in Kabul, Aziz will call on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Afghan counterpart to discuss Pak- Afghan bilateral relations.Diplomatic sources said the second most important point Aziz would stress upon during his talks with the Afghan leadership would be that the path of lasting peace in Afghanistan lies in the intra-Afghan dialogue and not in the use of force. They were of the view that Pakistan believed that Afghanistan’s situation could not be resolved through war, as use of force in the past had failed to restore peace. If Afghan government wants to go ahead on that path, Pakistan is ready to move forward. Pakistan had organised the first round of Afghan-led and intra-Afghan dialogue in Murree on July 7, and it was attended by representatives of the US and China.

The second round of talks on July 31 was cancelled when the news of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar was announced two days before the talks and a war of succession started among Taliban groups, they said. But now Mullah Mansour Akhtar has established his leadership among the Afghan groups. During these talks Pakistan did not suggest anything, as it did not want to impose any condition because Islamabad had taken a solemn decision to see Afghanistan as a sovereign country, the diplomatic sources said.

According to them there are two ways to achieve peace in Afghanistan, either through intra-Afghan dialogue or through the use of force, but it is up to Afghans which course they want to choose.

But the use of force in Afghanistan would spread uncertainty and it will have a fallout in both countries, said the sources. When questioned on reports of Quetta Shura, they said there was a need to differentiate between information and disinformation. According to a study, 80 percent of insurgency in Afghanistan is Afghan-based and Afghan-owned, while only 14 percent violence had been attributed to the feared Haqqani Network. The diplomatic sources said Pakistan had proved beyond doubt its commitment to eliminate terrorism from its soil and launched an operation in North Waziristan using its own resources and has already paid a heavy price, both in terms of men and material.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 05 Sep 2015 14:43

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europe ... pe-n420131

All educated people seem to be looking for a way out of Afghanistan. That means, only the useless terrorists/jihadis are staying back.

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 07 Sep 2015 17:45

Afghanistan Straight Talk To Pakistan - Act Against Taliban Militants

Afghanistan asks Pakistan to act against militants after talks

ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Afghanistan asked Pakistan to act against Afghan Taliban militants operating on its territory during weekend talks in Kabul, while Pakistan said the South Asian neighbors needed to build trust, officials said after the meetings.

“We reiterate our position and state facts, asking Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups inside its territory that declare war against our people,” a spokesman for the Afghan president’s office said in statement on Sunday.

Pakistan said after the meetings that both countries should work together to restore trust, and that an agreement had been reached to end a blame game over a spate of attacks.
“We will work on establishing a memorandum of trust building to avoid such a situation in the future,” Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister said on state television on Saturday about his meeting with Ghani.

Aziz said the talks had produced an agreement to avoid any further breakdown in relations between the countries.
“The main thing that we both agreed upon was to restore trust, end the blame game against each other,” he said.[*]

[*] Speaking like a broken record

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 07 Sep 2015 23:31

Karzai Comes Out On The Side Of India

India should be party to talks with Taliban: Karzai

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has urged India to ‘seek’ to be present during Taliban peace talks.

“India, Iran and Russia should all be present,” Karzai said during his visit to New Delhi, according to the Times of India.

Karzai, known for anti-Pakistan rhetoric, also asked India to engage more deeply with the Ghani-led Afghan government. “The two countries are intrinsically linked due to common security interests,” the former Afghan president said.

Further, Karzai said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Afghan intelligence service (NDS) and Pakistan’s ISI no longer exists.

“No, the MoU does not stand. President Ashraf Ghani and I had a conversation on that which I hope will bear fruit. It’s something Afghan people have rejected, because it is against Afghan interests,” Karzai said, while addressing the media.

Abdullah is scheduled to visit India as a result of two big donor conferences in Afghanistan, RECCA along with the Japan-led conference, during with India ensured completion of its ongoing projects. However, according to reports, if the Afghan president is seen leaning towards Pakistan, India will be forced to rethink its engagement priorities in Afghanistan. However, the former seems unlikely.

Shanu · Post by **Shanu** » 08 Sep 2015 22:46

Don't want to get my hopes up just yet...but IS is definitely causing some pain to ISI pasand Talibans in Afghanistan.

Like this full blown war in the Southern provinces between Dadullah and Talib Chief Mansour's men.

In one of the first tests of his leadership, the head of Afghanistan’s Taliban militants is moving aggressively against a breakaway faction in the south of the country, according to Afghan and Taliban officials.

Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, who assumed leadership of the Taliban this summer, has sent hundreds of fighters on motorcycles in the past two weeks to Zabul Province to battle forces loyal to Mullah Mansour Dadullah, who has publicly refused to pledge allegiance to the new leader, the officials said.

The two factions have since been fighting with no clear conclusion in sight. The latest skirmish on Saturday, which lasted for an hour and involved heavy weapons, left at least five people dead on each side, Ghulam Jilani Farahi, the province’s security chief, said on Sunday. Ten of Mullah Mansour’s men were detained by Mullah Dadullah’s forces, a member of the Taliban in Zabul said on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals for sharing details of the group’s infighting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/world ... south.html

And this is a phenomenon now spreading to "numerous other locations" as well, according to this link.

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articl ... fghanistan

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Sep 2015 05:50

Shanu can you please x-post the above in the 'IS in the Indian Subcontinent' thread as well?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 11 Sep 2015 12:15

India in no mood to shore up support for Brookings Ghani....How long before the overt support network in India gets activated to rescue him

http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/amid-shi ... ghanistan/

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 14 Sep 2015 14:58

Afghan Taliban storm jail, release over 350 inmates: official[*][/url]

[*] Now wait for the Pakistan connection to surface in due course

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 16 Sep 2015 14:05

Sami Yousafzai ‏@Samiyousafzai · 38s38 seconds ago
A key Taliban leader from anti mansur group arrested in Dubai ,unconfirmed reports says deported to Kabul ,big blow for m.mansur challengers

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Sep 2015 22:00

Suhasini Haidar's interview of Hamid Karzai is from POV of faulting GOI and President Ghani.

Its an anti-India interview trying to make Karzai say things which he thankfully stepped over.

arun · Post by **arun** » 22 Sep 2015 11:13

X posted from the “Positive News from the USA” thread.

New York Times reports that US Soldiers in Afghanistan were ordered by senior officers of the US Military to ignore practise of homosexual paedophilia aka “bacha bazi” indulged by their Afghan allies:

U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 28 Sep 2015 11:03

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/ ... A820150928

Taliban is attacking Kunduz from various directions

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 Sep 2015 16:12

India left out of meeting on Afghanistan - Varghese K George, The Hindu

A meeting on Afghanistan, co-chaired by the United States and China on Saturday with Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Turkey, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Norway kept India out, but India made light of it saying it was an “informal meeting.” European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy also participated in the meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the meeting. Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabban said the meeting demonstrated “the renewed spirit of partnership that has emerged between these two countries, whose commitment to Afghanistan is greatly valued and appreciated.” Mr. Rabbani said he and President Ghani “took all necessary measures to ensure that our relationship with one country would not overshadow our relationship with the others.” Mr. Kerry welcomed China’s engagement in Afghanistan, stating that as a near neighbour, it can greatly contribute to the stabilisation efforts.

An Indian diplomat told The Hindu that the meeting was an informal mechanism and exclusion from it did not matter to India. “We are part of the U.N. initiatives on Afghanistan,” he pointed out.

The reducing diplomatic space after the Ghani government took charge remains a matter of concern for India.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 28 Sep 2015 17:00

^^^ from above meeting: http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/ ... 247362.htm

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Afghan Foreign Minister H.E. Salahuddin Rabbani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
New York Palace Hotel
New York City
September 26, 2015

Wang Yi said:

As we understand it, the Afghan Government and the Taliban share a desire to resume political discussions, and it’s China’s hope that the other parties will come together to support and encourage this process and encourage the government and the Taliban to meet each other halfway and create necessary conditions for the next round of discussions.

Are the "other parties" a euphemism for Pakistan and its terrorists?

Further, US Dept of State backgrounder on this event:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/09/247363.htm

PS: A Seema Mustafa article:
http://www.thecitizen.in/NewsDetail.asp ... FGHANISTAN

US media reports also suggest a lowering of tensions with senior officials being quoted as saying that they do not see China as a competitor to its relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The major meeting in New York was a clear example of this major shift in policy, with close coordination being the key word even as India is eased out. Or as a source said, eases itself out of the Afghan peace process altogether.

In my opinion, if China gets a significant stake in Afghanistan, Pakistan will use that as a lever to extract protection money from China. Direct extraction using the Uighurs in Xinjiang is too risky for Pakistan. What Pakistan really wants is something like Egypt has: Egypt gets of the order of $3 billion an year in return for keeping the peace with Israel. The US is not interested enough in Afghanistan to pay that kind of price. I think the Pakistanis hope that China will be so interested. One, India cannot pay Pakistan, and two, even if Pakistan would take Indian money, how much is peace in Afghanistan worth to India?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Sep 2015 18:00

Times of India

Afghan Taliban hoist flag over main square in Kunduz city
Times of India - ‎37 minutes ago‎

KUNDUZ CITY, AFGHNAISTAN: Afghan Taliban fighters who launched a three-pronged assault on the northern provincial city of Kunduz have hoisted their white banner over the main square, a Reuters witness and two security officials said on Monday.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 28 Sep 2015 18:05

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34377565

They have captured half the city according to BBC.

Battles between government forces and the Taliban were raging about 500 metres from the governor's compound, the deputy governor said, after he had fled to the city's airport.

from here -
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 139062.cms

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 28 Sep 2015 18:13

Kunduz prison taken over and 500 released. This means those rescued in the Kunduz Airlift have been freed.
Then the Americans were coming in, now they have left. Fun times ahead boys.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Sep 2015 18:36

AF's 5th largest city has fallen.

in general terms if a target has fallen, the best time to retake it is a immediate counter-attack before the new owners have had time to organize themselves and set up key defensive positions and landmines.

remains to be seen if kabul can muster enough of a mobile and trained force from surrounding areas for this. maybe tribal lashkars and kabilas can be paid heavily in opium, dollar notes (donated by the US) and gold to form a kind of rag tag "militia" to retake the town .... I am probably clutching at straws here

quick moves are needed else that entire province will unravel and governance melt away.

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 28 Sep 2015 18:55

Why are we standing on the sidelines and watching?

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 28 Sep 2015 19:14

What do u suggest we should do ?!

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 28 Sep 2015 19:20

According to twitter, Taliban has freed prisoners, captured tanks, armoured vehicles and police jeeps, hoisted its flag. Taliban has also seized all banks.
The airport is still under the control of ANSF and reinforcements are being sent there.