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I know I am only one bullet away from death: Ghani

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(Last Updated On: May 15, 2021)

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in an interview this week that the narrative being portrayed by the media of “gloom and doom” must stop and instead a more positive spin needs to be put on the country’s future.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Ghani said: “The more the media talks about these doom-and-gloom scenarios, the more it encourages people to leave. Instead, please describe the opportunities that are available here, even in the most difficult of times, including war.”

He said however that under the current circumstances “the probability of a civil war is there,” but added that it “doesn’t have to come to that.”

“You know, when the combat mission officially ended in 2014 and was modified as a training mission, everybody already saw the demise of the republic coming. But we made it work. Please take into consideration that all of this is also a question of narrative: The more the scenario of destabilization is spread, the more we are confronted with violence here.”

He told Der Spiegel that US President Joe Biden’s administration has made a strategic decision to withdraw its military presence and that he respects this.

“Any expression of anger, resentment or disappointment would not be productive. I myself have never opposed a US withdrawal – nor do I waste my time on regrets. The question now is where our common interests lie in the future and how we will reshape our partnership with the US.”

Ghani also stated the Afghan security forces are well prepared to defend their country after foreign troops leave. “If I did anything, it was to prepare our forces for this situation.”

Ghani confirmed that Afghanistan’s leaders are currently trying to form a state council across all party lines. This is to not only organize the peace process, but also organize resistance against the Taliban.

“The council is actually forming right now. It is emerging, and I am pushing for it with all my might.

“A peace process is a fundamental scenario. Once the Taliban realize that they cannot overthrow the government, they will need to come to peace as the dominant scenario,” he said, adding that “the question of peace or hostility is now in Pakistani hands.”

Ghani explained that “Pakistan operates an organized system of support.

“The Taliban receive logistics there, their finances are there and recruitment is there. The names of the various decision-making bodies of the Taliban are Quetta Shura, Miramshah Shura and Peshawar Shura – named after the Pakistani cities where they are located. There is a deep relationship with the state.”

But he noted that Pakistan’s Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Bajwa assured him on Monday, during his visit to Kabul, that the restoration of a Taliban regime “is not in anybody’s interest in the region, especially Pakistan.”

“However, he said, some of the lower levels in the army still hold the opposite opinion in certain cases. It is primarily a question of political will,” Ghani stated.

He said however that Western diplomacy “should stop coddling” the Taliban.

“The Taliban are criminals. They kill innocent people – as they did just a few days ago, in an attack on a girls’ school in Kabul, in Dasht-e-Barchi, which cost the lives of 85 people. Do not validate these criminals as a shadow government!”

“The Taliban made the environment for these crimes possible – they did not cut their ties with al-Qaeda as they claim to have done. They bear responsibility for this,” he said.

On the issue of the release of a further 7,000 prisoners, Ghani said he would do so “only if it leads to a comprehensive peace agreement.”

In conclusion, Ghani said: “I know I am only one bullet away from death.”

“There have been many attempts on my life. But Afghanistan is not South Vietnam, and I did not come here in a coup. I was elected by the people. I’ve never had an American bodyguard or an American tank protecting me. Before I became president, I lived abroad for 28 years, and had a successful career. But I was not happy. No power in the world could persuade me to now get on a plane and leave this country. It is a country I love, and I will die defending.”

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Afghans in Europe Union members meet with ministers of defense, mining

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(Last Updated On: April 23, 2024)

Representatives of the Union of Afghans living in Europe on Tuesday met with the ministers of defense and mining for talks on several issues.

Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqoub Mujahid said in a meeting with union delegates that the current security situation in the country has provided an opportunity for everyone to participate in the progress of Afghanistan.

Mujahid added that there were still some problems in certain areas but that these will be removed.

In this meeting, Mujahid called Afghanistan the common home of all Afghans and said the problems in the country will be solved soon.

“The problems that exist in some issues will be solved soon; but there was nothing more than the security that has been revealed in this land today with the help of Allah and with the sacrifices of our people,” he was quoted in a statement as saying.

According to the statement, a number of Afghans, who only moved to the country after the Islamic Emirate’s takeover, expressed their satisfaction with the current situation in the country.

In addition, Shahabuddin Delawar, acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, also met with union representatives and asked Afghans living abroad to return to Afghanistan and contribute to the country’s progress.

In this meeting, the Afghans living in Europe asked Delawar to provide better facilities to Afghans who want to invest in the country. The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum says that Delawar also asked the visiting delegation to return to Afghanistan and contribute to the country’s development.

Earlier, in a meeting with a number of other officials of the Islamic Emirate, including the political deputy of the Prime Minister and the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, this delegation emphasized the need to strengthen the system and provide work and education to Afghan girls and women.

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Regional developments require Afghanistan, China’s full coordination to protect interests: Muttaqi

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(Last Updated On: April 23, 2024)

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi has said that recent events and developments in the region require that Afghanistan and China continue their cooperation in full coordination so that they can protect their common interests.

Muttaqi stated this in a meeting with the Chinese ambassador in Kabul Zhao Xing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Tuesday that the two sides discussed bilateral political, economic and cultural cooperation between Afghanistan and China and the recent developments in the region.

Muttaqi expressed his satisfaction with the expansion of political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries and said that the Islamic Emirate has created good opportunities in the field of trade and investment.

He pointed out that the increase in the export of pine nuts to China and the progress in the Mes Aynak and Wakhan Corridor projects are clear examples of this policy of the Islamic Emirate.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement, the Chinese ambassador considered the developments in various fields with Afghanistan as positive and added that he seeks to encourage Chinese businessmen and investors to play their role for long-term economic cooperation with Afghanistan.

He also said that his country is considering ways of bilateral cooperation and resources regarding Wakhan Corridor.

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Rashid Khan named AWCC’s brand ambassador

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(Last Updated On: April 23, 2024)

Afghanistan’s cricket superstar Rashid Khan has joined Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) as its exclusive brand ambassador.

“Rashid Khan is a young and prominent personality of the country who has shone brilliantly in cricket and in his social life,” AWCC said in a statement.

Rashid said he was thrilled to join AWCC as its brand ambassador.

“This is a great brand that I have always believed in and AWCC has been a front runner in the digital possibilities materializing in the country,” Khan said on X.

“Together I hope that we help more people to connect, encourage people to learn more and further utilize their talents and share their experiences more widely.”

What makes Rashid great!

Rashid Khan was Afghanistan’s first global superstar, and the key to the team’s successes in their early years in international cricket.

ESPNcricinfo experts say his extraordinarily effective leg spin has made him one of the greatest T20 bowlers ever, and among the first names on wish lists of teams in leagues all around the world.

Not a big turner of the ball, he puts batters under pressure with his speed through the air, like his bowling idol Shahid Afridi, while maintaining a stump-to-stump line. His biggest weapon is an accurate googly, and he has many variations. With bat in hand he is more than capable of clearing the boundary late in an innings, and he has airbrushed many a middling total into a match-winning one for his team, ESPNcricinfo states.

Rashid was just 17 when he made his ODI debut during Afghanistan’s tour of Zimbabwe in October 2015. Less than two years later, he was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL for close to US$600,000.

After a superb 17-wicket first season with them, he picked up franchise deals with Guyana Amazon Warriors – for whom he took the first-ever hat-trick in the CPL in 2017 – and Adelaide Strikers, with whom he won his (and their) first BBL title in 2018.

He scaled new heights for Afghanistan as well, taking 5 for 3 in a T20I against Ireland to keep a record 11-match T20I winning streak alive, and later in 2017, taking his country to a win over West Indies in their first ODI in the Caribbean with 7 for 18.

He was duly honored as the 2017 ICC Associate Cricketer of the Year.

The following year, he became the youngest cricketer to top the ODI bowling rankings, the youngest man to captain an international side, and the fastest to 100 ODI wickets.

In Afghanistan’s inaugural year in Test cricket, Rashid took five second-innings wickets in the team’s first win, against Ireland, and six months later made an important fifty and took twin five-fors, finishing with 11 wickets in a famous win over Bangladesh in Chattogram. In 2021, he took 11 again, this time in a win over Zimbabwe.

In his five seasons with Sunrisers, he was a huge presence, taking 93 wickets at an economy rate of 6.33. When he moved to Gujarat Titans in 2022, he took 19 wickets in a run that led the side to the title.

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