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SPA Calls Agreement With Hekmatyar ‘Betrayal’ to Afghans
Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (SPA) has called the signing of peace deal between the Afghan government and Hezb-e Islami party-led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar a betrayal to the Afghan nation.
Members of SPA party criticized the leaders of National Unity Government (NUG); citing any deal with Hezb-e Islami party is a violation to the principles of human rights.
They called on the United Nations to not remove the name of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar from its black list.
"Any deal with Hekmatyar and other criminals is a betrayal to the nation. Peace would never be achived by victimizing justice," said Selay Ghafar, spokesman of SPA.
The members of SPA have considered the agreement with Hekmatyar party is not in interest of the people and called for punishing those criminals who involved in killing people.
"We want Afghan people to rise up and raise their voices and do not allow the murderess of their families take the government's control," said Mursal, a member of SPA.
After months of delays, Afghanistan government negotiators signed a peace deal Thursday with an insurgent faction led by one of the country's most notorious warlords.
The deal was signed at a ceremony attended by negotiators, the president's national security advisor, and representatives of the Hezb-i-Islami faction of Gulbuddin Hekmattyar.
Hekmattyar developed a ruthless reputation during more than three decades of virtually uninterrupted conflict in Afghanistan.
In the 1980s, he received some $600 million in US aid, as Washington armed Afghan mujaheddin fighters battling the Soviet occupation.
During the subsequent civil war between rival mujaheddin commanders in the 1990s, Hekmattyar was accused of committing atrocities against civilians during the deadly struggle for control of the Afghan capital.
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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa officials to visit Kabul in hope of finding solutions to disputes
In the hope of settling ongoing disputes, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said he hopes to send a delegation to Afghanistan within two weeks to seek solutions to Pakistan-Afghanistan issues.
“The federal government talked about negotiations with Afghanistan over bilateral issues, but there’s no success. Now, the dialogue with Kabul will be held at the provincial level.
“A delegation of our [KP] government will meet Afghan officials within two weeks,” Gandapur was quoted by Dawn as saying.
He also said that a delegation of tribal elders from the province would also engage with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
He said he was hopeful that the IEA government would cooperate with the KP teams.
Pakistan has continued to blame Afghanistan for allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to carry out attacks on KP soil from Afghanistan.
However, the IEA has repeatedly said they will not allow any group to plan or conduct attacks against another country from Afghanistan.
Gandapur meanwhile said he hopes the issues Pakistan has with Afghanistan would be resolved through negotiations.
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Pakistan, Iran envoys for Afghan affairs discuss changing int’l geo-political situation
Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq and Iran's Special Envoy for Kabul and director general for South Asia, Hashem Ashjazade, met on Monday and discussed the fast changing international geo-political situation and regional challenges faced by the two countries, according to Sadiq’s post on X.
Sadiq stated: “We agreed to jointly address these challenges.”
Sadiq is also expected to travel to Russia and China to discuss Afghanistan with officials from those countries.
Meanwhile, experts believe that Afghanistan should maintain reciprocal relations with Pakistan and play an active role in regional affairs.
The Islamic Emirate also believes that Kabul seeks good relations with all neighboring countries and the region, and aims to strengthen its ties with various countries by following an economy-focused policy.
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Afghan released in prisoner exchange deal with US
The IEA praised the swap as a step toward the “normalization” of ties between the US and Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) on Tuesday confirmed the release of an Afghan, Khan Mohammad, from a US prison in exchange for the release of two American nationals.
According to a statement issued by the IEA, this move followed extensive negotiations with the US.
Khan Mohammad, was detained nearly two decades ago in Nangarhar and later sentenced to life imprisonment by a US court. He had been serving his sentence in California.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this exchange as a good example of resolving issues through dialogue, and is particularly grateful to the fraternal State of Qatar for its effective role in this regard,” the statement read.
The IEA praised the swap as a step toward the “normalization” of ties between the US and Afghanistan.
AP meanwhile reported that the freed Afghan had been imprisoned for life on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
The deal came as former president Joe Biden, who oversaw the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, handed power over to returning President Donald Trump.
AP reported that the family of Ryan Corbett, one American held in Afghanistan, confirmed he had been released.
Corbett was arrested in Afghanistan in August 2022 while on a business trip.
Before Biden left office, his administration had been trying to work out a deal to free Corbett as well as George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi in exchange for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken by the IEA’s intelligence services in December 2022 while traveling through the country. Habibi, an Afghan American businessman went missing in 2022.
The IEA has denied that it has Habibi.
It wasn’t immediately clear if either of the two men was the other released. Officials in Washington did not respond to AP’s requests for comment early Tuesday.
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