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Taliban Release Hostages After Sar-E Pul Attack
The Taliban released 235 villagers held hostage after the insurgents attacked and captured a village in the northern Sar-e Pul province.
“The people from Mirza Olang village had arrived in Sar-e Pul, the main town of the province, although some others were still with the Taliban,” said Zahir Wahdat, Provincial Governor.
Zahir Wadat further added after days of waiting for additional troops to arrive, security forces would soon begin a clearance operation to retake the village.
Taliban and IS rebels killed around 50 men, women and children in Sayad district of northern Sar-e Pul province on Saturday after overrunning a government-backed militia in a 48-hour battle.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday condemned the killings as a “war crime”.
“This barbaric act of them is deemed a direct violation of human rights and a war crime,” Ghani said in a statement.
An Afghan security source said he thought there were still around 100 people being held hostage in Mirzawalang, situated in the Sayad district of Sar-e Pul province, after insurgents captured it at the weekend.
Sayad district of Sar-e Pul province had put up a fierce defense over the past two years against attacks by insurgents as other parts of the province seemed to be buckling under Taliban pressure.
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MoI registers over 8,700 criminal cases in the past six months
Abdul Matin Qani, the Ministry of Interior’s spokesman said on Thursday that in the last six months, 8,747 criminal cases have been recorded across the country.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Qani said of these cases, 7,233 have been solved while the remaining 1,525 are still being investigated.
He said 12,540 people have been arrested in connection with these crimes.
In addition, 21 kidnappers have been killed, 18 hostages have been freed and 172 people have been arrested in connection with kidnappings in the same period of time.
Qani also said in the last six months 837,000 passports have been distributed. He said three new passport offices will be established in Kabul in the near future.
“10,000 passports are distributed to citizens daily by the Passport Department,” said Qani.
On the issue of narcotics, he said drug cultivation, production and trafficking has been eradicated. He said drug manufacturing equipment and 377 drug factories have been destroyed across the country.
According to him, the ministry has also made advances in collecting illegal weapons, fighting corruption and improving police skills.
Qani stated that during this period, no security incidents took place in most provinces across the country.
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TAPI gas company CEO satisfied with project’s progress
The minister of mines and petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar met with the executive director of the TAPI project and the ambassador of Turkmenistan in Kabul on Thursday to discuss progress around the key project.
Murad Amanov, head of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project, expressed his satisfaction with the recent progress of the project and talked about the practical roll out of the project.
Delawar said that the preliminary work of TAPI is progressing quickly and that the pipeline will be put into operation in the near future.
TAPI is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh – TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with participation of the Asian Development Bank.
The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.
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UK’s Mercer faces 10-day deadline in Afghanistan war crimes inquiry
Johnny Mercer, the former UK Minister for Veterans Affairs, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations that British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.
British media reported on Tuesday that Mercer, following his allegations regarding the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces, was ordered to reveal the sources of his information.
The BBC reported that a public inquiry commissioned by the UK government into the actions of its forces in Afghanistan has directed Mercer to disclose the names of individuals who leaked information to him about alleged war crimes and cover-ups by special forces, or he may face imprisonment.
Although separate investigations have sought to verify these claims, the British government has yet to officially confirm them.
Earlier this month, Mercer, who served in military missions in Afghanistan, told the court that despite the information he possesses, he cannot confirm the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces between 2010 and 2013.
In court, he also stated that the claim British soldiers killed unarmed civilians in their sleep does not contradict his findings, but he admitted reluctance to believe it.
According to Mercer, British forces were allegedly instructed to carry an unregistered weapon — one not associated with NATO forces — to place next to the unarmed Afghan individuals they had killed.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the countries that had troops in Afghanistan for 20 years all committed war crimes.
Mujahid stated that if the investigation carries on, it will be a big step and that the crimes committed should be investigated transparently.
“The crimes that have been committed should be investigated transparently because this was not the work of a few soldiers but a plan that was drawn and crimes were committed in Afghanistan,” he added.
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