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Land Mines Leave About 100 Casualties in Afghanistan Monthly: Watchdog
An international watchdog says land mines leave about 100 casualties in Afghanistan on monthly basis.
According to a report released, there were more than 600 casualties in 2016 in Afghanistan compared to the year 2015 which shows Afghanistan at the top of the list.
"The statistics show that every month we have about 100 victims due to [land mine explosions] in Afghanistan," Islamuddin Mohammadi Executive Director of Afghan Landmine Survivors Organization (ALSO) said on Thursday," most of these causalities have occurred due to roadside and sticky bombs explosions."
"78 percent of the victims were civilians and 42 percent of those causalities were children. After Yemen, it is reported that Afghanistan was having the highest number of causalities," Amena Azimi member of the ALSO added.
While the number of casualties from land mines increased in Afghanistan, the government has decreased 80 percent the budged allocated for victim assistance.
Officials also accept that so far much has not been done for mine victims in Afghanistan.
"Unfortunately, no considerable assistance has been provided to the victims and disabled so far," Sayed Alem Hashimi, a government official from the Afghan Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled confessed.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines said in its annual report released on Thursday that there were 8,605 casualties, including 2,089 deaths, from mines in 2016 across the globe.
The group attributed the increased casualties largely to armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine and Yemen, adding that use of improvised mines and other IEDs by anti-government elements in 2016 and 2017 resulted in further casualties.
The use of improvised mines in Afghanistan is mainly attributed to the Taliban, Haqqani Network and so-called Islamic State (IS) also known as Deash.
By Hesamuddin Hesam & Bais Hayat
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Hanafi calls for China’s cooperation in generating electricity, equipping hospitals in Afghanistan
Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi in a meeting with the Chinese ambassador in Kabul on Sunday called for China’s cooperation in generating electricity and equipping hospitals in Afghanistan.
According to a statement released by Arg, Hanafi said that China, as a good neighbor, has had trade, economic and political relations with Afghanistan for a long time, and during this time, not even a small problem has arisen between the two countries, rather efforts have been made to expand relations.
He added that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) wants good relations with all countries, especially its neighbors, and expects them to have good relations with Afghanistan.
In the meeting, the Chinese Ambassador to Kabul, Zhao Xing, said that China and Afghanistan have had relations for 70 years, which shows the depth of relations between the two countries.
He also pointed to the expansion of trade and investment between the two countries and added that the Chinese Embassy in Kabul has issued a large number of visas to Afghan businessmen and citizens in the past year, which indicates the expansion and strengthening of bilateral relations.
The diplomat said that China was ready to build houses for refugees returning from neighboring countries, build cold storages in some provinces for agricultural products, provide health services, survey and extract minerals in Afghanistan.
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Iranian MP says dam construction in Afghanistan is ‘questionable’
Fida Hossein Maliki, a member of Iran’s parliament, has expressed concern about the construction of water dams in Afghanistan, saying that the issue is “questionable.”
“If we look at the events currently taking place under the so-called Taliban (Islamic Emirate) rule from a regional perspective, it does not have a good outcome for neighboring countries,” Maliki said in an interview with ILNA news agency.
He said that the current rulers of Afghanistan are behaving with neighboring countries, including Iran, in a way that is unprecedented.
“In the previous governments of Afghanistan, there was interaction on every issue, and this behavior effected the relations of the countries considering the position that Afghanistan itself had, but we have observed something different during this period that the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) rules the country,” Maliki said.
He claimed that Iran’s water rights have not been respected by the Islamic Emirate and that the construction of water dams in Afghanistan is questionable.
“I believe that every action should be taken in an atmosphere of cooperation between the two countries, which is not the case today. Of course, it is natural that the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) has neither a parliament nor a government. Nothing is in its place in this sovereignty."
This comes as the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly emphasized that it is committed to ensuring Iran's rights in accordance with the 1973 treaty, but Iran must also consider the drought situation.
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Pakistan has right to attack TTP in Afghanistan: PM’s adviser
Pakistani Prime Minister's Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has claimed that his country has the right to conduct operations against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Afghan soil.
In an interview with Samaa TV, he said that the Pakistani government is at war against the TTP and will target members of this group wherever they are.
“According to the international law, if there is a threat of attack on your country from outside or there is preparation for it, you have the right to conduction operation against your enemy to protect yourself. If such thing happens, our forces will take right action at the right time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that the government of Pakistan had always conveyed it to the government of Afghanistan through dialogue that it should stop Afghan land to be used for terrorism in Pakistan.
He said that the Pakistani people had made numerous sacrifices for the people of Afghanistan and were facing consequences till today. He hoped that Afghanistan would take notice and not allow any group to use Afghan land for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan.
Iqbal said that the government was making sincere efforts, adding that reasonable dialogue from both sides always yields positive results.
Pakistani military carried out airstrikes in Barmal district of Paktika province in Afghanistan last month, killing dozens of people, including women and children. The Islamic Emirate retaliated with attacks across the Durand Line.
Yesterday, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai warned Pakistan to refrain from violating the territorial integrity of Afghanistan, otherwise it will receive a strong response from Afghanistan.
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