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

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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Switzerland re-establishes presence in Kabul with humanitarian office

Switzerland’s foreign ministry announced on Monday it re-established its presence in Kabul by opening a humanitarian office to assist Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations.
The ministry said in a statement that with 24 million people in Afghanistan relying on humanitarian aid and most of the population living below the poverty line, the office aims to provide critical support.
Four specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA), along with ten local employees, are now working on the ground. Their efforts are focused on ensuring that vulnerable communities receive the necessary resources to meet their basic needs, helping to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country, the statement read.
Since the IEA’s takeover in August 2021, Switzerland closed its cooperation office in Kabul and evacuated all its staff.
According to the statement, initially, the SDC team responsible for Afghanistan continued its programmes from Bern. Since February 2023, it has been operating from the Pakistani capital Islamabad and conducting regular visits to Kabul in order to continue the SDC’s programmes for Afghanistan.
This was a much-needed move in order to better respond to the needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan, according to the SDC’s deputy director general and head of its Humanitarian Aid Division, Dominik Stillhart.
Effective support for vulnerable communities requires direct dialogue with the people, efficient coordination between the aid organizations on the ground and a comprehensive understanding of the situation. This applies to all crisis areas where humanitarian aid is needed, not just Afghanistan. SHA members must be in a position to provide a flexible and rapid response to local people’s needs. This can only be achieved with a field presence, said Eric Marclay, who heads the office in Kabul.
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Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghan refugees this year

Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans from the country this year, as a deadline for them to voluntarily leave the capital and surrounding areas expired on Monday, The Associated Press reported.
It’s the latest phase of a nationwide crackdown launched in October 2023 to expel foreigners living in Pakistan illegally, mostly Afghans. The campaign has drawn fire from rights groups, the Islamic Emirate, and the U.N.
Arrests and deportations were due to begin April 1 but were pushed back to April 10 because of the Eid al-Fitr holidays marking the end of Ramadan.
About 845,000 Afghans have left Pakistan over the past 18 months, figures from the International Organization for Migration show.
Pakistan says 3 million Afghans remain. Of these, 1,344,584 hold Proof of Registration cards, while 807,402 have Afghan Citizen Cards. There are a further 1 million Afghans who are in the country illegally because they have no paperwork.
Pakistan said it will make sure that Afghans do not return once deported.
Authorities wanted Afghan Citizen cardholders to leave the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city by March 31 and return to Afghanistan voluntarily or be deported.
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Some countries preventing Afghanistan from gaining its seat at UN: Mujahid

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid says some Western countries, including the US, are preventing Afghanistan from gaining its seat at the United Nations.
Mujahid added that the US and its allies hold significant influence over the policies of the UN, and due to their defeat in the Afghanistan war, they are attempting to continue wartime policies.
“Some countries that fought against the Afghans for twenty years still have not changed their wartime policies and continue along the same path, which naturally has its effects,” said Mujahid.
He emphasized that the Afghan people have the right to secure this seat, and the IEA will continue to work to obtain it.
He also rejected the notion of Afghanistan being isolated, stating that despite Western pressures, the acting government has expanded its diplomatic relations with regional and global countries.
He stated: “Afghanistan is not isolated; every country naturally faces some challenges with others, but we have extensive regional and international engagements.”
However, experts believe that the UN will not grant Afghanistan’s seat to the IEA until they take concrete steps to meet the international community’s preconditions, such as establishing an inclusive government, ensuring human rights—especially women’s and minority rights—and effectively combating terrorism and narcotics, to satisfy the world.
Despite over three and a half years since the IEA’s takeover, no country has officially recognized the regime.
Meanwhile, many countries have engaged with the IEA and established good diplomatic relations with the caretaker government, which the IEA believes serves as a form of recognition of Afghanistan’s current government.
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