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To reach a peace deal, Taliban say Ghani must go

Published

3 years ago

July 23, 2021

The Taliban say they don’t want to monopolize power, but insist there will only be peace in Afghanistan once President Ashraf Ghani has been removed from power and a new government is in place.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who is also a member of the group’s negotiating team, laid out the insurgents’ stance on what should come next in the country.

The Taliban have swiftly captured territory in recent weeks, seized strategic border crossings and are threatening a number of provincial capitals, as the last U.S. and NATO soldiers leave Afghanistan.

This week, the top U.S. military officer, General Mark Milley, told a Pentagon press conference that the Taliban have “strategic momentum,” and he did not rule out a complete Taliban takeover. But he said it is not inevitable. “I don’t think the end game is yet written,” he said.

Shaheen told AP that the Taliban will lay down their weapons when a negotiated government acceptable to all sides in the conflict is installed in Kabul and Ghani’s government is gone.

“I want to make it clear that we do not believe in the monopoly of power because any governments who (sought) to monopolize power in Afghanistan in the past, were not successful governments,” said Shaheen, apparently including the Taliban’s own five-year rule in that assessment.

“So we do not want to repeat that same formula,” he said.

But he was also uncompromising on the continued rule of Ghani, calling him a war monger and accusing him of using his Tuesday speech on the Islamic Holy day of Eid-al-Adha to promise an offensive against the Taliban, AP reported.

Shaheen dismissed Ghani’s right to govern, resurrecting allegations of widespread fraud that surrounded Ghani’s 2019 election win. After that vote, both Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah declared themselves president. After a compromise deal, Abdullah is now No. 2 in the government and heads the reconciliation council, AP reported.

Shaheen meanwhile called last week’s talks in Doha a good beginning. But he said the government’s repeated demands for a ceasefire while Ghani stayed in power were tantamount to demanding a Taliban surrender.

“They don’t want reconciliation, but they want surrendering,” he said.

Before any ceasefire, there must be an agreement on a new government “acceptable to us and to other Afghans,” he said. Then “there will be no war.”

Shaheen said under this new government, women will be allowed to work, go to school, and participate in politics, but will have to wear the hijab, or headscarf. He said women won’t be required to have a male relative with them to leave their home, and that Taliban commanders in newly occupied districts have orders that universities, schools and markets operate as before, including with the participation of women and girls, AP reported.

Shaheen said there are no plans to make a military push on Kabul and that the Taliban have so far “restrained” themselves from taking provincial capitals. But he warned they could, given the weapons and equipment they have acquired in newly captured districts, AP reported. He contended that the majority of the Taliban’s battlefield successes came through negotiations, not fighting.

“Those districts which have fallen to us and the military forces who have joined us ... were through mediation of the people, through talks,” he said. “They (did not fall) through fighting ... it would have been very hard for us to take 194 districts in just eight weeks.”

AP reported that the Taliban control about half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers, and while they have yet to capture any of the 34 provincial capitals

On the issue of a possible civil war, Shaheen told AP: “You know, no one no one wants a civil war, including me.”

Shaheen also repeated Taliban promises aimed at reassuring Afghans who fear the group and said they had nothing to fear from the Taliban and denied threatening them.

But, he added, if some want to take asylum in the West because Afghanistan’s economy is so poor, “that is up to them.”

He also denied that the Taliban have threatened journalists and Afghanistan’s civil society, which has been targeted by dozens of killings over the past year, AP reported.

While Daesh has taken responsibility for some attacks, the Afghan government has blamed the Taliban for most of the killings while the Taliban in turn accuse the Afghan government of carrying out the killings to defame them.

Shaheen said journalists, including those working for Western media outlets, have nothing to fear from a government that includes the Taliban.

“We have not issued letters to journalists (threatening them), especially to those who are working for foreign media outlets. They can continue their work even in the future,” he said.

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There should be no distance between media and government: Stanikzai

Published

2 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ariana News

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the political deputy minister of foreign affairs, says media outlets should be supported in a way that there is no distance between them and the government.

Stanikzai, speaking at a seminar titled "The Role of Media in Strengthening the Islamic System" in Kabul, added that the media plays a crucial role in global propaganda wars, and it is necessary for the IEA to cease exerting pressure on the country's media and allow them to freely play their role in the development and prosperity of the country.

"The problems of the media should be heard, their voices should be heard, and the environment should be conducive for them to carry out their work freely,” he stated.

He further emphasized that the views towards the country's media should be such that both sides do not view each other as strangers, and the IEA should refrain from exerting pressure on the media and allow them to operate with freedom.

Meanwhile, officials from the Ministry of Information and Culture also stated at the seminar that they have not adopted an approach of confrontation with the media and that the ministry is committed to collaborating with them.

Participants in the seminar also urged the media to spare no effort in reflecting a positive image of Afghanistan to the world.

This seminar was held at a time the media considers itself committed to freedom of expression and reporting activities within the framework of national interests and Islamic values.

Latest News

DABS signs contract to purchase electricity from Uzbekistan for 2025

Published

3 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ariana News

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) has announced that a contract for the purchase of electricity from Uzbekistan has been signed for the year 2025.

This agreement was signed following a visit by an Islamic Emirate delegation, led by DABS CEO Abdul Bari Omari to Tashkent, where they engaged in discussions with Uzbek officials.

"The General Director of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, along with a delegation, traveled to Uzbekistan and signed the electricity purchase agreement for 2025 during a meeting with officials from the Uzbek electricity sector,” said DABS spokesman Hekmatullah Maiwandi.

Meanwhile, some investors have urged IEA to engage with Uzbekistan regarding the 500-kilovolt electricity project and to ensure the swift completion of this project.

Once completed, the project is expected to alleviate some of the electricity shortages in the country.

Tajikistan agreement

Late last month, Tajikistan's national electric power company, Barqi Tojik, and DABS signed a similar agreement, which will see Tajikistan supply Afghanistan with power through 2025.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mahmadumar Asozoda, General Director of Barqi Tojik, Omar.

According to Barqi Tojik's press secretary, Kurbon Ahmadzoda, the agreement is expected to be extended annually until 2028.

However, the electricity export will reportedly be limited to the summer months, from May to September, and will be dependent on the availability of electricity within Tajikistan's domestic market, Tajik media reported at the time.

Powering a future

Afghanistan currently produces only 20% of its energy needs, while 80% of its electricity is imported from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.

The Islamic Emirate has however made it a priority to encourage domestic production of power since regaining control in August 2021.

Omar has met with potential investors on numerous occasions and has encouraged them to invest in the sector.

One such meeting was held in August with officials from Bayat Power.

Bayat Power is Afghanistan’s largest private Electric Power Production and Development Company and owns and operates Bayat Power-1, the first in a new generation of Gas to Electricity power generation plants.

Bayat Power is hoping to start work soon on Phase 2 of Bayat Power-1 in northern Jawzjan province in order to increase electricity production output for Afghanistan.

Mohammad Shoaib Sahibzada, the technical head of Bayat Power, has said that once Phase 2 is complete, electricity production will increase from 40 to 100 megawatts.

Sahibzada said Bayat Power's natural gas to electricity generation project will eventually produce up to 250 megawatts of electricity once Phase 3 is complete.

Bayat Power has produced over one billion kilowatt hours of electricity in just under five years after starting commercial operations in late 2019.

Sahibzada said that over the past five years, the company has also worked on capacity building of its technical employees.

Leading the way

Bayat Power is the first private company in 40 years to produce electricity from natural gas in the country and the multi-million dollar plant uses Siemens Energy’s SGT-A45 mobile gas turbine for its economic efficiency, flexible deployment, and power density.

Currently providing electricity to hundreds of thousands of end-users and generating more than 300 million kWh annually, the project was structured as an innovative public-private partnership between Bayat Power, Siemens Energy, and Afghanistan government entities such as the

Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the Ministry of Energy and Water, and the General Directorate of Afghan Gas Corporation Company, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), and international partners.

The Bayat Group is the largest private investor in Afghanistan and Bayat Power is currently the only gas-powered plant in the country.

The Siemens Energy’s SGT-A45 mobile gas turbine used by the company is the only one in operation in the world.

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ATN’s hat-trick! Rights in place to broadcast ICC World Test Championship 2023/25 Final

Published

6 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ariana News

Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN) has done it again! This time it secured the rights to broadcast the ICC World Test Championship 2023/25 Final in Afghanistan.

The 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship is an ongoing tournament of Test Cricket which is the third edition of the ICC World Test Championship.

This event started in June 2023 with The Ashes, which was contested between England and Australia. It will finish in June 2025 with the final match planned to be played at Lord's in London.

The tournament consists of 27 series and 69 matches in the league stage between nine countries. The top two teams in the points table will compete at the final.

Current State of Play

A draw this week in the third Test between Australia and India has spiced up the race to the World Test Championship Final especially as Australia and India continue to play catch-up with South Africa after the rain-truncated third Test in Brisbane ended in a stalemate.

South Africa had to dig deep against Sri Lanka recently, but a standout all-round performance helped them secure a series win and pushed them to the top of the standings, placing them as the front-runners for the WTC25 Final at Lord’s.

Alongside South Africa, Australia and India, Sri Lanka remains the only other team in contention for a WTC25 Final spot. However, they will need a string of favorable results - including a successful showing in their upcoming two-match series against Australia in January - to keep their hopes alive.

South Africa is top of the standings with a PCT of 63.33. They need to win one out of their two upcoming tests against Pakistan to reach their maiden ICC WTC final.

Australia and India are in second and third place respectively.

India has a PCT of 55.88 and two tests left, both of which they need to win to secure a place in the final.

Australia’s PCT is 58.89. After two tests against India. They have two more tests in Sri Lanka.

For cricket fans across the country, make sure you follow us on social media, and watch this spot, for updates and announcements on this event - along with other exciting tournaments coming up next year that Ariana Television will be bringing to you live and exclusively in Afghanistan.