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Atmar says gov’t will release remaining ‘hard-core’ Taliban prisoners by the end of next week
The Afghan government says that it would release the remaining “hard-core” Taliban prisoners by the end of next week, aimed to kick start the long-waited intra-Afghan negotiations.
In an online discussion hosted by Washington D.C.-based United States Institute of Peace, Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said, “we will have released by the end of next week over 5 600 of Taliban's prisoners.”
It is extremely important for us to work closely with Central Asia and assure them that peace in Afghanistan is going to serve their security needs as well, says Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar. #AfghanPeace https://t.co/uG5iZnCdY1
— U.S. Institute of Peace (@USIP) August 27, 2020
Atmar urged the freed prisoners not to return to the battlefields.
“The Taliban will have to honor their promise that these people will not go back to the battlefield,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said Thursday that Intra-Afghan negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban would start next week.
The first round of talks is expected to take place in Doha, Qatar, and will likely focus on a ceasefire.
Talks were due to start early this month but stalled after President Ashraf Ghani failed to release the remaining 320 Taliban prisoners as per a decree he signed to this effect.
Already about 5,000 Taliban prisoners have been freed but the last batch is deemed hardcore and is guilty of having masterminded some of the more serious attacks in the country while others are drug kingpins.
Atmar, however, said that most of this issue has been resolved.
“It seems that most of the hurdles have been either removed or we are in the process of building consensus on a solution. I am cautiously optimistic that this will not be a further hurdle on the way,” Atmar said.
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IEA special forces arrest Daesh perpetrators of Kabul and Bamiyan attacks
Mujahid said among those arrested was a Tajikistan national, who had been planning to carry out a suicide bombing.
Islamic Emirate special forces have arrested key members of an insurgent group responsible for a number of attacks including the one on foreign tourists in Bamiyan province in May this year.
IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Monday that the insurgents had also been responsible for the attack on employees of the Directorate of Compliance and Oversight of Orders and Decrees early this month, and several other attacks in Kabul.
Mujahid said among those arrested was a Tajikistan national, who had been planning to carry out a suicide bombing.
He said special forces seized an explosive-laden vest, two firearms and ammunition.
Further investigations revealed that the attacker who targeted the employees of the Directorate of Compliance and Oversight had infiltrated Afghanistan from a Daesh Khorasan training camp located in Mastung, Balochistan.
“Subsequent operations in Kabul and Faryab resulted in the neutralization of two insurgents, while several others were taken into custody,” Mujahid said, adding some of the arrested individuals had recently returned to Afghanistan from the Daesh Khorasan training camp in Mastung, Balochistan.
Mujahid said that following a series of defeats, inflicted by the Islamic Emirate’s special forces, the remaining leaders and operatives of Daesh Khorasan have, “with the assistance of certain intelligence agencies, relocated to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they have established new operational bases and training camps.”
He said: “From these new bases, they continue to orchestrate attacks, both within Afghanistan and in other countries.
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Almost 16 million people in Afghanistan need assistance through winter
OCHA said the risks of the coming winter are high, and millions of Afghans need proper shelter and winter clothing
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan says it needs $500 million to help those in need in Afghanistan through this coming winter.
The UN agency said on Sunday that 15.8 million people in Afghanistan will need food and livelihood assistance this winter.
OCHA said the risks of the coming winter were high, and that the needy also needed help in shelter and winter clothing.
The aid should be provided within the next three months, OCHA said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which earlier this year estimated the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan at 23.7 million, said the humanitarian response program in Afghanistan is currently facing a $2.3 billion shortfall.
In recent months, natural disasters, especially heavy rains and devastating floods, have added to the needs in Afghanistan.
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Muttaqi expresses concern over Pakistan-US joint military exercises
He said talks between the Pakistani government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) would be in Islamabad’s interest.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said that the joint military exercises between Pakistan and the United States on Pakistani soil were a source of concern for the region.
In an interview with a Russian media outlet, Muttaqi said that if regional and neighboring countries protect their borders, there will be no problems in Afghanistan.
He said talks between the Pakistani government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) would be in Islamabad's interest.
“Pakistan is holding exercises with US forces, working together," Muttaqi said. “This is a concern for the countries of the region. This is not in the interest of Pakistan and the region.”
Muttaqi also claimed that Daesh does not exist in Afghanistan and the enemies use the group as a tool to discredit Afghanistan.
"Just as Russia is threatened and suffers from Daesh that goes to Russia from outside, if Afghanistan suffers from Daesh, it is Daesh that comes from outside," Muttaqi said. “So if neighboring countries and the region pay serious attention to this issue and protect their borders, there will be no problems in Afghanistan.”
Muttaqi also expressed concern over the smuggling of synthetic drugs into Afghanistan and stressed regional cooperation to fight it.
The Islamic Emirate official said that after the ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, the price of opium has gone up and poppy cultivation in some neighboring countries has reached tens of thousands of hectares of land.
“The problem we are facing now is synthetic drugs that come from outside and there are different types," he said. “We are trying to resolve that as well, but the cooperation of neighboring countries is also necessary in this field.”
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