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IEA aim to boost Afghan security forces, anti-aircraft capacity: army chief

Defence has received the largest share of funds in Afghanistan’s budget as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government aims to boost forces by a third and build anti-aircraft missile capacity, the army chief told Reuters in a rare interview to foreign media.
The defence ambitions of the IEA, which took over in 2021, come in the face of strong international criticism of its policies, such as restrictions on work and education for women, that have hampered steps towards diplomatic recognition.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a commander from the northern region of Badakhshan and the chief of army staff, condemned incursions by foreign drones into Afghan airspace, read the report.
Defence forces now numbering 150,000 are targeted to be increased by 50,000, he said, speaking in his office in the highly fortified defence ministry in Kabul, the capital, although he did not reveal the precise figure of the funds.
“The ministry of defence is the top-ranked in the budget,” he said, adding that it received a significantly higher sum than other ministries, as it was a priority in the budget, which is largely funded by boosted tax and customs revenue.
Since their takeover, the IEA have spent 1-1/2 years building a civilian administration and a national military out of an insurgent force that fought a 20-year war against foreign forces and the previous U.S.-backed Afghan government, Reuters reported.
No foreign nation has formally recognised the government, which is battling economic headwinds following sanctions on the banking sector and the cutoff of all development aid.
Fitrat said a major defence focus was securing Afghan airspace against drones and other incursions.
“Anti-aircraft missiles are the need of countries,” he said, adding that all nations sought developed weapons to ensure the integrity of their territory and airspace, a problem Afghanistan also faced.
“There is no doubt that Afghanistan is trying, and doing its best, to have it.”
But Fitrat declined to elaborate on where authorities were looking to procure anti-aircraft missiles from, Reuters reported.
He also stopped short of naming Pakistan, against which the IEA administration has regularly protested, accusing its neighbour of allowing drones to enter Afghanistan.
“We are doing our best to find a solution for protection of our airspace. We will work on it by using all our capability,” Fitrat added.
“From where we will obtain it is confidential, but we should have it.”
Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, read the report.
Pakistan officials have not confirmed whether its airspace is used for drone access to Afghanistan.
“We have always tried, and will try, to solve the issue using diplomatic ways, and we have done our best to be patient regarding these cases,” Fitrat said, but sounded a note of caution.
“Neighbouring countries should not let our patience be exhausted.”
Ties between the neighbours have occasionally been tense as as Pakistan has accused the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) administration of allowing Afghan territory to be used as a haven for militant groups, Reuters reported.
Among these is the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which has stepped up attacks in Pakistan in recent months.
The IEA administration denies allowing its territory to be used for attacks on others, however.
There have been border clashes between the forces of both, and analysts say that in the event of conflict escalating, Pakistan’s airforce would give it a strong edge.
Fitrat said former security personnel, who form a significant share of Afghanistan’s forces, were being paid and treated in the same way as IEA fighters.
The comments follow concern voiced by international rights groups and the United Nations that some former members of Afghan security forces members were targeted or killed.
While the IEA have declared a general amnesty for former combatants, saying they would investigate cases of wrongdoing, they have not detailed legal action regarding alleged extrajudicial targeting.
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Mines ministry says work on TAPI project to speed up as weather improves

Homayoun Afghan, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, says with rising temperatures in the country, work on the TAPI pipeline project will accelerate. He added that all partners involved in the TAPI project are eager to expedite progress.
He emphasized that since the launch of the project’s practical work, 1,700 kilometers of the TAPI gas pipeline route have been surveyed, and 9 kilometers of pipeline have already been laid within Afghan territory.
The ministry officials stated that the expansion of the TAPI project will create hundreds of new jobs for citizens in operational, security, technical, and logistical sectors of the project.
“First, this project will help create jobs for Afghans. Second, it will strengthen Afghanistan’s economy. Third, we can derive direct positive benefits from this project,” said Mohammad Bani Afghan, an economic expert.
Economic experts further highlighted that once the project is operational, Afghanistan is expected to earn approximately $400 million annually in transit fees. Additionally, the project will spur economic growth and reduce unemployment rates in the country.
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Pakistan to file complaint with UN against IEA and India

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, says Islamabad will submit a complaint to the UN against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) and India for “supporting terrorism.”
In an interview with Pakistani media, Akram alleged that IEA was involved in the attack on the Jaffar Express train.
He claimed, “There is evidence against the Taliban government [Islamic Emirate]. This time, we have traced communications and compiled evidence that we will certainly present. Even previously, if you review the latest report by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Monitoring Team, it was clear that terrorism originates from Afghanistan, and the government there is involved in this matter.”
The Pakistani diplomat further accused India of using Afghan soil to promote terrorism.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, asserted during a press briefing that terrorists involved in the recent train incident and prior attacks had used weapons of Indian and Afghan origin.
“The terrorists behind the train attack in Balochistan and previous incidents used Indian-made weapons and arms left behind in Afghanistan. We must recognize that the primary backer of this Balochistan terrorist attack and past events is our eastern neighbor [India]. Militants based in Afghanistan have consistently fueled instability in Pakistan,” said Chaudhry.
However, experts argue that Pakistani authorities, grappling with weak governance in ensuring citizen security, are attempting to deflect blame onto Afghanistan to obscure their own inefficiencies.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate has strongly denied any involvement in Pakistan’s security challenges, particularly the recent Balochistan attack, dismissing the allegations as baseless.
IEA has repeatedly urged Pakistani officials not to attribute their domestic security failures to Afghanistan.
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Trump says he would have kept Bagram Air Base

US President Donald Trump has once again said that if he had remained the president, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan would have been kept due to its proximity to China.
In his speech on Friday at the US Department of Justice, Trump claimed that Bagram Airfield is now occupied by China.
He also said that the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan in the way it was done was “the most humiliating time” in the history of the United States.
“I would have been out faster than them. I was the one that got it down to the right level. but we would have kept Bagram, the big Air Force base. We would have kept it. Right now, China occupies Bagram and the reason we would have kept it is because it is one hour away from where China has and builds its nuclear missiles and weapons,” Trump said.
“And they gave that up in the dark of night, they left the lights on and they left the dogs behind. By the way, a lot of people say what about all the dogs. They had a lot of dogs and they left the dogs behind and what a shame, what a shame. The way we got out, I think it was the most humiliating time in the history of our country,” he added.
Trump said that if he had remained the president, the US would have left Afghanistan “with dignity and strength.”
He suggested the way the US withdrew from Afghanistan probably got Russia attack Ukraine.
The Islamic Emirate has previously rejected Trump’s claim that China has seized Bagram Airfield.
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