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Peace is Priority for U.S. in Afghanistan: Khalilzad
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, in an exclusive interview with Ariana News says that the United States’ priority in Afghanistan is peace; however, the U.S. supports the election process to be held transparently.
“The position of the United States is that our priority is peace and we want, if God wills, to reach an agreement and framework regarding peace until September first. And we prioritize and support any decision which comes in the agreement,” said Khalilzad.
“But, we are helping to prepare for a transparent election which all the Afghans support its result,” he added.
Moreover, Khalilzad stresses that he is not negotiating with the Taliban while having the Islamic Emirates system on the negotiation table.
“We do not recognize the group by the name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan but the Taliban,” said Khalilzad.
After staying for many days in Kabul, Khalilzad in a tweet says that he is wrapping up his most productive visit to Afghanistan and is leaving Kabul for Doha.
“The U.S. and Afghanistan have agreed on the next steps. And a negotiating team and technical support group are being finalized,” tweeted Khalilzad.
“I am off to Doha, with a stop in Islamabad, In Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the agreement we have been working on,” he said in a tweet.
This comes as the Afghan State Ministry for Peace Affairs has announced that the government has finalized and formed a negotiating team of 15 members who are supposed to directly talk with the Taliban soon.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
Ten people have been killed and six others injured by floods in Helmand province in the past week, local officials said on Friday.
According to officials, seven of those were members of the same family, and they were killed in Kajaki district last night.
“Most of the people moved from vulnerable areas to high lands and mountains, and thanks Allah the number of casualties is low,” Sher Mohammad Vahdat, the head of information of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Helmand, said adding rescue teams and security forces have been dispatched to help people.
It is said that the telecommunication system has also been disrupted due to the effect of floods in Kajaki district. Floods have also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Afghanistan, it was announced on Thursday.
During the meeting, Otunbayeva thanked India for “its critical humanitarian support and longstanding friendship for the Afghan people” and discussed the importance of regional and international cooperation to address prevailing challenges in Afghanistan, UNAMA said on X.
Jaishankar also said on X that the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan.
“Underlined that India has provided wheat, medicines, pesticides and school supplies. Appreciate the role of UN agencies as partners in these endeavors,” he said.
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