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Taliban prisoner release request sparks angry response 

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(Last Updated On: December 8, 2020)

Responding to US Charge d’Affaires Ross Wilson’s comment about the Taliban wanting the release of an additional 7,000 prisoners, Afghanistan’s National Security Council (NSC) said on Tuesday that such a move, before a peace agreement and a permanent ceasefire, will not help the peace process.

Rahmatullah Andar, spokesman for the NSC, said that government had been severely criticized for having released 5,000 Taliban prisoners about three months ago – a move that had been heavily influenced by the US.

“Releasing or not releasing Taliban prisoners will not affect the peace process. Government released 5,000 Taliban prisoners in order to bring a reduction in violence, but the move sparked criticism,” said Andar.

On Sunday, the US’s envoy to Afghanistan, Wilson, told reporters that the Taliban – under the US-Taliban agreement – want their 7,000 prisoners to be released by mid-December.

“Under the terms of the US-Taliban agreement, the Taliban expect there would be progress on releasing 7,000 prisoners by roughly mid-December,” he said.

According to Wilson, all of the provisions of the US-Taliban agreement are interlocked with one another.

Meanwhile, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, Speaker of the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) said since the release of the 5,000 prisoners, there has been a marked increase in violence – instead of a decrease.

“Unfortunately after the release of the Taliban prisoners violence increased. People have been threatened and have made sacrifices,” said Muslimyar.

An administrative delegation of the Meshrano Jirga meanwhile urged government not to release any more Taliban prisoners until a peace agreement and lasting ceasefire is in place.

“The experience of releasing Taliban prisoners should not be repeated. Taliban [prisoners] should not be released until a peace deal has been signed,” said Mohammad Alam Ezadyar, deputy speaker.

“We do not want our president deceived by the US. No prisoners should be released until a real ceasefire [is in place],” said Faisal Sama, a secretary of the house.

The members of the Meshrano Jirga also warned that compromises being made by the US and Taliban will not be accepted by Afghans, especially compromises that lead to the increase in violence.

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ISIS-K leader reportedly living in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Sanaullah Ghaffari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajar, is reportedly the ISIS-Khorasan (Daesh) branch leader and is holed up in Pakistan, Reuters reports.

The 29-year-old took over as leader in 2020 and under his leadership the group has carried out extreme attacks as a means of recruiting, Reuters reported.

Reuters noted that little was known about Ghafari before the deadly 2021 ISIS attack on Kabul Airport, which killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American soldiers.

But after Friday’s deadly attack in a concert hall in Moscow, which left 139 people dead, Ghaffari’s group has come under intense scrutiny.

Reuters reports that Ghaffari is said to have been involved in several attacks in Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

Pakistani officials said months ago that Ghaffari had been killed in Kunar province in Afghanistan in June last year, but Reuters has reported that he did not die and instead fled to Pakistan and lives in the border province of Baluchistan.

Abdul Matin Qani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan, says that Daesh has been suppressed in Afghanistan for more than two years and has lost its operational capacity.

The last attack carried out by Daesh in Afghanistan was the attack on the Kabul Bank office in Kandahar last week which left three dead and 12 wounded.

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IPL: Sunrisers thump MI in record breaking match

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

It was raining records at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday with the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clinching a 31-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 8 of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Sunrisers’ batting rewrote the record books on a batting belter after the posted 277 for three.

SRH now have the highest team score in the history of the IPL – beating Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) 263 for five from the 2013 season.

In reply, MI made a spirited effort, and at one stage, were contenders to do the near impossible. In the slog overs, the enormity of the target proved a bit too much, and SRH clinched victory, but not without numerous nervous moments.

To put into perspective the carnage we witnessed – Heinrich Klaasen’s 23-ball half-century was the slowest fifty of the SRH innings.

Travis Head, playing his first match for SRH, raced to the milestone in 18 balls. Abhishek Sharma got there even faster – in 16 balls – to record the quickest fifty by an SRH batter in IPL history.

While Sunrisers notched up the highest total in the 16-year history of the IPL, just as incredibly, Mumbai Indians almost paid them back with the same coin, their batters coming out with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

The sixes kept rolling off the Mumbai bats too, helping them keep up with the asking rate for most of the chase, eventually however, they ran out of steam and finished on 246 for 5, the highest IPL total in a losing cause.

As ESPNcricinfo reported, never were more runs scored in a men’s T20 match (523). Never were most sixes hit in a men’s T20 (38). At the end of the close to four-hour six-fest, only two bowlers returned with an economy rate of under ten an over.

Thursday, March 28 : Match 9

Thursday’s match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur sees Rajasthan Royals go up against Delhi Capitals.

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television to watch the match live from 6.30pm. Alternatively the match can be screened live on arianatelevision.com

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Magnitude 5.2 quake jolts Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter Scale jolted Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, the National Center for Seismology reported.

The quake was at a depth of 70km and epicentered in the mountainous north-eastern area of Ashkāsham.

The jolt was felt across the region including in Kabul, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

In October last year, over 2,000 people were killed when four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes struck in Herat province.

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