Skip to main content

14 Afghan security men killed in two attacks

KABUL: Fourteen members of the Afghan security forces were killed in two separate attacks on Thurs­day in the first deadly ass­aults officials have blamed on the Taliban since the end of a three-day ceasefire.

The temporary truce ended on Tuesday but an overall lull in the country’s grinding violence has largely held despite the latest attacks, raising hopes the militants and Kabul could soon start much-delayed peace talks.

Taliban fighters attacked a checkpoint in Parwan, north of the capital, early on Thursday, said Waheeda Shahkar, spokeswoman to the provincial governor.

“The Taliban have also suffered casualties,” she said, adding that seven members of the Afghan forces died.

District police chief Hussain Shah said Taliban fighters set fire to the checkpoint, killing five security force personnel. Two more were shot dead.

In the western city of Farah, Taliban gunmen mounted an attack on a police post, killing seven policemen, provincial police spokesman Mohibullah Mohib said.

“Eight Taliban fighters were also killed in the clash that lasted for half-an-hour,” he said, adding that four policemen survived the attack.

The Taliban did not comment on the attacks immediately. But Afghan government officials said the incidents were minor and the truce could still hold.

Afghan security forces, however, carried out air strikes in the south on Wednesday that police said had killed 18 “militants”.

According to Afghan­istan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, civilian casualties fell by 80 per cent during the short truce.

Kabul-based political analyst Sayed Nasir Musawi said he expected the militants to ultimately reduce attacks, without officially extending the ceasefire. “Unofficially this ceasefire will continue and we will have a meaningful reduction in violence,” he said.

He added that the earlier truce offer from the Taliban was a signal to the Afghan government and the United States that they were ready to start peace talks.

Afghan authorities have responded to the ceasefire by pushing forward with an agreed prisoner exchange, releasing some 1,000 Taliban prisoners this week, with plans to release more in the coming days.

A Taliban delegation was in Kabul on Thursday to discuss the prisoner swap with government officials, Nat­ional Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said.

The ceasefire is not over yet; there have been violations because it is a complicated technical process that requires good coordination between both sides, he added.

The ongoing exchange is part of a US-Taliban deal signed in February, which excluded the Afghan government.

Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2020



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2M84djF
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more