Islamabad: The Taliban say they don’t want to monopolise power, but insist that there won’t be peace in Afghanistan until there is a new negotiated government in Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani is removed. In an interview, Taliban spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, who is also a member of the group’s negotiating team, laid out the insurgents’ stance on what should come next in a country on the precipice. The Taliban have seized strategic border crossings and are threatening a number of provincial capitals, as US and Nato troops leave.
Shaheen said the Taliban will lay down their weapons when a negotiated government acceptable to all sides in the conflict is installed in Kabul and Ghani’s government is gone. “I want to make it clear that we do not believe in the monopoly of power because any governments who (sought) to monopolise power in Afghanistan in the past, were not successful governments,” said Shaheen. “So we do not want to repeat that same formula.” But he was also uncompromising on the continued rule of Ghani, calling him a war monger and accusing him of using his speech on Eid-al-Adha to promise an offensive against the Taliban. Shaheen dismissed Ghani’s right to govern, resurrecting allegations of fraud that surrounded his 2019 election win. After that vote, both Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah declared themselves president. After a compromise deal, Abdullah is now No. 2 in the government and heads the reconciliation council.
US carries out airstrikes
The US has carried out air strikes to support Afghan government forces who have been under pressure from the Taliban as US-led foreign forces carry out the final stages of their withdrawal from the country. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the air strikes were in support of Afghan forces in recent days but did not provide details.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes were on the outskirts of the southern city of Kandahar, killing three of their fighters and destroying two vehicles. “We confirm these air strikes and we condemn this in strongest term, it is a clear attack and violation of the Doha deal as they can’t have operations after May,” he said, referring to an agreement between the US and the Taliban for the withdrawal of US forces. “If they conduct any operation then they will be responsible for the consequences.” Under the original deal, all foreign troops were expected to be gone by May but President Biden announced in April that US troops would withdraw by September.
Af soldiers seek refuge in Pak
Dozens of Afghan soldiers slipped across the border into northwestern Pakistan, the Pakistani army said. The Afghan troops were fleeing after their border post was overrun, apparently by the Taliban. The statement said a total of 46 members of the Afghan forces, including five officers, crossed the border on Sunday near the Pakistani border town of Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“The Afghan soldiers have been provided food, shelter and necessary medical care as per established military norms,” the Pakistani army said, adding that it had informed Afghan authorities of the development. There was no immediate response from Kabul and no information about the fighting on the Afghan side of the border. The Taliban have swiftly captured territory in recent weeks in Afghanistan, and seized strategic border crossings with several neighbouring countries. They are also threatening a number of provincial capitals.
The insurgents are said to now control about half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers. The rapid fall of districts and the seemingly disheartened response by Afghan government forces have prompted US-allied warlords to resurrect militias with a violent history. For many Afghans weary of more than four decades of wars and conflict, fears are rising of another brutal civil war as American and Nato troops leave the country.
Civilian casualties at record level: UN
Nearly 2,400 Afghan civilians were killed or injured in May and June as fighting between Taliban insurgents and Afghan security forces escalated, the highest number for those two months since records started in 2009, the UN said on Monday. The UN’s Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report it had documented 5,183 civilian casualties between January and June, of which 1,659 were deaths. The number was up 47% from the same period last year. “Of serious concern is the acute rise in the number of civilians killed and injured in the period from 1 May, with almost as many civilian casualties in the May-June period as recorded in the entire preceding four months,” UNAMA said in a statement.
