A key Taliban insurgent group member who was also the mastermind of the terrorist attacks of the group in Helmand province was arrested, as per officials.

As a result of night raid of special police units in Jomand village of Lashkar Gah city of Helmand province, a key Taliban insurgent group member by the name of Aho Jan was arrested, said Interior Ministry on Wednesday.

The ministry has not provided details about the attacks that the arrested individual has been involved with.

According to the Deputy Attorney General’s Office in Military Affairs, during March 2019, the office has registered 554 criminal cases.

Among this, 203 cases have been sent to preliminary court after preparing their indictment and lawsuit and 50 of those cases have been resolved and 39 of them have referred to Appeal Court.

Meanwhile, the other 153 cases are still under investigation.

The officials say that 17 cases have been rejected and 50 others are disbanded because of lack of evidence and proof.

The reports say that these cases are comprised of 12 cases of crime against individuals, 5 cases against goods (deception, betrayal, fake, illegal extortion and embezzlement) and 4 cases were about crime against internal and external security.

Based on the provided information, an amount over 2 million has been deposited to government account from cash penalty, embezzlement, narcotics and deduction of 50 % salary of the military personnel.

President Ghani has welcomed the new incoming members of Lower House after Kabul and Pakita final results were announced.

“Ghazni election is important to be held with other elections but yet lack of Ghazni MPs in the parliament is a vacuum and I want the attention of the electoral commissions in this regard,” Ghani says.

Ghani called on new MPs to pay “more attention” to the amendment of the election law in the future.

New Kabul and Paktia MPs took the oath of office at a ceremony in the Presidential Palace on Wednesday.

President Ghani administered the oath-taking ceremony of new MPs of Kabul and Paktia.

“It is hoped that the government’s impartial role in parliamentary election has been proven”, Ghani said.

However, President Ghani called the previous two electoral commissions “incompetent”.

Nai Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan says that Afghan government wants take steps against freedom of speech.

In response to recent statement of Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology in an interview with BBC Persian, Nai said in a statement, “This is the most concerning action that the National Unity Government has taken in last few years to confine freedom of expression.”

Telecommunications Minister’s remarks are against constitution and it is the first step towards tyrannizing the system, Nai said in the statement.

Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan has urged international organizations who support freedom of expression that through legal pressures and official channels hold Afghan government accountable to its commitment.

Meanwhile, Shahzad Aryobee, Minister of Communications and Information Technology in an interview with the BBC had said, “We have made Internet access local and now we are able to censor anything we want to do, we can block things which is not necessary or pose harms to Afghanistan and our tradition and culture”.

Security officials have announced that a suicide bomber was killed by police personnel in Maidan Wardak.

A suicide bomber who planned to blow up explosives by entering a building of Saydabad district of Maidan Wardak province was identified and killed by police personnel of the district, Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Saydabad is a district located on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, is among the insecure districts of Maidan and security forces supply convoys have been repeatedly attacked by Taliban insurgents in the district.

Herat Police Command has said that, from now on covering face and head with any clothing is banned for men in Herat province

Men covering their face and head generally causes fear among citizens, said Herat police command.

Herat Police Command further stated that police investigations show that many individuals used to cover their heads and face for criminal offenses and activities.

In respect to the above concerns, 100 suspicious street dwellers were arrested on Tuesday and only after biometric check and providing guarantee were they released, said Herat police command.

The Independent Election Commission declared the final results of Kabul parliamentary elections after a delay.

The candidates announced from Kabul who are going to be representing the province in the Lower House of Parliament are:

Haji Ajmal Rahmani
Alhaj Abdul Qayum Khair Khah
Khan Agha Rezaee
Alhaj Mullah Mohammad Khan Ahmadi
Fada Mohammad Ulfat Saleh
Ahmad Jawid Jaihoon
Mir Amanullah Gozar
Alhaj Amir Gul Shaheen
Ghulam Hussain Naseri
Dr. Ramazan Bashardost
Alhaj Sayid Mohammad Mohamadi
Alhaj Allah Gul Mojahid
Haji Khan Mohammad Wardak
Alhaj Qazi Mir Afghan Safi
Najibullah Nasir
Habibu-rahman Sayyaf
Anwar Khan Auriakhel

Sofi Abdulraziq Istalifi
Tawfiq Wahdat
Haji Zalgai Habibi
Mohammad Naim Wardak
Haji Hafizullah Jalili
Erfanullah Erfan
Obaidullah Kalimzai Wardak
Wakil Fatima Nazari
Genral Nazifa Zaki
Shinkai Karokhail
Morsal Nabizadah
Fawzia Naseryar Guldaraye
Robina Jalali
Maryam Samah
Zohra Nawrozi
Bibi Haji Parwan Durani

M US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied a New York Times report that U.S. officials were discussing a military plan to send up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East to counter any attack or nuclear weapons acceleration by Iran.

“I think it’s fake news, OK? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The Times reported that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated plan last week in a meeting of top national security aides that envisions sending as many as 120,000 American troops to the region if Iran attacks U.S. forces or accelerates work on its nuclear weapons.