The Interior Minister, Massoud Andarabi, says that Taliban militants have lost the war in Arghandab district of Kandahar province.

“A number of Taliban commanders are among the 600 killed in the Kandahar clashes, including in Arghandab district,” said Minister Andarabi at a press conference in Kandahar province on Sunday.

“The only way left for the Taliban is to surrender, otherwise they will be killed if they continue to fight,” he added.

According to the Interior Minister, the Taliban are now under a relative siege by the security and defense forces, killing 600 of them.

“Tensions between the insurgents and the Taliban, who came to Kandahar from Zabul, Farah and other provinces, have recently intensified,” he said.

The Interior Minister Andarabi along with Shahmahmood Miakhel, the first deputy and the acting head of the Ministry of National Defense traveled to Kandahar province to praise the security and defense forces.

Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Mir Rahman Rahmani, has traveled to Tajikistan at an official invitation of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, at the head of a government delegation.

Mr. Rahmani in his visit to Tajikistan, had a speech in Afghan embassy to Dushanbe on Sunday.

Rahmani said that the government’s negotiating team has been waiting for the Taliban delegation to come to the negotiating table for more than a month and a half, but the group has so far refused to follow up the talks.

The Parliament speaker said that the whole focus of the Taliban is on the continuation of the war in Afghanistan, because the group wants to gain power.

Criticizing the Taliban group’s performance, Mr. Rahmani noted that this winter, according to the group’s commitments, the level of violence should have decreased, but contrary, the number of attacks and violence has increased.

He added that based on the information he received, the Taliban fighters were preparing for the spring offensive and had sent all their forces to the battlefields.

Rahmani stressed that the ongoing peace talks have not created any optimism about security and stability in Afghanistan.

He stated that the government is ready for any kind of negotiation while maintaining the current system and the achievements of the past 20 years.

He noted the purpose of his visit to Tajikistan was to strengthen the spirit of cooperation in the fight against terrorism, and emphasized that the country could use its national and international position to help end the war in Afghanistan.

He also called on Tajikistan to put pressure on the Taliban to return to the negotiating table.

This is the second visit of Mr. Rahmani and the Parliament’s delegation to the neighboring countries for peace talks and discussions.

Afghan local officials say a planted bomb detonated in Kolah Sabz area of PD1 of Ghazni city at around 03:00pm on Sunday.

The spokesman of Ghazni Police, Sardar Wali Tabasom said at least one civilian was killed and seven more with two security forces were wounded in the explosion.

According to him, the target of the blast was a ranger vehicle of the security forces.

Chinese Ambassador to Kabul, Wang Yu today in a meeting with Dr. Wahid Majrooh, Acting Minister of Public Health announced that another 200,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine will be assisted to the Government of Afghanistan.

In a previous meeting with the Acting Minister of Public Health, Mr. Wang Yu promised the Afghan government 200,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine, to which another 200,000 doses would be added at the request of the Ministry of Public Health.

Dr. Vahid Majrooh, Acting Minister of Public Health, appreciated China’s assistance and called the corona vaccine one of the health sector’s most important needs in controlling the coronavirus.

He also called China a good partner of the Ministry of Public Health and said that its assistance in the height of the Corona crisis in Afghanistan is very useful and valuable.

The Acting Minister of Public Health asked the Chinese Ambassador to cooperate with the Ministry of Health in activating the medical devices of the Jamhoriat Hospital.

In the meantime, Mr. Wang Yu stressed on the continuation of China’s cooperation in Afghanistan, saying that the coronavirus crisis delayed the country’s cooperation in activating the medical devices of the Jamhoriat Hospital, and that after the situation normalized, the cooperation process will be restarted.

US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad under the new US administration has reportedly begun trips to countries involved in the Afghan peace process.

According to media reports, Khalilzad is currently in Germany and will travel to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, and UAE, and other regional countries.

Reports suggest that the Afghan State Ministry for Peace Affairs is hopeful of the US envoy’s upcoming regional visits.

Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, State Minister for Peace has welcomed Khalilzad’s trip and hoped that his upcoming trip will be more effective in supporting the peace process in Afghanistan.

Afghan local officials say at least one person was killed and seven more were wounded in an explosion in Ghazni province today.

Muhammad Wares Naeemi, the acting director of Police press in Ghazni told Reporterly that an IED planted by Taliban in Kolah Sabz area of PD1 detonated at around 03:00pm on Sunday.

Naeemi said that one civilian was killed, two security forces and five civilians were wounded in the incident.

He added that the target of explosion was a ranger of Afghan security forces.

Turkey and Afghanistan plan to celebrate their 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations on Monday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Afghanistan’s Ambassador Amir Ramin will plant saplings “which symbolize the friendship between our countries,” in the garden of the Afghan Embassy in Turkey’s capital Ankara, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Cavusoglu will then address via video conference a celebratory reception in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul attended by his counterpart Hanif Atmar.

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Afghanistan were established with the signing of the Turkey-Afghanistan Alliance Agreement on March 1, 1921 and the Turkish Embassy in Kabul was the first diplomatic representation to be inaugurated in Afghanistan after it gained independence in 1919.

Afghanistan became the second country to recognize the Turkish Grand National Assembly during Turkey’s independence war.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Sunday reported 19 new positive cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

The ministry also reported one death and 45 recoveries from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

The cumulative number of total cases is now 55,733 the number of total reported deaths is 2,444 and the total number of recoveries is 49,333.

The new cases were reported in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, and Khost provinces.

Unidentified gunmen on Saturday shot dead a shadow governor of the Taliban for Laghman province in Peshawar, Pakistani media reported quoting Taliban officials.

According to the reports, Abdul Hadi Pashaiwal, the Taliban governor for Laghman province, came under attack near his house at Bakhshu Pul area in the outskirts of Peshawar.

The slain Taliban leader was returning home from Mardan where he had gone to offer condolences on the demise of a relative, according to the reports.

The gunmen fled after the incident. No group claimed responsibility. However, a Taliban leader said IS-K could be behind the attack.

The German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer isn’t ruling out the possibility of sending more troops to Afghanistan if the security situation worsens drastically.

She told DW that the current mandate ceiling of 1,300 soldiers should be sufficient for the next few months.

Should the security situation deteriorate further, “we would have to talk about a completely new mandate.”

The German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Friday during a surprise visit to troops in Mazar-i-Sharif, said that her country is “ready to continue supporting the peace process.”

On Wednesday last week, the German Cabinet in Berlin approved a 10-month extension  until next January of Germany’s military mission in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has called on relevant authorities to investigate the Taliban attack on the family of the slain Journalist Bismillah Adil in Ghor province.

AIHRC in a statement on Sunday said that the commission demands the responsible institutions to conduct a comprehensive investigation into this case and the murder of Bismillah Adil, and to reveal the truth, as well as to prosecute the perpetrators with the aim of ensuring justice.

Based on the findings of the rights body, at least three family members of Adil, including a 13-year-old girl have been killed, four other family members wounded in an attack by a local commander of the Taliban group.

“Taliban also took three members of the family with themselves,” the statement said.

Reports suggest that the gunmen stormed the family home of Afghan journalist and activist Bismillah Adil Aimaq, who was shot dead in an unclaimed attack nearby Ghor on January 1.

Amrullah Saleh, the first Vice President, says Hezb ut-Tahrir is not registered with the Afghan Ministry of Justice, and that the party no longer has the right to be active, and that the Afghan government does not recognize the party.

Amrullah Saleh on Sunday wrote on
his Facebook page that Hizb ut-Tahrir is not recognized by the Afghan government and that any activity under the name and address of this “unknown party” is illegal until its legal issue is resolved.

Without naming any terrorist group, the first vice president stressed that a number of Hizb ut-Tahrir activists are closely colluding with terrorist groups.
According to him, in the near future, a policy will discuss how to deal legally with the activists of this party.

He called on those who claim to belong to Hezb ut-Tahrir to stop anti-regime propaganda and activities.

Hezb ut-Tahrir was one of dozens of parties that began operating in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. It began its political activities in Afghanistan illegally in 2003 and began recruiting young people.

The Bamiyan Police have arrested three people in accusation of smuggling antiques and historical artifacts in the provincial capital.

Bamyan Police said in a statement that these people were identified and arrested during checking by the highway police officers of this province.

According to the statement ,the Bamyan National Directorate of Security also cooperated with the police in identifying the three suspects.

The statement added that the cases of detainees are under investigations by the Anti-Crime Police and will be sent to the Attorney General’s Office.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) says Russia has expressed opposition to the return of Taliban’s regime and stresses further efforts on the peace process.

MoFA in a press release said that thhr Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov made the remarks in a meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar.

According to the press release, Russian FM emphasized that Taliban must end the current violence and fully implement the Doha peace accord.

In the meantime, the Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar said that the Afghan government support Russia’s position on the Afghan peace process, particularly the stance that the return of Taliban regime will not be acceptable and also welcomed Russia’s stance on the UN sanctions on the Taliban.

“Durable peace in Afghanistan is possible only within the framework of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Republic will not allow international terrorism to operate in Afghanistan and this is in the interest of Russia,” Atmar added.