Kabul: President Ashraf Ghani, while visiting the Special Operations Command Corps, said that any support that is needed will be provided and that the source of our will is the protection of Afghanistan, freedom, equality and the achievements of the past 20 years.
However, he said that the intention of the enemy is black. The President said that the strategic position is ours and that is why the enemies are conspiring and wanting to take revenge on us through war.
President Ghani, on Tuesday, also spoke with the governors, corps and police chiefs and officials of the security and defense sector through a video conference this afternoon and congratulated them on Eid-ul-Adha. After listening to their speeches, President Ghani gave them necessary instructions on maintaining the security of the people and dismantling and dismantling the enemy’s movements.
Ghani also announced the arrival of “hard days”. “The Taliban have no intention or will for peace,” he said in his Eid statement on Tuesday. According to the President, the reason for sending the delegation by the government to Doha was to complete the argument; because he believes the government intends for peace and has sacrificed for it, while the Taliban do not. The president added that although Pakistan calls the Taliban “wild” on paper and is unable to bring the group to the negotiating table, at the table it calls on the government to change the battlefield to change the group’s position.
He said that Pakistanis see the Taliban as a threat to themselves and that no politician or major party in the country wants to establish a Taliban regime in their country. According to the president, an urgent and practical plan has been put in place for three to six months, and it will not take long for the current situation to change. Ghani called the change conditional on a strong position and the right program, which is based on coordination between the people and the government.
“We told the world that the release of 5,000 prisoners was a big mistake,” he added. At that time, we told the world, politicians and experts that this had dire consequences. He said foreigners and some Afghans at the time suspected that the government had no intention of making peace, and that the government had released 5,000 prisoners just to start negotiations, without achieving anything or a clear solution. The president said that despite the move, the Taliban were not yet ready for “serious and meaningful talks.” “In the last two years, unfortunately, the republic has been destroyed on all sides,” said Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
He criticized the Taliban for destroying infrastructure. According to the president, the Taliban have destroyed 150 mosques and 260 buildings, which he said were “made with the blood of the people.” Addressing the Taliban, the president said how the group’s relations with Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and al-Qaeda were founded and what their secret commitments were. According to the president, the Taliban had previously claimed that the government had international relations, but now international relations have changed with the withdrawal of foreign troops. According to Mr. Ghani, if the Taliban are Afghans, they should gather within Afghanistan, otherwise the government will not give that group the right to turn the country into a terrorist battleground and take the lives of its citizens.
Ghani said that every member of society should defend his homeland, capital, assets and future. Ghani said difficult days had come, but there was no need to talk about people’s performance; Because, according to him, history has proven that the past cannot be changed, but the future of individuals depends on their actions today. At the same time, President Ghani said that he will refrain from any political interference in the security establishment.
The Eid prayer program in the presidential palace was disturbed when some rockets hit areas around the palace. The president also mentioned this in his speech and said, “Eid is always a time of joy, but you still see how many rockets are fired, thinking that the rocket will make us stop praying,” he said. He even stressed that the Taliban bring people to the altar instead of sheep.
President Ghani went on to point out the role of order and cohesion between the people and the government in the current war. He said not a single checkpoint had fallen in parts of Khost where the 1,700-strong Taliban were present and the other side was Waziristan. The main issue in the current situation, he said, is not capacity, it is management.
He said the reason for the recent meetings was to set priorities, and that has been done. However, the president said that in such a situation, no one should ask for concessions.
In other news, Afghan officials said that the recent fighting and violence have pushed up commodity prices in many parts of the country, raising concerns. The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that if the ongoing violence in the country continues, commodity prices in the markets will rise further. Meanwhile, Khan Jan Alokozai, a member of the board of directors of the chamber of commerce, said the arrival of supplies at some ports under the control of the Taliban was a matter of concern and put many traders in the country at risk.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross has described Afghanistan as the deadliest country for civilians in the world, and says violence against civilians in the country has risen to unprecedented levels in recent months. The committee said on Wednesday that it had treated 49,500 war-wounded individuals in the country in the first six months of this year.
“Every day, an average of 270 people need treatment and serious care for life-threatening painful injuries,” the committee said in a statement. The Red Cross also said that 2,366 people wounded in the fighting had been treated at Mirwais District Hospital in Kandahar alone, more than doubling last year. According to the committee, women and children make up almost half of the civilian casualties in the country. Physical rehabilitation centers and the implantation of Red Cross prostheses have also treated 7,130 new wounded during this period, of which more than 700 have lost part of their limbs to war. The Red Cross in Afghanistan has added that their teams have helped 80,000 people at seven physical rehabilitation centers across the country since January this year.
“Violence caused by the conflict, growing insecurity, the destruction of water and electricity infrastructure, lack of access, attacks on health facilities and health workers are among the major factors affecting the lives of Afghans,” said Ilwa Filion, head of the Red Cross Central Committee’s office in Afghanistan. Fillon called on the parties to the conflict to refrain from harming civilians in the country. He added that the Red Cross Committee in Afghanistan will continue to provide the much-needed assistance that Afghans desperately need.
Also, as per Khaama Press, following Australia’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan now, officials are considering resending a number of the country’s military, intelligence officers, diplomats and civilians who had humanitarian aid missions to Afghanistan. Australia hastily evicted its troops and diplomats from Afghanistan last month.
Australia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that it is continuing to work closely with the Afghan government and coalition member states, the Daily Mail quotes. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Australia’s return to Afghanistan will come as soon as it is safe to do so. He has said Australia has always made it clear that it will do so if it meets the conditions of deploying Australian forces safely in Afghanistan and supporting their efforts there. Morrison has spoken to other world leaders, particularly at the recent G7 summit, about Australia’s absence and plans for his return to Afghanistan. He said he hoped to be able to do so as soon as possible, but he said it would only happen if it was safe to do so.
Meanwhile, a coalition of US news organizations in two different letters to US President Joe Biden and Minority and Majority leaders in the House of representatives asked for granting special US visas for Afghan journalists and support staff. The twin letters demand less than one thousand special visas for Afghan journalists, interpreters, supporting staff, and their families who have worked with US media. The letters are co-sent by 24 prominent outlets in the US on July 20.
The Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program is commended by the coalition as it indicates US commitment for airlifting their Afghan colleagues but is objected in the meantime as it does not reach the media workers in Afghanistan. US media is deemed as a legitimate target by the Taliban thus the families of Afghans who have worked with the media is directly subjected to these threats. We are doing what we can as a private organization to support our current and former colleagues in Afghanistan, but without US government assistance the people are facing grave harm in Afghanistan, read the letters. The letters have also pointed out the similar initiative by President Bush’s administration in 2008 for Iraqi journalists who had worked with US media. The US news organization asked for the same initiative to be launched for Afghans. Earlier, rights groups had also asked issuance of 2000 visas for female Afghan journalists, politicians, rights advocates, and minorities.
