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February 24, 2016

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Gen. RaziqRabbani Renews Dialogue Offer to all Insurgent Factions

KABUL - The Ashraf Ghani admin-istration on Tuesday renewed its call for all warring parties to renounce violence and join the reconciliation process.Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani issued the call in his opening remarks at the fourth meeting of the Quadri-lateral Coordination Group (QCG) in Kabul.The government was ready for talks with all rebel groups, the minister said, warning of strong against those who spurned the offer. “Security forc-es will move against those who reject peace.”He said: “We will continue to pursue

KABUL - Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif dis-cussed with Qatari leaders besides other issues of mu-tual interest facilitation of the reconciliation process in Af-ghanistan through Taliban’s Doha office, the military said on Tuesday.Gen. Raheel, who is on an of-ficial visit to Qatar, separately called on Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the state of Qatar, Sheikh Abdul-lah Bin Naseer Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of Qatar, a statement from the military’s media wing Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said.

KABUL - Afghanistan and Pakistan are reportedly in talks over the latter having allegedly set up checkpoints in Afghanistan’s Desho Dis-trict.The check posts are said to have come up in the Bahram-cha area of the district, which is in southern Helmand prov-ince.

KANDAHAR CITY - Hun-dreds of police officers gradu-ated from the training centre in southern Kandahar prov-ince on Monday, filling 98 percent vacancies of police of-ficers in the province.The graduation ceremony for the 478 police officers was at-tended by a number of securi-

ZARANJ - Thirty-six prison-ers were released from the central jail of northwestern Nimroz province on Tues-day, when some of them complained of overcrowd-ing.The prisoners were released in compliance with a presi-dential decree issued on the occasion of the birth anniver-sary of Prophet Mohammad (SAW), Governor Moham-mad Same told Pajhwok Af-ghan News.He said three women were among the beneficiaries of the presidential orders, which also paved the way for a reduction in prison terms of some inmates.One of the released men, Mo-hammad Juma, said: “Jail can also be a training centre for an inmate if he/she learns a lesson from detention. Such lessons can also drive down the crime graph.”Another beneficiary of the presidential decree, Moham-mad Sharif, complained of overcrowding. The jail cells had limited space, with 20 prisoners held in a room meant for 10, he alleged.He said prisoners had to wait for hours to go to toilets. “We served our jail terms in hot and cold weathers in small rooms. I hope the authorities will resolve the issue on priority.” Prison Director Col. Mohammad Is-mail said 20 acres of land had been allocated to the prison, but they had no funds for the construction of the facility. The jail built during the Tali-ban regime has capacity for 60 inmates. But presently, 460 in-mates including 13 women are being held there. (Pajhwok)

KABUL - NATO advis-ers want Afghan soldiers to spend less time manning checkpoints and more taking the fight to Taliban militants, a key tactical shift the coali-tion hopes will enable local forces to quell a rising insur-gency, Reuters reports.With NATO’s combat mis-sion officially over, and only a few thousand foreign troops left, the onus has fallen on the Afghan army and police to impose stability, and the military alliance is looking for ways to use those resources more effectively.Reducing reliance on thou-sands of poorly defended checkpoints that dot towns and roads across the country is a priority for NATO head-ing into summer, when fight-ing is expected to intensify as the Taliban renews its push to seize back power.“They’ve got way too many soldiers on checkpoints,” said Brigadier-General Wilson Shoffner, spokesman for the NATO-led training mission known as Resolute Support.“There’s an old military say-ing that if you defend every-where you defend nowhere, and it’s very much true for them (Afghan security forc-es).”There are early signs the idea is catching on.Over the past week, army units in the embattled prov-ince of Helmand abandoned their outposts in several of the most disputed areas, a move officials said would allow them to consolidate forces for renewed attacks on insurgent strongholds.“We have decided to pull out our troops from their defensive role and prepare them for an aggressive role in the coming year,” said Gen-eral Murad Ali Murad, com-mander of the Afghan army’s ground forces.“We are providing them with serious training and better equipment in order to pre-pare for a spring offensive.”But countrywide, obstacles remain to changing tactics long favored by security forc-es.Despite providing the en-emy with an obvious target, checkpoints are still simpler to defend than launching mo-bile operations, which require logistics and air support often beyond the reach of limited Afghan resources.Politics can also complicate efforts ...(More on P4)...(16)

CALAIS, France - Germany’s interior minister is pressing for Turkey to take back mi-grants trying to cross the Ae-gean Sea as European Union leaders prepare for a sum-mit with Turkey expected on March 7.Germany and other EU coun-tries see diplomacy with Turkey, currently the main transit country for migrants trying to get to Europe, as key to stemming the flow of refugees. German Interior

Afghanistan Owes $2.5b in Foreign Loans: Official

Obama to Unveil Plan to Close Guantanamo Prison

Germany Presses Turkey to Take Back Migrants

98pc of Police Officers Posts Filled in Kandahar

Gen. Raheel, Qatari Leaders Talk Afghan Peace Process

Afghanistan Tells Pakistan to Remove ‘Alleged’ Check

Points in Desho District

Residents Protest Govt’s Decision to Recover Grabbed

Land in Kol-E-Hashmat Khan

Logar Tribal Elders Freed; Payment of Ransom Ruled Out

NATO Advises Afghan Forces to

Do Less Defending, More

Attacking

36 Prisoners Including Women

Released from Nimroz Jail

COAS also held separate meet-ings with Minister of Defence Doctor Khalid Bin Muham-mad Al-Attiya and Major Gen-eral Muhammad Bin Ali Al-Ghanim, Commander Qatari Emiri Land Force (QELF).During the meetings with the Emir and the PM, matters re-lated to regional security and enhanced bilateral defence co-operation came under discus-sion. The Pakistan army chief visits Qatar as the four-nation group in Kabul on Tuesday an-nounced that Pakistan would host direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan gov-ernment in the first week of March. (Pajhwok)

Members of the Helmand pro-vincial council were quoted by Tolo News, as saying that the check posts have been set up three kilometers inside Af-ghanistan’s border, but Paki-stan’s security establishment has reportedly rejected this contention.Tolo News quoted Afghani-stan’s ...(More on P4)...(13)

ty officials. Speaking on the oc-casion, Kandahar police chief Lf. Gen. Abdul Raziq said it was for the first time that such a large number of police of-ficers were graduating in the province. With their gradua-tion, he said the appointment of police officers was 98 per-cent ...(More on P4)...(9)

world with torture, indefinite detention and orange jump-suits.Obama has pushed for Guan-tanamo’s closure since taking office in 2009, but his efforts have been thwarted by Re-publican lawmakers, many of whom see it as a useful tool in combating terror. Obama

posed to be returned back in 40 years. Of the money bor-rowed, $2.3 was spent on re-construction of the country’s infrastructure such as roads and airports and the remain-ing amount was being spent.According to Kohistani, talks

Minister Thomas de Maiziere says after meeting Sweden’s justice minister Tuesday that securing the Greek-Turkish sea border is important “and

that includes people being returned to Turkey, and not being received in Greece first.” De Maiziere says that approach...(More on P4)...(12)

KABUL - A number of residents of Kol-e-Hash-mat Khan area in Kabul on Tuesday staged a protest over government’s decision to take back grabbed land in the region.They said if government takes back the land they will also lose a road which connects their area to other areas.“This is the decree by Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. He has mentioned in his decree that any move should be taken after agreement by residents, but it has not been so,” said head of Kol-e-Hashmat Khan Council Ghulam Ayub Fawad.“If the way is closed, all the residents will face se-curity problems. If this happens, the people’s lives will become difficult,” said Zabihullah Lahu, an elder of the area.Spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irri-gation and Livestock (MAIL), Lotfullah Rashid, meanwhile said the area is a protected one and belongs to the ministry.“The Kol-e-Hashmat Khan area is protected and a historical site. A big part of this area has been grabbed by some ...(More on P4)...(14)

PUL-I-ALAM - Kidnappers have re-leased the four tribal elders abducted in the volatile Azra district of central Logar province, an official said on Tuesday.Two days earlier, the elders were snatched by unknown gunmen from their cars in the Spin Jumat area of the district.Hameedullah Hamid, Azra district chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News the militants freed the four men today. In-fluential figures negotiated with the captors in the regard, he said.Abdul Walid, a provincial council mem-ber from Azra district, confirmed the tribal elders returned to their homes in the morning. He alleged the Taliban had kidnapped locals in the past as well.While denying the payment of ransom, he asked the government to ensure highway security so that people could feel safe travelling from one area to an-other. ...(More on P4)...(15)

says the opposite is true, and that the facility feeds into anti-US, jihadist propaganda.Obama also has faced oppo-sition from within his own administration, with the Pen-tagon accused of slow pedal-ing transfers and overstating closure costs.Details ...(More on P4)...(11)

with the Russian government were underway to forgive its $970 million loan and hope-fully they would soon make an announcement. He said negotiations with other loan providers were also under-way ...(More on P4)...(10)

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is expected Tuesday to make a final push to close the controversial US military prison at Guanta-namo Bay, hoping to honor a glaringly unfulfilled cam-paign promise.With less than a year left in office, Obama will unveil op-tions for closing the detention center -- located on a US base in southeastern Cuba -- in a statement at 10:30 am (1530 GMT), according to White House officials.Around 90 suspected jihadists remain at Guantanamo, a pris-on that once housed about 700 inmates at its peak and has be-come synonymous around the

KABUL - The Ministry of Fi-nance (MoF) on Tuesday said Afghanistan owed $2.5 billion in loan it took from foreign countries and financial firms during the past 14 years and efforts were underway to get the loans written off.Mohammad Aqa Kohistani, head of the treasury depart-ment, told Pajhwok Afghan News Afghanistan had loaned $970 million from the Russian Federation and the remaining from Iran, the Czech Repub-lic, the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).He said the debts were sup-

all possible avenues to ensure this rightful demand of our people for dignified peace that strengthens our constitutional system,”While praising goodwill and sup-port from neighbours and allies, the former High Peace Council chair-man said the Afghan government would continue to attach particular importance to the work of the QCG.Rabbani claimed the group had made tangible progress in adopting terms for its work, a roadmap docu-ment and consensus to ensure direct talks between representatives of the government and Talibaninfo-icon.The ...(More on P4)...(8)