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16 People Killed, 119 Injured in a Taliban Attack on Foreign Organizations in Kabul, a Peace Deal Reached in Principle

September 2, 2019

 

US soldiers in Afghanistan

 

Taliban Attack Shakes Kabul, Killing 16 As Peace Deal Reached 'In Principle'

September 03, 2019

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan

KABUL --

The Taliban has taken credit for killing at least 16 civilians involving a car bombing and gunmen in Kabul on September 2 as the Afghan-based militant group agreed "in principle" to a deal to end the nearly 18-year conflict, the longest war in which the United States has been embroiled.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said the explosion occurred in a large compound of the Afghan capital where foreign organizations and aid agencies are based, and which is outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.

At least 119 were wounded "in last night's attack.... The explosion was caused by a tractor filled with explosives," Rahimi said on September 3.

The attack came as U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul to discuss with Afghan officials the draft peace deal.

In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, Khalilzad said the Taliban had agreed "in principle" that any Afghan territory it controls in the future will not be used as a sanctuary for terrorists to launch attacks against the United States and its allies. He also said that U.S. and Taliban negotiators had also agreed on the gradual "reduction and withdrawal" of Western forces from Afghanistan.

"That would depend on the situation on the ground," the envoy said. However, he pointed out that the agreement, reached after nine rounds of U.S.-Taliban negotiations in Qatar, wasn't final until U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to it.

Khalilzad said he "will have more talks" with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and other high-ranking government officials to discuss the draft agreement.

Presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi told reporters in Kabul the government will need to "study and assess" details of the draft deal. Khalilzad arrived in the Afghan capital on September 1 from Qatar, after declaring that U.S. and Taliban negotiators were "at the threshold" of a deal following the ninth round of talks. The envoy said Washington hopes that a final U.S.-Taliban agreement would pave the way for "inter-Afghan dialogue, which is an historic and golden chance to end the 40-year-old war in Afghanistan."

With reporting by Reuters, Tolo News, AFP, AP, and dpa

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AFGHANISTAN

Just Security, September 03, 2019

At least 16 people were killed and 119 others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul late yesterday, interior ministry spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi said today. The blast took place in a residential area near Green Village, a large compound that houses aid agencies and international organizations, Rahimi said. The AP reports.

The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack, the third claimed by the group in as many days in the country, saying it had targeted “foreign occupiers,” Siobhán O’Grady and Sharif Hassan report at the Washington Post.

The explosion came just hours after U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad briefed the Afghan government on an agreement “in principle” with the insurgent group that would see 5,400 U.S. troops leave the country within 135 days of a final deal being approved. In an interview with Afghanistan’s main news outlet Tolo News, Khalilzad said “we have reached an agreement with the Taliban in principle,” adding “of course, until the U.S. president agrees with it, it isn’t final.” Mujib Mashal reports at the New York Times.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani yesterday told Khalilzad to share details of the draft deal between the U.S. and Taliban with all Afghan leaders, the president’s spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi said. Sediqqi told reporters that the U.S.-backed government would need to “study and assess” details of the accord; the U.S. envoy is scheduled to meet with all Afghan leaders in Kabul this week to build a consensus before the deal is finalized, Reuters reports.

Trump administration officials are divided over whether to expand the C.I.A.’s presence in Afghanistan, according to American officials. While some senior White House advisers want C.I.A.-backed militia forces in Afghanistan to serve as part of a counterterrorism force that would prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State or al-Qaeda as U.S. military troops prepare to leave, C.I.A. and military officials have expressed reservations, sparking a debate in the administration. Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Julian E. Barnes, Matthew Rosenberg and John Ismay report at the New York Times.

“Much has been done to ensure the rights that the Taliban radically suppressed … any peace agreement must protect these [human and political] rights,” Madeleine Albright argues at the Financial Times, warning that at risk are the democratic institutions and practices the Afghans have put into place since the Taliban were overthrown after the 9/11 terror attacks, as well as the progress made by women over two decades to secure equal rights to education, employment, and political participation. 

https://www.justsecurity.org/66042/the-early-edition-september-3-2019/

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Taliban launches second attack on Afghan city while US envoy insists a peace deal is near

RFE/RL'S Radio Free Afghanistan September 01, 2019

PULI KHUMRI, Afghanistan --

At least six people have been killed after the Taliban launched an attack on the northeastern Afghan city of Puli Khumri, as the U.S. special envoy has said negotiators are on the threshold of an agreement to end the country's nearly 18-year conflict.

RFE/RL correspondents in Puli Khumri said late on September 1 that the city was relatively calm after several hours of fighting between security forces and militants.

Local authorities told RFE/RL that the Taliban "suffered a defeat" in Puli Khumri, but they added that sporadic fighting continued in the Kar-Kar and Bandi Du areas on the city outskirts.

The attack on Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan Province, came a day after the Taliban briefly stormed the northern city of Kunduz before being pushed back by government troops.

The Interior Ministry said four civilians and two members of the security forces were killed, and 20 civilians and two members of the security forces wounded in the fighting in Puli Khumri. It said three Taliban fighters had also been killed.

However, the province's public health director, Mohibullah Habib, told the dpa news agency that at least 45 people, including 14 members of the security forces, were wounded in the clashes.

The Associated Press quoted provincial council member Mabobullah Ghafari as saying that he had seen the bodies of at least six members of the security forces.

Ghafari said that the Taliban had occupied some checkpoints with no resistance from security forces. Taliban fighters had taken shelter in some homes, he added. Some residents were trying to flee.

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Earlier in the day, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had written on Twitter that U.S. and Taliban negotiators were closing in on a deal as they concluded their eighth round of talks in Qatar. "We are at the threshold of an agreement that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honorable and sustainable peace," he wrote. He did not give any specifics of the deal and added that he would be traveling to Kabul later in the day to consult with government officials there.

Khalilzad was visiting Kabul on September 1 to brief the Afghan government. An unnamed senior Taliban negotiator told Reuters that "we will now discuss these developments with our own leadership, while Zalmay Khalilzad is supposed to go to Kabul and inform the Afghan leadership about the decisions made in the peace talks."

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha, said both sides were in discussions to finalize technical issues after having successfully completed the current round of talks.

"We are on the verge of ending the invasion and reaching a peaceful solution for Afghanistan," Shaheen said on Twitter on September 1.

On August 31, Afghan officials said Taliban militants attacked Kunduz from different directions, killing at least 15 people and wounding 75. The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Afghan security forces had repelled the attack in some parts of the city, while other officials said that more than 30 militants had been killed. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a Twitter post called the attack "large-scale," while the police spokesman in Kunduz Province reportedly said the attack was "massive" and involved "intense" battles. The Afghan Interior Ministry said at least 34 Taliban fighters were killed in ground and air operations in three areas of Kunduz city and that clearance operations were under way.

The ministry said on September 1 that at least 25 people, including 20 members of the Afghan security forces, have been killed and at least 85 others have been injured in the fighting.

It said the city is now fully cleared of Taliban presence.

Presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi told reporters the attack was "completely against the peace talks" taking place between the United States and the Taliban. Expectations that a breakthrough in the talks might lead to a peace deal, including a timetable for the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops, had been on the rise. Khalilzad on August 31 tweeted that he had "raised the Kunduz attack in talks today, telling the Taliban that violence like this must stop." Khalilzad added that General Scott Miller, who commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan, had arrived in Kunduz to assist Afghan forces in defending the city. U.S. President Donald Trump said on August 30 that the United States had good negotiations going on with the Taliban but had not yet reached a deal. On August 29, Trump said that the United States will continue to maintain a force in Afghanistan even after a deal was agreed. The Taliban has long demanded a complete pullout of all foreign forces from the country. About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are now in Afghanistan as part of a U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist, and advise Afghan forces. Some U.S. forces carry out counterterrorism operations.

https://taskandpurpose.com/taliban-attack-peace-negotiations  

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