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2020-03-04 Afghanistan
Afghan Forces, Taliban Face Off in 17 Provinces after Peace Deal
[ToloNews] A fresh spate of violence kicked off in at least seventeen Afghan provinces on Tuesday, a day after the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
announced they would resume military operations against the Afghan cops. The Afghan Ministry of Interior said there were 33 attacks by the Taliban and at least six non-combatants were killed in the past 24 hours.

The fighting between the two sides comes days after a weekslong Reduction in Violence (RIV) and a peace deal signed by the United States and the Taliban on Saturday. The peace deal outlined terms for the withdrawal of US and coalition forces from Afghanistan in exchange for a number of solid assurances by the Taliban, including that they cut ties to al-Qaeda and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups. The deal, signed in Doha, coincided with a joint Afghan-US declaration in Kabul that mirrored the Doha deal in laying out plans for intra-Afghan talks and an eventual ceasefire.

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The expectation was that the signed agreement would lead to intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and a delegation representing the Afghan republic's government and political and civil establishment, on the other.

But hard on the heels of the agreement, President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
publicly claimed that there was no "commitment" from the Afghan government to honor a 5,000 prisoner release swap mentioned in the US-Taliban deal before intra-Afghan talks. The immediate release of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the government, to accompany a 1,000-person release of Afghan forces by the Taliban, is mentioned in the US-Taliban deal as a confidence-building measure.

TOLOnews saw a document apparently issued by the Taliban military commission on Monday calling on Taliban fighters to resume attacks on government forces but to avoid targeting US and other foreign forces. Also on Monday, a front man for the Taliban tweeted a picture of the US-Taliban deal mentioning the prisoner release. The Taliban insists that the prisoner release must precede the intra-Afghan talks.

Kandahar and Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
provinces, in the south of the country, are known as some of the most volatile regions, and on Tuesday attacks resumed after a period of relative calm during the weeklong Reduction in Violence (RIV) that was put in place on the 22nd of February.

"They (Taliban) had 33 terrorist attacks which resulted to the martyrdom of at least six civilians and the injury of fourteen others," said Nasrat Rahimi, a front man for the Ministry of Interior.

Pangram village in the eastern province of Pashtun-infested Logar is one of the areas in the eastern parts of the country which is still the control of the Taliban. On Monday, the Taliban organized a gathering in the village where they talked about the recent deal with the US.

"If the government leaders do not sit with the elders and the leaders of the (Taliban) do not agree on peace, we will continue our fighting like the past," said Taza Gul, a Taliban commander in Pashtun-infested Logar.

A few hours after the gathering in Pangram village, reports emerged that at least five security force members were reportedly killed in a firefight with the Taliban in Mohammad Agha district of Pashtun-infested Logar.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other shoulder......
a number of residents in Pashtun-infested Logar called on the warring sides to stop the war and maintain an opportunity for peace.

"People lost their sons, women were killed, children were killed, people’s homes were destroyed, we do not want more wars, the people are thirsting for peace," said Abdul Rahim, a resident of Charkh district of Pashtun-infested Logar.

"The people want peace, they want to go do their work, or business, or farming in a peaceful environment," said Jan Agha, a resident in Charkh district.

Gen. Scott Miller, commander of Resolute Support Mission and US forces in Afghanistan meanwhile, in reference to the reduction in violence, said that he expects the Taliban to be serious about their obligations.

"The reduction in violence was a confidence builder. We're very serious about our obligations & we expect the Taliban will be serious about their obligations. The US has been very clear about our expectations‐the violence must remain low." Said Miller as quoted by the US Forces Afghanistan USFOR-A front man.

"They (Taliban) taught that if we launch some attacks on us, we will escape, but we are not the people to surrender," said Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani while addressing a gathering in the eastern province of Nanagarhar.

Ghani calls on the Taliban to come and open an office in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
if they are Afghans. He questions why they have "councils" in Pakistain.

On February 22, a 7-day Reduction in Violence (RIV) plan kicked off that was intended to pave the way for a peace deal negotiated between United States and the Taliban over the past 18 months.

Based on the agreement, the US will fully withdraw its forces over the next 14 months, and that the current force of about 13,000 troops will be reduced to 8,600 within 135 days. Non-US NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
and other coalition forces will also be reduced proportionally over that time.
Posted by trailing wife 2020-03-04 00:00|| || Front Page|| [15 views ]  Top
 File under: Taliban 

#1 Whew! So glad this doesn't concern us any more!

The Afghan "government" was always a joke. They're an easy price to pay to get out of there. The whole of Afghanistan isn't worth a single more American's life. Not one more.
Posted by Herb McCoy 2020-03-04 04:25||   2020-03-04 04:25|| Front Page Top

#2 Praise Allah Herb! It's not as if the plague of fundamentalist Muslims there tried to murder 50,000 human Americans on 9-11. Right?

On the other hand it was definitely the evil Christian West the inspired Muhammad's 610 AD call for global jihad. Right Herb?
Posted by Woodrow 2020-03-04 07:08||   2020-03-04 07:08|| Front Page Top

#3 #2, That and put a murderous, plundering Arab army in central France a century later. Where's The Hammer when we need him?
Posted by Cesare 2020-03-04 07:31||   2020-03-04 07:31|| Front Page Top

#4 It's peace deal bedlaaaaaaaaam!
Posted by swksvolFF 2020-03-04 10:12||   2020-03-04 10:12|| Front Page Top

#5 Afghanis on 9-11??? I thought it was Saudis that were at the controls.
Posted by Canuckistan sniper 2020-03-04 15:12||   2020-03-04 15:12|| Front Page Top

#6  I thought it was Saudis that were at the controls.

Sure, but Al Qaeda had been sheltered in Afghanistan by the ruling Taliban ever since they fled Sudan.
Posted by trailing wife 2020-03-04 15:29||   2020-03-04 15:29|| Front Page Top

#7 I don't want US troops there, but I wouldn't be opposed to a few B-52 strikes if opportunity presents itself on our way out.

Just a reminder that we can't nation build cultural failures into a real nation but we can slaughter better than anyone in history.
Posted by rjschwarz 2020-03-04 15:29||   2020-03-04 15:29|| Front Page Top

#8 Just a reminder that we can't nation build cultural failures into a real nation but we can slaughter better than anyone in history.

😂
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-03-04 15:39||   2020-03-04 15:39|| Front Page Top

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