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Afghanistan
Afghan President leaves country, Taliban directed to enter Kabul
2021-08-16
[KhaamaPress] Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah
...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president...
 in a video clip said that the former Afghan 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...
 left Afghanistan.

He said that he left the people of Afghanistan in mess and misery and he will be judged in futurity.

Ashraf Ghani along with NSA Hamdullah Muhib and head of the administrative office of President Fazel Mahmood Fazli left Afghanistan for Tajikistan.

Earlier, speaker of Afghan parliament Mir Rahman Rahmani, Younus Qanuni, Muhammad Muhaqeq, Karim Khalili, Ahmad Wali Masoud, and Ahmad Zia Masoud fled to Islamabad.

The Taliban
...Arabic for students...
 in an official statement said that the fighters were directed to enter Kabul city so that they prevent potential looting and chaos in the city.

The statement reads that, since Afghan forces have left outposts in Kabul city, there is a risk of plundering.

Kabul is taken by the fighters at a time when the power is not transferred yet and a delegation is said to be leaving for Doha to complete the process.
Tolo News adds:
Two sources said that President Ashraf Ghani has left the country after the Taliban entered the city on Sunday.

According to the sources, his close aides have also left the country along with him.

Earlier in the day, acting defense minister Bismillah Mohammadi said that the president has handed the authority of solving the crisis in the country to political leaders.

Mohammadi said that a delegation will travel to Doha on Monday for talks on the country’s situation.

The delegation includes key political leaders, including Younus Qanooni, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Mohammad Mohaqiq among others.

Sources close to the Taliban said that it has been agreed that Ghani will resign after a political agreement and hand the power to a transitional government.

Afghans have said that they seek a political settlement and an end to the ongoing violence in the country.





Related: PHOTO GALLERY: Taliban fighters enter outskirts of Afghan capital

Kabul airport closed to commercial flights: Officials
Link


Afghanistan
Blasts in Kabul hit near ceremony attended by top officials, casualties increase to 35
2019-03-08
Uodated numbers for this story from yesterday.
[DAWN] At least two blasts rattled a large ceremony in western Kabul on Thursday, with the event abruptly cancelled and sending attendees fleeing ‐ including chief executive Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
 and other leading government officials.

"Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni during a live broadcast of the event.

But moments after the announcement, another kaboom could be heard that sent people running for the exit.

A second unidenitifed voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering."

The blasts happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara
...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...
 leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Abdullah and former President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the Southern Alliance...
Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani ‐ who was at the scene ‐ later tweeted "gunnies launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony", and said he had escaped safely.

There was conflicting information as to the casualty figures in the immediate aftermath of the blasts.

A short while later, Health Ministry official Mohaibullah Zaeer said an initial check of Kabul’s hospitals revealed three people have been killed and 32 maimed in the attack but he said the figures were not final.

Link


Afghanistan
Blasts target major Shia ceremony in Afghanistan's Kabul
2019-03-07
[TRTworld] The explosions happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shia Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country’s elite.

An explosion rattled a large Shia ceremony in western Kabul Thursday, with the event abruptly cancelled and sending attendees fleeing, including chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and other leading government officials.

"Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni during a live broadcast of the event.

But moments after the announcement, another explosion could be heard that sent people running for the exit.

The explosions happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shia Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country’s elite, including Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast and no casualties have been reported.
A twitter guy says: Daesh/ISIS/IS affiliates in #Afghanistan.
Update from Tolo News at 6:30 a.m. ET:
At least three people were killed and 19 others were maimed in back-to-back mortar attack at a gathering of hundreds of people who were marking the 24th death anniversary of Abdul Ali Mazari, leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat party.

The attack took place at aroune 12pn Kabul time and it was started when Chief Executive of the National Unity Government Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
 was giving speech at the ceremony in Musala-e-Mazar compound in the west of Kabul.

The mortars landed in a different part and around the gathering.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, former president Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the Southern Alliance...
, former National Security Advisor Haneef Atmar, former Vice president Yunus Qanuni, Acting Foreign Minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, Second Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq, and other officials were at the ceremony.

No high-ranking official was hurt in the attack. But sources said that Abdul Latif Pedram, a presidential candidate and head of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan sustained injuries in the attack.

TOLOnews news hound Gulabuddin Ghubar who was covering the gathering said that at least 15 were kabooms heard at the area.

Sharif Amiry, another TOLOnews news hound, said the victims of the attack were taken to hospital by police vehicles and ambulances.

"The mortars also hit civilians houses and there are also casualties," he said.

In the meantime, officials from the Ministry of Public Health said that "two people were killed in a house after it was hit by a mortar shell and three others were maimed."

"From the gethering, one person was killed and 16 others were maimed," the ministry said.

Atmar in a statement said that eight of his bodyguards were wounded in the attack.
Link


Afghanistan
Qanooni compares ‘Taliban Safe Zones’ to partition of Afghanistan
2018-04-13
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent Afghan political figure and ex-member of the parliament Mohammad Younus Qanooni reacted at the suggestions to establish safe zones for the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
 group.

In his speech during a gathering organized for grinding of the peace processor, Qanooni said the establishment of safe zones for the Taliban group would mean partition of Afghanistan.

Qanooni further added that those who are making suggestions should rethink about the issue and carefully review their recommendations.

This comes as the leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil...
 emphasizes that the safe zones might encourage Taliban to accept the offer for peace talks.

Speaking during a presser in Kabul last month, the leader of Hezb-e-Islami pointed towards his recommendations for the safe zones for Taliban and said such zones should be created in a bid to help protect the Taliban group members and their families who are willing to join grinding of the peace processor.

He rejected the notion that Hezb-e-Islami supports the handover of the control of certain provinces to Taliban.

Hekmatyar has apparently made the recommendation to persuade the Taliban group leaders to participate in grinding of the peace processor.
Link


Afghanistan
Holbrooke reaches out to Hekmatyar
2009-04-11
The recent meeting between a deputy of Richard Holbrooke, the United States special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and an emissary of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), is by all accounts a landmark move in the United States' stated aim of involving militant groups in ending the conflict in Afghanistan.
I can't imagine Hekmatyar would want to be seen with Holbrooke ...
The choice of Hekmatyar also indicates just how desperate the US is in finding an escape route from the escalating crisis in Afghanistan. Hekmatyar is a declared terrorist with a reported $25 million price on his head. The 61-year-old engineer from Kunduz province and his anti-government fighters are responsible for large numbers of attacks against Afghan and international forces, mainly in the northeast of the country. For years, Washington has branded Hekmatyar an irreconcilable militant.
Which is correct ...
The HIA, founded by Hekmatyar, was one of the most effective mujahideen groups to fight the Soviet invasion during the 1980s. But, according to reports, the party became a favorite of Pakistan's intelligence agency and Hekmatyar's men were known as the most fundamentalist of all Afghan resistance fighters.
It was "one of the most effective" in the sense that the Hek's mujaheddin and Masood's mujaheddin between them were responsible for a majority of the operations, when Hek wasn't actually on the Sov side. But the majority of that majority consisted of Masood's operations -- he really was the hero of the Afghan war. And combining Ismail Khan's operations or Haqqani's operations with Masood's while excluding Hek would probably still account for a majority of the operations, and certainly better account for the majority of the effective operations.
To date, however, the US has failed miserably in attracting mainstream Afghan forces of the past back into the political process, including tribal warlords, the Taliban, the Northern Alliance and the HIA.
I kinda sorta agree with that. We should be looking forward to replacing Karzai with somebody more capable, like Ismail Khan or even Younus Qanooni. We should be best friends with Ismail and with Mohammad Fahim and even with Dostum. We really should be holding together and expanding the Northern Alliance, if only in anticipation of Karzai actually losing the Pashtun areas to Pakistan-based al-Qaeda and their puppets like Baitullah Mehsud.
This means, as Peter Lee wrote last month in Asia Times Online, "...the unpredictable Hekmatyar, who has survived the jihad, the civil war, defeat at the hands of the Taliban, exile in Iraq, an assassination attempt by the CIA, and return to Afghanistan as an insurgent leader, is the great hope of all parties as the only Pashtun strongman untainted by al-Qaeda and possibly capable of taking on the Taliban."
I'm sure that Hek "allies" with al-Qaeda just as easily as he allies with Iran and the Paks and probably with the Paraguayans or even the Antarcticans if they have any money. He doesn't have to be "tainted" by an al-Qaeda alliance, since he's a taint in himself. His motto: "To thine own self and nobody else be true."
The insurgents loyal to Hekmatyar have now emerged as the most important component of anti-Western coalition resistance in Afghanistan. While most of Taliban-led resistance is situated near the Pakistan Afghanistan borders, insurgents loyal to Hekmatyar hold complete command over Kapissa province's Tagab valley, only 30 kilometers north of Kabul. The HIA, whose political wing has offices all over Afghanistan and keeps 40 seats in the Afghan parliament, is fully geared to replace President Hamid Karzai in the upcoming presidential elections.

Now, eight years after the US attack on Afghanistan, Washington is initiating dialogue with Hekmatyar through his longtime lieutenant Daoud Abedi, the link between the Hekmatyar and the West. Abedi is an Afghan-American based in California as well as a prominent businessman, social worker and a former representative of the HIA.
Kill him. And set Ismail Khan on Hekmatyar.
Link


Afghanistan
Rabbani backs Qanooni for speaker of Afghan House
2005-12-21
Less than 24 hours after inauguration Afghanistan's parliament faces its first challenge with today's election of Speaker. Former president Sibgatullah Mojadeddi was yesterday elected as chairman of the Upper House, the Senate.
Sibgatullah is one of those ineffectual guys that everybody can agree on because he doesn't have a mob...
But today's contest pits former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik, backing failed presidential candidate Younus Qanooni against dreaded Pashtun leader Abdul Rasul Sayyaf.
I'd go with Qanooni without hesitation if I was Karzai. Rasool Sayyaf is a creature of the Saudis, a slippery deal maker who'd sell out his Mom and probably give a discount. Qanooni did a right fine job as interior minister during the transition period. He was a follower of Masood, and I think he's a man of caliber in his own right. His disadvantage in politix is being a Tadjik.
In a race already marred by charges of vote buying at $600 a vote, factions have forged new alliances that shed ethnic differences for political gain. Sayyaf is accused by rights groups of human rights violations in the civil war that followed the end of the 10-year Soviet occupation in 1989.
In this case they're right...
Abdul Sayyaf's comrade is former Qanooni ally, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the fierce Hazara leader who heads Hizb-e-Wahdat, with whom Abdul Sayyaf's forces once clashed. Like Sayyaf, he is accused of rights abuses during the 1992-96 civil war that killed 50,000 people in Kabul.
Mohaqiq leads a Shia faction. I can't see him getting along really well with Rasool's Salafists. But I believe Iran owns him, so maybe that accounts for it.
Qanooni won over Ahmad Shah Massood's faction and Uzbek strongman Rashid Dostum. The mujahideen hero, married to a Pashtun, hopes to woo Pashtuns, former mujahideen and first time women lawmakers. Shukria Barakzai, one of 68 women parliamentarians could eat into his vote.
She's a Pashtun, I believe, but she's a female, which makes her a Pashtun of little consequence. And she's closest thing Afghanistan has to emancipated wimmin, so I'd guess she's a place-holder...
Karzai, informed sources say, chose to back Sayyaf over Rabbani after US prodding.
My guess would be that's the Soddies, working through tame undersecretaries in our State Department. Being generous, we'll say they don't know any better. It's for sure they weren't paying any attention in the 80s, assuming they were around then.
He must find a way of circumventing Abdul Sayyaf's war crimes record, projecting the Paghman chief's Pashtun credentials. Karzai will draw on support from "Pashtuns, independents, democratic intellectuals, women, former communists and Taliban", said analyst Neik Mohammad Kabuli of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Kabul. Analysts say the Abdul Sayyaf versus Qanooni contest pits Pashtuns, who make up 50 per cent of the population, against a coalition of minorities.
Who make up the other, more savory, 50 percent.
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
Afghan Vote Counting Nears Completion
2005-10-05
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Powerful warlords, a former Taliban commander and women's activists were among the frontrunners as vote counting drew to a close Tuesday in Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in more than 30 years.

Preliminary results will be announced starting Wednesday or Thursday and in phases, in the event of unrest, officials said. Losing candidates are expected to bombard election authorities with complaints and accusations of cheating. Final certified results are due Oct. 22.

The election Web site, which charts progress in the count, shows that in most provinces, the top-ranking candidates for the 249 Wolesi Jirga, or National Assembly, are warlords or leaders of mujahedeen factions, many of them active in the anti-Soviet resistance of the 1980s and the ruinous 1992-96 civil war that followed.

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a former guerrilla leader and arch conservative suspected of having had links with al-Qaida is set to win a seat in Kabul. Hazrat Ali, a former provincial police chief accused of ties to illegal armed groups is leading in eastern Nangahar province. He and his militia were used by U.S. forces to hunt Taliban and al-Qaida.

But there are also plenty of new faces. Among the expected winners is 27-year-old Malalai Joya, a women's rights worker, who rose to prominence for daring to denounce powerful warlords at a post-Taliban constitutional convention two years ago. Women candidates are reserved a quarter of all seats.

Three former Taliban government ministers - including the minister of vice and virtue who imposed harsh Islamic restrictions on women during its rule - appear to have failed resoundingly at the ballot box, so far winning only a few hundred votes each. Yet in insurgency-plagued Zabul province, a former Taliban military commander, Abdul Salaam Rocketi, is leading. He battled against the U.S.-led ouster of the hardline militia, but has since denounced the rebels. He earned his last name for his skill in firing rockets.

In the capital, the two chief rivals to Karzai in last year's presidential election - ethnic Hazara leader Mohammed Mohaqeq and Younus Qanooni from the Northern Alliance - are leading.
It remains to be seen if they can marshal broader support within parliament to become an effective check on Karzai's dominance in Afghanistan's highly centralized political system.
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
AFGHAN VOTE: NO FUTURE WITHOUT ISLAM, SAYS QANOONI
2005-09-21
As vote counting continues after landmark parliamentary elections, Afghani power broker, Younus Qanooni, has warned that the country's future cannot be modelled on a Western liberal democracy. "Afghans will never agree on any secular or liberal system. Islam is the modern system and Afghanistan’s future is tied with Islam,” he said, in an exclusive interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) on Tuesday. Qanooni, who was a key figure in the Northern Alliance which helped the US overthrow the Taliban in 2001, heads the 12-party National Understanding Front. “The Taliban distorted the image and teachings of Islam, otherwise Islam is a very tolerant and progressive religion which co-exists with the international community very well,” he asserted.

Qanooni maintained that the Mujahadeen cannot be ignored in the democratic process, arguing that they are the real leaders of Afghanistan who sacrificed their lives during the resistance against the former Soviet Union and liberated Afghanistan. Younus Qanooni, was a lieutenant to the slain Mujahadeen leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud, assassinated on 9 September 2001, and considered by some his heir. He ran a poor second to Hamid Karzai in last year's presidential race, and was dropped from the cabinet in a subsequent reshuffle.

He told AKI that the Taliban are still getting support from Afghanistan, which is "neither in the long term interests of Pakistan nor of Afghanistan" and argued that president Karzai’s policy for dialogue with the Taliban is responsible for the violence - he says this has allowed them to establish safe havens in the south and south eastern Afghanistan."

Qanooni also took a swipe at the incumbent Afghan government for the spread of the narcotics trade - Afghanistan remains the world's biggest opium producer. “When I was interior minister in Afghanistan I devised a comprehensive plan to stop the narcotics trade. It is the international cartel which should be blocked with the cooperation of Interpol-like agencies,” he argued.
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Afghanistan/South Asia
Karzai leading in Afghan polls
2004-10-19
PESHAWAR, Oct 18: Afghan President Hamid Karzai continued to maintain his lead over his rival candidates in the presidential elections. However, his overall gain shrank to a little over 60 per cent in the 21 per cent votes counted till Monday.

According to preliminary results posted on a website of Joint Electoral Management Body of Afghanistan, of the total 1,682,090 votes counted by 18:13 Afghanistan's Time, Mr Karzai had polled 1,030,447 votes, that is 61.3% of the total valid votes. Though still comfortably placed to win the required over 50 per cent votes, Mr Karzai's overall lead has dropped from the previous 79 per cent last week against his close rival and former cabinet colleague, Younus Qanooni.

So far 20.9% of the votes have been counted. Mr Qanooni was trailing way behind with 315,672 votes polled in favour or 18.8%. Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum was trailing at third position with 139,480 votes or 8.3% of the total votes counted so far.
The link has numbers for each of the candidates, if you're that much of a political junkie.
Link


Afghanistan
Northern Alliance rejects peacekeeper force
2001-11-29
  • The Northern Alliance rejected the U.N. idea of an international force to help police the country and guard international aid distribution. The issue of security is one of two items being discussed among four Afghan factions; the other is Afghanistan's political future. The United States and the international community say a security solution is key before distributing billions of dollars in humanitarian and economic aid being pledged for the war-torn country. "We don't feel a need for an outside force. There is security in place," said Younus Qanooni, head of the Northern Alliance delegation, referring to the alliance's own forces.
    • Link


    Afghanistan
    Iran will reopen embassy in Kabul
    2001-11-17
  • A delegation of representatives of Russian ministries and departments is on its way to Kabul to establish contacts with the government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Iran will become the first country to reopen its embassy Kabul. Interior Minister Younus Qanooni has banned firearms in Kabul. He plans to replace NA soldiers with unarmed police force after residents turn in their weapons.
    • Link



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