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Afghans Spend Calm Day as Eid Begins Despite No Truce
[ToloNews] No reports have been made on Tuesday, the first day of Eid, about attacks by the Taliban ...Arabic for students... or festivities in contested districts between the government forces and the krazed killer group, despite there being no announced agreement on a ceasefire. The cessation of fighting allowed Afghans to celebrate the beginning of the holiday with calm. The Afghan government and Taliban were expected to announce at least a three-day ceasefire during this Eid, but it did not happen despite a high-level meeting in Doha between representatives of both sides. "We are ready to thwart any plan by the enemy," said Dadan Lawang, Commander of the Afghan Army’s 203 Thunder Corps. TOLOnews news hound Hasiba Atakpal who visited a security forces post on the outskirts of Gardez city in Paktia said there were some soldiers who did not visit their families for five months, and many have remained at their posts rather than going to their homes to celebrate Eid. One of those soldiers on duty is Zikrullah, an army officer who says he hasn’t visited his family for the last five months and that during 10 years of service, he has always celebrated Eid festivals with his comrades. "Every day in which we are in our strongholds and the people are happy is a happy day and Eid for us," Zikrullah said. The security forces pledged that they will soon retake control of areas that have fallen to the Taliban in the province. "We are ready to defend the country" said Shafiqullah, a soldier. "I assure you that the fallen districts will be retaken by us," said Mohammad Ghani, a solider. Acting Defense Minister Gen. Bismullah Mohammadi visited Paktia province on Tuesday to meet with his soldiers on the frontlines. He said that Afghan forces are fighting for peace, not for the continuation of war. "We should have reached an agreement in the last 25 years, but you witnessed that the Taliban dominated a specific part of Afghanistan but could not get a result. Conflicts continued, and they did some deeds in Kabul and other areas, but none were acceptable to the people of Afghanistan," Mohammadi said. Tribal elders and members of the provincial council in Paktia said they support the government forces but criticized the handover of some districts to the Taliban by some security force members. "Anyone who is here, especially if they have a military uniform--their character will be judged if they leave a district," said Abdul Malik Mujahid Zazai, head of Paktia provincial council. "Our demand is that Paktia should be given air support in its operations," said Amanullah Zadran, a tribal elder.
...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... in his exclusive speech on the occasion of Eid in ARG thanked all the families who have sent their sons to serve their country and countrymen as members of ANDSF. This year’s Eid is that of the soldiers, said Ghani. In his speech, President Ghani commended ANDSF and added that the forces made the greatest sacrifices in the past three months which were not seen even throughout the past two decades. Apart from previous Eids, this year’s one is devoid of somehow usual three-day ceasefire and the warring sides are staring down the barrels in their respective strongholds. The Taliban  ...the Pashtun equivalent of men...’s political office front man Naeem Wardak in a Twitter post wrote the group tends to free some detainees of the Afghan government in respect of Eid. The Afghan government has not commented on the issue yet. Posted by: trailing wife 2021-07-21 |
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