| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Stanikzai says will resign if Helmand province falls to Taliban |
| 2016-04-13 |
| [Khaama (Afghanistan)] The acting Minister of Defense Masoom Stanikzai has said he will resign if the control of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province falls to Talibs. The remarks by Stanikzai comes as the Taliban group has intensified offensive in this province during the past several months in a bid to capture the province. According to the earlier reports, the Taliban group is eying to turn the province in its strategic leadership base and the Taliban leaders are even keen to shift the group’s council to Helmand. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... Stanikzai said the province will not fall to Taliban control. "It will not fall. If it falls, there is no doubt I will resign, but it will not fall," he told CNN. Stanikzai further added "It is not a rosy picture in Helmand. It’s a difficult fight and there are many fighters coming from across the (Pakistain) border, there is no doubt about that." He blamed the Taliban’s recent advances on Pak assistance, an oft-repeated charge by Afghan officials. "Why are we ignoring this fact? Go to Quetta, go to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. . What the hell are those (militant) bases doing there? How are they moving there? How are they communicating there?" he added. This comes as the Taliban group announced their summer offensive today and vowed to continue fight as the group’s armed insurgency enters to its 15th year. The Afghan security officials had earlier predicted that the group will continue to pursue violence with the full support of Pakistain’s ISI despite efforts by the Afghan government and its partners to encourage the group to participate in peace talks. |
| Posted by:Fred |