Taliban’s Ghazni assault sparks new Pak-Afghan tensions

[Friends of Baloch]

Pakistan’s ISI involved in Ghazni attack: NDS
Aug 18, 2018 - 12:21

KABUL (Pajhwok): Evidence of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) involvement in Ghazni fighting would be shared with Pakistan soon, government officials say.

A week back, Taliban militants stormed Ghazni City from several directions and captured parts of it. In the five-day fighting, hundreds of people were killed and wounded.

The insurgents also set ablaze many markets, shops, antennas, transmitters of National Radio and Television and private radio stations, as well as media offices.

On Friday, the president visited the city and attended a meeting on the security situation. He also announced an amount of $20 million would be set aside for the reconstruction of the city.

Ghani reminded Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa: “You have singed a significant document with us. You have assured me in several phone calls that everything will become normal after elections Pakistan. I want answers how Pakistani fighters penetrated Ghazni.”

With regard to the killing of Pakistanis fighting alongside the Taliban in Ghazni City, he told the neighbouring country’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan: “You have received coffins. You being a Pakhtun should probe the matter and give me a reply.”

On the other hand, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) accused Pakistan’s ISI of plotting the Ghazni attack for two weeks to sabotage a possible ceasefire this week.

A source in NDS said they had obtained documents of ISI involvement in the Ghazni fighting. The ISI had tasked Lashkar-i-Taiba to execute the attack and group sent militants from Peshawar and Quetta and some from Punjab. The insurgents had been trained to fight in Ghazni, the source alleged.

Some of the wounded fighters had been shifted to hospitals in Waziristan and Quetta through Paktia and Khost provinces, claimed the intelligence official, who did not want to be named.

The militants had been divided into four groups. The first outfit named Zubir Bin Al-Alum had 120 fighters from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Zubair (not a real name) from Gjranwala city led the group.

The second group Khalid Bin Walid, with 90 fighters of Lashkar-i-Taiba, was headed by Khalid Ahmad (not a real name). The third outfit called Al-Mansoor had 120 fighters from the Haqqani Network, Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni, Zabul and southern Waziristan.

According to the source, the militants planned to overrun the entire province.

Pakistan’s main Pakhtun nationalist party -- the Awami National Party -- has also voiced grave concern over the arrival of dead bodies in the country Ghazni.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s spokesman, denied foreign fighters’ involvement in the Ghazni attack.

Pakistan’s ISI involved in Ghazni attack: NDS | Pajhwok Afghan News

Taliban’s Ghazni assault sparks new Pak-Afghan tensions
August 18, 2018 17:24

PESHAWAR: In the backdrop of the Taliban’s brazen assault on the southern city of Ghazni in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani alleged that the bodies of the perpetrators had arrived in Pakistan, though Islamabad maintained that Kabul had not officially shared any information or evidence in this regard.

Soon after that, the Afghan president said in a fiery speech to a jirga in Ghazni: “I have a message for Pakistan. Dead bodies (of the Taliban) have arrived in (Pakistan). Peace cannot be forcefully imposed on Afghanistan. Where did they (Taliban) come from and why are they being treated in (Pakistani) hospitals?”

But Pakistan strongly rejected reports claiming that some Taliban fighters involved in the Ghazni attack had been offered medical treatment in its hospitals.

In the absence of any official communication through regular channels established bilaterally, such reports cannot be given any credence, said Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.

Haq Nawaz, a senior Peshawar-based security analyst, told Arab News that the newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan faced a string of daunting challenges, such as economic revival, political stability, tackling corruption, and improving relations with his country’s immediate neighbors.

However, he added that recent developments in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have stepped up violent activities, will probably constitute a much bigger predicament for the new political administration.

He recalled that Khan had mentioned in his victory speech that he wanted a European Union-style soft border with Afghanistan, claiming that the idea had seemingly received a setback after the Ghazni attack.

“The latest bout of allegations will have a negative impact on the process of reviving good relations between the two neighboring countries,” Nawaz noted.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa also expressed “deep concern” over the recent surge in violence in Afghanistan and lamented in a statement released by the military’s media wing the loss of precious lives.

Bajwa reiterated that Pakistan was not supporting terrorist activities inside Afghanistan. He added that the allegation about the movement of injured or dead terrorists from Ghazni to Pakistan was incorrect.

However, the army chief noted that there were scores of Pakistanis working in Afghanistan, and that some of them periodically fell victim to acts of terrorism along with their Afghan brothers inside Afghanistan. “Terming such victims as terrorists is unfortunate,” he maintained.

Yet, the Afghan president sought an explanation from Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership on the Ghazni attack.

“Imran Khan, you are the son of Pashtun parents. Investigate this and give me an answer. General Bajwa, you have repeatedly given me assurances over phone calls that special attention would be given to the issue of peace in Afghanistan once elections took place in Pakistan. Now give me an answer,” Ghani said while addressing a group of tribal elders attending the jirga.

Bajwa said that different factions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan hiding in their sanctuaries in Afghanistan after assuming Afghan identities, were transported to Pakistan for medical help after receiving injuries.

Nawaz said the Afghan government should share relevant evidence with Pakistan in this case, arguing that using the media or social media to deal with such serious and sensitive developments can worsen the situation.

He said it was not just a statement or allegation from an ordinary official since the claim was made by a head of state, adding that both countries should settle such teething issues through dialogue and diplomatic channels.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in its statement: “Such reports can only be viewed as malicious propaganda to vitiate the existing cooperation between the two countries.”

Taliban’s Ghazni assault sparks new Pak-Afghan tensions | Arab News

[Firdousi]

One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.
The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.

"I could not help myself. It is my nature."

Afghan government is useless and corrupt af. If at this point the Afghan government has not figured out that a piece of paper is not enough to keep Pakistan at bay, then it truly deserves to be obliterated. Pakistan is a prostitute state by nature. An outcome of the Anglo divide and rule strategy. Pakistan can not change it´s nature for if it does it will stop being Pakistan.

BTW we should not trust too much our own government. Although our dirty neighbors are involved in pernicious activities in our country, Afghans always blame on others their own miseries. When Taliban took Farah, we blamed Iran. When they took Kunduz, we blamed Russia. Now its Porkistans fault. Our neighbors are successful at spreading fitna in Afghanistan because Afghan government is useless, corrupt, violent, ethnic-oriented, illegitimate and with no governance skills/abilities. And for these crimes only Afghans are to be blamed.

[Pakhton]

these was all afghan tribesmen that attacked ghazni the head is not isi but i am sure isi has contact with the head.i love my taliban brothers and wish them great success

[UnknownUser]

We need a new great muslim leader with characteristics like cyrus, saladin, etc.

Clean the Muslim lands of filth and unislam.

[Ironhide]

Its sad its happend, and all the bombings and deaths of innocent civilians. But afghanistan cannt blame everything on pakistan... they have to take responsibility and get their own house in order.