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John Kerry urges Taliban to reenter peace talks during visit
By Paul Elliott Apr 12, 2016
Kerry reiterated his offer to moderate peace talks with the Taliban, and implored Afghanistan's fragmented government to unite and work together to achieve peace.
At least two explosions have hit the diplomatic area of the Afghan capital following an unannounced visit by the USA secretary of state, APA reports quoting Press TV.
After a bitterly fought presidential election in 2014, Ghani and Abdullah share power in a national unity government that Kerry helped negotiate.
The attacks in Kabul on Saturday night came within an hour after Kerry had departed Afghanistan, following a visit aimed at defusing a political crisis in the unity government he helped build. The bitterness stems from a belief in Abdullah's camp that the election was stolen and gifted to Ghani - an anthropologist who lived in the US for three decades - as someone Washington could more easily do business with. Security vacuums in each threaten the United States.
In a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February, Army General John Campbell said that Afghanistan "is at an inflection point", and that 2016 could be "no better and possibly worse than 2015" if without steps to improve matters. The country's poverty rate has risen to 49 percent as foreign troops have withdrawn, leaving thousands of Afghans unemployed.
No casualties resulted from the attacks, according to Afghan government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.
Afghanistan, the US, China and Pakistan had formed a four-way group to try to jump-start the talks that were first held in Islamabad last July but fell away after it emerged later that month the Taliban's founder Mullah Omar was dead, leading to infighting within the group. "We each have a huge stake in continuing your country's forward momentum".
"The meeting is an opportunity for US and Afghan leaders to discuss areas of mutual interest and cooperation, and to outline progress in the areas highlighted in our Strategic Partnership Agreement: security and defense, democracy and governance, and social and economic development", Kirby said.
"When you have terrorists who are attempting to stop that work, stand in the way of that work, limit its success or even turn the clock backwards, obviously there is no time to relax".
"To make them a success, we need to maximize each and every day between now and those meetings", Kerry said as he sat beside Rabbani in a large, ornately decorated room at the presidential palace lined with oil portraits of Afghan leaders through the ages.
Ghani, speaking alongside Kerry, told reporters that officials recognised it was important for Afghanistan to show that global funds were well spent and well managed.
"National Unity Government (NUG) has taken responsibility for security of Afghan nation".
In the meantime, calls for President Ghani to resign have become louder, particularly from former officials who served under former President Hamid Karzai, who have been joined by other powerful figures that were removed from the government. "But we are committed to supporting the national unity government".
He called President Barack Obama's decision to keep troop levels at 9,800 this year historic and said he was sure the USA would make a responsible decision at the end of this year.
Gunshots were also heard but it was not immediately clear what had caused the explosions, which came following a period of relative calm in the Afghan capital.
His visit comes as the Islamist group is experiencing a resurgence following the withdrawal of US-led combat troops in 2014, announcing recently it was preparing for "decisive" battles in its upcoming spring offensive.
John Kerry urges Taliban to reenter peace talks during visit
By Paul Elliott Apr 12, 2016
Kerry reiterated his offer to moderate peace talks with the Taliban, and implored Afghanistan's fragmented government to unite and work together to achieve peace.
At least two explosions have hit the diplomatic area of the Afghan capital following an unannounced visit by the USA secretary of state, APA reports quoting Press TV.
After a bitterly fought presidential election in 2014, Ghani and Abdullah share power in a national unity government that Kerry helped negotiate.
The attacks in Kabul on Saturday night came within an hour after Kerry had departed Afghanistan, following a visit aimed at defusing a political crisis in the unity government he helped build. The bitterness stems from a belief in Abdullah's camp that the election was stolen and gifted to Ghani - an anthropologist who lived in the US for three decades - as someone Washington could more easily do business with. Security vacuums in each threaten the United States.
In a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February, Army General John Campbell said that Afghanistan "is at an inflection point", and that 2016 could be "no better and possibly worse than 2015" if without steps to improve matters. The country's poverty rate has risen to 49 percent as foreign troops have withdrawn, leaving thousands of Afghans unemployed.
No casualties resulted from the attacks, according to Afghan government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.
Afghanistan, the US, China and Pakistan had formed a four-way group to try to jump-start the talks that were first held in Islamabad last July but fell away after it emerged later that month the Taliban's founder Mullah Omar was dead, leading to infighting within the group. "We each have a huge stake in continuing your country's forward momentum".
"The meeting is an opportunity for US and Afghan leaders to discuss areas of mutual interest and cooperation, and to outline progress in the areas highlighted in our Strategic Partnership Agreement: security and defense, democracy and governance, and social and economic development", Kirby said.
"When you have terrorists who are attempting to stop that work, stand in the way of that work, limit its success or even turn the clock backwards, obviously there is no time to relax".
"To make them a success, we need to maximize each and every day between now and those meetings", Kerry said as he sat beside Rabbani in a large, ornately decorated room at the presidential palace lined with oil portraits of Afghan leaders through the ages.
Ghani, speaking alongside Kerry, told reporters that officials recognised it was important for Afghanistan to show that global funds were well spent and well managed.
"National Unity Government (NUG) has taken responsibility for security of Afghan nation".
In the meantime, calls for President Ghani to resign have become louder, particularly from former officials who served under former President Hamid Karzai, who have been joined by other powerful figures that were removed from the government. "But we are committed to supporting the national unity government".
He called President Barack Obama's decision to keep troop levels at 9,800 this year historic and said he was sure the USA would make a responsible decision at the end of this year.
Gunshots were also heard but it was not immediately clear what had caused the explosions, which came following a period of relative calm in the Afghan capital.
His visit comes as the Islamist group is experiencing a resurgence following the withdrawal of US-led combat troops in 2014, announcing recently it was preparing for "decisive" battles in its upcoming spring offensive.