KABUL: The Afghan government said on Wednesday that the seizure of a major Taliban arms supply line in Paktia province will contribute to a significant drop in violence in the country’s southeast region.
Military officials earlier confirmed on Tuesday that security forces cut off a vital Taliban supply line running through the rugged Dand-e-Pathan district of Paktia near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border known as the Durand Line.
The supply route, called Enzergai Kando, was used by the Taliban to transport logistics and weapons for conducting attacks in neighboring provinces, including areas near Kabul, the officials said.
“This was a very important, strategic supply line for the terrorists,” Gen. Mohammed Radmanesh, Defense Ministry spokesman in Kabul, told Arab News.
Security forces claim to have flushed out the Taliban from the area after an overnight military offensive.
“We now have a presence there and will build permanent checkposts on various parts of the route. This was a route used by the Taliban for years for transporting arms inside Afghanistan,” said Brig. Gen. Shour Gul Pathan, commander of Afghanistan’s 203 Thunder Army Corps, while talking to Arab News by phone from the area.
The Taliban used this strategic route to reach deep into the Khost, Logar and Ghazni provinces of Afghanistan and launch attacks. New border checkposts are likely to control the cross-border attacks as security forces plan to expand their presence in the area.
“The future plan of 203 Thunder Army Corps is to establish border checkpoints in areas including Khowjkaram, Enzergai Kando and Nari Kando,” Brig. Gen. Shour Gul said.
The seizure of the route came after days of operations by Afghan troops in the region, he said, adding that the militants had suffered heavy losses as a result.
The Taliban could not be reached immediately for comment.
The development comes after weekend clashes between Pakistani and Afghan security forces along the disputed border areas, including Dand-e-Pathan. At least three Pakistani forces and two civilians were killed in an exchange of fire that ended with both sides agreeing to a cease-fire.
The Afghan government has long maintained that the Taliban enjoy safe havens and support in Pakistan but Islamabad denies the allegations.
Taliban militants, overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001, are active in many parts of Afghanistan.
Earlier on Wednesday, the group claimed to have killed a key border commander of the Afghan security forces in an explosion in the southern city of Kandahar. Officials confirmed that Col. Janan Mama, along with several bodyguards, died as a result of a magnet bomb attached to his vehicle.
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Afghan security forces claim to have cut strategic Taliban route
Afghan security forces claim to have cut strategic Taliban route
- Officials say supply line from Pakistan was frequented by militants who crossed into southeast provinces.
- The Enzergai Kando supply route was used by the Taliban to move between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
N Korean leader’s daughter fuels succession speculation with mausoleum visit
SEOUL: The North Korean leader’s daughter Kim Ju Ae has made her first public visit to a mausoleum housing her grandfather and great-grandfather, state media images showed Friday, further solidifying her place as likely next in line to run the nuclear-armed dictatorship.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their so-called “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated country.
Current leader Kim Jong Un is the third in line to rule in the world’s only communist monarchy, following his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The two men — dubbed “eternal leaders” in state propaganda — are housed in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a vast mausoleum in downtown Pyongyang.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong Un had visited the palace, accompanied by top officials. Images released by the agency showed daughter Ju Ae alongside him.
South Korea’s spy agency said last year she was now understood to be the next in line to rule North Korea after she accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing.
- ‘Presented as Kim’s successor’ -
And Cheong Seong-chang at Seoul’s Sejong Institute said he expected her to soon be “formally confirmed as the next successor both domestically and internationally.”
Cheong, author of a book on the Kim leadership, said her placement in the center of the front row during her visit to the place — a place typically reserved for her father — was especially notable.
It could be “interpreted as reporting to the ‘eternal leaders’ Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that she is being presented as his successor,” he said.
Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
North Korean state media have since referred to her as “the beloved child,” and a “great person of guidance” — “hyangdo” in Korean — a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.
Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who made a visit to the North in 2013.
Analysts have suggested that she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in the North Korean ruling party, at a landmark congress due to be held in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, footage showed Ju Ae accompanying her parents at New Year celebrations in Pyongyang.
While first lady Ri Sol Ju kept a low profile, state TV showed Ju Ae placing one hand on the North Korean leader’s face and kissing him on the cheek — a rare public display of affection which drew headlines in South Korea.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their so-called “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated country.
Current leader Kim Jong Un is the third in line to rule in the world’s only communist monarchy, following his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The two men — dubbed “eternal leaders” in state propaganda — are housed in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a vast mausoleum in downtown Pyongyang.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong Un had visited the palace, accompanied by top officials. Images released by the agency showed daughter Ju Ae alongside him.
South Korea’s spy agency said last year she was now understood to be the next in line to rule North Korea after she accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing.
- ‘Presented as Kim’s successor’ -
And Cheong Seong-chang at Seoul’s Sejong Institute said he expected her to soon be “formally confirmed as the next successor both domestically and internationally.”
Cheong, author of a book on the Kim leadership, said her placement in the center of the front row during her visit to the place — a place typically reserved for her father — was especially notable.
It could be “interpreted as reporting to the ‘eternal leaders’ Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that she is being presented as his successor,” he said.
Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
North Korean state media have since referred to her as “the beloved child,” and a “great person of guidance” — “hyangdo” in Korean — a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.
Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who made a visit to the North in 2013.
Analysts have suggested that she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in the North Korean ruling party, at a landmark congress due to be held in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, footage showed Ju Ae accompanying her parents at New Year celebrations in Pyongyang.
While first lady Ri Sol Ju kept a low profile, state TV showed Ju Ae placing one hand on the North Korean leader’s face and kissing him on the cheek — a rare public display of affection which drew headlines in South Korea.
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