ISLAMABAD: Days after US negotiators announced they were on the “threshold” of a peace agreement with the Taliban in Doha, the Afghan militant group on Saturday defended attacks on American and foreign forces and said the violence would continue until a cease-fire was agreed to.
In a surge of violence that has cast doubt over the near-conclusive peace negotiations between the US and Taliban, the insurgent group stepped up attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in the capital city of Kabul and other areas in Afghanistan in recent days.
“There is no agreement with the Americans that we will not carry out attacks. But when the peace agreement is signed, (we) will honor whatever decisions are made in the agreement,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Arab News on Saturday, in a series of audio messages.
“If the agreement is reached to halt attacks, then (we) will stage no attacks, but there is no such deal with the Americans so far,” he said, and added, “Fighting to continue and we are in a state of war. We show response to the American attacks.”
On Thursday, the NATO-led military alliance said an American soldier and Romanian soldier were killed in action in Kabul, raising the death toll of American soldiers in Afghanistan to 16 this year.
As well as attacks on the northern cities of Kunduz and Pul-e Khumri, the Taliban have carried out two major suicide bombings in the capital Kabul over the past week, as chief US negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, held consultations over the peace agreement.
After showing the draft agreement to President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan leaders, Khalilzad was back in the Qatari capital on Friday along with General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan, to continue talks with the Taliban, who said the meeting had gone well.
According to Taliban political spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban and US officials had “positive and excellent progress” in the two days of talks in Qatar with the Taliban political chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, leading the group’s talks with Khalilzad.
Khalilzad has long been demanding a cease-fire, and according to the agreement, a full peace settlement to end more than 18 years of war will depend on subsequent “intra Afghan” talks. But the Taliban have refused to speak to the Afghan civilian government, rejected calls for a cease-fire and instead stepped up operations across the country in what they say, are ‘revenge attacks.”
“The enemy, the Americans, have also continued attacks. You will be aware that they conduct raids in different provinces of the country, on the people, civilian places, markets, mosques, religious schools, clinics, and houses...destroyed in air strikes,” Mujahid said.
“Many Afghans, including children and women, are martyred and the Americans are directly involved in these incidents. Their aircraft, their soldiers are involved. We will carry out revenge attacks when they launch attacks,” the Taliban spokesman said.
On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that after the surge in violence, Washington would not accept just any deal while it was seeking a political agreement with the Taliban.
Presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi tweeted on Wednesday that Kabul has concerns about the outcome of the Taliban-US agreement on how to “counter the possible dangers after the US-Taliban deal.”
As Afghan society reels from the aftermaths of the attacks, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is set to travel to Washington in the next week to meet with US officials, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
Last month, the Afghan government announced the formation of a 15 member team for intra-Afghan talks, but their names have not yet been made public.
’No agreement with US so far, fighting to continue,’ say Taliban
’No agreement with US so far, fighting to continue,’ say Taliban
- Death toll of American soldiers in Afghanistan this year reaches 16
- Taliban defend surge in violence as “revenge attacks” against American raids
Death toll in Karachi mall fire rises to 73 after two more bodies recovered — rescue service
- Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the fire at Gul Plaza which housed around 1,200 shops
- The identification process has been slowed by the condition of the remains recovered from the site
KARACHI: The death toll from a devastating fire at a shopping mall in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi climbed to 73 on Sunday, the Edhi rescue service said, following the recovery of the remains of two more persons.
The development came as rescuers and volunteers continued to comb through the debris at Gul Plaza, a densely packed commercial complex in the heart of Karachi where a deadly fire erupted on Jan. 17, for remains of the victims.
Over the past week, family members of more than a dozen missing persons have stayed near the destroyed plaza and hospital even after providing their DNA samples for testing, with some relatives also criticizing authorities for the slow pace of rescue efforts.
“The death toll in the Gul Plaza tragedy has reached 73,” the Edhi rescue service said in a statement on Sunday night. “The remains of two more bodies were shifted to the Edhi morgue today.”
There was no official comment on the increase in death toll.
“We have processed 71 sets of remains, of which 20 have been identified,” Chief Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said on Friday.
The identification process has been significantly slowed by the condition of the remains recovered from the site, according to Syed. Many bodies were found in fragments, complicating DNA analysis and prolonging the process for families waiting for confirmation.
Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the fire at the building, which housed around 1,200 shops. Traders say the blaze caused more than $53 million losses.
Fires are common in Karachi’s markets and factories, which are known for their poor infrastructure, but a blaze on such a scale is rare.
The provincial government has announced that it will give Rs10 million ($35,720) to each family of the deceased. All 1,200 shopkeepers will also be compensated.
