PESHAWAR: The Afghan government named a career diplomat, Najibullah Alikhil, as its new ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday, the Afghan foreign ministry has said.
Alikhil takes charge at a time when key intra-Afghan talks between the Kabul government and the Afghan Taliban are about to begin. Pakistan is considered key in arranging the dialogue.
“The Afghan government appointed ambassadors to posts in 13 World capitals,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Najibullah Alikhil was nominated as the new Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Islamabad, Pakistan.”
Alikhil, who is fluent in Dari, Pashto, English and Russian, brings with him 28 years of experience working with the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs and since March 2016 was Director General of Security Cooperation and Border Affairs at the ministry. He has served as Afghan envoy in Turkmenistan and Hungary and as a non-resident ambassador to Romania.
Alikhil replaces Atif Mashal who resigned in July this year, citing “personal reasons.”
“Unlike political appointees, Alikhil is a career diplomat with rich diplomatic experience,” said Hikmat Safi, a former adviser to Abdullah Abdullah who leads the High Council for National Reconciliation. “I believe his appointment will bring the two neighbors closer to mend their fraught ties.”
In recent months, Islamabad and Kabul have been involved in a diplomatic row over what both sides claim is harassment of diplomatic staff at their respective high commissions.
Last October, Afghanistan shut down its consulate in Peshawar over the removal of the Afghan national flag by Pakistani authorities from a disputed marketplace, which Kabul said belongs to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan appoints career diplomat Najibullah Alikhil as new ambassador to Pakistan
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Afghanistan appoints career diplomat Najibullah Alikhil as new ambassador to Pakistan
- Unlike political appointees in the past, Alikhil brings with him 28 years of experience working with the Afghan foreign ministry
- Takes charge at a time when key intra-Afghan talks between Kabul government and the Afghan Taliban are about to begin
Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six
- Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.
The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.
“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”
“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.
Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.
Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.
Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.
