U.S. Military Launches Strike on Kunduz

The U.S. military carried out an airstrike on Kunduz today and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed to take the northern city back from the Taliban, who pulled off a spectacular multi-pronged coordinated assault on Kunduz in the wee hours of Monday, capturing the strategically important town.

Afghan military launched a counter-offensive on Kunduz and there are reports today that they have retaken some areas, and reinforcements, including special operations and commandos, are arriving. The U.S. airstrikes against Taliban positions in Kunduz were carried out on Tuesday. U.S. military spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said the goal was “to eliminate threat to the (security) forces.” (AP, 29 September)

The insurgents had still the upper hand in the city on Tuesday, patrolling major streets, setting up checkpoints, searching for government loyalists and sealing off exit routes for anyone who wished to escape, AP reported. They emptied banks in the city of cash and seized vehicles.

Neither the U.S. nor NATO forces have an operational presence in the Kunduz region. German military control a base in the nearby Mazar-e Sharif.

Photo credit: Taliban prisoners walk on a street after their comrades released them from the main jail in Kunduz. Monday 28 September 2015 (Hekmat Aimaq/AP)

Afghanistan and U.S. Sign Bilateral Security Agreement

A day after the new Afghan government took office, Afghanistan and the United States signed a long-awaited Bilateral Security Agreement (B.S.A.), allowing nearly 10,000 American troops to remain in the country beyond the 31 December drawdown of U.S. combat forces. The force that will remain in Afghanistan will train and support local security forces, and a contingent of U.S. Special Operations forces will conduct counterterrorism missions in the country. Some 2,000 NATO troops will also join the Americans in their new mission.

Hanif Atmar, the new Afghan national security advisor, who signed the pact on behalf of his country, called it a “historic agreement,” and said it had the endorsement of Loya Jirga, the grand assembly of Afghan elders, who met and approved the pact in December.

“The people of Afghanistan placed a great steak in our enduring partnership,” said Atmar.

U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham signed for the United States. Witnessing the signing ceremonies at the presidential palace in Kabul were the new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive (Prime Minister) Abdullah Abdullah.

In Washington, President Barack Obama praised the pact.

“The B.S.A. reflects our continued commitment to support the new Afghan Unity Government, and we look forward to working with this new government to cement an enduring partnership that strengthen Afghan sovereignty, stability, unity, and prosperity, and that contributes to our shared goal of defeating Al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates,” the president said in a statement released by the White House.

Photo credit: The B.S.A. signing ceremony at Arg, the Presidential Palace. Hanif Atmar, the new Afghan national security advisor (r.), and U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham signed the B.S.A. on behalf of their respective countries. Kabul, 30 September 2014 (NYT)

President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan

Ashraf Ghani was inaugurated as president of Afghanistan today. He quickly appointed his rival in the bitterly contested runoff election, Abdullah Abdullah, as government’s chief executive officer, a Prime Minister-type position created as part of a compromise brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

President Ghani declared a halt to the degeneration of relations with the United States under the departing president, Hamid Karzai, who refused to sign a long-term deal to keep American troops in Afghanistan.

“Now it’s time that we enter a new era of our relationship with the United States, Europe and other countries of the world,” Ghani said.

Ghani, 65, is an anthropologist by training, and has worked for the World Bank for many years. He is the co-author, along with Ms. Claire Lockhart, of a book on problems facing the developing countries, “Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World.”

“Within these countries, vicious networks of criminality, violence and drugs feed on disenfranchised populations and uncontrolled territory,” Ghani and Lockhart wrote, describing how the people in countries from Latin America to Africa and Central Asia are “locked into lives of misery, without a stake in their countries or any certainty about or control over their own futures.” (The New York Times, 29 September)

Photo credit: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (center) and Government’s Chief Executive (Prime Minister) Abdullah Abdullah at inauguration ceremony. Kabul; 29 September 2014 (NYT)

Power-Sharing Agreement in Afghanistan

UPDATE: Ashraf Ghani Declared President-Elect

The two candidates for president of Afghanistan today signed a U.S.-brokered agreement on a power sharing government. Ashraf Ghani is expected to be declared winner of the presidential election, and be sworn in as the country’s new president as early as Monday, and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, would effectively become his prime minister, with substantial powers of his own. Ghani's presence at the Arg, the presidential palace, will be a welcomed change over Karzai's years of standstill.

The agreement prevents the collapse of the Afghan state as Abdullah’s supporters, mainly the Tajiks and the Hazara, had threatened to take over power by force, or form a parallel government, if he was declared the loser in the election. Ghani represents the Pashtun majority.

UPDATE: Afghanistan’s election commission declared former finance minister Ashraf Ghani as the country’s president-elect. The announcement came hours after Ghani and Abdullah signed a power-sharing agreement.

File photo: Afghanistan's President-Elect Ashraf Ghani (AFP)

Kerry in Kabul

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kabul today to meet with Afghan presidential candidates Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, as well as President Hamid Karzai, the State Department announced.

Kerry will follow-up on his July visit to Kabul, encouraging both candidates to help accelerate the audit process of the election results, and make progress on talks to form a unity government when the results are announced, said Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman for the State Department.

Kerry’s surprise trip to Kabul came in the same day that his top deputies, Under Secretary Sherman and Deputy Secretary William Burns, went to Geneva to resume nuclear talks with Iranian negotiators; so much for slow August!

UPDATE: Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah reaffirmed their previously-negotiated commitments to the audit process and the formation of a national unity government by the end of the month, Secretary Kerry announced after holding talks with both candidates and with President Karzai. The winner will lead the government, but the loser will also have a key role.

Afghan Presidential Candidates Agree to Audit, Unity Government

In a Deal Brokered by John Kerry

Afghanistan’s two presidential candidates reached agreement Saturday on an audit of their contested election and on forming a national unity government, regardless of who wins, the Associated Press reported. The deal was brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Kabul. Kerry conducted shuttle diplomacy between the two candidates late into the night Friday and on Saturday.

“This will be still a difficult road because there are important obligations required and difficult decisions to be made,” Kerry told reporters after briefing Afghanistan's current president, Hamid Karzai, shortly after midnight. (AP/LATimes, 12 July)

Former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah agreed to abide by an internationally supervised audit of all 8 million ballots in the presidential election. They vowed to form a national unity government once the results are announced.

Abdullah praised Ghani for working toward the accord on the audit and the unity government. Ghani returned the compliments, lauding his competitor's patriotism and commitment to a dialogue that promotes national unity.

Photo credit: Secretary of State John Kerry, left, with Afghan presidential candidates Ashraf Ghani, center, and Abdullah Abdullah. Kabul, 12 July 2014. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

Ghani Wins Presidential Election; Abdullah Reject Result as ‘Coup’

Afghan Presidential Election

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan today announced that Ashraf Ghani won the second round of the country’s presidential election by a huge margin. The preliminary results show Ghani with 4,485,888 votes, or 56.44 percent of the vote, and Abdullah Abdullah with 3,461,639 votes, or 43.56 percent. The final tally might change when the official numbers come out on 22 July.

Ghani would succeed Hamid Karzai as Afghan president in the country’s first peaceful transfer of power, but Abdullah’s camp reiterated its claim of massive fraud, and rejected the results, calling it a “coup” against the people, putting Abdullah on a dangerous collision course with Ghani.

“We don't accept the results which were announced today and we consider this as a coup against people's votes,” said Mujib Rahman Rahimi, a spokesman for Abdullah's campaign. (Reuters, 7 July)

Officials said, however, this was not the final result.

“The announcement of preliminary results does not mean that the leading candidate is the winner and there is possibly the outcome might change after we inspect complaints,” Election Commission’s chief Yousuf Nuristani told reporters.

File photo: Ashraf Ghani, the winner of Afghanistan’s disputed presidential election. (Tasvir Afghanistan)

Afghan Election Result Expected on Monday

Ashraf Ghani Apparent Winner

The announcement of the preliminary result of Afghan presidential election, which was scheduled for 2 July, got postponed to Monday so the winning candidate could pursue the other to support the first peaceful power transfer in modern Afghan history, perhaps by forming a cabinet with significant presence by both sides.

Based on Abdullah Abdullah’s continued claim of industrial-scale fraud in the election, it was obvious that Ashraf Ghani was the winner and will become the country’s president during a delicate period marked by significant U.S. troop drawdown and a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East.

As a reminder of the perilous road ahead for the new president, the Taliban insurgents set fire today to about 200 oil tanker trucks supplying fuel for NATO forces in an attack just outside Kabul, Reuters reported. Television footage showed black smoke billowing above the site of the attack.

File photo: Dr. Ashraf Ghani, the apparent winner of Afghan presidential election, at 2014 Davos World Economic Forum. (Tasvir Afghanistan)

Afghanistan Postpones Announcement of Election Results

Chairman of Afghan Election Commission Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani said today the partial results of the second round of presidential election would not be announced today as previously scheduled; adding the postponement will take “a few days.”  

The preliminary results were expected to show Ashraf Ghani well ahead of Abdullah Abdullah to become the next Afghan president. On Wednesday, Abdullah, expecting a Ghani victory announcement, demanded the election commission stop counting ballots and withdrew his election observers from the process.

Postponing the announcement of the results of the election indicates the seriousness of the situation developing in Afghanistan. If Abdullah refuses to accept the results at this very late stage, the country’s fragile political system could split along ethnic lines with catastrophic consequences for Afghanistan and the region, which already is besieged with ethnic fighting.

Abdullah complaint is that his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, and President Karzai orchestrated a huge fraud to block his election as the first Tajik president, a charge Karzai and Ghani have denied. Ghani on Friday called on Abdullah to respect the electoral system they participated in and ask the election commission to investigate irregularities after the results are announced.

File photo: Ashraf Ghani, expected to have been announced the preliminary winner of the presidential election. The election commission on Saturday postponed the announcement. (Photo taken at 2014 Davos – tasvirafghanistan.com)

Afghans Head to Polls to Choose New President

Afghans headed back to the polls in the second and final round of the country’s presidential election to choose between former anti-Taliban fighter Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani.

Electing a new president to replace Karzai will be the first democratic transfer of power in Afghan tumultuous history. Today’s voting was also a victory for the country’s security forces that prevented any major disruptions by the Taliban.

The new president will take power in a crucial time for the country. The U.S. and NATO forces will end their combat mission by the end of this year amid a general upheaval in the Islamic world and a growing insurgency by the Taliban inside Afghanistan.

Twelve million voters were eligible to cast ballots at 6,365 polling centers across Afghanistan, with preliminary results due on 2 July.

UPDATE: Turnout in the second round of presidential election was reported to be very high, some calling it “mammoth,” especially among women; an encouraging sign for a people under the Taliban threat. Warmest congratulations to our Afghan friends and to all Afghans.

File photo: Abdullah Abdullah (l.) and Ashraf Ghani

Abdullah and Ghani Will Contest Runoff Election

Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, the two remaining candidates for president of Afghanistan, said today they have accepted the final results of the first round of voting, and vowed to campaign hard to win the election in a runoff scheduled for 14 June.

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan said the front-runner in the race, Abdullah Abdullah, won 45 percent of the vote in the first round, with Ashraf Ghani second at 31.6 percent; they will contest the runoff. Karzai’s handpicked candidate Zalmay Rassoul, his foreign minister, failed badly; receiving only 11% of the vote.

Both remaining candidates have said they will sign the bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the United States. The agreement was negotiated last year and approved by a Loya Jirga organized by Karzai, but he has refused to sign it before he leaves office.

The Iranians have strongly supported Abdullah’s candidacy despite his commitment to sign the BSA. Ghani will use the Iranian support against Abdullah, arguing that the support will make Abdullah beholden to Iranian interests.

File photo: Abdullah Abdullah (l) and Ashraf Ghani (AFP)

Abdullah Is Clear Front Runner in Afghan Election

Abdullah Abdullah, a longtime opponent of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, emerged Saturday as the clear front-runner in Afghanistan’s presidential election. In preliminary results released today, Abdullah had won 45 percent of the vote, not enough to avoid a runoff with Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank economist and a Karzai advisor, who had won 32 percent. (The New York Times, 26 April)

Abdullah, if he wins in the second round, would be expected to sign bilateral security agreement with the United States. He has been a harsh critic of Karzai on the issue, saying Karzai’s refusal to sign the BSA had imperiled Afghanistan’s security in the midst of a war. U.S. and NATO have said without the BSA, they would not retain any troops in the country beyond their major drawdown of forces in December.

In a sign of alignment of U.S. and Iranian interests in Afghanistan, Iran was also seen as favoring Abdullah’s presidency.

Photo credit: Abdullah Abdullah, shown at his residence in Kabul on Thursday 24 April 2014. (The New York Times)