27 February 2017•Update: 28 February 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
Up to 20 terrorist groups are waging war in Afghanistan, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said Monday.
In remarks made during a first-of-its-kind “Day of Security Forces” ceremony at the military airbase in the capital Kabul, Ghani said: “There is not much of a difference between these terror groups. All of them, God forbid, want to destroy Afghanistan but use different tactics.”
He paid tributes to the sacrifices of thousands of security personnel, many of whom have lost their lives and limbs in the ongoing violence in the country.
The president said Afghanistan did not want war but it was imposed on it. He questioned the legitimacy of the Taliban’s insurgency, and vowed to take more measures to strengthen and further equip Afghan forces in a bid to scale down casualties.
According to the U.S. government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction figures, 6,785 Afghan security personnel were killed between Jan. 1, 2016, and Nov. 12, 2016, with another 11,777 wounded. This is about 35 per cent more than in 2015, when some 5,000 security forces were killed after taking the nation-wide security responsibilities from the NATO forces.
Also on Monday, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, reiterated support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan. In a message to mark the "Day of Security Forces", Nicholson said NATO would continue providing training, assistance and support o the Afghan forces.
Taliban confirm commander’s death
In a rare admission, the Taliban in Afghanistan have acknowledged the death of their key commander in a U.S. airstrike, who was said to be serving as the militant group’s interest in Kunduz province.
Afghan Taliban on their website Monday said Abdul Salam Akhund was killed in a U.S. air raid in the province’s restive Dasht-e-Archi district bordering Tajikistan.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense had announced the militant’s death on Sunday.
Asadullah Omarkhail, spokesman for the provincial governor, told Anadolu Agency: “This is a major blow to the militants who have been forced to flee Kunduz after a clean-up operation was launched by the security forces upon reclaiming Kunduz last year.”
