US ready to up support
Afghan forces lose some ground
KABUL, Dec 3, (AFP): US President-elect Donald Trump has assured Afghanistan’s leader in a phone call that his administration stands ready to up support to the country if necessary, a Kabul statement said Saturday.
“If Afghanistan needs more security assistance, his administration, after assessing the needs, will focus on providing more security support,” the statement released by President Ashraf Ghani’s office read.
The statement cited a phone call between Trump and Ghani on Friday, the first official communication between the two since Trump’s Nov 8 election.
“President elect Trump praised the Afghan forces’ defence of Afghanistan and its people and emphasised that the US will continue to remain with the government and people of Afghanistan during his term,” it said.
Fifteen years and hundreds of billions of dollars after the US led an invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taleban in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the security situation in the country remains unstable.
Afghan police and army units took over providing security for Afghanistan from NATO in 2015.
Their first year was something of a disaster, when they sustained more than 5,000 fatalities and saw the regional capital Kunduz briefly captured by the Taleban.
Around 8,400 US and NATO troops are still engaged in assisting Afghan forces in the war against a resurgent Taleban militancy.
During the recent US election however, Afghanistan got scarcely a passing mention at debates between Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Nevertheless, the situation there will be an urgent matter for the new president.
On Friday, the chief US and NATO commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson said the Afghan forces had lost control of a small percentage of terrain they previously held.
Additionally, Islamic State group
holding up traffic along a main highway outside Colombo. (AFP)
Activist held for royal insult:
Thai police arrested an anti-junta activist on Saturday for defaming the monarchy in what rights groups said was the first case of lese-majeste brought under Thailand’s new king.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn formally ascended the throne on Thursday following the death of his father, revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died aged of 88
Rajapakse
Engaged
Maha
fighters have been trying to expand their presence in Afghanistan, winning over sympathisers, recruiting followers and challenging the Taleban on their own turf.
Afghan security forces have lost control over a small percentage of the terrain they previously held, but are getting better at repelling the Taleban overall, a top US general said Friday.
Kabul now directly controls about 64 percent of the country’s population of 30 million, General John Nicholson, the chief US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said -- down slightly from 68 percent he cited earlier this year.
The Afghans now no longer under government control are not in the hands of the Taleban, but live in areas that are being “contested,” he said.
“While the enemy controls slightly more terrain than before, they do not control more of the population than they did in April,” Nicholson said.
All told, Kabul still directly controls about two-thirds of the population.
Balance
“The enemy holds less than 10 percent, and the balance is contested,” Nicholson said.
Afghan police and army units took over providing security for Afghanistan from NATO in 2015.
Their first year was something of a disaster, when they sustained more than 5,000 fatalities and saw the regional capital Kunduz briefly captured by the Taleban.
Despite tracking even higher casualty numbers so far this year, Nicholson said the Afghans had inflicted a high death toll on the Taleban and are improving, having prevented eight Taleban attempts to seize another regional capital.
“Every one of these attempts failed,” he said. “This is a sign of an army that’s growing in capability, that’s maturing in terms of its ability to handle (simultaneous attacks) and complexity on the battlefield.”
The Taleban have been especially active in Helmand province -- a global center for opium production -- and are working with traffickers, Nicholson said.
in October.
Police Colonel Jaturon Trakulpan, a superintendent in northeastern Chaiyaphum province, said Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, an activist who has staged several anti-junta protests, was arrested and charged with royal insult under Article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code.
“We caught him at a temple,” Jaturon said.
Thailand’s junta has cracked down on critics of the monarchy since it took power in a May 2014 coup. iLaw, a Bangkokbased group that monitors such cases, said they had increased since King Bhumibol’s death.
Article 112 says anyone who “defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent” will be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a rights group representing Jatupat, said in a Twitter post that he was charged with royal insult for sharing a link on Facebook to a BBC Thai-language profile of the new king.
Anon Chawalawan of iLaw said the case was the first royal insult case to be filed under the new monarch. (RTRS)