Taleban offensive forces thousands from homes

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 3, (Agencies): Fierce fighting between government forces and Taleban insurgents in northern Afghanistan has forced thousands of people to flee their homes, officials said Sunday.

Around 2,000 families have been displaced since the Taleban launched a surprise attack near the city of Kunduz nine days ago, said Meher Khuda Sabar, an official in the Refugee and Repatriation Ministry.

Sabar, who heads the ministry’s internal displacement department, said fighting has forced people into the city from surrounding areas as the insurgents close in. Many of the displaced were living with relatives, said Sayed Abdullah Hashimi, head of the Kunduz refugee department.

The surprise attack, and the authorities’ apparent failure to detect the insurgents massing in the area beforehand, has raised fresh concerns about the Afghan government’s ability to secure the country following the formal conclusion of the US-led combat mission at the end of last year.

More than seven months after President Ashraf Ghani took office, Afghanistan does not have a defense minister, even as the security situation has rapidly deteriorated nationwide.

After the Kunduz attack began, Ghani delayed a state visit to India by hours to confer with US military leaders.

Within days, the Afghan military rushed reinforcements to Kunduz. NATO said it had troops in the area in an advisory and training capacity — the limited remit of its Resolute Support mission, which involves around 13,000 soldiers.

Brig Gen Wilson Shoffner, spokesman for the mission, said US jets had flown over insurgent positions near Kunduz in recent days but did not drop any munitions.

US Gen John Campbell, who heads US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, meets with Ghani several times a week and participates in the regular meetings of Afghanistan’s National Security Council, according to his office.

Meanwhile, an Afghan delegation left for Qatar Saturday where they will hold two days of “open discussion” with Taleban representatives aimed at ending Afghanistan’s long war, according to an official.

“A 20-member Afghan delegation, two from the High Peace Council, left to attend talks in Qatar on Sunday and Monday,” Abdul Hakim Mujahid, first deputy of the council, told AFP.

“It will be an open discussion, based on peace talks in Afghanistan,” Mujahid said, adding that representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Taleban would be in attendance.

The High Peace Council was established by former Afghan president Karzai in 2010 to negotiate peace with the Taleban and other insurgent groups, but so far there has been very little progress.

The Taleban’s official spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed that an eight-strong Taleban delegation would attend the event, which is being organised by the Pugwash Council, a global organisation that promotes dialogue to resolve conflicts.