Tajik jet ‘bombs’ Takhar border line

Officials said on Monday that a Tajikistan jet carried out airstrikes in Darqad district in Takhar province along the border. 

Earlier in the day, the provincial governor’s spokesman Mohammad Jawid Hejri confirmed the incident and said a clash broke out on Sunday afternoon between drug smugglers in Afghanistan and Tajik border guards.

He said Tajik border security fired a number of rockets into the area before “fighter jets” carried out an airstrike early Monday morning.

Hejri said the jets were “foreign” and were either from Russia or Tajikistan.

However, officials confirmed later in the day that there had been one fighter jet involved and that it was from Tajikistan. 

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Climate change will take a serious toll on Afghanistan by 2050

Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday warned that climate change will take a serious toll on Afghanistan by 2050.

Speaking at an international water management summit in Tajikistan he promised that his country will remain a good partner in terms of water management.

“Afghanistan will experience an increase of approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius in mean temperature and a doubling of population by 2050,” Abdullah said in his address to delegates.

Participants at the Sustainable Development conference said political, religious, linguistic and ethnic divisions need to be put aside in order for the world to maintain and manage its water resources properly.

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Chief of defense conference held in Kabul

The Chief of Defense (CHOD) conference held on Monday in Kabul, aiming to discuss and bargain on counter-terrorism and narcotics in the region.

The army chiefs of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended the summit and talked over several regional issues, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.

“Our demand from other partners in the conference was to take a joint position against Pakistan that supports terrorism and jointly press Islamabad to stop supporting and sponsoring terrorism,” said Dawalat Waziri, spokesman of MoD.

The Afghan government is said to believe that extremism and supporting terrorism become a part of Islamabad’s foreign policy that cannot be changed.

“It would be impossible to have an honest partner in fight against terrorism as long as Pakistan uses this policy,” Tamana Farmarz, head of the foreign ministry’s strategic studies said.

Afghan politicians have always expected Pakistan to change its strategy in fight against terrorism.

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Russia deploys heavy military equipment on Afghanistan-Tajikistan border

The Russian military has deployed heavy military equipment along the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan apparently to prevent the threats posed by the terror groups to the Central Asian countries, it has been reported.

Chief of the Main Directorate of the International Military Cooperation at the Russian Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Kshimovsky on Tuesday informed regarding the deployment of the military equipment in support of the Tajikistan border forces.

He told the RT TV that the armaments will make it possible to expand the capabilities of Tajikistan’s armed forces “to repel the terrorist threat and create an effective barrier along the Tajik-Afghan border.”

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China ‘Creating’ Consensus In Region To Fight Terrorism

Yao Jing, the Chinese Ambassador to Kabul, on Wednesday paid a visit to Eshkashem district in north-eastern Badakhshan province and said insurgent activity in the north of Afghanistan is a threat to the region.

Yao said that Beijing is currently working with Kabul and other countries in the fight against insurgency “to prevent their influence in China.”

“We are concerned that the insurgents or the terrorist movements in this region is a threat not only to China but I believe to Afghanistan itself, to Tajikistan and to all neighbors,” he said.

He visited the district to review the security situation and also to increase assistance to Afghanistan in its fight against insurgents.

“In fact we are working with your government, with the regional countries. First we are working for anti-terrorism, second we are increasing our capacitybuilding and certainly we have more regional consensus and coordination as far as anti-terrorism is concerned,” he said.

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Afghanistan-Tajikistan Wrap Up Economic Cooperation Meeting

The minister of economy Abdul Sattar Murad has said that Tajikistan is willing to expand investments in Afghanistan’s power projects and railway links.

“Afghanistan and Tajikistan are two important and allied countries in the region, therefore we are trying to expand joint investments between Afghanistan and Tajikistan in various fields such as railways and road projects and water dams,” said Murad.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan’s minister of economy has stressed the need for the expansion of commercial routes between the nations.

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Afghan Taliban react on Donald Trump’s election as US president

The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon to react on Donald Trump’s election as the new US president.

The group in its statement said “Thee US election appears to show the victory of the Republican presidential runner Donald Trump.”

The Taliban statement further added “Our message to him is that the US government policies should be made in a way that do not compromise with the freedom of the other nations and do not seek its interests in the killing and conviction of the others.”

The statement further added that the adoption of such a policy will lead to universal peace and will put an end to the ongoing violence.

Taliban urged the newly elected US President to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan as it claimed victory in the ongoing war in Afghanistan, claiming that the US should not further harm its prestige, economy, forces and generals in the country.

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Iran’s Chabahar Port Of Vital Importance For Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Mahmoud Balighi said Iran’s Chabahar port was of critical importance for his country.

Speaking to IRNA on Sunday, he said: “The port which is situated in southeastern Iran is of very vital significance for Afghanistan and regional trade.”

He also said the planned five-party railway link is also important for Afghanistan as it passes through Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China and then travels to Turkey thus connecting all these countries to Europe.

He said the railway which will run for 1,100 km inside Afghanistan will further facilitate access of Afghan businessmen to Chabahar port.

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Turkmenistan completes a section of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway

A section of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway construction which falls within the Turkmen soil has been completed, it has been reported.

According to a statement released by the government of Turkmenistan, the construction of the railway has been completed up to the border of Afghanistan.

The statement further added that the length of the Atamyrat-Imamnazar-Akina section is 88 kilometers.

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EMERCOM of Russia is ready to help Afghanistan after Earthquake

EMERCOM of Russia is ready to provide assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan to help after a strong earthquake, as reported in the press-service of the department.

A strong earthquake in northern Afghanistan shook buildings from Kabul to Delhi, cut power and communications in some areas and caused more than 150 deaths, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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