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Medical facilities in Afghanistan endured more than 240 attacks by armed groups in 2015 and 2016, resulting in extensive damage to equipment and buildings, deaths of staff members and patients and a worsening situation for the health of the country's children.

Detailed in a report released Monday by Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, the attacks were mainly carried out by the Taliban and other anti-government groups. However, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) also carried out more than 35 attacks, the group said, adding that it wants U.N. Secretary General Antnio Guterres to list the ANDSF as one of the parties responsible for the attack.

Related: Afghan woman gang-raped after fleeing abusive husband: report

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The report focuses on four provinces: Kunduz, Nangarhar, Helmand and Maidan Wardak. As of November 2016, more than 30 percent of Afghanistan did not have access to health care, according to the countrys Ministry of Public Health.

Violent attacks on medical facilities are making worse the dire state of health care in Afghanistan, according to the report. Nearly five million people in the countryare in critical need of health care, including more than a million children suffering from acute malnutritiona 40 percent increase since January 2015. Measles rates have increased by 141 percent, and child casualties rose by 24 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Among children, deaths from preventable diarrhea-related diseases and polio have also increased, the report says.

Targeted attacks on medical facilities have decimated Afghanistans fragile health system, preventing many civilians from accessing life-saving care, Christine Monaghan, research officer at Watchlist and author of the report, said in a statement on Monday. Children suffer as a resultwe are seeing more deaths, injuries and the spread of disease.

The report also includes details of the October 2015 attack by U.S. forces on a hospital in Kunduz, run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). Following an investigation, the U.S. military called the hospital strike, which killed 30 people, a tragic mistake.

The group is callingon all partiesincluding Afghan and international forcesto stop attacks on medical facilities and personnel.

See more here:
Attackers Target Afghanistan Health Centers 240 Times in Two Years: Report - Newsweek

New York Times

Travel Ban, Turkey, Afghanistan: Your Morning Briefing New York Times At least 15 people were killed after a faction of the Pakistani Taliban attacked three posts on the border with Afghanistan. [Al Jazeera]. Sea Shepherd, a conservationist group, said that large volumes of shark fins are still entering Hong Kong by ...

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Travel Ban, Turkey, Afghanistan: Your Morning Briefing - New York Times

NEW DELHI: In a clear reference to Pakistan, the National Security Adviser of Afghanistan today said if a country cannot be designated as sponsor of terror, at least individuals hiding behind state protection should be identified.

Without taking Pakistan's name, Hanif Atmar said his country is engaged in an "undeclared state-to-state war" and talked about certain terror groups getting Islamabad's support.

He also said associating terrorism with Islam was wrong, misleading and inappropriate, holding that the Muslim community has been making huge sacrifices to defeat terrorism.

Speaking at a conference on combating terrorism, he hailed India's contribution to Afghanistan's stability and reconstruction and said his country considers the relationship with New Delhi as a "national treasure".

Atmar said Afghanistan's ties with India is as important as its relationship with the US and the NATO, indicating that India was playing a major role in enhancing the war-torn country's defence and security.

Demanding concrete action against countries sponsoring terrorism, he said if that is not possible than people supporting terror groups while hiding behind the state must be named.

"We often hear from the international community that it is difficult to designate a state as sponsor of terrorism as there are many implications.

"If we do not have the courage to designate a state, then let's designate individuals who are sponsoring terror and hiding behind the state. Let's hold them accountable for supporting terror," he said.

He also said that the South Asian Region including the Af-Pak region has the highest concentration of organised terrorists anywhere in the world and a clear strategy was required to defeat them.

The Afghan NSA said associating terror with Islam will make it difficult to understand and deal with terrorism, adding collectively the Muslim world is losing more people to terrorism than any other civilisation.

He called Muslims reliable partners in defeating extremist ideologies.

Rejecting any distinction between good and bad terrorists, Atmar said such approach can change a perpetrator to a victim as well because "such terrorist organisations are capable of morphing into a Frankenstein monsters and they will come after their own masters."

"Despite international investment in countering it, terrorism is growing its capabilities and presence in our region," he said.

Atmar said Afghanistan considers terror outfits LeT and JeM as enemies and that Pakistan should never allow them sanctuary.

"We share the region with Pakistan which has the highest concentration of terrorists anywhere," he said.

According to him, nearly 10,500 people lost lives in terror strikes in Afghanistan in the the last 14 months.

See the article here:
People supporting terror should be designated: Afghanistan - Economic Times

A former soldier who served two tours in Afghanistan with the US military and where he suffered serious head injuries, is fighting an order to deport him to Mexico.

Military veteran Army Private 1st class Miguel Perez was born in Mexico and grew up in Chicago. He sustained a brain injury on his second tour of duty and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, his family said.

But now, Mr Perez faces being sent to Mexico. Four years he left the military, Mr Perez served prison time for a drug offence which sparked the deportation proceedings. Mr Perez, 38, was a legal permanent resident when he joined the army and said he thought he became a legal US citizen when he enlisted, but that was not the case.

Family, friends and supporters have urged the courts to allow Mr Perez to stay (Facebook)

Mr Perez is one of thousands of green card veterans who face deportation, according to the Ashleys Memory Project, which was started by the immigrant mother of a deceased veteran, and a local church. They said many enlist with the promise of citizenship.

Hes more American than most of us standing here, because he did pick up arms to defend this country, his mother, Esperanza Perez, told reporters at Lincoln United Methodist Church in the citys Pilsen neighbourhood.

Trump spokesperson complains everyone believes Obama and no one believes Trump

Mr Perezs family has claimed that the former soldier did not did not get adequate medical attention when he returned home and turned to self medication with drugs and alcohol.

The Chicago Tribune said that a judge is weighing up the case and will issue a written response in weeks. Immigration judge Robin Rosche, is considering Mr Perezs claim under the United Nations Convention against Torture, a protection that resembles asylum.

Under that provision, the US agrees not to deport people who are not American citizens or nationals to another country where they could be tortured. Mr Perez told the judge that he fears for his life if he is sent back to Mexico.

His lawyer, Chris Bergin, said Mr Perez and other veterans who have been sent back to Mexico are targeted.

Those kind of people are immediately targeted upon entry to Mexico as people who can help criminal gangs, cartels, through their military experience, their weapons training, all that. They are targeted in the sense that, You either work for us or we kill you, Mr Bergin said.

Mr Perezs battle follows the issuing of an executive order by Donald Trump who told his administration to step the seizure and deportation of undocumented migrants. While Barack Obamas administration deported hundreds of thousands, they prioritised people with convictions for serious crimes.

Originally posted here:
US Army veteran faces deportation to Mexico after serving two tours in Afghanistan - The Independent

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Chinese troops are reportedly operating in Afghanistan, but it is unclear what theyre doing there.

There is evidence that Chinahas security forces operating inside eastern Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is reportedly very aware of their presence. We know that they are there, that they are present, a Pentagon spokesman revealedtoMilitary Times, without going into specifics.

Late last year, Indias Wion News Agency released photos of suspected Chinese military vehicles in Little Pamir. Franz J. Marty at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute claimedin Februarythat overwhelming evidence, including photographs, an eyewitness account and several confirming statements of diplomats and observers, among them a Chinese official familiar with the matter, indicated the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is conducting joint drills in Afghanistan.

The governments of Afghanistan and China have both denied reports of joint patrols. Towards the end of last month, China conceded that security forces have been conducting counter-terrorism operations along the shared border. Ren Guoqiang, a PLA spokesman, intimated that the law enforcement authorities of the two sides have conducted joint law enforcement operations in border areas to fight against terrorism, adding that, Reports in foreign media of Chinese military vehicles patrolling inside Afghanistan do not accord with the facts.

Ren also denied that there were non-military patrols being carried out in Afghanistan, further adding to the mystery of exactly what China is doing in the region.

Although Beijing denies engaging in military operations in Afghanistan, there was a strange, albeit unconfirmed, Chinese media reportclaiming Chinese soldiers in Afghanistan rescued U.S. special forces. While the story is likely untrue, it suggests that there may be more to Chinese activities in Afghanistan than meets the eye.

China has made its counter-terrorism concerns, particularly in Afghanistan, known numerous times. The Asian powerhouse is worried that increasing instability in Afghanistan will stir unrest in Xinjiang Province, which is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim minority which maintains a rocky relationship with the Chinese government. Beijing fears that Afghanistan will become a base of operations for militant Uighur separatists, specifically the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

China has been working with Afghanistan on countering this threat for several years now.

Afghanistan assured Chinain 2014 that it would never allow the ETIM to take advantage of the Afghan territory to engage in activities endangering China, and will continuously deepen security cooperation with the Chinese side. China agreed tocontinue to offer training and material assistance to Afghan military and police to strengthen cooperation in aspects such as anti-terrorism, the fight against the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and transnational crimes.The following year, Afghanistan turnedseveral captured Uighur militants over to Beijing. China provided tens of millions of dollars to support Afghanistans security forces.

In recent weeks, Beijing has been putting increased pressure on Uighur militants at home. Last Monday, around 10,000 Chinese troops marched on Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in a massive show of force against terrorism. That same day, Uighur militants fighting with the Islamic Statethreatened to return to Chinaand shed blood like rivers, giving China a reason to step up its involvementregional counter-terrorism activities.

Furthermore, the withdrawal of coalition forces has created an eroding security situation in Afghanistan which could facilitate the rise of dangerous militant groups along Chinas western border.

Beyond security concerns, China also has significant commercial interests in the war-torn region. Chinas massive Silk Road Economic Belt will span parts of Central Asiaand the Middle East, possiblyincludingAfghanistan.

China has motive for increased involvement, but it is unclear what China is doing in Afghanistan. China may have soldiers, armed police, security personnel, or some combination of the three in the area. Beijing has, so far, not been particularly forthcoming about its activities and intentions in Afghanistan.

Some observers suggest that Chinese involvement in Afghanistan might actually be beneficial for both the U.S. and China, arguing that China might be considering taking on a greater security role in the region after the U.S. and its allies withdraw; however, Chinese troops are unlikely to push far beyond the shared border as long as the U.S. coalition forces maintain a presence in Afghanistan.

There is also the possibility that China is training its militaryunder the guise of counter-terrorism operations, just as it has used peacekeeping and anti-piracy missions to enhance the capabilities of its armed forces in the past.

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Pentagon Knows China Has Troops In Afghanistan - Daily Caller