Mediaboss Marketing

Afghanistans new regime has expressed unhappiness over Indias delay in supply of military hardware as it grapples with intensified Taliban attacks ahead of the U.S.-led NATO troop drawdown from the war-torn country.

Giving an indication of new governments policy towards India, Advisor to the Afghan President, Daoud Sultanzoy said the relationship between the two countries will be based on reciprocity and that New Delhi can play a vital role in ensuring peace in the region.

Asked whether Afghanistan was disappointed over delay in bolstering its military capabilities, he said, Naturally when we look for cooperation with our friends like India and any delay that hampers progress and hampers productivity and economic progress in the country is seen in our eyes as a delay that creates a void. That void gives way to violence and deprivation.

Afghanistan has been trying to revamp its military to fight the resurgent Taliban as NATO forces are due to withdraw from the country by December 31 after 13 years of fighting.

He also indicated that it may have a relook at the inventory depending on its needs.

Around 12,000 NATO forces will continue to assist Afghan forces after the troop drawdown.

Mr. Sultanzoy who handles foreign policy in the new Afghan establishment, said there may be a re-examination of the defence inventory sought from India by the previous government of President Hamid Karzai.

Because of change in our leadership, there will be some new evaluation and then after that we will probably have a new inventory of our needs and if India can play continued role, we will welcome it and we will make sure that we take advantage of it, he told PTI in an interview.

Mr. Sultanzoy was part of Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis delegation who participated at the recent SAARC summit here.

Mr. Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

Visit link:
Afghanistan unhappy over delay in supply of arms from India

Kabul: Afghanistan's new leaders head to Europe today to showcase their plans to foster peace and revive the economy, but a spate of Taliban attacks threatens to overshadow their optimistic message.

President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah will visit NATO headquarters in Brussels and attend a donor conference in London in a public show of unity after they signed a power-sharing deal in September.

Afghanistan faces serious challenges including a fragile economy, declining aid funds and a worsening Taliban insurgency as the US-led NATO force wraps up its 13-year war against the militants at the end of this year.

The "national unity government" has struggled to get off the ground, with no ministers yet confirmed two months after Ghani was inaugurated.

In Brussels, the two Afghan leaders will meet NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday and attend a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers on Tuesday.

Hamid Karzai, President from 2001-2014, had a troubled relationship with the NATO coalition, but Ghani has tried to reset ties.

"When we have meetings with NATO, we will talk with confidence about the future," Ghani said on Sunday. "There is no more suspicion between Afghanistan, NATO and the US."

NATO's presence in Afghanistan will change on December 31 from a combat mission to a support mission, with troop numbers cut to about 12,500 -- down from a peak of 130,000 in 2010.

Much of the fighting has been taken over by Afghanistan's hard-pressed army and police, and NATO troops will be restricted next year to "training, advising and assisting" the local security forces.

The Taliban have marked the final weeks of NATO's war with high-profile attacks in Kabul on foreign compounds, guesthouses, US convoys and a suicide strike on British Embassy car that killed six, including a British bodyguard.

More here:
Afghan Leaders Look to Start New Chapter With Europe Trip

Published December 01, 2014

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014 file photo, Afghan security personnel arrest a suspect after a bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

KABUL, Afghanistan Facing an intensified Taliban insurgency, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani plans to fire senior civilian and military leaders in the country's most volatile provinces to reinvigorate the battle against militants, officials have told The Associated Press.

Already, Kabul police chief Gen. Mohammad Zahir has resigned following a string of attacks in the capital over three days that killed four foreigners -- including an employee of the British embassy -- and several Afghan civilians. Officials and diplomats who spoke to the AP say Ghani next will remove governors and generals in five provinces where the Taliban have held territory for years.

With Afghan security forces suffering high casualties in the run-up to the official Dec. 31 end of the U.S. and NATO combat mission, the newly elected president is eager to chart a new course. But the question remains of what effect the shake-up will ultimately have in a war-torn country mired in corruption and riven by complex ethnic and tribal rivalries.

"Ghani feels there is a need for reform within the armed forces," said Franz-Michael Mellbin, the special representative in Afghanistan for the European Union. "There is an inherent weakness in the way the armed forces have been managing their personnel that didn't allow the best and brightest to step forward."

Ghani plans to replace officials in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Baghdis, Ghazni and Nangahar provinces in the east bordering Pakistan and Helmand in the south, presidential spokesman Nazifullah Salarzai told the AP.

The provincial sweep will roll out over the next two to three months and will begin soon, he said.

"Senior government officials will be replaced," Salarzai said.

Areas of all five provinces have been under Taliban control for years and security forces have suffered record-high casualties as they come under regular attack by insurgents. A Nov. 23 suicide bombing at a volleyball tournament in eastern Paktika province killed at least 50 people, making it Afghanistan's deadliest terror attack this year.

See the rest here:
Afghan president reportedly plans purge of provincial leaders after surge in Taliban attacks

Women in uniform: a first for Afghanistan (from Return To Hope documentary)
NATO and its ISAF partners are helping to promote an active role for women in the Afghan security forces. Veronika Wand-Danielsson, Swedish ambassador to NAT...

By: NATO

See more here:
Women in uniform: a first for Afghanistan (from Return To Hope documentary) - Video

Suicide bomber rams into British embassy car in Afghanistan, five killed
A British citizen and four others died, while 33 others were injured. Violence is increasing in Kabul, as U.S. and NATO troops prepare to end their combat role at the end of this year.

By: CBS This Morning

The rest is here:
Suicide bomber rams into British embassy car in Afghanistan, five killed - Video