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WASHINGTON There is mounting evidence that Chinese ground troops are operating inside Afghanistan, conducting joint counter-terror patrols with Afghan forces along a 50-mile stretch of their shared border and fueling speculation that Beijing is preparing to play a significantly greater role in the country's security once the U.S. and NATO leave.

The full scope of China's involvement remains unclear, and the Pentagon is unwilling to discuss it. We know that they are there, that they are present, a Pentagon spokesman said. Yet beyond a subtle acknowledgement, U.S. military officials in Washington and in Kabul would not respond to several detailed questions submitted by Military Times.

This dynamic stands in stark contrast to the two sides' feisty rhetoric over their ongoing dispute in the South China Sea, and to Washington's vocal condemnation of Russian and Iranian activity in Afghanistan. One explanation may be that this quiet arrangement is mutually beneficial.

Both the Chinese and Afghan governments have disputed reports of joint patrols inside Afghanistan. Those first surfaced late last year when India's Wion News published photosclaiming to show Chinese military vehicles ina region called Little Pamir, a barren plateau near the border.Reuters, an international news agency, also recently documentedthe development.

The vehicles were identified as a Dongfeng EQ 2050, which is the Chinese equivalent of a U.S. Humvee, and a Norinco VP 11a, which are like the mine-resistant MRAPs developed by the U.S. military last decade.China maintains that while its policeforces do conduct joint counter-terrorism operations along the border, based on existing bilateral agreements between the two nations, the People's Liberation Army does not.

But then there's this peculiarity: In January, Chinese media circulated a reportabout Chinese troops allegedly rescuing a U.S. special forces team that had been attacked in Afghanistan. The story is likely bogus propaganda, and U.S. officials in Afghanistan say no U.S. personnel have been part of any operations involving Chinese forces, but it would seem to underscore the two countries' shared interest in combating terrorism there.

In this screen grab from India's Wion News, a Chinese Norinco VP 11a mine resistant vehicle patrols in the Afghanistan-China border region. (Screen grab via Wion News) But whyis China even interested in Afghanistan? There are two motivators: security and commerce.

The first, says Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow at the East-West Institute, centers around Chinas desire to eradicate a Uyghur militant group known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which has been active throughout the region for many years. Its feud with the Chinese government dates to 1949. The U.S. State Department designated it a terrorist organization in 2002. More recently, Uyghurs fighting with the Islamic State in Iraq have vowed to wreak havocback home in China.

The U.S. military is not expressly targeting China's adversary though its continued presence in Afghanistan does further China's objective by helping to secure the country and deny sanctuary to rogue terror groups. Today, there are about 15,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, down from nearly 130,000 during the war's peak. They're spread across a handful of bases, focused on teaching the Afghans how to fight their enemies independently. A separate U.S-led counter-terror mission is focused on taking out high-profile leaders within al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Border security and broader stability are of prime concern to China,saidSung-Yoon Lee, a professor of U.S.-East Asia relations at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.So its law enforcement actions inside Afghanistan in cooperation with Pakistan, as the U.S. draws down, serve Beijing's interests quite well.The U.S. is dependent on this assistance, he said. "Hence, there's no compelling reason for China not to resort to military force in its unstable western neighbor.

Chinese Gen. Li Zuocheng, left, and U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley review an honor guard at the Bayi Building in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) It's a unique dilemma for Washington. On the one hand, China's assistance in war-torn Afghanistan is seen as helpful. All the saber rattling in the South China Sea to include China's militarization of several man-made islands is not.

So the U.S. appears willing to cooperate where it can, and confront where it must."A stable Afghanistan is in the interest of both the United States and China," Gady said. "I assume there must be a tacit understanding that China's involvement in Afghanistan is welcome up to a point."

"China," Gady said, "has been seen as a 'free rider' gaining economic benefits by exploiting the countrys natural resources while not contributing to the political and military solution of the conflict. So it is not surprising that as Western engagement in the country diminishes, China gradually steps in to fill the void to secure its interests."

In 2015, after the Taliban reclaimed Kunduz, a strategic city in northern Afghanistan, Beijing agreed to cooperate with Kabul. It pledged $73 million to support Afghanistan fledgling security forces. Afghan border police also are being trained in China, and the Chinese government is providing military hardware, includingbullet proof jackets, demining equipment and armored police vehicles.

Lee does not view this as a softening stance between Beijing and Washington. There are too many other disagreements, he noted. Beyond the South China Sea, the U.S. wants China to do more to keep North Korea in check and to lay off South Korea, which intends to deploy a self-defense anti-ballisticmissile system.

And the notion of Chinese forces pushing deeper into Afghanistan, beyond the border region, strikes Gady as unlikely at least in the near term, while the U.S. and its allies are there in significant numbers. "China's security footprint," he said, "will remain small and insignificant in comparison."

Shawn Snow is a Military Times staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief. On Twitter: @SnowSox184.

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Chinese troops appear to be operating in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is OK with it - Military Times

Written by Vishal Menon | Greater Noida | Updated: March 5, 2017 10:13 am Simmons has been hired for three series by Afghanistans cricket board.

Proud to be an Afghan. These were the words etched behind Phil Simmons flashy jersey when he arrived with the Afghanistan team for practice at the Greater Noida Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Simmons stint as Afghanistans coach began, almost inadvertently, in Dubai on the sidelines of the Desert T20 challenge.

I was in Dubai to watch the Desert T20 challenge when I was approached by their CEO (Shafiqullah Stanikzai) and their manager, who asked me if I would be interested in accepting the role of the Afghanistan coach. I was pleasantly surprised at first. But, it was an extremely exciting offersomething I could not have possibly ignored, he said. The 53-year-old, sacked by the West Indies Cricket Board last year following a series of acrimonious public squabbles, jumped aboard instantly.

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On the face of it, choosing Simmons was pragmatic. After all, he has had considerable success Irelands coach for a decade, where they were the winners among Associate nations in 50-over as well as the T20 format. Going forward, he can use his experience when Afghanistan squares up against Ireland in their upcoming ODI series. I suppose so. I was the Ireland coach for a considerable amount of time, and since Afghanistan is scheduled to play two series against them, they have sought my experience, which is fair, I think, he noted.

Both Simmons and Ireland go a long way. In fact, just two days ago, Simmons had posted on his Twitter handle a link celebrating six years of Irelands historic triumph over England at the 2011 World Cup. With it was a powerful image of KevinO Briens jaw-dropping 113. Below it was the caption that read, Never to be forgotten #100 worth watching again.

After signing the dotted line in Dubai, Simmons landed in Harare early last month for his first assignment a five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe which the Afghans won 3-2.We should have won that series 4-1, he sighed. Simmons takes over from Inzaman-ul-Haq, who had resigned from the post of head coach last year, to be the selector in Pakistan Cricket Board. Inzamams six-month reign was one of the most prolific periods for Afghanistan cricket, having won 12 out of the 17 T20s, and pulling off an incredible heist on West Indies at the World T20 campaign in India early last year. In this period, they continued to exert their dominance against the Zimbabweans. During his tenure, Inzaman had said that he had travelled to Kabul only once, to sign the contract. Simmons conceded he has not been to Afghanistans political capital yet.

Simmons, however, is not looking too far ahead in his new role. They have hired me for just three series. This series against Ireland, followed by another 5-match ODI series against West Indies in the Carribean in May, followed by a return series in Ireland in July. Thats what I am looking at currently. he explained.

Barely four weeks into his new assignment, he admitted he was still getting into the scheme of things, and added that coaching this motley bunch presented their own set of challenges. You have players with diverse personality traits and temperaments. For instance, you have a guy like Ahmed Shehzad who is very jovial and fun-loving, while on the other hand you have Zadran, who is a bit shy and religious. Apart from that, the language is also an issue. Thankfully, I have someone like Lalchand Rajput as the manager, who converses with them in Hindi. He is my mediator, he added with a smile.

The immediate challenge for Simmons and his support staff would be to infuse a winning habit into this team. The former West Indies coach had cited their performances during last years World T20 to illustrate their glaring inconsitencies. These guys were good against the Zimbabweans. But if you look at their performances in the World T20 last year, they came close to winning on a number of occasions, but could not seal the deal. My job as the coach would be to help them through.

Simmons is happy with the kind of exposure his team is getting at the international level. I like to be realistic. I dont think the BCCI or the Cricket Australia would be really interested in hosting them for a series at this moment. The important thing would be to remain competitive at this level, and when that happens you are bound to get your chance against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.I think the upcoming series in the Carribean in May is a step in that direction. he added.

These are still early days, but Simmons stressed on the importance of having a robust first-class system where young talent would graduate to keep the older players on their toes. For a country wading through political and economic turmoil, they have fared well on the infrastructure front having invested on synthetic turfs and an academy in Kabul. Simmons explained that he was apprised of an academy in Kabul, which has been the nursery for upcoming talent in the country. Somebody was showing me a video of a talent hunt in Kabul. The kind of frenzy for a clinic is amazing. More that 10,000 people to watch these guys play, he concluded.

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After Ireland overhaul, Phil Simmons hopes to fill in the gaps for Afghanistan - The Indian Express

Afghan security forces arrive at the site of a suicide car bombing / Getty

BY: Natalie Johnson March 4, 2017 4:57 am

Afghanistan is ramping up investment in economic development as part of an effort to stabilize the country's security environment while moving away from reliance on foreign aid, the chief adviser to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said Friday.

"There's not any country that has moved from poverty to prosperity through foreign aid. It's usually investment that can change a country in a very fundamental way," M. Homayun Qayoumi said during an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Qayoumi said the Afghan government has emphasized the development of infrastructure projects that engage local communities to provide jobs and economic security. The projects also help forge a connection between Kabul and local populations.

"When [locals] see their role and their future to be tied into [these projects], that in itself improves security in a major way," he said.

Qayoumi cited Afghanistan's revival of an irrigation project in the Helmand province as an example of the connection between security and economic development. The project, promised to locals 70 years ago, includes the finalization of the hydropower Kajaki Dam.

"The locals are really the ones who are taking that [project] and warning all of these insurgencies coming from Pakistan that these projects are vital to our future," he said. "This is where we see the hope of the future, where economic opportunities would buttress the security environment."

In 2016, a year after Afghanistan's National Unity Government rose to power, President Ghani introduced an infrastructure plan outlining projects to advancethe nation's economy in the agriculture, mineral, trade, and manufacturing sectors.

The proposal triggered development and construction of 29 dams, some of them hydroelectric, within the past year. Once completed, the capacity of those dams is expected to equal two and a half Hoover Dams. Given the country's arid environment, the dams would have adramatic impact onAfghanistan's agricultural sector.

The government also is developinga national power grid. Today, 77 percent of Afghanistan's electricity is imported. Officials in Kabul anticipate that in five years that country will not only be self-sufficient in energy production but will also have the capacity to export electricity.

In the secondhalf of 2016, Afghanistan attracted over $800 million in foreign and domestic investments for its energy sector. Qayoumi said this money would go toward constructionof hydropower plants, solar projects, natural gas, and more.

"In terms of infrastructure projects, the number of dams that we have started in last year and a half is more than what we've done in the prior 200 years," Qayoumi said. "If you look at the amount of electricity generation that we started in the last year, it's more than what we've done in the prior 60 years."

Qayoumi said assistance from the United States and other Western nations is still imperative to Afghanistan's security environment, but said the government is hopeful that the country can begin moving away from its dependence on the West.

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Afghanistan Pivots to Economic Development to Enhance Security - Washington Free Beacon

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Ambassador Dr Omar Zakhilwal on Saturday said that border closure is affecting '25000 poor Afghans' and that due to prolonged closure they will have to 'airlift the stranded visitors'.

In a facebook post, the ambassador criticized Pakistan for 'unreasonable closure of legal Pak/Afghan trade and transit routes', adding that the officials he met had no justification for doing it.

'Today in my conversation with Mr Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, I conveyed to him that if in the next couple of days an opening was not allowed for the return of the stranded visitors I would ask my government to provide chartered flights to lift them. This, however, would reflect a very poor picture.'

'I have not been provided with a convincing justification. Argument that the closure of these crossing points was needed to stop terrorists' crossing cannot carry any weigh as these points such as Torkham and Spin Boldak have been manned by hundreds of military and other security personal and have all the checking infrastructure and equipments in place.'

Pakistan closed Afghan border crossing after a series of terror incidents in Lahore, Sehwan and several other cities, which were blamed on elements based there.

The envoy said continuous closure was aimed at hurting the common Afghan people and it was damaging bilateral trade.

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'Afghanistan to airlift citizen if border not opened' - The News International

USA TODAY 7:05 a.m. CT March 3, 2017

Army Gen. John Nicholson is commander of the U.S.-led international military force in Afghanistan.(Photo: AP)

The war in Afghanistan is not going well. At best, its a stalemate. At worst, its a war seemingly without end the longest in U.S. history that is now shifting slowly in favor of the enemy, the Taliban and other Islamic extremists.

Afghan security forces are fighting harder than ever, but an average of 20 police or soldiers are being killed each day. The government in Kabul is barely able to gather enough new recruits to make up for the mounting dead and wounded. Last month, a mother in Kabul lost three sons, all police officers, to a single attack. Territory is slipping from the governments grasp, with just 57 percent of districts nationwide controlled by Kabul, down 15 percent from November 2015.

Americans have sacrificed a lot since the war began in 2001 in retaliation for the 9/11 terror attacks plotted by al-Qaeda leaders, who had safe harbor in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Beyond the 2,247 U.S. military deaths and 20,000 wounded, the U.S. has spent more in inflation-adjusted dollars to reconstruct Afghanistan than it did to rebuild Europe after World War II, and the nation remains far from self-sustaining.

The main upside is that the U.S. has successfully prevented Afghanistan from being used as a base for another 9/11-style attack on American soil. We believe ... that our operations in Afghanistan directly protect the homeland, Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of the U.S.-led international military force in Afghanistan, told senators last month. Other accomplishments include shrinking territory held by the Islamic States Afghan affiliate down to a few districts and, in October, killing an al-Qaeda leader who was planning an attack on the United States.

Nicholson concedes the war is a stalemate. Hed like to add perhaps 1,400 U.S. troops to the 8,400 already in Afghanistan, with maybe 2,000 more contributed from NATO and other coalition allies who already have 5,000 on the ground. The additional manpower would improve battlefield surveillance and move trained advisers further down into Afghan forces to bolster leadership.

Nicholsons request for more U.S. troops appears reasonable, but troop levels have to reflect a broader strategy. America needs to know President Trumps position on Afghanistan. More than a month into his administration, theres silence on the issue. Trump has offered conflicting views in the past, arguing against nation-building but telling Fox News last year, albeit rather reluctantly, that hed stay in Afghanistan. Trump has ordered his generals to come up with a plan to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.

President Obama was moving toward a complete withdrawal, which might have successfully pressured Kabul into assuming more responsibilities. But by announcing troops levels well into the future, divorced from the situation on the ground, he also left the Taliban and other terrorist groups to bide their time until the U.S. was gone.

The White House needs to conduct a major policy review of Afghanistan, reach a fundamental decision and then make its case to the American people. The U.S. troops serving valiantly in Afghanistan deserve clarity of purpose.

The choice is whether the U.S. is staying in Afghanistan with an active counterterrorism role and assisting the governments fight against its enemies or whether it is leaving. Only when the Taliban realizes that the U.S. commitment is unwavering, and that it cannot retake Kabul, will this longest war come to a resolution.

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In Afghanistan, what's the plan? - Hattiesburg American