Explosion In Afghanistan Nearly Kills Two Soldiers
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Explosion In Afghanistan Nearly Kills Two Soldiers - Video
By Renard Sexton September 26 at 9:44 AM
The following is a guest post by Renard Sexton, a doctoral candidate in political science at New York University.
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Days ago, the principal contenders to the Afghan presidency announced a power-sharing arrangement that will give both Ashraf Ghani, the declared winner of this years election, and AbdullahAbdullah, the runner-up, a governing role.
Achieving this accord is no small feat; if it holds, this will be the first peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan since 1973. Observers note that it was indeed the threat of violence from supporters ofAbdullah, who claims to have been robbed of the election by malfeasance, that brought the deal to completion.
In practical terms the political bargain represents a divvying up of government posts and their associated foreign aid and other patronage among the two camps. Each leader will be able to reward a proportion of his supporters with plum positions and access, though for both in smaller measures than was expected. In the end, going to war over the election result was not worth it for either side, even though it meant giving up perhaps half of the government patronage apparatus to his rival.
Not so long ago such a rationalist, bargained solution was an impossible dream for Afghanistan. In 1992, shortly after the disintegration of the USSR, the Afghanistan Communist government under President Mohammad Najibullah was swept from power. The numerous armed opposition groups that had spent years trying to eject the Soviet-sponsored regime now had the opportunity to establish a unity government.
Two main factions competed for the top posts in the post-war government. Led by Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani and military chief Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Jamiat-e Islami represented Persian-speaking Sunnis (often lumped into the quasi-ethnic group Tajik) and their allies. In primary opposition was Gulbuddin Hekmatyars Hezb-e Islami, which was largely Pashtun in composition.
The United Nations and Pakistan, along with the United States, attempted to pull together a peace settlement between the various factions in what becomes known as the Peshawar Accords, signed on April 24, 1992. Hekmatyar refused to participate, saying that he would not share power with Massoud, but the other major mujahedeen groups signed on, with Jamiats Rabbani as president and Massoud as minister of defense (Hekmatyar was offered to the post of prime minister).
The next week, Hekmatyar began to bombard the city of Kabul from his mountainside position on the southern outskirts of the city, using his heavy artillery. By this time, fighting had broken out between the various factions, with forces loyal to Massoud and ex-communists under Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum fighting against those of Hekmatyar and another faction of the former Communists. Hezb-e Wahdat and Ittehad-e Islami, both nominally affiliated with the government, also began fighting with each other.
Afghanistan all-rounderSamiullah Shinwari was too young to remember his family's trek through the mountains, as his mother and father fled the war to seek safety in neighbouring Pakistan.
Like many of his teammates, he discovered cricket in a refugee camp in Peshawar and was playing in Pakistan when he was spotted by an Afghanistan coach.He is now a senior member of the team after 37 one-day internationals and 25 Twenty20s.
Shinwari, 26, said his native country still had problems, but there were plenty of safe areas and he was looking forward to the day it would become trouble-free.
His early years were especially tough for his parents, trying to keep a young family safe.
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"We grew up in the refugee camps in Pakistan," Shinwari said. "When I was a child we moved to Pakistan [via the] mountains, I don't think there would be cars or something else, so we moved by walking across the border.
"In Peshawar, I studied there, I played cricket there, I learnt everything there. There was no choice to go back to Afghanistan because of war.[It was] too tough because my mum said there was nothing. We walked by the mountains, there was fighting, so we were lucky we moved to Peshawar."
His family did not return to its native country until 2004.
Now Shinwari is a senior member of the Afghanistan team, which has qualified for the Cricket World Cup for the first time.They are on tour in Australasia to get used to the conditions and will play the second of two practice games against the ACT Comets at Manuka Oval on Sunday, after winning the first in a thriller on Friday.
Shinwari played a crucial role in the win and Afghanistan coach Andy Moles said he would be a similarly important cog at the World Cup as a middle-order batsman and with his leg-spin.He helped guide the visitors to victory with an unbeaten 31 runs off 28 balls as they chased down the Comets' 266 with four balls to spare.
See more here:
Mountainous escape from Afghanistan war takes Samiullah Shinwari into cricket
Rebecca Zimmerman of RAND corporation, comments on Afghanistan elections and the way forward
By: VoA Pashto
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Rebecca Zimmerman of RAND corporation, comments on Afghanistan elections and the way forward - Video
Afghanistan presidential rivals approve a power-sharing government
In Afghanistan, rival presidential candidates signed a deal for a power-sharing government.This unity deal comes after months #39; of turmoil over a disputed ele...
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Afghanistan presidential rivals approve a power-sharing government - Video