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BEIJING: China today announced that it will launch "shuttle diplomacy" between Pakistan and Afghanistan to ease tensions between the two neighbours and promote the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan amidst a spurt in terror attacks in both the countries.

China will conduct the shuttle diplomacy between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during his visit to both the countries, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

Wang visited Islamabad and Kabul on June 24 and 25.

During the visit, the two countries agreed to establish the bilateral Crisis Management Mechanism, Geng said.

The main targets for the visit is to implement the consensus between the state leaders and in addition the requirement of Afghanistan and Pakistan as directed by Chinese leaders, he said.

"We will conduct shuttle diplomacy to help improve relations between the two countries within our capacity and also to promote the peace process in Afghanistan," Geng said.

Asked about Afghanistan's allegations that Pakistan is harbouring Taliban militants who were blamed for the recurring terrorist attacks in that country, Geng said "this shuttle visit made by Wang was conducted in agreement with Afghanistani and Pakistani sides".

"During this visit, the two countries have sent out goodwill messages to each other and two sides agreed to establish the bilateral Crisis Management Mechanism.

"We think that this is important step forward towards the improvement of their bilateral relationship and we also stated many times that maintenance of friendly relationships between two countries is conducive to regional stability and security and international efforts against terrorism, we will continue our efforts in this regard," Geng said.

Afghanistan in recent months has alleged that Pakistan is carrying out destabilisation and terrorist activities inside the country.

"We call it an undeclared war because the objectives are not set. We do not know what the objectives are for Pakistan. And that is something that we have been trying to discover," Afghanistan's Ambassador to the US Hamdullah Mohib told an audience at an event organised by Indus think-tank in Washington where his Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Chaudhry was also present.

China, an "all-weather ally" of Pakistan in recent years, has stepped its engagement with Afghanistan by appointing a special envoy on Afghanistan.

It is also part of Afghanistan, Pakistan and US dialogue mechanism.

Wang's visit comes in the backdrop of reported move by US President Donald Trump to increase the American troop levels from the present 8,000 reversing his predecessor Barak Obama's move for a gradual pull-out, which encouraged Beijing to step in to play a bigger role.

A joint statement issued at the end of Wang's visit said the three countries agreed to establish Foreign Ministers Meeting Mechanism to conduct cooperation in areas of interests.

They have also agreed to launch a coordinating team consisting of China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US.

"This visit is an important step forward in improvement of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Geng added.

On Friday, twin blasts tore through a market crowded with Eid shoppers in a mainly Shia town, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car and militants opened fire on police in separate attacks in Pakistan's three major cities, killing 62 people and wounding nearly 100.

On June 1, Afghanistan cut its cricketing ties with Pakistan after blasts in Kabul killed 90 people and injured 463 others.

Read more here:
China to carry out shuttle diplomacy for Pakistan, Afghanistan - Economic Times

In this photograph taken on May 23, 2017, Afghan former bacha Aimal, now in his 30s and who works as a youth activist, takes part in an interview with AFP at a house in Kabul.

Adorned in makeup, fake breasts and bells, Jawed whirls around middle-aged men at Kabuls underground bacha bazi, or boy play parties, where the former child sex slave finds freedom of sorts as a dancing boy.

Jawed was kidnapped by a former jihadi commander in Shomali, north of Kabul, when he was barely 14, a victim of a hidden epidemic in Afghanistan of culturally-sanctioned male rape.

He is one of three former bachas traced by AFP who managed to escape their abusers. Their testimonies shed searing light on the stolen lives of boy sex slaves, often seen as caricatures of shame and cast out of their families, with many like Jawed falling prey to a new cycle of abuse.

Four years after he was kidnapped, Jaweds commander replaced him with a new boy slave, and gifted him to another strongman.

The 19-year-old says he escaped one night amid the chaos of a gunfight at a wedding where his new captor took him to entertain guests.

But dancing is the only skill he has that can earn a livelihood, having had no education and with virtually no protection offered in Afghanistan for bacha bazi survivors.

Now he performs for powerful male patrons at dance parties, where the evening often ends in sex - underlining how, even when they are free, victims struggle to break out of the role that has been forced on them.

Fights usually break out over who will take me home after the parties, 19-year-old Jawed told AFP, requesting that his real name not be revealed.

Transform into a woman

Bacha bazi is not seen as homosexuality in Afghanistans gender segregated society instead the possession of young boys decked out as pretty women symbolises power and primacy. It is carried out with impunity often within Western-backed Afghan forces.

After two failed attempts that resulted in a beating, 15-year-old Gul escaped barefoot at the end of three months of captivity in a police outpost in Helmands Nad Ali district.

But there was no going home again. Gul lives constantly on the move, chased by the paralyzing fear he will be kidnapped once more.

His parents and brothers, meanwhile, have been forced to flee their home over fears the powerful commander will come looking for him.

Transform yourself into a woman, the checkpoint commander would tell me with makeup and ankle bells, Gul told AFP by telephone from his hiding place.

Gul was one of three bachas at the checkpoint. Troublingly, he said, the policemen prowled for more victims - especially effeminate boys from poor families unable to fight back.

They tried to outdo each other: My boy is more handsome than yours, my boy is a better dancer, he said.

For some the only escape is to forge a secret deal with the Taliban, who have successfully recruited boy sex slaves hungry for revenge to kill their abusers within police ranks, AFP revealed last year.

Save my boy

Unlike many other victims, Gul is relatively fortunate in that his family was ready to take him back.

Family honor is like a glass of water. One speck of dirt ruins it, said Aimal, a former bacha in his 30s who was abandoned by his parents. If I were a woman my family wouldnt leave me alive.

The shame also stalks parents who try to help their children, say medical professionals in southern Afghanistan who treat the brutally violated survivors.

Increasingly parents will bring boys saying they have bowel problems, said a surgeon in Helmand province, where bacha bazi is widespread, corroborating what two other health officials told AFP.

But a closer examination shows the boys were raped and need to be stitched up. The parents break down in tears: We want no publicity, just save my boy.'

Aimal, who requested his real name be withheld, was discarded after years of enslavement to a jihadi commander in northern Balkh province as he began sprouting a beard.

Now a youth activist in Kabul, he said he did not want to end up the way that many other victims do becoming predators themselves.

President Ashraf Ghani this year laid out stringent penalties against bacha bazi for the first time in a revised penal code, but the government has given no time frame over when they will be enforced.

Instead, authorities in February launched a massive raid on a bacha bazi party in Kabul, jailing not the organisers but a handful of dancing boys, multiple witnesses told AFP.

For me dancing is not a crime, said Aimal. This culture of victimizing the victim must end.

In a country with little legal protection or psychosocial support, victims might be lucky to escape their abusers but not their past.Almost by default, prostitution has become a common fallback for many abused boys.

Dancing has become too risky since the raid, Jawed told AFP before he sidled back into his underground life. Now I might only do sex work./rga

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Stolen boys: Life after sexual slavery in Afghanistan - Inquirer.net

Editors note: This is part of a weekly series published every Monday between Memorial Day and Veterans Day honoring local veterans.

NEWTON FALLS Veteran Steve Lyden may be only in his 20s, but he will have the scars and memories of battle for the rest of his life after serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

During his year in Afghanistan from December 2011 to November 2012, Lyden was in combat for nearly 400 fights.

We were in more fights than actual days we spent there, Lyden said.

He suffered injuries twice while there, which left shrapnel in his right leg from an explosive in battle. He also suffered more severe shrapnel injuries to the right side of his body when he was standing 5 feet away from a fellow soldier who stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) and was hit.

Lyden, now a Newton Falls police officer, said he has recovered and does not regret serving his country. Two years after graduating from Newton Falls High School, Lyden enlisted in the Army in 2010.

At first, I thought I would enter the Marines, but it didnt sit right so I walked into the Army, and the recruiter I had was great. I felt that was where I really wanted to be, Lyden said.

He went to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic infantry training and then went to Fort Lewis, Washington.

When he was first deployed to Zharay District, Kandahar, Afghanistan, in late 2011, Lyden was a private. By the time he left in late 2012, he had reached the rank of sergeant.

It may sound crazy, but I loved the thrill of being there. I did lose my best friend, who was killed in battle. I will never forget that. I have his name tattooed on my arm, Lyden said of his comrade, Sterling Wyatt of Missouri.

The two met at Fort Lewis and while they butted heads at first, they soon became friends, he said.

Lyden said being in Afghanistan was at times difficult because the Afghanistan people did not want them there.

The main goal was to try and make the people feel like we should be there to help them and better their living situation. As an infantry member, we were there to protect the people from the Taliban, Lyden said, noting he took part in hundreds of battles, sometimes several on the same day.

I didnt notice it at first, but I went flying. I woke up and picked up my rifle and kept going. Once the adrenaline settled down, I felt the burning in my leg, he said about being injured in an explosion.

A few weeks later is when he suffered another shrapnel injury to his entire right side. He spent a week healing from his injuries before going back to battle. Lyden said he was promoted to team leader as a private and then led the rest of the deployment for five months.

I could not have asked for a better group of guys to go to Afghanistan with. When a whole bunch of privates are put together, they butt heads and have differences, but as soon as the rounds are flying, everyone comes together. That coming together in battle was the best feeling I ever had,Lyden said.

After leaving Afghanistan, he returned to Fort Lewis for several weeks and also spent time at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, before coming home to Ohio. He has recovered from his injuries to some degree.

Lyden, who is medically retired from the military, received two Purple Hearts.

I feel proud that I was able to see combat and to see what the guys in my unit could do. I will always remember the group I deployed with, he said.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com

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Originally posted here:
Falls police officer fought in Afghanistan - Warren Tribune Chronicle

The Donald Trump Pentagon, in so many words, is saying that the Obama administrations decision to waive punitive sanctions and buy combat helicopters from Russia was a bad deal.

The Pentagons first congressionally required report on Afghanistan under President Trump says the Russian Mi-17 chopper has proved a failure in the long war and will be phased out in favor of American-made UH-60 Black Hawks.

The Obama administration came to realize the failure in its last weeks in office and stopped the deal.

The report this month on Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan marks official confirmation that the Russian model broke down too often for the Afghan air force logistics system to keep up.

Along with the increased expense and difficulty in maintaining the Mi-17 helicopter fleet, utility helicopters are in high demand and the required maintenance exceeds current capacity and capability, leading to maintenance backlogs and a reduced number of aircraft available, the Defense Department report said. Included in the recapitalization effort is an initiative to transition the force away from Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters to more reliable, cost-effective, and easier to sustain U.S.-made UH-60 helicopters.

The Mi-17 stood as an outlier in President Obamas economic-sanction-filled assault on the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to his invasion of eastern Ukraine.

The administration allowed Rosoboronexport, the state-run arms broker, to stay off the sanctions list as it pertained to maintaining Mi-17s amid $554 million in U.S. funds via Afghanistan to supply the helicopter. The argument for the full deal was that Afghan pilots and crew members were more accustomed to Russian-made weapons systems.

In an era in Washington where any and all contacts with Russia by any Trump-connected person fetches intense media and Democrat scrutiny, the Obama administration showed that sometimes the political situation dictates that Washington must deal with Moscow.

Meanwhile, Moscow has lent credibility to the brutal Taliban insurgency by arguing that it is fighting the Islamic State terrorists anchored in Afghanistan.

The Obama administrations last Pentagon update on Afghanistan in December did not announce an Mi-17 cancellation or procurement of the U.S. Army workhorse UH-60.

In fact, the administration seemed to have a love-hate relationship with the Mi-17, praising its ability to perform cargo and combat missions for which it is uniquely designed.

But further reading revealed the helicopter, of which 46 are operational in Afghanistan, was growing increasingly unreliable. Logistics centers outside Kabul were not equipped to keep up, creating a timeline that would put all Mi-17s out of action in a few years.

At the current attrition and flying hour rates, the number of [Afghan air force] Mi-17s available for 2017 will be significantly diminished, and the Mi-17 fleet will become unsustainable by mid-2018, virtually eliminating the AAFs vertical transport and lift capability, the December report said.

At a press conference that month at the Pentagon, Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said Russia has overtly lent legitimacy to the Taliban.

This public legitimacy that Russia lends to the Taliban is not based on fact, but it is used as a way to essentially undermine the Afghan government and the NATO effort and bolster the belligerents, Gen. Nicholson said.

And their narrative goes something like this: That the Taliban are the ones fighting Islamic State, not the Afghan government, he said. And of course, as I just outlined for you, the Afghan government and the U.S. counterterrorism effort are the ones achieving the greatest effect against Islamic State.

The four-star general said this year that Russia is providing arms to the Taliban in a direct alliance against the 8,000 U.S. troops stationed there.

Gen. Nicholson defended the original Russia-Mi-17 deal, saying Afghanistan requested the choppers before Mr. Putin invaded Ukraine and before sanctions were imposed as punishment.

Russia is not helping the U.S. plan to keep the Russian aircraft flying until the Black Hawks arrive.

Keeping the airframe in the inventory but not being able to maintain it would not be positive, the general said. And so the Afghan government has gone to the Russians and asked for their assistance in this. The Russians have not provided it.

The Mi-17 deal was particularly unpopular among members of Congress from Connecticut, headquarters for Black Hawk producer Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

Ill never understand why the U.S. government sent taxpayer money to Russia for helicopters in Afghanistan while Russia was supporting the [President Bashar Assad] regime in Syria and invading eastern Ukraine, said Sen. Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Democrat.

Today, amid the probes into Russian hacking of the Democrats, Mr. Murphy is a leading advocate of a theory that Mr. Trump and his Trump Organization maintained numerous ties with Moscow.

Perhaps such ties will turn up. To date, there have been reports of some investments by wealthy Russians but no extensive relationship.

Originally posted here:
After Obama's bad deal, American Black Hawks will replace Russian helicopters for Afghan air force - Washington Times

Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, Iran has been one of Mr. Assads chief allies, deploying thousands of Hezbollah and other Shiite fighters and providing other forms of aid to help him beat back Syrian rebels. Irans interests in Syria are thus markedly different from its interests in Iraq. In Iraq it has fought ISIS. In Syria, its focus has been on helping the Assad regime.

It is in Syria where the interests of Iran and the United States are most sharply at odds, and in Iraq where they most nearly converge. American and Iraqi security forces have just about driven ISIS from Mosul, a major Iraqi city. In Syria, America is also seeking to crush ISIS, but is doing so in concert with Syrian opposition forces, not Mr. Assad, whom it has long opposed.

As in Iraq, the fight against ISIS is going well; ISIS is close to being routed from its headquarters in the city of Raqqa. But the prospect of victory has opened the door to new tensions between American-led forces and Iranian-Syrian forces. That has manifested itself in a series of encounters this month in which the United States shot down a Syrian warplane, came close to shooting down another and downed two Iranian-made drones that were nearing American-backed troops on the ground. Iran, meanwhile, used ballistic missiles against ISIS targets.

ISIS now controls only about half the territory it once held in Syria, and, as the space shrinks, the various combatants are concentrating on a smaller area, along Syrias eastern border with Iraq and Jordan and in the Euphrates River Valley, home to oil reserves and water.

Administration officials suspect that Iran is more interested in controlling territory in these areas than defeating ISIS, and that the presence of Iranian and Syrian government forces could impede the American-led effort to finish ISIS off in Raqqa. It could also obstruct American plans to establish outposts in the Syrian and Western Iraqi desert so that fleeing ISIS fighters can be killed or captured, thus preventing them from hunkering down and later re-emerging as a threat, these officials say.

Adding to the combustible environment is Russia, the other major Assad defender, which threatened to retaliate to what Washington called its recent self defense moves by treating American planes as targets. Despite this, administration officials, reflecting a president who shares Saudi Arabias hard-line anti-Iran views, seem to consider Iran a bigger problem than Moscow and one that could threaten Israel, Jordan and other allies.

Could Mr. Trump stumble into a wider war in Syria? There are reasons to worry. He has yet to offer a comprehensive plan for dealing with Syria, including the diplomacy needed to develop a political solution to end the civil war, which could create a more stable country less vulnerable to extremist groups.

The fear is that Mr. Trumps demonizing of Iran, and his unwillingness to engage its government, could result in a broadening of the American military mission from defeating ISIS to preventing Iranian influence from expanding. This would be dangerous. Iran is a vexing state to be smartly managed, not assumed to be an implacable enemy.

Continue reading here:
The Iran Puzzle - New York Times