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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.

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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.

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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

#42. @realDonaldTrumpwhat do you plan to do in Afghanistan? #100Days100Qs

Here's one word President Donald Trump didn't say during his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday: Afghanistan.

Hours after Trump's speech, two bombs ripped through Kabul. The first hit a police station and the second went off near the offices of Afghanistan's intelligence agency, theNational Directorate of Security. The Taliban took credit for the attack, which killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100 others.

The US Embassy in Kabul issued a statement condemning the attack. Trump, however,remained quiet.

America's invasion of Afghanistan began as a military operation to strike back at al-Qaeda after 9/11 and capture or kill Osama bin Laden. It turned into the longest war in US history. More than 2,200 US service members have been killed thereand more than 20,000 have been wounded.

The new American president has said very little about what he plans to do in Afghanistan, but he won't be able to ignore the situation.

According to the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the Afghan government lostground against the Taliban and other militants over the course of last year. The government now controls less than 60 percent of the country. About a third of Afghans now live in contested territory.

"The numbers of the Afghan security forces are decreasing," SIGAR said in a report to Congress, "while both casualties and the number of districts under insurgent control or influence are increasing."

ISIS seems to be gaining ground, too. And while Trump has promised to destroy the group, he hasn't spoken to the specific challengesof battling ISISoutside its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile,the US military campaignin the country remain very much active, despite the fact that combat operations technically ended in 2014.

Airstrikes this week have killed top Taliban commanders, and there are still8,400 American troops on the ground training, advising and assisting Afghan forces. When youadd in support from NATO allies, the total US-led force is about 13,000.

Will Trump bring those American soldiershome? Will he deploy more?

Trump said in 2013 that the USshould "leave Afghanistan immediately." But in a recent conversation with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, he reaffirmed America's committment to the country.

USGen.John Nicholson, the top commanderin Afghanistan, says he needs more boots on the ground. During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in early February, he described "a shortfall of a few thousand" troops.

Nicholson also said worrying things about Russia and Afghanistan. (As though the Trump administration needed any more worrying Russia stories in the press.) He told the Senate that Russia had been seeking to undermine the US and NATO by spreading a "false narrative" that the Taliban was fighting ISIS in Afghanistan, but not Afghan police and army forces.

Figuring out US policy on Afghanistan is about more than just managing thewar there. More than 15 years of US-involvedconflict has helped create a massive refugee crisis. It's not clear whether that's a crisis Trump will help solve.

So Mr. President, we're asking: What do you plan to do in Afghanistan? Click here to tweet that question to the president.

Over President Donald Trump's roughly first 100 days, we'll be asking him questions that our audience wants answers to. Join the project by tweeting this question to @realDonaldTrump with the hashtag #100Days100Qs. See more of our questions atpri.org/100questions.

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President Trump, what are you going to do in Afghanistan? - PRI