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Petraeus said the U.S. soldiers should train Afghan security forces to stand on their own feet and defend their country

Former commander of the United States forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus at a meeting with the U.S. Congress Military Commission said Washingtons mission is to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists. Petraeus said the U.S. soldiers should train Afghan security forces to stand on their own feet and defend their country. Afghans courageously struggling against the resurgent Taliban and a nascent Islamic State [Daesh] affiliate, he said. The Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) meanwhile said insurgents have not been eliminated and Afghanistan still needs military support from U.S. and NATO. We believe that we will defeat terrorist by the support and cooperation of the U.S. to Afghanistan and to the Afghan army, MoD deputy spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said. Meanwhile, Amrullah Saleh, former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said he believes that security forces weaknesses should be recognized and removed. Security forces weaknesses should be strengthened and their strengths should be maintained. Also, the security agencies should be more flexible and the people who are in charge of the agencies, should be assessed regularly, he stated.

Original post:
US Won't Let Afghanistan To Become Safe Haven For Terrorists - TOLOnews

LONDON, United Kingdom (CMC) Former West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons has been appointed technical consultant to the Afghanistan national side.

The 53-year-old, who played 26 Tests and 143 One-Day Internationals for West Indies, will assist current head coach Lalchand Rajput, the ACB said.

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) management considers Simmons appointment a valuable step in players capacity development, an ACB statement said. His appointment will have a great impact on team performance.

Simmons was sacked as West Indies coach last September, five months after overseeing the sides capture of an unprecedented second Twenty20 World Cup in India.

He is a former Ireland head coach and spent six years in the role before leaving in 2015 to take charge of West Indies.

The first assignment for Trinidadian Simmons will be to help oversee Afghanistans preparation for a series against Ireland in Greater Noida comprising five One-Day Internationals, three Twenty20s and a four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup fixture.

Simmons will then face another of his former teams when the Afghans take on West Indies in five ODIs and three T20s in June in the Caribbean.

Read more:
Former Windies coach to work with Afghanistan - Jamaica Observer

"You guys are literally right in the thick of it, and to be able to carry on and operate at a really high percentage and be on your game the whole time, you need to come back and just get rid of all that - it's unnecessary baggage."

He added: "We're all human, we're not machines, despite a lot of people in certain jobs having to think and behave like machines in order to get the best out of you - I accept that - but it's not weakness, it's strength to be able to come forward, deal with it, move on and be a better person."

He alsomet Alexandra Turp, 24, an emergency medical dispatcher in the emergency operations centre, and allocator Katie Shrimpton, 28, who also acts as LINC worker, a voluntary network of staff who listen to and support their peers. The acronym stands forListening, Informal, Non-judgmental and Confidential.

Ms Turp told the Princeabout an incident she had to deal with in October when she took a call about a member of the public who wasn't breathing.

Original post:
Prince Harry shares horrors of Afghanistan with ambulance workers - Telegraph.co.uk

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The victim, [identified only as] Zarina, said from her hospital bed that her husband suddenly woke up at midnight and attacked her and cut off her ears with a [knife], reports Pajhwok Afghan News.

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My husband always treats me badly. I wasnt even allowed to visit my parents. He is a very suspicious man and often accused me of talking to strange men when I went to visit my parents, the traumatized victim, currently at a hospital in stable condition, told TOLO News.

Zarinas attacker has not been identified.

I havent committed any sin, she told BBC I dont know why my husband did this to me.

The incident took place in northern Afghanistans province of Balkh, which is located on the countrys border with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Citing the victims aunt, identified only as Hamid, TOLO reports that Zarina married when she was only 14, but BBC reports that she married a year earlier.

Zarina told BBC that relations with her husband were not good.

I will no longer live with him, revealed Zarina. She hasdemanded her husbands arrest and prosecution.

Police told reporters the husband absconded following the attack.

Her account is the latest in a series of high-profile domestic abuse incidents and cases of violence against women in Afghanistan, reports BBC.

Since the U.S. military removed the Taliban regime, which stripped women of all human rights, the American government has invested tens of millions in taxpayer funds to improve conditions for women in the country.

U.S. troops dethroned the Taliban in late 2001. Nevertheless, incidents of heinous attacks against women continue across the country.

BBC notes:

In January 2016, a young woman, Reza Gul had her nose cut off by her husband in the remote Ghormach district of north-western Faryab province.

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In September 2014, a man cut off part of his wifes nose with a kitchen knife, in central Daykundi Province, according to police. It is not clear whether he was ever caught.

In 2010, Time magazine featured the case of 18-year-old Aisha on its front page. Her husband mutilated the young woman,cutting off her nose and ears as punishment for running away.

Efforts by the Afghan government to introduce laws to protect women from domestic violence have failed.

Former Afghan President Karzai was either unable or unwilling to implement legislation to protect women after it had been approved by parliament.

Despite allegedly working with his wife to improve the condition of women in the country, the current Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has yet to sign legislation to protect women and children from violence even though it has been passed by parliament.

Read this article:
Afghanistan: Jealous Man Chops Wife's Ears Off - Breitbart News

The smuggling of Afghan minerals supplies millions of dollars to armed groups, insurgents and strongmen in the country, an Afghan anti-corruption watchdog reported Wednesday.

The Afghanistan Anti-Corruption Network said in a report that militant groups last year received at least $46 million from minerals and precious stones illegally exported from eastern Nangarhar province to neighboring Pakistan.

The report said up to 750,000 tons of marble and talc stones were smuggled in 2016 from various parts of the restive province, where Taliban and Islamic State fighters have been active in several districts.

"Every day, 500 trucks carrying white stones pass through government-controlled roads and arrive in Pakistan from where the stones are shipped to European countries," Zaman Khan Amarkhail, president of the anti-corruption network, told Radio Liberty's Afghanistan service. "Each truck carries around 45 tons of stone."

FILE - An Afghan man works at a lapis lazuli factory in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Talc, one of the most in-demand minerals, is used in the manufacturing of various products including cosmetics, plastics, ceramics and paints.

Afghanistan has some of the world's richest mineral resources, including extensive deposits of world-class copper, iron, gemstones and precious metals.

Surveillance of mines 'weak'

Insurgent groups and local strongmen have taken over mining operations in many areas and put a levy on minerals smuggled out of the country, watchdog groups say.

"Unregistered and illegal artisanal and small-scale mining operations continue to be a source of civil strife, unrealized government revenues, and lost economic output," the U.S. Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan (SIGAR) said last year in a report.

"The unregulated and illegal excavation and trafficking of precious stones and other minerals has played a role in the fundraising strategies for militant groups and organized crime syndicates," the SIGAR report said.

The Afghan government says fighting between Afghan forces and militant groups has led to an increase in illegal mining.

"Due to the conflict and insecurity, we have not been able to properly protect the mines, and illegal extraction of mines and smuggling continue," said Ghizal Habibyar, Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum.

Analysts say the mineral-smuggling occurs through a strong network of militants, local mafia, and some civil and military officials in the country.

"A triangle of Taliban militants, including some Central Asian fighters that are linked with al-Qaida, local strongmen, and corrupt government officials are involved in this illegal business," Haroon Rashid Sherzad, a Kabul-based civil society activist and former deputy minister of anti-narcotics, told VOA.

FILE - Equipment and machines are seen near a copper mine in Mes Aynak, Logar province, Feb. 14, 2015.

"It is a huge business for the involved parties who are thriving under a weak government surveillance," Sherzad said.

The Afghan mines ministry says the government has banned the exports of minerals to Pakistan and encouraged local businesses to invest in the sector and legally export processed material to foreign countries.

"But the ongoing insurgency and instability in the province has not allowed businesses to establish factories," an official of the ministry of mines told VOA, on condition of anonymity.

Border corruption

Pakistan and Afghanistan have no official agreement on the export of minerals to Pakistan.

An ever-increasing demand by the Pakistani industrial sector continues to draw raw material from Afghanistan, including chromite, lapis lazuli, coal, and marble.

Experts say border corruption is costing Afghanistan millions of dollars. Although customs revenue collections have increased during the past year, according to the country's finance ministry, rampant corruption at border crossings means the government loses an untold amount in revenues.

"Surveillance is weak at the borders. An individual with a license to export 100 tons of stones would be able to export 1,000 tons instead," Sherzad said. "Corrupt officials turn a blind eye to illegal exports and, in return, they too benefit from it."

According to the anti-corruption network, precious stones are being illegally extracted from at least 2,000 mines in northeastern Badakhshan province.

"Last year, $300 million worth of precious stones were smuggled from the province to China," said Zabiullah Wardak, a member of the watchdog group. The remote Badakhshan province is connected to China through the narrow Wahkhan Corridor.

The Taliban and Islamic State have imposed several illegal levies in areas they control.

"They are receiving money by imposing various taxes, from Ushar [an Islamic tax on agricultural products] to municipality and transportation taxes," Sherzad said. He added that many Taliban commanders are running illegal businesses besides directing fighting against government forces.

Read more:
Report: Militant Groups in Afghanistan Get Rich Off Mineral Smuggling - Voice of America