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At just 33, Afghanistans ambassador to the U.S., Hamdullah Mohib, knows all too well what it is to be a child of war.

Born in a small village near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province mere miles from where the U.S. recently dropped itslargest non-nuclearbomb on an ISIS base his family fled the Soviet fighting, living for several years in Pakistan as refugees. They returned, only to flee across the border once again amid the outbreak of the Afghan civil war in the late 1990s.

Decades later Mohibs homeland remains in conflict. TheRussianshave apparently re-surfaced, this time allegedly empowering Taliban forces, U.S. military officials want more troops to control insurgent factions and 2016 saw a record number of civilian casualties. Furthermore, terrorists Friday committed the deadliest attack on Afghan troops at their own base in the 16-year U.S-led war, prompting theresignationof the countrys defense chiefs.

While prospects appear bleak from the outside, Mohib is optimistic about the Trump administration. He says U.S.-Afghan relations are especially strong, and everything from education, economics and even tourism is looking up. Meantime, Afghan troops will soon be ready to torch terrorism without the U.S. military waiting in the wings, he said.

Fox News:What is your hope for U.S.-Afghanistan relations under the Trump administration?

Hamdullah Mohib:So far we are very encouraged by what we have seen and heard from the Trump administration. There seems to be no hesitation on the part of this White House to fully engage with Afghanistan on a range of key issues, from terrorism to trade.

President Ghani and President Trump have spoken twice by phone and both times have had wide-ranging, productive conversations. They have discussed the security situation, our military needs, Pakistans role in creating instability and the U.S.-led fight against Daesh [ISIS]. National security adviser H.R. McMaster was just in Afghanistan and had good meetings with President Ghani and other senior government figures.

President Trump is also a keen businessman, and we are gratified that he has shown interest in Afghanistan as a potential U.S. economic partner. He realizes we are a country in a strategic location at the heart of Asia, with the potential to develop into a regional economic force. He recognizes the enormous value of our rich deposits of lithium which our battery-driven world runs on as well as our estimated $3 trillion worth of oil, gas and mineral reserves. So we are very much looking forward to working with him and his administration not just to eradicate terrorism from our soil but also to execute President Ghanis vision to make Afghanistan self-reliant and economically stable.

Fox News:Are more U.S troops needed at this time in Afghanistan?

Mohib:Talking only about troop numbers misses the point. We dont disagree with what senior U.S. generals have said, which is that more coalition troops are needed to end the stalemate. We need to turn the tide decisively against the enemy, and to do that our forces also need things like mine detection and detonation equipment, night vision capability, training in aircraft and vehicle maintenance and close intelligence support.

But decisions about troop levels must be driven by agreement on a winning strategy.Afghanistan now has a four-year plan, developed in cooperation with the U.S. and our coalition partners, that, if executed, will mean the difference between winning this war or allowing it to drag on for years to come. That strategy should determine how many troops are needed to win.

Fox News:Do you expect that all U.S. troops will be able to completely leave by 2020? How will this security and stability be achieved between now and then?

Mohib:The best-case scenario is that by 2020, Afghan troops will be able to carry on with whats needed on their own. But a lot can happen between now and then. The war in Syria is still playing out and its effects are being felt throughout the region. The U.S. has maintained military bases in countries where it feels an American presence promotes regional stability in South Korea and Japan, for example.

This model might also be appropriate for Afghanistan, but it will depend on how much we have achieved in the international fight against terrorism by 2020.

Fox News:What role can your international partners play in this?

Mohib:The most important thing our international partners can do is to continue to believe in Afghanistans potential and stand by us as we work to build the future our people deserve. Last summer, our NATO partners renewed their pledge to support the Afghan military forces in Afghanistan through at least 2020. That commitment sent a crucial signal to terrorist groups that the international community stands squarely with Afghanistan and against them.

In October, our international donor partners pledged $15 billion to ensure, as the final communiqu said, that Afghanistan will remain on a firm path to political and economic stability, state building and development. This, too, was an important milestone: Our partners were satisfied that the government has done what it pledged to do upon taking office in late 2014. We earned their confidence.

Fox News:What do the people of Afghanistan think about continued U.S. presence after all these years?

Mohib:They are enormously grateful for all that America has done to help Afghanistan recover from decades of war and occupation, and they will never forget the sacrifices that so many American military members and their families have made. But they also look forward to the day when Afghanistan is self-reliant and at peace, and not dependent on other nations.

Fox News:Are you concerned about Russian involvement in Afghanistan? Some officials have suggested that they aligning themselves with extremists, and providing the Taliban with weapons. Is this causing problems?

Mohib:We are monitoring the situation. We certainly dont want any foreign power giving material or political support to terror groups that prey on our people. State-sponsored terrorism -- which Pakistan has practiced for many years at enormous cost to Afghanistan -- must be condemned and punished by the international community, without exception.

Fox News:What do you think Russias intentions in Afghanistan are?

Mohib:I wouldnt presume to know, but Afghanistan is a sovereign country and not up for grabs by any foreign power.

Fox News:Some reports indicate that insecurity and instability is on the rise in Afghanistan. Is this an accurate depiction?

Mohib:Media reports tend to present this image, but the facts tell a different story. The territory that the Taliban control is sparsely populated or entirely unpopulated. Because our security forces have gotten stronger and smarter, the Taliban is avoiding head-to-head battles and instead choosing soft, defenseless targets like hospitals and unprotected buildings. Twice recently they have even dressed in disguise to attack unsuspecting civilians and off-duty soldiers.

These attacks go against all human values, so its not a surprise that in the pockets of the country where the Taliban once had support, the population has turned against them.

Daesh [ISIS] is attempting to gain a foothold on our soil, but our forces move swiftly and lethally against any position where we find them. And, as we saw with the recent U.S. action against their network of underground tunnels, we are working with our coalition partners to prevent any and all gains.

AFGHANISTAN SUPPORTS SENDING MORE US FORCES

POST-ISIS, IRAQIS DEBATE US TROOPS REMAINING IN THEIR COUNTRY

Fox News:Afghanistan is indeed a beautiful country. Are there efforts in motion to focus on the tourism and economic industries?

Mohib:Afghanistans natural beauty is truly stunning. We have snow-capped mountains, verdant valleys, fields of saffron and roses, sparkling rivers and waterfalls. And Afghans are famously warm and welcoming to strangers. At the moment, the government is investing in many undeveloped areas of the economy in an effort to generate jobs and revenue, and tourism is certainly one industry yet to be developed. This wasnt always the case, by the way. Before 1980, Afghanistan was very popular with visitors. So we recognize the potential of Afghanistan as a tourist destination, but we see it as something to focus on after we have secured the peace and can promote the country to foreign visitors knowing they will feel entirely safe.

Fox News:You were a refugee yourself. How has this impacted your diplomatic efforts and the way you envision Afghanistans future?

Mohib:No one wants to leave their home. I left out of necessity as a teenager when my family felt my life was in danger from the Taliban. Many years later, I felt not just an obligation to come home and help rebuild, but a strong desire to be back in my homeland. Now that I represent Afghanistan in America, I meet hundreds of Afghan-Americans who also left but still feel a powerful connection to the country. My own experience means I can empathize with them and serve as a kind of bridge between these two worlds.

I can also relate to young people, being under 40 myself. And Afghanistan has an enormous youth population that is becoming the engine of the countrys growth. Here in America, I meet a lot of young bright people who are either studying or working and who want to go back and be a part of the new Afghanistan. That makes me tremendously optimistic about our future.

Fox News:You have noted that education prevails over terrorism. What reforms are needed to improve education in Afghanistan?

Mohib:Today we have nearly 10 million children in school, and almost 40 percent are girls. Education has become an absolute top priority in Afghanistan. But we have a ways to go. We need more teachers and more textbooks, and every village must have a school within easy reach. The curriculum we teach must be on par with international standards so our children can compete in the modern world. We also need to make sure that children with disabilities are welcomed and accommodated in our schools. Right now we dont have enough special-needs teachers, Braille textbooks or handicap accessible buildings, but we are working hard to correct that.

Fox News:As many have stated, corruption in Afghanistan is a big problem. What can be done to combat this, and do you think curbing this will also help in curbing the rise of insurgents?

Mohib:President Ghani ran on a zero-tolerance anti-corruption campaign and he has made this issue a priority. But Afghanistan has had institutionalized corruption for many decades, so it will take more than just two or three or even five years to clean things up. Corruption is entwined with other problems like human trafficking, narcotics production and drug smuggling, all of which feeds and funds violent insurgents and terror groups. Knowing this, the government has taken unprecedented measures to eradicate it.

Just a partial list: We created the National Procurement Authority to scrutinize government contracts, which has saved hundreds of millions of dollars; we implemented transparency and accountability systems across government agencies to eliminate opportunities for graft; we created the first anti-corruption commission and anti-corruption justice center to investigate and prosecute senior Afghan officials; we created a new high council chaired by President Ghani that oversees the public declaration of assets by senior officials; we appointed a new chief justice and attorney general and replaced hundreds of judges and prosecutors; and we fired 25 percent of customs officials and prosecuted several money-laundering cases.

As a result of these and other measures, in 2016 the government collected a record $2.1 billion in revenue, surpassing the International Monetary Funds target by more than $150 million. That represents a 22 percent increase over 2014. Clearly, were on the right track.

Hollie McKay has been a FoxNews.com staff reporter since 2007. She has reported extensively from the Middle East on the rise and fall of terrorist groups such as ISIS in Iraq. Follow her on twitter at @holliesmckay

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Afghanistan's ambassador on Trump, US troops leaving and ...

The Afghan military, backed by some 8,400 U.S. troops, is struggling to shore up its ranks after a devastating attack killed over 100 soldiers on a military base in Mazar-i-Sharif, marking a morbid beginning to another summer fighting season. This time around, though, the Afghans and their American partners have two more forces to contend with: Russia and Iran.

Both countries stepped up their support of the Taliban over the winter, possibly as a hedge against persistent American indecision about how deeply to stay involved, and for how long. Left unchecked, Russian and Iranian support could enable the Taliban to win the long-term occupation of a provincial capital this summer, which would further erode Afghan government legitimacy. To head off such an outcome, the new Trump administration must consider an approach that brought some success in the aftermath of the 2001 U.S. invasion: rebuilding a regional consensus with Russia and Iranas well as China, India, Pakistan, and the Gulf statesto stop funding proxies and support stability in Afghanistan.

Russias support for the Taliban has altered the regional dynamic that fuels the war. Since the end of 2016, Russia has reportedly been providing arms to the Taliban operating in northern Afghanistan. Russian officials have also reportedly met with Taliban representatives in Russia and Tajikistan. Meanwhile, over the past year Moscow has held discussions with Islamabad and Tehran about their mutual interests in supporting the Taliban. Russias sudden cooperation with the Taliban is particularly surprising, given the bloody fighting between their Soviet and Mujahedin predecessors in the 1980s.

Russia claims that its motivation for supporting the Taliban is to fight the Islamic States Afghan offshoot, prevent Central Asian terrorist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) from destabilizing the region, and control drug trafficking through Central Asia into Russia. But the real reason may be to cause trouble for the United States.

Jonathan Ernst / REUTERS A U.S. soldier manning a gun in a helicopter over Kabul, April 2017.

Although there are indeed foreign fighters in northern Afghanistan, the threat is overblown and the Russian

Read more:
How to Stabilize Afghanistan - Foreign Affairs (subscription)

ISLAMABAD

A central leader and ex-spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Ehsanullah Ehsan, has alleged Afghan security forces and their intelligence agency, NDS, together with the Indian spy agency are supporting cross-border terrorist attacks against Pakistan.

The militant leader in a video confessional statement released by the Pakistan Army, said he was also participating in anti-state activities from sanctuaries on the Afghan side of the border and surrendered himself "voluntarily" to Pakistan army.

There was no immediate reaction from the Afghan government and Indian officials to the allegation leveled by Ehsan against them, though both Kabul and New Delhi have previously denied Islamabad's allegations of funding terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil.

When Pakistani security forces unleashed counter-militancy operations in the border region of North Waziristan (in June, 2014), Ehsan said militants fled to neighboring Afghanistan where they established contacts with the Afghan intelligence agency, NDS (National Directorate of Security), and through them with operatives of the Indian spy agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing).

They supported them (Pakistani Taliban), funded them, and even assigned possible targets [for attacks in Pakistan], Eshan asserted, adding that anti-Pakistan militants have established their special committees in Afghanistan for maintaining contacts with the NDS.

He went on to allege that the Afghan spy agency also issued national identification cards, called tazkira, to members of the Pakistani Taliban to facilitate their infiltration into Pakistan to undertake subversive activities in the country.

A Pakistan military spokesman announced last week that Ehsan surrendered himself to security forces but would not say where and how they got hold of the militant leader.

Pakistani officials have described his arrest/surrender as a major success in counter terrorism operations and hope information gleaned from Ehsan will help further degrade Pakistani Taliban's activities in the country.

Before surrendering to authorities, Ehsan was mainly acting as spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistan Taliban.

He claimed responsibility on behalf of his group for a number of deadly attacks in Pakistan, including an Easter suicide bombing of a crowded park in Lahore that killed killed at least 70 people, including Christians and Muslims.

It was not clear from the video whether Ehsan was speaking under duress.

The United States last year designated Jamaat-ul-Ahrar as a terrorist group for claiming responsibility for attacking a U.S. diplomatic mission in northwestern Pakistan.

The rest is here:
Ex-Pakistan Taliban Spokesman Claims India, Afghanistan Targeting Pakistan - Voice of America

Al Qaeda announced the deaths of a shura member for its branch in the Indian subcontinent, its commander in Bangladesh, and other fighters during US military operations in Afghanistan over the past year. The eight leaders and fighters are but a small percentage of al Qaeda members killed by US forces in Afghanistan in that time.

Asim Umar, the emir of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), announced the deaths of the jihadists in a video released yesterday. The video, entitled Behold! The Help of Allah is Near! was produced sometime in February or March.

Umar said that US forces killed Usama Ibrahim, a Pakistani jihadist from as Islamabad also known as Amjad Bhai, in a ground raid based on information provided by Pakistani military during Eid ul Adha, or mid-September 2016. The raid took place in Zabul province, a known hotbed of al Qaeda activity.

Ibrahim was a member of AQIS top leadership body, the head of Al Sahab Media, al Qaedas official media production arm, and an unsung knight of the media world, according to Umar. He was a cherished heart of Al Sahab Urdu and then Al Sahab Subcontinent.

Umar also announced the death of Tariq Bhai, AQIS head of Bangladeshi Affairs, and five other fighters, but did not indicate when they were killed. They passed away irrigating the desert of Kandahar in hopes that the spring of Islamic system [of governance] shall come back to the land of Bangladesh.

It is worth considering that they all embraced martyrdom in Afghanistan, in US raids, Umar noted, and concluded that this was evidence that the US sought to stop the implementation of Shariah in Pakistan and elsewhere.

Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent was formed in Sept. 2014 and includes elements of some of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indias most prominent jihadist groups. Since its formation, AQIS claimed credit for a September attack on a Pakistani naval vessel. During the operation, jihadists attempted to hijack the ship and fire missiles at US warships in the Indian Ocean. According to both the terrorist group and Pakistans defense minister, Pakistani naval officers were complicit in the attack

Al Qaeda fighters routinely killed in Afghanistan

While the Obama administration routinely downplayed al Qaedas strength in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2016, the jihadist group operated a network far greater than US military and intelligence estimates, which consistently claimed the jihadist group had only 50 to 100 fighters in country.

This view of al Qaeda in Afghanistan changed after US forces raided two al Qaeda training camps in Shorabak district in Kandahar. More than 150 al Qaeda fighters were killed in that raid alone. After the Shorabak raids, the US military revised its estimate of al Qaeda strength in Afghanistan to upwards to 300 operatives.

Yet, in mid-December 2016, General John Nicholson admitted that the US military killed or captured 50 al Qaeda leaders and an additional 200 operatives during calendar year 2016 in Afghanistan. Among those killed in 2016 were Faruq al Qahtani, al Qaedas leader for eastern Afghanistan, and his deputy, Bilal al Utabyi, as well as a senior explosives expert known as Wahid al Junabi.

The US military continues to pick off members ofal Qaedas network in Afghanistan, which has been strengthened by the resurgence of the Taliban. So far this year, two senior al Qaeda leaders have been killed or captured in Afghanistan. The US killed Qari Yasin, a senior al Qaeda military commander and trainer, in a drone strike on March 19. And Afghan intelligence captured Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a top Pakistani al Qaeda leader, during a raid in the southern province of Ghazni on Jan. 9.

Additionally, reports in the Afghan press indicate that several al Qaeda operatives have been killed over the past month. For instance, on April 9, Khaama Press reported that three al Qaeda fighters were killed, while The Nation noted that al Qaeda members were among 10 jihadists killed in Zabul.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, aqis, bangladesh, Pakistan, Taliban

The rest is here:
US military kills AQIS leaders, fighters in southern Afghanistan - Long War Journal

As a newlywed, Maryams husband promised to let her finish her university degree. Then she got pregnant, and everything changed.

For a week, I was in shock. If my husbands family knew I was pregnant, they would never let me finish university, Maryam said.

So she acted promptly. She found a midwife willing to perform a surgical abortion, selling jewellery from her dowry to raise the required 250,000 afghanis (2,900).

At the clinic, something went wrong. Maryam ended up in hospital where she awoke to find her husband shouting angrily: Why did you do this? Why did you kill my child?

The punishment started as soon as she was discharged. In Afghan society, abortion is seen as a blot on a familys honour; Maryams husband defended his by beating her viciously and shaving her head.

To show I was a whore, she said.

Maryams story is not uncommon. Abortions in Afghanistan are severely stigmatised, and rarely legal. Yet, according to health workers, the number of Afghan women resorting to illegal, unsafe abortions is consistently growing, partly due to an increased number of trained midwives in the country.

One sign that abortions are becoming more widespread is the price, which has dropped since Maryam had her abortion four years ago. Clinics now charge15-20,000 afghanis for a surgical procedure, while a medical abortion costs about 6,000. For young, often unemployed women it is a hefty but not always ruinous fee.

Karima had been a nurse in Kabuls Karte Se district for three months before she discovered what went on in the clinics closed-off rooms.

At first, she was ridden with guilt. One particular memory, of flushing a four-month-old foetus down the toilet, still haunts her. But, she says, she discovered that abortions save more lives than they take.

The honour of these girls is more important than religion. If I dont do anything for her, it will be shameful for her family. They might kill her, Karima said.

Among those who come to Karimas clinic for abortions are single women with boyfriends, wives with drug-addicted husbands, and couples too poor to care for a child.

The honour of these girls is more important than religion

If they were legal, abortions would be much safer, she said. Sometimes Im afraid the police will find out. But I am happy to help save the honour of the girls, especially those who are not married.

Another midwife, Laila, said abortions have become more commonplace in recent years. She said she has performed more than 50.

Sometimes I feel guilty; when the babies are over five months old, Laila said.

In Afghanistan, abortions are legal to save a mothers life or if the child will be born with severe disabilities. In rare instances, women can also get an abortion if deemed too poor to raise a child. That judgment is up to a religious council.

Perhaps surprisingly, councils in Taliban-controlled areas are most likely to justify an abortion based on poverty, said Farhad Javid, country director for Marie Stopes International, the leading post-abortion care provider in Afghanistan. Communities under Taliban influence are often desperately poor and burdened with large numbers of children, Javid said.

His charity recently launched Afghanistans first advert for post-abortion care in Afghanistan.

Marie Stopes International, along with organisations such as the Afghan Family Guidance Association, an affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, provides post-abortion care only for women who undergo legal procedures in government clinics.

Marie Stopes also trains midwives and nurses, and imports an annual haul of 100,000 Misoprostol tablets, an abortion drug available at private clinics. Misoprostol is safe to use within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy but, because it is more affordable than a surgical procedure, many women will use it, illegally, far beyond the recommended period.

For most women, though, the only available abortions are illegal, in private health clinics, at the hands of untrained nurses.

Afghanistan has one of the worlds highest birth rates. The number of mothers who die from pregnancy-related complications is also at the upper end of the scale.

Unsafe abortions can be hard to conceal because they often result in complications.The stigma that follows can be deadly.

Unfortunately, [pregnant] girls can get killed by parents. If we facilitated services for them, we could save the lives of these girls, said Javid.

I think the midwives and doctors are making a big mistake. God will never forgive them

Shabana, 16, had an abortion after her brother-in-law raped her. I am the victim, but I am a criminal, she said.

Shabanas sister did not believe her husband would rape her. Neither did the teenagers parents: as punishment, they banned her from leaving the house.

Marriage is now a distant dream. Everyone knows she had an abortion. Her reputation as a non-virgin will deter most potential suitors.

What was my crime? Shabana said. I am in jail, a jail my family made for me.

Without education about contraceptives, unsafe abortions become a form of birth control. There are no precise statistics for Afghanistan but one in eight annual maternal deaths worldwide roughly 50,000 women is caused by unsafe abortions.

Even among staff at clinics, opposition to abortion runs deep. In one of them, Tajwar has worked for five years as a cleaner. It took her two years to discover what was actually going on. One day, a teenage girl came to the clinic, crying. After her operation, Tajwar cleaned the room and noticed a large pool of blood.

I dont agree with abortion. I think the midwives and doctors are making a big mistake. God will never forgive them, she said. I have thought about calling the police, but then I remember my young children. If I lose my job, who will take care of them?

Despite the countrys laws, prosecution for abortion is rare. Judgment is primarily social.

Maryam was forced to sleep for seven months in a cold, unfurnished room before she was sent back to her parents. For months, she begged her husband to take her back. He refused, and remarried. Four years later, at 23, Maryam still struggles with depression, compounded by damage done to her reproductive organs by the botched abortion. She can no longer conceive.

Some names have been changed to protect sources identities

Link:
'I am a criminal. What is my crime?': the human toll of abortion in Afghanistan - The Guardian