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UN Secretary General Submits Report On Afghanistan Situation

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Monday submitted his report on Afghanistan to the UN Security Council in which he provided an update on the activities of the United Nations in Afghanistan, including political, humanitarian, development and human rights efforts, since the issuance of the previous report, on September 10 this year.

According to the report, parliamentary elections were held as scheduled on October 20. In response to long delays and widespread operational difficulties, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) extended voting in some polling centres for an additional day. Violence peaked on election day, causing the highest number of civilian casualties in any single day in 2018. In Kandahar province, elections were delayed for one week following the death of two high-ranking security officials in a Taliban attack. Controversy over the use of biometric voter verification dominated both the pre-election and post-election phases, as the electoral management bodies and political parties debated whether to count ballots cast without the use of the technology.

The report states that the political leaders began negotiations to form tickets for the presidential elections, scheduled for April 20, 2019. The appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad as the US Special Representative on Afghanistan Reconciliation reinvigorated peace efforts. The Russian Federation hosted an international meeting on Afghanistan, attended by representatives of the High Peace Council of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained largely cordial. Preparations accelerated ahead of the Geneva Ministerial Conference, held on November 28.

On the humanitarian situation the report said: “The humanitarian situation remained A/73/624 S/2018/1092 2/16 18-20408 grave, characterized by high levels of displacement, an increase in conflict-related trauma cases, and drought conditions causing food insecurity for millions of Afghans. The return of refugees from the Islamic Republic of Iran continued at high levels, placing further pressure on resources in western Afghanistan.”

Political developments

Based on the report, the political sphere was dominated by electoral preparations for the parliamentary elections on October 20. In the months before the election, the IEC advanced technical preparations, including the recruitment of polling center staff, the compilation of polling center-based voter lists and the accreditation of electoral observers. In cooperation with the Electoral Complaints Commission, the IEC also held provincial electoral forums in 33 provinces to raise awareness among voters and improve buy-in among electoral stakeholders. The official campaign period started on September 28, galvanizing political parties and candidates, who began mobilizing support at the provincial and district levels.

Electoral preparations were further complicated by significant security threats against the electoral process by the Taliban, which issued statements warning voters and electoral staff not to participate in the elections and threatening security personnel charged with protecting election personnel and sites. A total of nine candidates were assassinated in the pre-election period, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for two of the attacks. Public confidence was shaken by the assassination of the Chief of Police of Kandahar province, Abdul Razziq, in an attack claimed by the Taliban. In the aftermath, it was decided to postpone parliamentary elections in Kandahar Province until October 27.

On the voting turnout the report said: “Out of 8.5 million registered voters, an estimated 35 percent were women, an increase of eight percentage points compared with the 2014 presidential election. On election day, female voter turnout was estimated at around 30 percent of the electorate. Polling stations for women numbered 7,429 compared with 11,667 for men. Some 13,000 Afghan women reportedly participated as election observers across Afghanistan.”

The peace process:

“The pursuit by Afghanistan of a negotiated peace settlement received additional impetus on September 21, when the United States appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as its Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. From October 4 to 14, Mr  Khalilzad visited Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to generate regional support for the Afghan peace process. During his visit to Afghanistan, Mr Khalilzad met with President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah, representatives of the High Peace Council and members of the political opposition. In the meetings, Mr Khalilzad emphasized the necessity of Afghan ownership of the peace process and, in a subsequent press conference, called on the government and the Taliban to form negotiating teams to engage in direct talks. On November 5, President Ghani announced that a national consultation board on the peace process would be formed with representatives nominated by civilian and military authorities in all 34 provinces. On October 13, the Taliban announced that Mr Khalilzad had met with the Taliban Political Commission in Qatar the previous day. According to the statement by the Taliban, the meeting was constructive, with A/73/624 S/2018/1092 18-20408 5/16 discussions revolving around the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and finding a solution to the Afghan conflict. On October 30, the Taliban announced the appointment of five senior officials, formerly imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, to its Political Commission. On November 10, Mr Khalilzad visited Afghanistan again, meeting with government officials and members of the political opposition to discuss his plans for future regional engagement. This was followed by visits to other countries in the region, including Qatar, where Mr Khalilzad again met with the Taliban Political Commission,” reads the report.

On November 9, the Russian Federation hosted a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow, with representatives from China, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and from the High Peace Council of Afghanistan and the Taliban Political Commission. An embassy official from the United States joined as well. Speaking at the conference, the Taliban representative reiterated the Taliban’s position that the presence of international military forces was the main obstacle to peace in Afghanistan, adding that other issues, including mutual recognition between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, constitutional amendments and women’s rights, could be negotiated once the issue of foreign troops had been resolved. Following the conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in which it welcomed all efforts towards a peace process in Afghanistan, but warned against allowing the Taliban to instrumentalize regional processes.

Volatile security:

“The security situation remained volatile, with incidents continuing at consistently high levels. While the number of security incidents in some categories decreased slightly, the overall number of casualties rose owing to an increase in the severity of certain attacks. The two contrasting exceptions to this trend were the Eid al-Adha holiday period and the first day of parliamentary elections on October 20, which recorded exceptionally low and high incident levels, respectively. Between August 16 and November 15, UNAMA recorded a total of 5,854 security incidents, a 2 percent decrease compared with the same period in 2017. The southern region saw the highest number of incidents followed by the eastern and south-eastern regions. Armed clashes continued to comprise the largest number of security incidents, recording 63 percent of the total, although the number was 5 percent lower compared with the same period in 2017. Suicide attacks decreased by 37 percent, possibly reflecting successful interdiction efforts in Kabul and Jalalabad cities, while air strikes by the Afghan Air Force and international military forces increased by 25 percent compared with the same period in 2017,” said the report.

The overall level of violence decreased significantly during the Eid al-Adha holiday from August 20 to 24. Over the holiday week, UNAMA recorded a total of 227 incidents, the lowest level of violence in a one-week period since early 2013. This reduction in violence occurred despite the Taliban’s lack of acknowledgement of President Ghani’s offer, on August 19, of a three-month conditional ceasefire. Mirroring the security dynamics witnessed around the Eid al-Fitr holiday in June, the A/73/624 S/2018/1092 6/16 18-20408 number of Taliban-initiated attacks after Eid al-Adha quickly returned to the 2018 weekly average of 433 incidents.

Regional cooperation:

“Afghanistan and Pakistan continued efforts to improve their bilateral relations following the inauguration in August of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. On September 15, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, visited Kabul, meeting with President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Salahuddin Rabbani. Discussions addressed security, regional peace and stability, counter-terrorism and the implementation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity. The visit was Minister Qureshi’s first official trip after his appointment and was viewed as a signal of Pakistan’s prioritization of the bilateral relationship. On October 22, President Ghani publicly stated that the assassination of the Kandahar Chief of Police had been planned in Pakistan. The allegation prompted a strong response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, which issued a statement on October 24 rejecting the claims as unfounded and calling on Afghan officials to channel discussions of security concerns through the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity mechanism,” according to the report.

Efforts to improve international cooperation on the Afghan peace process expanded. On September 11, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened a meeting of permanent representatives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, attended by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. The Secretary General of OIC called on participants to encourage all parties concerned to engage in peace talks. On October 4 and 5, Chief Executive Abdullah visited Jakarta, meeting with the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who called on the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. On November 3 and 4, a delegation from Indonesia’s Ulema Council visiting Kabul reiterated support for the peace process and proposed following up on the trilateral meeting of Afghan, Pakistani and Indonesian Ulema held in Jakarta in May 2018. Multilateral cooperation continued under the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, with a meeting of senior officials in New York on September 28 and regional technical group meetings on culture and education in the Islamic Republic of Iran on August 20; counter-terrorism in Kabul on September 15; trade, commerce and industry in New Delhi on October 20; and counter-narcotics in Moscow on October 31.

Human rights:

On October 10, UNAMA released its 2018 third-quarter update on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The Mission documented 8,050 civilian casualties (2,798 people killed and 5,252 injured) between January 1 and September 30, 2018, the highest number of civilian deaths recorded in the first nine months of the year since 2014. UNAMA attributed 65 percent of all civilian casualties to anti-government elements (35 percent to the Taliban, 25 percent to Daesh and 5 percent to unidentified anti-government elements, including self-proclaimed Daesh), 22 percent to pro-government forces (16 percent to Afghan national security forces, 5 percent to international military forces and 1 percent to pro-government armed groups), 10 percent to unattributed crossfire during ground engagements between anti-government elements and pro-government forces and 3 percent to other incidents, including explosive remnants of war and cross-border shelling.

Humanitarian assistance and refugees:

Between August 16 and 31 October 31, 38,558 people were newly displaced by the conflict, bringing the total number of displaced persons to 289,866 in 2018 (60,720 women, 167,342 children and 61,804 men). Although conflict-related displacement is down by more than two thirds compared with the same period in 2017, many displaced families continue to have no immediate prospect of returning to their areas of origin in safety and dignity. During the reporting period, humanitarian partners provided food and other life-saving assistance to 165,759 people displaced by conflict.

Counter-narcotics. The government, supported by international partners, continued its counter-narcotics operations. From August 16 to October 31, law enforcement authorities conducted a total of 835 operations leading to seizures of 2,646 kg of heroin, 9,060 kg of morphine, 12,578 kg of opium, 941 kg of methamphetamine, 4,040 kg of hashish, 16,256 kg of cannabis, 11,787 tablets of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 4,417 kg of solid precursor chemicals and 14,344 liters of liquid precursor chemicals. In total, eight heroin manufacturing laboratories were dismantled; 1,017 suspects were arrested; and 86 vehicles, 140 weapons, 341 mobile telephones and five radios were seized. One officer of the Afghan Counter-Narcotics Police was killed while carrying out operations. The 2018 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan was finalized and released in November. Its findings show a moderate decrease in opium cultivation and production compared with 2017, with significant decreases in cultivation and production noted in the northern and western regions owing to the drought. In a joint initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the Ministry of Counter Narcotics and UNODC, a two-day national conference on the role of agricultural extension in the promotion of alternative development in Afghanistan was held on October 1 and 2 in Kabul City. The event was attended by 150 farmers and extension workers and showcased agricultural inputs and technological advances by the private sector, as well marketing opportunities for crop and livestock products.

The high and rising cost of the conflict in civilian lives is a stark reminder that ending the conflict through peace negotiations must remain the foremost imperative guiding all efforts in Afghanistan. In keeping with the principle of Afghan ownership, I encourage the government to strengthen the inclusivity of the peace process, ensuring that a diverse range of views is taken into account at every stage. Noting the recent expansion in contact between the Taliban and members of the international community, I underline the necessity for the Taliban to engage in direct talks with the Government of Afghanistan with a view to reaching a solution to the conflict. The United Nations stands ready to support all peace efforts through any available means.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

UN Secretary General Submits Report On Afghanistan Situation

Report provides an update of UN's activities and findings on political, humanitarian and human rights fronts in the country as well as the peace process.

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UN Secretary General António Guterres on Monday submitted his report on Afghanistan to the UN Security Council in which he provided an update on the activities of the United Nations in Afghanistan, including political, humanitarian, development and human rights efforts, since the issuance of the previous report, on September 10 this year.

According to the report, parliamentary elections were held as scheduled on October 20. In response to long delays and widespread operational difficulties, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) extended voting in some polling centres for an additional day. Violence peaked on election day, causing the highest number of civilian casualties in any single day in 2018. In Kandahar province, elections were delayed for one week following the death of two high-ranking security officials in a Taliban attack. Controversy over the use of biometric voter verification dominated both the pre-election and post-election phases, as the electoral management bodies and political parties debated whether to count ballots cast without the use of the technology.

The report states that the political leaders began negotiations to form tickets for the presidential elections, scheduled for April 20, 2019. The appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad as the US Special Representative on Afghanistan Reconciliation reinvigorated peace efforts. The Russian Federation hosted an international meeting on Afghanistan, attended by representatives of the High Peace Council of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained largely cordial. Preparations accelerated ahead of the Geneva Ministerial Conference, held on November 28.

On the humanitarian situation the report said: “The humanitarian situation remained A/73/624 S/2018/1092 2/16 18-20408 grave, characterized by high levels of displacement, an increase in conflict-related trauma cases, and drought conditions causing food insecurity for millions of Afghans. The return of refugees from the Islamic Republic of Iran continued at high levels, placing further pressure on resources in western Afghanistan.”

Political developments

Based on the report, the political sphere was dominated by electoral preparations for the parliamentary elections on October 20. In the months before the election, the IEC advanced technical preparations, including the recruitment of polling center staff, the compilation of polling center-based voter lists and the accreditation of electoral observers. In cooperation with the Electoral Complaints Commission, the IEC also held provincial electoral forums in 33 provinces to raise awareness among voters and improve buy-in among electoral stakeholders. The official campaign period started on September 28, galvanizing political parties and candidates, who began mobilizing support at the provincial and district levels.

Electoral preparations were further complicated by significant security threats against the electoral process by the Taliban, which issued statements warning voters and electoral staff not to participate in the elections and threatening security personnel charged with protecting election personnel and sites. A total of nine candidates were assassinated in the pre-election period, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for two of the attacks. Public confidence was shaken by the assassination of the Chief of Police of Kandahar province, Abdul Razziq, in an attack claimed by the Taliban. In the aftermath, it was decided to postpone parliamentary elections in Kandahar Province until October 27.

On the voting turnout the report said: “Out of 8.5 million registered voters, an estimated 35 percent were women, an increase of eight percentage points compared with the 2014 presidential election. On election day, female voter turnout was estimated at around 30 percent of the electorate. Polling stations for women numbered 7,429 compared with 11,667 for men. Some 13,000 Afghan women reportedly participated as election observers across Afghanistan.”

The peace process:

“The pursuit by Afghanistan of a negotiated peace settlement received additional impetus on September 21, when the United States appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as its Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. From October 4 to 14, Mr  Khalilzad visited Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to generate regional support for the Afghan peace process. During his visit to Afghanistan, Mr Khalilzad met with President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah, representatives of the High Peace Council and members of the political opposition. In the meetings, Mr Khalilzad emphasized the necessity of Afghan ownership of the peace process and, in a subsequent press conference, called on the government and the Taliban to form negotiating teams to engage in direct talks. On November 5, President Ghani announced that a national consultation board on the peace process would be formed with representatives nominated by civilian and military authorities in all 34 provinces. On October 13, the Taliban announced that Mr Khalilzad had met with the Taliban Political Commission in Qatar the previous day. According to the statement by the Taliban, the meeting was constructive, with A/73/624 S/2018/1092 18-20408 5/16 discussions revolving around the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and finding a solution to the Afghan conflict. On October 30, the Taliban announced the appointment of five senior officials, formerly imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, to its Political Commission. On November 10, Mr Khalilzad visited Afghanistan again, meeting with government officials and members of the political opposition to discuss his plans for future regional engagement. This was followed by visits to other countries in the region, including Qatar, where Mr Khalilzad again met with the Taliban Political Commission,” reads the report.

On November 9, the Russian Federation hosted a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow, with representatives from China, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and from the High Peace Council of Afghanistan and the Taliban Political Commission. An embassy official from the United States joined as well. Speaking at the conference, the Taliban representative reiterated the Taliban’s position that the presence of international military forces was the main obstacle to peace in Afghanistan, adding that other issues, including mutual recognition between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, constitutional amendments and women’s rights, could be negotiated once the issue of foreign troops had been resolved. Following the conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in which it welcomed all efforts towards a peace process in Afghanistan, but warned against allowing the Taliban to instrumentalize regional processes.

Volatile security:

“The security situation remained volatile, with incidents continuing at consistently high levels. While the number of security incidents in some categories decreased slightly, the overall number of casualties rose owing to an increase in the severity of certain attacks. The two contrasting exceptions to this trend were the Eid al-Adha holiday period and the first day of parliamentary elections on October 20, which recorded exceptionally low and high incident levels, respectively. Between August 16 and November 15, UNAMA recorded a total of 5,854 security incidents, a 2 percent decrease compared with the same period in 2017. The southern region saw the highest number of incidents followed by the eastern and south-eastern regions. Armed clashes continued to comprise the largest number of security incidents, recording 63 percent of the total, although the number was 5 percent lower compared with the same period in 2017. Suicide attacks decreased by 37 percent, possibly reflecting successful interdiction efforts in Kabul and Jalalabad cities, while air strikes by the Afghan Air Force and international military forces increased by 25 percent compared with the same period in 2017,” said the report.

The overall level of violence decreased significantly during the Eid al-Adha holiday from August 20 to 24. Over the holiday week, UNAMA recorded a total of 227 incidents, the lowest level of violence in a one-week period since early 2013. This reduction in violence occurred despite the Taliban’s lack of acknowledgement of President Ghani’s offer, on August 19, of a three-month conditional ceasefire. Mirroring the security dynamics witnessed around the Eid al-Fitr holiday in June, the A/73/624 S/2018/1092 6/16 18-20408 number of Taliban-initiated attacks after Eid al-Adha quickly returned to the 2018 weekly average of 433 incidents.

Regional cooperation:

“Afghanistan and Pakistan continued efforts to improve their bilateral relations following the inauguration in August of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. On September 15, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, visited Kabul, meeting with President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Salahuddin Rabbani. Discussions addressed security, regional peace and stability, counter-terrorism and the implementation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity. The visit was Minister Qureshi’s first official trip after his appointment and was viewed as a signal of Pakistan’s prioritization of the bilateral relationship. On October 22, President Ghani publicly stated that the assassination of the Kandahar Chief of Police had been planned in Pakistan. The allegation prompted a strong response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, which issued a statement on October 24 rejecting the claims as unfounded and calling on Afghan officials to channel discussions of security concerns through the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity mechanism,” according to the report.

Efforts to improve international cooperation on the Afghan peace process expanded. On September 11, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened a meeting of permanent representatives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, attended by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. The Secretary General of OIC called on participants to encourage all parties concerned to engage in peace talks. On October 4 and 5, Chief Executive Abdullah visited Jakarta, meeting with the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who called on the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. On November 3 and 4, a delegation from Indonesia’s Ulema Council visiting Kabul reiterated support for the peace process and proposed following up on the trilateral meeting of Afghan, Pakistani and Indonesian Ulema held in Jakarta in May 2018. Multilateral cooperation continued under the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, with a meeting of senior officials in New York on September 28 and regional technical group meetings on culture and education in the Islamic Republic of Iran on August 20; counter-terrorism in Kabul on September 15; trade, commerce and industry in New Delhi on October 20; and counter-narcotics in Moscow on October 31.

Human rights:

On October 10, UNAMA released its 2018 third-quarter update on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The Mission documented 8,050 civilian casualties (2,798 people killed and 5,252 injured) between January 1 and September 30, 2018, the highest number of civilian deaths recorded in the first nine months of the year since 2014. UNAMA attributed 65 percent of all civilian casualties to anti-government elements (35 percent to the Taliban, 25 percent to Daesh and 5 percent to unidentified anti-government elements, including self-proclaimed Daesh), 22 percent to pro-government forces (16 percent to Afghan national security forces, 5 percent to international military forces and 1 percent to pro-government armed groups), 10 percent to unattributed crossfire during ground engagements between anti-government elements and pro-government forces and 3 percent to other incidents, including explosive remnants of war and cross-border shelling.

Humanitarian assistance and refugees:

Between August 16 and 31 October 31, 38,558 people were newly displaced by the conflict, bringing the total number of displaced persons to 289,866 in 2018 (60,720 women, 167,342 children and 61,804 men). Although conflict-related displacement is down by more than two thirds compared with the same period in 2017, many displaced families continue to have no immediate prospect of returning to their areas of origin in safety and dignity. During the reporting period, humanitarian partners provided food and other life-saving assistance to 165,759 people displaced by conflict.

Counter-narcotics. The government, supported by international partners, continued its counter-narcotics operations. From August 16 to October 31, law enforcement authorities conducted a total of 835 operations leading to seizures of 2,646 kg of heroin, 9,060 kg of morphine, 12,578 kg of opium, 941 kg of methamphetamine, 4,040 kg of hashish, 16,256 kg of cannabis, 11,787 tablets of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 4,417 kg of solid precursor chemicals and 14,344 liters of liquid precursor chemicals. In total, eight heroin manufacturing laboratories were dismantled; 1,017 suspects were arrested; and 86 vehicles, 140 weapons, 341 mobile telephones and five radios were seized. One officer of the Afghan Counter-Narcotics Police was killed while carrying out operations. The 2018 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan was finalized and released in November. Its findings show a moderate decrease in opium cultivation and production compared with 2017, with significant decreases in cultivation and production noted in the northern and western regions owing to the drought. In a joint initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the Ministry of Counter Narcotics and UNODC, a two-day national conference on the role of agricultural extension in the promotion of alternative development in Afghanistan was held on October 1 and 2 in Kabul City. The event was attended by 150 farmers and extension workers and showcased agricultural inputs and technological advances by the private sector, as well marketing opportunities for crop and livestock products.

The high and rising cost of the conflict in civilian lives is a stark reminder that ending the conflict through peace negotiations must remain the foremost imperative guiding all efforts in Afghanistan. In keeping with the principle of Afghan ownership, I encourage the government to strengthen the inclusivity of the peace process, ensuring that a diverse range of views is taken into account at every stage. Noting the recent expansion in contact between the Taliban and members of the international community, I underline the necessity for the Taliban to engage in direct talks with the Government of Afghanistan with a view to reaching a solution to the conflict. The United Nations stands ready to support all peace efforts through any available means.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

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