MPs Seek Details of Kabul Police Force Expansion
Lawmakers in Afghanistan’s parliament on Tuesday asked the Afghan government to brief the legislators about the details of its new security plan.
This comes a day after Afghanistan’s First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said the government is planning to double the number of police in the city.
Some MPs meanwhile asked the government to come up with a clear policy and clarify two questions: who will be recruited and where will the funding come from?
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi has said that 160,000 police personnel are currently on the payroll, and that talks have been held with other countries about recruiting an additional 11,000 police.
According to the
Hindustan Times’ sources, “the crackdown has come as a huge embarrassment for Beijing, which has been trying to persuade the Ashraf Ghani government to hush up the case.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly selected First Vice President Amrullah Saleh to meet with Chinese officials and oversee the case, possibly with an eye toward pardoning the ten accused spies if Beijing “submits a formal apology that admits to the violation of international norms and a betrayal of Kabul’s trust.”
The report said the ten Chinese nationals were working with the Haqqani Network, the infamous terrorist organization and crime ring that works closely with the Taliban. Among other nefarious exploits, the Haqqani Network was involved with the capture and ransom of American deserter Bowe Bergdahl in 2009.
Al Qaeda-Taliban cannot be seperated: Saleh
Kabul, Dec 27(UNI) Afghanistan s First Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Sunday said that the Taliban still has deep ties with al Qaeda and that their separation “is harder than desalination.”
Saleh took to Twitter to write that Afghan forces killed three al-Qaeda members in a Taliban compound in southern Afghanistan, ten months after the Taliban promised to separate itself from the network as part of their deal with the United States.
The Ministry of Defense last week said that four members of al-Qaeda who were planting mines with a group of Taliban were killed in an airstrike in Nawa district in Helmand.
(Last Updated On: December 27, 2020)
Residents of 315 area of Khair Khana, in Kabul city, said on Sunday that Afghan security forces arrested about 280 people between Saturday and Sunday in connection with suspected terrorist activities, armed robberies and other crimes.
Security forces carried out a door-to-door search of the area that reportedly lasted for 8 hours.
Reports emerged early Saturday of the operation after Khair Khana residents took to social media to post photographs of military tanks being used to close off streets.
At the time, locals said security forces had ordered them to stay inside their homes and were stopping anyone from leaving the area.