Afghanistan Times
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Abdul Zuhoor Qayomi-KABUL: The First Deputy Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga (WJ) Abdul Zahir Qadeer alleged the National Security Council (NSC) of supporting Daesh.
Qadeer said that the NSC created obstacles for him when he launched operations against Daesh. The NSC does not provide equipment to the Afghan Local Police (ALP), fighting against Daesh in Nangarhar. Asking the government that what it was doing with the equipments donated to the ALP, he said the equipments were provided by the international community for local police force.
“The Afghan security forces neither let me to fight against the enemies [Daesh] nor do they launch operations, though, Shinwar and other districts of Nangarhar have been turned into strongholds of Daesh,” added Zahir.
The first deputy speaker furthered that Daesh militants are equipped with every type of weapons, except tanks and helicopters. Expressing serious concerns over spread of Daesh, he said that if the multinational terrorist group was not eliminated then it would create multiple challenges for the whole country because Nangarhar is the gateway to other provinces.
He claimed that the government is supporting Daesh fighters instead of local police in the battle. “Around 700 families of Daesh fighters, who were settled in different districts of Nangarhar, left the province following my warning. However, someone in the government asked them to stay in the province.”
Qadeer claimed that more than 20,000 undocumented Pakistani refugees from Khyber Agency, Swat, and Bajaur settled into 22 districts of Nangarhar. Uzbeks, Chechens and Arab families also settled in the province, he added.
“I have evidences to prove that the National Security Council is interfering into the provincial affairs. However, it is not the right time to discuss this,” the deputy speaker said.
Qadeer also said that senior members of Daesh were living in Kabul and were visiting embassies.
Qadeer rejected that the security forces have killed 500 to 600 Daesh fighters, saying that his own fighters have killed them with support of the local people. “Now, Daesh fighters are killed in Shinwari district where locals were beheaded.”
Esmat Shinwari, a member of the Wolesi Jirga from Nangarhar, told Afghanistan Times said that he does not have any information about Qadeer’s allegations, but it is true that there are a large number of Daesh fighters supported by the foreigners in Nangarhar. “I do not know that whether they [Daesh militants] are supported by the government or not. However, the borders shall be secured first,” he said.
Shinwari termed the recent operation unproductive, saying that the strongholds and centers of Daesh must be targeted by the air force as the ground operation could not produce the required results. He said the Daesh militants were well-equipped.
He said the security officials were not implementation the security plans, adding that there would be no challenge if the security plans were implemented—at least 50 percent. “The security forces have launched operation against Daesh recently though we had informed the government six months ago. Now, Daesh is familiar with the area,” he said.
Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi stressed that Qadeer’s comments should be taken seriously.
“These comments raise many questions and they are worth following. The situation has gotten worse since (former president Hamid) Karzai’s time,” he said.
The NSC has rejected Qadeer’s statement and termed his comments untrue and baseless. The NSC said that the deputy speaker wanted to secure his personal interests through such statements.
The spokesman of NSC, Tawab Ghorzang, tweeted that Qadeer is trying to form illegal armed force, confuse public and sabotage efforts of the government against Daesh.
The NSC has asked the Presidential Palace to appoint a probe team to assess the allegations of Zahir Qadeer.
