Ghani urges national unity to overcome challenges

KABUL (Tolo News): President Ashraf Ghani called on Afghan political leaders to cooperate with the government to overcome the challenges facing the country.

Referring to the foreign forces’ withdrawal, Ghani said that a new chapter of relations will open between Afghanistan and the international community after the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.

Speaking at a gathering marking the Good Governance and Human Resources Week in Kabul, the president said that the cost of damage posed to Afghanistan’s infrastructure by the Taliban is around $1 billion. “$1 billion worth of damage was inflicted on Afghanistan’s infrastructure, I want to ask them ‘why are you causing destruction? If you (Taliban) are not able to build, at least don’t destroy,” said President Ghani.

The Afghan government said that in recent weeks it has implemented over 1,000 projects in Balkh, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Herat provinces. Officials at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) have said that the government has spent over 5 billion Afs on these projects.

“The projects were carried out in the areas of electricity, irrigation, road construction and parks for women,” said Shamim Khan Katawazai, the head of the IDLG. Ghani said that the withdrawal of US forces will open a new chapter of economic and development cooperation between Afghanistan and the world.

“All politicians who are at any level–let’s join hands and prove to the world that we will successfully pass this phase,” stated Ghani. The withdrawal of foreign forces’ is scheduled to start on May 1 and be completed by September 11, 2021.