Lawmakers to summon security chiefs as violence surges

KABUL (Tolo News): The Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament, will summon security chiefs following an increase in Afghan forces casualties on the battlefield and the fall of some district centers and outposts to the Taliban.
Calling the country’s security situation fragile, some MPs said that the rise in insecurity has created grave concerns among the people and they will ask security chiefs to review their security plans. The centers of Burka district in Baghlan, Narkh and Jalrez districts in Maidan Wardak, Dawlat Shah district in Laghman, Qaisar district in Faryab, Shahrak district in Ghor and Shirzad district in Uruzgan have fallen to the Taliban in less than two months.
The Taliban claims they have also captured Charkh district in Logar, Do Ab and Mandol districts in Nuristan, Farsi district in Herat, Deh Yak district in Ghazni, Gezab district in Daikundi and Shinkai district in Zabul. “Our martyrs are on the ground, but no institution takes action to even collect them,” said Fatima Kohistani, an MP from Ghor.
“Districts have fallen one after another. The security situation is deteriorating,” said Tarakhil Mohammadi, an MP. The parliament speaker, Mir Rahman Rahmani, said that Taliban does not believe in peace and that the war strategy and plans against them should be reviewed. “The defense and security commissions are assigned to summon security and defense chiefs,” Rahmani said.
Clashes are underway between security forces and the Taliban in at least 20 provinces. At least 10 security force members have been killed and five more have been wounded in the clashes in five provinces in the last 24 hours, according to sources. The Ministry of Defense said that 126 Taliban were killed and 80 more were wounded in clashes in the last 24 hours. The Taliban has rejected these figures.
Lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament, aggressively questioned the transport minister on the string of recent fuel tankers fires and accused him of “illegal” appointments in the ministry. Transport Minister Qudratullah Zaki, who is an aide to Abdul Rashid Dostum, was asked about the Herat fire that occurred in mid-February and destroyed hundreds of fuel trucks, the fire at a border town in Farah, and the fire at a fuel tankers’ station in Kabul on May 1 that killed nine people. He was also questioned about his “repeated” failure to appear before Parliament, and his recent appointments in the Ministry of Transport.
The legislators sought a vote to disqualify the minister and remove him from his post, but this did not happen due to a lack of quorum. This was followed by a heated debate in which MPs accused each other of favoritism in the summoning of ministers. “Every position is sold, a deal is made… at the Ministry of Transport some have been beaten up,” said Abbas Ibrahimzada, an MP from Balkh.
“Two thousand vehicles were burned. They were not owned by any lawmaker, that’s why they are not raising their voice. 40,000 families were supported by those 2,000 vehicles,” said Khalid Asad, an MP from Paktika. The lawmakers said there is a need for balance when it comes to the summoning of cabinet ministers. “The ministries have been accused of embezzlement repeatedly, but this ministry has not received any blame. Why has this person (minister) been summoned?” asked Habiba Danesh, an MP from Takhar.
“We will stand with you if the transport minister has violated the lawmakers’ request, but we request that you do not play favorites,” said Khan Agha Rezaee, an MP from Kabul. The transport minister rejected the allegations against him and said that according to their agreement with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport has no role in stopping tanker trucks carrying fuel and other goods outside the Kabul gates or at border towns. “Our income is collected through a proper system. We have received a clear warning that the employees of the Transport Ministry have no right to stop trucks,” Zaki said.