Ghani: Nation Fully Supports Armed Forces

In an online conversation with the members of the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) serving on the frontlines in volatile regions of the country, Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani on Saturday said that the Afghan nation fully supports the armed forces.

The Presidential Palace in a statement said that in the virtual conversation the president thanked the ANDSF for their making sacrifices for the defense of the nation against threats.

Meanwhile, At least seven people were wounded in two separate magnetic IED blasts in Kabul city on Saturday morning, Kabul police confirmed.

The first blast occurred around 7:10am local time in the Khair Khana area in PD11 of Kabul city from a magnetic IED placed on a Land Cruiser. Four people were wounded, Kabul police said.

“You (ANDSF) repulsed the enemy attacks and still stand firmly, I wanted to thank you and assure you that the entire government and the entire nation support you,” said Ghani.

What ordinary Afghans say?

“There was chaos around. Three or four people were lying here, two of them had lost their legs, a soldier was also lying here,” said Jan Mohammad, a resident in Kabul.

“When we leave our homes, we are not sure whether we will return alive or not. What kind of city is this where there is no security,” said Farid, a resident of Kabul.

This comes a day after The Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that the Taliban continued to stage attacks on a daily basis in at least 22 provinces of the country over the past week, stating that the group’s unstopped attacks were against the spirit of a political settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan and clear opposition to the will of the Afghan people for peace.

Based on the statistics, the Taliban conducted attacks and other security-related activities in at least 23 provinces of the country over the past 24 hours.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says “Afghanistan is one of the deadliest places in the world to be a civilian and that 50% of the country lives somewhere highly affected by armed conflict.”