Reg: No 352 Volume No. 3212 Wednesday January 20, 2016 Jaddi 30, 1394 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 15/-Afs

Quote of the Day

Email: thedailyafghanistan@yahoo.comPhone: 0093 (799) 005019/777-005019

www.thedailyafghanistan.com

What you do not want done to yourself, do

not do to others.Confucius

Foreign Ministry Upbeat over QCG Progress

2nd Quadrilateral Meeting’s Outcome Satisfactory

KABUL - Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday ex-pressed its optimism over the progress made during the sec-ond Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meeting on Mon-day in Kabul and said the four-nation group had agreed on the road map outlining the start to peace talks with the Taliban.The QGC, made up of repre-sentatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China, had also agreed to con-tinue regular meetings ahead of the start to the Peace and Recon-ciliation Process.The group will hold its next meeting on February 6 in Is-

Abdullah Assures Businessmen

their Issues will be Addressed

Fresh Troops Sent to Troubled Helmand

Parts: Sarjang

ANSF Fighting to Hold off Taliban in 3

Helmand Districts

Libya’s Rivals Declare Unity Cabinet

Under UN Plan

Senate Condemns

Amputation of Woman’s

Nose

India Allows Apple import from

Afghanistan by Land Route

23 Militants Killed, 14

Wounded in Past 24 Hours

KABUL - Chief Executive of Afghanistan Abdul-lah Abdullah on Tuesday addressed a number of Afghan businessmen where he assured them the necessary facilities would be provided for them to invest in the country.He said however insecurity has been one of the main challenges for businessmen in the country.“Afghanistan’s enemies wanted to break down the Afghan government in 2015; therefore, gov-ernment paid more attention to security issues, which resulted in some gaps in this aspect,” he told businessmen at a meeting on the assessment of investment situation in Afghanistan.He said endemic corruption was inherited from the previous government but added that the Na-tional Unity Government (NUG) is committed to fighting graft.“Corruption in public office is a reality which has become part of people’s lives but we consider that there will not be any political consideration in the fight against the phenomenon,” he added.Going into details of the agenda of the session, the chairman of Afghanistan ...(More on P4)...(4)

LASHKARGAH - Fresh troops have been de-ployed to different parts of southern Helmand province, but some security problems remained, officials said on Tuesday.The reinforcements have been sent to Sangin and Khanshin districts and their deployment would positively impact security there, Helmand police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Rahaman Sarjang, told a press conference here. “We have prepared plans for maintaining secu-rity in several areas of the province and the plans will be implemented soon” he said, adding that the Afghan forces on the ground had air support from foreign counterparts.At least 10 Taliban fighters were killed and 13 others wounded on Monday night as a result of clearing operations by security forces in Greshk district and Babaji locality of Lashkargah, the pro-vincial capital, Sarjang said.However, governor’s spokesperson, Omar Zwak, told Pajhwok Afghan News that insurgents had been previously taking advantage of security gaps.For instance, he said when security forces had been conducting clearing operations in Marja dis-trict, insurgents managed to capture some areas of Lashkargah and Greshk district. “Now as reinforcements had arrived, the insur-gents won’t be able to control more areas,” he as-sured. ...(More on P4)...(8)

KABUL - The Meshrano Jirga on Tuesday condemned the amputation of a woman’s nose by her husband in north-ern Faryab province and sought punishment for the perpetrator.A man chopped off the nose of his wife, Reza Gul, a 20-years-old, after six years of their marriage in Ghormach district of Faryab.“The government should ur-gently arrest the husband and provide treatment to the vic-tim,” Senator Anar Kali Hu-naryar told the upper house.She said the perpetrators of such crimes against women should be punished in order to prevent violence against the gender.Another member of the Me-shrano Jirga, Nisar Haris, asked security officials to ur-gently arrest the husband. It is said the man had joined Tali-ban after hacking off the nose of the woman.Another lawmaker Maulvi Mahauddin Munsif said “un-til the perpetrators of such crimes are not brought to justice, the violence against women would increase.”Senate chairman Fazl Hadi Muslimyar strongly de-nounced the incident and said security organs were respon-sible to arrest the person and punish him in public to set an example for others.Meanwhile, some other law-makers expressed their anger over the burning of a girls school in Kabul and asked the Ministry of Education and security organs to take meas-ures for security of schools.Two nights back, unidentified ...(More on P4)...(7)

KABUL - At least 23 anti-government armed mili-tants were killed during clearing operations by the Afghan armed forces dur-ing the past 24 hours, Min-istry of Defense (MoD) of-ficials said Tuesday.The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the operations were jointly conducted by the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces in conjunc-tion with the security per-sonnel belonging to the other security institutions.A statement by MoD said at least 14 militants were also wounded during the operations and 6 suspect-ed militants were detained by the security forces.The statement further added that the Afghan se-curity forces confiscated various weapons and ex-plosives during the opera-tions conducted in Baraki Barak district of Logar, parts of Kunduz, Zabul, Paktika, and Helmand provinces.According to MoD, a member of the Afghan Na-tional Army (ANA) also lost his during the opera-tions.The anti-government armed militant groups in-cluding the Taliban mili-tants have not commented regarding the report so far. The operations are be-ing conducted as the Tal-iban-led insurgency have been rampant during the recent months as efforts have been put in place to encourage the militants to join the reconciliation pro-cess. (KP)

BENGHAZI - Representatives of Libya’s rival fac-tions who are sitting in Tunis and negotiating through a U.N.-brokered process announced on Tuesday that they have formed a unity government aimed at stemming the chaos that has engulfed the country in recent years.In a statement received by The Associated Press, the Unity Presidential Council said it has agreed on a 32-member Cabinet, drawn of representatives from across the country.But whether that government will in fact be able to govern the country remains to be seen.Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 toppling and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Since 2014, its divisions only ...(More on P4)...(2)

KABUL - The High Peace Council (HPC) on Tuesday called as “satisfactory” the out-come from the second quadri-lateral meeting on the Afghan peace process in Kabul.The Quadrilateral Coordi-nation Group (QCG) of Af-ghanistan, Pakistan the United States and China Monday held its second meeting in Kabul called on all Taliban groups to enter into early talks with the Afghan government.The group once again empha-sised the need for an end to the senseless violence against the Afghan people and agreed that all forms of terrorism pre-sented a grave threat to the countries, the region and the world.The delegations were led by Afghan Deputy Foreign Min-

KABUL - With a view to fur-ther enhance the bilateral trade between India and Afghani-stan and to ensure removal of any bottlenecks in this regard, the Government of India has issued a notification, allowing import of apples from Afghan-istan by land route also. Earlier, the import of apples from Afghanistan was being allowed through Nhava Sheva Port only. In view of the diffi-culties faced by Afghan export-ers of apples, the Government of India has allowed import of apples through land borders also, in addition to both sea and airports. This amendment of ...(More on P4)...(5)

ister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Pa-kistan’s Foreign Secretary Ai-zaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the US Ambassador to Afghanistan Michael McKinley and China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Deng Xijun, said a joint press release.Mohammad Ismael Qasimyar, the HPC’s international affairs advisor, told Pajhwok Afghan News looking at the determi-

KABUL - The Taliban were threatening on Tuesday to cap-ture three key strategic districts in Helmand province as fierce fighting with government forc-es stoked fears over the Islamist insurgents’ gains in their tradi-tional heartland.The arid, semi-desert south-ern region is a major center of opium cultivation where the Taliban have stepped up pres-sure on security forces since

spokesman for MoFA: “The QCG members have agreed upon general principles of the road map for peace talks and it has been decided that details will be decided on and agreed to at the next meeting.”The first meeting was hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad last Mon-day, where the involved parties all agreed to the need to protect Afghanistan’s independence and sovereignty.“For the Afghanistan govern-ment it is important that talks and technical meetings finish as soon as possible so that the way can be paved for direct talks be-tween ...(More on P4)...(1)

nation and agreement of the four nations, one could say that they would reach a common agenda and roadmap for peace talks in the third quadrilateral meeting to be held in Islamabad next week.He said: “These are very sensi-tive and important issues that should not be made public until the four-ways talks reach a con-stant ...(More on P4)...(3)

the withdrawal of international troops from combat last year.The government has sent rein-forcements from Kabul to protect the districts of Gereshk, Sangin, and Marjah around the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, Helmand’s police chief, Abdul Rahman Sar-jang, said. Some of the fighting is hundreds of meters (yards) from the main highway linking the major southern city of Kandahar with the ...(More on P4)...(6)

MoDHigh Peace Council

lamabad.The Afghan government wants to finish up with technical meetings as soon as possible

and start peace talks with the Taliban, said the MoFA.According to Khairkhowa Azad, the deputy

Afghan children wait to receive polio vaccines during an anti-polio campaign in Kandahar province on Tuesday January 19, 2016.(Xinhua/Sanaullah Saiem)