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Jalalabad Chance Chance Kandahar Clear Mazar Clear Herat Clear Bamiyan Chance Kabul Chance of Rain of Rain of Rain of Rain Daily Outlook 32°C 18°C 27°C 28°C 26°C 10°C 19°C Weather 20°C 7°C 15°C 18°C 15°C 0°C 10°C Forcast Government under Pressure as Clashes Ongoing as Taliban Taliban Threaten New District FARAH - Taliban fighters closed in on another district in ‘Advance’ on Ghazni District Afghanistan on Sunday as of- ficials sought to reassure an Security sources say commandos are being deployed increasingly angry public that by air to the battle-weary district but have not yet arrived. security would improve. On Sunday, the insurgents were besieging the governor’s compound in Ajrestan district in Ghazni, south of the capital Kabul, although officials said reinforcements had arrived and were relieving police defending the town. The fighting in Ghazni, which insurgents came close to over- defence and the head of the has long had a heavy Taliban running the provincial capital. NDS intelligence service. presence, follows several days General John Nicholson, the top “Farah did not fall and Farah of fighting in , on U.S. commander in Afghanistan will never fall,” he said, calling the other side of Afghanistan on visited Farah on Saturday with on the Taliban to accept Presi- the border with Iran where the the ministers of the interior and dent ...(More on P4)...(8) More Than 100,000 Afghans WB Internally Displaced in 2018 to Invest 460$m KABUL - AThe Ministry of mand and Farah are among Refugees and Repatriation the provinces where most in Peshawar- (MoRR) says more than a of the people have left their Torkham Road hundred thousand Afghans houses due to insecurities. have been displaced dur- “Insecurity is the main factor KABUL - The World Bank has ing the last five months due of displacement and people decided to invest $460 mil- to increasing violence in the have fled their houses due lion in building a new road country. to the ongoing fighting. The from Peshawar to Torkham to According to the authorities, number of internally dis- boost trade between the two Kunduz, Baghlan, Faryab, placed Afghans reaches up nations. Sar-e-Pul, Nangarhar, Hel- to two ...(More on P4)...(9) The Peshawar-Torkham Ex- pressway Corridor will create GHAZNI - Heavy clashes are ongoing in Ajristan the district police chief, Obaidullah, have been 13 Voter Registration Centers job opportunities. The World district of as Taliban reportedly pushed to the northern part of the district and are Bank’s Board of Directors advance on government forces, security sources surrounded by Taliban insurgents. Fail to Open in may approve the $460-million confirmed on Sunday. In addition, telecommunication systems in the dis- loan next month. Commandos were still on their way at 11.30am lo- trict are down, and the road into the area is closed The total cost of the project is cal time. off by the Taliban. nearly $483 million and the Sources said clashes between security forces and Sources said the commandos are being deployed remaining amount will be ar- insurgents are underway close to the government by air. ranged by Pakistan, accord- compound and police headquarters. In the meantime, the Taliban claimed that they had ing to The Express Tribune. They said Hamdullah, the district governor and taken control of the district....(More on P4)...(10) A major component of the loan, $383.6 million, would be given for the construction of Senators Urge Gov’t to Cancel the road. Another amount of $72 million will be approved Security Agreement with the U.S. for the development of mar- KABUL - A number of Afghan sena- MAZAR-E-SHARIF - A lo- ceived their election materi- ble and horticulture sectors. tors on Sunday urged the government cal IEC official said most of als. The four-lane road has been to cancel the Bilateral Security Agree- those eligible to vote will not He warned that the majority planned as the existing two- ment (BSA) with the United States, be able to do so if government of those eligible to vote will lane highway could not be insisting that the deal has not been fails to ensure security in high not be able to do so if govern- modernised because of vari- proved effective to ensure stability risk areas. ment fails to ensure security ous constraints, the newspa- and prevent outside influences. At least 13 voter registra- in high risk areas. per said. Since launching their spring offensive tion centers remain closed in “While the second phase is Improvements in security, in- so-called “Al-Khandaq Operation”, due to higher proceeding, at least 13 cent- frastructure investments and the Taliban have increase scale of at- security threats, Fazel Hayati, ers remain closed in the dis- renewed regional economic tacks across war-torn Afghanistan. vincial capital of western Farah province that left scores killed acting head of the provincial tricts - such as Chahar Bolak, cooperation have given new The insurgent group has recently and injured recently; the senators urged the government to headquarters of the Inde- Chimtal, Dawlat Abad and hope for the revival of cross- seized several districts in Baghlan, cancel Kabul-Washington security deal which was signed the pendent Election Commis- Shortepa,” he said. border trade. Badakhshan, Faryab and Ghazni prov- day after President Ashraf Ghani was inaugurated. sion (IEC) said. “I will participate in the elec- The 50-kilometre Peshawar- inces, following the new war season. “The government is not capable of ensuring security. They He said that three of these tions and will cast my vote for Torkham project is part of the Criticizing the U.S. over failure to co- [the Taliban] have attacked Farah [City], Where was America? centers which are located in the candidate who is commit- 281-km Peshawar-Kabul ex- operate and ‘act timely’ against the When [the security forces] were running away. It should have Chahar Bolak district of the ted to seving our country,” pressway -- seen as a gateway militants’ attacks, mainly in the pro- targeted them [the Taliban] by airstrikes. ...(More on P4)...(11) province so far have not re- said ...(More on P4)...(12) to Central Asia. (Pajhwok) Talk to Taliban or Fight Endless Afghan War, Russia Tells U.S.

MOSCOW - The U.S. refusal to members of the Afghan military talk with the hard-line Islamist and security forces an amnesty movement that controls 40 per- if they quit “enemy ranks.” cent of Afghan territory is “why U.S. President Donald Trump’s we are at a dead-end,” President administration, which has ac- Vladimir Putin’s special envoy cused Russia of arming the Tali- for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, ban, has poured more troops into said in an interview in Moscow Afghanistan and waged a series on Friday. Without such con- of air strikes as it seeks to regain tacts, “the war and bloodshed the military edge. Russia denies will drag on for years,” he add- the allegations though it says it’s ed. in dialogue with the movement U.S.-backed President Ashraf that ruled the country from 1996 Ghani in February offered the to 2001, when it was overthrown Taliban unconditional talks in a U.S.-led invasion to destroy but the insurgent group has re- terrorist training camps run by sponded by stepping up attacks. Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban on Friday offered ..(More on P4)...(13)