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Afghan leader replaces top security chiefs in major shake-up
KABUL, Dec 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday
replaced two of the country’s top security chiefs with staunch anti-Taliban
officials, in a major shake-up days after US President Donald Trump’s
decision to slash troop numbers in the country.
Amrullah Saleh and Assadullah Khaled, both former heads of the Afghan
intelligence agency, have been appointed to the critical posts of interior
minister and defence minister, respectively, a presidential decree said.
There was no official explanation for the sudden reshuffle.
But it comes four months after Ghani rejected the resignations of former
interior minister Wais Ahmad Barmak and defence minister Tariq Shah Bahrami
following criticism over an increasingly deadly insurgency.
The move caps a tumultuous few days for Afghanistan after an American
official told AFP late last week that Trump had decided to pull out “roughly
half” of the 14,000 US forces in the country.
The unexpected move stunned and dismayed foreign diplomats and Afghan
officials in Kabul who are intensifying a push to end the 17-year conflict
with the Taliban.
While the Taliban has not issued a formal statement on Trump’s plan, a
senior commander told AFP the group was “more than happy”.
Trump’s decision apparently came Tuesday as US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad
met with the Taliban in Abu Dhabi, part of efforts to bring the militants to
the negotiating table with Kabul.
Observers fear the hasty move could undermine Khalilzad’s negotiating
position, embolden the Taliban, and further erode morale among Afghan forces,
which are being slaughtered at a record rate.
Ghani, who is planning to seek re-election in April, could be trying to
strengthen his security credentials ahead of the vote.
Saleh, a fierce government critic who fought against the Taliban in the
1990s, served as head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) from 2004
to 2010.
Khaled was briefly NDS chief in 2012 before being wounded by a Taliban
suicide bomber.
Both men will serve as acting ministers until the parliament approves their
appointments.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1711 hrs