Reg: No 352 Volume No. 3597 Thursday May 25, 2017 Jawza 04 1396 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 15/-Afs

Quote of the DayStart the practice of

self-control with some penance; begin with fasting.

Mahavira

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NATO

WASHINGTON - A top American spymaster, Dan Coats, warned on Tuesday that Security situation in Af-ghanistan country was likely to dete-

Police Chief Warns Taliban Cells are on Outskirts of Kabul

Karzai Met Russian Ambassador to Discuss Ongoing Current Afghan

Situation

Russia Denies Allegations that it is Funding the Taliban

First Leather Industry Starts Work in

Herat to Curb Imports worth $350m

President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget requests over $700 million for Afghanistan Air Force (AAF) program, the White House

proposal revealed on Tuesday.

“Training the Afghan forces to secure their country and deny safe

haven to international terrorists,”

MOSCOW - Afghan National Secu-rity Advisor Haneef Atmar met his Indian, Iranian and Pakistani coun-terparts on Wednesday on the side-lines of the 8th Security Conference in Moscow and discussed a number of issues relevant to all three na-tions. In his meeting with India’s national security advisor Ajit Doval, the two officials discussed the expansion of bilateral relations and agreed to work on a joint strategy to further support the Afghan National De-fense and Security Forces (ANDSF). Atmar tweeted that the two sides “had detailed talks about regional security and agreed to work on

BRUSSELS - NATO secre-tary general Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said the secu-rity situation in Afghanistan remained challenging and the alliance was currently in the process of force genera-tion.“I expect final decisions to be taken next month,” Stolten-berg told a press conference in Brussels on the eve of NATO leaders’ summit.NATO leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are going to Brussels for a summit meeting on Thurs-day.The allies will likely

TEHRAN - Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Se-curity Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani underlined the necessity for joint coopera-tion with Kabul to block the third countries’ attempts to create insecurity and pro-vide the ground for anti-Iran

WASHINGTON - Trump’s 2018 budget plan for the Department of Defense con-tains more that $700 million for the Afghan forces’ air lift program“[The budget plan] includes over $700 million for the program to address aviation lift and aerial fires capabil-ity gaps and transition from Russian-manufactured to US-manufactured rotary

KABUL - Kabul police chief Hasan Shah Frogh said on Wednesday that small groups of Taliban insurgents are being deployed to areas on the out-skirts of the capital to prepare for attacks. He said this makes it difficult for police to track their movements. In addition, these cells move into the city at night, Frogh added. “A group of them were deployed in Musahi dis-trict, we went there and one of them was killed in battle, we also arrested ...(More on P4)...(5)

KABUL - The former Afghan President Hamid Kar-zai met with the Russian Ambassador to Afghani-stan to hold talks regarding the current situation in Afghanistan.The Office of the former President in a statement said the meeting was organized in the office of the former President in Kabul.The statement further added that the two sides dis-cussed the current situation of Afghanistan and ef-forts to bring peace and stability in the country.This comes as Karzai has long been favoring Rus-sia’s role in Afghan reconciliation process, insist-ing that regional countries can play a vital role in achieving peace in ...(More on P4)...(7)

KABUL - The Russian embassy in Kabul on Tuesday rejected allegations that Moscow was funding Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, stating the claims were un-substantiated.This comes after Kandahar police chief general Abdul Raziq said last week that certain countries in the re-gion were keeping the Taliban’s war machine opera-tional as they believe conflict in Afghanistan protects their interests.He said countries such as Pakistan, Russia and Iran are funding and equipping the Taliban and other in-surgent groups in order to fuel the war machine and pursue their own objectives.Raziq said some countries in the region have a vested interest in the conflict in Afghanistan.He claimed that there is sufficient evidence to show that Pakistan, Russia and ...(More on P4)...(9)

KABUL - The first leader production firm started work in western Herat province of Afghanistan with an aim to curb import of leather products from outside the coun-try worth almost $350 million on annual basis.The factory was inaugurated on Tuesday in the presence of the provincial governor Mohammad Asif Rahimi in Herat Indus-trial park.The factory has been built with an invest-ment amounting to $6 million and 3 hun-dred thousand.The local officials are saying that the opening of the factory will provide work opportunities for hundreds of the resi-dents of Herat province.Hotak, a representative of the factory, said this is the first leather processing factory launched in Afghanistan which will use raw materials from the domestic market.He said around $350 million flow out of Afghanistan on annual basis for the im-port of leather products.Provincial governor Rahimi hailed the private sector for the investment to launch the factory and said the first leather pro-cessing factory starting work in Afghani-stan is ...(More on P4)...(10)

Final Decision on Afghan Buildup Next Month

Iran’s SNSC Stresses Joint Cooperation with

Afghanistan

Lives of 24 Million Children Threatened by Conflict: UNICEF

Trump’s Budget Requests Extra $700Mln for AAF

Situation in Afghanistan may Deteriorate in 2018: Coats

Atmar Meets with Indian, Iranian, Pakistani Counterpart in Moscow

wing assets,” the document released on Tuesday stated.On May 10, US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Joseph Votel told the Senate Armed Service Committee that Rus-sian-made Mi-17 helicopter is both undersized and prov-ing to be more expensive and difficult to sustain than originally envisioned.The ...(More on P4)...(6)

push for consensus on the need to fight terrorism after Monday’s attack in Britain.“It was a barbaric attack,” the NATO chief told reporters....(More on P4)...(2)

terrorist moves in Afghani-stan.Shamkhani made the re-marks in a meeting with Af-ghan National Security Advi-sor Mohammad Hanif Atmar in Moscow on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Confer-ence ...(More on P4)...(3)

riorate in the year 2018.“The Intelligence Community assess-es that the political and security situ-ation in Afghanistan will almost cer-

BEIRUT - Violence and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa threaten the lives of over 24 million children, most of them in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, the United Nation’s chil-

tainly deteriorate through 2018 even with a modest increase in military assistance by the United States and its partners,” Dan Coats, Director of

dren agency said in a report Wednesday.From cholera in Yemen to at-tacks on hospitals in Syria and the tens of thousands of chil-dren trapped in Iraq’s city of

National Intelligence told members of the Senate Armed Services Com-mittee during a Congressional hear-ing on Worldwide Threats.“This deterioration is underpinned by Afghanistan’s dire economic situ-ation. Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external sup-port until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban,” Coats said painting a grim picture of this war torn country.According to Coast, Pakistani-based terrorist groups would present a sus-tained threat to US interests in the region and continue to plan and con-duct attacks in India and Afghani-stan. “The threat to the United States and the West from Pakistani-based ter-rorist groups will be persistent but diffuse. Plotting against the US homeland will be conducted on a more opportunistic basis or driven by individual members within these groups,” he said.“Meanwhile, we assess that the Tali-ban is likely to continue to make gains, especially in rural areas. Af-ghan security forces performance will probably worsen due to a combi-nation of Taliban operations, combat casualties, ...(More on P4)...(1)

Mosul, UNICEF said the vio-lence is depriving children of essential health care. Water and sanitation services have been compromised, causing water-borne ...(More on P4)...(4)

comprehensive joint mechanisms for fight against terrorism.” Atmar also invited Doval to visit Afghanistan, and spoke about arranging a meet-ing between India’s Prime Minister Narendra ...(More on P4)...(8)