8 Subh, Kabul: Ahmad Zia Saraj, the director of national security, said the “enemies of the homeland” carried out 18,200 attacks in the country in the past year, 99% of which were carried out by the Taliban.
Ahmad Zia Saraj, director of national security, and Mohammad Masood Andarabi, interior minister, were called to the Senate on Tuesday, December 29.
Saraj said at the meeting that the country’s enemies used all their strength and facilities this year to occupy areas in the country, but their actions failed. According to him, the country’s enemies carried out 18,200 attacks this year, 99% of which were carried out by the Taliban.
According to the director of national security, the attacks targeted large parts of the country, cities and districts, including military and civilian centers, and included targeted assassinations and bombings.
One percent of these attacks, according to Ahmad Zia Saraj, were carried out by other terrorist groups. While the casualties and the damage caused by the attacks are not clear, Ahmad Zia Saraj said that heavy casualties were inflicted on civilians.
The director of national security blamed the increase in attacks in Kabul on the “defeat of the Taliban” on the battlefields in Kandahar and Helmand. A number of soldiers and civilians were killed in the attacks in Kandahar and Helmand, he said.
According to him, more than 6,000 people were arrested this year in connection with various crimes, of which 3,600 were charged with terrorist cases, 279 with targeted assassinations and seven with suicide attacks.
The director of national security said that there was undeniable and sufficient evidence of the existence of Taliban bases in Pakistan and that the group’s leadership had not made any decision to establish peace in the country.
At the meeting, Interior Minister Mohammad Masood Andarabi said the Taliban had intensified fighting to gain more concessions in the peace talks, and that it still had plans of taking over Kandahar and Helmand. According to him, after the defeat of the Taliban in Helmand and Kandahar, the group resorted to targeted assassinations and IED bombings in cities, where efforts were made to neutralize them.
The interior minister also spoke about increasing the number of police forces. He said 11,000 local police officers would join the police force after completing their training, and that more than 10,000 would carry out their duties under the Ministry of National Defense.
The two senior security officials were summoned to the Senate as targeted assassinations and IED mine explosions escalated in cities including Kabul. The Interior Ministry has attributed targeted assassinations and IED bombings to the Taliban. Andarabi said that with this strategy, the Taliban wanted to maintain an alternative to the current system in the negotiations.
