- Very good afternoon to you all.
Thank you for making the time
despite the late hour.
It's my pleasure to introduce you Major General Bahrami,
who is the acting Afghan Defense Minister,
who just came out from the meeting on Afghanistanian
refugee support format.
Major General Bahrami will give an introductory statement
and then he will take questions.
Sir, over to you.
- (speaks in foreign language)
Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
thank you for being here and most welcome
to this press conference.
(speaks in foreign language)
First I would like to give a very roughly information
regarding to the military situation in Afghanistan.
And after that I will talk a little bit
regarding to the our four years progressive plan
for the ADSF, Afghanistan Defense Security Forces.
And after that we will go through to take your questions.
(speaks in foreign language)
- [Interpreter] So, we prevented them from keeping
their goals and objectives and the operations
that we have had over the last three months
focus on our common goals
and provide you with information on them.
Over the last year, we had the Omari operation.
The enemy started that on the 21
provinces actually simultaneously
they conducted operations in 10 provinces
at once very serious.
Combats with our security forces and defense forces.
In Helmand, in Kandahar, in Uruzgan, in Kunduz,
in Baghlan, in Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, Faryab,
and Farah provinces.
We are interpreters here,
I don't know why he's going to interpret separately.
So, anyway,
of course the enemy has been aiming
to capture some of the provinces in the East and Southeast.
Some districts, they were aiming to capture some districts
and then they were actually going to transfer
the Quetta Shura to that part of the country.
And in the same way, in Nangahar province,
and also in some districts of Nangahar corner,
they were aiming to capture those districts as well
and transfer the Peshawar Shura
to that part of Afghanistan from Peshawar.
In Paktika and Paktia, they were going to make sure
that those districts fall,
and made only sure nakanina pak Shura
was going to be transferred there.
But with our successful Sheffeck operation,
successful up limitation operations,
the ADSF managed to make sure that those operations
of the Taliban would fail and they did not succeed.
So he's going to interpret actually
what he has already said.
- (speaks in foreign language)
- [Interpreter] Over the last three months,
there was a Mansouri operation
that was embarked upon by the enemy.
Those operations were actually carried out
in 20 provinces and very seriously.
In seven provinces the struggle was very serious and heavy.
In Helmand, in Kandahar, in Nangahar, in Badakhshan,
in Kunduz, in Baghlan, and Jawzjan provinces.
But fortunately, the operation that we had planned,
we were anticipating these threats, of course,
Halad operation led to the situation being controlled by us.
Of course, some districts, some checkpoints
were lost temporarily, but ADSF as a whole
was successful to recapture those checkpoints or districts.
Over the three months there were
strategic objectives and gains.
I'd like to focus on three points in Kunduz for example.
The plan was to simultaneously carry out operations
in two places.
In Baghlan, for example, planning to block the highway
and to put more pressure on Kunduz.
This was their plan, and they were going to capture Kunduz.
At least they were going to capture two districts,
Imam Sahib district and also Archi district.
But they could not obtain those objectives.
And our ADSF forces managed to defeat them in those places,
and they could not block the highway either.
The highway between Kabul and Kunduz,
and Kunduz and Baghlan.
Then afterwards, there was another operation in Badakhshan.
They managed to capture Zebak district,
but our brave forces, in 48 hours actually managed
to recapture it, retake it from them.
But the strategic objective was that simultaneously
with capturing Zebak, they were going
to capture Ishkamshim district,
they were planning to create a corridor for supplies
between shetshall and kostalim in Badakhshan.
They were planning to basically be able to
capture Takhar, Badakshan, Kunduz,
to put pressure on these provinces.
This was a plan, but thanks God,
Afghan defense and security forces
managed to decisively defend Badakshan.
And Freshgoshen was defended,
Zebak was recaptured by our forces,
Dwelduch also, which is a valley,
a very difficult valley strategically and geographically.
It was under their control
but they suffered a lot of casualties there.
In Nangarhar, recently, the press is aware
that there were large-scale operations
in Chaparhar, by Daesh, by Isis in Chaparkarhen.
And also, in Tora Bora,
that was under their control, but our ADSF,
with support of air support by resolute support mission.
In 24 hours actually,
we managed to recapture Chaparhar district from Isis.
And in 48 hours, Pachir Awa Agam district was recaptured.
In 72 hours, Tora Bora was also recaptured by us,
which is a strategic point actually.
In recent years, in Hishnay three decades actually,
neither Afghan nor foreign forces managed to go Tora Bora.
But our brave forces, both from the police and from the Army
and also from National Security,
with the air support provided by RSM,
we managed to bring those areas under our control,
which is an indication of our capabilities
and our abilities as a care-taking minister of defense,
together with my security team,
and the leadership of the ministry of interiors.
Well on National security
and also the leaders of the core two zero one.
We went there and we visited the Tora Bora areas
and Sulaimankhel, Alefkhel, (speaker drowns out interpreter)
and the heights of the mountains,
we managed to actually go there
and hold even a press conference
at the heights of the mountains in Tora Bora.
With the media.
And we were actually aiming
to show to everybody that we can.
That the ADSF and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,
with the support of our international partners and friends
can control the Afghan territory.
And if they want to conduct operations they can do that.
As far as the four-year development plan,
the road map is concerned,
which is actually a guarantor of security in the country
and stability of Afghanistan,
I would like to provide you with some brief information.
This plan--
This is a very important plan.
- (Speaking in foreign language)
- [Interpreter] Most of the other countries
have shown their pages to send their mentors and advisors.
So this was some information that
(speaker drowns out) briefly.
Now if there is any question, I am here to answer.
- Obviously for the international journalist,
we will provide the audio file
with the translation later on.
Let me give the floor first to Wall Street Journal, Julian.
- Julian Barnes, Wall street Journal
I wonder if you could talk a little bit about
what you heard in discussions today.
The kind of additional commitments
that the secretary general
and the allies were talking about.
Do you believe that this will make a difference
in the fight in Afghanistan.
Is this enough troops that, in general,
allies are talking about,
or are a few thousand more not
going to be enough to make a difference?
- (speaking in foreign language)
- [Interpreter] The question is being translated.
The minister doesn't have anything, but it's okay.
Thank you very much for your question.
The commitment that has been expressed today
of course will support our peace program
and the battle, or the fighting.
We count on our allies,
because this is not the war just in Afghanistan.
But it is the war against international community.
And we are certain that our security forces,
with the help of the God Almighty,
are at the stage that a certains us
that they can inshallah, all do.
It is there are dangers, but they can defend.
As an example, in Tora Bora,
when they were able to control the area in Tora Bora,
and to implement the governments in the area.
And I am sure they have a high moral
and the support of the people
and the support of the international community.
And their commitment,
I am sure that the security situation
will change to a positive direction.
- [Audience Member] Can you translate this?
- Second question.
Okay, so, next question goes to, sorry, Lorne.
- I'm Lorne Cook from Associated Press.
I wanted to maybe follow that question a little more.
Do you see other things that NATO might be able to do
to help your government's four-year plan be implemented?
And I would also say that you seen quite a young man.
Do you think that during your lifetime,
you will see the need for NATO disappear?
- (speaking in foreign language)
- [Interpreter] With regard
to the first part of your question,
I would like to repeat.
It's very similar to the question your colleague asked.
I actually wanted to say that,
given the bravery of the ANSF,
as I've seen it myself,
and also the support of the Afghan people for their forces,
and also the commitment of the international forces,
I do have positive feelings
that the enemy in Afghanistan will fail
and the government of Afghanistan
and the ANSF will be victorious.
With regard to the second part of your question.
I have been one of the commanded
for one of the parts of Afghanistan Army,
and I actually believe strongly
in the professionalism of our forces,
especially the special forces
that we have and the commanders.
I am very proud of them.
And I am also very optimists
that very soon inshallah,
we are going to have great achievements,
because we are going to defeat the enemies of Afghanistan.
And I am optimist that we will be victorious.
- Let's go to one Ana Pisonero, of the press.
- Thank you, Anna Pisonero from the Spanish News Agency.
Several questions, if I may.
One is concerning the special forces.
What's the current number now, that Afghanistan has,
and what's the level that we want to get it to.
And also if you could compare it vis a vis
the 352,000 soldiers and police that you have.
My second quick question is
if Afghanistan could get the number of extra troops
that you would think necessary,
what would the number be,
and by when would you like them on the ground?
And my third quick question is actually
more like a reflection, looking back at times,
if you agree with Secretary Mattis,
that there's a general consensus
that the international community
pulled out troops a bit too soon
and we see things on the ground
maybe getting a little bit more difficult,
maybe as a consequence of that as well.
Thank you.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- [Interpreter] Thank you very much.
With regard to the first part of the question,
the number of special forces,
despite all my respect to the media,
but this is classified information,
highly classified information, I cannot actually tell you.
But I can also say that the same number
is going to be doubled.
With regard to the number of troops that we may need,
and when they should be deployed to Afghanistan,
considering if the threats
that we are facing in Afghanistan,
it depends really on the decision
of the international community
and the leadership of our government.
In fact, if you have too many threats,
of course there will be more need
for the soldiers to be deployed.
But the decision, at the end of the day,
is in the hand of our international partners,
and the government of Afghanistan.
With regard to what Mattis said,
and you said that, you quoted him saying
that the international community actually
took out their forces too early.
Well, we do respect the opinion of our friends,
but I could say that the international community
could keep for a very long time
their forces in Afghanistan if there was a need
for the international community to decide
what they want to do and it was time
for our forces to take responsibility of the security
despite the fact that sometimes the threats,
they don't-- they are not--
it's not practical to guess, anticipate them,
and also the form and the forms of the threats have changed.
For example, a few years ago, the situation was different.
Even one year ago, we had a different situation.
Now we have a different situation.
While we have the countries such as Iran and Pakistan,
they are very active
and there are also other terrorist groups in the regions,
in the region that they have been
stepped up their activities
and there are other countries in the region support them.
But last year, a year ago, we didn't have this situation,
and that is why now we need to take decisions.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- [Interpreter, for reporter] I'm Nassim Shaffat,
from Radio Azadi.
I have a question.
One is that always there is complaint about corruption
in the ANSF, and even the NATO also complained,
he also complained about the corruption
in the forces of Afghanistan.
Secondly, there is a new report
saying that the Afghanistan government
is only controlling 65% of its territory, is this true?
- [Interpreter, For Minister] Thank you
very much Mr. Shaffat.
With regard to the corruption,
there's no doubt that we have lost our Army.
An Army of 100 years long.
And now this is a 15 year old or 16 year old Army
that we have, and the police that we have now.
This has been created only nine or 10 years ago,
it has been under training in the past 10 years.
Now we cannot really compare,
or expect from a 15 year old boy or a 10 year old boy.
We're not saying that there is no corruption.
There is corruption there.
But I can assure you that there is
the leadership of Afghanistan,
both military and civilian leadership,
they are all committed to fight the corruption,
and they have an outstay commitment in Warsaw.
We have the leaderships in both the ministry of interior,
or ministry of defense.
We are committed to mitigate the corruption in our sections
and gradually just eliminate corruption
in security forces and security structures.
And make sure that there are professionals
and honest people who are going to come and work.
And when these people come to work,
I'm sure that it will be their job,
it will be their priority to fight the corruption.
With regard to the second question,
whether or not 65% of Afghanistan territory
is controlled by the Afghan government
and the rest is controlled by the Taliban
and other groups.
Well, the fact that we are dealing with every day,
we actually, we are controlling 80% to 90%
of the territory of Afghanistan.
The important point is that,
the strategic points,
the strategic provinces and districts,
and areas of population like cities
and other places like that,
which are important in term of economic stability,
they are under the control of the government.
And as I said, very honestly,
there are some propaganda, but in reality,
if you come to Afghanistan, you wouldn't see it.
I mean, about Tora Bora, there are a lot of propaganda
about this region.
But as a General, and as the acting Minister of Defense,
I went to the last point of Tora Bora,
I walked there and I saw our forces,
the military forces of Afghanistan.
They have been present in all the heights of Tora Bora
and they controlled everywhere.
And this shows, actually, that the Afghan government
and the ANSF, they have full control
over Afghanistan territory.
And of course, I'm not saying
that the enemy doesn't control any places.
Of course, we have lost sometimes some districts,
but there is no place that we have lost
and we haven't been able to recapture.
So there is no place where the Afghan army
has planned to capture and has failed.
There is no such place.
So I can assure you that the Afghan army and Afghan police,
they are very capable.
And I give you another example.
In 2014, and even before that,
if you wanted to do an operation, it took us a week.
It would took us a week.
It would take us a week to plan it.
For example, Dongara district in Kunar.
We had the same problem.
But now, there is right now as I'm speaking to you
the Afghan forces actually plan
and carry out 15 to 16 military operations,
and with the help of, of course,
with our international friends.
And this shows how capable the Afghan forces have become.
And this shows also the control
of Afghan government over its territory.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- [Interpreter For Reporter] Thank you very much.
I am Sharrif Assad diar from Arianan news.
With regard to--
Given the fact that the road map
the four-year road map has been welcomed
by international communities,
we also heard that only 15 countries accepted,
pledged to send troops to Afghanistan.
Can you tell us over all,
how many soldiers are going to be sent to Afghanistan.
And what was the last agreement drawn up,
the last number that they agreed they would send.
The second part of my question is that
the Secretary General also said in his speech
that it is the reform and fighting corruption
in the security sector
is very important for NATO
and also for the Afghanistan and also for NATO.
So considering the fact that there is a rift,
a political rift in Afghanistan,
how do you see this to be possible?
- [Interpreter For Minister] Thank you very much.
What was important in the Defense Minister meeting
was that all participants declared their support
of the Afghan national unity government,
particularly the carbon conference
on the peace and reconciliation.
The committed countries in this session
declared the continuation of their assistance
to the Afghan government relative to the support.
They also supported the four-year road map
of the defenses and security and operations in Afghanistan.
Some countries declared to increase
the number of their advisors or troops,
which will be determined in the next weeks.
But it has to be conditioned on the level
of threats in Afghanistan.
So, they will declare it in a later stage.
As for your second part of the question
regarding reforms in Afghanistan.
I can assure you that the international community,
including NATO, want the Afghan government
to realize genuine and real reforms in Afghanistan,
and bring about transparency.
And apply good managers
to lead the security institutions and systems.
I would like to state that the Afghan state,
the Afghan government both the security and military
and leadership, is determined to uproot
the corruption in the security and defense institutions.
And it's a challenge, it's not an easy issue
where we are fighting terrorism and insurgencies.
Over the last 15 years, there were some good appointments.
What we did in the defense ministry was to set up a board
that will consider the criteria
for the appointment of leaders.
For example, the person should have
a very clean background.
Secondly, he or she has to be committed to the people,
to the population of Afghanistan.
The third, they should have good education,
experience or expertise,
and observe a nationality of partnership or participation.
Then we assigned a group to consider the procurement,
economic and financial activities.
Both these committees were represented
by senior officers and generals
to report to me and to the leadership of the MOD
of their performances.
And I'm sure that if we continue like this,
we will be successful.
We will bring about transparency
and assiduity in defense institutions.
- Question to Pajuak, that's the last question.
- [Interpreter For Minister] And we will appoint people
on their merits.
- [Interpreter For Reporter] Pajuak Agency.
Today the Iraqi Prime Minister announced
that when the Daesh forces are defeated in Iraq,
they may take refuge to Afghanistan,
or they will flee to Afghanistan.
So, did you talk about such threats to Afghanistan?
- [Interpreter For Minister] Thank you very much
Mr. (cough drowns name).
I talked about Daesh in Afghanistan earlier.
The last activity they had was in Tora Bora area,
and you witnessed that within 72 hours,
we managed to get control of Tora Bora.
The casualties they have experienced in Iraq, in Syria,
it seems they are much active in these regions,
but not in Afghanistan.
But I can assure you
that the security forces in Afghanistan
do have the capability to defeat Daesh or Isis
and will not allow them to have control
over a geographical area in Afghanistan
and pose a threat to the security.
I think it's not necessary to repeat this.
Our security and defense forces
are capable of confronting them.
Thank you very much for your attention.
I think we are coming back
at the end of the Press Conference.
The information outside the country about Afghanistan
is received differently.
I hope that this event is covered in a general way,
both in Afghanistan and outside,
so that the people are informed
about the truth - Thank you so much
- In our country - for your attention
to my press conference.
Many thanks.
- Thank you very much.
This concludes this press conference.




For more infomation >> Trump blasts states for not turning over voter data MSNBC - Duration: 3:42.
For more infomation >> Video: Great weather for fireworks displays - Duration: 2:11. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét