Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Afghan Spymaster Urges VP Dostum to Return Home

Afghan Spymaster Urges VP Dostum to Return Home

KABUL - The Afghan spymaster has urged First Vice-President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, currently in Turkey, to return to Kabul, the BBC Pashto Service reports. National Directorate of Security (NDS) head Masoom Stanikzai met the VP at his residence days after he joined forces with Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan leader and the Balkh governor. Dostum’s Chief of Staff Inayatullah Babur Farahman confirmed to the BBC’s Afghanistan Service that the intelligence chief met the VP on Tuesday and asked him to return home. Stanikzai reportedly informed that an important meeting was scheduled to be held in Kabul, involving key political leaders. Dostum was requested to attend the meeting. Last week, the first vice-president, Balkh Governor Atta Mohammad Noor and Deputy Chief Executive Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq announced the formation of a new alliance to steer the country out of crisis. On May 20, Dostum left the country amid allegations that he had ordered his loyalists to kidnap, beat and rape a political rival. The VP is blamed for some of the worst atrocities in the country's long-running civil war. (Pajhwok)