ISLAMABAD— A former head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency has leaked documents that he claims show Pakistan’s link to groups that carry out attacks inside Afghanistan.Rahmatullah Nabil, who resigned last December after strongly criticizing Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s overtures toward Pakistan on social media, said he leaked the documents because wanted the public to be aware of the situation.
Leaked documents
One of the documents he has leaked is a letter allegedly sent from the headquarters of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter Services Intelligence, ISI, ordering payments to the militants or their families involved in an attack on Kabul’s airport.
Another letter, dated August 5, 2014, from an office of Military Intelligence or MI, Pakistan military’s internal intelligence agency, to its headquarters in Rawalpindi near Islamabad, supposedly informed the headquarters that concerned sections were working to arrange safe houses in the city of Peshawar for Afghan Taliban who had to leave North Waziristan due to a military operation launched by the Pakistani military in June 2014.
A similar letter from the same agency seemed to be informing the headquarters of the secure transfer of some Haqqani network commanders to training camps in the Northern tribal areas of the country in an army convoy and in uniforms used by paramilitary forces. The letter was dated March 19, 2015, almost nine months after the start of the military in North Waziristan. The U.S. State Department has designated Haqqani network a terrorist organization.
Central and South Asian Leaders Launch Joint Energy Project
ISLAMABAD— Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan Thursday launched the construction of an electricity power grid Thursday to link the four nations to a jointly operated power supply and promote regional stability, security and prosperity. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and the heads of the two central Asian countries attended the launching ceremony in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. Pakistani state-television broadcast it live. Officials say the so-called CASA-1000 project comprises the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of a 750-kilometer high voltage direct current transmission system between Tajikistan and
Pakistan via Afghanistan. It will enable Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to supply 1000 megawatts of surplus electricity in summer months to Pakistan and 300 megawatts to Afghanistan. The project is expected to be completed by 2018 with an estimated cost of $1.2 billion. Prime Minister Sharif while addressing Thursday’s event declared it a flagship project that will promote regional connectivity. Officials hope the electricity purchase under the CASA-1000 project will help mitigate the critical energy deficit Pakistan faces during its summer season. Pakistani leaders say the project will go a long way in regional integration, which they say is very important for economic and social development of the region. Officials in Afghanistan hope the country will also have an income of around $45 million from transit fees.
