Ghazni to collapse if insurgents not beaten, warn MPs

KABUL or lower house members from southern Ghazni province on Wednesday warned the province would collapse into the hands of insurgents if the government did not drive them away.

The MPs in a protest meeting in capital Kabul asked the government to immediately dispatch a delegation to Ghazni for assessing security situation there.

Shah Gul Rezai, one of the lawmakers, said that Ajiristan, Jaghatu, Khwaja Omari, Zanakhan, Deh Yak, Andar and Qarabagh districts of Ghazni were on the verge of collapse.

She said security posts in Qarabagh district were under attack from militants while police forces were resisting without receiving food. They even did not receive their salaries for the last seven months, she said.

“We have informed security officials 48 hours before militants attacked a number of Ghazni districts, but their negligence led to the loss and injury of many of our security forces,” she said.

Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, another lawmaker, said: “The fall of districts and the killing of many Afghan soldiers is a matter of great shame for the government, those who neglected their duties must be fired and punished and replaced with honest and committed youth.”

Considering security situation in Ghazni, more reinforcements should be sent for defeating militants in the province, he added.

The lawmakers in a resolution letter demanded immediate action from the government about Ghazni and security forces to launch clearing operations there.

They said the government should resolve the shortage of military equipment and food to security forces and take officials to justice who remained idle in critical situation of Ghazni.

A day earlier, President Ashraf Ghani reviewed the security situation of Ghazni province during a meeting with security bosses in Kabul.

The president ordered interior, defense ministers and intelligence agency chief to visit and assess the security situation of Ghazni and take action accordingly.

mds/ma