Killings a Cloud Over Afghan Leader’s Update on Reforms
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Version 0 of 1. KABUL, Afghanistan — At least 13 Afghan civilians were killed on Saturday in a previously peaceful region in the country’s north as President Ashraf Ghani sought to assure international donors gathered in the capital that Afghanistan is making progress on promised reforms. Munir Ahmad Farhad, the spokesman for the governor of Balkh Province, said the civilians were killed by unidentified gunmen who shot them after stopping their vehicles. The killings took place as Mr. Ghani opened a conference of donors to his country’s reconstruction after almost 40 years of war, telling them he has made progress on a number of major challenges, including security and corruption. The Senior Officials Meeting is a gathering of delegates from the international community, including nongovernment organizations, that support Afghanistan’s economic, security and social reconstruction. Mr. Ghani said his government had accelerated a crackdown on corruption and overhauled the customs office to significantly increase revenue collection. He acknowledged a problem with job creation but said it was a “priority of the national unity government.” He also noted he had sought to appoint women to senior positions, including four ministers and one provincial governor. The one-day meeting followed a two-day Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, which brought together officials from more than 30 nations and 40 international groups. Intense security measures were adopted in the Afghan capital for the meetings, with road closings and patrols by soldiers, police and paramilitary units. Afghanistan’s economy has been in decline since international military forces and charities began withdrawing, bursting the bubble created by a huge inflow of military and aid cash. The World Bank has predicted that the gross domestic product will grow by 2.5 percent this year, after averaging 9 percent a year from 2003 to 2012. Mr. Ghani came to power a year ago promising to bring peace and prosperity, and made pledges at a summit meeting in London in December aimed at reassuring donors that he had reform plans that would move the country away from the culture of corruption that prevailed under his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. In his speech, he laid out seven critical reforms in his country: application of the rule of law; reform of the budget process; accelerating the war against corruption; reorganizing the justice system; encouraging growth in the private sector to create jobs; reforming government ministries; and promoting social inclusion, “in particular on the protection and advancement of women’s rights.” “We recognize that we need to send a sharper, clearer signal to investors that this government is serious about growth,” Mr. Ghani told the gathering. He touched on security mainly to praise the efforts of government forces, fighting without international backup as the Taliban-led insurgency has intensified and spread across the country. In an oblique reference to neighboring Pakistan he said that “provided we have a willing partner, peace discussions will have advanced and a serious dialogue to end the killings will be underway” in time for the next donors’ summit meeting in Brussels scheduled for next year. |