Region

TEHRAN — Iran voiced its opposition Sunday to an Afghanistan accord between the United States and the Taliban, saying Americans had no right to decide on the country’s future.

“The United States has no legal right to sign a peace agreement or to decide the future of Afghanistan,” the foreign ministry said in a statement issued a day after the pact was inked in the Qatari capital.

After 18 years of war, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement in Doha on Saturday that paves the way for a 14-month timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, provided the militants open talks with Kabul and fulfil other pledges.

Ahead of the signing ceremony, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had warned Iran against trying to scuttle the agreement.

“There is a history of Iran engaging in activity inside of Afghanistan to act as a spoiler,” Pompeo said.

In its statement, Iran called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, saying their presence “is illegal and is one of the main causes of the war and insecurity in that country”.

Iran said a lasting peace deal could “only be achieved through inter-Afghan dialogue with the participation of all political groups, including the Taliban, and taking into account the considerations of neighbouring countries”.

It added: “We believe that the United Nations has the capacity to facilitate negotiations among Afghans and to monitor and ensure the implementation of agreements reached.” 

DUBAI — Yemen's Houthi rebels have seized control of a strategic town north of the capital, government officials said Sunday, in what analysts say could change the course of the five-year-old war.

The Iran-aligned militia captured Al-Hazm, capital of the northern province of Al Jawf, enabling the rebels to pose a threat to neighbouring oil-rich Marib province, a government military official told AFP.

Al Jawf has been mostly controlled by the Houthis, but its capital — only 150 kilometres south of the border with Saudi Arabia — had been in the hands of the government.

Yemen's internationally-recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, has been battling the Houthi rebels since 2014 after they captured the capital Sanaa and swathes of the impoverished Arab nation.

"The Houthi rebels have taken control of Al Hazm, the regional capital of Al Jawf, after fierce fighting with government troops who were forced to withdraw to neighbouring Marib province," the official said.

According to other military sources, at least 30 government troops — including high-ranking officers — were killed in the battle over the past two days.

The Houthis also suffered dozens of casualties, the sources added.

Maged Al Madhaji, executive director of the Sanaa Centre, a Yemeni think-tank, said the Houthis’ capture of Al Hazm could be a game-changer.

“Control of the capital of Al Jawf could totally change the course of the war. Houthis have made an exceptional advance and are changing the balance” in their favour, Madhaji told AFP.

He said the advance would enable the rebels to surround Marib, the most significant territory in the hands of the government.

It also secures supply lines between Sanaa and the Houthi northern stronghold of Saada, Madhaji said.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank within "weeks" if reelected, as he sought to sway voters a day before the country's third election in a year.

Final polls pointed to another tight race between Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the centrist Blue and White party, led by ex-military chief Benny Gantz.

All parties have raised concern about voter apathy amid the grinding political stalemate, putting added emphasis on turnout.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving premier, has been accused before previous elections of making last-minute plays to energise his right-wing base.

In an interview with Israeli public radio, he said annexation of the strategically crucial Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority among "four major immediate missions".

"That will happen within weeks, two months at the most, I hope," he said in the interview aired 24 hours before polls were scheduled to open.

US President Donald Trump's widely-criticised Middle East peace plan, unveiled in late January, gave Israel a green light to annex the Jordan Valley and proposed a committee to set out the exact borders of the territory in question.

"The joint US-Israeli mapping committee started work a week ago," Netanyahu said.

Political tactic 

Former Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, also an ex-Netanyahu ally, publicly accused the prime minister of engaging in empty political rhetoric.

Lieberman, who heads the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party and may again be in the position of kingmaker following Monday's vote, said he had "ironclad information" that Netanyahu's comments on the Jordan Valley were at least partly insincere.

Many experts agree that a unilateral move by Israel to annex the strategically important valley would inflame regional tensions.

Netanyahu listed his other priorities as signing an “historic” defence treaty with the United States, Israel’s key ally, and “eradicating the Iranian threat”, without elaborating.

He has repeatedly pledged to stop the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon and has not ruled out the use of force.

PAZARKULE, Turkey — Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday threatened to let thousands of refugees cross into Europe and warned Damascus would "pay a price" in retaliation after dozens of Turkish troops were killed inside Syria.

At the Turkish border, Greek police clashed with several thousand migrants already gathered at the entrance to EU territory, where they hurled rocks at security forces firing tear gas across the frontier.

Dozens of other migrants landed on Greek islands in dinghies after crossing from the Turkish coastline.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, have held talks to defuse tensions after an air strike killed the Turkish troops, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.

But Erdogan raised the stakes on Saturday and vowed to allow refugees to travel to Europe from NATO-member Turkey as a way to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict.

Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

Erdogan’s comments were his first after 34 Turkish troops were killed since Thursday in northern Syria’s Idlib where Moscow-backed Syrian regime forces are battling to retake the last rebel enclave.

“What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors,” Erdogan said in Istanbul. “We will not close those doors.... Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.”

He was referring to a 2016 deal with the European Union to stop refugee flows in exchange for billions of euros in aid.

Erdogan said 18,000 migrants have amassed on the Turkish borders with Europe since Friday, but that could reach as many as 30,000 by Saturday.

There were skirmishes on the Turkish-Greek border at Pazarkule on Saturday with Greek police firing tear gas to push back thousands of migrants, according to AFP photographer in the western province of Edirne.

Ahmad Barhoum, a Syrian refugee, said he had been trapped at the border since Friday.

“If they do not open we will try to cross by illegal means,” he told AFP.

“I hope that they will end up letting us in so that we can start a new life in Europe worthy of human beings,” said one Egyptian refugee.

Patrols, tear gas, drones 

In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for one million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

“A situation like the one in 2015 must not be repeated,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter. “Our aim must be to adequately protect the EU’s external borders, to stop illegal migrants there.”

In Athens, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held an emergency meeting to discuss the border.

“We averted more than 4,000 attempts of illegal entrance to our land borders,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas said after the emergency meeting.

A Greek police source said migrants had set fires and opened holes in border fences.

Police and soldiers patrolled the Evros river shores — a common crossing point — and warned with loudspeakers not to enter Greek territory.

Criticising Greece’s reaction, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted: “Look who’s lecturing us on international law! They’re shamelessly throwing tear gas bombs on thousands of innocents piled at their gates. We don’t have an obligation to stop people leaving our country but #Greece has the duty to treat them as human beings!”

According to Hellenic Coast Guard, from early Friday to early Saturday 180 migrants reached the islands of Eastern Aegean, Lesbos and Samos in sea crossings.

One rubber dinghy arrived early on Saturday in Lesbos carrying 27 African migrants from Turkey. Many of them were women, who wept and prayed on their knees, according to an AFP reporter.

The UN said nearly a million people — half of them children — have been displaced in the bitter cold by the fighting in northwest Syria since December.

‘Pay a price’ 

Turkey said its forces destroyed a “chemical warfare facility”, just south of Aleppo, in part of its military retaliation after its soldiers were killed.

“We would not want things to reach this point but as they force us to do this, they will pay a price,” Erdogan said.

Syria’s state media denied the attack and the existence of such a facility.

Thirty-three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Russian-backed Syrian regime forces on Thursday. A 34th has since died.

The latest incident has raised further tensions between Ankara and Moscow, whose relationship has been tested by violations of a 2018 deal to prevent a regime offensive on Idlib.

As part of the agreement, Ankara set up 12 observation posts in the province but Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces — backed by Russian air power — have pressed on with a campaign to take back the territory.

On Friday, Erdogan spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in a bid to reduce tensions.

Erdogan may travel next week to Moscow for talks, according to the Kremlin.

But the Turkish leader remained critical on Saturday.

“I asked Mr Putin: ‘What’s your business there?’,” Erdogan said. “If you establish a base, do so but get out of our way and leave us face to face with the regime.”

DOHA — The United States signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on Saturday, laying out a timetable for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months as it seeks an exit from its longest war.

The agreement is expected to lead to a dialogue between the Taliban and the Kabul government that, if successful, could ultimately see an end to the grinding 18-year conflict.

Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker Mullah Baradar signed the accord alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, in a conference room in a luxury hotel in the Qatari capital.

The pair then shook hands, as people in the room shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looked on as the two inked the deal, and alluded to the difficult work that remains to be done.

“I know there will be a temptation to declare victory, but victory for Afghans will only be achieved when they can live in peace and prosper,” he said.

The Taliban swept to power in 1996 with a hardline interpretation of Islamic sharia law, banning women from working, closing girls’ schools, and forbidding music and other entertainment.

Since the US-led invasion that ousted them after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than $1 trillion on fighting and rebuilding in the country.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with unknown tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban fighters and Afghan civilians.

“We’re seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation,” Pompeo told a press conference.

 ‘Powerful path’ 

President Donald Trump, who has promised to finish America’s “endless wars”, urged the Afghan people to embrace the chance for a new future.

“If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home,” he said on the eve of the signing.

The Taliban’s chief negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai hailed another “day of victory” in Afghanistan’s long history of repelling foreign powers.

“This is the kind of day that our ancestors celebrated after they defeated the British and the Soviets,” he said as he and other jubilant Taliban members took part in a march in Qatar, in a video shared by Taliban sources.

The Doha accord was drafted over a tempestuous year of dialogue marked by the abrupt cancellation of the effort by Trump in September.

But the position of the Afghan government, which has been excluded from direct US-Taliban talks, remains unclear and the country is gripped by a fresh political crisis amid contested election results.

The signing comes after a week-long, partial truce that has mostly held across Afghanistan, aimed at building confidence between the warring parties and showing the Taliban can control their forces.

The US, which currently has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, will draw that number down to 8,600 within months of the agreement being signed.

If the Taliban abide by the terms of the accord, the US and its partners “will complete withdrawal of all remaining forces from Afghanistan” within 14 months.

The two sides also agreed to swap thousands of prisoners in a “confidence building measure”.

And the unprecedented direct negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government will begin by March 10, likely in Oslo, senior US officials said.

‘Happy and celebrating’ 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg heralded the agreement as a “first step to lasting peace”.

“The way to peace is long and hard. We have to be prepared for setbacks, spoilers, there is no easy way to peace but this is an important first step,” the Norwegian former prime minister told reporters in Kabul.

The insurgents said they had halted all hostilities on Saturday in honour of the agreement.

“Since the deal is being signed today, and our people are happy and celebrating it, we have halted all our military operations across the country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

Any insurgent pledge to guarantee Afghanistan is never again used by extremist movements such as Al Qaeda and Daesh to plot attacks abroad will be key to the deal’s viability.

The Taliban’s sheltering of Al Qaeda was the main reason for the US invasion following the 9/11 attacks.

The group, which had risen to power in the 1990s in the chaos of civil war, suffered a swift defeat at the hands of the US and its allies. They retreated before re-emerging to lead a deadly insurgency against the new government in Kabul.

After the NATO combat mission ended in December 2014, the bulk of Western forces withdrew from the country, leaving it in an increasingly precarious position.

While Afghans are eager to see an end to the violence, experts say any prospective peace will depend on the outcome of the intra-Afghan talks.

But with President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah at loggerheads over contested election results, few expect the pair to present a united front, unlike the Taliban, who would then be in a position to take the upper hand in negotiations.