Afghan President Ashraf Ghani expressed deep regret over civilian casualties caused by a security operation in the Nangarhar province and accepted the resignation of the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Mohammad Masoom Stanikzai
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th September, 2019) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani expressed deep regret over civilian casualties caused by a security operation in the Nangarhar province and accepted the resignation of the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Mohammad Masoom Stanikzai.Overnight, the Afghan security forces conducted the counterterrorism operation in the Jalalabad city, which resulted in the killing of four people who were believed to be civilians, as local residents say.
"I had an emergency meeting with the security chiefs as well as Chief Justice [Sayed Yousuf Halim] and Attorney General [Farid Hamidi]. The tragic incident in Jalalabad occurred despite previous assurances and changes in guidelines vis-a-vis security and search operations," Ghani said on Twitter.
The president said that Afghanistan had "zero tolerance for civilian casualties."
"I have regretfully accepted the resignation of NDS chief, Mr. Stanikzai who had had success in other areas of his work," Ghani said in another tweet.
Ghani has ordered the attorney general to investigate the incident "immediately" and bring those responsible to justice.
Afghanistan has long been suffering from an unstable security situation. The government has been fighting the Taliban, which has been waging a war against Kabul for almost two decades, and the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia) that has been operating in Afghanistan since 2015.
