4.Afghanistan

At the end of September 2014, the National Unity Government (NUG) was inaugurated after agreeing a power-sharing arrangement between President Asharaf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. The NUG continues to face significant challenges in 2015.

Securing the self-reliance of and stability in Afghanistan is crucially important for the stability of the entire international community including Japan and the prosperity of the region. However, there have been frequent terrorist attacks by the armed insurgencies including Taliban. On September 28, the Taliban conducted intense attacks to Kunduz (the Afghanistan’s fifth largest city) in northeastern Afghanistan and temporarily captured the city. There is an urgent need to strengthen the capacity of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). At the beginning of 2015, the “Resolute Support Mission (RSM)” started its operations by succeeding the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). RSM provides training and advice to ANDSF with about 13,000 foreign military personnel from NATO member states including the U.S. as well as other partner countries.

The NUG has pursued reconciliation with the Taliban in order to achieve long-term stability in the country, however, there have not been major achievements. On July 8, a peace talk between the Taliban and the Government of Afghanistan was convened through mediation by Pakistan. On July 29, it was announced that Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Omar had died more than two years ago and this was later confirmed by the Taliban. Confusions after this announcement led to postponing of the second round of the peace talks which were already-scheduled. On December 2, there was a media report saying that the new Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor was reportedly injured in an internal fight. This might suggest a problem in solidarity inside the Taliban.

In terms of the governance, the appointment process of new ministers was delayed after the inauguration of the NUG. The important position of the NUG’s defense minister has been vacant because the lower house did not approve the nomination to this day only acting Defense Minister has been appointed. Due to the delay in electoral system reform, the parliamentary election was yet to be held even after the expiration of the term of for the members of the lower house representatives in June.

Contrary to the efforts by the Government of Afghanistan for realizing economic self-reliance by improving security situation and combating corruption, the GDP growth for 2014 slowed down to 1.3% (3.7% for the previous year). Also, the employment situation was not improved. Pervasive frustration in the general public has been clearly observed. For example, a massive anti-government protest took place in the capital, Kabul, on November 11.

In efforts to support Afghanistan’s self-reliance and prevent it from slipping back to a hotbed of terrorism, Japan has provided a total of 5.9 billion US dollars assistance mainly in the fields of security and development since 2001.