KABUL (Pajhwok): Wolesi Jirga’s first deputy speaker Haji Zahir Qadir on Monday alleged the leaders of Daesh were in Kabul and were supported by the National Security Council (NSC), an allegation the NSC rejected as baseless and far from reality.
Qadir had been in Nangarhar, his hometown, over the past three months, rearranging his private militia to fight the Islamic State (IS) and other militant groups.
Speaking at today’s lower house session, he questioned where from the IS fighters received modern equipment like heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft machineguns, tanks, etc.
He alleged plots to spread insecurity and help insurgents were being hatched in provincial capitals. He said the Kunduz governor had always been assuring the people of improved law and order but the province suddenly fell to the Taliban.
The powerful lawmaker claimed Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, could have fallen to Taliban and other insurgents if he had not reached here in-time. He said the plan was to let the insurgents capture Jalalabad in 24 hours.
Referring to the IS, the lawmaker said: “We welcome everyone coming to Afghanistan for tourism, but if they come here to behead or slaughter Afghans, we are here to cut their heads and slaughter them.”
He alleged as many as 20,000 Pakistani families had migrated to the Shinwari district and most of them were laced with arms and had Pakistani identity cards and they were directly involved in insurgency.
He said the migrated individuals had been told to leave the area otherwise they would be eliminated. After the warning, he said, some 700 families had left.
Qadir said he had evidence that showed the NSC’s involvement in supporting militants and he would expose the body at an accurate time.
“I swear the leaders of Daesh are settled in Kabul, they move to foreign embassies and to our security institutions.”
“An advisor is supposed to give advice and has no authority to enforce orders. But the advisor controls all the country and is leading the country to destruction while there is no one to raise his voice,” he said.
 “You can’t go to your village in Laghman with your force, but I am from Nangarhar and can go to your village without any fear,” he said, while referring to National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar.
He claimed he knew the National Security Council was planning to terrorise some figures into shunning the political process, saying it was his responsibility to share the matter with the Afghans.
“The enemy (Daesh) is stationed in Takhto area of Achin district which is five hours at walking distance from the road, but the Afghan forces could not go there,” Qadir said.
He rejected government claims that security forces had killed 400 to 500 IS fighters as false, insisting the insurgents had been killed by rival groups not government forces.
Nangarhar has been turned into a Daesh factory and if the group was not eliminated in the eastern province, it could not be subdued in the entire country, he said.
He asked lawmakers to pay attention to NSC budget because a huge budget for the council would lead the country to destruction.
NSC deputy spokesman Tawab Ghorzang called Qadir’s remarks as irresponsible, untrue and based on his personal interests.
“Qadir aims to find resources for the establishment of his illegal and private militia and to disrupt people’s minds and to pretend that the struggle against Daesh is ongoing with a lowered morale,” he said.
He urged the Presidential Palace and the NSC to appoint a delegation to investigate Qadir’s irresponsible remarks and his struggle to establish his own militia.
myn/nh/ma