President warns against delay in supplies to soldiers

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday warned that the defence officials failing to ensure timely logistics support and weapons supplies to soldiers would be sacked.

Ghani issued the warning at a condolence meeting with relatives of the security personnel who were killed in a recent terrorist attack in eastern Laghman province.   

On Thursday, a bomb ripped through the funeral ceremony for an Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander in the Pahlawan Baba area of Mehtarlam, killing at least 16 people including the crime branch chief.

During a visit to the area, the president condoled with the bereaved families and prayed for the swift recovery of the 39 individuals wounded in the suicide bombing. 

While underlining the need for stability across the country, the president said in a statement from the Presidential Palace that his administration was working on strengthening the security forces to better protect the people.

He urged the masses to swing behind their security forces and said stability would remain a pipedream without active cooperation from the people. The president offered fateha for the 201st corps soldiers, who were martyred in the assault.

He lauded the soldiers who laid their lives to protect their motherland and directed the Ministry of Defence to extend all-out cooperation to the bereaved families. He said the injured service members should be provided with best medical facilities.

He said each soldier killed in the line of duty would be given an award. Every soldier, he stressed, should know their problems would be resolved on a priority basis.

Being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Ghani said he would not accept any delay in transportation of logistics to the security forces. He advised the military commanders to ensure equipping their respective brigades well in time.

Addressing the 201^st military corps, Ghani said: “I am here to listen to your problems and provide a tangible solution. You are the sons of the soil and fighting for the defence of Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan and I respect the uniforms you are clad in.”

rm/nh/mud

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