Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday rejected the resignations of three top government officials and asked them to continue working “towards the betterment of the security situation” in the conflict-ridden country.
Defence Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, Interior Minister Wais Barmak and National Directorate of Security head Masoom Stanekzai had submitted their resignations on Saturday, hours after National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar quit, Reuters reported. Unidentified interior ministry officials said they had resigned because of policy differences with Ghani amid a string of terrorist attacks in the country this month.
Atmar’s resignation letter said he is stepping down because of “serious differences over policies and approaches at the top level of government”, TOLOnews reported. He said he disagreed with the government “when it comes to national unity, national consensus, peace and security political management, electoral affairs, good governance and regional affairs”. Atmar added that no consensus could be reached, leading to his resignation.
Ghani had accepted Atmar’s resignation and immediately appointed Kabul’s ambassador to Washington, Hamdullah Mohib, as his successor.
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