Mike Pence Calls for Peaceful Power Transition in Balkh Province

Mike Pence, the U.S. Vice President, called for a peaceful transition of power in Balkh Province. Last month, the Balkh governor's defiance of the government's order for his removal has led to severe tensions and exacerbated sensitive ethnic conflicts. According to Reuters, the intense confrontation between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Balkh Governor Ata Mohammad Noor has jeopardized the fragile stability of the Afghan central government and raised the possibility that the central government may resort to military force to remove him from power. After discussing the new U.S. security strategy in South Asia with Ashraf Ghani, Mike Pence tweeted that he emphasized support for the Afghan central government and 'continued contact with the Balkh governor for a peaceful leadership transition in the province.' Ata Mohammad Noor is one of Afghanistan's powerful governors who has conflicts with Ashraf Ghani. Ghani, a former World Bank official, came to power after the disputed 2014 presidential election. The intensification of these disputes and confrontations ahead of next year's presidential election has taken on an ethnic dimension that has recently become prominent in Afghan politics. Ata Mohammad Noor is the leader of the Islamic Unity Party, a party whose supporters are primarily Tajik and Persian-speaking minorities residing in northern regions of the country. Their disputes with Ashraf Ghani, who is Pashtun, have intensified significantly, and they accuse the Afghan president of acting in favor of the Pashtun ethnic minority residing in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Negotiations between the presidential office and officials of the Islamic Unity Party have been ongoing for weeks and have yet to yield results. Western diplomats in Kabul are concerned that this confrontation may lead to military confrontation. Reuters adds that this crisis, in addition to undermining the Afghan central government, could weaken the recent U.S. policy of increasing pressure on the Taliban through intensified airstrikes and support for Afghan armed forces to compel the group to participate in negotiations with the central government. Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, after returning from a Security Council delegation trip to Kabul, told reporters on Wednesday: 'We believe we are closer than ever to the possibility of negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban and the start of a peace process.' She stated that Afghan officials told the UN Security Council representatives that since the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan was implemented, 'they see that the Taliban has weakened and they have become more inclined to accept dialogue.' Ms. Haley said that the entire peace process in Afghanistan belongs to the Afghans themselves and added: 'We do not believe we should interfere in these negotiations; our only role is to support the peace process.'