Kabul Hosts Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) Today

The third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was held in Kabul today. Addressing delegates attending the meeting President Ashraf Ghani gave a run down on the current situation in the country and on progress that has been made, particularly regarding reforms. Ghani said that through the country’s Self-Reliance Roadmap, presented in London and followed up in Brussels last year, the Afghan government is committed to forging a stable, sustainable country through a long-term process of reforms and institution building. An ARG press release quoting Ghani stated that Ghani said government will be accelerating private sector reform programmes, and simplifying pro-investment regulations. The statement added that Ghani told delegates that as critical as economic growth, regional trade, and domestic security were, “there is one reform whose importance trumps all of them.” Ghani also said that Taliban and its affiliates have been carrying out an unprecedented and “bloody attack” on the Afghan government and its people. He stated that the number of dead and wounded on the battlefield was “truly horrific” and that the Taliban and its supporters are responsible for this current bloodbath in the country.