Afghan national security adviser resigns

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

In a major shuffle, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani's longstanding aide and national security adviser, Mohammad Haneef Atmar, resigned citing disagreements at the top level, officials confirmed on Saturday.

In a letter circulating on local media, Atmar rendered his resignation to the president citing differences with the government over matters related to peace, national unity, election and regional as well as world affairs. In the letter, Atmar also thanked the president for having trust in him for four years.

"Because of my differences on these things in recent months, I am stepping down because we haven’t reached a consensus,” noted Atmar in the letter published by Tolo News.

Qadir Shah, for the National Security Council, confirmed the resignation.

As Ghani’s longstanding aide for years, Atmar was considered as the second most powerful man in the country.

The Arg (presidential palace) issued a statement minutes after his resignation stating the president has accepted Atmar’s resignation and has appointed Hamdullah Mohib, Afghan ambassador to the U.S. as the new national security adviser.

Ghani’s chief adviser Fazel Fazly has revealed the resignation was demanded by the president following "failures" in the security sector. “Changes in the security leadership are to address continued failures in this sector,” he noted in a tweet.

Afghanistan witnessed a deadly surge in this month with the Taliban briefly overrunning Ghazni city and multiple military bases and check posts across the country, killing scores of security personnel.