The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Thursday confirmed the nomination of former chief of army staff general Qadam Shah Shaheem as Afghan ambassador to Kazakhstan and former minister of defense Abdullah Habibi as envoy to Jordan.

According to MoFA, the decision came following an order from government.

This move has however sparked strong reaction among political parties and former military officers in the country.

They accused President Ashraf Ghani of making deals and giving in to the situation.

On Thursday, Junbeshi-milli political party, led by first Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum, said that the move was a bad decision.

"It is a violation of the rules by the president, if they were not guilty, then why did they resign or (why were they) forced to step down? They must be punished, they should not rewarded," said Bashir Ahmad Tayyanj, Junbeshi-milli's spokesman.

Former military experts have said that the two officials stepped down from their post due to negligence on their part and poor leadership, terming the appointments part of the political deals being made.

"The appointment of these individuals as ambassadors raises questions regarding the legitimacy of the system and creates mistrust among the people toward government; it further expands the crisis and those who are involved in corruption get more courage," said political analyst Jawed Kohistani.

They said that these officials are responsible for the Taliban attack on the 209 Shaheen Army Corps and they must respond to the public.

"This indicates government's political dealing, the one who does not have the ability should not be rewarded," said former MoD general Zalmai Wardak.

But, the office of the CEO does not believe that the two officials were directly responsible for the attack.

"The former minister of defense and the ex-army chief, who were the first to be held accountable for the attack on 209 Shaheen Corps resigned this week to institutionalize the culture of resignation," said CEO spokesman Mujiburrahman Rahimi.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/6323

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