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Jakarta Post

Jokowi arrives in Kabul as city on high alert

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Kabul, Afghanistan
Mon, January 29, 2018

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Jokowi arrives in Kabul as city on high alert President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo arrives in the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, for a state visit on Jan. 29. (The Jakarta Post/Pajhowk Afghan News)

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resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul only hours after another deadly attack hit the terror-weary city.

Local news media in Kabul reported that Jokowi was welcomed by Second Vice President Sarwar Danish at the Hamid Karzai International Airport at around 12:30 p.m. local time.

Jokowi is expected to hold talks with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on a number of issues including roles Indonesian could play in the Afghan peace process.

Jokowi has suggested the formation of a committee of religious scholars from Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

"The snow-covered Kabul gives a warm welcome to the president who was welcomed by Afghan officials including Afghanistan vice president Sarwah Danish, Foreign Minister Salahudin Rabbani, Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi, among others," the head of the presidential press bureau Bey Machmudin said in statement.

Less than seven hours before Jokowi's arrival, gunmen and suicide bombers launched a pre-dawn attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a military compound in Kabul, killing 11 soldiers in the third major assault in the Afghan capital in recent days.

Last Saturday a Taliban suicide attacker driving an explosives-packed ambulance blew it up in a crowded area of the capital, killing at least 103 people -- mainly civilians -- and wounding 235 in one of the worst bombings in the city in recent years.

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