Ghani lays flowers at Independence Minaret

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday attended an Independence Day ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Kabul and laid flowers on the Independence Minaret monument there.

The president, who inspected an honor guard, was accompanied by acting Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid and Army Chief Gen. Yasin Zia.

Second vice president Sarwar Danish, High National Reconciliation Council chief Abdullah Abdullah, the chief justice, the national security advisor, the Senate chairman, Cabinet and parliament members, presidential advisors and army generals and officers also attended the independence day ceremony.

August 19 commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, which gave Afghanistan complete independence from British rule after three wars.

Although Britain controlled Afghanistan's foreign policy for 40 years following the end of the second Anglo-Afghan War, Afghanistan was never part of the British Empire.

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