Afghans: U.S. Airstrike Killed Civilians-NOOR KHAN, AP - Aug 11, 2005

QALAT, Afghanistan - Residents of a remote village in southern Afghanistan said Thursday that U.S. warplanes bombed houses during operations against militants this week, killing several civilians.

Zabul province Gov. Ali Khail said that U.S.-led coalition forces had "made a mistake" during recent operations in the province, but gave no details. "There were some casualties among villagers, but I don't know the exact number," he said.

The U.S. military denied that any civilians had been in the area of the fighting Monday in the Day Chopan district where the villagers come from. The military said earlier that 18 suspected insurgents and one U.S. service member were killed in a clash — one of five Americans to die in action in Afghanistan in the past week.

Two villagers spoke to The Associated Press at a hospital in the provincial capital, Qalat, a few hours from their home village of Rauf, which they said had been pounded by American forces on Monday night and early Tuesday.

"The children were crying and they were very afraid," said a weeping Sadia Bibi, 50. "These planes killed my relatives. We are poor and innocent people. Why are they killing us?"

Bibi's 20-year-old daughter Najiba Bibi and 18-month-old grandson were being treated at the hospital for injuries to their hands and legs, which she said had been struck by pieces of brick during the bombing. Both the woman and boy were bandaged.

Bibi said her 55-year-old brother, Abdul Shakor, and his wife were killed along with a 16-year-old boy named Matiullah. A relative who brought the injured to the hospital, Abdul Halim, 35, said his neighbor's house had been bombed, killing a man who lived there.

Also, one woman from the village died at a hospital in neighboring Kandahar province after arriving there with two other injured women on Wednesday, a doctor at the hospital, Mohammed Hashil, told the AP by phone Thursday. U.S. military spokeswoman, Lt. Cindy Moore, however, said that intelligence indicated there had been no civilian casualties.

"My understanding is that our intelligence shows no civilians in this area. It was a remote area. The targets were in an open area. We were firing back ... this is possibly propaganda press. We don't have any assessment of any civilians in this area," she said.

The U.S. military reported earlier that the fighting in Day Chopan was sparked when a U.S. and Afghan patrol came under fire from militants using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades and that coalition aircraft had joined the battle.

Afghan officials and human rights groups have complained repeatedly about civilian casualties in U.S.-led military operations, saying heavy-handed tactics could stoke sympathy for militants who have maintained a stubborn insurgency since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime in 2001.

American commanders insist they modify their operations to try to avoid hurting civilians and accuse militants of using civilians for protection.

Sporadic militant attacks across the country have deepened concerns over security ahead of key legislative elections set for Sept. 18. The vote represents the country's next step toward democracy after two decades of war and civil strife.

U.S. says Taliban commander killed in Afghanistan

A Taliban commander was shot dead and an American soldier died in a training accident as violence continued ahead of Afghanistan's parliamentary elections scheduled for next month, officials said on Friday.

A homemade bomb also exploded on Friday in a busy market in the southern city of Kandahar, wounding four people including a woman and child. A U.S. military statement said Taliban commander Qari Amadullah was killed near Wazikhwa in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday.

"Amadullah was believed to have commanded up to 50 Taliban fighters in the region and was thought to be in possession of a number of weapon systems to include rockets and rocket propelled grenades," it said.

Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi confirmed the incident. Amadullah was killed during a clash with Afghan soldiers and U.S. paratroopers in which five other militants died and three U.S. servicemen were wounded.

"Killing this individual will significantly disrupt Taliban operations in the region," said U.S. Brigadier-General James G. Champion. The U.S. military also said one American soldier died in a training accident involving explosives near Tarin Kot in the southern province of Kandahar.

The death brought to six the number of U.S. military personnel killed this month in Afghanistan, three of whom died in combat.

Forty-one U.S. servicemen have died combat in Afghanistan this year -- the bloodiest period for Washington since it sent troops to help overthrow the Taliban in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Hundreds of Afghan soldiers, police and civilians have also been killed in fighting led by remnants of the Taliban in the run-up to September 18 parliamentary polls, the next big step in Afghanistan's difficult path to stability. This week alone, Afghan and U.S. officials have reported the deaths of more than 40 insurgents.

Afghan refugees defy order to leave Pakistani camps

(AFP) - Thousands of Afghan refugees are defying orders to leave camps in Pakistan's tribal border region which are being closed because of security concerns, representatives said.

Refugee leaders protested that they need at least two years to move out of the camps bordering Afghanistan's restive Kunar province which have provided shelter for more than 20 years to Afghans fleeing their war-torn homeland.

"We have set up businesses and purchased property during our stay since the early 1980s," refugee leader Sher Muhammad said on Thursday. "To wind up the businesses and sell our properties we need at least two years to stay," he said, calling on the government to review its decision.

Pakistan's government has ordered camps in the Bajaur and Kurram regions of its semi-autonomous tribal area in North Western Frontier Province to close by August 31 because of "security concerns."

The authorities had earlier taken similar action in the tribal North and South Waziristan regions where Pakistani security forces have been trying to drive out suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives.

Kunar province was the scene of recent clashes in which US-led coalition troops suffered considerable casualties last month. The government gave the refugees the option of returning to their home country or relocating away from the Afghan border.

Refugee leaders meeting in Bajaur's main town of Khar expressed surprise at the order as Pakistan has hosted them for more than 20 years. More than 105,000 Afghan refugees live in camps in Bajaur and Kurram.

The leaders decided to send a 60-member delegation to Kabul to urge Afghan President Hamid Karzai to take up the matter with Pakistan through diplomatic channels.

The UN refugee agency has said that it supported the relocations as clashes between suspected Al-Qaeda linked militants and Pakistani security forces had made it "impossible" to assist the refugees properly.

About three million Afghans are still living in Pakistan, more than 25 years after the 1979 Soviet invasion forced millions of Afghans to flee to Pakistan and Iran.

WB gives $25m credit for improving Kabul infrastructure

KABUL, August 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The World Bank has provided $25 million of interest-free loan to the government for bringing improvement in the basic urban services in the most vulnerable areas of the central capital.

A press release issued here on Thursday said the amount so provided would be spent under the Kabul Urban Reconstruction Project. In this connection, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and the World Bank have jointly organised a three-day workshop scheduled to be held from Saturday to formally launch the project.

During the workshop, experts will deliver speeches and share experiences on urban up-gradation, arrangements for project implementation and collaboration among the ministry, municipality and the community during the course of the project completion.

It merits a mention here that Kabul faces challenges in terms of urban services in the face of large-scale return of Afghans from abroad and other parts of the country.

Afghanistan, Taliban gear up for vote - Los Angeles Times 08/11/2005 Paul Watson

Election workers were mobilizing an intense effort to get ballots to remote areas of Afghanistan on Wednesday as the U.S. military announced the death of another soldier in the fight to make the nation safer for its first postwar parliamentary election.

With the Sept. 18 vote nearing, guerrillas from the former Taliban regime continue to attack U.S. and allied forces.

One of two American soldiers wounded Tuesday by a roadside bomb near the city of Ghazni, about 80 miles southwest of Kabul, died from his wounds, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The other soldier was listed in stable condition. Neither was identified.

Their unit "was conducting operations designed to disrupt enemy activity in the region at the time of the attack," a military statement said.

The bombing in central Afghanistan was outside the more volatile eastern and southern regions near the border with Pakistan and underscores the enormous task U.S. and allied forces face as they try to secure large swaths of the country for next month's vote.

Last year's smaller-scale presidential election was largely peaceful despite Taliban threats to attack polling stations and kill voters. But this spring, the militant Muslim movement and its allies intensified their insurgency, using more sophisticated weapons such as remote-controlled bombs.

At least 41 American soldiers have died in hostile fire and 24 in accidents so far this year in Afghanistan. About 900 Afghans have died in the fighting this year, most of them either insurgents or civilians, including election workers, targeted by the militants.

Afghan officials blame the Taliban's resurgence on Pakistan and accuse Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's military of secretly allowing insurgents to train and arm in bases near the Afghan border. Pakistani authorities deny the charge.

On Sunday, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who leads an alliance of six Islamic political parties that form the official opposition in Pakistan's National Assembly, accused Musharraf's government of aiding cross-border attacks on U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

"This is hypocrisy," Rehman said at a news conference in Lahore. "The rulers are not only trying to deceive the U.S. and the West but also hoodwinking the entire nation."

Rehman, one of Pakistan's most powerful clerics, said fighters were being moved in private vehicles from the tribal areas of Waziristan to training camps in Mansehra, northeast of Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier province. From there, they move back to the border and cross into Afghanistan, said Rehman, whose alliance controls the provincial government.

He demanded Musharraf's administration name the guerrillas, and "reveal who is supervising their trouble-free entry into Afghanistan and [the] reasons for their infiltration.

"We will have to openly tell the world whether we want to support jihadis or crack down on them," Rehman added. "We can't afford to be hypocritical anymore."

James Grierson, head of logistics for next month's elections in Afghanistan, called insecurity one of the biggest challenges facing election workers as they prepare for the vote.

"It is a difficult environment to work in, in terms of security," Grierson told reporters in Kabul on Wednesday as he released details on the efforts to get the ballots to the countryside. "It can be debilitating, in terms of carrying out our tasks."

A bomb targeting election workers exploded Wednesday morning at Pul-e-Alam, in Logar province, said Sultan Ahmed Baheen, spokesman for the Joint Electoral Management Body. The blast damaged a police vehicle, but no one was injured, he said. Organizing the vote for parliament is more complex than last year's presidential poll, Grierson said.

There are some 29 million paper ballots listing the names of candidates for the upper and lower houses of parliament. Election crews already are moving the ballots to remote parts of the country. Some workers will have to travel several days by foot to reach polling stations.

Election logistics challenge begins – IRIN 08/11/2005

KABUL - With less than seven weeks to next month's parliamentary elections, the UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) has begun the monumental task of distributing election materials throughout post-conflict Afghanistan.

"One of the greatest challenges we are facing this year is the actual size of the undertaking," James Grison, head of the support unit for JEMB, said on Wednesday in the capital Kabul. He added that compared with Afghanistan's presidential elections last October, the parliamentary and provincial council elections slated for 18 September would prove particularly challenging in a variety of ways.

"The logistical task is around ten times the size of last year's operation [for the presidential elections] and five times the complexity," he estimated.

Transport of polling cards and election materials to some 26,000 polling stations across Afghanistan was begun by JEMB early this week, with northeastern Badakhshan province being the first region to have its ballot papers in place.

Millions of ballots for Afghanistan's 2005 autumn elections have been printed in Vienna, Austria and in the British capital, London. In an effort to prevent multiple voting, 140,000 bottles of special ink are being flown in from Canada to mark the finger of each voter when they cast their ballot.

According to JEMB, 14 Russian-made Antonov transport planes will deliver the ballot materials to Kabul, with 18 cargo planes continuing onward deliveries across the country. Further local distribution will be carried out by a variety of methods, including heavy cargo trucks. Nine helicopters which will be deployed to areas where trucks cannot be used and in truly remote areas, donkeys will deliver balloting equipment.

"There are two types of materials we are dealing with this election: one is sensitive material like the ink and the ballots and the other is non-sensitive things like furniture, required to set up polling stations," said Grison.

In total, JEMB will be dealing with 40 million ballots, 135,000 ballot boxes, 140,000 bottles of ink, 150,000 voting screens, 403 mt of furniture for polling facilities and nearly 31,000 polling station kits.

"We are receiving materials when required and we have ample time to receive and distribute all of the items to the station level," Grison said. He added that up to 160,000 polling officials are currently being recruited who will be supervised by a further 6,000 field coordinators. Security at the polling stations will be maintained by 60,000 security guards.

Up to 6,000 Afghans have registered to stand in the autumn legislature and provincial council elections. According to the JEMB, of the 2,900 people who have already registered to run for the 249-seat Wolesi Jerga [lower house], nearly 350 are women. Afghan electoral law requires that at least 68 seats in the general assembly be reserved for women.

Election workers believe the country's difficult security situation and challenging topography will continue to make the task of ensuring free and fair elections a difficult one.

"Despite the challenge, we are sure that all of the polling materials will be in place for election day," asserted Grison. Meanwhile, a continuing funding shortfall remains an issue that could endanger the internationally supported investment in September's parliamentary elections.

According to the JEMB, despite some new pledges, the electoral body is still faced with a shortfall of some US $19 million in funding for the organisation and supervision of the electoral process. The entire operation is estimated to cost the international community up to $149 million.

Using donkeys and helicopters, Afghanistan gears up for elections

Afghanistan is preparing for landmark parliamentary elections using a combination of stone-age and modern technology to get polling stations open in under six weeks time.

Mountainous and remote terrain, low levels of literacy and the sheer number of candidates -- almost 6,000 -- all add up to one of the most difficult elections the international community has ever organised.

"I don't think the United Nations have ever seen an election like this, with up to 400 candidates on each ballot paper," Julian Type, of the UN-backed Joint Electoral Management Body, told AFP on Thursday.

Despite the challenges and the threat of violence from increasingly active Taliban militants, officials said they thought the lower house and provincial council elections on September 18 would go ahead on time.

"We are very confident we will be able to deliver the operation successfully and have all staff... in place," James Grierson, electoral head of logistical support, told a news conference in Kabul.

Some of Afghanistan's remote mountainous districts are only accessible by donkey, while airplanes must be used to freight the 135,000 ballot boxes, 140,000 bottles of ink and 403 tons of furniture to many of the country's 26,000 polling stations, the electoral body said.

Fourteen cargo planes will make deliveries across Afghanistan, in addition to the 1,200 deliveries by cargo trucks and flights by nine helicopters to remote areas not accessible by road.

"The topography dictates that we will have to use air, road and even donkeys to distribute our material across the country," Grierson added.

The furniture must be flown into Afghanistan for this election because the chairs and tables used at the country's first presidential polls in October have already been donated to local schools.

Security is another headache, with a spiralling insurgency in the south and east of the country that has left almost 900 people dead since the start of the year, but Grierson said that the threat of violence would not derail the vote.

The Afghan National Army and police would be in place together with US and NATO-led troops to ensure polling stations could open their doors, he said. Last year's presidential election, which was won by incumbent Hamid Karzai, went ahead without the widely expected levels of bloodshed, despite a campaign of threats by the Taliban.

Instead, the election was almost undermined by accusations that indelible ink used to mark voters' fingers had rubbed off, leaving the process open to fraud and multiple voting.

However, this year organisers have ordered ink from Canada with high levels of silver nitrate, which is meant to prevent the black stains from fading after the estimated 12 million registered voters cast their ballots.

Daily Afghan Report - August 10, 2005 - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

U.S. Marine, 16 Militants Killed In Southern Afghanistan...

A U.S. Marine was killed when his patrol came under small-arms fire in Zabul Province's Deh Chopan District on 8 August, American Forces Press Service (AFPS) reported on 9 August. According to the report, U.S. and coalition aircraft were summoned to the scene and killed up to 16 "enemy forces." Neo-Taliban spokesman Mufti Latifullah Hakimi claimed in a telephone interview with Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) on 9 August that four children were killed during the bombing raid. Hakimi said that no militiamen were killed in the fighting and that he has "no details" of U.S. casualties. U.S. military officials said that no civilians were placed at risk during the attack in Zabul, AFPS reported on 9 August. AT

Neo-Taliban Take Credit For Attack On U.S. Forces In South-Central Afghanistan

Spokesman Hakimi said the neo-Taliban destroyed a U.S. military vehicle on 9 August in Ghazni Province, AIP reported the same day. "The Americans suffered loss of life in the attack," Hakimi said. U.S. military sources acknowledged that a vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device in Ghani, injuring two U.S. servicemen, AFPS reported on 9 August. The injured are reportedly in stable condition. AT

Neo-Taliban Warn Female Candidates In Northern Afghanistan

Leaflets have recently been distributed in Faryab Province warning female candidates against running in the September parliamentary elections, the Mazar-e Sharif daily "Sahar" reported on 9 August. The leaflets reportedly bear the signature of Mullah Hasim, who claims to represent the neo-Taliban in the area. Faryab's security commander, Habib al-Rahman Zazy, downplayed the significance of the leaflets, but confirmed that Mullah Hasim is in Faryab. AT

Afghanistan Not Consulted On Refugee-Expulsion Deadline

Engineer Omarzada, an official at the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad who oversees Afghan refugees, said on 9 August that Pakistan failed to consult Afghanistan regarding a deadline it imposed for the removal of refugees from the Islamabad region, Pajhwak Afghan News reported. Omarzada said that Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao had given assurances that Afghan officials would be consulted before any such deadline was imposed. Sherpao announced on 8 August that Afghan refugees in camps in the Islamabad region and two other locations in Pakistan's tribal agencies will be either repatriated or relocated to other camps between 15 August and 1 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 August 2005). According to Pajhwak Afghan News, the deadline for the removal of refugees in Islamabad region has been set for 15 September. Sherpao on 8 August said that other "stakeholders involved in the repatriation and relocation process have also agreed to" Islamabad's decision, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The refugee repatriation or relocation issue has become yet another contentious issue between Kabul and Islamabad. AT

Killers of Kandahar Ulema Council chief identified

KABUL, August 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The government has reportedly identified the murderers of a top pro-Karzai religious scholar assassinated late May in the southern Kandahar province, a former stronghold of Taliban.

Maulvi Abdullah Fayyaz, head of the Kandahar Ulema Council, had been shot dead by two motorcyclists just a week after he openly denounced Taliban insurgents and drummed up support for the Karzai government.

A knowledgeable source confided to Pajhwok Afghan News on Thursday investigations indicated Mullah Bashir and Mullah Lalai perpetrated the killing in return for Rs30000 before fleeing to Pakistan.

The official revealed the assailants, linked to Taliban, were still hiding in the neighbouring country. However, he did not go into the details of who had hired the assassins to eliminate the scholar and how and when the money was provided to them.

Maulvi Fayyaz was slain on May 29 soon after he convened a meeting of dozens of Afghan ulema in support of President Karzai and opposition to Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar.

In July, the head of the Ulema Council in the neighboring Helmand province was also gunned down in a similar attack. Maulvi Saleh Mohammad was killed in the provincial capital of Lashkargah on the way from his home to a nearby mosque.

Meanwhile, Mullah Ahmad was named as Maulvi Saleh's successor. After taking charge of office, he vowed solid cooperate with the government and preach for improved security.

Addressing a gathering attended by dozens of ulema and officials, the cleric promised he would try to convince the masses into making the upcoming elections a rip-roaring success.

Two Afghan brothers slaughtered in Miranshah

ISLAMABAD, August 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two Afghan brothers were slaughtered last night in Miranshah area of the South Waziristan Agency in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, officials said on Thursday.

Miranshah's Assistant Political Agent (APA) Iftikhar Ahmad said Ghulam Nabi and Mohammad Nabi (real brothers) were beheaded in a local hotel by unidentified assailants. Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News by phone, the APA said elders had been directed in line with tribal tradition to track down the killers and hand them over to the political administration at the earliest possible.

Another official, Haji Rasool Kalim revealed bodies of the slain refugees had been sent to their native province of Ghazni in Afghanistan. "The Afghans, whose family had already moved to Ghazni, were staying in Miranshah to eke out a living."

300 phone booths start functioning in Kabul

KABUL, August 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Three hundred telephone booths, established by the communication ministry in different parts of this capital city, started functioning on Thursday.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Afghan Communication Minister Amirzai Sangeen said 150 booths had been set up in busy markets while the rest in populated areas of the city.

He added calling cards of 250 and 500 afghanis could be used to make calls from the booths installed in line with growing public demands. A call to a digital and cell-phone number will respectively cost one and five afghanis a minute while emergency numbers like those of police, firefighters and other services would be toll-free.

The telephone booths, made by the German giant Siemens, were purchased for two hundred thousand dollars by the government and installed by a private Afghan company. Kabul dwellers lauded the booths, hoping they would save them time as well as money in terms of local and international call expenses.

Mohammad Naveed of the Afghan central bank argued the step would help those who could not afford to have a mobile set. But another resident Ezatullah said: "The poor cannot pay the existing call charges."

The calling-booth system has been operationalised at a time when two private mobile companies - Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) and Roshan - are doing a roaring business in the country, despite service imperfections and flaws.

UN Aid Agency Begins ‘Winterization’ Project in Afghanistan - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

11 August 2005 -- United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has begun distributing food supplies for nearly half a million poor Afghans as a part of a so-called 'Winterization' project, according to the WFP statement issued today.

The food supplies to be distributed in near future are to help impoverished Afghans living in remote areas, who will be cut off from the food markets during harsh and cold upcoming winter season. According to WFP statement, about 23, 000 metric tonnes of food supply, including wheat, pulses, oil and salt, will be distributed in coming weeks.

The so-called 'Winterization' is the agency's largest humanitarian aid flow in Afghanistan. The food delivery operation has already begun in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, where winter season begins in early fall season.

Poor infrastructure and bad roads and bridges conditions in some Afghan remote areas slow down the humanitarian aid flow. The UN aid agency says that it will provide food supplies to the workers working on the roads reconstruction projects connecting Hawzi Shah and Koofab districts of Badakhshan province so that the new road infrastructure can help surrounding Afghan communities and also help foodstuffs deliveries to the people in need.

The aid agency also provides foodstuffs to the Pamir Mountains region, remote regions in Bamyan, Ghor and Badghis province. The recent donations to WFP’s humanitarian operation include United States, India, European Commission, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Canada, UK and Japan. (Source: UN World Food Program)

Worst behaved at the Kabul Zoo - the humans - By Scott Baldauf / The Christian Science Monitor / August 11, 2005

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Inside a cage, a pair of mangy wolves rest on a bed of straw. Outside the cage, an Afghan amputee tries to stir up the action a bit, tossing stones at the animals. A crowd of Afghans gathers, and the amputee tries poking his crutch through the chain-link fence to see if one of the animals takes a bite.

A wolf sniffs the crutch and walks back to a cool spot in the straw. The crowd moves off to the next cage.

Afghanistan is a wounded country, after two decades of war, so it shouldn't come as any great surprise that the Kabul Zoo is wounded too. In fact, the only surprise should be that Kabul has a zoo at all. Aziz Gul Saqib, the zoo director, walks around the zoo that he has managed for three months and shakes his head.

"The big problem with our country is that no one knows what to do with animals. The war has damaged their minds," he says, passing by an open pen for macaques, surrounded by a moat of filthy water filled with trash. "They stand here and throw stones, shoes, and even their hats at the animals. They fight with the animals, they don't come to just see the animals."

Generally speaking, the Kabul Zoo manages to struggle along quietly, attracting hundreds of visitors on weekdays and up to 5,000 on an average weekend. It's one of the few sources of entertainment, and a minor miracle in a country with many problems - an ongoing insurgency, opium trafficking, corruption, high infant mortality, lack of clean drinking water, just to mention a few.

But the Kabul Zoo came into the headlines recently when one of the zoo's primary donor of animals - the Chinese government - recently announced concerns about the safety of the animals it has already donated to Afghanistan. In the past year, one male bear and one deer have died, apparently from diseases and improper nutrition. Chinese authorities say they will not donate any more animals to Kabul until conditions improve. Most of the zoo's 100 or so animals are native to Afghanistan. Foreign animal donations add some welcome diversity.

The death of the male bear has been a particular problem, says Dr. Saqib. Recently, the departed male's mate, Cece, went on a rampage, breaking out of her cage and killing a pig in a nearby open pen. Somehow zookeepers managed to coax her back in her pen without further incident. This was fortunate: The zoo has no tranquilizer guns to control larger animals.

Indeed, the zoo grounds, which span approximately two city blocks, don't even have a proper perimeter to keep out wandering herds of sheep and goats. Saqib ticks off his list of things to do. He wants to:

• Refurbish the snake house and add large aquariums full of tropical fish.
• Reconstruct the elephant pen and replace the elephant that was killed by mujahideen.
• Rebuild the perimeter wall.
• And get another male bear for Cece before she breaks out again.

But the zoo has few funds for such projects. The admission fee is little more than a dime. Donations help. Last year, the North Carolina Zoo raised $500,000.

Saqib walks up to a low wall and peers down at an open pen where two Afghan bears are lounging in the sun. One big honey-colored bear is chewing on a piece of cardboard tossed into the pen by a visitor.

"Please see the water in the moat," Saqib says. "We change this water every two days, but people throw trash into the pen."

Saqib and other zookeepers have tried putting up signs to discourage bad behavior by zoo visitors, largely to no avail. One reads: "Dear citizens: The animals are creatures of God. While watching them, please avoid annoying or bothering them."

Just a few feet away, a crowd has gathered as an Afghan dangles a bag of peanuts in front of the waiting paw of a very chubby macaque. The monkey reaches, and the man pulls the bag back, but not fast enough. The monkey saunters away with his peanuts. Another monkey in the cage chews on a cigarette stub.

Farther on, a man has gathered his family around a cage of owls. To show that the birds are actually alive, he takes off his hat and thrashes it in the face of a nearby owl. The bird blinks and looks away. "We have many problems," Saqib says, "but I'm a young person. I will try my best to make this place like the zoos of the world."

Pakistan test-fires first cruise missile

Pakistan has successfully test-fired its first cruise missile and joined a select club of nations which have developed the ground-hugging projectiles, the military said.

Military ruler President Pervez Musharraf hailed the launch of the Hatf VII Babur, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as a "major milestone" in the country's defence programme, an army statement said.

Pakistan did not give advance warning to rival India, despite a deal made at the weekend between the two countries to notify each other before missile tests and to set up a hotline to prevent an accidental atomic exchange.

The agreement only refers to ballistic missiles and not to cruise missiles, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Muhammad Naeem Khan told AFP.

The military said the launch of the missile, which has a range of 500 kilometres (310 miles), meant that Pakistan had "joined a select group of countries which have the capability to design and develop cruise missiles".

The scientists and technicians involved had "again done the nation proud by mastering a rare technology", General Musharraf added in the statement, while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also sent his congratulations.

"It is a gift of the scientists on the birthday of President Musharraf and the Independence Day," state media quoted Information Minister Sheikh Rashid as saying about the test. Musharraf marked his 62nd birthday on Thursday, while Pakistan celebrates the 58th anniversary of the end of British colonial rule on Sunday.

The missile could avoid radar detection to penetrate hostile defensive systems "with pinpoint accuracy", the statement added, and could also be launched from ships, submarines and aircraft.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, there are at least 12 countries who export cruise missiles: Britain, the United States, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Taiwan.

India unveiled its first cruise missile, a supersonic joint venture with Russia named the BrahMos, in 2001. There was no immediate reaction from New Delhi.

Pakistan and India conducted tit-for-tat test nuclear detonations in 1998 and came to the brink of war in 2002. The historical rivals, who have already fought three wars, routinely carry out tests of nuclear-capable missiles.

On Saturday they signed the long-awaited deal for the nuclear hotline and formalising the pre-notification of missile tests. The telephone link is to be set up by September.

The agreement was part of a year-and-a-half long peace process that has brought India and Pakistan to their closest relationship for decades and seen the revival of severed sporting and transport links.

The peace dialogue has focused on the problem of Kashmir, the Himalayan state claimed by both countries, where an Islamic insurgency on the Indian side has killed tens of thousands of people since 1989.

Pakistan is at the centre of investigations into a nuclear black market run by its disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who confessed in 2004 to passing atomic secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

US Base In Kyrgyzstan To Fill Gaps From Vacated Base In Uzbekistan - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

10 August 2005 -- U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Stephen Young said today that some of the duties of the U.S.- led coalition operating in Afghanistan that were previously performed at the coalition base in Uzbekistan will be transferred to the Manas base in Kyrgyzstan.

At the insistence of the Uzbek government, the coalition base in Uzbekistan will close later this year.

Young denied that all operations done from the base in Uzbekistan would be transferred to the base in Kyrgyzstan. The U.S. ambassador said recent increases in activity at Manas were due to upcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.

"There is already one of those periodic increases in the amount of activity at the Manas or Ganci airbase (in Kyrgyzstan) which is related to upcoming elections in September by Afghanistan of a new parliament,” Young said. “These fluctuations in the amount of activity are often related to internal affairs in Afghanistan and they will continue."

Young said that the U.S. spent 163 million dollars last year on maintaining its presence at the Kyrgyz base, including payments for use of the base and fuel purchases.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]