18 Afghan opposition commanders surrender to government

KABUL, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen opposition commanders affiliated with former prime minister and dissident warlord Gulbudin Hekmatyar have laid down their arms and joined the government, a state-run newspaper reported Monday.

"Eighteen commanders of Hekmatyar-led Islamic party surrendered to the government in Paktia's provincial capital Gerdiz on Sunday, " Anis newspaper reported.

All of them have expressed their readiness to defend the government against enemies, said the report. Dozens of anti-government militants, including low and medium ranking Taliban leaders as well as supporters of the former prime minister, have joined the peace process under a general amnesty announced by Afghan government in last November.

However, Taliban's elusive chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and Hekmatyar, who termed the US-backed Afghan leader Hamid Karzai as "US puppet," have rejected the amnesty and called for Jihad or holy war till the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

Explosion Injures Four GIs in Afghanistan

Kandahar – june 13, 2005 - By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer - An explosion near a U.S. military vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Monday wounded four American troops, a U.S. military spokesman said, the latest in a series of bloody assaults on coalition forces.
The vehicle was hit on a highway near the main southern city of Kandahar. A local Afghan police chief said the blast was a suicide attack. The U.S. military confirmed it was a bombing, but gave no further details.

Spokesman Col. James Yonts told reporters in Kabul that the four wounded, one in a serious condition, were flown to a U.S. base in Kandahar for medical treatment.

Gen. Salim Khan, the deputy police chief for Kandahar city, said a suicide bomber had rammed a car full of explosives into the U.S. vehicle. The head of the attacker was found near the site of the blast and it appeared to be that of an Arab, he said.

"The U.S. vehicle was blown up in the suicide attack," Khan said. He said at least three American troops were killed, but in a statement, the U.S. military said no U.S. service members had died.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said he saw three American soldiers being carried on stretchers into a U.S. military helicopter. Two other U.S. helicopters were hovering overhead and several U.S. military vehicles also had arrived at the site.

Troops blocked the highway, which links Kandahar and the western city of Herat. Hundreds of Afghans who had been driving along the road looked on. Three other bombs were found hidden on roadsides around Kandahar on Monday morning, a government official in the city said. All were defused, he said.
A bomb attack Sunday on an Afghan family's pickup truck just north of Kandahar killed a woman and wounded four others, including two children, said Khan, the deputy police chief. He said the attackers may have thought the four-wheel-drive vehicle belonged to the Afghan army as it was similar.
A purported Taliban spokesman, Mullah Latif Hakimi, said in a telephone call to AP that the group was responsible for Monday's bombing and that the suicide attacker was an Afghan.

Hakimi often calls news organizations to claim responsibility for attacks on behalf of the Taliban. His information has sometimes proven untrue or exaggerated, and his exact tie to the group is unclear.
Taliban-led rebels have stepped up attacks in an apparent effort to sabotage legislative elections due in September. Five American troops have died in attacks this month.

On June 1, a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber killed 20 people at the funeral of an anti-Taliban cleric in Kandahar, one of the worst terror attacks here since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

Three bombs defused in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY, June 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Officials in the southern Kandahar province claimed on Monday they had defused three bombs found in different parts of the city.

The assertion came hard on the heels of a suicide bomb attack on a coalition convoy on the Kandahar-Herat Highway, wounding five US soldiers. Unconfirmed reports said five American servicemen were killed in the blast.

Senior police official Gen. Salim Ehsas told Pajhwok Afghan News one of the bombs was placed in front of the American Provincial Reconstruction Team office. The five Americans injured in the assault earlier in the day are said to be members of the local PRT team.

Another device planted in Sanzary area was defused before it went off while a third was placed next to the government compound in Zhirai district. The bombs were found on tips-off from residents.

Taliban operatives arrested in S. Afghanistan

KABUL, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Troops of Afghan National Army (ANA) have captured a senior Taliban operative in the militant-plaguing south Afghanistan, Defense Ministry spokesman said Sunday.

"ANA's troops in a mop-up conducted in Tajdan and Taban areas of Uruzgan province captured a Taliban local commander Mullah JumaThursday," Zahir Azimi told journalists at a news conference.
A large number of arms, munitions and documents including pamphlets and night letters were also found from his possession. "Another Taliban's local commander Mullah Sardar escaped from the scene," the spokesman added.
The arrest took place just days after the arrest of Mullah Abdul Razaq, a Taliban active operative in Kandahar. Both the Taliban and government troops backed by US military have intensified their operations since the onset of spring in which over 150 people including civilians, militants, Afghan and US troops have been killed. Enditem

Musharraf assures Karzai of support

KABUL, June 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf Sunday telephoned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and discussed with him matters pertaining to mutual cooperation.

The two leaders discussed various issues, agreeing to boost bilateral cooperation. During the call, President Musharraf assured Karzai of Pakistan's all-out support in holding of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan. Karzai thanked the Pakistani president for his support and cooperation in various fields.

A day earlier, Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao had arrived here on a two-day visit. At a press conference Sherpao pledged his country would help the Afghan government in ensuring peace during the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Pakistan to help keep the peace during Afghan legislative elections: Minister

KABUL, Afghanistan - (AP) Pakistan's visiting interior minister said Saturday his government will clamp down on the border to help maintain peace during Afghanistan's legislative elections later this year, amid fears that rebels hiding in Pakistani tribal areas may disrupt the landmark polls.

President Hamid Karzai's government last week urged Afghanistan's neighbors to cooperate in safeguarding the Sept. 18 elections and warned that al-Qaida and Taliban rebels had launched a violent campaign to subvert the ballot _ the next key step toward democracy three and a half years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban.

The plea for cooperation appeared to be mainly aimed at Pakistan. Afghan officials say militants based on Pakistan's side of the mountainous frontier cross into Afghanistan to launch attacks.

Seventeen suspected Taliban rebels were captured in the border area last week, and three attacks along the demarcation in the past eight days have left five U.S. troops dead.

"We want the region to be peaceful and the elections conducted in a very peaceful manner," Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told reporters in Kabul. "Hopefully in the parliamentary elections we would play a very positive role as far as peacekeeping is concerned."

Sherpao was in Kabul on a one-day visit to hold talks with his counterpart. He also spoke about efforts in Pakistan to crack down on al-Qaida and claimed that security forces had "broken the backbone" of Osama bin Laden's terror network. The minister has made the comment before, only for his country to witness further terror activity.

The claim came five weeks after Pakistani security officials arrested senior al-Qaida terrorist suspect Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who has since been sent to the United States.

What now for the Taleban? – BBC 06/13/2005 By Andrew North

Kabul - American artillery batteries are opening up on suspected Taleban militants in eastern Afghanistan, along the mountainous border with Pakistan.

Thousands of troops from the US-led coalition - most of them American - are still operating in this forbidding terrain, hunting followers of the hardline movement they toppled three and a half years ago. They are also after members of another group - Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin.

Its leader has declared similar aims to the Taleban - to fight a jihad or holy war to push the Americans out of Afghanistan and unseat the government of Hamid Karzai. Few believe they have any chance of success but they are still causing a lot of damage.

There is always an increase in fighting with the arrival of spring - which melts the snow in the high passes and narrow defiles the militants use to slip back and forth - in many cases from the Pakistani tribal areas just across the border.

It was the same story in the 1980s during the Soviet occupation. But US commanders had been suggesting this one would be much quieter. That they finally had the militants on the run.

Instead, it has turned out to be one of the bloodiest periods in the past three years. In some areas, there have been almost daily clashes with militants. At least 250 people have been killed in the past two months.

But the Americans say it is the Taleban who are coming off worse. Brig Gen James Champion is deputy commander of US operations for the whole of Afghanistan. "There are increases in clashes because we are instigating the clashes. It is not their spring offensive, it is our spring offensive."

Yet although small in number compared to casualties in Iraq, more US troops have died in the past few months than in the same period last year. And American troops and their commanders who operate in the areas where the Taleban are concentrated are more cautious about writing them off.

Col Gary Cheek is in charge of US forces in eastern Afghanistan. "I don't think comments about the demise were misguided. But it is a slow process. "We have a small number of higher-level leaders who are very committed, more about personal power than ideology. I doubt we will see them quit the cause.

"They will maintain a level of insurgency for the future but it will become less and less of a threat to the sovereignty of Afghanistan." But Col Cheek believes it important not to "mislead ourselves" by simply chasing the enemy.

"We need to put an effort into friendly forces, in training police, working with government, rebuilding infrastructure so the government gets the confidence of the people."

Col Cheek has also been instrumental in initiating another tactic in his area over the past six months - trying to persuade insurgents to give up fighting. It has become known as the "Allegiance" programme. All but the 50 to 100 most senior Taleban figures are eligible.

In return for backing President Karzai's government, they are allowed to return home and will not be arrested. But it is a fairly ad-hoc programme that was begun as a stop-gap measure ahead of the Afghan government's own initiative.

That initiative when it came caused confusion. Professor Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, head of the Afghan government's newly formed Reconciliation Commission, appeared to offer an amnesty to the Taleban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Islami.

It took some time before President Karzai made clear there was no such offer. And anyway, Mullah Omar said he was not interested. Although small groups of Taleban are turning themselves in - like former commander Malim Jan - there is no mass defection.

As the spring fighting season gives way to summer, the situation remains uncertain. There are some steps forward - for example, the decision of several moderate Taleban members to stand for September's parliamentary elections.

On the other hand, there are some serious steps back. Earlier this month, a bomb exploded at a mosque in Kandahar during the funeral of an anti-Taleban Islamic scholar - 20 people were killed. It was the worst bombing attack in the past three years.

The Taleban initially claimed responsibility, but then denied it. However, many analysts believe they were involved in some way. Other attacks continue, meaning there is little hope of the Americans being able to withdraw.

Some say they are bogged down. The history of insurgencies shows it takes very few people to pin down a very large number of troops. There are thought to be no more than 2,000 active Taleban militants and perhaps several hundred followers of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. But even if the number of defections increases, the Taleban insurgency and the debilitating insecurity it brings could carry on for a long time yet.

Ivanov's charge: Kabul seeks clarification from Moscow

KABUL, June 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Kabul on Sunday rejected as unfounded the Russian defence minister's allegation that Afghanistan was involved in Uzbekistan riots, which left many killed. Taking umbrage at the charge, the Afghan Defence Ministry asked the Russian government to clarify whether the minister's remarks were his personal or reflective of Moscow's policy towards Kabul.

Addressing a news conference here, Defence Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi called Sergei Ivanov's statement an effort aimed at sabotaging the upcoming parliamentary elections. "Though Afghanistan desires good relations with all its neighbors based on mutual respect, yet it won't allow any country to hatch sinister conspiracies against it," resolved the spokesman.

Speaking in Brussels on Friday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov had linked the recent crisis in Andijan (Uzbekistan) to the presence of what he called terrorist camps in Afghanistan. He alleged militants were deliberately let into Uzbekistan to carry out disruptive activities there.

But Azimi insisted the turmoil, strife and misfortunes haunting the Central Asian republics were fomented by Russia and Ivanov's vitriolic statement was indicative of the trouble Moscow wanted to stir up in Central and South Asia. Russia had a big share of culpability in the trail of death and destruction in Afghanistan, he maintained, questioning the timing of the accusation.

A day earlier, the Afghan Foreign Ministry spurned Ivanov's charge as thoroughly devoid of truth. Its spokesman Naveed Ahmad Moez told Pajhwok Afghan News on Saturday Afghan security forces deployed in north of the country were in control of the situation. Amm/asn/mud

NATO plans southward expansion in Afghanistan - By Farida Nikzad

KABUL, June 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan Hikmat Cetin has said the sphere of work of the force would be expanded to the whole country in future.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Hikmat Cetin said NATO's main concern was to restore lasting peace in Afghanistan besides enabling the government to establish its own security network. He assured the people of Afghanistan would not be abandoned.

Regarding the existing law and order situation, he observed Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants were still active in some parts of Afghanistan, posing a threat to the security of the country and the entire world at that.

Hikmat Cetin, who was appointed as senior civilian representative of NATO for Afghanistan in 2003, is responsible for establishing political and military relationship and overseeing successful implementation of the Bonn agreement.

Following are excerpts of the interview:
Q: How do you perceive the NATO-led ISAF role in Afghanistan?

A: Our key role is to support the government in establishing durable peace and security in the country. NATO forces have been expanded to the west while plans are underway to extend its sphere of operations to the south. The long-term plan is to cover the whole of Afghanistan, which has been divided into four zones, and we are going to expand NATO forces in four stages.

Q: Will NATO continue to assist in security alone or will it expand its role to combating terrorism after taking full charge of security in Afghanistan?

A: Our principal duty is to assist Afghan security forces. As NATO is stationed in the south, it might conduct counter-terrorism operations and decisions over two plans have been taken - carrying out anti-narcotics operations and assisting the government in security matters.

Q: What challenges lie ahead of NATO in Afghanistan?

A: Security is the main challenge. Taliban, al-Qaeda and armed gangs continue to undermine it. This is the biggest hurdle to attracting foreign investment to Afghanistan. We have to help the government in overcoming difficult circumstances.

Q: Despite the presence of the NATO-led ISAF, there is no visible improvement in the security situation and incidents of kidnapping are on the rise. What is the reason, in your opinion?

A: Although the networks of Taliban and al-Qaeda have been weakened to a large extent, Kabul city is still not as safe as the rest of the world. But two years is a short time for clearing a years-long mess. At the same time, such incidents occur even in the most developed areas of the world.

Q: What positive changes have emerged over the last two and half years in Afghanistan?

A: It is a gigantic task to clear the mess in a short span of two years. It will require a bit more time. However, improvement has been achieved in many spheres of life including the beginning of the political process, restoration of economic activity, emergence of social sector, etc. All these efforts are leading Afghanistan towards attaining gradual progress. The holding of presidential elections in November 2004 was a landmark victory for the peace process. The country needs greater support for improving the social sector. I traveled to different parts of the country and spoke to people who need education and employment, which is not possible without backing from the international community.

Q: Why has NATO refrained from sending troops to the chaotic south and east?

A: Expansion of forces is being done under an agreed programme. It has been distributed into four phases. The first phase includes the north; the second the west while southern and eastern parts of the country will be covered in the third and fourth phases respectively. Germany will command NATO forces in the north; Italy in the west; Canada and the UK in the south and the US as NATO member in the west. NATO will deploy more forces to ensure security during the upcoming parliamentary elections. Three new battalions are to be deployed ahead of the mid-September polls. These include a Dutch battalion in Mazar-i-Sharif, a battalion of Romanian forces in Kabul and a Spanish battalion in Herat.
Q: What is the number of NATO-led ISAF forces currently deployed in Afghanistan?

A: Over 8,000 forces from about 37 countries, some of which are not NATO members such as Croatia and Azerbaijan, operate under the ISAF rubric. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is comprised of 26 countries. They carry out military operations in coordination with the ISAF, US-led coalition forces, Afghan national army and Afghan national police.

Q: Who decides on the deployment of forces to various regions - the NATO or the government of Afghanistan?

A: Afghanistan is an independent country. We have not come here by force. Afghanistan has a government, which demands and NATO decides on the number and nature of forces (to be deployed in a particular area). There is, of course, coordination with the government about the nature of operations.

Q: What role do you see for the NATO in this country after the creation of Afghan national army and police force?

A: The numbers of forces are not important. Recent protests throughout the country, for instance, showed the police force needs more training so that they learn how to deal with such demonstrations. President Hamid Karzai recently admitted Afghan police still don't know how to handle such riots?
Q: How long are these forces needed to stay in Afghanistan?

A: I can't give a specific timeframe, but foreign forces will stay according to the commitments of the international community and until Afghanistan is able to boost security, peace and stability.

Q: What are major concerns of the international community in Afghanistan?

A: Security is one major concern and neighbouring countries should take part in restoring security to Afghanistan plus mutual respect for one another. This time around, we won't abandon Afghanistan.

Q: How do you look at the foreign policy of neighbouring countries towards Afghanistan, especially Pakistan's policy?

A: I think the neighbours have realized that today's Afghanistan is stable, secure, independent, united and advantageous for itself and the region at large.

Q: How do you rate President Karzai's recent visit to Europe?

A: Hamid Karzai's visit to Brussels and his meeting with the NATO secretary general were very positive and NATO is emphasizing on its commitments and support to Afghanistan. I was there when Karzai openly said Afghanistan needed support of the international community, of which he was assured. He was told Afghanistan was a priority to them. Generally speaking, Karzai's visit to NATO, European Parliament and the European Union was successful.

Q: What progress has the NATO-led committee established for the reconstruction of Kabul airport achieved hitherto?

A: Kabul airport is the gateway to Afghanistan, which is a landlocked country with no railway line. Kabul airport is equally important for our operations as well. The main goal is to make it well-equipped so that it is ready to serve people seven days a week, round the clock. Crucial improvements have been achieved. With its runway partially rehabilitated, we want the Kabul International Airport equipped to global standards of services. De-mining has begun in northern part of the airport while the southern portion will be ready soon for civilian flights. Some equipment gas also been installed at the airport.

Q: How should Afghans - as a people having suffered years of strife - be treated?

A: We should win Afghan people's support, their minds and hearts because working here without their support is impossible. A good trait Afghans is that they want to forget the past and struggle for a bright future. The government should live up to their expectations, which is their right. People should have democratic and peaceful expectations.

Hikmat Cetin, born in 1973 in Turkey, has done BA with political sciences, finance and economics from the Ankara University. He went on to do his masters in development economics from a university in the United States.

5,000 British Troops to Be Sent Into Chaos of Afghanistan.. to Bail Out U.S. in Hunt for Bin Laden - Daily Mirror, UK - 05/13/2006

BRITISH troops were offered to help in America's latest attempt to hunt down Osama bin Laden, out of fear Afghanistan is on the verge of becoming a failed state where terrorism will flourish. It came after frustration in Washington over the lack of progress being made by the Afghan government.

The dramatic gesture, at a Nato meeting, to help destroy the Taliban, signals both America and Europe's increasing concern about the first battleground in the war on terror.

Under current plans, 5,000 of the British-led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) would be deployed to Afghanistan next spring.

Ministers want a final decision to be made in time for an announcement by the end of July. The first wave of troops could be sent to Afghanistan as early as October.

Last night, senior Ministry of Defence sources made it clear the 5,000-strong deployment would include support and communication units. The MoD also said an advance contingent of British and Italian forces will be sent to Afghanistan later this year.

Pockets of Taliban fighters, foreign insurgents and feuding warlords are threatening to plunge the war-torn country into deeper crisis. The disastrous increase in opium production and the failure of the fledgling government to get a grip have added to pressure for action.

America wants to launch a new offensive in the east of Afghanistan to track down bin Laden and his al-Qaeda henchmen. British military forces would be sent to the south and west.

A senior defence source said: "What is needed is to make sure the back end of the country is secure, the warlords disarmed and the Taliban destroyed. "The feeling is the current set-up is not cutting the mustard. America is keen to make another push for Osama. "They are fed-up with the lack of progress and do not want Afghanistan to disintegrate into a failed state where terrorism could flourish again."

Tony Blair had talks with President Bush about Afghanistan during their White House meeting last week. Two days later, the offer of British troops was made at Nato HQ in Brussels.

Some Government sources insist the UK will not have to switch troops from Iraq where about 8,500 are still deployed compared to 900 in Afghanistan. Afghan president Hamid Karzai was also in Washington recently and is understood to have had a dressing down from senior US figures who are furious he has failed to make progress against warlords and the Taliban.

New disarmament program launched in Afghanistan

KABUL, June 11 (Xinhua) -- As part of continued efforts to get the war-shattered Afghanistan rid of illegal arms and stabilize security, the government launched a nationwide disarmament program Saturday, Vice President Karim Khalili said.

“In order to further strengthen peace and security in the country, the government has initiated collecting arms from illegal armed groups and individuals across the country," he told reporters at a press conference here.

The new program, called Disbanding Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG), would be implemented by local governments and require about one year time to identify illegal armed groups and collect their weapons, according to officials.

The ongoing UN-backed program DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration), launched in October 2003 and will be finished at the end of June, has disarmed over 58,000 former combatants registered in Defense Ministry. After disarming the registered armed men, there are still many illegal armed persons in the country, which needs another program to disarm them.

Under the ambitious DIAG program backed by international community, over 120,000 illegal armed men would be disarmed and returned to civilian life. Alhough there is no exact figure of Afghan illegal armed men, officials at Afghanistan New Beginning Program (ANBP), an UN- backed body administering the ongoing DDR program, estimated the number over 100,000.

"About 1,200 to 1,800 illegal armed groups ranging from five to 300 men have been illegally roaming in the country," Deputy Chairman of ANBP Masoum Stanikzai opined.

More than 100,000 tons of arms and ammunitions have been left over from the past two and half decades of war in Afghanistan, he said. "We urge all illegal armed groups and individuals to turn in their arms voluntarily otherwise the government would implement the program through utilizing law enforcing agencies," Khalili pointed out.

Khalili also urged candidates to hand over their weapons to authorities in their provinces up to June 30. Under the electoral law, no candidates would be allowed to run for the coming parliamentary elections unless he severs all ties with non-official armed groups.

A good number of over 6,000 candidates have stood for the Sept. 18 elections especially the former commanders are said to have been keeping armed groups for their defense. Allaying their concerns, Khalili said that the government would issue permits for carrying arms if it's necessary for the security

Karzai falls ill, postpones trip – Reuters 06/13/2005

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has fallen sick with a stomach bug and has put off a scheduled visit to neighbouring Tajikistan, an official from the president's palace said on Monday.

The 47-year-old Karzai had been scheduled to travel on Monday for talks with Tajik authorities and to inaugurate a US-built bridge linking the two countries.

"He has a stomach flu and has been advised by the doctor to rest for a couple of days," Khaliq Ahmad, an official on Karzai's staff, told Reuters, adding that it was a minor health problem. The president planned to go to Tajikistan once he was feeling better, Ahmad said.

Canadian military base in Afghanistan touted as site for new parliament

OTTAWA, June 12 (AFP) - Afghan officials are eyeing the Canadian military base in Afghanistan as the future site of their new parliament, Canadian officials told AFP Sunday.

"The idea came up when the Afghan foreign minister (Abdullah Abdullah) was in Ottawa last week. He mentioned it to the minister. It's an option," said Renee Filiatrault, a spokesperson for Canadian Defence Minister Bill Graham. "The future of Camp Julien is still the subject of negotiations between Canada and its NATO allies," she said.

The 325-hectare site located southwest of Kabul between two ancient castles currently houses some 900 Canadian soldiers there as part of a NATO-led mission to stabilize the country after the fall of the Taliban. But, the troops are planning to vacate the base over the course of the next year as they switch their focus to Kandahar in the south beginning in August, defence officials said.

Canada spent 42 million dollars (32 million US dollars) building Camp Julien in 2003. It boasts fortified walls, five kilometres of roads, electricity, telephones, a waste treatment system, a fire hall and a hospital.

Growing drug trade in Afghanistan is Catch-22 for NATO troops, says Graham - Canadian Press 06/13/2005

OTTAWA (CP) - Coming to grips with Afghanistan's booming narcotics trade is NATO's next big challenge in the country, Defence Minister Bill Graham said Friday.

But troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - including a large Canadian contingent being re-deployed over the coming year - can't take over domestic policing duties in a country desperately in need of social order beyond the precincts of the capital, Kabul.

Graham, in Brussels for a meeting of NATO defence ministers, said combating the drug trade while establishing firm rules of engagement was a major topic of discussions this week.

"All the NATO ministers recognize that our troops cannot go in and spray (opium poppy) fields and arrest drug traffickers and things like that," said Graham. "That's a police matter for the Afghan police to do. But our people can create a situation of security where the police can go in and do that."

NATO can also help train local police, said Graham. But providing police security and training, while refraining from actual police operations, is far more complicated on the ground than in theory. "That's why we have to have clear rules of engagement . . . that all the NATO partners subscribe to," said Graham.

The first 250 Canadian soldiers of a provincial reconstruction team will head into the lawless territory around Kandahar in southern Afghanistan this summer. By next year, Canada will once again have more than 1,000 troops in the country.

It will be a far different deployment than Canada's last, which wrapped up about a year ago in Kabul. While Afghanistan's fledgling democratic government is finding its legs, the growing poppy trade is creating a new set of problems far from the capital.

The country is a prime feeder of the international heroin market, providing more than 75 per cent of the world's opium poppy crop. The acreage of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is believed to have quadrupled over the past three years.

That puts a strain on more than just Afghanistan's fragile social structures. There was also a geopolitical dimension to this week's NATO discussion, because Britain holds the presidency of the G-8 this year and is making the global drug trade one of its major concerns.

Telling NATO troops - including Brits - they can't collar traffickers in Afghanistan, where poppies are grown commercially in 28 of 32 provinces, is a difficult sell in the current environment, Graham suggested.

"There's a Catch-22 in all this because ultimately we recognize that if we don't solve the drug problem, the whole object of bringing stability to Afghanistan is itself being threatened."

Seven drug-smugglers arrested in Helmand

KABUL, June 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Seven people were caught red-handed while trying to smuggle drugs abroad in Khan-i-Nashin border district of the southern Helmand province, officials said Sunday.

Helmand police chief Abdul Rahman said they arrested the seven smugglers after a shootout and recovered 4,000 kilograms of heroin, a rocket, one machine-gun, five AK 47 rifles and two mini cars. He added one of his men was wounded in the incident and the smugglers were under investigation.

Official of the National Security Department in Kabul were not immediately available for comments. About 1,690 kilograms of opium were seized and six smugglers held in Desho district during a crackdown last Friday.

Five charged over Afghan kidnap - BBC News / Sunday, 12 June, 2005

Afghan officials say five people have been charged in connection with the kidnapping of an Italian aid worker who was freed on Thursday. Police are still looking for Temur Shah, the man suspected of running the kidnap gang.

Clementina Cantoni was held for more than three weeks after armed men dragged her from a car in Kabul. She has said that she will continue aid work and will go back to Afghanistan but not in the near future.

A spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said they hoped the five people charged with the kidnapping would lead them to Temur Shah. He said the five, who include Temur Shah's uncle and brother-in-law, had been handed over to an intelligence agency for further interrogation.

Italian newspapers have reported that Ms Cantoni identified Temur Shah from photographs shown to her by investigators. The Afghan government denies that any concessions were made in order to secure Ms Cantoni's release.

"I can tell you that not one penny was paid to the kidnappers and no deal was made," Interior Minister Ali Ahmed Jalali is quoted as saying by AFP.

Italian newspapers have said that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been paid to the kidnappers. A public celebration was held in Clementina Cantoni's hometown Milan for her release. She has told journalists that would definitely continue her aid work.

"I will go back to Afghanistan, perhaps in a year or two, to see my friends but not in the near future," the Associated Press quotes her as saying. Ms Cantoni had been in Afghanistan since September 2003, in charge of a programme supporting more than 10,000 widows and their children.

Gripes against candidates flood poll panel - Pajhwok Afghan News 06/13/2005
By Makia Monir

The joint poll panel has received a large number of complaints against election candidates from various provinces. The Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) had asked people to file complaints against the aspirants till June 10, by which time thousands of gripes flooded the poll panel.

The grumbles will be thoroughly scrutinized in light of the electoral law and if found valid, names of the errant candidates will be excluded from the primary list.

The candidates' list will also be handed over to the general disarmament commission to see if any of them still had a private militia or remained affiliated with such a group. Under the law, contenders must disarm before registering for parliamentary or provincial council seats.

Candidates running private militias will be asked to disarm. And in case of non-compliance, they will be disqualified on July 1. Names of the disqualified ones will be displayed on July 2.

Training course for parliament workers begins

KABUL, June 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): In the build-up to the September polls, a five-week technical training course for 120 newly-appointed administrative officers of the Parliament Secretariat began here on Saturday.

About 120 employees, recruited from amongst 780 applicants, started undergoing the training being imparted by French experts and interim secretariat officers at Istiqlal High School here.

Parliament's Secretary General Dr Azizullah Ludin told Pajhwok Afghan News: "We have hired intelligent youths - most of them graduates - for manning the parliament secretariat." UNDP representative Amira Haq said imparting training to the young officials was essential ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for September 16.

Out of the estimated 15 million dollars needed for parliament formation, 2, 5 million dollars had been provided by the European Union. Lodin informed. Representatives of the French Embassy here, USAID, UNDP and UNAMA participated in the ceremony marking commencement of the training.

Ancient town discovered in Wardak

KABUL, June 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Archeologists have discovered an ancient town in the Nirk district of the central Wardak province. The town, as old as 200 AD, has been unearthed in Alghata Hill at Dadil village, 50 kilometres west of here. The town is spread over about one and half kilometre area, provincial authorities informed.

Zalmai Mayar, head of the provincial Information and Culture Department, said the historical site was unearthed on May 24 as a result of a joint survey launched by the UNICSO, Afghanistan Archeology Institute and French Embassy in 2003.

"Forty-five workers took part in the excavation following the discovery of the town," Mayar said, adding walls were engraved with different kinds of paintings. He reckoned it would take about six months to fully unearth the site.

He said 19 of the 40 surveys carried out in different parts of the country had proved successful thus far while chances of discovery of more archeological sites were bright.

Qadir (30), a resident of the area, told Pajhwok Afghan News they knew about the existence of historical sites but avoided illegal excavation. He urged the government to protect and preserve the site.

Nirkh police chief Rajab Khan said security officials had been deployed in the area to safeguard the ancient town. He assured full cooperation to the department concerned.

When asked for comments, officials of the French Embassy and the archeology institute refused give any details. However, head of archeology at the Ministry of Information and Culture Mohaqiq Mohammad Nadar Rasooli, told this news agency excavation at the site had begun, and initial work indicated the existence of a temple and a stupa.

$1m fine imposed on cell-phone company - Pajhwok Afghan News 06/13/2005

By Zubair Babakarkhail
The Afghan government has imposed a fine of $1 million on the Roshan cell-phone company for allegedly using greater frequency than permissible under an agreement it had concluded with Communications Ministry.

An official at the Communications Ministry told Pajhwok Afghan News on condition of anonymity on Saturday Roshan had been allowed the ministry had allowed eight mega hertz (MHz) frequency.
However, the leading mobile phone company exceeded the permissible limit in an attempt to earn more profit, he alleged, arguing a violation of the terms and conditions of the accord entailed a fine ranging from $1,00000 to $2,50000.

A fine of $250,000 had earlier been imposed on the company after it was found involved in frequency theft for the first time, the sources disclosed. But Roshan used dilatory tactics to pay the fine, he added.

When the company was found guilty of using 162-channel frequency for a second time, a fine of $1 million was imposed on it, the official continued. "If it fails to submit the amount within two weeks, it would be sued in court of law."

Meanwhile, Mohammad Naser Naseri, legal advisor to the ministry, confirmed they had earlier received information regarding the frequency theft by the company. But punitive action could not be initiated then for lack of concrete evidence. Senior officials of Roshan cell-phone company, when contacted by this news agency, flatly refused to admit or repudiate the claim.

California man pushes project to bring soybeans to Afghanistan - Associated Press / June 12, 2005

PASADENA, Calif. Steven Kwon believes soybeans can save the people of Afghanistan, and he's doing something about it. Kwon works by day as a senior nutrition scientist for Nestle USA. He also runs Nutrition Education International, a nonprofit organization he started in 2003 to help reduce mortality rates in Afghanistan.

His solution: soybeans. They're high in protein and soy fiber staves off hunger. He says, quote "Seeing poor people, suffering people, you are compelled to do something from a humanitarian point of view."

Last year, his group cultivated soybeans on five acres in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan's main northern city. The crop also was planted in a dozen other provinces in April. Kwon says that if the harvest is bountiful in October, Afghan leaders would test the plants in all 32 provinces.

Afghan Police complete crime scene investigation course - June 12, 2005

Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs) By U.S. Army Capt. Cenethea R. Harrawa - Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan Public Affairs

KABUL , Afghanistan – The Afghan National Police graduated 11 police investigators from a course in crime scene investigation June 6.

Present at the graduation ceremony, held at the Kabul Police District 10 headquarters, were several key leaders of the Afghan National Police, including Maj. Gen. Abdul-Jamil Junbesh, interim chief of the Kabul City Police, Brig. Gen. Nazar Mohammad Nikzad, chief of Crime Scene Investigation, and Maj. Gen. Ahmad Zai, chief of Education.

During the ceremony Junbesh talked about the need for different types of police officers such as crime scene investigators, traffic and uniformed police, and others within the ANP, and how each plays a critical role in Afghan security.

“Today, there is a big challenge facing our security. The security of Kabul and other provinces is harmed by three main factors: terrorism, organized crime groups and warlords,” said Junbesh. “With professional attitudes and education, we can deal with warlords, arrest the criminals, and finally, deal with the terrorists and their activities.”

Nikzad and members of his CSI team, originally trained by British police officials, conducted the three-week course.

The training included classroom instruction and hands-on, practical exercises. Investigators learned about Afghan law and criminal procedures, protection and documentation of crime scenes, proper collection and preservation of evidence, crime scene photography and other fundamentals. They also completed a written examination.

The Ministry of the Interior officially designated District 10 as the “model” station for Afghan police reform because of its strategic location in the capital. “U.S. civilian police mentors assigned to the District 10 ‘model’ police station project work alongside their Afghan counterparts daily,” said Dave Barrington, a U.S. police mentor with DynCorp International.

The goals of the model police station are to: act as a test bed for new ideas; assist with equipment and infrastructure improvements; and establish a model for Afghan police reform at the district/station level.

“The CSI course is only one of many ways in which the ANP is improving their skills,” said Barrington . “Together with cooperation from the Afghan government, the Office of Military Cooperation—Afghanistan and Germany , the lead nation for Afghan National Police reform, we are making significant progress in rebuilding the capabilities of the local police.”

[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.]