Afghan police offiecrs secures the area in front of a burning international peacekeeper vehicle after a second suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 14, 2005, and just minutes before a third attempt in the same site. Two separate suicide attackers rammed cars laden with explosives into NATO peacekeepers in the Afghan capital, killing at least one German soldier and wounding eight other people. Peacekeepers opened fire to thwart a suspected third bombing attempt, killing three people. (AP Photo/Tomas Munita)
Afghan suicide blasts kill three
Kabul (Reuter) - Taliban fighters killed a German peacekeeper and two civilians in two suicide car bomb attacks in the Afghan capital on Monday, officials and witnesses said.
The blasts came close to an hour apart on the same stretch of road east of Kabul. On each occasion the attackers rammed a car into a vehicle belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"Both of the incidents were suicide acts," General Mahboub Amiri, chief of the capital's rapid reaction police force, told Reuters. Abdul Samad, a Taliban spokesman, telephoned Reuters soon after the first car bomb to claim responsibility.
The latest violence coincided with the Taliban's rejection of President Hamid Karzai's plea to them to halt the insurgency and join a national reconciliation process.
Monday's first blast killed the German soldier. "It was a suicide attack," Mohammad Akbar, a senior commander for the area, told Reuters. "One ISAF soldier has been killed, two other ISAF along with three civilians have been wounded."
In Germany, Defense Minister Peter Struck told reporters: "This attack is further evidence that we have no stable and calm situation even in the capital of Afghanistan, and further grounds for us to maintain an international troop presence."
Shortly afterwards, two civilians were killed in the second blast on the same stretch of the Jalalabad Road, the main highway out of Kabul to the east. Several ISAF contingents have bases along the road.
Police said this was also a suicide attack, adding that another two peacekeepers were wounded. Witnesses said three civilians, including a small child, had been hurt.
In Athens, a Greek Defense Ministry source said two Greek soldiers were slightly injured when insurgents attacked their vehicle just outside Kabul. Greece has 130 soldiers in the NATO-led force. The peacekeeping force, stationed in Kabul since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001, has been targeted by suicide bombers before.
Four German soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the worst such attack in 2003. Two months ago on the same road, a suicide car bomber killed more than a dozen people, most of them Afghan army officers. Monday's attack brought to 18 the number of Germans killed in attacks or accidents during peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan.
On Monday, officials reported Taliban fighters had killed at least four more people in separate attacks in the south and east. And state run television reported that seven Taliban fighters were killed in a clash with Afghan police in Kandahar overnight.
President Karzai Leaves on Trip to Vienna and Strasbourg - Date of Release: 14 November 2005
Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, left for Austria this morning to attend an international conference on Islam and Pluralism, which will be hosted by the Government of Austria in the country’s capital, Vienna, from 14 to 15 November 2005.
The President will address the conference, focusing on pluralism in Islam and the experience of Afghanistan.
The conference aims to develop dialogue and understanding between the Muslim world and other civilizations, which will be attended by heads of the Islamic states, representatives of the Islamic organizations and distinguished personalities from the Muslim world, including the former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, as well as distinguished guests from other religions and cultures.
During this visit, the President will also hold meetings with the Austrian President and Prime Minister and Head of the Austrian Parliament to discuss bilateral relations and the continuation of Austria’s assistance to Afghanistan after the completion of the Bonn process.
The President will hold a meeting with the United Nations Organization for Drug and Crime (UNODC) based in Vienna to discuss Afghanistan’s fight against cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotics.
The next highlight of the President’s trip will be the signing of the “European Union and Afghanistan Joint Declaration” of partnership for which the President and his accompanying delegation will travel to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
While in Strasbourg, the President will hold meetings with H.E. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary of Britain (currently holding the presidency of the EU), H.E. Havier Solana, EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Defense Policies and H.E. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Head of EU’s Foreign Relations Committee and discuss the continuation of EU’s assistance to Afghanistan.
The European Union and Afghanistan Joint Declaration committing to a new EU-Afghan partnership will be released once signed.
The European Union is a major donor for Afghanistan and our country will continue to need EU’s long-term assistance after the completion of the Bonn process.
The President is accompanied on this trip by H.E. Dr. Abdullah, Foreign Minister, H.E. Dr. Sayed Makhdom Rahin, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism and H.E. Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Advisor to the President on International Affairs.
Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
President Karzai Orders Accountability Week: Instructs Ministers and Government Departments to Give Account to People – Nov. 12, 2005
Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, through a special presidential order, appointed the period between 19 – 24 November 2005 as Government’s “Accountability Week” and instructed the Government of Afghanistan’s ministries and departments to give a full account of their accomplishments and activities to the public during this period.
Marking the first anniversary of the establishment of the elected Government, all ministries and government departments are to release a detailed written report on their activities and achievements over the past one year in the run-up to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s 1st anniversary.
The report must be prepared in plain language and should be widely distributed to the Afghan public. Ministers and head of departments will also be required to appear before free media to present the reports and answer questions.
The President emphasizes the importance of accountability and transparency in government work and reiterates his resolve to institutionalize accountability and transparency in the government system.
Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
President Karzai Hails the Inauguration of the Kabul City Center As a Great Success - Date of Release: 13 November 2005
Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, hailed the inauguration of the Kabul City Center as a great success and said, “It marks a quantum leap forward in Afghanistan’s efforts to encourage private investment in the country and achieve full economic growth.”
H.E. Hedayat Amin Arsala, Senior Advisor to the President and Minister of Commerce, inaugurated the Kabul City Center this morning. The Kabul City Center has been built by the Safi Group of Companies (SGC) and over US$ 35 million was expended for its construction. This landmark building, built to modern international standards, has trade, hotel and restaurant facilities.
The SGC has invested heavily in various sectors and has played a major role in the reconstruction and development of our country over the past three years. The SGC has built a twenty-storey twin tower building and eight residential complexes and has also established the Stone Crushing and Gypsum factories in Herat province.
President Karzai praised the SGC’s development activities in Afghanistan and said, “The private investment by the SGC has created good employment opportunities for the people of Afghanistan.”
Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Afghanistan to join South Asian group of nations: Indian PM
Dhaka (AFP) - Afghanistan is to join the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh told the closing session of the 13th SAARC summit.
"We welcome Afghanistan to our group," Singh said in a brief statement summarising the pledges and agreements achived by the summit.
SAARC already groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It was founded in Dhaka in 1985 with the aim of promoting economic cooperation and alleviating poverty in South Asia.
The region is home to 1.4 billion people, many of whom live below the poverty line. The 13th summit took place in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka this weekend.
Conservatives to Dominate in Afghanistan - By CARLOTTA GALL The New York Times November 13, 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sunday, Nov. 13 - Afghanistan moved closer to forming its new National Assembly on Saturday, electing provincial representatives to the upper house, or the Meshrano Jirga, and releasing final results for elections held in September for the lower house and for provincial posts.
Based on early analyses of the full results of the Sept. 18 elections, the National Assembly will be dominated by religious conservatives and jihadist figures. They may form a strong base of opposition to the president, Hamid Karzai.
Many results from the September elections had been delayed, largely because of investigations into numerous cases of election fraud.
In voting on Saturday, members of the provincial councils in 32 of the nation's 34 provinces chose two representatives from each council to sit in the Meshrano Jirga, or House of Elders, said Sultan Baheen, a spokesman for the election board.
The remaining provinces, Helmand and Kandahar, will hold elections in coming days, he said. Officials said they hoped that the country's first elected legislature in 30 years would now convene as planned on Dec. 18.
To complete the upper house, Mr. Karzai must appoint 34 representatives, or one-third of the 102 members. Half of them will be women, who are guaranteed 25 percent of the seats in the assembly under the Constitution.
The results of the September vote for the 249 members of the directly elected lower house, the Wolesi Jirga, or the House of the People, and of the provincial councils, were confirmed after officials completed an investigation of results from Kandahar Province, the home of Mr. Karzai.
On Saturday, the provincial council in Kabul chose a former mujahedeen commander and trained architect, Muhammad Afzal Ahmadzai, 47, to hold a seat in the Meshrano Jirga, with 18 votes from the 29-member council. He is a member of the opposition bloc led by Yunous Qanooni. A school headmistress from the Shiite Hazara ethnic minority, Nasreen Parsa, 38, came in second, with 10 votes.
Former Afghan commanders, Taliban, women win seats - By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Final results of Afghanistan's legislative elections show several former commanders of military factions, three old Taliban officials, women activists and several ex-communists won seats in the new parliament.
The results of the September 18 vote for the 249-seat lower house, or Wolesi Jirga, and councils in all 34 provinces were finally released on Saturday, after being delayed by a slow count and accusations of vote fraud.
"We have now completed certification of all final results for both the Wolesi Jirga and the provincial council elections," said a statement by Bissmillah Bissmil, chairman of the U.N.-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body.
Parliament is expected to sit for the first time next month in a renovated old assembly building. One of parliament's key jobs will be to approve or veto the nomination of cabinet members. An election for a new upper house is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Bissmil described the polls, the first in decades in war-torn Afghanistan, as a milestone in the country's transition to democracy.
The U.N.-organized elections were held on a non-party basis, with all 5,800 candidates running as independents, raising fears that a fragmented parliament will emerge, with members focused on parochial issues as they compete for government resources.
President Hamid Karzai has no political party and stayed out of the fray, although several supporters, including two relatives, won parliamentary seats.
Yunus Qanuni, leader of an alliance of parties opposed to the U.S.-backed president, also won a seat. The former interior and education minister in Karzai's government came a distant second to Karzai in the October 2004 presidential election.
Qanuni's brother Haji Baryali said Qanuni and his allies had hoped to win up to half the seats in parliament but it was unclear if they had achieved that goal.
Qanuni is an ethnic Tajik and a senior leader of an alliance that helped U.S.-led forces topple the Taliban in 2001, whereas Karzai is a Pashtun, the largest ethnic group and the one from which most Taliban were drawn.
The vote was mostly based on ethnic lines because of the dominance of the tribes in their respective regions. Turnout was 6.8 million of about 12 million registered voters.
Among others who won seats in the Wolesi Jirga were former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, a conservative ethnic-Tajik cleric from the north who is seen as a Karzai supporter and, according to associates, wants to become chairman of the parliament.
Several old armed faction commanders, labeled warlords and accused of war crimes by rights groups, also won seats. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, from the Shi'ite Muslim Hazara ethnic minority, won most votes in Kabul province.
Mohaqiq's faction was involved in years of civil war in the 1990s. He served as a deputy to Karzai and planning minister before losing office and is now part of Qanuni's opposition bloc.
Another winner was old faction commander Abdul Rabb Rasoul Sayyaf. A religious conservative, Sayyaf is an ethnic Pashtun and a Karzai supporter. Sayyaf denies accusations of war crimes going back to the civil war years, saying he would support an investigation.
Three prominent former Taliban won seats in parliament -- ex-commander Haji Mullah Abdul Salaam Rocketi, ex-provincial governor Mawlavi Islamuddin Mohammadi and a senior former security official, Hanif Shah Al-Hussein.
Women obtained all 68 seats reserved for them in the Wolesi Jirga, but five provincial council seats in the conservative south and east were left vacant because too few women candidates registered.
Among the victorious women was Malalai Joya, a young activist who rose to prominence during a 2003 constitutional conference when she stood up and denounced old faction commanders as criminals who should be put on trial.
Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoi, interior minister in a Soviet-backed government during the 1980s, was among several ex-communist winners.
Afghanistan to have disquieting parliament
KABUL, Nov. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The post-war Afghanistan would have a disquieting parliament as the majority of the deputies outwardly affiliating with different rival political and ethnic groups, analysts believe.
As the final certified results of the landmark parliamentary polls in the post-Taliban nation came out Saturday, it indicates the former anti-Soviet resistance leaders, warlords, remnants of erstwhile pro-Moscow backed regimes and members of Taliban outfit who had fought each other in the last two decades and more would dominate the Wolesi Jirga, or National Assembly.
Over 100 anti-Soviet resistance figures, or Mujahidin, have secured seats in the Wolesi Jirga while some 15 legislators from the then pro-Moscow regimes, a handful of Taliban's former associates, a good number of technocrats and women have found their way to the 249-seat legislative body through elections held on Sept. 18.
All the remnants of the above groups either functioning or dissolved or outlawed were involved in the ruinous 25 years of war and civil strife in the war-stricken country and fought against each other ruthlessly.
"How is it possible for Taliban's commander Mullah Rocketi, former Northern Alliance leader Yunus Qanooni, communist's general Noorul Haq Alomi and a technocrat Qayum Karzai to sit on the same chamber and approve a bill unanimously," renowned analyst Qasim Akhgar observed. However, he was of the view that a good number of the parliamentarians would compromise for their vested interests.
"We have learned from the past that both the warlords and technocrats despite differences would support each others in the parliament to further benefit from the situation and continue their domination in the society," Akhgar noted.
Mullah Abdul Salam Rocketi who earned his last name for skillfully using rocket-propelled grenade in shooting down helicopters was a dreadful Taliban commander in the last decade, while Mohammad Yunus Qanooni a political leader of the defunct Northern Alliance significantly assisted the US military to drive out Taliban regime in late 2001.
A considerable number of the elected legislators, prominent among them minority Hazara leader Hajji Mohammad Mohaqiq, Abdul Rasoul Sayyaf and Mullah Rocketi have been accused of systematic human rights abuse such as kidnapping, arresting and arbitrary killing of rivals' men during civil war.
The human right activists and the human rights watchdogs have been calling for the trial of the three persons and their associates over the past three years.
Both Mohaqiq and Sayyaf who lead their own factions, the Unity party of the people of Afghanistan and United Islamic party of Afghanistan respectively, have bagged their votes from the capitalKabul while Rocketi won from Taliban's stronghold in southern Zabul province.
Hundreds of Hazaras, the supporters of Mohaqiq had been reportedly killed by Sayaf's fellow Pashtuns, during 1992-1996 civil war only in the capital, while Rocketi from southern Zabul province allegedly committed war crimes in the north during Taliban's onslaught in late last decade.
In the meantime, the analyst did not rule out the possible unity of the warlords in the parliament for their common interestsby saying, "At last they will join hands to secure parliamentarian immunity and continue their rule in their respective areas." Akhgar emphasized while referring to warlords' fiefdoms in the countryside.
Another factor of fragmentation in the parliament as some observers believe is the presence of the young lady, Malali Joya, a strong critic of the warlords and stanch supporter of strengthening women position in the conservative society.
Joya, who got fame when she openly dared to accuse the warlords of violating human rights and ruining the country at the 2003 constitutional Loya Jirga, or Grand Assembly, recently vowed to continue her struggle for the complete disarmament of the warlords and their trial for their deeds in the past through legislation.
"Keeping in mind the legislators' past rivalry, I think the tug-of-war among them would rule the parliament for at least one or two years and thus would curtain the legislation' normal business in some extent," observed a writer Mohammad Daud Dadras.
By the way, observers were unanimous that the division among deputies would enable President Hamid Karzai to muster support from his fellow Pashtun legislators, the country's major ethnic group, technocrats and moderate parliamentarians in order to get approved of necessary bills.
"President will be able to get the essential bills ratified by the parliament as he did in the constitutional Loya Jirga," the observer stressed while referring to endorse the US-style presidential system by the majority of 502 members of constitutional Loya Jirga two years ago.
"Naturally there will be differences and opposition with the government in the parliament but I think the parliamentarians would endorse the bills if they are in conformity with the national interests," a parliamentarian and former president Burhanuding Rabbani who backs Karzai administration and is going to run for the post of speaker national assembly said. Enditem
Afghan elected officials meet for first time in three decades - Financial Times 11/11/2005 By Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
Afghanistan took another shaky step towards democracy yesterday as elected officials met for the first time in more than 30 years following September's elections for provincial councils and the lower house ofparliament.
Politicians from 33 of the country's 34 provincial councils held their first meeting to choose representatives for an upper house of parliament. United Nations-backed election authorities are still struggling to finalise poll results from the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar where there has been a deluge of complaints.
Election authorities were also preparing to announce the final make-up of the lower house of parliament in which liberal Afghan women will be far outnumbered by drug barons, warlords and Islamic conservatives.
The final results will pave the way for President Hamid Karzai to convene both houses of parliament in late December, marking the end of a four-year transition to democracy laid out shortly after the fall of the Taliban in early 2002.
Despite the milestones passed, Afghanistan still has far to travel before it has a functioning democracy. With just weeks to go before the legislature convenes its first session, many politicians remain hazy about what their jobs involve.
Amina Rasooli, 21, a journalist who was elected to Kabul's 29-member provincial council, said the body's first meeting went well but added: "We still don't know what our responsibilities are or what salaries we'll get. We may find out at the next meeting." Ms Rasooli was under the impression that the provincial councils - toothless bodies with few powers and no budget - were empowered to make laws.
"Nobody knows what the provincial councils will do, which could be a major cause for resentment as candidates have spent money on campaigns and given up jobs to run for office," said a western election expert who trained candidates running in Afghanistan's first election since 1969.
The provincial councils could provide a back door into Afghanistan's upper house as they will nominate the majority of members of the upper house, while Mr Karzai appoints the remaining seats.
Mr Karzai will then have to drum up majority support from a 249-seat lower house of parliament in which Afghan female gym instructors who returned from Iran will sit alongside MPs from the former hardline Islamic Taliban regime.
This will include winning over a large number of former Mujahideen fighters who resisted the Soviets and then plunged the country into a bloody civil war between 1992 and 1996 when the Taliban took control.
"Around 45 per cent of the parliament will be former Mujahideen, 20 per cent democrats and intellectuals and 20 per cent independents," said Nek Mohammed Kabuli, an analyst at the US-funded National Democratic Institute in Kabul. The remaining seats would be taken by former communists and Taliban leaders, he said.
Women made a stronger than expected showing in the elections with some winning seats by far larger margins than rivals backed by powerful militias.
Fauzia Gailani, who runs a chain of gyms in western Herat city, won more votes in the city than any of the supporters of powerful warlord and former governor Ismael Khan.
She said she would use her seat to promote women's rights and education and would not bow to threats. "I don't care what anybody says about me, or what kind of threats I receive, I will sit in the parliament. It must be a house for all of us, not a house of warlords."
Afghan president promulgates establishing military court
KABUL, Nov. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzaihas promulgated the establishment of military court in the Afghan National Army (ANA), Defense Ministry spokesman disclosed Sunday.
"Under a decree of President issued last month, the law for military trial in seven chapters and 18 articles has been approved and became effective," Zahir Azimi told journalists at a news conference here. Under the law, he added any personnel of ANA or Defense Ministry commits any crime would be marshaled by the court.
However, he added that the law would cover only the personnel of Afghan Defense Ministry and Afghan Army and not the US-dominated foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan. The US troops reportedly have time and again abused the Afghan detainees at the US-run detention centers in the post-war nation.
Recently a footage broadcasted by an Australian television indicated that US soldiers were burning bodies of two Taliban fighters in south Afghanistan, which violates the Islamic tradition that demanding the bodies to be covered with white clothand buried. Enditem
Afghanistan's Mojadeddi urges talks with Taliban - Yousuf Azimy
KABUL, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Talking, not fighting, is the only way to end Afghanistan's four-year-old Taliban insurgency, the head of the government's commission for national reconciliation said on Sunday.
"Talks, dialogue and negotiations...would prove fruitful for ending the war and reaching an understanding," Sibghatullah Mojadeddi told reporters after a conference aimed at exploring possible talks with the Taliban.
Participants in the government-sponsored conference included several former Taliban officials, including Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, a former foreign minister who surrendered to U.S. forces and was released after several years in custody.
Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops and NATO-led peacekeepers deployed in Afghanistan have failed to quell a low-level guerrilla war with the Taliban and their Islamist allies that has cost more than 1,100 lives this year alone.
Mojadeddi, who briefly served as Afghan president in 1992, said quelling the insurgency along Afghanistan's southern and eastern flanks had proved a difficult task.
"Despite trying so hard, and conducting many operations... neither the government or the international forces have succeeded in establishing complete peace in Afghanistan," he said. "It is difficult for continuous war to be a solution."
On Saturday President Hamid Karzai again urged Taliban and other militants to stop fighting. Karzai offered the rebels an olive branch two years ago, but only a few middle-ranking Taliban officials have joined mainstream politics.
Mojadeddi accused Muslim preachers in neighbouring Pakistan of encouraging the Taliban fighters. "Some ulema (scholars), who have no fear of God in their hearts, and say Americans are here, have a hand in this," said Mojadeddi, who led a mujahideen government-in-exile in Pakistan during the fight against Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
Mojadeddi said Pakistani army officers and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency might be helping the Taliban, probably without the knowledge of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Islamabad denies giving any support to the Taliban, who are drawn from the Pashtun tribes that straddle the Afghan-Pakistan border. Pakistan put around 80,000 troops on its border to help stop militants infiltrating into Afghanistan before parliamentary elections held there in September.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001 when U.S. forces and their Afghan allies drove the religious militia from Kabul following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Taliban kill three Afghan police in restive south
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas killed three policemen after kidnapping them in a volatile southern province, an official said on Sunday, in the latest spate of fresh violence in Afghanistan.
The trio were kidnapped from their vehicle while travelling in a district of Helmand province on Saturday night and then were shot dead, Haji Mohammad Wali, a spokesman for Helmand's governor said. A Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The U.S. military said it had no reports of casualties in response to another claim by Yousuf -- that Taliban fighters had killed five U.S. soldiers in a clash in the southern province of Zabul, another province in the south.
Southern Afghanistan was the main bastion of the Taliban before U.S.-led troops drove them from power in 2001, after their leaders refused to surrender Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
The Helmand incident was the latest in a series of attacks. At least three policemen were killed, and eight wounded in separate attacks in the south and east on Friday night. Taliban fighters were also suspected of killing a deputy provincial governor of Nimroz province on Thursday.
He was ambushed while travelling from his southern province to attend a conference in Kabul on national reconciliation. More than 1,100 people, most of them militants, but also more than 50 U.S. troops, have been killed in the insurgency this year, the bloodiest period since Taliban's fall.
Al Qaeda has appointed two Arabs as field commanders in Afghanistan - are they gaining ground silently? Balaji Reddy / India Daily / Nov. 12, 2005
What can be reason of appointing Arabs as commander of militancy in Afghanistan? Are they silently gaining gounds? According to media reports, Al Qaeda has appointed two Arabs as field commanders in Afghanistan, Pajhwak Afghan News reported Nov. 12. The group has put Khaled Habib in charge of the southeastern provinces and Abd al-Hadi Iraqi in charge of the southwestern provinces. Iraqi was commander of foreign fighters during Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and later led Arab fighters in the northern province of Takhar. Habib, reportedly from Morocco, also commanded Arab fighters during Taliban rule.
Afghan troops return from relief efforts in Pakistan November 13, 2005
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER By Air Force Staff Sgt. Victoria Meyer Office of Security Cooperation–Afghanistan Public Affairs
KABUL , Afghanistan — Twenty Afghan National Army soldiers returned to a homecoming ceremony Oct. 30 in Kabul after nearly three weeks of assisting with earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan .
Four MI-17 helicopter aircrews from the ANA Air Corps, along with their maintenance personnel and 32 ANA doctors and nurses, participated in the relief efforts.
The Afghan contributions included the ANA aircrews flying more than 270 sorties, airlifting 1,071 casualties and transporting more than 88 metric tons of supplies including food, water, blankets and medical supplies.
ANA doctors performed countless surgeries, aiding victims of the devastating earthquake, while Afghan medical personnel set up field clinics and mobile medical teams to ensure they could help as many people as possible.
The mobile teams worked out of Chenari, Pandoo and Galidopata at the same time. By the end of the mission, the teams had helped 3,770 injured people, said ANA Brig. Gen. Shamim, the medical team leader for the mission. Five U.S. servicemembers from the Office of Security Cooperation–Afghanistan accompanied the crews to Pakistan .
“The ANA aircrews deployed quickly and were among the very first to arrive in Pakistan . They filled a critical gap in airlift capability until sustainment forces could arrive,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Lipscomb, senior member of the U.S. team that accompanied the ANA. “Everyone who participated recognized the importance of this operation and was eager to help their neighbors during this tragic event.”
After coordinating with Pakistani authorities, the team moved to Sawen Koucha, where no medical care was available. There, they set up a 50-bed medical clinic and treated nearly 400 people. Several key leaders from the government of Afghanistan attended the homecoming ceremony.
Dr. Ahmad Yusuf Nooristani, first deputy Minister of Defense; Lt. Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, deputy chief of General Staff for Plans and Operations; Maj. Gen. Mohammad Zaher Azimi, assistant Minister of Defense for Parliamentary, Social Relations and Public Affairs; Maj. Gen. Dawran, Air Corps commander; Maj. Gen. Yaftali, surgeon general of the ANA, and other Defense Ministry leadership welcomed the soldiers back from Pakistan and thanked them for their service.
Leaders from the Office of Security Cooperation–Afghanistan were also on hand to welcome home the team. Air Force Maj. Gen. John T. Brennan, OSC-A chief, Army Brig. Gen. James Hirai, director of OSC-A’s Defense Reform Directorate, and others came to show their support.
They all had laudatory words for the team’s work in Pakistan . “It gives us great pride that the ANA and Afghan government were able to help the Pakistan earthquake victims,” Nooristani said.
“Once more, you brave people proved that wherever and whoever needs help throughout the world, you are ready to help them and be successful,” Nooristani said.
40 held in drive against Afghan illegals - 13 November 2005 Khaleej Times
PESHAWAR — The administration of Bajaur Agency has arrested 40 people as part of a crackdown launched on Friday against Afghan nationals residing illegally in different villages and towns of the agency.
“So far we have arrested 40 Afghan nationals,” an official of the administration said yesterday. He said that the crackdown against the illegal Afghans began late on Friday after they had failed to meet a deadline to leave the area.
The administration of North Waziristan Agency started a similar crackdown against the Afghans last Tuesday. So far more than 70 Afghan nationals have been deported to their country whereas around 60 have been detained in Miranshah and Mirali prisons.
The crackdowns are part of a wider campaign against terrorism and aimed at ridding the areas of undesirable elements.
Afghanistan is free of bird flu now: says official –
KABUL,11/13- The post-war Afghanistan is free of the bird flu epidemic so far as no case of the disease has been detected, an official of the country`s Public Health Ministry said Sunday.
"The government has taken all precautionary measures to check the possible out break of the bird flu in the country and that is why no case of epidemic has been registered so far," Mohammad Ismael Kawsi, director of the press department at the Health Ministry, told Xinhua.
His comment came amid reported outbreak of the disease in some countries in the region and bulk import of chicken to the post- conflict central Asian state. "Anyone can buy and eat the chicken available in bazaar here without any fear," the official said.
"We are strictly checking the import of chicken in order to prevent the possible spread of the disease to the poor and war- shattered country," he added.
The official moreover said that the Ministry for Public Health giving public awareness through television and radio, has asked people to contact the nearest department of Health Ministry as well as the Ministry for Agriculture and Livestock if they find any sign of bird flu in their areas.
Commenting on the sign of the disease, Kawsi said that saliva and shedding tears from the beak and eyes of a bird speak of the outbreak of the epidemic in a region.
When his attention was drawn towards the possible spread of bird flu through migrant birds passing over Afghanistan, the Afghan official said Public Health Ministry had already asked people to take any dead ducks or cranes to the nearest health or agricultural department for examination if they found anywhere in the country.
"The country is free of bird flu and to keep on clean it, both the Ministries of Public Health and Agriculture in coordination with World Health Organization (WHO) are doing their best to check the possible outbreak of the disease here," Kawsi said.
Afghans conduct major training exercise near Kandahar - November 12, 2005 COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan National Army soldiers are participating in Operation Atal Wali, a major training exercise, in southern Afghanistan until Nov. 20.
The exercise includes training designed for both soldiers on the ground conducting combat operations and for their leadership in the unit’s headquarters.
The exercise is comprised of two parts. During the live-fire training portion, squads, companies and finally the battalion itself learn to fire their weapons in a coordinated manner. The second portion is the command post exercise in which the unit’s command and staff react to different combat situations.
“We’ve created this training program to mirror the same rigorous standards and realism U.S. forces face at the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Germany prior to their deployment here,” said Capt. Beau Garrett, a Combined Joint Task Force-76 operation’s officer. “This is the first time an Afghan National Army unit has been ‘validated’ and we hope that when they will take note of these training methods and continue to use them to train their forces.”
So similar are the training standards to those faced by U.S. forces at CTMC that professional observers/controllers, or OCs, were flown in for the exercise.
“This is an Afghan led operation, their leaders will determine what areas the unit needs to focus on and what operations the units are already conducting at a proficient level,” Garrett said. “The OCs we’ve brought here for the mission are simply tools their commanders can use to take an impartial look at their operations. The OCs just watch the unit perform it’s mission and it, during and after the operation, facilitates discussions about how those missions were conducted and how they could be better conducted in the future.
“This training is not only tough and challenging, it’s also realistic,” Garrett said. “Many of the scenarios that will be presented to the command are based on actual operations and incidents here in Afghanistan . They are situations the Afghan command and staff will find themselves facing, only here they have the opportunity to re-look the decisions they made safely without the normal risks that are associated with today’s modern battlefield.” The exercise involves more then 500 Afghan soldiers and nearly 100 U.S. forces.
Press Briefing by Adrian Edwards
Spokesperson for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General
Kabul – 14 November 2005
- International Day of Tolerance
This week, on November 16 th, the international community is marking International Day of Tolerance, with activities directed towards educational establishments and the wider public.
The purpose in marking this day is to focus attention on the need for tolerance as an essential condition of peace, democracy and development. The 1995 Declaration on Principles of Tolerance and the Millennium Declaration of 2000 both point to the fundamental importance of tolerance as a human value and its role in replacing the culture of war with culture of peace.
In a message for this occasion, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stressed this year that the need for tolerance is greater today than at any previous time.
Training for legal aid workers in international human rights law
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, International Labour Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNAMA are this week and next conducting training for Afghan legal aid workers on international law. The training, in two week-long sessions, is being provided to 60 staff of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s legal aid offices around Afghanistan.
The aim is to promote knowledge and understanding of the international treaties to which Afghanistan is party. These include the two international conventions on civil, political and economic, social and cultural rights, the convention on rights of the child, the convention on eliminating discrimination against women, and the conventions on torture and racial discrimination.
- RTA, UNICEF teaming to produce children’s programmes
To promote TV for children in Afghanistan the UN Children’s Fund has in the past few days provided $112,000 worth of equipment to Radio Television Afghanistan, for distribution by RTA to 35 stations around the country.
The equipment includes high-quality cameras, VCRs, TV monitors, cassettes and tapes. This support was provided for under a Memorandum of Understanding between UNICEF and the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism signed earlier this year.
Since the start of this year, more than 80 journalists from the provinces have taken part in UNICEF-supported workshops and seminars, examining issues including the ethical reporting of children, understanding children’s rights, and practical elements of developing children’s programmes.
Click here to read the UNICEF press release.
- WFP pre-positioning of food in advance of winter
The United Nations World Food Programme is continuing its winter food pre-positioning to remote and inaccessible areas of Afghanistan.
The pre-positioning of 23,000 tonnes of food - now almost 94 per cent complete - will ensure that 500,000 vulnerable Afghans living in remote, food-insecure, and potentially snowbound areas have sufficient food during winter.
Ten thousand tons of food has already been distributed in Badakhshan, Baghlan, Takhar, Balkh, Faryab, Samangan, Sari Pul, Kunar, Bamyan, Daikundi, Zabul, Laghman, and Nangarhar provinces. Within the next month many of these areas are expected to become inaccessible.
- Global Micro-entrepreneurship awards come to Afghanistan
This coming Saturday, November 19 th, the Afghan winners of the Global Micro-entrepreneurship Awards will be announced at a ceremony at the Serena Hotel in Kabul. This national business competition is part of the United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005.
The aim of the Micro-entrepreneurship awards is to promote small business, and especially to recognize micro-entrepreneurs who are helping to lift the fortunes of their communities.
Prizes are being awarded in categories relating to agriculture, war widows, ex-combatants, alternative livelihoods, business outside Kabul, and returnees/refugees.
The programme has been coordinated by UNDP, the Afghan Microfinance Association, and the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan. More than 30 countries have taken part in the global awards programme.
- Ammunition Survey shows increase
The Afghan New Beginnings Programme advises us that 665,000 boxes of ammunition and 2.2 million individual items of ammunition have now been surveyed. This represents an increase of 47,000 boxes of ammunition and 412,000 individual items of ammunition from the figures we were last able to provide you with on October 3. Most of the unboxed ammunition is being destroyed, while the usable portion will be handed over to the Afghan National Army.
- Former DDR-ed Officers given extension to report to ANBP regional offices
The ANBP and the Ministry of Defence have extended the reintegration deadline, to November 30 th, for former officers who were unable to report to ANBP regional offices earlier.
Questions & Answers
Question: Following the announcement of the results for the Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections, does the UN or UNAMA have a message for the people of Afghanistan?
Spokesperson: We are naturally very pleased that the Provincial Council and Wolesi Jirga [parliamentary] elections have been finalized. As you know, however, the whole process isn’t fully complete until the Meshrano Jirga [Upper House] is also fully constituted. At this stage I don’t think it is appropriate for us to make a final comment.
Question: Some of the members of parliament are going to be trained abroad. Do you have any comment to make?
Spokesperson: With the elections nearly complete a great deal of work now lies ahead in getting these institutions up and properly running. Training is clearly a part of that. But there is much more to be done.
Question: What are your plans regarding the training of the members of parliament?
Spokesperson: There are a number of projects currently being coordinated. It is something we intend to provide you with information about in the very near future.
Question: Is this training to be held inside or outside of the country?
Spokesperson: For that I think you best ask our colleagues in the Parliamentary Secretariat.
Question: Does the UN have any concern regarding the future of the parliament, or the combination regarding the makeup of the Parliament? It seems that many of the new members are warlords who have infiltrated the Parliament?
Spokesperson: I’m not sure I would agree with the word infiltrated, I think ‘elected’ is the way people have arrived in Parliament. I’ve seen analysis as to what kind of parliament it would be, both suggesting that it will be dominated by people opposed to President Karzai and the opposite: that it will be dominated by people who support him. Clearly in a democracy you want to have differences in a parliament – that’s what you need and that’s what you would expect. This is a new parliament, and clearly there will be much to learn for all those going through this process. But we will have to see how it goes, rather than pass judgment at this stage.
Iran, Afghanistan to hold joint trade fairs - Birjand, South Khorasan, Nov 12, IRNA
Commerce Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi said here Saturday that to further promote exports of non-oil from South Khorasan province, Iran will invite Afghan traders and businessmen to hold joint trade exhibitions to showcase the potentials of the two countries.
Speaking to IRNA, he said that one billion rials has been allocated for the purpose which will provide significant opportunity for promoting export between the two countries.
There are untapped economic potentials in the province which can be utilized with support from provincial as well as state officials, he said. "We should take advantage of all existing capabilities to attain the real economic status of the province," he said.
South Khorasan province with about 400 kilometer of common border with Afghanistan is considered as an economic hub in the region capable of creating wide scale employment, he said.
Expansion of agricultural activities, telecommunications as well as broadening the authorities of some administrative offices in the province are some ways of reducing existing problems in the province, he pointed out.
Modernized and fully-equipped customs houses could help further promote exports from the province, he underlined. "As soon as the ratifications on customs formalities are finalized, we would witness significant economic growth in the province," said the minister.
Recovering from Afghanistan’s 27 Year Hurricane - John R. Thomson & Dr. Lyle R. Jackson National Interest
Afghanistan has suffered perhaps the most violent existence of any country in the world for the quarter century following a 1979 communist coup. Successive calamities included a genocidal Soviet occupation costing 240 Afghan lives every day for ten years, followed by an eight year Islamo-fascist Taliban dictatorship that rendered the country the world’s second poorest society.
In sheer desperation, Afghan farmers have turned to the cultivation of poppies to earn enough money to support their families at borderline subsistence levels, causing another unsavory distinction: Afghanistan produces 90% of the world’s opium and heroin. Despite illegal poppy earnings, the nutritional picture remains bleak indeed, with more than 40% of Afghans below the poverty line.
That’s the very bad news. The good news: the means exist simultaneously to provide important nourishment to Afghans and an economically viable replacement to raising poppies. The solution is at once low cost and effective in rebuilding the Afghan economy. But first, a closer look at current Afghan nutritional and economic conditions.
Afghan mothers and fathers continually confront the question, “How will we feed our children?” The issue is a matter of life and death in a country that consumes fewer than 1700 calories daily per person, less than any other country in Asia. Comparisons are stark indeed: undernourished North Koreans consume 2300 calories daily; Americans, about 3600. In addition, the average Afghan family spends a whopping 70-80 cents of every dollar earned on food, compared with 11 cents for Americans. This situation leads to a number of catastrophic outcomes.
For the most part, Afghan calories consist of cereals and vegetables, with protein the costliest and smallest part of the diet. Only the wealthy can afford daily eggs, meat and milk. The result: Afghan children are stunted, leading to small adult women who have great difficulty during childbirth and to infant, child and maternal mortality rates among the highest in the world. Women starve themselves during pregnancy in order to deliver a small infant and survive, with mental retardation and immune-compromised children the result. A generation of good nutrition is needed to reverse the tragic results of protein deficiency.
Currently, 82% of all Afghan families own livestock, the very protein that could alleviate this dire situation, begging the question, “Why is this not happening?” War, drought and ongoing disease, have shrunk the Afghan herd to about 20 million head, two-thirds the size in 1979; while during the same period, the population has grown by a third. The result is that ‘protein on the hoof’ is very expensive and domestic resources limited.
Most of the deficiency is bought from neighboring Pakistan at premium prices. Estimates are that over one billion dollars per year is exported to import cattle for slaughter and consumption – in a country whose gross national income totals just $5.5 billion dollars. Afghans “export” a crucial 18% of the country’s national income to Pakistan every year and yet remain malnourished. Domestic consumption would at least help rebuild the local economy.
One billion dollars lost to the domestic economy is effectively a destructive, regressive tax destroying Afghanistan’s ability to rise out of poverty. In percentage terms, this is comparable to the U.S. economy paying a staggering $2.2 trillion dollars of its $12.2 trillion gross national income (GNI) , 11 times greater than the projected $200 billion cost of hurricane Katrina ... every year.
Afghanistan’s agrarian economy accounts for 80% of domestic product and employment. Afghan families so far vainly seek a legal, life-sustaining field or animal cash crop. Cattle are potentially the highest yielding but the family’s welfare is placed at significant hazard because of the epidemic scourge of uncontrolled Foot and Mouth Disease in addition to other common but uncontrolled diseases. These diseases are responsible for up to 90% mortality of the calf, lamb and kid crops annually.
As a result thousands of Afghan farmers have turned to poppies to increase family income. Although anathema to their Islamic faith, farmers have long cultivated poppies as a fall back, as one told us “to provide medicine, clothes and food for our children”. In the main, they cannot and will not give up poppies until a realistic alternative is available.
Afghan farmers are not committed to cultivating poppies. In 2004, with no realistic options for family income alternatives and based primarily on weak general threats of poppy destruction, planted poppy acreage was down 20%. However, it is inhumane and politically unfeasible to eradicate the poppy crop by aerial application of specially developed herbicide, as some have argued. Leaving aside family devastated income issues, the poppy-opium-heroin industry accounts for 60% of the Afghan economy and alternative activities must be in place before the industry is destroyed, if the entire economy is not to sink deep into bankruptcy and the population revolt.
Fortunately, the solution is at hand: a low cost, self-liquidating vaccination program that enables a rapidly increasing national herd to push poppy production off the agricultural map. The livestock herd can be supplementally nourished on open rangeland, comprising 80% of agriculturally useful acreage. This rangeland resource can only be used for grazing and is capable of supporting 60 million head – three times the existing herd -- compared with just 20% of scarce arable land for field cash crops. This 80-20 split argues that animal and not plant proteins, will always be the most practical nutritional solution as there is simply not enough arable land available.
Agriculture is by far the country’s largest economic sector and it is axiomatic that livestock could once again be Afghan farmers’ most favored activity if it were less hazardous. Moreover, farmers can earn an even better return from calves, lambs and kids leaving their fields in hay instead of winter cropping poppies. As more fields are planted in hay to meet the increased livestock demand, it is counterproductive to plow them up for winter poppies as is done with other crops like wheat, as hay provides two crops annually and is usually only rotated after several years. Livestock and hay combined provide an attractive, legal livelihood that can be relied on, year after year, without the risk of [poppy] crop eradication.
A few hundred dollars per family in tax relief fuels significant economic gains in the United States. If the $1 billion spent annually to import livestock from Pakistan remained within the Afghan economy, the benefits would be even more dramatic. Circulating through the hands of four million Afghan households, this represents $250 per family, about 2 additional months’ income.
This re-circulated income creates a seven-to-one multiplier effect as families with more disposable income demand more goods and services, and create a self-repeating cycle: the ‘wealth effect’. The foregoing may be basic Adam Smith, but it is important not to take for granted this tremendous free market benefit.
Only when Afghan labor creates income that exceeds basic survival needs can there be any accumulation of national wealth to invest in improved living standards, education, infrastructure, security, and government. Without significant disposable income neither Afghan families nor their government can operate at more than the begging bowl level.
At present growth rates, it would take nearly two decades for the Afghan herd to be sufficient to feed the population adequately – two more decades, effectively, of numberless hurricane Katrinas. With the application of modest veterinary health measures applied across the country, the national herd could reach self-sufficiency within 5-6 years.
The plan is simple:
1. Establish a countrywide cold storage system utilizing existing coalition Provincial Reconstruction Team sites for secure, refrigerated vaccine distribution.
2. Stock this readymade distribution network with a custom Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine, now readily available.
3. Also stock the cold storage system with existing available vaccines, currently in very limited distribution.
4. Launch a countrywide vaccination campaign, initially targeting the strategic cattle herd, wherein Afghan veterinarians buy the vaccines at a subsidized price, and herdsmen pay veterinarians to inject their animals.
5. Eliminate vaccine subsidies over five years, making the program progressively self-sufficient.
The above program is not a “handout” to farmers; rather, it is accessible, affordable and sustainable free enterprise. The cost of this five year, national herd health program is estimated at $40 million, a fraction of existing alternative livelihood strategies.
Such a sharp fiscal upturn would go far to stabilizing Afghanistan’s crushed economy and is a necessity before other economic sectors -- natural resources, minerals and manufacturing -- can develop. In short, as was often said during the 1990s in the United States, “It’s the economy, stupid”.
Taliban and Al Qaeda anti-democrats will find it difficult indeed to oppose a program that simultaneously brings malnutrition, income instability, and poppy cultivation under control. Their alternatives are simply unacceptable. Should they try to stop the program, the people turn even more against them. Should they passively stand by as individual family health and wealth improve dramatically, they become totally irrelevant.
The foregoing free enterprise solution will do more to fix Afghanistan’s problems than divisions of soldiers and numberless NGOs. After nearly three decades, Afghans will no longer have to struggle to survive. The worldwide scourge of heroin and opium consumption will be dealt a crippling blow.
In the drawn-out, difficult work of rebuilding the ruined Afghan society, results hardly get any better than that. John R. Thomson, a long time resident of the Near East, visited Afghanistan prior to last month’s parliamentary elections. Veterinarian Lyle R. Jackson is a Colonel in the US Army Reserve who has devoted the past three years to studying the plight of livestock farmers in Afghanistan. [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.]
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