In this bulletin:

• Six children killed in rocket attack on Afghan school
• Karzai signs accords with India
• Let us fight terrorism together: Manmohan
• Afghanistan for close ties with India, Pakistan
• India, Afghanistan for joint fight against terror; want Pak in it
• Karzai rolls red carpet for Indian industry
• Karzai inaugurates 'Festival of Afghanistan'
• Two ministers brief MPs on achievements, future plans
• Ahadi promises raise in salaries of govt employees
• New Zealand Troops to Stay in Afghanistan
• In Canada, A Cautious Debate on Afghan Role
• Afghan debate not really a debate
• Afghan bombers 'ready for UK troops'
• South Asian grouping to discuss Afghanistan, China, Japan issue
• Pro-Taliban Pakistani tribals offer Musharraf talks
• Afghanistan's fine balance: narco-economy or narco-state? Jeffrey Simpson
• ‘Pakistan did not influence 9/11 probe’

Six children killed in rocket attack on Afghan school

Kabul (AFP) - Six young children were killed in Afghanistan and 14 others wounded when a rocket slammed into a primary school in an attack police blamed on remnants of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies.

Two rockets were fired into Asadabad Tuesday, the capital city of Kunar province, and one hit a school in the grounds of a mosque, killing six students aged between seven and 10, deputy police chief Mohammad Hassan Farahi.

He said the rockets were fired from across the border in Pakistan, and it was not immediately clear what the target was. The mosque is close to an Afghan army base and a compound used by international troops.

"The rocket attack at a school today martyred six students," Farahi told AFP. Another 14 were wounded, he said. They were taken to a hospital at a US-led military coalition base for treatment.

The children had been studying in an open area in the grounds of the Salar mosque because they did not have a proper school building. Most of the casualties were caused by shrapnel, he said.

The second rocket did not cause casualties. Farahi blamed the attack on the "enemies of Afghanistan", a term Afghan officials often use to refer to remnants of Taliban regime ousted in late 2001 and their Al-Qaeda allies.

Kunar is the area worst hit in the country's east by violence blamed mostly on a Taliban-led insurgency launched after the hardline Islamist regime was toppled in 2001 by a US-led invasion.

The province shares a long, porous border with a restive Pakistan tribal belt believed to be home to Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders and fighters behind the insurgency.

Schools have frequently been set ablaze in restive south and southeastern Afghanistan in attacks linked to the Taliban. Under the strict 1996-2001 rule of the Taliban, girls were forbidden to go to school or leave their homes without a male family member.

At least two dozen schools, some newly built under Afghanistan's reconstruction programme, have been destroyed in the past six months. Several education officials, including teachers, have been killed but children have seldom died.

Taliban fighters were also blamed for another bombing Tuesday, with five people including a 10-year-old child wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Jalalabad city, the capital of Nangarhar province that borders Kunar.

The bomb ripped through a Toyota station-wagon in a crowded main road about a kilometre from the city centre, provincial police spokesman Ghafor Khan told AFP.

The Taliban movement has been waging an insurgency since they were ousted by the invasion that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States blamed on Al-Qaeda, which was sheltered by the Taliban.

Karzai signs accords with India – BBC

Afghanistan and India have signed three agreements on education and rural development during a visit to Delhi by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. President Karzai held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as part of the visit which is aimed at boosting relations, especially economic ties.

Delhi is one of Kabul's leading donors and has spent over $500m since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001. President Karzai will also visit the southern software hub of Hyderabad. He is accompanied by 10 ministers as well as a group of Afghan businessmen.

After his talks with the prime minister, President Karzai thanked India for its assistance. "The co-operation between us will definitely benefit our people," he said at a news conference.

Indian officials say the country's ties with Afghanistan are very important to Delhi. India is helping rebuild Afghanistan's infrastructure with regular contributions in sectors like education, health care, communications and power. Delhi is also involved in the training of Afghanistan's civil servants, diplomats and police officers.

During a visit to Kabul by Manmohan Singh last year - the first by an Indian prime minister in nearly three decades - India announced that it would build the new Afghanistan parliament building.

Afghanistan has great strategic value to India especially as it is a gateway to Central Asia, a region India wants to tap to fuel its growing energy demands. But Delhi also wants to counter the influence of its regional rival Pakistan in Afghanistan. While Pakistan was a major supporter of the Taleban regime, India backed the Northern Alliance which overthrew it.

Let us fight terrorism together: Manmohan - The Hindu 4.11.06

NEW DELHI: India, Afghanistan and Pakistan should pool their experience and knowledge to effectively deal with terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday.

At a joint press conference with the visiting Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, here, Dr. Singh said India had been a victim of terrorism for nearly 20 years. "Terrorism today is a menace which plagues many countries. And, in our region, both India and Afghanistan have suffered a great deal."

Pointing out the new dimensions of the problem, Dr. Singh said: "I find in our region that even Pakistan is not immune from terrorism." Mr. Karzai said Afghanistan needed to work with India and other neighbours to tackle the problem.

Asked whether Pakistan was part of the problem, he said Afghanistan had been talking to its Pakistani "brothers.'' They were continuing the discussions and hoped to find a more effective way of fighting the menace.

On the possibility of Pakistan granting transit rights for Indian goods to enter Afghanistan, Dr. Singh said he had not given up hope.

He had raised the transit issue with both Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Mr. Karzai, Dr. Singh said. Mr. Karzai was hopeful that a day would come when Indian goods entered Afghanistan via Pakistan.

Dr. Singh announced that India would provide additional assistance worth $50 million to Afghanistan. With this, New Delhi's total financial commitment to Kabul would be $650 million. Of this, $200 million was already spent on different projects.

Commending Mr. Karzai for bringing a large business delegation with him, he said: "We would like to encourage such interaction [between businesspersons] ... in order to encourage trade and investment ties."

India would consider establishing a line of credit for $50 million.

Afghanistan for close ties with India, Pakistan - April 11, 2006 - UPI

Afghanistan on Tuesday said that it favoured a tripolar structure of cooperation involving India and Pakistan for economic betterment and quicker progress of the region.

"The tripolar structure of cooperation among India, Pakistan and Afghanistan would release the best energy of this region and bring quicker progress and economic betterment to it," Afghan President Hamid Karzai said at a breakfast meeting with editors in New Delhi.

Karzai said he had discussed this issue during talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who held the same view as well. "It is something that we really need. We should not see this as political one," Karzai, who is on a three-day visit, said.

On whether the transit problem faced by India in reaching goods to Afghanistan via Pakistan had been sorted out, Karzai said he would pursue the matter with Islamabad. New Delhi has been complaining about Pakistan not allowing transit facilities for its goods to Afghanistan, forcing New Delhi to take a longer and expensive route.

When pointed out that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had linked giving such a facility to the resolution of the Kashmir problem, Karzai evaded a direct reply, saying it was an issue between India and Pakistan. India has outright rejected Musharraf's suggestion contending that while it favoured the resolution of all outstanding issues, it cannot accept any such conditions.

Karzai said Afghanistan wanted India and Pakistan to sort out their problems. Even if the Kashmir problem was not solved, they should address other issues in a manner that will benefit the people of the region.

Asked if Pakistan is doing enough to combat terrorism, he said it was working together with the rest of the international community. "What we want is a more effective fight on all sides. All partners should carry more effective fight against terrorism. With more coordination and more exchange of information, we will be making much more progress," he said.

About Musharraf being upset with him over reports from Kabul that Taliban and al Qaeda militants continued to operate from Pakistani soil, Karzai said, "Musharraf and I have a very close relationship. We are friends and between friends at times there are moments when frank words are exchanged...I will give him a call within a few days."

India, Afghanistan for joint fight against terror; want Pak in it -
April 10, 2006 23:34 IST – Rediff

Sharing concerns over the recent spurt in terrorism in Afghanistan, India and Afghanistan Monday agreed on a collective fight against the menace and sought Pakistan's cooperation.

With Pakistan continuing to deny transit facility to Indian goods destined for Afghanistan, Kabul proposed that India set up production facilities in that country for catering to the host nation and Central Asia.

During the 90-minute talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, India raised concerns over security of hundreds of its personnel engaged in reconstruction and other projects in Afghanistan and received assurances of their safety from Kabul.

Noting that terrorism has afflicted both India and Afghanistan for several years and even Pakistan was not immune to it, Dr Singh and Karzai agreed that it needed to be fought collectively as it posed a "great threat to civilization".

Dr Singh stressed the need for intelligence sharing, pooling knowledge and experience to fight terrorism together as he noted that even Pakistan is not immune to it.

"We will cooperate with any nation that cooperates with us to fight terrorism. All countries of the region are affected and I hope all countries of the region will join hands to fight the menace," Karzai said.

Karzai rolls red carpet for Indian industry - Financial Express

New Delhi, April 10  President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai on Monday urged the Indian industry to cash in on the one-window approval of business projects and set up manufacturing bases in the country in diverse areas like cement, oil & gas, electricity and services such as hotels, banking and communications.

Addressing a meeting of the three apex chambers, Ficci, CII and Assocham, Mr Karzai said: “Afghanistan has adopted a free market philosophy and has enacted laws that facilitate business activity while at the same time fully protecting them.”

The Afghan president said Afghanistan was experiencing extremely high rates of economic growth during the last four years, starting with a 28% growth in 2002-03. In 2005-06 a growth of 14% was achieved and expectations are that in the current year a growth of 12% to 13 % would be surpassed.

Karzai inaugurates 'Festival of Afghanistan' - PTI

Exquisite Afghan handicrafts, stones and woodwork can be seen and the cuisine of the country tasted here for six days, thanks to the first ever Afghan festival which is being held here.

'The Festival of Afghanistan', showcasing the culture, cuisine and handicrafts of the country, was inaugurated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai here today.

The festival brings together under one roof specials like Kandari and Ghazni stones, Aisha Aziz's Afghan stones, Silk Chapans (Afghan Jackets), clothings by Sara Afghan, Hanifa and Nasima's Silk Scarves and pottery.

Images of centuries old Bamiyan Buddha, destroyed by the Taliban regime in 2001, have also been showcased at the festival as a reminder of the change in the Afghan Government's culture policy. Among the delicacies on display are the famed baked pastry and confectionaries.

Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, Charge d' Affairs of Afghan Embassy Abdul Hai Khurasani, Indian Council for Cultural Relations Chairperson Karan Singh, Minister in Waiting Suresh Pachauri and a number of Afghans living here were present on the occasion.

A troupe of Afghan dancers performed the national dance of the country as part of the festival. Afghanistan's Deputy Minister for Information, Culture and Tourism Nasrullah Stanekzai welcomed the Afghan artists and guests.

Two ministers brief MPs on achievements, future plans - Pajhwok Report

KABUL, Apr 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Minister for Energy and Water Ismail Khan, Water and Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister Mohammad Ehsan Zia on Sunday informed the parliament about their accomplished goals and futuristic plans as a paramount step of the vote of confidence. 

 Ismail Khan first appeared before the parliament and confronted with volley of questions from the MPs. On this occasion, the minister-designate made some vows and more explanations about his achievements.

The minister-designate said he would enhance the current 250-megawatt electricity to 940 and power consumers to 2.5 million from the existing 410,000 by 2015, according to the ten-year plan chalked out by the ministry.

Ismail, who has been minister for Energy and Water since late 2004 and is now again nominated by President Hamid Karzai to the same position, faced tough criticism for being so slow in reconstruction of dams and provision of electricity.

The minister said 65 per cent of families, 25 per cent in the countryside, and 90 per cent of offices would get power by 2010, according to the plan, which he said was meant to bring quick improvements in fields of energy and water.

Responding to a query, he said importing of power from neighbouring countries was an important plan as it was a common practice throughout the world.

"In order not to stay backward, we need to import power from our neighbours until we may be self-sufficient in power at home," the minister-designate added.

He said the need for electricity of Kabul would be hugely met by October 2008 when the importing power from Uzbekistan had reached the capital from where it would be extended to eastern provinces.

Reconstruction of Kabul's power system would take $72 million since it had been damaged badly, he said, adding passing through Hairatan port, the Uzbekistan power would also light up Pul-e-Khumri, Sherberghan, Samangan, Baghlan, Bamyan, Parwan, Jalalabad, Gardez, Paktika and some other provinces in the north, centre, east and southeast.

Ismail said Tajikistan and Turkmenistan would also import 300 megawatts of power to Afghanistan, according to an agreement signed.

He said his ministry would implement 108 projects in the next 10 years that would need $8.175 billion. Also, it will need $4.475 billion to be invested in the energy sector while $3.4 billion would be required for the water projects in the 10-year term. The minister termed implementation of the plan as a way to long-term solution of the power problem.
Ismail Khan was governor, actually self-styled emir, of the western Herat province during the early 1990s and after the fall of the Taliban since President Karzai brought him to his cabinet in late 2004. He has been known as veteran mujahideen commander who practiced influential power in his former fiefdom in Herat. 

In his turn, Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister-designate Muhammad Ehsan Zia promised to extend reconstruction projects to all villages in the countryside in five years.

Zia, who has been working so far as deputy minister, his priority would be to extend the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) to all rural areas in the country and promote the culture of handicrafts as a source of income to reduce poverty.

A barrage of questions were put to Zia regarding his ability to keep transparency in the ministry's works, sufficiency of the NSP projects, fairness, delay in the scheduled reconstruction ventures and quality of monitoring of funds and works of the ministry.

NSP has been a key initiative of the government involved in building infrastructure of the war-shattered country, mainly schools, hospitals, roads, dams and others. The program targets mostly rural areas and the last objective is to reach every village.

Zia said as to ensure transparency the ministry's works were monitored first by local villagers who were the direct beneficiaries of NSP projects, then by provincial officials and finally by the 150-strong monitoring team in Kabul.

To a question that NSP projects were implemented according to the governmental team's choice, Zia said only people were deciding about the reconstruction schemes in their villages without any obligation from the government. 

Zia said his ministry was running a roadbuilding project jointly with the public works ministry to construct roads linking districts to provincial headquarters.

Khan and Zia were the ninth and 10th proposed ministers to brief the parliament as a first phase of voted of confidence. President Hamid Karzai has submitted his 25-member cabinet to the parliament for trust vote which is yet to start.

Ahadi promises raise in salaries of govt employees

KABUL, Apr 8 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Finance Minister Anwarul Haq Ahadi was the seventh member of the new cabinet grilled by MPs on what they called large-scale corruption and embezzlement of funds in the ministry, higher taxes, low salaries of government employees and delay in provision of ministries' budget.

Responding to questions, the minister, who is awaiting a vote of confidence from the 249-seat lower house of parliament, said plan was underway to raise wages of all government employees. He said the ministry had set the limit between $75 and $500 as per designation and responsibilities of each serviceman.

At the same time, he hinted at hurdles in way of rationalisation of salaries and said the donors, who provided budget for salaries of staff, did not agree. The average salary of government employees is not exceeding $50.

He said they were doing their utmost to bring improvements in all areas but there were numerous hurdles which often delay the change. Regarding the mounting complaints, Ahadi said it was the dilemma of all poor countries, where expectations were high vis--vis meagre resources.

"Our domestic income is not as much to provide salaries for the government employees; however, we plan to provide relief to the salaried class by bringing the levels between $75 and $500 during the next five years," promised the minister.

On the high rate of income tax, the minister said revenues from taxes and customs were very low. However, tax rate could be reduced if the investors and rest of people cooperated with the government.

On the issue of corruption, Ahadi said his ministry could not be singled out. Corruption was a collective problem and efforts were underway to purge all ministries and governmental departments of that social evil.

Regarding mismanagement of funds, the minister said since 80 per cent of foreign aid was spent through non-governmental organisations over the past four years, hence, the ministry had no idea of any embezzlement.

Earlier, apprising the parliamentarians of the achievements of his ministry over the past four years, Ahadi said income tax and custom revenue laws had been formed to raise the domestic revenues and ensure transparency in management of funds.

New Zealand Troops to Stay in Afghanistan - Mon Apr 10

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand troops will remain in Afghanistan to support security and reconstruction efforts for another 17 months, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday.

Some 120 troops involved in provincial reconstruction in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, northeast of the capital Kabul, will continue operating there until September 2007, she said.

"We think the assistance it provides is valuable to Afghanistan. I think the whole world community has an interest in Afghanistan not deteriorating as it did prior to Sept. 11 (2001) as a haven for terrorist activities," she told reporters.

In Canada, A Cautious Debate on Afghan Role - By Doug Struck Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, April 11

TORONTO, April 10 -- Canadian lawmakers joined Monday in a show of patriotic support for the nation's troops in Afghanistan, tiptoeing around public opinion polls that show deep division over the increase in the force there and distrust of involvement with the U.S. military operations.

Canada's first open parliamentary debate on Afghanistan, which the government had feared would undercut backing for the military's growing role, turned instead into a parade of support for Canada's efforts.

In a prelude to the unusual session, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged that the Canadian force in Afghanistan, which has grown to 2,200, "will be there in some form for the next few years." He declined to promise to bring the issue to a parliamentary vote.

Since Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in February 2002, 11 soldiers have died. But the danger of the mission has grown as troop levels have risen this year with Canada's planned assumption of command of the 6,000 NATO troops there, and with the move of Canadian troops to the volatile Kandahar region.

Opinion polls have shown the public evenly divided over Canada's presence in Afghanistan. Critics have seized on Canadian antipathy toward U.S. militarism. Dawn Black, a member of the House of Commons from the New Democratic Party, said Canada should avoid operating with the United States, "a country with a demonstrated and recent record of abuse."

"The mission has turned into a counterinsurgency mission. The risks are much higher than we were told," she said on the House floor in Ottawa in Monday's debate.

Although the military commitment was made by the previous Liberal-led government, Harper's Conservative Party advocates a more robust military and closer cooperation with the United States.

"We will stay the course," said Gordon O'Connor, the defense minister. "Canada is in Afghanistan to protect the security and prosperity of Canadians. Our security begins very far from our borders."

Harper, who took office in January, agreed to the debate after concluding that most members of Parliament would publicly support the mission. He got a boost this past weekend when some Canadian papers ran interviews from Afghanistan in which purported Taliban leaders labeled the Canadian will as "weak."

Canadians regularly boast of their reliable presence in U.N. peacekeeping operations, and the Afghanistan mission was largely noncontroversial when it was seen as part of that peacekeeping role. But the Canadian news media this year began sending journalists regularly to Afghanistan, and they reported that troops were doing more fighting than peacekeeping or rebuilding.

Despite the polite show of support on the Commons floor Monday night for Harper's position, nagging questions were raised during the debate.

Experts in international law have told the lawmakers that Canadian soldiers who turn over arrested Taliban insurgents to Afghanistan's government might be indirectly liable for war crimes if those insurgents are tortured by Afghan or U.S. authorities.

Critics said the U.S. record on treatment of prisoners made Canadian soldiers vulnerable and called for an agreement that would prevent insurgents captured by the Canadians from being given over to the Americans.

Afghan debate not really a debate

Parties support troops; NDP queries POW rule – Mike Blanchfield – CanWest News Service - Tuesday, April 11, 2006

OTTAWA - Canada's four political parties threw their unwavering support behind the Canadian Forces deployment of 2,300 troops to Afghanistan during a special parliamentary debate last night.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, who opened the discussion, said it is in Canada's national security interest to confront terrorism abroad, citing the attacks in Bali, Indonesia, Madrid and London that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

"Our security begins very far from our borders," Mr. O'Connor said. "Must we wait for terrorists to appear in Vancouver, Montreal or here in Ottawa?" He said Canada would join its allies to "defeat the scourge of international terrorism."

The Conservatives received unwavering support from the Liberals, who committed Canadian troops to this mission last year when they were in power. "We carved a line in the rugged hills of Afghanistan, not with our words but with our legendary courage, the blood and the sweat of our men and women of the Canadian Forces," said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh. "On our side of that line is liberty and freedom from tyranny and poverty."

Mr. Dosanjh said the Liberals believed then and believe now that it is crucial to destroy the root causes of terrorism in Afghanistan and keep the country from falling back into a failed state. "We knew this would not be a quick, easy mission," he said. "We knew that enemy was determined and that casualties were a virtual certainty."

Three Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have died during the deployment to Afghanistan this year. Mr. Dosanjh said that if the government decides to extend the mission beyond February, the matter should be brought before Parliament for further debate.

He stopped short of calling for a vote on the merits of extending the mission, but said that with the country so divided, it was up to the government and its elected federal politicians to frequently update Canadians on the mission and how the ongoing sacrifices measured up with success on the ground.

"Of course, we support the women and men in our Armed Forces," said NDP MP Dawn Black. "The best way to demonstrate that support is to ask the serious questions."

Ms. Black questioned the legitimacy of the prisoner-exchange agreement that the Forces signed in December with the Afghanistan government. The deal, signed by General Rick Hillier, the Chief of Defence staff, calls for Canadian Forces personnel to turn over prisoners to the Afghanistan government.

The NDP charged that there are not enough safeguards in the agreement to prevent prisoners being transferred to the United States or other powers that may torture them.

But Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Dosanjh defended the agreement, saying there were safeguards to protect against prisoner abuse, notably a provision that called for full disclosure to the international Red Cross of any prisoner transfers.

Bloc Quebecois defence critic Claude Bachand said the debate within Canada was "a sign of a healthy democracy," which is not something Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers offered the country.

Earlier in the day, NDP leader Jack Layton insisted that Canada's continued military involvement in Afghanistan should be put to a vote. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has repeatedly rejected a vote on the deployment.

During Question Period yesterday, Mr. Harper blasted Mr. Layton for not fully supporting the deployment. "The Canadian government supports our troops," said Mr. Harper. "I believe the official Opposition, other members of this House and Canadians do, and I would urge the NDP to get behind our troops in Afghanistan."

Mr. Harper said his government would consider "in the very near future" whether to extend the deployment beyond this February, when the current commitment expires.

"We're there for the long term," said Mr. Harper. "Our troops are already deployed in Afghanistan, have been deployed for some time and, as we know, will be there in some form in the next few years."

The debate, scheduled for five hours, began shortly before dusk yesterday evening as about two-dozen anti-war protesters lingered on Parliament Hill to denounce the military deployment.

Mr. Harper was not expected to participate in the debate, nor was Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he felt no need to restate his strongly held views about the mission during the debate.

Canada in Afghanistan

Oct. 7, 2001 Prime Minister Jean Chretien promises help for U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

Oct. 8, 2001 Ottawa says Canada will send ships, planes, special forces and more than 2,000 troops.

Feb. 2, 2002 First 25 members of Canadian force land in Kandahar.

March 11, 2002 Canadian troops join front lines in eastern Afghanistan.

April 17, 2002 Four Canadians killed and eight wounded when U.S. forces accidentally bomb their position.

Feb. 12, 2003 Defence Minister John McCallum says 1,000 Canadians will join UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

July 17, 2003 Canada takes command of peacekeeping force in Afghan capital.

Oct. 2, 2003 Two Canadian soldiers killed, three injured in explosion while patrolling Kabul.

Jan. 27, 2004 One Canadian soldier killed, three wounded by suicide bomber.

Feb. 9, 2004 Canadian Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier takes command of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.

April 14, 2004 Prime Minister Paul Martin says 600 troops, 200 air force personnel will stay when 2,000 others finish their tour of duty.

Feb. 10, 2005 Canada agrees to NATO plan for major expansion of mission.

Feb. 13, 2005 Defence Minister says Canada will increase troops to more than 1,000.

June 29, 2005 "Provincial reconstruction team" including soldiers, Mounties, aid workers and diplomats, deploys in Kandahar.

Nov. 24, 2005 Canadian soldier killed in road accident.

Jan. 15, 2006 Diplomat Glyn Berry killed, three Canadian soldiers wounded in suicide car bombing.

Feb. 24, 2006 Canadian troops begin replacing Americans on front lines in Kandahar.

Feb. 26, 2006 Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser takes charge of multinational force patrolling six provinces.

March 1, 2006 Canadian soldier dies in road accident near Kandahar. Five Canadians injured by suicide bomber.

March 3, 2006 Second soldier dies after road accident.

March 3, 2006 Axe-wielding assailant attacks Canadian soldier in ambush during meeting with tribal elders.

March 28, 2006 Private Robert Costall is killed, three others injured as Taliban insurgents attack base in remote part of southern Afghanistan.

Afghan bombers 'ready for UK troops' - By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 11/04/2006)

British forces in Afghanistan will be met by a tide of suicide bombers, roadside explosions and ambushes when they arrive in strength, the head of the American troops said yesterday.

With a peak of almost 6,000 troops this summer, it is inevitable that they will become targets as drug barons and Taliban or al Qa'eda warlords resist their occupation, Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry said.

The large British force, based around the 3 Bn The Parachute Regiment and Apache attack helicopters, will enter the lawless Helmand province where it will replace a smaller US presence.

It was highly likely there would be a showdown when the terrorists and narcotics dealers are seriously challenged, the head of Combined Forces Command, Afghanistan said at the American embassy in London.

"As the United Kingdom's capability increases there will be more incidents of violence," he added.

South Asian grouping to discuss Afghanistan, China, Japan issue - People's Daily - 11 Apr

The Standing Committee of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday, will discuss granting the new membership to Afghanistan and observer status to China and Japan.

The Standing Committee is represented with foreign secretaries of the seven-nation grouping All the foreign secretaries of the member-states arrived here Monday for the meeting, a top-level foreign ministry official said.

The official, who declined to be named, said the decision to give the new membership to Afghanistan and observers status to China and Japan were taken at the 13th SAARC Summit held here last year.

He said a number of states and international organizations expressed their willingness to associate them with the SAARC either as observer or guest.

The official said they have received formal application from the United States and South Korea seeking observer status, but now it would be impossible for them to attend SAARC's next Summit in New Delhi as their entries need decision of the Summit leaders.

He said the Standing Committee will discuss the application of the United States and South Korea and send it to the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting likely in July this year.

SAARC consists of seven countries, including Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan. Source: Xinhua

Pro-Taliban Pakistani tribals offer Musharraf talks - By Haji Mujtaba

MIR ALI, Pakistan, April 10 (Reuters) - Pro-Taliban militants on Monday offered talks with the Pakistani government to end a stand-off between armed tribesmen and security forces following a series of fierce clashes near the Afghan border.

Chants of "Long live Islam", "Long Live Jihad" and "Down with the USA" rang out at a jirga, or tribal council, attended by around 10,000 tribesmen in Mir Ali, a town in the semi-autonomous North Waziristan border region.

The offer of talks with President Pervez Musharraf's government was delivered through a letter read to the jirga by a pro-Taliban cleric. "We are ready to negotiate with Musharraf whenever he wants," said Maulvi Abdul Rehman, reading from the letter.

The offer of talks was made on the condition that two Islamist politicians, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman and Akram Khan Durrani, chief minister of North West Frontier Province, were involved.

Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt has been infested with al Qaeda remnants and Taliban fighters who fled there after being ousted from Afghanistan in late 2001, and they still regularly sneak across the border to harry U.S. and Afghan forces.

Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, last month warned foreign militants hiding in the tribal region to leave Pakistan or face annihilation. Pakistan has deployed thousands of troops on the border, and a campaign to flush out the militants switched to North Waziristan from South Waziristan early last year.

Security forces have used artillery and helicopter gunships against tribal militants in the past month and around 250 people, mostly tribesmen have been killed.

Most of the tribesmen attending the jirga bore arms in defiance of a recent ban by the authorities. Pashtun tribes regard carrying weapons as part of their cultural identity.

The letter also contained a threat to tribesmen who failed to strictly observe the militants' interpretation of Islamic laws. "If they live according to Shariah (Islamic law), it is fine but if they ignore it, they will be responsible for any sort of action by us," it said.

There were more pleas heard at Monday's jirga for the security forces to confine their deployment to the immediate border area and end operations inside the tribal lands.

"We want the Army and Frontier Corps to go back to border or barracks as their presence has worsened the situation and made our lives difficult," Malik Khan Umar Jan, a tribal chief, said.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead two men in a truck delivering water supplies to the army near Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town, early on Monday, according to intelligence officials.

Afghanistan's fine balance: narco-economy or narco-state? Jeffrey Simpson – Oped The Globe and Mail 4.11.06

Is Afghanistan moving from being a narco-economy to a narco-state? The answer is finely balanced.

No discussion of Afghanistan, including the House of Commons debate last night on Canada's military contribution, can skirt the obvious. Afghanistan's economy, such as it is, depends on opium. And the drug trade, in turn, is intertwined with the central government, regional warlords, local insurgencies and Taliban forces hiding in Pakistan.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 52 per cent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product in 2005 came from the "drug economy." Afghanistan, continued the UN report, supplies a staggering 87 per cent of the world's opium.

The good news from last year was that the number of hectares devoted to opium fields declined by 21 per cent, a function of the government's eradication programs and financial help for peasants to grow other crops. The bad news was that production only dropped by 2.4 per cent, courtesy of higher yields. Opium is being grown in 28 of the country's 32 provinces.

There's not much doubt, therefore, that Afghanistan is a narco-economy. Whether it's a narco-state depends on your definition of whether Afghanistan itself is a state.

In the sense of having a flag, a seat at the United Nations, and a government and parliament in the capital Kabul, it is a state. Beyond that, however, it remains a tribal-based society, with warlords and regional barons, who in their fiefdoms are much more powerful than the government in Kabul.

For some of them, the drug trade is an important source of revenue, and revenue is an important source of their political power. They are either directly involved, or they tax opium production by others.

Since many of these warlords participate on their own terms in the Kabul government, it can be argued that the Afghan government is at least an indirect participant in the drug trade. Certainly, those groups battling the established order, including foreign forces such as Canada's, depend on drug revenues to purchase arms, bribe local officials and coerce still others.

The challenge Canadian forces face goes way beyond the almost impossible task of simultaneously bringing order and reconstructing the economy, showing a hard and kindly face at the same time. As long as the drug trade fuels the insurgencies across Afghanistan -- in other words, as long as Afghanistan remains a narco-state -- Western forces such as Canada's will never be able to "drain the swamp" of money that fuels their foes.

Which leads to a wider strategic debate: Should Western countries and the Afghan government try to eradicate poppy-growing or control it? The British argued that eradicating poppy-growing quickly would leave farmers even more destitute, and therefore more open to influence from warlords. The Americans wanted immediate and maximal eradication. Either way, the drug trade will be illicit, although sufficiently lucrative to keep people engaged in it.

The drug trade casts a further shadow on the capability of Canadian forces to achieve their "mission" in and around Kandahar. They can move out of their central locations and "take the fight to the enemy," in military lingo, and even kill a few people who wish the Afghan government ill. But as long as there is a rather safe haven across the border in Pakistan, and a supply of money from drugs, the insurgency won't disappear. At least not any time soon.

The Canadian forces are part of a larger U.S./NATO deployment, with teams such as Canada's fanning out across the country to attempt to extend stability and to allow the Americans to withdraw some troops, in large part because of the morass in Iraq they created.

NATO announced last year a reinforcement of 15,000 troops for Afghanistan. Canada offered up 2,200. For a mission so complex, in a country so complicated, NATO easily could have used three or four times as many troops.

Within NATO, countries have widely different rules of engagement. Some won't let their soldiers shoot except in self-defence. Others don't want them fighting at all, and so keep them close to barracks.

Others -- Canada being one -- actually want their soldiers to seek out the "enemy," assuming these enemies can be found. A big enemy is the drug trade, and there's almost nothing Canada's little, brave contingent of forces can do about that. jsimpson@globeandmail.com

‘Pakistan did not influence 9/11 probe’ - By Qudssia Akhlaque – Dawn (Pak. Media)

ISLAMABAD, April 9: The Foreign Office on Sunday rubbished a report implying that Pakistan had bribed members of the US 9/11 Inquiry Commission to drop from its finding negative references to Pakistan. “Pakistan has never indulged in the illegal activity of bribing or buying influence anywhere in the world,” said a statement issued by the FO spokesperson here on Sunday.

Reacting to the report titled ‘Did Pakistan Influence the 9/11 Commission Report?’ appearing in the March 3-9 issue of a Lahore-based English weekly, the spokesperson termed it ‘utterly baseless and irresponsible’.

Taking strong exception to the ‘unfounded and totally fabricated story,’ the spokesperson asserted: “It is full of distortions which are obviously aimed at making a sensational story.”

Referring to the writer’s claim to have learnt from ‘reliable sources’ that FO officials had told a ‘secret’ meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that “Pakistan gave tens of thousand of dollars” to members of the inquiry commission to drop negative references to Pakistan, she pointed out that the PAC meeting referred to in the report was not secret.

“It was open to the media. In fact, several media representatives were present during the meeting and reported on its proceedings,” she said, adding that none of the other journalists covering the meeting reported what the weekly magazine allegedly learnt from its sources.

The PAC meeting on Feb 28 had considered the audit reports of the ministry of foreign affairs for 1989-99.

The spokesperson said that during the discussions the PAC had inquired about the role of lobbyists that Pakistan engaged in Washington, adding that the query was in connection with a specific appointment in 1989.

Recalling that the PAC had been briefed about the role of lobbyists and the ministry’s lobbying efforts for disseminating and projecting Pakistan’s standpoint, she stated: “At no stage anybody claimed to have bribed the members of the 9/11 commission.”

The spokesperson said: “Pakistan has hired various lobbyists over last several decades to promote bilateral relations.”

[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.]