In this bulletin:

• Karzai urges coalition restraint
• US probes 'friendly fire' deaths
• School torched in southern Afghanistan, Taliban blamed
• Taliban commander killed in raid in S. Afghanistan
• Taliban are snubbed in their hometown
• Pakistan shuts border amid anti-militant drive in Afghanistan
• Beheaded "US spy" found on Pakistan border
• British troops to 'seek and destroy' Afghan insurgents
• Taliban regroup in Afghanistan
• Afghan forces vulnerable, envoy says - Ambassador calls for better equipment
• New cooperation strategy for Afghanistan
• CONFIRMATION DEBATE OPENS DOOR FOR LEGISLATURE, OPPOSITION
• Ministerial delegation visits Zabul
• 21st minister faces MPs to get trust vote
• Dadfar, Reza unveils future plans before parliament
• Afghanistan to host regional health conference
• Ariana boss aims to give the Afghan carrier back its wings
• Afghan aviators make historic return to Bagram Airfield
• India can use Karachi transit route for Afghanistan-bound goods: Pak
• Pakistan border at Kunar closed
• 12 arrested in commander's murder case
• Afghan Women With Pluck Tackle Bird Flu

Karzai urges coalition restraint – BBC

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged US-led coalition forces to exercise restraint after two possible incidents of "friendly fire". Mr Karzai also ordered a probe into the killing of seven civilians during a battle with insurgents on Saturday in the eastern province of Kunar.

US-led forces are also investigating the incident, and the deaths of six Afghan policemen on Friday. A US statement regretted the "loss of innocent life".

"President Karzai was angered by the deaths of these seven people and demands the [coalition] military use more restraint in future attacks against terrorists not to harm civilians," said the president's office said in a statement.

US, British and Afghan forces last week launched Operation Mountain Lion involving 2,500 troops to flush out Taleban-led militants assumed to be behind a recent upsurge in attacks on both coalition forces and civilians. The Afghan defence ministry says it is the biggest joint operation since the Taleban were driven from power in 2001.

US probes 'friendly fire' deaths – BBC

US-led forces in Afghanistan say they are investigating two separate incidents in which they may have killed civilians and Afghan policemen. Seven civilians died during a battle with insurgents in the eastern province of Kunar on Saturday.

A US statement regretted the "loss of innocent life" in that incident. A separate investigation is under way to determine if "friendly fire" led to the deaths of six Afghan policemen on Friday in southern Kandahar province.

The deaths occurred during a fire fight between a coalition patrol and militants in Kunar province near the border with Pakistan, the US military said. Some 10 militants are said to have been killed in the clash in which US aircraft and artillery were used to target a house and a cave in which they were hiding.

"Our surveillance indicated that there was a house with a cave nearby and that the insurgents were going back and forth between both, so we suppressed the area with a combined arms assault of close air support, artillery and direct fire," military spokesman Maj Matt Hackathorn said.

"But once we realised there were civilians in the area, we ceased fire." As well as the seven people killed, at least three were injured, village elders said. "Whether our direct fire was responsible or close-air support, or if the victims were caught in the crossfire we just don't know right now," Maj Hackathorn said. "We are profoundly sorry about the loss of life."

On Friday, six Afghan policemen and up to 41 Taleban fighters are said to have been killed in a battle in Kandahar province. An investigation is now under way to determine if the Afghan policemen died in coalition fire.

"We are investigating the incident and we will work jointly with the government of Afghanistan to determine the events that took place during this fight," coalition task force commander, Brigadier General David Fraser, said.

US, British and Afghan forces last week launched Operation Mountain Lion involving 2,500 troops to flush out Taleban-led militants assumed to be behind a recent upsurge in attacks on both coalition forces and civilians.

The Afghan defence ministry says it is the biggest joint operation since the Taleban were driven from power in 2001.

School torched in southern Afghanistan, Taliban blamed - 4/17/06

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban militants have torched a school in restive southern Afghanistan in the latest attack on the education system, police said.

The incident late on Sunday in Ghazni province comes less than a week after seven schoolchildren were killed and several others wounded in a suspected Taliban rocket attack in the eastern province of Kunar. "Taliban have torched and destroyed a school in Muqur district of Ghazni province," provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang told AFP on Monday.

The attack was the latest in a string of strikes against educational institutes, schools, teachers and in some cases students in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban are most active.

Sarjang said a hunt was under way for the attackers, with suspected Taliban also targeting government officials and troops in the area in the past. "We're hunting them in several districts," the police chief said.

The Taliban, who were toppled from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001, are still able to carry out attacks on government troops and about 30,000 foreign soldiers who are here to hunt down the insurgents.

Taliban commander killed in raid in S. Afghanistan

KABUL, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Taliban's senior commander Mohamad Haleem was killed and two other insurgents captured in a raid in the southern Afghan province of Zabul Monday night, a police officer said on Tuesday.

"Police launched the raid after they got information from locals that Mohamad Haleem and his followers were to attack Qalat, the capital of Zabul," Mohamad Nadem Mullhkhel, police chief of Zabul, told Xinhua.

Mohamad Haleem, who was behind many attacks targeting government officials and schools in the province, was surrounded by the police near the Qalat city. He was shot dead in the clash while two insurgents were captured at the site, the police chief added.

Zabul, together with Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan, are considered the hotbed of Taliban militants and have been the scene of increasing violent incidents since beginning this year, during which over 200 people including 14 American soldiers had been killed. Enditem

Taliban are snubbed in their hometown - Fighters seeking shelter find closed doors GRAEME SMITH - From Monday's Globe and Mail 4.17.06

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — In the moonlit hours before attacking Canadian and Afghan troops in one of the biggest battles this country has seen in months, the ragged band of Taliban rebels needed a place to sleep. The insurgents had reason to expect they would find hot meals and comfortable beds in the village of Sangisar.

The long stretch of mud-walled farms alongside a river about 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City has gained infamy as the birthplace of the Taliban movement. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the suspected planner behind Afghanistan's insurgency, once served as Sangisar's village preacher.

But the Taliban's hometown didn't open its doors to the insurgents when about 70 heavily armed fighters walked down the dusty streets shortly after midnight on Friday. The militants grew so desperate for shelter, villagers say, they barged into a farmer's home, locked him up and spent the night crowded into a single room with no beds, no pillows and not enough blankets.

"They didn't even have any tea or bread," said a resident of Kandahar, who was visiting relatives in Sangisar and found himself sleeping next door to the gunmen. "People in the village, they feel pressed from both sides. They don't like the government and they don't like the Taliban. But these days, they're more afraid of the Taliban because they don't follow any laws."

Details of the intense firefight in the district around Sangisar became clearer over the weekend, although the full chronology remains uncertain as dangerous roads prevent foreigners from visiting the battleground.

So far, it appears that 41 insurgents died and 11 were captured, while at least a dozen civilians were wounded and one died. Six Afghan police were also killed, including three senior officers. No Canadians were hurt.

How the fight started remains somewhat murky. Western military officials and Kandahar's governor described Afghan police launching a preventative attack against the Taliban as the insurgents were mustering their forces in Sangisar. An Afghan military source put it differently, saying that a band of insurgents ambushed the police on Highway 1, the road leading west from Kandahar, and the attack drew Afghan forces into the fight.

By all accounts, however, the Afghan authorities and their foreign partners knew that Taliban were massing in Sangisar at least four days before the shooting started. This coincides with when the Taliban fighters visited the district, according to villagers, which suggests the insurgents had difficulty operating secretly in their supposed stronghold.

There was nothing secretive about the banging noise a farmer heard shortly after midnight on Friday, as somebody knocked on the heavy wooden gate that protects his mud-walled compound.

By the light of a full moon, the farmer could see the Taliban's entire attack group standing on the road. They looked like young men, perhaps between 20 and 35 years old, most wearing black turbans and some wearing white.

Despite their heavy arsenal of Kalashnikovs, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and belts of ammunition, they appeared to have arrived on foot.

"He was afraid, because they had so many guns," said the Kandahari visitor who had been sleeping in an adjoining compound. "He didn't want to let them inside, but he had no choice."

They bundled him into a storage room and locked him inside, leaving him to spend the night on a dirt floor. Keeping with strict Islamic tradition, the Taliban didn't bother the farmer's wife and children, allowing them to remain in their two rooms. That left only the guest room for visitors, a space measuring four metres by six metres, to shelter about 70 gunmen.

They piled inside, with barely enough room to sit down and fewer than a dozen blankets for bedding. Some stayed outside, talking and patrolling around the compound with their assault rifles ready.

In the morning, the Taliban had disappeared. The farmer told his neighbours that the nighttime visit was the most terrifying thing he experienced that day, despite the smoke and explosions that soon filled the air as a battle raged around the village.

"In the daytime we fear the government," the Kandahari said. "At night we fear the Taliban. But we fear the night much worse. The Taliban can kill you in a second."

Pakistan shuts border amid anti-militant drive in Afghanistan - via Forbes 04.17.2006

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFX) - Pakistan has sealed its northwestern frontier with Afghanistan to stop the infiltration of Taliban rebels fleeing a military offensive there, military officials said.

Authorities deployed paramilitary troops in Dir and Chitral towns bordering Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, the scene of the biggest joint Afghan and coalition operation in months, the officials said.

'The deployment is aimed at blocking the crossover of terrorists fleeing the operation on the other side of the border,' an official in the northwestern city of Peshawar said on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, paramilitary Major Taimur Khan told reporters in Dir the border closure aimed to 'hold back the terrorists entering Pakistani territory' from Kunar. He would not reveal the number of troops being deployed.

About 2,500 troops from the US-led coalition and the Afghan army, backed by British and US warplanes, are taking part in the operation in Kunar, which was launched Wednesday.

The coalition said seven insurgents and seven civilians had been killed so far in the campaign. Afghan officials said another two militants died.

Beheaded "US spy" found on Pakistan border - Sun Apr 16

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Residents of a troubled Pakistani border region found the beheaded body of a man with note saying he was an American spy and a warning others would face the same treatment, an official said on Sunday.

The body was found on Saturday in a market area in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, where Pakistani forces have been battling al Qaeda-linked militants. "He was American spy and all of you will face this if you follow him," a government official who declined to be identified quoted the note as saying.

Many al Qaeda militants fled to Pakistan's semi-autonomous border region after U.S. and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Many of the foreign militants joined forces with ethnic Pashtun tribesmen, who inhabit both sides of the porous border, many of whom sympathize with the Taliban.

The Pakistani army killed an Egyptian al Qaeda member, wanted for involvement in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in an air strike in North Waziristan on Wednesday.

A government spokesman identified the man as Abdul Rehman, one of the aliases used by Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, for whom the United States had offered a $5 million reward.

He was killed along with six other Islamist militants in a missile attack on their hideout, according to officials. Osama bin Laden is believed to have passed through North Waziristan during his escape from Afghanistan in late 2001.

British troops to 'seek and destroy' Afghan insurgents - Apr 16

LONDON (AFP) - British soldiers will be ordered to "seek and destroy" insurgent remnants of the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.

Citing a briefing document, the British weekly broadsheet said troops would be sent to hunt down and kill insurgents, despite Defence Secretary John Reid telling parliament's lower House of Commons that this would not happen.

Britain, which had 1,100 soldiers in Afghanistan, has started the deployment of 3,300 additional troops in the country, in particular to the lawless south, as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Under the heading "Deep Manoeuvre Effects", the document said that soldiers would "find and track insurgents, interdict and disrupt opposition sanctuaries and locations and defeat (eventually)", which, a source told the newspaper, was an accurate description of a "seek and destroy" operation.

The plans formed part of a presentation to Royal Marine officers. They said the most dangerous operations would take place in the south where a large proportion of Afghanistan's heroin and opium is produced.

British forces are currently in the area, which still has a presence of the hardline former ruling Taliban, as part of a multi-national operation working on counter-narcotics and reconstruction.

Reid told the Commons in January that the extra British troops were not heading to Afghanistan "to wage war or carry out seek and destroy" operations that US forces had been undertaking.

He announced the deployment of the additional troops to Helmand, one of four southern provinces where Canada has been put in charge of multinational forces hunting Taliban and Al-Qaeda terror network sympathisers.

Taliban militants have been attacking mainly Western and Afghan targets since they were ousted in late 2001 by US-led forces for refusing to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Taliban regroup in Afghanistan - By STEPHANIE RUBEC, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU 4.17.06

OTTAWA -- The flow of Taliban and al-Qaida sympathizers crossing into Afghanistan's border provinces such as Kandahar has increased dramatically and is to blame for the recent rash of suicide bombings and assaults on Canadian troops, according to Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada.

Omar Samad said the several thousand insurgents who are known to have left Afghanistan to regroup after the U.S.-led offensive toppled the Taliban government are returning rejuvenated and determined to regain control of the country.

And Samad said one of their favourite points of entry is Kandahar province, where about 2,300 Canadian soldiers are fighting off regular attacks. "The tactic is to make life too difficult for reconstruction to take place," Samad said in an interview. "The end goal is to find a foothold in Afghanistan."

Samad said last month's concerted attack organized by suspected terrorists that led to the death of Pte. Robert Costall and an American medic is proof that insurgents have moved from guerrilla warfare to organized offensives in a stepped-up attempt to regain control.

"This was a higher level, more forceful type of attack on our forces than we've seen before," he said, adding about 30 suspected Taliban died at the hands of coalition soldiers.

Samad said Taliban and al-Qaida members are known to be recruiting Kandahar residents and training them to battle coalition forces, luring them with a paycheque financed by the opium drug trade.

"What you're seeing is an attempt by those who fled the scene to make a comeback," he said, adding they've adopted tactics like suicide bombings used by insurgents in Iraq. "They're trying to recruit."

To counter that, Samad said Canadians and other coalition members must help rebuild Afghanistan's democratic institutions, warning that it will take "many years."

Afghan forces vulnerable, envoy says - Ambassador calls for better equipment - MICHAEL DEN TANDT AND GRAEME SMITH 4.18.06

OTTAWA, KANDAHAR -- In the wake of two more possible friendly-fire incidents involving coalition troops, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada called on Western governments to better equip the lightly armed, poorly trained Afghan security forces suffering most of the casualties.

"All lives are precious, whether they are Afghan, Canadian or American," Ambassador Omar Samad said in an interview yesterday. ". . . comparatively speaking, obviously, Western forces are much better equipped and protected."

Two parallel investigations were launched yesterday into Friday's battle around the village of Sangisar, about 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city. Afghan and coalition officers will examine how Afghan police died in the battle.

Reports suggest that four officers were killed by rockets from U.S. Apache helicopters, which pounded the mud-walled compounds where Taliban insurgents were suspected to be hiding.

Six police officers, including two senior commanders, were killed in the fighting. In addition, the U.S. military is investigating a battle between one of its patrols and insurgents Saturday in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan, in which seven civilians were killed.

While placing the blame for friendly-fire incidents squarely on Afghan insurgents, Mr. Samad also called on coalition forces to take "all precautions necessary" to avoid them.

The discrepancy between the training, equipment, weaponry and transport of Afghan forces, particularly the Afghan National Police, and their coalition allies is among the most striking aspects of the current civil conflict in Afghanistan.

Whereas coalition troops have state-of-the-art weapons, night-vision systems, body armour and armoured troop carriers, the ANP ride around in the backs of Toyota pickups carrying ancient AK-47s.

Most have no body armour, despite the fact that ANP units tend to be in the forefront of any engagement with militants, and usually form the lead contingent in any patrol.

"Afghan forces are extremely vulnerable," Mr. Samad said yesterday. "They have very basic equipment, clothing and shielding. They are also at the forefront of all the fights that take place."

As a result, he said, Afghan troops often find themselves between insurgents on one side and coalition troops sent in behind them to provide air or artillery support, as seems to have occurred last week.

A British commander said yesterday that some friendly-fire incidents are impossible to avoid, particularly given the nature of anti-insurgent warfare.

"This is a reality of complex operations," said Colonel Chris Vernon, chief of staff to Brigadier-General David Fraser, the Canadian commander of the multinational brigade in southern Afghanistan. "People need to understand that."

Col. Vernon added, "We will try very, very hard in our training regimes to avoid this." That's clearly not proving good enough and greater efforts must be made, some Canadian defence-policy critics said yesterday.

"If these mistakes happen, it gets people upset and you're not likely to win these folks over to our cause," said Steven Staples, an analyst with the Polaris Institute.

He said such incidents are more likely to occur when the primary mission is to attack and destroy insurgents, as opposed to providing peace support. "There can be an attitude of, 'We want to get the enemy, we're willing to take risks in order to kill the enemy.' "

Michel Drapeau, a former army colonel and expert in military law, said public attitudes toward friendly fire have changed dramatically in recent decades. "This is the public circa 2006, not 1900 or 1945," he said. "We want to know, because we put such a high value on life, that [it won't] be wasted."

Developments - Blast rattles Canadian base

A powerful explosion rattled the headquarters of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar yesterday, as an apparent roadside bomb ripped through a car less than one kilometre from the front gates of the Canadian base.

Canadian soldiers stopped in their tracks when they heard a loud thud around 3 p.m., and watched a cloud of brown smoke rise several storeys above the skyline of Kandahar City. Four or five Afghan police officers were injured in the attack, a Canadian military spokesperson said. Afghan authorities gave no details.

British admit 'duplicity' - Canadian troops patrolling the poppy fields of southern Afghanistan are justified in telling farmers that the troops won't harm their opium business, even though they know that isn't entirely true, a senior British military official said.

"Duplicity is a reality," the official said, in a briefing at the Kandahar Air Field. "If you want to play in the big leagues, you have to engage in some realpolitik."

Reassuring the poppy farmers is a key element of Canada's strategy to pacify restive districts. Taliban recruiters have told farmers to fight the foreign troops because the soldiers plan to destroy their poppy crop, the source of most of the world's opium and heroin.

Until now, military commanders have maintained that they're being honest with the farmers because the troops will not directly interfere with opium cultivation. But the United States and Britain are funding Afghan government programs to eradicate poppies, and Canada's mission is to extend government control into lawless regions -- often the same regions with the most poppies.

So far, the farmers don't seem to connect the foreign troops with the drug-eradication programs, the British official said. "We're getting away with it." -- Graeme Smith

New cooperation strategy for Afghanistan - Source: Government of Sweden
Date: 17 Apr 2006

The Government has decided on a strategy for Swedish development cooperation with Afghanistan for the period 2006-2008. The overall objective of the strategy is to create conditions that will enable poor people to improve their lives and to promote respect for human rights.

"The needs of Afghanistan remain considerable, and continued support is necessary. It is particularly important that we increase our efforts to promote human rights and gender equality in Afghanistan," says Minister for International Development Cooperation Carin Jämtin. The cooperation strategy for Afghanistan will comprise up to SEK 1.2 billion.

CONFIRMATION DEBATE OPENS DOOR FOR LEGISLATURE, OPPOSITION - BY AMIN TARZI – RFE/RL

The lower house of the Afghan National Assembly, the People's Council (Wolesi Jirga), began the confirmation debate over President Hamid Karzai's proposed 25-member cabinet on April 4. The process is expected to take about two week, and marks the first major cohabitation test for Afghanistan's elected legislature vis-a-vis the executive branch.

The process also provides a litmus test of relations between Karzai's administration and the fractured opposition led by lower-house speaker Mohammad Yunos Qanuni. The fact that the People's Council is questioning each proposed minister individually is in itself a defeat for President Karzai, whose preference was for a single, up-or-down vote on the entire cabinet.

In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on April 5 (see below), Karzai stressed his desire for a transparent confirmation process. He expressed his hope "that our deputies will accept or reject these choices according to professional standards, their patriotism, and their integrity; and that no other criteria should determine their decisions." Karzai expressly rejected possible objections based on "any regional or ethnic bias" and said, "If a minister is rejected, I hope that the reasons given for the rejection will be enunciated so that we know why our proposed ministers were not acceptable."

Article 74 of the Afghan Constitution approved in January 2004 stipulates that if the People's Council wants to reject a nominee, it should do so explicitly and "on basis of well-founded reasons." A simple majority of those lawmakers must then express no confidence in that nominee in a plenary vote. Rejections Expected - Speaker Qanuni and his allies appear to be ready and willing to flex their muscle and challenge Karzai's dominance in the Afghan power structure. Some in Qanuni's camp regard the cabinet-confirmation process as a chance to demand that opposition members be included in the government (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," January 16, 2006).

The president clearly disagrees with that interpretation. Karzai challenged the Qanuni camp by reshuffling his cabinet in March -- days before his proposed government was presented to the National Assembly.

The most obvious change was at the Foreign Ministry. Karzai gave that portfolio -- led for four years by Abdullah Abdullah – to a former foreign-affairs adviser, Rangin Dadfar Spanta.

Abdullah was the last of the Shura-ye Nezar (Supervisory Council) triumvirate that was considered a strong power base in Kabul after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. (The other two members of that "triumvirate" were former Defense Minister Marshall Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Qanuni himself, who served initially as Karzai's interior and later as education minister.) Karzai stressed to Radio Free Afghanistan that Abdullah was not excluded, but rather chose to stay out of the new government. He emphasized that the makeup of the new cabinet is founded on "practical reasons...[not] political reasons," suggesting Karzai no longer regards Abdullah as a political asset. 'Historic' Opportunity - Parliamentary speaker Qanuni called April 4 a "historic day" following a quarter of a century of pain.

He said Afghans had finally arrived at a point where they were choosing their own cabinet. What Qanuni meant by the nation choosing its own cabinet will become clear as the confirmation hearings continue. Qanuni might use the scrutiny of Karzai's choices to showcase the power of the opposition that he informally leads.

That scenario would require generating enough votes to reject nominees who are seen as the president's main allies. If Qanuni opts to flex opposition muscle -- and garners enough opposition to vote down few major nominees -- Karzai will be forced to recognize that an effective opposition exists in the People's Council. That would presumably lead him to either tailor his policies accordingly, or seek to incorporate the opposition into his own government. But if Qanuni tries -- and fails -- to block nominees for political reasons, then his standing in the parliament and as the unofficial leader of the opposition could be in grave danger.

Alternatively -- and particularly if he cannot garner enough votes to reject major nominees -- Qanuni might try to portray himself as above partisan politics. That would dictate that he conspicuously seek to rally lawmakers by touting the merits and qualifications of nominees -- without regard to his stated agenda.

Such an approach would leave the burden of demonstrating that his choices were the best for the country on Karzai's shoulders. But it would also allow the president to maintain virtually all political initiative -- ensuring there is no proactive opposition. Whatever the outcome, the current confirmation process is -- to borrow Qanuni's characterization -- a "historic" event. Much of this debate is being heard by the Afghan public. What Afghans do with this opportunity will profoundly affect their march toward a democratic society.

Ministerial delegation visits Zabul

QALAT, Apr 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A high-level delegation comprising five ministers and commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan visited Zabul to review security situation and the reconstruction projects in the province.

The delegation included ministers-designate Zarar Ahmad Moqbil, Amin Farhang, Obaidullah Ramin, Sohrab Ali Safari, Karim Barahavi and commander of the coalition forces Lt General Eiken Berry.

Besides meeting officials and tribal elders, the visitors attended a grand meeting in the Shinkai district, which was joined by large number of elders, chieftains and officials from five other districts.

The delegation was briefed about security situation in the province and the ongoing developmental projects. They promised of all possible cooperation in strengthening peace in the area.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, spokesman for the provincial governor Gulab Shah Alikhel said the people complained about the poor condition of roads and less number of development projects. However, the ministers assured that their grievances would be addressed.

Alikhel said after listening to the complaints and demands of the locals, each minister addressed the gathering and assured the people that their problems would be earnestly addressed.

It merits a mention here that law and order has improved in Zabul over the past few months as compared to security situation in the neighbouring provinces. Earlier, President Hamid Karzai had also visited Zabul and inaugurated a hospital and a religious seminary besides assuring of more reconstruction projects in the province. Sher Ahmad Haidar

21st minister faces MPs to get trust vote - Pajhwok Report

KABUL, Apr 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Minister-designate for Martyrs, Disabled and Social Affairs Noor Mohammad Qarqeen Monday promised to take revolutionary steps for betterment of the downtrodden and create employment opportunities for the jobless.

He was the 21st minister of the 25-member cabinet approved by President Hamid Karzai about a month back who presented his future plans before the parliament as part of the trust vote from the cabinet.

Without elaborating on his plans, the minister-designate said steps would be taken to improve condition of disabled and extend help to relatives of martyrs. At the same time, Qarqeen said employment opportunities would be provided as well as salaries of the existing staff of the ministry would be enhanced.

The minister said vocational and training centres would be opened for workers to enhance their skills and increase the number of skilled labour in the country. He said a countrywide survey would be conducted to collect exact data about disabled and relatives of martyrs. Besides, old people's homes would be constructed to house them.

Some MPs criticised the minister for what they described as poor performance of the Education Ministry as majority of schools have neither buildings nor teachers. The MPs also referred to mistakes in textbooks. In response, the minister numbered some 'achievements' but could not come out with concrete reply.

Qarqeen was born in 1953 in the northern Jawzjan province. He completed his higher education in law and political science from Kabul University. He was Education Minister in the previous set up and this is why most of the MPs posed questions about the education system in the country. Earlier, he served as Minister for Labour and Social Affairs in the interim administration.

Dadfar, Reza unveils future plans before parliament

KABUL, Apr 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Minister-designate for Higher Education and Minister for Commerce and Industries Dr Muhammad Azam Dadfar and Dr Muhammad Haidar Reza Saturday briefed the parliament about their future plans and replied questions from MPs as part of the trust vote for the new cabinet.

Addressing in the lower house of parliament, Dr Muhammad Azam Dadfar said the ministry was planning to introduce semi-professional educational institutions to provide chances to maximum number of students to get higher education.

This, he said, was the solution to provide chance to all students who finish school-level education and wanted to complete their graduation. He said such institutions would be functioning like technical schools but their grade would be higher. Dafdar said the Shariah Faculty of Kabul University would be upgraded to a separate university of Islamic Studies.

He said efforts would be made to ensure enrolment of maximum number of students in the universities. He said another plan regarding expansion of universities and hostel buildings was also under consideration to accommodate maximum number of students.

Regarding the curriculum, he said the ministry would bring reforms in the curriculum in line with the modern times and would get rid of the outdated system. Dadfar was working as minister for refugees and returnees affairs in the previous set up. He was reshuffled and given the portfolio of Ministry of Higher Education in the new plan.

Earlier, Dr Muhammad Haidar Reza, Minister-designated for Commerce and Industries, in his speech to the parliament, vowed to find markets for Afghan products abroad.

Reza said the ministry would do its utmost to bring more foreign investment in the country. However, he added, it needed cooperation from other ministries to construct roads as well as provide electricity and communication facilities. He expressed his support for free-market economic system.

Reza has been working as deputy foreign minister over the past four years. During the question hours, he was accused by some MPs of ethnic and language discrimination while working in the Foreign Ministry.

Afghanistan to host regional health conference - 4/17/06 Source: Xinhua

The post-war Afghanistan is hosting a four-day regional health conference to discuss the ways and means for boosting regional cooperation in curbing contagious diseases in the region, a senior official of Public Health Ministry said Sunday.

The conference, entitled "Health for All and Health by All", will open in Kabul on April 17. It is the first such conference being held in Afghanistan over the past four years.

"Delegates from nine countries will attend the conference," and the meeting "is to discuss the need for mutual cooperation to curb the spread of communicable diseases in the region," Mohammad Din Miraj told reporters here.

Delegates from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan had already arrived to attend the conference funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the official said.

The war-battered Afghanistan, which is largely dependent on international assistance, is hopeful to secure regional cooperation in tackling different kind of diseases such as avian influenza, cholera, polio and tuberculoses.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also expected to address the threat of contagious diseases to the region's economic growth and emphasize the benefit of collective action in checking it.

Health ministers of the participating countries would ink an agreement at the end of conference on April 20 attesting to the need for collective efforts and setting out a plan of action, Miraj added.

Ariana boss aims to give the Afghan carrier back its wings - Apr 16,

KABUL (AFP) - Flying on Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines can be a unique experience, with passengers standing in the aisles at takeoff and greasy mutton served for the in-flight breakfast.

But its president promises that the national carrier will, in a few years, live up to its slogan, "The best of Afghan traditional hospitality".

The reality is a long way off. Mohammad Nadir Atash, 59, president of the company for less than a year, nonetheless has a vision fed by more than 20 years' experience in business in the United States.

"The task of reconstructing Ariana to its standards, to what it was 30 years ago or so, is a huge task," he admitted in an interview with AFP. Ariana flourished in the 1970s, when Kabul was a fashionable destination, but since then it has suffered.

It has seen 25 years of war, five crashes, a hijacking, a UN Security Council embargo. The airline's reputation is so poor that UN employees are officially banned from boarding flights.

Ariana's recent inclusion on a European Union blacklist for not meeting safety standards has forced the company to subcontract its flights to Frankfurt, its only destination in Europe, to French group Eagle Aviation.

And then there is corruption, the main problem, which Atash concedes is "an obstacle to reconstruction". It extends from bribes and theft to nepotism and "political" appointments.

Atash does not have any illusions about his chances of success in the fight against graft. But, "The war has started and let's see where it takes us," he says. A good entrepreneur -- he still has a chain of garages in the United States, the president has a plan to give Ariana back its wings.

He wants to break the public company into half a dozen independent entities, each of which would be charged with a specific aspects of the flight business, such as domestic routes, cargo, food and fuel.

Ariana itself would concentrate on the international market. "Each company will be operated independently and with extensive input and (finance) from the private sector," he says.

Ariana would stay a minority shareholder and itself become privatised, with 20 percent remaining with the government. Atash thinks this path can only bring success. In inflight meals, for example, "We do the catering and it is not done adequately. We want to do it professionally and with today's standards," he says.

He is counting on foreign enterprises to sign up, bringing with them an injection of cash and a good dose of know-how. On the financial side, Ariana is not doing too badly, says Atash, with turnover of 89 million dollars last year. If it weren't for investments worth 18 million dollars, it would have made a profit of between five and six million dollars.

The carrier would be doing even better if the government repaid a debt of 40 to 50 million dollars accumulated over the years. Atash expects his new plan to be in place in three months, once it is approved by the government. The change will help it deal with its problem of overstaffing.

"By the end of the restructuring process, we anticipate that between 500 and 700 employees will be with Ariana. Right now we have 2,000," Atash says. He hopes the redundant staff will be picked by the new companies. "Our objective is to leave no one behind."

Ariana's fleet is meanwhile getting bigger and newer. In November the company bought four Boeing 737-700 jets, to be delivered from 2009. It also started leasing two big Boeing 757-200s in November 2005.

The latter two planes will be used by a British group to open new routes to Europe, with Hamburg and Amsterdam due to come on board this year and flights to neighbouring China also being considered.

Afghan aviators make historic return to Bagram Airfield

By Army Sgt. Stephanie van Geete - Task Force Falcon Public Affairs Office

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan National Army Air Corps aviators began training with Task Force Falcon aviators and U.S. Army Soldiers here April 11.
The arrival of the 18-person team marks the first assignment of Afghan aviators here in 15 years.

The aviators will use two Russian-made Mi-17 Hip helicopters for training and to move supplies and equipment with Coalition forces.

“The goal of this mission is to integrate the Afghan National Army Air Corps into Coalition operations,” said Army Chief Warrant Officer Tim Basso, an embedded trainer accompanying the Afghan aviators.

“The end result is to get the Afghan pilots familiar with the way the Coalition does operations, and for the Coalition to learn from the Afghan pilots what the tactics for the area are.”

Army Col. Michael Rose, the Task Force Falcon commander, said the aviators’ arrival came at an opportune time.

“With this training, we can incorporate them into ongoing operations in support of Operation Mountain Lion over the next few weeks, and also as we work together during the remainder of the time that Task Force Falcon is here in Afghanistan ,” Rose said. “This gives us the opportunity to continue to develop a relationship that will go on past our departure from here.”

Many of the Afghan crew members served here previously but departed in the 1990s during Afghanistan ’s civil war. “The airfield was the front line of fighting (between the Northern Alliance and Taliban) so most of the pilots stayed away,” said ANA Air Corps Capt. Abdullah, a pilot. His last assignment to Bagram was in 1991.

ANA Air Corps pilots Maj. Njamatullah and Capt. Mohammad Naim flew for the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. The aviators all volunteered to come back to service when the Air Corps was being created last year, and said they are happy to be flying again.

ANA Maj. Bashir, the ANA’s liaison officer to Task Force Falcon, said he has seen control of the base pass through many hands, from Afghan government to the Russians, the Northern Alliance, the Taliban and now the United States . The ANA current mission is a step toward the Afghan government reclaiming control of the airfield – but Coalition support is needed, he said. “Without the help of the Coalition, and especially the U.S. and our partnership with Task Force Falcon, we cannot do it,” he said.

India can use Karachi transit route for Afghanistan-bound goods: Pak

Islamabad: Pakistan has said that the transit route via Karachi for the Afghanistan-bound Indian goods was available, and that India could avail the route if it wishes.

“Pakistan had allowed all countries including India to use transit route via Karachi and if India wishes, that route is available,” the Dawn quoted Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam as saying during the regular press briefing in Islamabad last evening.

On the overland transit trade facility to India, she said: “This issue is related to overall trade between Pakistan and India which is a part of the discussions in the composite dialogue process.” She said Pakistan had provided overland transit facility to Afghanistan.

On Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s statement on tripartite cooperation on terrorism among Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, Tasnim said: “Pakistan is fighting terrorism and we are a part of global effort to fight terrorism.”

Pakistan border at Kunar closed

PESHAWAR, Apr 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): As heavy fighting is going on between Taliban militants and Afghan National Army (ANA) supported by coalition forces, Pakistani border troops have closed joint-border at Nawa Pass with Afghanistan.

Nawa Pass has linked Kunar province and Bajawar tribal belt, and after cutting their access with Peshawar, Chitralis use Kunar-Jalalabad Highway, during winter to reach the provincial capital of the Frontier province.

A border force official Mohammad Irshad told Pajhwok Afghan News via telephone the purpose behind the closure of joint-border was that militants might not enter into Pakistan from Kunar, where Afghan forces had started anti-insurgents operation.

He said most of the area of the Kunar-Bajawar border was mountainous and they had made several check posts to watch the border. He said the passengers were often using other route named as Bin Shahhi that was too closed for unlimited time.

An official of political administration in Bajawar, requesting anonymity, said that both Nawa Pass and Bin Shahhi routes were closed for the people. He said to control cross-border moments both the ways were closed.

Painda Hikmat, an Afghan from Bajawar, told this news agency by telephone that Pakistan copters were also hovering in the area. He said that hundreds of people were waiting on both sides of the hilly area from Bajawar to Momand agency.

12 arrested in commander's murder case

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Apr 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Police have arrested 12 people for their alleged involvement in the killing of a local commander in the northern Faryab province.

Provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziyai said the 12 people had been detained on suspicion of their involvement in the murder of commander Sakhi, a loyalist of the Junbish-i-Milli of warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.

The police chief said the men were under investigations. He said those found innocent would be released. Sakhi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Qaisar district last week.

Meanwhile, residents said the arrested people were ordinary citizens and they had nothing to do with the killing of the commander. Muhammad Sarwar, inhabitant of the provincial capital of Maimana, said the detainees were shepherds.

Ghulam Siddique, another dweller of the area, said he knew three of those arrested by the police. He said there was no question of links of those people with the killers or their involvement in the crime.

Afghan Women With Pluck Tackle Bird Flu

Motivated to Protect Livelihoods, Widows Prevail Over Fear, Disorder
By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, April 16, 2006; A11
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Raising chickens has always been women's work in Afghanistan, and in the past several years this backyard occupation has brought new independence and income to thousands of illiterate war widows who have few other ways to earn a living.

So when avian flu was detected here six months ago, and several cases of its virulent H5N1 strain confirmed by U.N. experts in March, ripples of rumor and panic coursed through the loosely organized groups of widows in greater Kabul who raise some of Afghanistan's estimated 12.1 million chickens and sell their eggs for 2 cents apiece.

For some, the first impulse was to hide, sell or destroy their hand-raised flocks. But in just a few weeks, radio ads, nonprofit groups and a roving corps of Afghan women trained by the United Nations as bird flu "sentinels" have taught the widows how to protect their chickens and themselves from catching the deadly ailment.

"Now we know what to do about this new disease. We wash and boil eggs before eating them, we keep the pens clean and change the soil," said Abida, one of 300 widows in the Kabul district of Charai Qamber who raise poultry at home, with chicks and training provided by CARE International.

Abida, a leathery woman of 50 who lost her husband and six other male relatives to civil conflict in the 1990s, said she had no other means of supporting herself and her children. She does not use a last name. "I am too old to do hard work, and my eyes are too weak to embroider," she said. "I would rather die than kill my chickens."

It has proved to be an enormous challenge to detect, treat and control avian flu in this vast rural country, characterized by poor communication and roads, widespread fear and misinformation about illness, a sluggish bureaucracy and a poultry population living at close quarters with often illiterate people in thousands of small farms and backyards.

After the H5N1 bird flu strain was confirmed, the Afghan government sealed the border with Pakistan to imports of non-frozen poultry. It announced that all poultry markets would be closed and disinfected and said it would soon begin culling in affected areas, a euphemism for killing off flocks when an infected or dead bird is found.

But culling proved more difficult than expected. The government lacked equipment and expertise. Owners were promised between $1 and $5 for each confiscated bird, but the funds were not immediately available. In several districts, officials said, flocks mysteriously vanished just before official teams arrived to dispatch them.

"There were several possible explanations: Either people had hidden them, killed them, eaten them or sold them off," said Serge Verniau, Afghanistan director for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. "The key to containing the virus is stopping movement of flocks, but traders may take advantage and offer people a low price to be rid of their birds."

One key difficulty has been determining whether sick birds have the dangerous H5N1 strain, which requires sophisticated laboratory analysis that is not available in Afghanistan. Verniau said his office had worked out an arrangement with Italian peacekeeping forces here to fly samples to Italy for testing.

There are also the problems of how to police informal markets that sell popular songbirds and high-priced fighting cocks, how to prevent the smuggling of untested or sick birds from city to city, and how to monitor migrating birds such as wild ducks that might land in ponds and contaminate them before moving on.

At this point, the FAO official said, avian flu has been contained here, no cases of human infection have been reported and information about the disease has reached much of the country. But there is still no vaccine available for healthy flocks and little international aid, and the government response has been somewhat slow and disorganized.

"The real success has come from the bottom," Verniau said. "We don't need an army of vets going out, because the women themselves have taken action, learned about the disease, and put a chain of reporting in place. They are incredibly motivated."

Paul Barker, Afghanistan director for CARE International, said the group's poultry project had been one of its most effective, helping more than 3,000 indigent women earn money in a way that was socially acceptable, easy to learn and close to home, since they could sell eggs to neighbors and local markets.

"We tried dozens of income-generating ideas for widows, from tailoring to bakeries, and this one has worked the best," Barker said. "Most widows have no access to land or capital, so they can't raise large animals like cows. Poultry has been such a great fit, so bird flu was a potentially devastating blow."

At a meeting of widows in Charai Qamber last week, it was clear that avian flu was a deadly serious topic. Half a dozen women said that without selling eggs, they could not buy laundry soap, salt or school supplies for their children. Halfway through the meeting, another woman arrived, looking nervous and holding up a sick chicken in a plastic bag. It was immediately examined and vaccinated, and she visibly relaxed.

"At first we worried a lot about this disease, but now we have been taught how to avoid it, how to keep the cages and bowls clean," said Majan, 35, a soldier's widow with a gaunt face and piercing eyes. "None of us can afford to lose our chickens." In the yard outside, a rooster crowed loudly as he lorded over a pen full of hens. The women, engrossed in their discussion, paid no attention.

[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.]