In this bulletin:

• Four foreign soldiers, Al-Qaeda militants killed in Afghan violence
• Soldiers killed in Afghan battle
• No plans of troops' withdrawal from south: NATO
• British to lead major assault on Taliban
• Pakistan to open new trade routes with Afghanistan
• Transit denial by Pak hampering Afghan reconstruction
• Reports Of Heroin Smuggling From Afghanistan On The Rise In Pakistan
• Pakistan quizzes Briton over Al-Qaeda link to bomb plot
• Stop reinforcing failure
• Kabul’s youth receive welcome boost on world youth day
• Polio cases surge in Afghanistan
• Ravaged course, soaring cause - Mass. native holds benefit golf tourney in Afghanistan
• Herat traffic chief booked for taking bribe
• Pakistan's port in troubled waters

Four foreign soldiers, Al-Qaeda militants killed in Afghan violence

KABUL (AFP) - Three troops from the US-led coalition were killed fighting "Taliban extremists" in northeast Afghanistan while a NATO soldier died in a suicide car bomb attack in the troubled south, officials said.

Three Al-Qaeda militants died in a separate attack in the latest violence to hit the Central Asian country.

Three soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a battle with "Taliban extremists" while conducting operations in Waygal district of Nuristan province, the coalition said in a statement on Saturday.

Their identities and nationalities were being withheld pending notification of their next-of-kin, it said. There was no mention of Taliban casualties from the fighting in the remote and rugged region.

Coalition forces, mainly American, have extended their presence in the east and northeast since the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force took command of military operations in the restive south.

Meanwhile a NATO soldier was killed in a suicide car bomb blast and three Al-Qaeda militants died in a separate attack Friday.

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosives-filled car near a NATO vehicle in the volatile town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province near the Pakistani border, killing one of the alliance's soldiers, ISAF said.

ISAF has now lost 10 soldiers to hostile action since taking control of the dangerous south of the country on July 31 from the US-led coalition that overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

"Today an ISAF soldier died in Kandahar province following a vehicle-borne suicide bomb attack," the statement said.

"The incident occurred on the road from Spin Boldak to Kandahar, when a white Toyota Corolla drove towards an ISAF convoy, and exploded near one of the vehicles," it added.

The soldier's nationality would be released by the relevant country. Local police chief Abdul Wassay Alokozai also said it appeared to be a suicide blast and added that NATO troops had sealed off the area. "I can see a vehicle in flames," he said.

Self-proclaimed Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahamdi told AFP by telephone from an unknown location that the attack was a suicide bombing carried out by a Taliban fighter. "The suicide bomber was an Afghan and his name was Ilhas," he said.

Separately three Al-Qaeda militants were killed in eastern Afghanistan in a joint raid by Afghan forces and the US-led coalition, the coalition said.

Another three "associates" were arrested in the operation near the village of YaQubi in Khost province, which targeted an Al-Qaeda member "considered a significant threat to Afghan and coalition forces", it said.

"Credible intelligence linked the targeted terrorist to remote-controlled improvised explosive device and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in Khost province," the coalition said in a statement.

The three "terrorists" opened fire using small arms and were killed when the Afghan and coalition forces returned fire, while the others were detained without incident, it added.

The statement did not specify whether the suspect who was the target of the mission was captured or killed.

A spokesman for US troops in the capital Kabul said the military was attempting to ascertain the seniority of those captured. "We are still trying to assess the level of the detainees," he said.

AK-47 assault rifles with armor-piercing ammunition and a cache of grenades was found in a building at the site of the raid and later destroyed, the coalition said. No Afghan or coalition forces were wounded, it said. The south and southeast have suffered a surge in violence by remnants of the ousted Taliban.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 70 foreign soldiers, the majority of American, have died in action in Afghanistan.

Soldiers killed in Afghan battle - BBC News, 12 August 2006

United States-led forces in Afghanistan say three of their soldiers have been killed in fighting with Taleban militants in north-eastern Afghanistan. Two other soldiers were wounded in the clashes in Nuristan province - officials have not yet disclosed the nationality of those involved.

US-led troops on Friday raided a building in the south-east, killing three suspected al-Qaeda fighters. Militants have been stepping up attacks on government and foreign forces.

"The soldiers killed and wounded today fought against extremists who oppose the rights of women, murder the innocent and harbour terrorists as they did during the Taleban regime," US Army Brig Gen James Terry said of Friday's fighting in Nuristan.

Nuristan has seen fierce clashes in recent days. US-led troops said they killed 15 insurgents on Wednesday who were trying to attack an army base.

US forces are pushing up to the northernmost points along the Afghan-Pakistan border in an attempt to crush militants, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Afghanistan has seen a surge in violence this year, particularly in the south where Taleban fighters have increased their attacks.

Three suspected al-Qaeda members were killed and three others detained in the eastern province of Khost during an operation by coalition forces, a US military statement said. The raid was aimed at an al-Qaeda militant who was linked to a series of bombings, the statement said.

A suicide bombing on Friday in the southern province of Kandahar is now known to have killed a Canadian soldier serving with Nato-led forces. He was the seventh Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan this month. Nato's 8,000 soldiers took over control from US forces in the south on 31 July.

The soldiers, under the umbrella of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), are in six provinces in the south - Day Kundi, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Zabul.

No plans of troops' withdrawal from south: NATO

KABUL, August 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan Lieutenant General David Richards has said that the alliance has no plans to withdraw troops from the southern region.

Some recent reports suggested that ISAF was going to withdraw troops from some areas in the southern region in face of the increasing insurgency. However, the commander described it mere speculations, saying they had no such plans.

A statement released here on Saturday clarified that General Richard had never used the word "withdraw" during a press conference. The commander had outlined plans to rebalance ISAF forces in some southern districts.

The statement said ISAF was considering rebalancing security forces to make best use of different forces' capabilities. The concept would involve the release of more mobile forces from static security tasks with which they are currently engaged, to mobile tasks, and use other forces for static locations. The concept is aimed at improving security, says the statement.

General Richards is on record as having explained that the Afghan National Army's capabilities, supported by NATO-ISAF would be suitable for the static tasks, allowing more mobile ISAF forces to expand the areas of security, as has been seen in recent ISAF operations in the southern regions.

General Richards said: "In order to support the government's concept of Afghan development zones, I intend to rebalance my forces in the south to increase security, which is the primary concern of the Afghan people."

British to lead major assault on Taliban - By Neil Tweedie The Telegraph (UK) August 12, 2006

British troops in southern Afghanistan are to lead a new offensive against the Taliban in an attempt to regain the initiative after weeks of intense fighting.

The plan will involve the use of mobile forces such as the Paras to attack insurgents in their strongholds, rather than defending fixed points.

Lt Gen David Richards, the British officer commanding the Nato force in the country, said yesterday that 10,000 troops would be involved in the campaign, which would last at least three months.

British, Canadian and other Nato troops will be replaced in towns and villages by 10,000 men of the Afghan army. The Nato forces will then be free to undertake search and destroy missions in areas the Taliban has regarded as safe havens.

But the viability of the plan has been thrown into question by the intensity of fighting in the southern province of Helmand, where the men of 16 Air Assault Brigade have been engaged in the most prolonged and intensive combat experienced by British troops since the Korean War. Twelve British servicemen have been killed in combat so far.

It remains to be seen if Afghan government troops can hold fixed points that have been subjected to constant attack. Gen Richards said his men were tired but that morale was "very high".

"They know what we are trying to do, which is to get on the front foot," he said. "They need rest because some of them have been out there 40 days and almost nightly have come under attack.

"It is very bruising but as a commander I cannot tell you how proud I am of what they have done. Some of these soldiers have been under constant attack almost daily for about month but they have always stood their ground.

"But we don't want to sit passively drawing the Taliban to us for the next three months."

His words, implying that British troops have been on the "back foot" while attacked repeatedly by a determined enemy, are a world away from those of John Reid, the previous Defence Secretary, who expressed the hope that they might complete their mission without firing a shot in anger.

The British have been desperate to get on with reconstruction work to show a wavering population that they are not merely an occupation force. But that work cannot begin in earnest until the south has been secured.

The proposed campaign will focus on four southern provincial capitals - Lashkar Gar in Helmand, the scene of much of the British fighting and recent deaths, Kandahar, Qalat and Tarin Kowt.

Using another unfortunate phrase, Gen Richards said the Afghan army would be brought into areas where British forces were "pinned down" to succeed them in the defensive role.

"I can then free up very high quality troops to take on a more offensive role," he said. "Over the next four weeks we will take on this process of relocation."

The plan, he said, was to establish development zones in the four capitals in which it would be safe to begin development programmes.

Few of the promised reinforcements for the British contingent have so far arrived, and it is understood that just two extra Chinook helicopters - essential for mobile operations in an area almost devoid of proper roads - are to be sent.

Pakistan to open new trade routes with Afghanistan - Bashir Ahmad Nadim 

QUETTA, Aug 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Governor of Pakistan's Balochistan province has said the government will open three more small trade routes with Afghanistan.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of a road construction project in Khanozay area, Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said Pakistan would open three new routes with Afghanistan in Balochistan in the days ahead. The new routes will be opened in Qamaruddin Karez, Noshaky and Badinai areas.

He said opening of the new routes would ease transit of commercial goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan and vice versa as well as prevent use of illegal routes for trade.

Welcoming the idea, Afghan businessmen in Pakistan hoped the step would enhance trade between the two countries. Pakistan is struggling to expand trade ties with Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries through its Gawadar Port.

Transit denial by Pak hampering Afghan reconstruction - IRNA

New Delhi - Pakistan's denial of transit facility to India is hampering economic development and reconstruction of Afghanistan, said Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta in Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh.

He said Kabul has requested Islamabad to lift the ban on movement of Indian products and goods to Afghanistan and hoped the issue would be sorted out as early as possible.

"It is very important from the point of view of our national interest," Spanta told PTI in an interview during a visit to Dhaka.

Pointing out that Afghanistan is in the process of economic development and reconstruction, he said much of the assistance in this respect comes to his country from India.

The current arrangement of the supplies coming via Iran is time- consuming, the foreign minister said. "If the route through Pakistan is opened, less time will be consumed and goods will reach Afghanistan at cheaper costs. It is important for us," he underlined.

India is engaged in huge reconstruction exercise in Afghanistan worth dlrs 650 million in diverse fields and has been asking Pakistan to allow these and other humanitarian supplies to be transported through that country. However, Islamabad has refused.

In the absence of the transit facility, Indian supplies are taken to Bandar Abbas in Iran and from there these are transported by road to Afghanistan. "It is important that transit between India and pakistan be opened. We can get a chance to export our products."

Since Afghanistan has immense potential to export world famous dry and fresh fruits, Indian and Pakistan could be prime markets for these, he said. Bangladesh also hopes to have connection with Afghanistan through India, he said.

Spanta also advocated the need for encouraging regional trade and said the framework of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is very important in this regard.

He said differences between India and Pakistan on various issues have an influence on speed of development in SAARC but added that they can find a solution with support from other member countries.

"Cooperation in economic exchange and trade is the best possibility to reduce tension between the two countries," the Afghan foreign minister said.

Reports Of Heroin Smuggling From Afghanistan On The Rise In Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- Pakistan says there are reports that smuggling of heroin from neighbouring Afghanistan is on the rise.

Pakistan Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi told the Pakistani senate or the Upper House that Taleban had controlled poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

However soon after the collapse of Taleban regime in 2002, poppy business gained momentum. Dr Sher Afgan said Pakistan was the only country in the world which had arrested and convicted the biggest number of drug peddlers.

"Almost 87 percent of drug traffickers have been convicted," he said as quoted by the Pakistan Press International (PPI).

Pakistani authorities had seized 6,103 kilogrammes of opium, 3,0245 kilogrammes of heroin and 52,742 kilogrammes of hashish during January to June this year and 21,733 persons nabbed for drug trafficking charges.

A friend or foe in the war on terror? Pakistan's role in foiling plot sparks debate Some see case as proof of lax terrorism policy - MICHELLE SHEPHARD The Toronto Star / August 12, 2006

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has had to walk a political tightrope for the past five years. Western leaders have accused him of not doing enough to root out terrorism at home, allowing the Taliban to flourish in tribal regions bordering Afghanistan and local militants to align with international groups such as Al Qaeda.

But in Pakistan he's often accused of being a lackey for the West and has survived at least two assassination attempts since he pledged his support to the U.S. following the 9/11 attacks.

Now with the revelation of Pakistan's role in thwarting the alleged terrorist plot to explode at least 10 airplanes in mid-flight, once again the country and its leader are in the crosshairs.

Some say Pakistan is not getting the credit it deserves for dismantling an attack that could have been more devastating than 9/11. Others suggest the fact that Pakistan once again has links to an international security case is a clear indicator the country is not doing enough to address the roots of terrorism.

Britain's Home Secretary John Reid did publicly acknowledge Pakistan's co-operation in the investigation yesterday and newspapers in Pakistan reported Prime Minister Tony Blair had called Musharraf personally to express his thanks. But for some that recognition came too late — a day after Pakistani officials publicly revealed their involvement in the investigation.

U.S. President George W. Bush and other American leaders had yet to recognize Pakistan's help. In his first statement since the arrests Thursday, Bush thanked the U.K. and Blair and added that the arrests served as a "stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."

"Those sorts of comments do not help at all," Ricki Akhder Hussein, a city councillor in Pakistan, said during a telephone interview yesterday. "Mr. Bush is ... adding fuel to the fire by portraying Muslim people in a horrific way, (saying) that Islam preaches terrorism.

"President Musharraf is trying to alleviate and eradicate the terrorism and this ought to be acknowledged by Blair and Bush and others. ... Pakistan is being very helpful in the eradication of terrorism and (is) not given the credit."

The United States is seen by many in Pakistan as a greater enemy than the Taliban, which ruled in neighbouring Afghanistan and was supported by Pakistan for bringing stability after years of war with Soviet occupiers and among rival warlords.

Violent street demonstrations followed Bush's visit to Pakistan this year and the deaths of 18 people in the U.S. bombing of a compound where Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was thought to be hiding.

The Toronto Star accompanied Pakistan's military this spring to an army outpost more than 3,100 metres high in the mountains on the border with Afghanistan — a chance to show foreign journalists the border was secured and the Taliban on the run. But in nearby towns, reports of a brutal Taliban regime supported by local Pashtun tribes were still trickling out.

If events in the coming weeks follow what happened after the July 7, 2005 bombings in London, when it was alleged that one of the bombers attended a madrassa in Pakistan, attention is likely to again turn to the religious schools.

It's yet another delicate issue for Musharraf. The thousands of schools are largely viewed in Pakistan as providing education for the poor and preaching Islam, not militancy.

Musharraf had vowed to expel all foreign students from the schools, but many remain, including Canadians interviewed by the Star in May at Karachi's best-known madrassa.

Pakistan quizzes Briton over Al-Qaeda link to bomb plot - Aug 12

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani investigators questioned several suspects linked to the Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan, including a British national, over a plot to blow up transatlantic passenger planes.

The foreign ministry said late Friday it had arrested a Briton identified as Rashid Rauf in coordination with British and US intelligence, describing him as a "key suspect" whose capture led to the discovery of the alleged conspiracy.

Pakistan received thanks from Britain, with Prime Minister Tony Blair calling President Pervez Musharraf to thank him for help in thwarting the plot and Home Secretary John Reid showing his appreciation.

"There are indications of (an) Afghanistan-based Al-Qaeda connection," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the case had "wider international dimensions."

Rauf was arrested on information earlier received from Britain, the statement added, without specifying what kind, which "triggered arrests on the nights between 9th and 10th August 2006 in Britain."

Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted a Pakistani official as saying that Rauf's brother, Tayib Rauf, 22, was arrested in Birmingham and is one of 19 people on a British list of suspects whose assets should be frozen.

The newspaper reported that Rashid Rauf is believed to be wanted for questioning by West Midlands police investigating the stabbing to death of his uncle, Mohammed Saeed, 54, in April 2002.

"The intelligence cooperation and coordination at the international level to get to the bottom this case are continuing," the foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry did not give the exact number of arrests made in Pakistan or the locations but earlier government and security officials said seven suspects including two Britons were held last week.

The others were five Pakistani extremists who had acted as "facilitators" for the Britons, the officials said.

British officials allege some 24 suspects arrested there plotted to blow up a number of planes bound for the United States in mid-air by boarding them at British airports with explosives concealed in hand luggage.

Authorities are also investigating some financial transactions made by an unnamed foreign Muslim welfare group to at least a dozen branches of banks in Karachi and northwestern Peshawar city, a security official said.

Pakistan has arrested dozens of Al-Qaeda militants, including the capture three years ago of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

But Musharraf, a key US ally, has faced international criticism for failing to crack down on militancy, despite surviving three assassination attempts by extremists linked to Al-Qaeda.

Pakistan came under pressure after the July 7, 2005 suicide attacks on the London transport system when it emerged that some of the British-born bombers had attended Islamic religious schools, or madrassas, here.

Stop reinforcing failure - Guardian Unlimited, UK

British troops in Afghanistan are withdrawing from isolated forward bases. If only our tactics in Iraq reflected a similar realism.

While the rest of the world wasn't watching, an order was given to British troops that reversed most of Tony Blair's plans for Afghanistan at a stroke - the biggest single u-turn in the his long and tangled involvement in matters of war and peace.

British troops were ordered to get out of their isolated forward bases in upper Helmand province, because they were deemed to be too vulnerable and beyond rescue if their opponents continued their efforts to overrun them.

The order was given by a British general, Lt General David Richards, acting in his capacity as the overall international commander for most of Afghanistan, under the auspices of Nato and not the UK government.

"They have been engaged in dirty low-level fighting daily," the general told a news conference in Kabul. In other words he was following one of the oldest military maxims - never reinforce failure.

Since May the British Maysan Task Force, led by 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, have been trying to establish five or six "security zones" upcountry along the Helmand. The idea was that they would bring law and order, allowing reconstruction to flourish, and educate the farmers to abandon the opium poppy monoculture for tomatoes, pomegranates and even artichokes. Unfortunately the paras arrived just as the poppies were being picked. Word soon got out that the Brits had come to take away the crop, destroy livelihoods, wreck communities, and insult women.

The security zone is an old idea - developed by the British in the long campaign against communist insurgents in Malaya from the late forties to the early sixties, and later adopted in the American pacification programmes in Vietnam known as "ink blot zones".

The British ran into more heated opposition very quickly. Afghan fighters ambushed and attacked the British convoys and positions and staged long battles lasting a day and night at outposts in Musa Qala and Sangin. When the Afghan regional command headquarters was in danger of being overrun last month in Nawzad, Nato jets were called in. They dropped two 500lb bombs on the market, killing up to 100 according to local leaders; Nato itself has not given a precise figure yet.

Contrary to international reports most of the fighters are not "Taliban" - ie fanatical Muslim students from the madrassas of the Afghan refugee community round Quetta in Pakistan - though undoubtedly some of the best fighters come from across the border. Many are local tribesmen and villagers who just don't want the British - or any other foreigners - on their patch. Contrary to Nato intelligence calculations, they have been attacking in hundreds - virtually in battalion strength - and not the dozens that were expected.

The British Nato troops have brought war and not much peace to Helmand. Reconstruction and work by NGOs on clinics and schools has almost stopped - and plans to build bridges over the Helmand river at Musa Qala must now be put aside.

One of the reasons General Richards decided to act now was because he knew the British troops were courting disaster. With only six heavy transport helicopters for the whole force spread out over hundreds of miles, they could not even medevac casualties back to base without risking their lives. Accordingly field surgeons have had to be flown forward to carry out life and death surgery in appalling conditions out in the little Alamos of northern Helmand.

So the mission may now be shaped on more realistic lines. The British in Helmand had no chance of denting the narcotics industry in three years, as Tony Blair intended. They would be better off trying to help President Karzai get some semblance of government and order in his capital, Kabul, and work out from there in trying to bring aid, succour and good medicine to the Afghan population. Going to Helmand with the Parachute Regiment task force always seemed an invitation to the umpteenth Anglo-Afghan War.

Now, would that a dose of General Richards' political nous and tactical realism could be carried across to British military efforts in Iraq. And who is heeding his lesson in Whitehall and Downing Street?

Kabul’s youth receive welcome boost on world youth day
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Kabul, 12 August 2006 – The young people of Afghanistan received a boost today thanks to the United Nations with the opening of two new advice centres. These dedicated centres will provide information, advice and guidance to young people to help them make informed decisions about issues affecting their lives.

Over half of Afghanistan’s estimated population of 29 million is under the age of 18. Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world with many young people living in poverty with inadequate access to health and educational facilities.

Speaking from one of the new centres in Kabul, UNFPA Deputy Representative in Afghanistan Alain Sibenaler said: “These new centres are real boost for Kabul’s young people as the world today marks International Youth Day, young men and women can take advantage of resources and training on HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, reproductive health, as well as leadership and life skills. All vital if we are to encourage young people to play a full and active role in the future of Afghanistan.”

UNFPA and the Ministry of Public Health will open another youth friendly centre at the Central Polyclinic, Kabul on Sunday 13 August 2006 while a similar centre has already opened in Herat.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every women, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and women is treated with dignity and respect.

Polio cases surge in Afghanistan - The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan

The number of polio cases in Afghanistan has quadrupled this year, almost entirely in southern provinces shaken by the country's worst fighting in almost five years, officials said Saturday.

Afghanistan has suffered 24 cases so far in 2006, compared to nine cases during the whole of 2005, said Dr. Shukrullah Wahidi, an official with the Ministry of Public Health who oversees the polio program. All cases except one were in the south, he said.

Wahidi blamed the spike in polio cases on the increasing violence, unregulated travel across the border with Pakistan where polio is also a problem, difficulty in establishing local health services and poor communication with community leaders.

Insurgent violence erupted across the south this spring, killing more than 900 people. Eleven NATO troops have died there since the alliance took charge of security this month.

Dr. Hemlal Sharma, a UNICEF official in charge of the polio program, said the spike in cases this year directly stemmed from children not receiving vaccinations in late 2005 and 2006. The virus invades the nervous system, can cause permanent paralysis within hours, and can be fatal.

About 1,880 people were sickened by polio worldwide last year, down from more than 350,000 before 1988, when WHO launched a global anti-polio campaign, according to the agency.

Ravaged course, soaring cause - Mass. native holds benefit golf tourney in Afghanistan - By Russell Nichols, Globe Staff  |  August 11, 2006

Cupped in a rugged desert of rolling hills once peppered with mines, now grazed by goats, the nine-hole Kabul Golf Club still bears the wounds of war. It's a dusty expanse of bomb craters, rocks, and tumbleweed. Rusting tanks perch on the surrounding hills.

But it is where Boston-area native John Dempsey, a lawyer and golf lover, decided to make a mark during his stay in a country racked by war, poverty, and civil unrest. Dempsey decided to put on the Kabul Desert Classic, a charity tournament to raise money for poor Afghan families who can't afford to put their children in school.

The one-day tournament has drawn an eclectic band of competitors: journalists, diplomats, aid workers, and expatriates from a host of countries. Thirty-two players making up 16 teams will take on the par-36 course today.

Caddies will carry square patches of AstroTurf for players to place under their balls on the arid fairways. Because of the unforgiving terrain, where boulders can send wayward balls ricocheting into deep, dust-filled ditches, players will be allowed one mulligan. If they hit their balls into one of the bomb craters, they'll get a free drop. The greens are dark brown patches of sand that have been slicked with oil.

Gunfire, some players say, can sometimes be heard in the distance. ``You kind of have this sudden panic attack," said Jiffer Bourguignon, who won the first tournament last year and will be playing in the second today. ``We all looked at each other, and then looked back toward the hole. You're saying, `Just me and the ball, just me and the ball.' "

Dempsey sees the tournament on this desolate course as a symbol of hope amid the chaos that surrounds it.

``The whole place is almost like a sand trap," he said by phone from Kabul. ``In some ways, it's a good sign that things have changed."

Dempsey, 35, grew up in Lynn and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He went to Afghanistan in January 2003 after taking leave from his job as a lawyer for Linklaters & Alliance in New York to work as a volunteer for the International Rescue Committee. He joined a team of lawyers working on the country's property laws. But he wanted to do more.

``The media tends to focus on the terrorist attacks and the war," Dempsey said. ``There's a lot going on here that's not just about the fighting. There's actually millions of Afghans that are just trying to go on in their daily lives."

Money from the tournament, which has raised $8,000 this year, will go to Afghanistan Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization that aids poor families. Almost half the country's children between 7 and 12 don't go to school, largely because their families are poor and need the children to work for money or to provide labor at home, said Mike Kiernan, a spokesman for Save the Children, a global nonprofit organization based in Westport, Conn. Eighty percent of children who start primary school do not complete the fifth grade, he said.

The Kabul Golf Club was built in the late 1960s, but it was destroyed about a decade later when the Soviets rumbled through, wrecking its lush greens and irrigation pipes and stripping its clubhouse bare. The Taliban regime banned the sport in the 1990s.

Before the course reopened in 2004, a new clubhouse was constructed on top of a hill. The mines, three tanks, and a rocket launcher were removed.

The remnants of war are not the only hazards, however. Sam Hendricks, the other player on last year's winning team, recalled lining up a three-wood shot on the fifth hole. A herd of goats wandered onto the course, but Hendricks played anyway. ``I hit the goat on a one-bouncer," he said. ``That was my mulligan."

Herat traffic chief booked for taking bribe

Pajhwok
By Ahmad Ihsan Sarwaryar

HERAT CITY - A senior officer was arrested red-handed while receiving bribe from a private taxicab company officials in the western Herat province.

Brigadier General Karimullah, provincial chief of the traffic police, was allegedly taking bribe from a private Kazimi Taxicab Company, officials said on Wednesday.

Sources in the intelligence department told Pajhwok Afghan News the traffic chief had demanded $12,000 from the company for issuance of registrations for 20 taxicabs and he was caught red-handed while receiving the bribe money inside his office.

Provincial Governor Sayed Hussain Anwari told Pajhwok Afghan News they had marked the currency notes before delivery to the traffic officer by the company officials.

Fardin Kazimi, head of the taxicab company, said he had paid $12,000 to the traffic chief inside his office. He said they had entered into an agreement with an Iranian transport company for running taxicab service between Herat and Iranian city of Mashad.

As they approached the traffic police chief for issuance of registrations for 20 cars, he demanded $600 for registration of each vehicle, said Kazimi, adding, they took the matter to the provincial governor who gave them the marked currency notes for handing over to the official.

Provincial police chief Ayub Salangi said they raided office of the traffic chief and arrested him on special orders of the provincial governor. He said investigations had been launched into the case.

Pakistan's port in troubled waters - Asia Times - By Elizabeth Mills

The port at Gwadar is without doubt currently Pakistan's flagship infrastructure project. A source of great pride for the Pakistani government, its much anticipated inauguration as the country's energy hub has been twice delayed and it is envisaged to become operational by year's end.

Built with Chinese assistance - just how much is debatable, though US$200 million for the first phase is an accepted figure plus loans - this multibillion-dollar scheme is regarded as not only an important economic asset but also a strategic one.

The first phase included the construction of three multi-purpose ship berths, while the second, to be completed by 2010, involves nine more berths, an approach channel and storage terminals, by which time it will provide full warehousing, trans-shipment and

industrial facilities. The Pakistani government is positioning Gwadar as "an energy port and hub for storage and refining".

No country knows the strategic value of the port more than India, which is unsettled at the prospect of having at the very least a possible Chinese listening post so close to home and at worst a possible Chinese naval presence on the Indian Ocean.

Consider for one minute, however, the possibility that despite the hype, fears, euphoria and general interest, Gwadar might just be a big, lumbering white elephant. Consider also the possibility that the security situation is now so poor in the area surrounding the port - and more widely in the surrounding province of Balochistan - that even the port's authorities are reportedly questioning whether the facility can become operational in the near term.

Autonomy-seeking rebels are fighting for greater political rights and a bigger share of profits from gas-rich Balochistan's natural resources. According to official data, there were 187 bomb blasts, 275 rocket attacks, eight attacks on gas pipelines, 36 attacks on electricity-transmission lines and 19 explosions on railway lines in Balochistan in 2005. At least 182 civilians and 26 security-force personnel died in the province during last year.

Consider further the possibility that the Chinese became entangled in Gwadar's construction as a mere investment opportunity rather than as a part of a grand strategic plan, and may have come to regret the decision as the death toll of their engineers working on the project has risen and the obstacles to the port's construction and operation increased.

These considerations aside, let's take a look at the development and its proposed facilities. Gwadar is in the restive southeastern province of Balochistan, sitting on the southern Makran coast, about 70 kilometers from the border with Iran and about 320km from Cape al-Hadd in Oman.

Pakistan already has one major commercial port at Karachi, but it is envisaged that while Karachi - due for expansion and modernization - will remain the key commercial and naval port, Gwadar, given its position, will be a regional energy hub.

Given that it is situated alongside sea lanes near the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40% of the world's oil tankers pass, the government is eyeing Gwadar's position as a key entry point for energy supplies for Central and South Asia, as well as western China.

Alongside this, the Pakistani government has ambitions to develop Gwadar into a South Asian Las Vegas, a regional entertainment hub filled with casinos and five-star hotels.

This is a far cry from what Gwadar was just five years ago. Before the port's construction began (2002), Gwadar was considerably smaller, with just one high school, basic infrastructure and limited job opportunities.

In fact, most employment centered on fishing and small-scale smuggling in what is the country's poorest province. As a result, when the authorities made the port announcement, the town's inhabitants welcomed the decision, envisaging better prospects. After all, they had benefited from the construction of the Makran coastal highway, linking Gwadar with Karachi. Why should the port be any different?

Inevitably, there were dissenting voices, not least the tribal bigwigs who feared that urbanization would deprive them of their traditional power bases and influence. That said, for the man in the street, the positives of such a large project looked set to outweigh suspicions and fears.

In fact, what has unfolded is a tale of displacement, lost job opportunities, dubious land deals and increasing local violent hostility. The insurgency-related problems of Balochistan are well documented, but have been exacerbated in recent years by the new security threat emanating from the discontent surrounding the port's construction. A sense of local nationalism has emerged, fueled by disengagement with the fruits of the project.

The rapid increase in land prices in the region has made a small elite extremely wealthy, though for the everyday resident of Gwadar the reality is very different. Allegations of land grabs and shady deals are rife with the benefits accrued by influential outsiders and their cronies coming at the expense of the town's indigenous inhabitants. Most residents have also found themselves running short on water as well as displaced, rehoused inland, a considerable distance from the sea and their traditional fishing areas. And Gwadar reportedly still has just one high school, despite its burgeoning size.

Too little and too late, the authorities are now acting. The director general of the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA), Mir Ahmed Bukhsh Lehri, is on record as having in May pledged a huge infrastructure package. Lehri announced that infrastructure would be of an international standard and include a 350-bed hospital, a sports complex, a park, a mosque and a desalination plant as well as two new harbors and housing for locals. Perhaps this would have been welcomed several years ago, but it is difficult to envisage anything but a cold and skeptical reception to this news now.

If proof were needed of the local population's changed attitude, it is witnessed in the security situation. When the port's construction first started, it was reported that about 200 Chinese engineers operated freely in the town, welcomed by its inhabitants and housed without security fears among the population. As the project has developed and local grievances increased, the number of engineers has steadily decreased and the 20 or so who are now left are stationed at the army's barracks, under guard 24 hours a day. A number have died in attacks, the largest of which occurred in May 2004 when three were killed and 11 others (nine of whom were Chinese) injured in a car-bombing.

At odds with this disconcerting reality is the international attention being paid to the port. Admittedly, some of the key international port operators are notably absent from bidding for the project, but even so, the past few months has seen a flurry of speculation over which international company would win the rights to operate the port. Will it be DP World of the United Arab Emirates or Hutchison Port Holdings of Hong Kong, or perhaps even Singapore's PSA International, all of whom have submitted an _expression of interest (EoI)? Perhaps, however, the question that should be asked is whether the whole scheme is actually viable.

Currently, the Pakistani government forbids foreigners from traveling without its permission in parts of Balochistan because of the broad security risk. In fact, anyone seeking to do so first has to secure a no-objection certificate. It is unclear just how the authorities are going to get around this obstacle once Gwadar the tourist city is up and running.

As the situation stands, a five-star entertainment resort in a part of Pakistan surrounded by barely controlled desert (and not forgetting that Afghanistan's Taliban-heavy provinces border Balochistan) will surely top the attack list for a range of militant and terrorist elements. Partying aside, the prospects similarly look poor for the viable operation of the port.

Its inauguration has been delayed twice, and even now it is not entirely clear when it will begin operating. It appears that the port is at the stage of becoming operational but remains unsupported by surrounding infrastructure.

President General Pervez Musharraf has belatedly urged the various ministries to work together on this, with the failure to put in place rail, road and communications links to the rest of the respective networks preventing the port's grand opening. So what's causing this delay? A bit of ministry rivalry, perhaps, or a lack of funds? Apparently not. No, instead, the security situation is the key problem.

This is evidenced in the current debate over rail links. All that was required was a link from Gwadar to the network at the Quetta-Kohi-Taftan junction. Reports that emerged last month suggested that a feasibility study had been concluded and that "problems" had been identified, prompting the ministry to consider alternative routes. The original proposed route ran through a particularly restive central part of the province, but the alternative poses topographical challenges, given the area's steep gradients.

Add to this the security situation in Gwadar itself and the vision of that white elephant looms large. Sources who spoke to Asia Times Online were allowed on a recent visit to the area and secured the rare opportunity to talk with port officials. Surprisingly, they proved to be candid in their views, openly expressing their fears that poor security in the area would constitute such a deterrent that the port would not be able to function normally. Certainly, the regular news reports detailing bombings in and around Gwadar underline this continuing threat. A recent selection reveals attacks on hotels under construction and even the GDA's offices.

The government cannot be oblivious to the situation around Gwadar, though it has arguably been overshadowed by the wider ongoing separatist insurgency in the province. It is notable that a dual strategy for Balochistan's troubles has emerged more clearly during 2006.

The federal authorities currently favor a policy of targeted military action accompanied by effective development spending. Interestingly, negotiation does not appear to be an option, with regional leaders either in detention or served with exit certificates, preventing their return to the province without arrest.

A total of Rs10 billion (US$167 million) has been funneled into developmental projects in Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, though it is unclear whether any of these funds will be targeted on the needs of residents or whether they will service the requirements of a burgeoning tourist center.

In many respects, the government is warranted in trying to exploit the location of Gwadar and should be both commended and supported for its foresight in looking to tap into the lucrative energy-transit network.

That said, if it fails to surmount the security problems and, even more basically, cannot put the fundamental infrastructure in place for the development, Gwadar's port looks set to fail at the first hurdle.

Not only will this come at considerable economic cost, but it will undermine relations with China and simply make the Pakistani authorities look foolish. If Gwadar is a test case for Pakistan's wider aptitude for diversification and grand-scheme expansion, it appears it will receive a poor report card. Elizabeth Mills is an analyst covering political and security issues, with an emphasis on South Asia.

[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.]