In this bulletin:

• Afghan 'suicide bombing kills 17' – BBC
• STATEMENT OF TOM KOENIGS, THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN, ON TODAY’S SUICIDE ATTACK IN LASHKAR GAH, HELMAND
• Turkish engineer killed in Afghanistan
• President Karzai Expresses His Regret at the Death of 49 People in the United States of America
• Shot Afghan police were unmarked: NATO
• Iranian, Afghan DMs Issue Joint Statement
• U.S. urges Afghan border plugged
• Afghanistan: economic activity more important than military action
• Rice may attend Afghanistan meet in Delhi
• British replace Danish troops in Musa Qala
• Military supplies in Afghanistan being depleted
• Afghan weapons not depleted: MoD
• U.S. to release 2.7 mln USD to combat Afghan-Pak drug trafficking
• Families of bombing victims get compensation
• Rebel killing raises stakes in Pakistan
• Music opens new world to Afghan girls

Afghan 'suicide bombing kills 17' – BBC

At least 17 people have been killed and many more injured in a suspected suicide bombing in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, officials say.

The blast ripped through a crowded bazaar in the town of Lashkar Gah. A spokesman for the provincial governor told the Associated Press news agency that the bomber had blown himself up opposite a police station.

Helmand province has seen some of the worst of the violence that has killed hundreds in Afghanistan this year.

At least 47 people were wounded in the latest blast, six of them critically, Hanif Khan, a local hospital official, told the Associated Press news agency.

Shattered glass and blood-soaked turbans were scattered at the site of the bomb, AP quoted security guard Hayatullah Khan as saying.

Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since the fall of the Taleban in 2001. Militants recently stepped up their insurgency against government and foreign forces in the south and east.

About 2,000 people, most of them militants, but also civilians, aid workers, Afghan forces and more than 90 foreign soldiers have been killed this year. Last week, US-led forces killed seven men and a child in a raid in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.

The coalition forces said the men were suspected al-Qaeda members, but local people told the BBC that the men were tribal elders who had gathered to resolve a local dispute.

STATEMENT OF TOM KOENIGS, THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN, ON TODAY’S SUICIDE ATTACK IN LASHKAR GAH, HELMAND

I am appalled by today’s suicide attack in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province that has resulted in the deaths of 17 civilians, most of whom were children, and wounds to many more.

The loss of so many lives is shocking and I know that all communities in Afghanistan will share my revulsion at this attack.

Afghanistan’s people have suffered enough. It is wrong for any conflict to be played out in a civilian arena.

Kabul, August 28, 2006

Turkish engineer killed in Afghanistan

ANKARA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A Turkish engineer was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan on Monday and another Turk working for a security firm was abducted in the same attack, foreign ministry officials said.

The pair were attacked on the road between Kandahar in the south, and the western city of Herat, the officials said.

The engineer's company, Ankara-based Kolin Insaat which is involved in reconstruction work in Afghanistan, also confirmed his death. About 2,000 people, including militants, civilians, aid workers and Afghan forces, have been killed this year, along with more than 90 foreign soldiers.

President Karzai Expresses His Regret at the Death of 49 People in the United States of America - Date of Release: 28 August 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, expressed his deep regret at the unfortunate death of 49 people in Kentucky, the United States of America.

According to reports, a passenger plane carrying 50 people crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in Kentucky, killing all but one on board.

The President, on behalf of the people of Afghanistan, expressed his heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and to people and Government of the United States of America.

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Shot Afghan police were unmarked: NATO

Aug. 28, 2006. TERRY PEDWELL CANADIAN PRESS

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — NATO officials disputed reports Monday that Afghan police officers shot by Canadian soldiers on the weekend were travelling in marked vehicles.

Investigators interviewed 38 Afghan and Canadian military witnesses over the previous 48 hours, said a Canadian military source said Monday.

Not one of them said the Afghan officers involved in the shootings were in a police truck, said the source, who didn't want to be identified.

"All of them had indicated it was an unmarked vehicle," the source said.

One officer, believed to be part of Afghanistan's secret police, was killed Saturday in a shootout with Canadians, who fired on a truckload of armed men.

Four other Afghans were hurt in the shooting.

Two others were later shot as they approached the Canadians on a motorcycle.

Two local officials were quoted Monday as saying the police officers were wearing standard-issue police uniforms and driving white pickup trucks marked with the word "Police" as they approached.

"The police are very upset, because the Canadians should know our vehicles by now," Haji Kheerdin, the Zhari district chief, told The Globe and Mail in a telephone interview.

CTV also reported that witnesses described the vehicle as clearly marked.

NATO expressed deep regret for the shootings, but insisted that the Canadians, in both cases, mistook the police officers for insurgents and acted in self-defence.

Three of the injured Afghans have been released from hospital at Kandahar Air Field while the others were still being treated. One of the men was listed in serious, but stable condition.

In another incident, a Canadian soldier shot and killed a young Afghan boy last Tuesday near a small Canadian military compound in Kandahar, when two people on a motorcycle drove through a security cordon. The driver the motorcycle, a teenager, was wounded.

The shooting happened about two hours after a Canadian soldier was killed by a suicide bomber in the area. Canadian soldiers also fired on local Afghan journalists who were trying to get close to the scene of the bombing.

Many of the journalists met Saturday with Lt.-Col. Simon Hetherington, commander of Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar.

Hetherington apologized for the incident and promised to provide the reporters with protective gear and proper identification, said one journalist.

"`We will provide you with bullet proof jackets and a cap. You will be safe and secure,'" Hetherington was quoted as saying. "`I apologize for what happened.'"

There was more violence in southern Afghanistan on Monday as two mortars struck Canada's forward operating based in the Zhari District Centre, west of Kandahar. No injuries reported.

In Helmand, about 150 kilometres west of Kandahar, 17 civilians were killed and another 47 wounded — including 15 children, in a suicide attack in the province's Lashkar Gah District, local officials said.

The attack took place shortly before the lunch hour in Lahskar Gah's main market. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility. The bomber carrying explosives walked into the market opposite a police station, said Ghulam Muheddin, the provincial governor's spokesman.

Shattered glass, human parts and blood-soaked turbans were scattered at the site of the bomb, which wrecked shop fronts, said Hayatullah Khan, a security guard at the scene.

Among the dead was the owner of the market, a former Lashkar Gah police chief with known ties to the former Soviet-backed Afghan government.

The man's son and a nephew were also believed to have died.

Insurgents often launch suicide bombings, usually targeting NATO-led and Afghan troops in southern Afghanistan, although sometimes civilians are the victims.

A suicide bomber targeting Canadian troops earlier this month in Panjawaii district in Kandahar province killed 21 civilians and wounded 13 others.

Since then, local religious leaders have urged their followers to launch revenge attacks against Taliban insurgents. Afghanistan is in the midst of the worst violence it has seen since the ouster of the Taliban in a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.

Iranian, Afghan DMs Issue Joint Statement

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian and Afghan Defense Ministers stressed the need for the formation of a joint commission to specify the fields proper for mutual cooperation by the two countries.

A ccording to a Defense Ministry Statement, the two ministers in a meeting here in Tehran on Monday, stressed establishment of mutual security and defensive relations and assessed the two states' cooperation in anti-terrorism and anti-drug campaign as an important factor for the restoration of regional peace and stability.

The two officials have also explored ways and studied the level of Iran's cooperation for the reinvigoration and equipment of Afghanistan's national army.

They also underlined the necessity for the establishment of a joint commission to specify the areas and types of mutual cooperation that the two countries can have.

The two sides also expressed pleasure with the friendly atmosphere of talks and reiterating increased exchange of views at the senior and expert levels, they stressed the need for continued visits and talks.

Also during the meeting, Afghanistan's Defense Minister praised Iran's non-stop supports for the establishment of peace, stability and security in Afghanistan and Tehran's assistance for the economic development of that country. Wardak also appreciated his counterpart for Tehran's warm hospitality.

Afghanistan's Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, heading a high-ranking military delegation, is paying an official 3-day visit to Iran at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Mostafa Mohammad Najjar.

U.S. urges Afghan border plugged - Reuters

BAGRAM - Foreign and local troops must plug the Afghan-Pakistan border to halt Taliban infiltration, America's commander for the Middle East said on Saturday, but added that Islamabad was not helping the rebels.

Fighting in Afghanistan is at its bloodiest since a U.S.-led coalition drove the hardline Islamist Taliban from power in 2001 and the United States, Afghanistan and other governments say many of the guerrillas use Pakistan as a safe haven.

Kabul has made veiled charges Islamabad still supports its former protege and the Afghan intelligence chief said last week Pakistan had not given up "its interference and aggression."

"There is always this notion there is collusion on the part of the Pakistan government," U.S. General John Abizaid, whose command includes Iraq and Afghanistan, told reporters at Bagram airbase outside Kabul on the eve of a visit to Islamabad.

"And I absolutely don't believe that. Pakistani soldiers are fighting and dying to accomplish their military missions. You don't order your soldiers into the field against the enemy in order to play some sort of a game in neighboring countries.

"My experience with the Pakistani military has been that they are committed. My experience with President (Pervez) Musharraf is that he is committed."

The dramatic upturn in violence, in which more than 2,000 people have been killed so far this year, has been focused in the Taliban heartland in the south and east, bordering or near Pakistan.

Islamabad has deployed 80,000 troops along the rugged and inhospitable border and has taken heavy casualties but faces charges, as it does from India over Kashmir to the east, that it is not doing enough to stop fighters crossing the frontier.

Musharraf, one of Washington's key allies in its war on terror, has said no groups can use Pakistani territory as a springboard to launch attacks on other countries.

Pakistan has been battling foreign Islamist fighters, including al Qaeda, who entered after the Taliban fell.

In Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, one local pro-Taliban group, at present in a ceasefire with government forces, is demanding it be allowed to cross the border to join its Pashtun tribespeople in the fight against foreign and Afghani troops.

The fiercely independent Pashtun who inhabit both sides of the border have never been brought fully under control by any government, including the former British colonial administration.

"The Pakistanis have done an awful lot in going after al Qaeda and it's important that they not let Taliban groups be organized on the Pakistani side of the border," Abizaid said.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende visited Dutch troops in southern Uruzgan province on Saturday and called for more global pressure to halt the cross-border flow of rebels.

"The situation in Uruzgan is linked to people coming from Pakistan," he told reporters later in Kabul. "If these issues are not ... solved, then indeed, you have a serious problem."

Afghanistan: economic activity more important than military action
Aug 27

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AFP) - Economic development in Afghanistan is more important than military action, with the efforts of Taliban rebels unlikely to be the deciding factor, a top US general said here.

The Taliban, with their outside sources of income from groups such as Al-Qaeda, have the capacity to continue fighting, said General John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command that covers parts of Africa and the Middle East

But Abizaid said during a short visit to Afghanistan: "I don't believe that any of the fighting that the Taliban is capable of generating will be decisive in and of itself."

"I actually think that we are really in a stage in the campaign where economic activity is more important then military activity," he said on Saturday.

The rebels had taken heavy casualties and had not "exerted control for any substantial period of time in any major population area."

"Certainly they managed to take some district capitals for short periods of time, but those have been largely media victories and not military victories," he said.

Many in the international community have said that development, particularly in the south, is the best way to win over public support for the new government and marginalise Taliban and other rebels, along with drugs traffickers.

"It's important that the international community stays focused militarily but also ups the ante with regard to economic reconstruction and the difficult work that has to be done to move Afghanistan forward," Abizaid said. "When there is economic progress, security also moves in

Rice may attend Afghanistan meet in Delhi- [ 28 Aug, 2006 1830hrs IST IANS ]

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is likely to attend a meeting of the countries supporting developmental projects in Afghanistan, to be held here in November.

"Representatives from 22 countries which support the developmental programmes in Afghanistan will attend the second Regional Cooperation Conference for Afghanistan," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said on Monday.

"The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice too may come to India to attend the meeting which will be held on November 18-19," the minister said.

Sources in the ministry of external affairs said Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, apart from the foreign ministers of the G-8 countries, was also likely to participate.

"The countries that have contributed billions of dollars in humanitarian and developmental aid to Kabul in the post-Taliban period will discuss the next stage of developmental works in Afghanistan," a ministry official said.

British replace Danish troops in Musa Qala

KABUL, Aug 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The British troops replaced the Danish troops in the Musa Qala district of the southern Helmand province, announced a military statement here on Friday.

"A successful operation was conducted yesterday to rebalance ISAF forces in Musa Qala," said the release. The Danish troops in Musa Qala were replaced by British troops and Afghan forces after more than 30 days manning the district centre in the face of many insurgent attacks.

The release said the operation to implement the changeover went extremely smoothly, meeting only a little resistance which was very quickly neutralised.

After yesterdays changeover, the Danish troops will rest and replenish for future tasks and operations, says the press release.

"The Musa Qala area has seen a lot of insurgent activity over the last month.  The Danes did really well in the face of a tough and challenging task," said Colonel Arie Vermeij, Deputy Commander of the Regional Command South.

Military supplies in Afghanistan being depleted - Aug 28

LONDON (AFP) - British military forces in Afghanistan are using up missiles, rockets and spare parts at a faster rate than expected, a newspaper has reported.

The Daily Telegraph said Monday one unnamed officer in Afghanistan predicted that the stocks of weapons and components that were meant to last until April next year, may be depleted "well before Christmas".

All eight British Apache helicopters are being flown on a daily basis, even though it was intended that only six should fly every day, the newspaper said. A number of them have been hit by Taliban shooters, but none have been seriously damaged.

The defense ministry was given one billion pounds for the Afghanistan mission, money that is being used up at a much faster pace than expected, according to The Daily Telegraph's unnamed sources, and it may have to ask the Treasury for more money.

The defence ministry disputed the claims, however, with a spokeswoman telling AFP: "There's no problems with re-supply."

"The force package in Afghanistan is a full and robust package which was asked for by commanders on the ground. They are content with the package." "Of course, its always kept under review."

Some 21 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan -- 14 in combat -- since the start of operations against the Taliban in November 2001 following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Some 4,000 British troops are currently in Helmand province, with the figure set to rise to around 4,500. A further 1,000 are in the capital Kabul and a few hundred are in the southern city of Kandahar. There are about 30,000 foreign troops from 30 countries in Afghanistan.

Although the Taliban were ousted from power five years ago, supporters of the extremist movement have this year stepped up attacks on foreign and Afghan troops.

Afghan weapons not depleted: MoD - The Press Association - August 28

Defence chiefs have denied that the fierce fighting in Afghanistan has depleted stocks of ammunition and vehicle spares. A day after a member of 14 Signal Regiment was shot dead when rebels attacked his platoon house in Musa Qaleh, the Ministry of Defence insisted commanders in the central Asian state are "content" with their equipment and supplies.

The comments followed claims that weapons and components intended to last until April could be used up by December. The MoD may have to ask for more money from the Treasury or find savings elsewhere as its £1bn fighting fund was rapidly depleted, it has been reported.

Eight British Apache attack helicopters were said to be particularly hard hit, and running flat-out to meet demands for support.

British soldiers have met fierce resistance in parts of Afghanistan, particularly Helmand province in the south, on their security and reconstruction mission.

The 8,000-strong Nato force in the country is now made up largely of British, Canadian and Dutch troops, as well as some US personnel. Rebel fighters, including Taliban militants, have mounted a series of attacks on bases and vehicle patrols.

Brigadier Ed Butler, commander of the UK taskforce in the troubled Helmand region, has admitted that operations in northern Helmand are "demanding".

An MoD spokeswoman said: "There is no problem with resupply logistics. Equipment is being resupplied as it is needed. In terms of Apache helicopters, we are operating as part of a coalition. It is a Nato mission, not just a British mission.

U.S. to release 2.7 mln USD to combat Afghan-Pak drug trafficking

Source: Xinhua August 28, 2006 

The United States was scheduled to release 2.7 million U.S. dollars to Pakistan to combat narcotics smuggling from Afghanistan to Pakistan, the website of local newspaper Daily Times quoted a government official as saying on Monday.

The official said that the financial assistance, under the Border Security Project framework, would be routed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) of the American Embassy and the Frontier Constabulary.

Washington was also scheduled to further extend its cooperation with Islamabad by releasing and additional 2.5 million dollars in commodity support as well as 200,000 to upgrade border checkposts along the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) border with Afghanistan.

With Afghanistan's poppy production set to increase this year, there are fears that Pakistan could become a transit route for illegal narcotics destined for Europe and other western markets.

U.S. cooperation, therefore, is seen as a major breakthrough in combating the illegal trade in opium-manufactured narcotics, the official said.

Approximately 70 to 80 percent of the world's opium is produced in Afghanistan, according to Daily Times.

Families of bombing victims get compensation

ASADABAD, Aug 26 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Cash amount was distributed to families of those killed in last week US' bombing in the Shigol district of the eastern Kunar province on Saturday.

The assistance was announced by President Hamid Karzai as compensation, which was distributed to the victim's families by a delegation comprising provincial Governor Shalizai Didar and some MPs from Kunar.

The pre-dawn attack on Thursday claimed eight lives, including a 12-year-old boy, and wounded a woman. Local said the slain were civilians but the coalition forces argued they were al-Qaeda facilitators.

The official delegation also secured release of the four people taken into custody by the US forces after the strike from the same house.

Haji Sakhi Mashwanai, member of parliament from Kunar, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had convoyed condolences from President Karzai to the bereaved families of the slain. He said each family of the dead was provided with 200,000 afghanis while those wounded were given 50,000afs as compensation.

Disputing the statement of US military, Mashwani said all the dead were common citizens and tribal elders, who had gathered in the targeted house to solve a dispute. He said the inquiry commission formed by the president would present its report tomorrow.

He said members of the commission had demanded of the president to stop the foreign forces from targeting civilians. President Karzai had ordered probe into the incident soon after reports regarding the killing of the eight civilians .

Rebel killing raises stakes in Pakistan - BBC

Guest journalist Ahmed Rashid assesses what the killing of a rebel tribal leader in Balochistan province means for the Baloch rebel movement and for the Pakistani government.

In his death and the manner in which it was carried out, Sardar Akbar Bugti is likely to become a martyred hero for Baloch nationalism and nationalists elsewhere in Pakistan - rather than the anti-government renegade and reactionary tribesman Islamabad would like to portray him as.

Bugti, the Sardar or chief of more than 200,000 Bugti tribesmen, was killed along with more than 35 of his followers when the Pakistan Air Force bombed his hideout in the Bambore mountain range in the Marri tribal area.

Pakistani officials say that at least 16 soldiers including four officers were killed after they went in to mop up the remnants of the Baloch guerrilla group. A fierce battle ensued which led to their deaths.

Bugti, a 79-year-old invalid who could not walk due to arthritis, is reported to be buried in the rubble of the cave where he was hiding.

For months, Pakistani politicians including members of the ruling party had been insisting that the military regime agree to hold talks with the Baloch leaders in order to stop what was becoming an ever-widening civil war in the province.

Several security agencies and advisers to President Pervez Musharraf, including the Interservices Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau, asked Musharraf to talk to the Baloch leaders.

However, other advisers and the hawkish Military Intelligence advised him to crush the Baloch leaders, which includes three prominent Sardars, Bugti, Khair Bux Marri and Ataullah Mengal.

Senior politicians say that Mr Musharraf's lack of understanding about the Baloch issue, his underestimation of the growing sense of alienation in all the smaller provinces and the attack on his ego when his helicopter was fired upon by Baloch rebels last December, all contributed to his helping him take the decision to kill Bugti.

Bugti was not the leader of the mysterious Balochistan Liberation Army which has been banned by Pakistan and Britain, but he was certainly its most visible spokesman over the past three years, as the Baloch insurgency against Islamabad has grown.

The army has attempted to divide the Baloch by promising large aid grants to those tribal leaders who support the government, even as Islamabad claims that it is eliminating the Sardari system.

Baloch nationalists have long argued that while Islamabad exploits their massive gas and mineral deposits, they give little in return to the province.

Last year, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League agreed on a package of incentives for the Baloch that included a constitutional amendment giving greater autonomy to the province, but it was overruled by Mr Musharraf and the army who then vowed to militarily crush the rebellion.

The army argues that millions have been spent in development, but projects such as the building of the Gawadar port, the building of cantonments and even new roads do not necessarily benefit ordinary Baloch.

The projects are defined by the army and its national security needs, rather than through consultations with the Baloch or even the Balochistan provincial assembly. Then the projects are carried out by outside companies who give few jobs to the Baloch.

By killing Bugti, the president has now earned the permanent enmity of not just the Baloch rebels but the wider Baloch population who may not believe in taking up arms, but are still frustrated with Islamabad for its failure to develop the province.

He may have seriously underestimated the power of Baloch nationalism which has led to four wars with the Pakistan army in the past.

Nationalism within the smaller provinces has always been the biggest threat to military regimes just as it is to mr Musharraf.

The hanging of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, who was a Sindhi, by an earlier military ruler has made Sindhis resentful of the army, while they have, by and large, always voted for the opposition Pakistan People's Party.

In the North West Frontier Province where Talebanisation is rampant, Pashtun nationalism is presently taking the form of political Islam.

By killing Bugti, the army is sending a clear message to nationalists in other provinces as to how they will be dealt with if they rear their heads.

However, the smaller provinces are seething with resentment against continued military rule. Their sense of frustration and alienation is growing as they see the army representing only its own interests or that of Punjab, the largest province in the country.

The army is also sending a powerful signal to neighbouring India and Afghanistan. The army has accused India of financing and arming the Baloch rebels, while it has accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of allowing the Baloch to train in Afghanistan.

India and Afghanistan have denied these charges at the highest level, but Pakistani officials say there is little doubt that the Indians were involved in funding the Baloch movement because of their long-standing involvement with the Baloch and the evidence that arrested Baloch rebels have provided the Pakistani intelligence services.

The tit-for-tat proxy war between Pakistan on one side and India and Afghanistan on the other, will now heat up.

India accuses Pakistan of continuing to arm and finance Islamic extremists in Kashmir and funding anti-government and Maoist movements in other parts of the Indian sub-continent.

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of arming and giving sanctuary to the Taleban and its leadership. Pakistan denies both charges. There is an ever-deepening political crisis in Pakistan which the death of Bugti will only exacerbate.

Many people say that the country is rapidly unravelling with Mr Musharraf refusing to give clear-cut guarantees about free and fair elections next year, while he insists on running again for another five-year term as president even as he remains army chief.

Bugti's death will only add to the growing fears about the country's future and the danger inherent in a policy of killing political opponents rather than holding a dialogue with them.

Music opens new world to Afghan girls

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The lilt of a girl singing of homecoming blends pleasantly with a cacophony of different melodies from keyboard, guitar and drums in a music school in northern Afghanistan.

The female students, wearing burqas with their faces uncovered, chuckle and joke as they practice in Afghanistan's first women-only music school, relishing in their new found freedom.

Just a few years ago, music was banned by the hardline Taliban government. Musicians fled the country and women were barred from schools or leaving home without a male relative.

Now, this six-month project at the Nagashand Fine Art Gallery in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, near the border with Uzbekistan, is teaching 18 girls and women to become music teachers.

The women are taught singing and how to play a range of modern and traditional musical instruments.

"As a child, I liked music -- I wanted to prove women can play music," said 14-year-old Zahra Amiri, the youngest student at the school. "I want to be a musician some day."

Her sister, 25-year-old Masoma Mazari, heads the project and like Amiri is learning the electric keyboard, or what they simply call "the Casio."

But the $9,200 project, backed by the United Nations and local aid groups, still battles to overcome old fears.

"Music has had a very bad history in Afghanistan, so many people are against it," Amiri said, white platform shoes peeking out under the robes of her black burqa.

"Some families are afraid their girls will turn bad," she said. "But music is necessary for our soul. It calms our soul."

All the students, ranging in age from 14 to 30, lived for years in Iran as refugees after their families fled war torn Afghanistan. Afghan women who stayed during the civil war and the Taliban time are still reluctant to join.

"All the girls here are from Iran -- they have grown up in a free environment," Mazari said.

The only student who remained in Afghanistan during the Taliban's rule quit after just a few weeks due to social pressures in a conservative, Islamic society.

She had appeared on television in a song contest in Kabul, coming third, but was harassed in Mazar when she returned.

"People here made fun of her. Now she is afraid to come to lessons anymore," said Amiri.

The influence of returning refugees, especially from the West and countries such as Iran, has helped break down barriers and bring about some change.

Women are making gains. They sit in parliament, head government ministries and some are finding jobs outside traditional occupations for women such as teaching and nursing.

But even in major cities, many still wear the burqa in public and in rural areas are subject to strict tradition.

Amiri and Mazari had never seen Afghanistan until they returned two years ago to Mazar-i-Sharif, a dusty city on the hot northern plains known for its hashish, carpets and Hazrat Ali mosque.

Their family, including Mazari's husband, is supportive of their musical endeavors. But she still thinks it is too soon to allow boys to join the music school. "It would create problems if boys and girls study together," Mazari said.

"Some women have been separate for so long during the fighting it is very difficult for them to come study with males," she added. But the two teachers at the school are men. One, Khalil Bakhtari, 45, fled to the United Arab Emirates after the Taliban took power in 1996.

"I was very depressed when the Taliban came, because we could not teach music," he said, fiddling with his harmonium. "If the Taliban knew I was a musician, they would have punished me.

"We wanted the Taliban defeated so that we could teach music again," he said. Bakhtari and his colleague, Nadair Kharimi, 33, teach about 10 instruments, ranging from the saxophone and electric keyboard to tabla drums and the ancient Afghani robab guitar.

A teacher for 15 years, Bakhtari said he was frequently asked by local women to set up a music school after his return.

But he never had the resources -- his harmoniums, for example, cost $300 each in a country where the average annual income is about $200.

Then the United Nations and local charities stepped in to bring music back to Afghani women after years of repressive Taliban rule. "We are free. We can do anything. We can play music again," he said.

[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.]