In this bulletin:

• President Karzai Strongly Condemns the Bombings in Kabul City
• Pair of Bus Bombings Kills 1, Wounds 8 in Kabul
• Pakistan says trail cold in bin Laden hunt
• Pakistan says Taleban are regrouping in Afghanistan
• Afghan conference mulls fresh measures to disarm militia
• Karzai nominates Salam Azimi as new CJ
• Afghan role 'vital for security'
• Italy to stay in Afghanistan despite political problems
• Taliban leader who renounced insurgency is dead
• Generals think again in Taliban onslaught
• Killing of interpreters stirs concern in Kabul
• Kandahar City Fire Department receives new equipment
• Honour Roll 2006: Envoy extraordinary
• Pomegranates to battle opium in Afghanistan
  

President Karzai Strongly Condemns the Bombings in Kabul City - Date of Release: 5 July 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, who is currently attending the second conference on the “Consolidation of Peace in Afghanistan” in Tokyo, strongly condemned the bombings in Kabul city.

According to reports, the enemies of Afghanistan detonated a bomb in the area of Khairkhana, killing one person and wounding four others.  

The second incident occurred when the enemies of Afghanistan detonated another bomb in a handcart as a bus drove by. The bus, carrying army officers, was struck, veered out of control and crashed into some shops, setting them on fire. At least 39 army officers were wounded as a result.

Upon hearing the news of the incidents the President expressed his deep regret and said “The enemies of Afghanistan once again showed by attacking innocent civilians that they want to bring misery and destruction to Afghanistan, but the people of Afghanistan will never allow this to happen.”

“Afghanistan will continue to rebuild its security institutions and these incidents will never hurt the desire of the Afghan people for a better future.”

The President ordered the relevant authorities to investigate the incidents and bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice.”

The President expressed his deep sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and prayed for the full and speedy recovery of the injured.

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

Pair of Bus Bombings Kills 1, Wounds 8 in Kabul - By Pamela Constable
Washington Post, July 5, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 5 -- One person was killed and eight others were injured in the Afghan capital Wednesday, officials said, in two rush-hour bombings that appeared to target buses carrying government and security workers.

One explosion engulfed a bus carrying workers to the Interior Ministry, about 7:30 a.m., and the second detonated in a vendor's cart near the Justice and Finance ministries, several hundred yards from the presidential palace. The remote-controlled blasts came one day after two similar bombs were set off here, injuring 10.

Near the Holy Prophet Mosque several shops were charred black where a bus carrying 30 Afghan National Army troops had exploded and crashed into them. Downtown streets of downtown were virtually deserted at midday, normally a time of heavy lunch-hour traffic when people browse among thousands of sidewalk vendors.

"I was directing traffic and trying to clear a path for the army bus when I heard a terrible noise," said Mohammed Sadeq, a police officer. "I saw injured men jumping from the bus windows as it burned. People are really frightened now," he added. "I am afraid Afghanistan is going to become another Iraq."

In two of the recent bombings, officials said, the explosive devices were planted in wheelbarrows which laborers load and pull for hire, then detonated as government buses passed. A cart puller reportedly had both legs blown off in one of the explosions on Tuesday.

Afghanistan is in the grip of an aggressive anti-government insurgency, with more than 600 people killed since early May. Most attacks have taken place in the rural south and east, where the guerrillas can hide amid rugged terrain and reportedly flee across the border into Pakistan.

But in recent weeks, violent attacks have begun occurring in major cities and provincial capitals including Kandahar and Qalat in the south, Kabul, and Herat in the far west. This past week, a girls' school was bombed and burned in Herat, a suicide bomb exploded on the main highway through Qalat, and a suicide bomber reportedly tried to attack the home of former Kandahar governor Gul Afga Sherzoi, killing three people.

Two weeks ago, a suicide bomber crashed into a minibus carrying translators and other workers to a large U.S. military base; a dozen people were killed.

Officials have attributed the attacks to "enemies of Afghanistan," a vague designation that is generally said to include fighters from the revived Islamic Taliban militia, militiamen working for fugitive leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and other groups opposed to the government of President Hamid Karzai and his western backers.

Many Afghans insist that Pakistan or Pakistani groups are behind the violence, saying that Afghans would not target innocent fellow civilians. The government of Pakistan has denied any involvement, and officials in Pakistan have pointed out that they too have been victims of terrorist attacks.

But the increasing drumbeat of violence in the Afghan capital, several hundred miles from the Pakistani border, has set the urban populace on edge and intensified security searches of Afghans in cars, on motorcycles, and pedestrians entering government buildings and foreign embassies.

On May 29, Kabul erupted in riots after a fatal traffic accident involving a U.S. military cargo truck, leaving more than 20 dead and dozens of buildings damaged.

The capital is patrolled by several thousand international security forces as well as Afghan police. There are currently more than 20,000 U.S. military troops in the country as well as troops from half a dozen NATO countries. Later this summer, U.S. forces are scheduled to be reduced in number as NATO takes command of southern Afghanistan.

This week's bombings were the worst since September, 2002, when a bomb in a downtown Kabul market killed 26 people on the same day as an assassination attempt on Karzai in Kandahar. Those who witnessed the explosions Wednesday morning said tensions are growing.

"We were drinking tea when we heard the blast," said Amruddin, a metal worker whose shop, now burned black, is across from the Holy Prophet Mosque. "The bus went out of control and came down the street at us. Everyone is afraid now," he added. "We do not know who is doing this, and we are not made of stone."

A mechanic who gave his name as Mustafa said he "saw five bodies on the ground, and I saw the other soldiers stuck in the bus. I worry a lot, because if such explosions keep happening, how will the poor people be able to get to work?"

Special correspondent Javed Hamdard contributed to this report.

Pakistan says trail cold in bin Laden hunt - July 5, 2006

GENEVA (Reuters) - Reports that Osama bin Laden is hiding along the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan border are purely speculative and nobody hunting the al Qaeda chief knows where he is, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday.

"Nobody has any idea where this gentleman is, because if they did, they would use all their resources to go after the individual and try to capture him," Aziz told journalists.

A U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday that the CIA has disbanded a unit overseeing its hunt for bin Laden, whose al Qaeda network hijacked planes to attack U.S. targets on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Despite a $25 million bounty for his capture, and a history of ill health, bin Laden has successfully eluded efforts to find him. Aziz said it was wrong to assume he was in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as is commonly stated.

"There is speculation as to where he is, but certainly nobody has a clue," he said at a press briefing in Geneva, where he had been attending United Nations' meetings.

Pakistan says Taleban are regrouping in Afghanistan - DPA 07/04/2006

ISLAMABAD - The Taleban are regrouping in neighbouring Afghanistan in nexus with nationalist forces, said Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Tuesday.

Sherpao was quoted by The Nation newspaper as saying that the regrouping was a reaction to the presence of foreign forces, which he claimed, are violating sanctity of Afghan soil by being alien to local traditions and culture.

However, he made it clear that an unstable Afghanistan was not in Pakistan's interest, saying it would have a negative impact not only for the two countries but also on the entire region.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since Kabul accused Islamabad of not doing enough to check the cross-border infiltrations by the remnants of Taleban and Al Qaeda operatives earlier this year. But Pakistan, which has already deployed over 80,000 troops on its western borders with Afghanistan and carried out a series of military operations in its tribal regions of North and South Waziristan to track down foreign militants and their local supporters, denied the charge.

"It never suits Pakistan if the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates," Sherpao said against the backdrop of a decision recently taken by the two countries to strengthen bilateral mechanisms to halt misunderstandings on cross-border terrorism and other issues.

Pakistan also announced the deployment of an additional 10,000 troops on its borders with Afghanistan during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Islamabad last week.

The country's mainstream opposition parties including the six-party Islamic opposition alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), strongly criticized the decision to send additional troops to the western borders and demanded of the government to withdraw these forces as well as those deployed in North and South Waziristan regions.

The Interior Minister, however, said the withdrawal was not possible until the achievement of certain goals, including elimination of foreign elements from Waziristan. He said the foreign miscreants hiding in the wily tribal regions also include several 18- to 20-year-old Uzbeks.

Pakistani security forces conducted several military operations in North and South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan's Khost and Paktika provinces since early 2004, killing hundreds of suspected foreign militants mainly of Uzbek, Chechen, Arab and Afghan origin.

Sherpao claimed that things improved in the tribal regions since the appointment of new a governor early last month in the Northwestern Frontier Province (NWFP). "Governor Jan Muhammad Orakzai is watching the situation," he said.

Orakzai, a retired army general, who himself hails from the tribal region had recently said the government was engaged in secret talks with all "stakeholders" in the tribal regions to strike a peace deal. He said a tribal jirga, or assembly of elders, would be convened to ratify the peace accord, if reached.

Afghan conference mulls fresh measures to disarm militia - by Harumi Ozawa

TOKYO, July 5, 2006 (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday hailed the completion of the first phase of a drive to disarm militia, as experts gathered to discuss further ways to quell violence in his war-ravaged country.

"Four and a half years ago, our people were captives to international terrorist groups and were robbed of their basic rights," Karzai said.

"Afghanistan is no longer a haven for international terrorists. It is once again home to all Afghans," he told the Conference on Consolidation of Peace in Afghanistan, which opened here in the shadow of North Korea's missile tests.

Afghanistan completed its Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program in late June, having disarmed more than 63,000 former combatants. Japan funded the first phase of the process.

The war-torn country, which is still seeing attacks from armed groups including this week in the capital Kabul, launched the next phase, called the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) program, in June 2005.

"These (rebel) commanders are resisting DIAG even as we speak," Christopher Alexander from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan told the one-day conference hosted by Japan, which was mostly closed to the media.

A statement issued by the conference, which was co-chaired by Japan, Afghanistan and the United Nations, urged countries to make more effort not to allow former combatants to return to violence.

"The conference requested that Afghan and international stakeholders further enhance their efforts so that DIAG may be completed by the end of 2007," the co-chairs' summary said.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who met Karzai separately, vowed to continue Tokyo's support for the government in Kabul.

"As long as Afghanistan shows its determination to reconstruct itself, the international community will continue backing the country," he was quoted as saying by Jiji Press news agency.

At the meeting, Karzai was joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, who chaired the 2002 Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan.

Officials from the Group of Eight and other countries, the European Union and international organizations including the United Nations also participated in the one-day meeting.

"Since the fall of the Taliban regime in October 2001, Afghanistan has made great strides towards peace, stability and democracy," said Aso.

"I am pleased to welcome all those who have come here today to celebrate yet another step forward, the completion of the DDR process."

Japan has been a major contributor to Afghanistan's efforts to rebuild, after three decades of war ended with the Taliban's fall to a US-led coalition in late 2001.

Tokyo has already provided about 1.0 billion dollars in assistance for security and development, and in January pledged another 450 million dollars.

Of that 60 million dollars was earmarked Wednesday for bolstering the local police force and fighting drug production and trafficking.

Japanese supply ships have also been on a logistical support mission in the Indian Ocean since December 2001 for US-led military operations in Afghanistan, in a landmark mission for the officially pacifist country.

In a grim reminder of the task facing Karzai, bombs exploded on two government buses in Kabul during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding almost 50 others, most of them army officers.

Both blasts were caused by explosives packed into carts that were detonated as the buses passed, police and witnesses said. At least five people were wounded in two similar explosions in the city Tuesday.

The extremist Taliban movement that is waging an insurgency against the government said it had carried out all four blasts.

Karzai nominates Salam Azimi as new CJ

KABUL >>, July 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Abdul Salam Azimi, a former university teacher, is the new presidential nominee for the Chief Justice of Supreme Court. This was disclosed by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Farooq Wardak while briefing journalists about the cabinet meeting here on Monday.

Wardak said President Hamid Karzai would introduce Salam Azimi to the parliament for the vote of confidence. Earlier, name of the incumbent Chief Justice Abdul Hadi Shinwari was presented before the parliament but he could not secure the requisite number of votes.

Abdul Salam Azimi is presently serving as legal advisor to the president and head of the Scientific and Research Centre of the University of Nebraska in Afghanistan.

Wardak said the president would nominate six other members of the Supreme Court for their approval from the parliament before his visit to <<Japan. He said decision regarding nomination of the remaining five cabinet ministers would be taken after his return from Japan. The parliament will resume its session after 45 days of vacation on July 23.

He said the president also briefed the cabinet about his meetings with tribal elders from different provinces. The president had started a series of meetings with tribal elders from 11 southern, southwestern and eastern provinces to discuss their problems and security in their respective regions.

The elders, during their meetings, complained about operations by foreign forces in their respective areas and demanded of the president that such operations must be conducted and supervised by the local officials.

Wardak said the president also informed the cabinet about the recent visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Afghanistan and her discussions with him. He said Rice had arrived in Kabul at the heel of President Karzai's talks with representatives of the international community to review their strategy on fight against terrorism. Wardak said that was the main reason behind Rice's visit to Afghanistan.

Wardak said the president informed the cabinet about the assurances by the US Secretary of State of her country's support regarding <<Afghanistan's demand to review the strategy in war on terror.

Wardak said Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbil briefed the cabinet about the progress in investigations of riots in Kabul. Moqbil told the cabinet that the coalition forces were investigating the last month traffic accident involving a US military vehicle and the result of the inquiry would be released soon.

Zainab Mohammadi

Afghan role 'vital for security'- BBC News / Wednesday, 5 July 2006

Tony Blair has told MPs the mission of UK troops in Afghanistan is vital for the UK and wider world's security. The prime minister made the comments after paying tribute to Cpl Peter Thorpe and L/Cpl Jabron Hashmi who were killed during operations on Saturday.

Mr Blair admitted UK forces faced a difficult task, adding that the Taleban will "fight very hard" to turn Afghanistan back into a failed state. He would make sure commanders got extra resources if they were needed, he said.

He spoke out at prime minister's question time after Conservative leader David Cameron asked him if he agreed with Major General Peter Wall's assessment that resistance to troops in Afghanistan had been "more virulent than anticipated".

Mr Blair replied: "Yes - it is absolutely clear the Taleban will fight very hard, particularly in the south of the country in order to regain their foothold."

He said they wanted to make Afghanistan the "headquarters of al-Qaeda", with "the people brutally repressed by a regime that was not just bloody in what it did to its own people, but also in what it exported to the rest of the world".

British troops had a clear mission to support the Afghan government in the reconstruction of their country to create a "stable, prosperous, democratic, tolerant society", he said.

Mr Cameron asked Mr Blair if he had received any requests from commanders on the ground for an increase in helicopter lift capacity. Mr Blair said he had not, but added: "If they need more, we will make sure that they get more."

He said British troops were doing "the most extraordinary and heroic job", which was important for the security of the wider-world and vital "to our security here in this country".

But he said efforts to outlaw the drugs trade on which Afghanistan depends and which UK forces have a lead role, was proving to be "a very, very difficult mission".

Italy to stay in Afghanistan despite political problems - Xinhua / July 5, 2006

Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi reiterated on Tuesday that the government intended to keep Italian soldiers in Afghanistan despite the tensions this position caused in its parliamentary majority.

Seven center-left senators, from communist and Green parties, have said they will vote against a measure refinancing the Afghanistan mission when it comes to the floor later this month.

Unless they relent, this means Romano Prodi's government would be without a majority in the Senate on a key foreign policy issue. In the upper house the center left has only two seats more than the opposition.

The situation is complicated by the fact that part of the center-right opposition has said it would vote for the refunding measure. Those votes could save Prodi momentarily, but it would still be a humiliation.

Several center-left politicians have said that there would have to be new elections if the government was unable to approve the Afghanistan measure by itself.

"While being fully aware of the difficulties that this decision involves, the government believes our military presence is important and opportune," Parisi said in a speech to parliament.

Continuing a peacekeeping mission which begun under the previous center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi is necessary to demonstrate "a commitment fully shared with our allies", he said.

Italy currently has about 1,800 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, where they are part of a NATO-led stabilization force.

Parisi said that under a government decree approved by the cabinet last Friday the Italian military mission would involve "a force similar in size to the one that was deployed there in the past."

This is a crucial point because some of Prodi's most leftwing allies have been pushing for a reduction in troop numbers as a first step towards an eventual withdrawal.

Taliban leader who renounced insurgency is dead - CTV.ca - nadian Press
July 5, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A Taliban leader who thanked God and Canadians before renouncing the insurgents a few weeks ago has died. Mullah Ibrahim had lost a leg and suffered from jaundice and other diseases when he changed sides.

Afghan officials said he died of natural causes Tuesday and was buried Wednesday. Canadian and coalition forces used his defection June 16 to highlight an Afghan reconciliation program called Strengthening Peace that encourages Taliban to give up the insurgency.

When he defected, some Afghan officials accused Ibrahim of being involved in the planning of suicide bomb and roadside bomb attacks against Canadians.

Ibrahim, a village elder from a district west of Kandahar, denied the allegations. He was arrested by Afghan forces May 19 at the same time Canadian troops were fighting Taliban in the area in what became known as the Battle of Panjwai.

Hundreds of insurgents were killed or captured during the battle. Canada also suffered casualties, including the death of Capt. Nichola Goddard on May 17.

At the time of his defection Canadian military officials said Ibrahim's past was too murky to ever determine the extent of his involvement in Taliban terror attacks.

Since it was established last year the Afghan government says more than 1,570 Taliban have surrendered under the program, which is aimed primarily at mid-level leaders.

In exchange for a pledge to stop fighting and support the government they are placed on a form of parole. Taliban who have committed serious crimes are not eligible for the program. It is not supposed to be an amnesty program or allow criminals to escape punishment.

Generals think again in Taliban onslaught - The Guardian, UK 7/04/2006
By Declan Walsh in Islamabad

· 'Spent force' has now killed five British soldiers
· Insurgents' suicidal tactics in face of west's firepower

"This is about narcotics, corruption, tribal tensions, warlordism, illegal armed groups, Arabs, Iranians, Chechens - and all of these factors are interrelated."

Until recently, western generals in Afghanistan spoke frequently of Taliban "remnants", suggesting the scrappy remains of a vanquished army. The former Taliban minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil chimed in, writing off the militants as a "spent force".

Today such talk has evaporated. A series of firefights in the past six months has refashioned the militants' image as a force that is motivated, organised, armed and unafraid to die. More than 3,300 British troops have barely arrived in Helmand and already five have been killed. Two soldiers died on Saturday in Sangin, a rebel-infested district, after their camp was strafed with rockets and gunfire.

The emboldened tactics seem near-suicidal. Taliban fighters account for most of the 1,100 Afghan combat deaths this year, many crushed by 500lb bombs or strafed by warplanes that can fire 3,900 bullets a minute.

The Taliban regularly lose 20 men for every one Afghan or western casualty, according to unconfirmed coalition death tolls. Yet they keep on coming. In an effort to flush the militants from their mountain and desert hideouts, American commanders recently launched Operation Mountain Thrust, a four-province sweep involving more than 10,000 soldiers.

They predict a bloody summer but eventual victory. "I am confident the situation will improve by the end of this year," Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry told Pentagon reporters last week. But Mountain Thrust is mixed news for British officers, who had vowed to differentiate themselves from the Americans through a softer approach to win hearts and minds. Now they find themselves swept along in an aggressive operation that may crush the insurgency but could also inflame a new generation of anti-foreign fighters.

The Taliban have also taken their campaign to Kandahar, a city the fundamentalists consider their spiritual capital. Iraq-style roadside bombings have killed Canadian soldiers and driven most westerners off the streets.

Taliban officials stroll openly through the market and the handful of remaining western aid workers rarely venture beyond the city limits in their bullet-proof vehicles. Local staff of international organisations are intimidated by "night letters" - threatening tracts pinned to their doors under cover of darkness. "It's the worst I've seen it here," said one western official with four years' experience in Kandahar. "We see people growing their beards longer and moving their families back to Pakistan."

Faced with the withering firepower of western warplanes, the Taliban have little chance of controlling urban centres. But in the countryside they are making progress towards wider goals - destabilisation of the south and erosion of President Hamid Karzai's fragile authority.

Frightened and frustrated southerners blame Mr Karzai for woeful leadership over the past four years. Scandals about Karzai-appointed police chiefs and governors with links to drugs, corruption and paedophilia have turned some villagers towards the Taliban, which has set up some Islamic courts. The militants have curried favour with poppy farmers by offering to protect their lucrative crops from eradication. Many communities have abandoned hopes of outside help - the UN operates in just six out of 50 districts, says regional director Talatbek Masadykov.

The militants shelter and resupply in neighbouring Pakistan, where the role of local authorities remains a vexed question. Some diplomats say Pakistani intelligence secretly colludes with the Taliban; others believe President Pervez Musharraf's assurances of doing his best. But it is the role of Iran's Shia-dominated government, previously a bitter rival of the Sunni-led Taliban, that is quietly coming under increased scrutiny.

A senior Afghan defence ministry official and two western officials said they had "credible reports" of Iranian agents offering support to insurgents in Helmand and Nimroz. But most funding comes from wealthy Pakistani and Middle Eastern businessmen, analysts and diplomats believe. Western officials in Kandahar say the insurgency is not a simple black and white struggle of fundamentalists versus foreigners. Even the name "Taliban" may be misleading.

"It is a convenient brand name for a very complex situation," said one western official. "This is about narcotics, corruption, tribal tensions, warlordism, illegal armed groups, Arabs, Iranians, Chechens - and all of these factors are interrelated. You never know who you are dealing with. You probably have some guys working for good and bad at the same time."

Killing of interpreters stirs concern in Kabul - The New York Times
07/04/2006 -uhullah Khapalwak and Carlotta Gall

KANDAHAR - Troops of the U.S.-led coalition are taking a hard look at their security procedures after the deaths of at least 10 Afghans working as interpreters for the coalition in the past month, according to a military spokesman.

Some were killed while accompanying foreign troops during combat, but others seem to have been singled out by Taliban insurgents for working for the coalition, other interpreters said. Most of them are young Afghans who have taken English-language courses in Afghanistan.

Taliban-led violence has increased significantly in the past six months, with insurgents making a determined show of force as NATO prepares to take over military command of southern Afghanistan from the United States later this month.

Many civilians have been caught in the violence, including more than 100 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development in the past three years, according to the departing chief of the agency's mission in Afghanistan, Alonzo Fulgham. Most of those killed were Afghans, he said.

A spokesman for the coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, Major Quentin Innis of Canada, said Monday that it was not clear if the interpreters had been killed specifically because of their work, but that coalition officials were concerned about the trend.

"It is a concern for us when any Afghans get killed," Innis said. "We are looking at how we can step up security."

Five of the interpreters were killed in a bus bombing June 15 on their way to work at the U.S. base outside Kandahar, the major said.

Two were killed during combat operations in southern Afghanistan in the past month, he said, one on Saturday while working with British troops in Helmand Province, and the other in Zabul Province while working with U.S. troops about a month ago.

Three others were killed this week when they were driving west of the city of Kandahar and reached a Taliban checkpoint, Innis said. The interpreters were armed and engaged in a gun battle, he said.

A fourth interpreter managed to escape, a colleague said. The four were working at a U.S. Special Forces base on the north side of the city.

One interpreter interviewed by telephone, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said he had resigned Saturday because of the threat of violence. Taliban supporters spread leaflets warning people not to work for the foreign military, he said, adding that he knew of two additional colleagues who had been killed in the past week.

Kandahar City Fire Department receives new equipment

July 5, 2006 COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN OALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER

Kandahar City , Afghanistan -- As part of an ongoing effort to better equip the Afghan National Police and its members, the Canadian Civilian Police Unit and Canadian Forces' firefighters at the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team provided firefighting equipment to the city fire department on June 25.

"We are extremely happy as firefighters to share protective equipment and tools with our Afghan colleagues to fight fires in the city and to respond to emergencies quickly and safely," said Sergeant W. Murphy, KPRT chief firefighter.

A gas-powered water pump was purchased to refill the fire truck's tank with water from local canals and wells. The firefighting tools distributed were axes, pike poles, hooligan tools, sledgehammers, proper boots, gloves and hoods plus a number of hose connections.

The Kandahar City Fire Department falls under the ANP and the firefighters are actually ANP members. This project was handled by the Canadian Civilian Police Unit and funding was handled by the KPRT's Civilian Military Cooperation Team.

Honour Roll 2006: Envoy extraordinary - Amidst the death threats, Chris Alexander tries to fix the problems of Afghanistan - SALLY ARMSTRONG MacLean June 2006

Christopher Alexander is in the eye of the storm that is Afghanistan today. As a United Nations deputy special representative of the secretary-general here, his responsibilities include security, governance and human rights. And by all accounts, the Canadian diplomatic wunderkind is in for a long, hot summer. The Taliban insurgency in the south is ever bolder. The poppy harvest is on track to rack up a record US$8 billion. The UN program to disband the warlords' illegally armed militias has stalled. Suffice to say June has been the worst month of President Hamid Karzai's life, and the busiest for Alexander.

"Failure is definitely an option," he says. "This is a fragile state." But Alexander, 37, scoffs at the notion that recent events have made Afghanistan akin to Baghdad. "Those who say that simply haven't read enough history. Unlike the Baghdad green zone, the streets of Kabul are safer in the last six months than they have been at any time during the transition." And the usually affable diplomat is affronted by the suggestion that nation-building is beyond Afghans. "That is quite frankly not the case. We need to dispense with these insulting assumptions."

In the meantime, though, this fractious nation is consuming hundreds of millions of Canadian tax dollars, with almost $100 million per year pledged through to 2010-11. On top of that, military operations in or related to Afghanistan since 9/11 have consumed almost $2 billion. Canadians are asking tough questions about the return on this massive investment. But Alexander is confident that if the international community stays the course and does what's necessary to set conditions for peace, a democratic Afghanistan "will emerge and economic growth will be spectacular by the standards of the last half-century."

Alexander's job is to stay in touch with the principal players and set an agenda everyone can live with. Not an easy task given who's involved: President Karzai, highly visible in his Persian lamb hat and flamboyant cape; the Americans, who are currently in charge with their Operation Enduring Freedom; NATO, soon to take over the lead, with Canada and its 2,300 soldiers possibly taking over command of the coalition before fall; and about 31 million Afghans who hope Alexander and his UN mission get it right.

Stickhandling such an experiment in nation building is Alexander's forte. He's in close touch with Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, who is in charge of the regional command of NATO in the southern provinces, including Kandahar. Fraser, who sees Kandahar as the strategic centre of gravity, says, "The situation is active but the sky is not falling." His British chief of staff, Lt.-Col. Chris Vernon, adds, "We're pushing troops into places we've never been before. It's not a cakewalk."

Neither is Alexander's job. He works 14-hour days and often deals with death threats, some of them quite credible. He travels with bodyguards in an armoured vehicle from his office in the UN compound to meetings scattered about Kabul, and the charming home he shares with his partner Hedvig Boserup, a cover-girl beauty who came to Afghanistan as an officer in the Danish army and met Alexander when she took a job at the UN. (She is now a program officer with a non-governmental organization that helps the private sector get businesses running in the country.) An outdoor enthusiast, Alexander has had to limit his jogging to an indoor track, but thumbs his nose at security some weekends and goes hiking with friends at Kapisa in the famed Hindu Kush.

He also has an evacuation plan that can be enacted in a nanosecond. In short, he loves being in this place at this time. "Despite what you see on TV, things are happening here," he says. "There is an appetite for change, and change is possible. Afghans have come to that conclusion after trying so many other options, most of them violent."

it's early morning, and Alexander is just back from a 10-day trip out of the country, defending his budget at the UN in New York City and attending the Young Global Leaders summit in Vancouver. He's trying to get up to speed when he realizes that one of the UN's Afghan programs -- the highly prized Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) -- has gone pear-shaped.

Alexander quickly calls a meeting, leaves the compound and heads over to the Japanese embassy to see the ambassador, who is charged with fulfilling the DIAG promise made just five months ago in the heralded Afghanistan Compact. The ambassador tells him the bad news: the target for disarming militias set for the end of 2007 cannot be met. They need to slow down, regroup. Alexander picks his way through the file, asks for a meeting with First Deputy Minister of Defence Yusuf Nuristani, his DIAG interlocutor, to get the facts. But first he needs to talk with his chief of staff, Sergiy Illarionov.

They run through half a dozen issues. On the growing insurgency, Alexander tells him, "The secretary-general's report is due in September. The part about the insurgency has to be done very carefully. I don't want anyone saying they weren't told." On the increasing worry about security at the UN compound, which unfortunately is a direct neighbour of the coalition forces headquarters, he wants more action. "Everyone is waiting for the big bomb. Until the reinforcement of the compound is complete, that building [on the perimeter] should not be occupied."

Illarionov weaves another concern into the morning mix. "We're in trouble. I don't think the majority of the population is ready for changes like the newly appointed government telling village elders about projects they haven't been consulted about. All they see is corruption and the daily routine of fighting for power in the government." It's a subject that's on everyone's mind.

The clock is ticking. Alexander is late for another meeting. On the way to see Nuristani, he explains why it's taking so long to subdue the Taliban. While in New York, the former UN éminence grise in Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, told him that the coalition should have finished off the Taliban four years ago when the UN took over. At that time the freshly defeated Taliban were disorganized, disillusioned and scattered. Now they are better organized, have access to technology, and easy contact anywhere in the world via conference calls. Alexander says he can name 100 Taliban commanders who strut around the streets of Quetta, Pakistan, with impunity, and float in and out of Afghanistan at will. "Part of this story is about suicide bombs and improvised explosive devices [IEDs], but part of it is a story of safe havens and training camps across the border," he says.

But while Afghans have a history of staring down invaders -- the British and the Russians -- for many, the Taliban is not an enemy. The commanders may now be operating from outside Afghanistan, but most Taliban are Pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in the region, and they have considerable, maybe even increasing, support inside Afghanistan. But Alexander adamantly points out that the population gave a massive vote of confidence to the government in the presidential election. "People want peace, and know they can only get it through these institutions," he says. "This chapter in Afghanistan's brutal, colourful history is different."

Afghanistan also played a pivotal role in another, larger story. Alexander, who spent six years in Russia -- the last three in the No. 2 post at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow -- is fascinated by the former Soviet Union. "The defining showdown of the 20th century was the confrontation between the Warsaw Pact and those who favour free markets and democracy," he says. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and Moscow's unsuccessful nine-year battle to subdue the country, was part of that. By the time all Soviet troops had been withdrawn in 1989, the U.S.S.R. was two years away from dissolution, a process speeded by the Afghan war's drain on the economy and popular antipathy toward the conflict. "You can only understand why the Soviet Union is no longer and Russia has arisen on its ruins by understanding the history of Afghanistan," Alexander says. A stable and democratic Afghanistan would be a fitting final chapter to that saga.

On the streets of the capital, though, stability seems far away. If you were to stop 100 people at the bazaar in Kabul and ask them how they think things are going, 80 per cent would say, "It's getting worse, the police are corrupt, I don't trust the government and my life is not getting better despite the promises made to me." Alexander says that underlying the pessimism is fear of the Taliban agenda. "The Taliban are about revenge. They never accepted defeat. They're about drugs; their operations are financed by drug barons. What's more, their values have been rejected by Afghans and the international community. People don't want it, but it's sold to them down the barrel of a gun."

The fragility of the state was tested on May 29 when Kabul erupted in violence after a terrible traffic accident due to a brake failure on an American military vehicle. Rumours swept through the city that U.S. forces were killing Afghans; people took to the streets, including spoilers, opportunists and criminals who looted stores, trashed NGO offices and burned buildings. The police were cowed into paralysis, while some Afghans said the incident only showed that Karzai wasn't really in control.

Alexander bristles at any suggestion that the U.S. is running the show. "If you're implying that this is a puppet state run by Americans, that's just not true. Karzai gets a lot of advice and extreme lobbying that's not always wholesome, from groups within the country as well as the international community, but when the cabinet meets or the parliament is in session, the U.S. is not there. It simply can't work that way in Afghanistan."

But as his car jostles through the chaotic Kabul traffic, he acknowledges that "on the day of the riot, things clearly slipped out of control. There is discontent and civil unrest in Kabul today. The crime problem is bigger than the terrorist one due to corrupt, poorly equipped police, the drug trade and poverty." It's a situation exacerbated by the fact that Kabul's population has exploded from 750,000 to three million. There's high unemployment, not enough housing, and the electricity system is an on-again, off-again nuisance. And Alexander isolates a single factor that overshadows all other issues. "Half the population now is under the age of 15," he says. "Their hopes and expectations are high, but their disappointment and alienation are acute. They perceive the country to be poorly run by the government or by the international partners."

At the Afghan Defence Ministry, past the intricate array of barriers outside and the soldiers with bayonetted rifles at the ready, Alexander greets Nuristani and comes straight to the point. "Which warlords or jihadists are advising the president against DIAG?"

"I am alone from the Afghan side," Nuristani tells him. "We are in a quagmire." He's pessimistic and explains that the warlords are keeping their armed militias; they call it "strengthening security forces." Alexander reassures him: "Without you, it would have stopped completely. The dynamic will change. This is the hardest time now."

Back at the UN compound, he calls for a meeting of his top advisers to thrash out the DIAG crisis. "DIAG is about ending the activities of these groups that collect illegal taxes, smuggle drugs and use extortion on the villagers," he declares. "They'll deny it, but we know beyond doubt that they do." He tells his staff that DIAG is the most popular initiative in the country, and that it must get running again. His team responds with a litany of evidence that underscores the failure of the program. They argue about whether the upcoming summit on DIAG in Tokyo on July 5 ought to be scrapped.

But Alexander is decisive. "It would do more harm to cancel than to proceed, so we'll proceed." Then he tells a staff member he needs a speech for Tokyo "with soaring rhetoric -- the greatest hits in disarmament."

His advisers want to know that Karzai's support for DIAG is undiminished. Otherwise, they say, there's no point in proceeding either with the conference, or the program. After an hour of debate, Alexander summarizes the points. "DIAG is about doing what the people want, which is to get the commanders off their backs. We don't have the luxury of debating it. Our job is to help implement it." For now, he says, they'll move a little more slowly in the provinces where the program has been launched, and wait before launching it in others. The meeting is adjourned. It's 8 p.m.

Karzai is in fact out of the country this day. He's in China, attending a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, a little-known collection of Afghanistan's neighbours that's taking on an increasingly important position. Its stated goal is to tighten ties by furthering co-operation in security, energy and regional affairs. Started five years ago as an alliance of China, Russia and four former Soviet republics, the organization has now given observer status to India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan. That's left Afghanistan virtually surrounded by countries that may have an agenda dissimilar to the U.S. plan for the country.

Alexander soft-pedals any potential threat, and concerns that the Shanghai organization, which includes half of the world's population, could evolve into an alternative to NATO and the European Union. "The political and economic future of this part of Asia depends on these countries knitting themselves together in a way that reflects a modern economy and globalization through Afghanistan," he says. He acknowledges that "There are players in the region who are uncomfortable with the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, but it isn't contested in any fundamental way. It's not just about the U.S."

Of more immediate concern is Karzai's sudden additions to recent public service appointments. Eighty-six crucial leadership positions were filled on the basis of merit rather than patronage, including the chiefs of police in the southern provinces. But at the last minute, 14 individuals were added to the list who did not meet the merit criteria. One of them, the newly appointed chief of police in Kabul, is Amanullah Gozar, a former mujahedeen muscleman alleged to have committed so many crimes he'll be in the upcoming report from the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. "We were disappointed if not scandalized by the additions to the list," Alexander says.

Another worry is the Afghan National Army, which is also on his radar. He doesn't deny rumours of troops looting and confiscating property, of defections and discontent. "It's a new army," he says. "It'll take years of additional training to be able to sustain itself." For now, Afghan army regulars are dependent on coalition forces for air support, proper transportation and logistics training. Often they take the brunt of the battle. "Afghans are extremely patriotic about their borders and the security of their own territory, but they certainly don't have the Lav IIIs and G-Wagons the Canadian troops move in," Alexander says. "They're in pickup trucks, so if they're ambushed, casualties are high."

He has strong praise for Canada. "One thing Canada has done particularly well is to make interventions that are time-sensitive." The electoral process, for example: when people weren't even talking about when elections would happen, Canada launched voter registration projects. It was the first country to put money into the containment of heavy weapons, and start thinking about how ammunition should be dealt with. "These were very early investments that paid off," Alexander says.

It's the end of another long day. The UN compound is nearly deserted but for the lamp that still burns in Alexander's office. Even his two cellphones have stopped ringing.

Asked about human rights in Afghanistan, he leans back in his chair, rubs his forehead with both hands, and says, "This is a tough one." Abuses were catastrophic during the Taliban regime. And for women in particular, this is a country in desperate need of reform. Alexander says the single biggest achievement has been the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Under the leadership of Dr. Sima Samar, it demanded, and got, a "transitional justice" process under which a report about past crimes and accountability has been prepared. "It was Chris Alexander, when he was Canadian ambassador, who helped push the government to make our work happen," Samar says.

But the report has not yet been released, and both Samar and Alexander are irked by its apparent suppression. "Security, justice and accountability need to go together for peace," Samar says. "Stability here will help security in the whole world. Canada won't be safe if Afghanistan is not safe." She's got an avid supporter in Alexander, but, he cautions: "We may never in our lifetime see Afghans meeting international standards of human rights for women."

The facts are clear: there will be no rule of law while the drug trafficking networks remain powerful, and the insurgency will not be overcome as long as opium plays such a strong role. Nor will the rural economy recover as long as farmers are, essentially, prisoners of their opium crops. But as Alexander packs his briefcase, he says the challenges can be met. "This is not just a military campaign -- it's the fate of a country that's at stake. Our objective isn't to simply invest well-equipped forces under strong leadership into the eye of the storm that is Kandahar. It's to support a transition from 25 years of war to long-lasting peace. It's within reach if countries like Canada remain. The consequences of leaving the job unfinished would be catastrophic."

Pomegranates to battle opium in Afghanistan

Arghandab (Afghanistan), July 3   President Hamid Karzai boasts that Kandahar's pomegranates are the best in the world; others say they contain the Almighty's miracle cures. Desperate poets liken their shape to the breasts of their veiled lovers.

The fruit -- leathery on the outside but juicy and ruby-red inside -- is found everywhere in Afghanistan, from the suburbs of Kabul to the green valleys of Kunduz, from lawless Paktika to prosperous Parwan.

But the ones grown in the bomb-shattered gardens of Taliban-dominated Kandahar have long tempted consumers because of their candy-sweet taste and remarkable size - some reaching one kilogram.

Karzai, who grew up in the southern province, rarely misses an opportunity to praise Kandahar's mouth-watering pomegranates, whether he is at a summit with US President George W. Bush or sitting with tribal chiefs.

The President is also pushing the desert province's farmers to rip up their illegal opium poppies and replant the pomegranates and other fruits that Afghanistan was renowned for until decades of war kicked off with the 1979 Soviet invasion and left the farming sector in tatters.

But few are under any illusion that pomegranates will replace lucrative opium in Kandahar, second biggest producer of the country's 4,000 tonne annual output -- more than 80 per cent of the amount smuggled into Europe, sometimes as heroin.

A kg of dry opium could bring a Kandahar farmer 140 dollars, according to a February report by the UN drugs office and Afghan government. "This year we opened a cold storage system which was built by the Indian government. We can store up to 50,000 tonnes of fruit," Ezatullah 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.]