In this bulletin:

• President Karzai Receives a Telephone Call from President Bush
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Statement
• Press Release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
• Two NGO workers killed, as many injured in blast
• Abortive Afghan suicide attack
• Over 100 arrested for involvement in riots
• Mujaddidi says riots pre-planned
• Envoy: Afghan Riots Not Sign of Anti-Americanism
• Iran offers providing conducive atmosphere for talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan
• Iran condemns massacring Afghan civilians by US forces
• The UN Concerned about Afghan Unrest
• Geneva Convention applies in Afghanistan: Defence Minister
• R E G I O N: Germany worried about Afghanistan
• Canadian General Fraser visits Forward Operation Base Lagman
• Feds stop GG's Afghan trip?
• Afghans taking charge of their own safety
• Czech anti-terrorism unit starts operating in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan: Taleban's second coming
• Shaken by Riots, Afghans Gripped By Uncertainty
• Afghanistan, Unraveling
• U.S. must move to stop Afghanistan's slide

President Karzai Receives a Telephone Call from President Bush - Date of Release: 31 May 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, received a telephone call this afternoon from H.E. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America.

During this telephone conversation, President Bush expressed his deep regret at the tragic traffic incident in Kabul which caused casualties and damages.

President Bush also expressed his heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and said “The Government and people of the United States of America are the friend of the people of Afghanistan and will always stand by them.”

President Karzai thanked President Bush for his sympathies and the assistance of the Government and people of the United States of America to Afghanistan and emphasized the continuation of a friendly relationship between the people of both countries.

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

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Statement

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan welcomes the US’ proposal to join the European States to hold talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.

It has been the stated policy of Afghanistan that the best mechanisms to resolve international disputes are diplomatic and peaceful channels.

The Ministry is confident the US’ proposal will contribute to find a peaceful solution to the issue.

From the Spokesman's office

Kabul 11/3/1385

Press Release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Kabul June 1, 2006

It is expected that Dr.Rangeen Dadfar Spenta Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan pay an official visit to Tokyo , Japan at the invitation of the Japans government on June 5, 2006 for participating at the second foreign ministers meeting of the central Asian countries and Japan (Central Asia Plus Japan) and address the meeting as guest speaker.

The foreign ministers at this conference shall discuss and exchange views on issues Pertaining to struggle against terrorism, narcotics, de mining, and eradication of poverty, public health, environment, trade and investments. The first meeting of this conference was held in Kazakhstan in August of 2004.

Besides attending the Tokyo Conference, the Afghan foreign minister will meet the Japanese prime minister, foreign minister, minister of economy and commerce and the chairman of the Japanese JICA agency. This is the first visit of the new Afghan foreign minister.

The foreign affairs minister has said: " Japan is one of the greatest donor countries In the reconstruction of Afghanistan for which Afghanistan attaches an exceptional importance .Afghanistan and Japan have historic ties of cooperation in Cultural, building of economic, infrastructure spheres and in particular Japan has Played an extraordinary important part in DDR and the DAIAG process for the People of Afghanistan.

The Japanese government had committed as in assistance of USD 1455 million in the Tokyo, Berlin and London conferences for improving livelihood of the Afghan people of which the Japanese government has provided USD 958.8 million to the Afghan side.

The visit of the Afghan foreign minister indicates further consolidation of friendly Ties between the two countries. From the spokesman's office.

Two NGO workers killed, as many injured in blast

FAIZABAD, May 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two Afghan staffers of a US-funded non-governmental organisation were killed and two foreigners suffered injuries when a roadside bomb exploded at their vehicle in the northern Badakhshan province on Tuesday.

Provincial police chief Shah Jehan Nuri said a vehicle belonging to PATCO, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), hit the bomb in the Khandan Shahr area of Raim district around 2pm today. Two local staffers of the NGO were killed while two foreigners suffered injuries.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Nuri said the injured employees were US nationals, who were evacuated to a hospital for treatment.

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), PATCO is operating in Badakhshan and the neighbouring Takhar province for the last one year. It is helping farmers to find alternative livelihood in place of poppies.

Sakhi Dad, an officer at the provincial police headquarters, said a team comprising representatives of the intelligence department, governor's office and the police headquarters had been sent into the area to investigate the case. He blamed anti-government elements for the blast.

Manizha Rasuli

Abortive Afghan suicide attack

A suicide car bomber was killed on Thursday in an abortive attack on Nato troops near the town of Farah in western Afghanistan. Officials say that the bomber's explosive device detonated too soon and that no-one else was injured.

They say that the bomb exploded in a secluded area near a base in the town used by US military forces. The incident follows a series of similar attacks across the country which have been blamed on the Taleban.

"We do not know the target of the attack, but we can say it was a suicide raid and there were no other casualties apart from the suicide car bomber," the Governor of Farah, Izatullah Wasifiold, told the Reuters news agency.

Around 900 people have been killed in the Afghan insurgency since the beginning of the year, with half of that total dying in May. Nato officials say that US-led air strikes have inflicted heavy casualties on Taleban insurgents in the south of Afghanistan throughout May. BBC News

Over 100 arrested for involvement in riots

KABUL, May 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): More than 100 people have been taken into custody by police for their alleged involvement in Monday's riots that shook several parts of this fortified capital.

Crime branch chief of the Kabul police headquarters Abdul Jamil Kohistani told journalists 106 people had been detained from different parts of the city who were involved in looting shops and offices and damaging private and public property. He said police was still trying to arrest all those who ransacked the offices and other buildings.

Earleir, Sher Shah Yousafzai, chief of the 17th police district, from where the riots emerged, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had captured 17 mobsters with sticks and daggers during the violent protest demonstration. He said the rioters wanted to set fire to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) store and damage some other government property.

The Wolesi Jirga, discussing the Monday riots, asked the government to arrest all those involved in the riots. The house in a statement also asked the government to compensate the families of the victims.

The Interior Ministry supported police action against those who were trying to take the law into their hands and go on rampage in the city. Mirza Muhammad Yarmand, a senior officer at the anti-crime branch in the ministry, said police was free to open fire when the mobsters are looting and damaging public property. He said 40 people involved in setting offices ablaze had been arrested by the police.

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition forces have said the traffic accident that sparked the riots was caused by a technical problem in a truck, which was part of the military convoy.

A spokesman for the coalition forces Col Tom Collins said: "Following a long move down a hill, the vehicles brakes apparently overheated and failed.
The driver, very experienced in the operation of this type of vehicle, a heavy cargo truck, applied the primary and emergency brakes and took evasive action to avoid hitting pedestrians.

He said the US military was jointly working with the Afghan government to identify and register those killed or wounded in the crash to compensate them or their families.

Mujaddidi says riots pre-planned

KABUL, May 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The joint session of parliament on Tuesday expressed sympathy with the families of those died in Monday's riots and demanded punishment for the mobsters.

The session was convened to take stock of the situation arising out of the accident and ensuing riots in various parts of the city.

Speaker of the lower house Younus Qanuni said there were two types of demonstrators. The one who were victims of the accident and took to the streets as a protest. While the other group, which ransacked the offices and buildings were hooligans. "The two groups must be differentiated and the responsible people should be punished."

However, speaker of the upper house of parliament Sibghatullah Mojaddedi observed that the demonstration and riots were pre-planned. He said some of the participants of the demonstration were seen holding arms. In some areas, red flags were holding by the rioters indicating their attachment to the communists, he said.

During the meeting, officials of both the upper and lower house expressed sympathy with the families of the dead and injured people but the family members say only condolences and sympathies will not solve their problems.

Samira, mother of three, whose husband died in the traffic accident, said: "They invited me to the parliament to express condolence." Asking for compensation, she said all these condolences were mere a lip-service to the families of victims.

Envoy: Afghan Riots Not Sign of Anti-Americanism (NPR) - Morning Edition, June 1, 2006 · Deadly riots sparked by a U.S. military truck crash this week are not a sign of anti-Americanism in Afghanistan, the U.S. ambassador in Kabul says.

"I do not see any groundswell of anti-Americanism or of any desire that we leave," Ambassador Ronald Neumann says in an interview. The U.S. military says a large truck, part of a convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, plowed into a line of cars after its brakes failed, killing up to five Afghans.

The Afghan parliament on Tuesday demanded prosecution of U.S. soldiers involved in the truck accident. American soldiers in Afghanistan are not subject to Afghan law, Neumann said. "But should the investigation reveal some wrongdoing, I'm sure that the military would follow up on its own."

A U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday that American soldiers used their guns in self-defense after rioting Afghans opened fire during a melee that broke out after the crash.

President Bush spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation into Kabul's worst unrest since the Taliban's downfall.

Iran offers providing conducive atmosphere for talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan

TEHRAN: Iran is ready to play a role to provide conducive and friendly atmosphere for talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Radio Mashhad reports.

Iranian ambassador to Pakistan Mohamed Ebrahim Taherian said according to his country’s belief regional security was possible through cooperation of neighboring countries especially Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. He added that the cooperation would impact positively on the original stability and security.

It may be recalled that tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan has escalated after accusations and counter accusations of Afghan and Pakistan officials with regard to supporting Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements, he pointed out.

Iran condemns massacring Afghan civilians by US forces – IRNA 6.1.06

Iran on Monday strongly condemned the brutal killing of a number of civilIan Afghan citizens in their own country by occupying US military forces, calling the move "disgusting".

IRI Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi, referred to the existence of human rights treaties and international conventions on the need to respect civilians' lives in course of wars and military occupation of countries.

Asefi added, "Under such conditions that the US and other occupying foreign forces in Afghanistan are responsible for safeguarding the security of Afghan nationals, we unfortunately witness the occurrence of inappropriate behavior of their forces here, and loss of life of ordinary Afghan people due to their carelessness."

The Foreign Ministry spokesman focusing on the responsibilities of the international organizations, said, "The silence observed on the part of the United Nations, and the UN High Commission for Human Rights towards the crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan is in direct contrast with their duties regarding the primary basics of human rights."

Hamid-Reza Asefi added, "The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns the repeated violations of the human rights by the US forces and US allies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and asks the United States to be accountable, transparent, and non-political, before world public opinion regarding the inhumane conduct of its forces in case of the sad Kabul incidence and the massacre of civilian there."

The UN Concerned about Afghan Unrest - AFP

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday expressed concern over recent unrest in Afghanistan, saying it underlined "deeper problems" that needed to be addressed by the international community.

Annan said he spoke by telephone with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "about measures we can all take to help bring the situation under control."

The UN chief’s comments came after a traffic accident on Monday involving a US military truck set off deadly riots across the Afghan capital Kabul.

"I have followed with concern the developments in Afghanistan," Annan told reporters at UN headquarters after returning from a two-week tour of Asia.

"Obviously what has happened is symptomatic of perhaps deeper problems and the need we have to work with them to strengthen their security forces," he said, adding that the Kabul unrest followed "major disturbances" in other regions of the country.

"We have an insecure situation in parts of the country, we have the question of drug cultivation and production, we have the need to strengthen security forces and national institutions," he said.

Solving the country’s problems with opium cultivation and weak central institutions would "take time and resources but we need to persevere," Annan said.

Geneva Convention applies in Afghanistan: Defence Minister - Canadian Press

Ottawa — The Canadian military will follow the Geneva Convention in dealing with prisoners taken in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Wednesday.

“When they take prisoners, they will always follow the rules of the Geneva Convention, no lower standard than that,” he told the Commons.

Senior military officers have been quoted as saying prisoners in Afghanistan will not be given the formal status of PoWs, but will be entitled to the Geneva provisions of humane treatment.

The Geneva Convention sets certain standards that must be met before prisoners can be formally considered prisoners of war and entitled to certain privileges.

For example, fighters must wear a uniform or some distinguishing emblem and must fight under a recognized chain of command. Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan do not meet these standards and the United States has classified them as illegal combatants.

A soldier formally classed as a PoW has certain protections not accorded to illegal combatants under the convention. For example, a PoW cannot be charged for killings done in combat, except for defined war crimes.

Mr. O'Connor did not address the question of illegal combatants, but said Canada treats all prisoners, in any operation, by the Geneva standards.

Canada routinely turns prisoners in Afghanistan over to the custody of the Afghanistan government. Some question whether that government meets human rights standards.

Mr. O'Connor said an agreement with the Kabul government allows the Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations to monitor prisoners. “If there is something wrong with their treatment, the Red Cross or Red Crescent would inform us and we would take action.”

R E G I O N: Germany worried about Afghanistan - Foreign forces in Afghanistan lack a clear vision’

BERLIN: Germany is worried about the situation in northern Afghanistan, where its troops will on Thursday take command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Defence Minister Franz-Joseph Jung said on Wednesday.

“There are ambushes by the Taliban in the north. This is what we are worried about,” Jung told ARD television. “The south and the east are more dangerous but intervention in the north is not without risks and we will have to examine the situation with care.” Jung said Germany was also concerned about an increase in “terrorist attacks”.

Parts of Afghanistan have seen a dramatic surge in fighting between Afghan and coalition security forces and militants linked to the Taliban regime that was toppled in late 2001. “Unfortunately we have already had as many attacks in Afghanistan so far this year as in the whole of last year,” the minister said.
He declined to speculate about a date for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

The NATO force, drawn from 39 countries, has been operating in northern and western Afghanistan and Kabul and is due to expand into the south and eventually to the east this year, its numbers doubling to around 18,000. Germany has contributed about 2,200 soldiers, who have been based mainly in Kabul.

The German army’s trade union said the uprising showed that the foreign forces in Afghanistan lacked a clear vision and were failing in their main mission, which was to “improve the lives of Afghans”. “Our involvement in Afghanistan is not based on a clear vision,” the head of the union, Bernhard Gertz, told the daily Leipziger Volkszeitung. “Important tasks like fighting drug trafficking are simply left undone.” afp

Canadian General Fraser visits Forward Operation Base Lagman

By Air Force Capt. Kevin G. Tuttle - Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team

QALAT, Afghanistan – Canadian Brig. Gen. David Fraser, commander of Regional Command South, visited the Zabul District May 21 to meet with Coalition forces and Zabul Governor Del Bar Jan Arman to discuss the future of the province.

Commander of the Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team, Air Force Lt. Col. Kevin McGlaughlin and Task Force Warrior Commander, Army Lt. Col Frank Sturek, also met with Fraser in an effort to talk about progress in Zabul.

Arman reviewed his three-year development plan for Zabul with Coalition forces and confirmed the great need for resources in the province.   He also reassured that the current projects are progressing as expected.

Fraser took the opportunity to send a message during a recorded radio interview to the locals where he stated how significant it is to have the support from the people of Zabul.   He emphasized that the government of Afghanistan needs its people to assist security institutions in order to defeat the enemy.

“We’re working locally with the chief of police and Afghan National Army, providing them resources and training so they can protect the people,” said Fraser.

Fraser has made several visits to the region in an effort to ensure direct connectivity with the Zabul government and its residents.   The Coalition’s priorities, as well as Arman’s, are to focus on justice, security, reconstruction and development.

“Brigadier General Fraser fully appreciates the resources and human capital required for successful reconstruction and security,” said McGlaughlin. “He visits often to ensure the maximum return on investment is achieved for every coalition dollar spent.”

Fraser emphasized the importance of the trade schools at the PRT, which would help develop their economy in general. “Qalat’s PRT drives the trade school, which is designed to provide the people of Zabul with much needed skills such as welding, carpentry, plumbing, nursing, computer skills and rug weaving,” said Fraser.   “These people will be able to work in the province. We look for opportunities at all levels to provide the people of Zabul employment and skill sets for the future.”

These basic skills, many of which are now taught by Afghan instructors, provide trade school graduates with the necessary skills to foster employment and business opportunities across the province.

Feds stop GG's Afghan trip?

OTTAWA (CP) -- The Conservative government is being accused of thwarting the Governor General's attempts to visit troops in Afghanistan for political purposes.

According to a Canadian Press report citing unnamed sour-ces, Michaelle Jean's requests to visit the country have twice been denied because of security concerns.

Since her initial request, however, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay have made surprise visits to Afghanistan, the CP report noted.

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said Jean should be able to visit troops when she likes. “I think it's important the commander-in-chief of our Forces is allowed to visit those Forces, no matter what the circumstances are," said Dosanjh.

When asked why he thought she was being prevented from visiting, Dosanjh suggested it could be political. "That's not necessarily a photo op the Conservatives can use in the next election," he said.

A spokesman for Jean called the wire story factually incorrect but acknowledged Jean has expressed interest in travelling to Afghanistan during meetings with Defence officials.

Questioned by Liberals, the government's leader in the Senate, Marjory LeBreton, said Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier invited Jean to visit soldiers a few months ago, but she couldn't go at the time.

"My understanding is that on the advice of the chief of defence staff, she made a decision not to go at the present time," LeBreton said.

"However, as soon as the Governor General's time permits and the chief of defence staff advises her that it is safe to go, I am quite certain that she will go."

Afghans taking charge of their own safety - COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan – Afghans are taking charge of their own safety and security on an increasing frequency across the country, Coalition officials said today.
In Mullah Abdullah Village in Kandahar Province , residents observed insurgents setting up rockets on May 23 that pointed in the direction of Kandahar Air Field. The residents chased off the insurgents and called the police. A Coalition explosive ordnance detachment responding to the scene found three rockets rigged to fire. The EOD team destroyed the rockets.
Also on May 23 in the Dand Wa Patan District in Paktika Province , an Afghan reported to the Afghan National Police, two insurgents uncovering a weapons cache. ANP captured the two men and turned them over to Coalition forces. Both men were wanted for recent attacks on ANP checkpoints. Coalition forces recovered several mortar rounds, rocket propelled grenades and a land mine.
“Insurgents use rockets that are extremely inaccurate, indiscriminant and often injure or kill innocent civilians like the April 12 attack that killed seven children in Asadabad and the May 22 rocket that struck a home in Laghman, injuring a mother, father and child,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force -76 spokesman.
Afghans are encouraged to report weapons caches, road side bombs and other suspicious activity to Afghan or Coalition forces to ensure the safety and security of the people of Afghanistan .
“The actions of Afghan citizens like this show that Afghans are tired of insurgent violence and want peace and stability,” said Fitzpatrick. “They clearly assume risk by reporting these incidents to authorities because these enemy fighters have threatened, intimidated and even murdered their own countrymen. The fact that Afghans are taking responsibility demonstrates that they want peace, growth and prosperity that only the Afghan government and its institutions can provide.”

Czech anti-terrorism unit starts operating in Afghanistan

PRAGUE: The Czech anti-terrorism unit comprising some 100 troops from Prostejov, south Moravia, has started fulfilling its tasks in Afghanistan, military intelligence spokesman Ladislav Sticha told CTK today.

Czechs will operate with their U.S. colleagues in some remote areas of Afghanistan for six months within the Enduring Freedom operation, Sticha added.

At the beginning of 2006, the Czech government and parliament approved the deployment of the elite 601st special force group in Afghanistan upon the U.S. request.

The Czech unit is to primarily fulfill reconnaissance tasks and possibly transfer information and free captives. Czech military experts returned to the turbulent locality in Afghanistan after two years. Their mission has been the second Czech participation in a direct combat operation since WW2.

Unlike another two Czech contingents in Afghanistan, in Kabul and Faizabad, the Prostejov troops operate outside the NATO structures.

The first unit members have been in Afghanistan since April to prepare the mission, while most of the troops arrived in mid-May. The Defence Ministry keeps the exact place where the troops operate and the date of their return secret for security reasons.

The anti-terrorism coalition and the Kabul government have not yet succeeded in suppressing the resistance of the Taliban movement and its supporters in some regions.

"Military experts suppose that the situation in this region has been the worst since the time when the Taliban rule was toppled," Sticha said.

Afghanistan: Taleban's second coming – BBC By Ahmed Rashid analysis

Guest journalist and writer Ahmed Rashid on why Afghanistan is facing a resurgent Taleban movement.

Nearly 400 Afghans have been killed in an unprecedented offensive by the Taleban, in a bid to pre-empt a major deployment by some 6,000 Nato troops this summer in southern Afghanistan.

From just a few hundred guerrillas last year, Taleban commander Mullah Dadullah now claims to have 12,000 men under arms and control of 20 districts in the former Taleban heartland in the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan. There is also a strong Taleban-al-Qaeda presence in the eastern provinces bordering Pakistan.

Why - five years after the Taleban and al-Qaeda were smashed by US forces - is Afghanistan facing a resurgent Taleban movement that is now threatening to overwhelm it?

Even though the country now has a legitimately elected president, government and parliament, there have been major failures by the international community and the Afghan government in their inability to provide troops, security and funds for reconstruction and nation building to the Pashtun population in the south.

Security vacuum - Neither Nato, nor the American forces they are replacing, have offered an honest assessment of their successes and failures during the past five years. Here is a checklist of failures in the south that the US, Nato, the UN and the Afghan government should be discussing and rectifying:

· Washington's refusal to take state building in Afghanistan seriously after 2001 and instead waging a fruitless war in Iraq, created a major international distraction which the Taleban took advantage of to slowly rebuild their forces.

· US-led coalition forces were never deployed in southern Afghanistan in sufficient numbers, even though this was the Taleban heartland and needed to be secured. Apart from a US base for 3,000 troops in Kandahar and a couple of fire bases, for four years there was virtually no military presence in three of the four provinces. US forces failed to secure even the major cities and highways in the south. The growing security vacuum in the south was steadily filled by the Taleban.

· Afghanistan has received far less funds for reconstruction than almost all recent nation building efforts such as the former Yugoslavia, Haiti or East Timor. The lack of security in the south meant that UN development agencies and western and Afghan aid organisations could not provide sufficient aid and reconstruction. Nor was there ever adequate funding by western donors, especially for rebuilding the vital agricultural sector. The West's refusal to invest in agriculture on which 70% of the population depend, led to a massive return to poppy production by destitute farmers in the south, which quickly spread to the rest of the country.

· Drug smugglers and cartels now offer much greater incentives to Pashtun farmers than aid agencies. The best functioning extension programmes for farmers are operated by opium traffickers who provide improved varieties of poppy seeds, fertilizer, improved methods of cultivation, banking and loan facilities and organised large scale employment during the poppy harvest. Compared to 2001 when poppy cultivation was at a minimum, southern Afghanistan now needs to develop an entire alternative economy costing billions of dollars in order to replace the drugs economy.

· The drugs economy has fuelled massive corruption among government officials, undermined the authority of the government and funded the Taleban. The failure to reconstruct the south has led to widespread public disillusionment, increasing sympathy for the Taleban and anger at the Afghan government. Drugs money has allowed the Taleban to acquire new weapons, provide salaries to fighters and larger sums to suicide bombers.

Corruption - · For the past five years President Hamid Karzai has tolerated Pashtun warlords as governors, police chiefs and administrators in the south. Most of these warlords were discredited and defeated by the Taleban in the 1990s, but were resuscitated by US forces to help defeat the Taleban in 2001. Unlike Northern Alliance warlords who tended to defy President Karzai's authority, these Pashtun warlords were friends of the government and helped secure the Pashtun vote for Karzai in two Loya Jirgas and two elections in 2004 and 2005. Despite pledging loyalty to President Karzai these warlord-governors became visibly corrupt, by their open involvement in the drugs trade, cutting deals with criminal gangs and the Taleban and showing supreme incompetence in dealing with development issues. For the majority of southern Pashtuns, the corruption of these warlord-governors unfortunately symbolised the intentions of the Kabul government.

· Kabul refused to change these warlord-governors, until forced to do so by Nato countries, who refused to deploy their troops until they were removed. Thus Canada, Britain and the Netherlands played a major role in forcing the resignation of the governors of Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan - the provinces in which their troops are now being deployed.

· Kabul's offer of an amnesty and safe passage home in 2003 to non-belligerent Taleban living in Pakistan was a sensible attempt at reconciliation, but it was badly handled. The Northern Alliance leaders refused to accept any reconciliation with the Taleban. Overtures to the Taleban were handled secretly by the American and Afghan intelligence, instead of being done openly with international support and guarantees of protection for returning Taleban and a separate aid programme to rehabilitate them. Pakistan refused to help persuade the Taleban to return home, while Washington refused to put any pressure on Islamabad to do so. The reconciliation drive has been a failure.

· After being routed in 2001 the Taleban found a safe sanctuary in Balochistan and the North West Frontier province of Pakistan. They have been able to set up a major logistics hub, training camps, carry out fund raising and have been free to recruit fighters from madrassas and refugee camps. The Taleban have received help from Pakistan's two provincial governments, the MMA, Islamic extremist groups, the drugs mafia and criminal gangs - while the military regime has looked the other way. Al-Qaeda has helped the Taleban reorganise and forge alliances with other Afghan and Central Asian rebel groups.

Thus the current Taleban resurgence is a reflection of the failure of policies by all the major players in Afghanistan - the US, Nato, the UN, the international community, the Afghan government and neighbours such as Pakistan.

All these problems will have to be addressed honestly and frankly, before Nato and Afghan security forces will be able to defeat the Taleban.

Shaken by Riots, Afghans Gripped By Uncertainty - The Washington Post
05/31/2006 By Pamela Constable

KABUL, May 30 -- Afghan army troops blanketed the capital Tuesday, schools and shops reopened and residents swept up the debris from riots that left 11 people dead and 130 injured. Many people remained angry both at the rioters and U.S. troops, and worried about permanent damage to the country's faltering democracy, economy and relations with the outside world.

Foreign peacekeeping troops kept off the streets, out of concern their presence would ignite new violence.

Monday's violence was sparked by a traffic accident involving a U.S. military convoy, and some residents continued to insist that American troops shot dozens of civilians while leaving the chaotic accident scene.

"The foreign soldiers shot my cousin, and now he is in a coma. They have brought us nothing but destruction. People are still poor and jobless, except the few who shine the foreigners' shoes. We want them out of here now," said Shah Mahmoud, 24, who was visiting the city hospital. He said his cousin, 17, worked near the accident site and was shot when he got caught up in an angry crowd that threw stones at the troops.

The U.S. military has said one civilian was killed when a military cargo truck smashed into a line of vehicles. It has promised a full investigation, but denied that troops shot anyone afterward.

In new violence, three Afghan workers for a South African charity, ActionAid, were shot dead Tuesday by a gunman riding a motorcycle as they drove on a road in Jowzjan province in northern Afghanistan, officials said.

Some business owners in Kabul said they had lost thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and regretted having taken the risk to invest in such a volatile environment. They said Afghan and international security forces had done little to protect their property.

Ali Chelsi, whose family owns a market in a fashionable shopping district, said the family had just ordered three shipping containers of home appliances from China, a major purchase based on expectations of growing affluence and foreign investment. "It will take us a month to get our business going again, and if the security situation doesn't improve, there will be no need for such appliances in Kabul," said Chelsi, as his nephew swept up shards of glass from their shattered picture window.

Other investors vowed to stay the course, saying they would not allow one day of violence to derail their plans. One was Ehsan Bayat, an Afghan American businessman who owns a major cellphone company and a new private television station here. A mob attacked the station Monday and burned all the cars in its parking lot.

"I am committed to rebuilding Afghanistan, and I will invest more now in humanitarian projects," Bayat said. "If we give up now, tomorrow will be very bleak."

The riots were the worst the capital has experienced since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001. Other incidents, including the discovery of an Afghan Christian convert and the news of anti-Islamic cartoons published in Europe, have sparked demonstrations in Afghan cities, but none was as large or violent.

The most seriously damaged building was the headquarters of CARE International, which rioters doused with gasoline and then burned to rubble. The compound's rose garden, surrounded by tall pines, was burned black. A half-dozen other foreign aid agencies were also attacked and looted.

Paul Barker, CARE's country director, said the attack cost the agency three years of records and destroyed its administration. He said most of the attackers appeared to be boys caught up in the "excitement of looting and burning," but that other, more serious motives were at work.

"I think this reflects the frustration and anger some Afghans feel, and they were looking for symbols of foreign presence," he said. "The tolerance for U.S. military mistakes has become strained to the breaking point in a lot of people."

Many Afghans have welcomed the thousands of U.S. troops stationed here, but there have been signs that the welcome is wearing thin. Residents have often criticized foreign military forces for driving powerful vehicles too aggressively, and there has been growing concern about civilian casualties from U.S. attacks on Taliban insurgents.

Two weeks ago, a U.S. airstrike in Kandahar province killed 15 residents in houses where Taliban fighters were hiding. Clashes in southern Afghanistan have caused more than 300 deaths in the past month.

In Kabul, residents and business owners said many policemen fled from their posts when armed rioters approached, and that few security personnel were visible on the streets until the violence had dissipated.

A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, which normally patrols the capital in armored vehicles, said it had been ready to help restore order Monday but that the Afghan authorities had asked the force not to do so.

"The government insisted, and we agreed, that we would remain in the background out of concern that our presence might inflame an already volatile situation," said Maj. Toby Jackman, a British spokesman for ISAF. "We remained poised all over the city, but we didn't want to pour water on an oily fire."

The Ministry of Public Health released a list of known casualties totaling 13 dead and 130 injured. Television stations frequently replayed a statement made by President Hamid Karzai late Monday saying that any further violence would be dealt with severely.

There were reports that some of the street violence was organized by anti-government groups.

Numerous witnesses said some rioters were older men who gave orders, carried AK-47 assault rifles and wore the dress of former anti-Soviet militia fighters whose political leaders oppose Karzai.

There were also indications of moral fervor in the crowds' actions. In this conservative Muslim country, many people are offended by Western lifestyles. Several restaurants reputed to employ prostitutes were damaged, and a major movie house took down its posters for fear of being attacked.

Outside Kabul's Emergency Hospital, there was a mood of barely contained rage among people waiting to visit their wounded relatives. In a crowd of two dozen men, none said they believed the U.S. military version of the Monday accident.

"After they hit all the cars, they got scared and just started shooting people," said a man who gave his name as Aziz, 43. He said his family lived near the accident scene and that his brother had come outside and been shot three times in the abdomen. "It was wrong what the people did in the streets, but it was the Americans' fault," he said. "They came here to protect us, but it is we who suffer."

Afghanistan, Unraveling – Editorial NY Times 06.1.06

Something has gone alarmingly wrong in Afghanistan, previously touted as the Bush administration's one quasi-successful venture in nation-building. Afghanistan's rising carnage still has not reached Iraq-like levels. But the trend is running in decidedly the wrong direction. Poorly thought-out American policies are at least partly to blame.

Unless Washington starts correcting its mistakes, parts of Afghanistan could start tumbling back toward the kind of anarchic chaos that once made such areas an attractive sanctuary for international terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

The warning signs go well beyond this week's deadly outbreak of anti-American rioting in Kabul — the worst violence there since the Taliban were evicted from Afghanistan's capital in 2001. And Kabul is widely acknowledged to be the most secure place in Afghanistan.

The past few months have also seen a stronger than expected Taliban military revival (with open help from supporters in Pakistan), a lengthening list of Afghan civilians accidentally killed in American military operations, a badly flawed United States-backed opium eradication program, and rising public disenchantment with Washington and its leading Afghan ally, President Hamid Karzai.

Afghans have long been renowned for their hostility toward foreign troops on their territory, as the 20th-century Russians and the 19th-century British learned the hard way. Until now they have made a conspicuous exception for the 21st-century Americans, who helped them shake off Taliban misrule and then promised their poor and war-shattered country an international rebuilding effort on the model of the post-World War II Marshall Plan.

More than four years later, Afghanistan's patience is running out. America's military presence is seen as narrowly focused on Washington's own agenda of hunting down Al Qaeda fighters and indifferent to Afghan civilian casualties and Afghanistan's own security needs.

Armed militia commanders still rule many areas. Some provincial cities and villages are back under the control of the same corrupt officials the Taliban won cheers for chasing out a decade ago. Farmers have fallen victim to a poppy eradication program unaccompanied by realistic plans for alternative economic development.

The answer is not for Washington to scale back legitimate American objectives. Pressing the fight against Al Qaeda is essential to America's own national security. Combating Afghan's growing narcotics trade is a vital precondition for any healthy economic development there.

What Washington needs to do is fight a lot smarter. It should begin talks at once with Afghanistan's government to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement on basic ground rules governing American military personnel in their interactions with Afghan civilians. It should reinforce its anti-narcotics drive with development programs that allow farmers to find adequate replacement livelihoods in more constructive lines of work.

Most Afghans do not want to go back to the horrors of the recent past. Washington needs to re-enlist their support by demonstrating that it cares not just about Afghanistan's strategic geography, but also about a decent future for its people.

U.S. must move to stop Afghanistan's slide – By Karl Inderfurth (Baltimore Sun) June 1, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Four years ago, the Bush administration took its eye off Afghanistan to prepare for the war in Iraq. Critical time, attention and resources were diverted from the fight against Taliban and al-Qaida forces. At Tora Bora, Osama bin Laden escaped and thousands of militants lived to fight another day.

Today, the Bush administration is repeating that mistake with its preoccupation with Iran, suspected Iranian nuclear weapons ambitions and the possibility that this looming confrontation could spiral into military action. Again, Afghanistan will be the loser.

This could not come at a worse time for Afghanistan. The Taliban and their extremist allies have made a powerful comeback. In the last month, nearly 400 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded in fierce fighting. Tactics used by Iraqi insurgents, including suicide bombers and roadside bombs, have found their way to Afghanistan, increasing the lethality of the attacks.

Four provinces in southern Afghanistan have borne the brunt of this upsurge of violence. The Taliban promised a major offensive to stop the deployment in the region of about 6,000 NATO troops. They are keeping their word.

U.S.-Afghan relations also are beginning to fray. This week's riots in Kabul - following a fatal traffic accident involving a U.S. military truck - underscore how disillusioned many Afghans feel about the failure of the international community to show real progress in rebuilding their country. This follows the deaths last week of a reported 16 Afghan villagers in a U.S. airstrike.

To rectify this deteriorating security situation, the Bush administration should immediately pursue the following:

• First, refocus on securing Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

The porous frontier, which stretches nearly 1,500 miles, is the principal gateway for Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents launching attacks inside Afghanistan.

Securing the border will require well-trained, well-armed border guards with sophisticated technical surveillance and communications capabilities, none of which the Afghans have. They are trying to raise a border force of 7,000, but it will take time. In the interim, the United States should strengthen its presence along the Afghan side of the border.

Most important, securing the border will require Pakistan's full cooperation. Taliban leaders are operating out of havens in Pakistan, raising money, recruiting and training fighters. The United States must use its considerable influence with Pakistan's leadership to persuade it to move as aggressively against Taliban militants as Pakistan has acted against foreign al-Qaida elements.

Cooperation between the two neighbors also would improve if they could agree to a permanent international boundary. Their border has been in contention since Pakistan became independent in 1947.

• Second, re-engage with world leaders at July's Group of Eight summit in Russia.

The last high-level international meeting on Afghanistan was held in January in London at the ministerial level. The chief focus of that conference was a five-year national development plan for Afghanistan.

The G-8 meeting of industrialized countries will be an opportunity for President Bush to re-engage world leaders on the situation in Afghanistan and what they can do about it.

One focus should be Afghanistan's immediate security requirements, starting with assistance to the Afghan national police, who are trying to respond to the recent outbreak of violence. There are about 55,000 Afghan police, far too few to adequately cover the country.

Moreover, they are in desperate need of better communications equipment, more mobility in the form of vehicles, helicopters and small fixed-wing aircraft, and even ammunition.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai should be invited to attend this G-8 summit. So should Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, to reinforce a G-8 call for greater cooperation and coordination between the two countries.

• Third, rethink the plan to begin withdrawing U.S. military forces in August.

The decision to reduce the U.S. presence by 3,000 troops to about 16,000 was taken before the security circumstances in Afghanistan radically changed. It should be placed on hold. An announcement that the United States is not drawing down its forces also would help to assuage the widespread view in Afghanistan that this step is the beginning of a planned full U.S. military withdrawal from there.

The Bush administration often has portrayed the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan as its first win in the global war on terrorism. Unfortunately, the expanding climate of insecurity in that country - from the insurgency, drug trafficking and a weak central government - makes Afghanistan too close to call.

Karl F. Inderfurth, assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001, is a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. His e-mail is kinderfurth@aol.com.

[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.]