In this bulletin:

• President Karzai Strongly Condemns the Terrorist Attack in the Province of Kandahar
• Coalition forces claim killing 40 Taliban in Paktika
• Taliban testing Western public opinion, NATO says
• Militants abduct and kill local judge in S. Afghanistan
• Afghanistan rejects Pakistan's allegations
• More UK troops go to Afghanistan
• Harper boosts development aid to Afghanistan by $15 million
• Address by the Prime Minister on new Canadian government assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan
• Canada may have to boost size of force in Afghanistan, says defence minister
• Thanking God and Canada, senior Taliban leader in Kandahar renounces
• Daily Afghan Report
• Afghanistan: Kabul Raises Concerns With Plan To Use Militia Fighters As Police
• Why the Taliban appeal to Pakistani youth
• Many Factors Behind Increased Violence in Southern Afghanistan
• Bamyan: Only two clinics with insufficient medicines
• Private bank opens office in Kabul
• US donates 8,567 vehicles to Afghan police
• Where cell-phones always give 'low battery' signal

President Karzai Strongly Condemns the Terrorist Attack in the Province of Kandahar - Date of Release: 15 June 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, who is currently attending the 5 th Summit of Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in China, strongly condemned the terrorist attack in the province of Kandahar, killing 10 innocent Afghan laborers and wounding 15.

In his reaction to the news the President said “This cowardly attack was the work of the enemies of Afghanistan who have always tried to spill innocent blood in our country. These innocent workers were the breadwinners of the poorest families and they were on their way to work, but the terrorists killed them.”

“The enemies of Afghanistan deliberately targeted innocent civilians in today’s vicious attack and I condemn it in the strongest terms.”

The President expressed his heartfelt 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

Coalition forces claim killing 40 Taliban in Paktika

KABUL, June 16 (Pajhwok Afghan News): At least 40 Taliban are said to have been killed in a coalition's operation that concluded in the southeastern Paktika province Friday morning.

A statement released from coalition's Bagram base said the mission included close air support and ground operations with the purpose to capture or kill senior leadership of the insurgents.

The engagement was part of "Operation Mountain Thrust", the large-scale effort by the coalition and Afghan security forces to defeat extremist forces in southern Afghanistan, said the statement.

The operation in Paktika began early morning on Wednesday with air support targeting militants in the remote and mountainous areas near the Orgun village. The statement said the coalition forces destroyed several fighting positions of the 'enemies' besides capturing one fighter in injured condition.

In exchange of fire, one coalition member was wounded, said the statement, adding at least 40 'enemy fighters' were killed during the fighting. "Operation Mountain Thrust" is the biggest offensive against Taliban since 2001. About 11,000 American, British, Canadians and Afghan forces are participating in the operation launched in the four provinces, including Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan. The second phase of the massive operation was launched on Thursday.

Taliban testing Western public opinion, NATO says – Reuters 06/16/2006

OTTAWA - Taliban insurgents are testing Western public opinion by creating instability in Afghanistan but they will be dealt with robustly and efficiently, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday.

De Hoop Scheffer made his remarks after meeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of the hand-over of control of security operations in southern Afghanistan next month to a NATO force from a U.S.-led force. Canadian soldiers are participating in the NATO force.

"The Taliban are simply testing Canadian public opinion, Dutch public opinion, U.K. public opinion, Australian public opinion," de Hoop Scheffer said, speaking on a day when a mini-bus carrying Afghan laborers to a U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan was hit by a powerful bomb, killing about 10 people.

"I can tell you, they'll not achieve their goals, because on the basis of the operational plan on which Canadian and other forces are going in, on the basis of the robust rules of engagement, they'll feel the consequences if they try to spoil the process."

"The message to the spoilers, be it Taliban, be it drug lords, be it warlords, whatever, will be a very stern and strong message: You will not get it your way. You will be dealt with very robustly if necessary."

The Taliban, fighting to expel foreign forces and defeat Afghanistan's Western-backed government, were ousted from power in late 2001 after refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden.

Militants abduct and kill local judge in S. Afghanistan - via People's Daily Online (China) Source: Xinhua / June 15, 2006

Suspected Taliban-linked militants in their attacks against government interests abducted and killed a local judge in the southern Ghazni province Wednesday, provincial governor Hajji Shir Alam confirmed Thursday.

"The enemies of peace abducted judge Jan Mohammad and his son from Qarabagh district yesterday evening and brutally killed him while the fate of his son is unknown," Alam told Xinhua.

He put the incident on the enemies of peace and stability, a term used against remnants of former Taliban regime.

Taliban-linked insurgency has claimed the lives of more than 800 people including Afghan and U.S. troops as well as pro- government religious and social figure over the past six months.

Afghanistan rejects Pakistan's allegations

QUETTA, June 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan rejected as baseless allegations that Baloch militants were getting arms from Afghanistan.

Police chief of Pakistan's Balochistan province Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob, during a press conference on Wednesday, alleged that rebels in Balochistan were getting arms from Afghanistan.

Yaqoob said rebels in Balochistan were getting money in Karachi from international banks in Dubai and London and running their training camps with the help of that money.

Consul-General of the Afghan consulate in Quetta Ahmad Ali Babak, however, described the trouble in Balochistan as internal problem of Pakistan and ruled out Afghanistan's hand in the conflict.

In a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, Babak said the Afghan government was against the policy of interfering in internal affairs of the neighbouring countries.

He said Afghanistan is fighting terrorism and moving towards reconstruction. The neighbouring countries were fully aware of the policies pursuing by the Afghan government, he added. Bashir Ahmad Nadim

More UK troops go to Afghanistan - Thursday, 15 June 2006 BBC News

The UK government is to send an extra 130 troops to Afghanistan to help guard the southern Kandahar airfield. Members of RAF Regiment 34 Squadron will be deployed to the site - home to British Harrier GR7 jets and a helicopter fleet - in the coming weeks.

The area is already guarded by Afghan, Canadian, Romanian and US forces. Defence Secretary Des Browne said the facility was of "central importance to the success of the wider Nato mission in Afghanistan".

"It is only right that the UK share some of the burden in protecting this joint facility," he said. About 3,300 British troops are currently based in the adjacent Helmand province in southern Afghanistan as part of the Nato-led peacekeeping force.

British soldiers replaced US forces in the area as part of an expansion of peacekeeping operations by Nato at the beginning of May.

Nato defence ministers have recently approved plans to increase troop numbers from 9,000 to about 17,000, and said the alliance would complete its expansion of operations into the insurgent-troubled south by late July.

Harper boosts development aid to Afghanistan by $15 million

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada will provide $15 million to help rebuild the battered rural irrigation system in Afghanistan. The pledge, made personally by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday, came as Canadian soldiers joined an allied offensive to root out Taliban insurgents.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay denied that the aid announcement was timed to divert attention from the military operation.

"This is not to diminish in any way, shape or form the role that the Canadian military are playing there with the other 37 countries for the stabilization and security," he said.

"It's a holistic approach and we have to ensure that the Afghan people themselves are involved in the rebuilding."

Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, welcomed the news. "I think that this announcement is very good news in the right direction as far as development aid is concerned," he said in an interview.

He said he has outlined a number of economic and development needs to donor nations. "Rural irrigation has been one of the items that we have mentioned as one of our priorities and I am very happy to hear today that the government has allocated $15 million to rebuild the system."

In announcing the money, Harper said it is important to improve irrigation because half the Afghan economy depends on agriculture. He also said that if more land is devoted to growing food, less will be planted with poppies to fuel the narcotics trade.

Opposition politicians have been wary of Canada's military commitment to Afghanistan. A Commons vote on extending that operation just squeaked through last month.

Opponents say Canada should stress aid and reconstruction, not military force. Harper said Canada is committed to rebuilding the country, which has been wrecked by a generation of war.

"This announcement represents one more building block in this work, and another step in the journey we are taking with our allies and the Afghan people to establish a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan."

MacKay said Canadian aid is directed to key areas: "This announcement is specifically aimed at some of the important infrastructure: water, sanitation. These are areas that we felt were lacking and therefore that contribution is aimed specifically and earmarked for those areas of reconstruction."

There are about 2,200 Canadian soldiers on the Afghanistan mission. They are charged with stabilizing a troubled southern region around Kandahar. Canada has also committed $1 billion over 10 years for reconstruction efforts in the country.

Address by the Prime Minister on new Canadian government assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan - June 15, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario

Thank you, Mr Speaker,

I am pleased to annouce today that Canada is strengthening its support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. As I said on May 17, when this House voted to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, our Government is committed to helping rebuild this shattered nation.

We are doing so for three reasons. First, because our national security and the safety of Canadians is at stake. As North Americans learned on September 11, 2001, terrorism is a menace to us all. And it must be confronted wherever we find it - at home or abroad. We were again and unmistakeably reminded of this by recent arrests of a number of people charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Second, we are doing this because we are determined to demonstrate Canada’s leadership on the world stage to regain the trust of our allies and to demonstrate that we will pull our weight in United Nations missions.

Third, we are doing this because the Government and people of Afghanistan asked us to help them. And it is the nature of Canadians to share the peace and prosperity we have achieved here with countries torn by war, poverty or natural disaster.

Mr Speaker, a great deal has been accomplished since Canada and its coalition partners, comprising 35 countries, decided to help the Afghan people stabilize security and 60 nations began the task of rebuilding this country.

For example, in the last election, some 12 million Afghans registered to vote – the vast majority for the first time in their lives. In addition:

• Three million, five hundred thousand refugees have been relocated.

• Some five million children – a third of them girls – are enrolled in primary school.

• One hundred twenty thousand Afghan women have benefited from microcredit to start up their own businesses.

• Vast quantities of heavy arms, ammunition and mines have been turned in, cantonned or destroyed.

• And 11,000 villages have been rebuilt in the countryside.

Canada’s financial commitment to supporting this important work currently stands at over $1 billion over 10 years. Budget 2006 set aside $100 million for this year alone. But more needs to be done. That is why I am pleased to announce today one more contribution to the rebuilding of Afghanistan.

Namely, that Canada will provide $15 million to the Asian Development Bank to help Afghanistan rebuild the country’s rural irrigation systems, damaged by years of conflict and neglect. This is a major initiative.

For centuries, Afghans have used traditional irrigation methods to grow their food. Up to 80% of agricultural production depends on irrigation, and over half of the national economy depends on agriculture.

Thanks to Canada’s contribution, a number of irrigation systems will be rebuilt. This will stimulate food production. And it will help local farmers grow other crops than poppies, which when processed end up on our streets in the form of illegal drugs.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be very proud of this country’s work in support of the reconstruction of Afghanistan. They can be proud of the courageous personnel of the Canadian Forces who are working with Allied troops, Afghan police and members of the Afghan National Army to enhance security in that country.

And they can be proud of our diplomats and development workers who are cooperating with the Afghan people to lay the groundwork for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan. By providing clean water, mine-free roads and reliable energy sources.

By building more schools and healthcare facilities. And by helping Afghans build their country’s democratic infrastructure, by establishing major institutions such as:

• An independent human rights commission,

• A new central bank,

• And a professional police force.

Today’s announcement represents one more building block in this work. And one more step in a journey we are taking with our allies and the Afghan people to establish a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan.

An Afghanistan that will never again serve as a safe haven for international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. An Afghanistan that can take its rightful place in the community of nations.

This is an important mission. And one our country is proud to be part of. Thank you.

Canada may have to boost size of force in Afghanistan, says defence minister

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada will boost its troop strength in Afghanistan should it take over command of NATO forces in the country as anticipated, says Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor.

O'Connor has told NATO that Canada wants to assume control of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) after it takes over operations in southern Afghanistan from the United States.

"Canada's interested in commanding ISAF in '08," O'Connor said Thursday after meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Ottawa. "Canada is more than able to command ISAF."

O'Connor said about 100 additional military personnel would be required for command operations, in addition to the 2,300 soldiers currently taking part in the Afghan mission.

NATO is to begin taking over military operations in and around violence-plagued Kandahar province by mid-summer when the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom moves to a new phase.

NATO is expanding its force to 16,000 from 9,700 by late July, effectively doubling international troop numbers in the southern region which was the Taliban's heartland.

While it hasn't been decided which country will lead the force after next year, Canada is seen as the strongest contender for the job. ISAF, which is controlled by NATO, now operates in a peace-building and reconstruction capacity in the Afghan capital, Kabul and areas north.

It will act more like a combat force if needed, however, in the southern regions, suggested de Hoop Scheffer. "When NATO takes over in the course of this summer, you'll see of course those ISAF forces . . . busy in dealing with reconstruction and development," he said.

"But at the same time, the message to the spoilers, be it Taliban, be it drug lords, be it warlords, whatever, will be a very stern and strong message: 'You will be dealt with very robustly, if necessary."'

Canadian soldiers are among more than 10,000 Afghan and coalition forces which began a massive anti-Taliban operation across southern Afghanistan Thursday. Dubbed Operation Mountain Thrust, it is the largest offensive since the 2001 invasion that toppled the former Taliban regime.

The offensive is part of a major push to squeeze Taliban fighters responsible for a spate of ambushes and suicide attacks against coalition forces and Afghan authorities in recent months.

Thanking God and Canada, senior Taliban leader in Kandahar renounces - Canadian Press 06/16/2006

KANDAHAR  - Thanking God and Canadians, a senior Taliban leader in Kandahar province has renounced the insurgents under an Afghan government reconciliation program.

Mulla Ibrahim, who has lost a leg, was rolled before the international media in a wheelchair Friday to repent.

"I have signed the papers to join the Strengthening Peace Program. I want peace and national union in Afghanistan in an Islamic system," Ibrahim said through an interpreter as beefy international "contractors" armed with machine guns stood by. "It was God and the Canadians who saved my life."

The announcement comes a day after a bomb exploded on a bus in Kandahar killing 10 Afghans who work for the international coalition, including five interpreters employed by the military.

Ibrahim said he hasn't been active in the Taliban since 2001 when the regime fell to the Americans during Operation Enduring Freedom.

He said the Taliban forced him to flee to Pakistan, then to infiltrate back to Afghanistan. Seriously ill with jaundice, he was eventually arrested and brought to the base hospital in Kandahar where he was treated by Canadians.

Further details on his background were not released by the military or the Afghan government. Ibrahim condemned Thursday's bombing, his piercing brown eyes flashing with power despite his age and frail health. "We don't approve of acts of that kind. Killing one Muslim is like killing the entire Muslim community," he said.

Since it was established last year the Afghan government says more than 1569 Taliban have surrendered under the program. 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. Canadian military officials said the timing of the announcement has nothing to do with the bomb explosion.

Daily Afghan Report - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty June 14, 2006

AFGHAN OPIUM FARMER KILLED IN CLASH WITH POLICE

An opium farmer has been killed in a clash between armed farmers and counternarcotics police in Badakhshan Province, Kabul-based Tolu Television reported on June 13. Badakhshan Governor Monshi Abdul Majid told Tolu that counternarcotics authorities sent from the capital "failed to observe local traditions, which unfortunately led to the clash." No one has been arrested in the case, Abdul Majid added. Poppy eradication has been temporarily halted in the Jorm district, where the incident occurred. AT

OFFICIALS IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN ASK U.A.E. TO SEND TROOPS

Residents of Kandahar Province have asked the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) to send troops to their province to bring security and change the perception of Afghans regarding Arabs, Pajhwak Afghan News reported on June 13. The proposal was made during a meeting of the Kandahar Provincial Council in which an official from U.A.E., Sheikh Hamad al-Shamisi, participated. The meeting was also attended by Kandahar Governor Asadullah Khaled and other senior provincial officials. The tribal elders reportedly asked that the U.A.E. resume work on the Omar Mosque, which they began constructing during the Taliban regime. Ne'amatullah Khan, the deputy head of the Provincial Council, told Al-Shamisi that since many Afghans believe that most Arab states were cooperating with Al-Qaeda, by sending troops to Kandahar the U.A.E. will not only help improve the security situation but also help change popular attitudes. The U.A.E. was one of just three countries that officially recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were the other two. AT

AFGHAN LEADER TALKS ABOUT CHINA TIES

Prior to his planned departure to participate as a guest in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan and China are "very good neighbors" and he hopes for stronger trade relations between them, Xinhua reported on June 13. Karzai said relations with China hold "immense importance" for his country, adding to Xinhua that while China ranks third -- after Japan and Pakistan -- in exports to Afghanistan, Chinese imports from Afghanistan amounted to a meager $900,000 in 2005-06. Karzai said he hopes that his country can export more to China. "Afghanistan belongs to the region where the SCO also lies. Afghanistan has no other ways, and can't be outside the region," Karzai said. The SCO was transformed from the Shanghai Five in 2001, ostensibly to respond to the threat posed by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which joined in 2001. The group has accepted India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan as observers, and Afghanistan as a guest country. AT

PAKISTANI ARMY OFFICER ARRESTED IN AFGHANISTAN

A lieutenant in the Pakistan Army has been arrested in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province after he crossed the border to purchase a vehicle, the Islamabad-based daily "The Nation" reported on June 13. The officer, identified as Asif, has been detained by Afghan authorities for interrogation. He allegedly crossed into Afghanistan "a few days ago" with friends to purchase a vehicle at Wash on the Afghan side of the border, where new vehicles are on sale. According to the report, Pakistan arrested five Afghan nationals in May, including a sitting member of parliament, who still remain in custody. The five were not identified in the report. The report did not draw any direct connection between the two cases. AT

Afghanistan: Kabul Raises Concerns With Plan To Use Militia Fighters As Police - Ron Synovitz Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Efforts by the Afghan government to recruit militia fighters as security along the Afghan-Pakistan border have raised concerns about reforms in the country. President Hamid Karzai's government says it does not want to bring entire militia groups into Afghanistan's security services. But experts remain skeptical, saying any move to arm or pay militia fighters in southern Afghanistan as police is a dangerous step that could set back years of work to disarm warlords and their fighters.

PRAGUE, June 15, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- President Karzai has been visiting Pashtun tribal leaders close to the border with Pakistan this week in an attempt to recruit individual fighters to the Afghan National Police.

Afghan Defense Minister Rahim Wardak tells RFE/RL that Kabul is not trying to undermine internationally backed programs aimed at disarming and demobilizing warlord militias. Wardak also says Kabul does not want to empower illegal militia groups.

"In some districts where there are few police -- [border areas near Pakistan] where there is conflict and security is weak -- we want to increase the number of police," Wardak says. "Across Afghanistan, our national police force comprises local police officers. We plan to fill these gaps within the national police force by recruiting more local people. Step by step, we will train them and make them part of the Afghan National Police."

...Two Steps Back?

Abdul Manan Farahi, the Afghan Interior Ministry's counterterrorism chief, says Kabul will not provide weapons to militias that already have been armed for generations. Instead, Farahi says the government will pay militia fighters who register their weapons and help with security.

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistan-based journalist and author of the book "Taliban," remains skeptical. Despite the declarations from Kabul about its plans, Rashid says it is a bad idea to use militia fighters to provide security in southern Afghanistan.

"It's a complete reversal of everything that the Afghan government and the international community have been trying to do in the last five years," Rashid says. "Hundreds of million of dollars have been spent in disarming militias and disarming the warlords. If Karzai now plans to arm any kind of Pashtun militias in the south, you will get an immediate demand from ethnic groups in the north -- Uzbeks and particularly the Tajiks -- to do the same in the north. And then we are back to having warlord militias."

'A Repudiation'

Rashid says he is particularly concerned about reports that hundreds of militia fighters loyal to a former provincial governor have been allowed to keep their weapons and are being paid $200 per month by the Finance Ministry in Kabul.

"Sher Mohammad Akhonzada, the former governor of Helmand, has already hired 500 fighters. Mr. Akhonzada was thrown out from the governorship of Helmand on the demand of the British government before [British troops] went down into Helmand because of his involvement with the drugs, because of his involvement with the Taliban, and [because of] his very unsavory reputation," Rashid says. "Now if a man like that is going to [remain] armed, it is going to lead to a very negative reaction by NATO, by the European Union, by the United Nations, by everyone trying to carry out a reform agenda. This is a repudiation of the whole reform agenda."

RFE/RL Afghanistan analyst Amin Tarzi says he also is concerned by the bolstering of border security with Afghan militia fighters. He predicts the plan will empower existing militias and could lead to the creation of new tribal militias.

"[Karzai's] government has said these are controlled militias. You hear statements from some members of his administration that they are armed anyway and have been armed for thousands of years," Tarzi says. "[The Afghan government says,] 'All we are doing is actually bringing them under government control.' In my view, this is a very disturbing situation. To create more militias -- while the Japanese and the UN and the United States are paying money to disarm militias -- is very shortsighted and very ad hoc (eds: improvised without regard for wider implications). Instead of helping the state become more powerful, it is actually undermining the state's authority."

Mark Laity, NATO's spokesman in Kabul, says it is inappropriate for Kabul to use irregular armed forces as a police force. He says NATO is committed to the goal of disarming all illegal armed groups in the country by the end of next year. But he admits that effective implementation of the disarmament program depends on local situations.

Response To U.S. Move?

Journalist Rashid concludes that Kabul has been pushed toward the idea of recruiting militia fighters since Washington announced it would reduce aid for the Afghan National Army.

"What has been so depressing has been [U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld's announcement several months ago that the Americans would not pay salaries for the Afghan National Army, that they would slow down recruitment and training for the army, and that they would reduce the size of the army from 75,000 men to 50,000 men," Rashid says. "I think the Americans need to immediately rescind this. And if they don't, then some other countries -- perhaps NATO, perhaps the European Union -- need to fill the gap and promise the Afghans that they will speed up the building of the Afghan National Army and go back to the original figure of 75,000 men."

A tribal militia already is working as a security force in the eastern province of Kunar -- a mountainous border region near Pakistan where U.S.-led coalition forces have been battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.

Zahidullah Zahid, a spokesman for Kunar's governor, says the tribal people know the territory far better than police and army troops who are sent in from other parts of the country. Zahid says the Kunar militia fighters own their own guns -- mostly AK-47 assault rifles. He says they are being paid about $80 a month by the Afghan Interior Ministry.

(RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Freshta Jalalazai contributed to this report.)

Why the Taliban appeal to Pakistani youth - The Christian Science Monitor
06/16/2006 By David Montero

The tribal system that once grounded young people no longer provides enough opportunities

PESHAWAR  – Imran Gul would like to see a better future for the tribal youth of his corner of Pakistan, but most days he only sees military helicopters returning from Waziristan, ferrying wounded and dead. Casualties in the conflicts along the Afghan border serve as a reminder that the tribal system, once strong and proud, is now falling apart.

History and war have slowly eaten away its edifice, and Mr. Gul worries that what the tribal system can no longer provide young people - peace, income, a sense of purpose, a social network - a new and rising force can: the Taliban.

"Due to poverty, young people have no activities," says Gul, program director of the Sustainable Participation Development Program, a nongovernmental organization in Banu, just outside North Waziristan. "They do not want to join the Taliban. But their sympathies are with the Taliban to bring peace to our area."

The field for such sympathies is wide and growing, many say. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have always been the least advanced lands in Pakistan. Illiteracy and joblessness are rampant. There are no universities in FATA, and political parties are absent due to colonial-era tribal laws, robbing youth of an outlet for talent and expression.

The tribal system itself is partly to blame. Many elders have traditionally resisted modern education, roads, and electricity, fearing their power would be threatened the more FATA opened up. But the government is also at fault, observers say, by failing to integrate FATA into Pakistan. Voting rights were extended to the full tribal populace only in 2000.

"Young people ... oppose the current tribal system because they know that this is not ... harnessing their potential," says Naveed Ahmad Shinwari, chief executive of the Community Appraisal & Motivation Program, which works on development in the tribal zone. "If you ask any young man, he's frustrated because the government of Pakistan is clearly not doing much to create employment for young people."

Military incursion further eroded old system

These problems were exacerbated when the Pakistani military entered the tribal areas for the first time in 2003. Their operations, which many tribes believe is the dirty work of Washington, have further weakened the system while sowing sympathies for extremism. In such situations, analysts say, people look to the standard-bearers of Islam for guidance and solace.

Tariq Aziz, a 17-year-old from Mir Ali in North Waziristan, sees the Taliban as a viable solution for future generations. "There are no opportunities for young people," he says by telephone from Banu. "The people of Mir Ali have sympathies for the Taliban. They fight for Islam."

Mr. Aziz says he might like to join the Taliban himself, but that his parents prefer him to continue his studies.

Like many his age, Aziz is trapped between the present danger of conflict and the elusive dream of a better life. Only hours after he hung up the phone, two suicide bombers struck a military convoy just outside Banu, killing four soldiers and wounding seven. It is to the Taliban that he looks for peace. "Under the Taliban government, there was peace in Afghanistan and no crimes occurred in the government."

In such strife, pragmatism draws young people to the Taliban. They are building a new form of social capital, a network that offers the opportunities and prestige that the tribal system once did.

"Where do they go for problem solutions? Their [members of the National Assembly] are marginalized pieces of the political system. The [tribal elders] are not recognized. The cost of living has gone up," says Khalid Aziz, chair of the Regional Institute of Policy Research & Training, a think tank in Peshawar. "[The Taliban] make life livable. They have a bureaucracy, soldiers."

Slim opportunities, but education a way out - Such prospects are an oasis in a desert of grim statistics, Mr. Aziz says. "Twenty five percent of an ordinary man's income [in FATA] is spent on medical expenses, aggravated by bad delivery of basic services. Sixty percent of the incomes come from migrant workers. Eighty-five percent are working on land. Seventy percent are working on rented land. The only asset left for a frontiersman is to get a job. If I were in that area, I would definitely go Taliban."

Alternatives seem in short supply, but a few find another way of life in education. One of them is now a student at Peshawar University. He is afraid to be named because his family in Miran Shah, North Waziristan, was recently the victim of violence. Like others his age, he feels the tribal system cannot adequately prepare his generation to interact with the modern world, and hopes that education can repair the cracks left by the tribal system.

"Today people in Waziristan are interested in coming to university. Our young generation is interested in business," he says, adding that the best solution is to integrate the tribal areas with the rest of Pakistan.

It's a dream shared by many, and perhaps the best way to dampen the appeal of groups like the Taliban, analysts say. Optimists hope the way will be paved by education programs and development projects in the short term, and the introduction of political parties in the longer term. The latter, they say, are one of the few immediate prospects for confronting the growing power of the mullahs and the Taliban they support.

Perhaps the greatest question for youth to ponder is how modern they want to be. Akmal Sayal, the 16-year-old son of a tribal elder from Mohmand Agency, intends someday to lead his tribe of 200,000, but for now he's concentrating on learning computer science. "I hope to go back to the tribal area and teach computers," he says. "The solution must be education."

But he is careful to underscore the delicate business of embracing modernity. "I've got my [studies], but I don't want that this cap can't be used," he says, pointing to the traditional skullcap worn by Muslims.

Many Factors Behind Increased Violence in Southern Afghanistan

RFE/RL 06/16/2006 By Ron Synovitz

"Some recent violence reported as Taliban attacks may be related, instead, to Afghan drug lords trying to protect opium harvests and smuggling routes"

There have been more combat-related deaths in Afghanistan during the past two months than any similar time period since the U.S-led coalition's campaign against the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Hundreds of suspected Taliban have been killed this year by the coalition's ground and air strikes in southern Afghanistan. Tailban fighters also have increased the frequency and veracity of their attacks compared to recent years. The death toll is also boosted by civilian casualties caused mainly by suicide bombers.

The escalation of violence in Afghanistan comes as NATO troops prepare to take over security operations from U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan.

General Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this week during a visit to India that the death toll is particularly high in southern Afghanistan because Taliban fighters are concentrating their forces more than in the past.

A Tactical Problem - "In the last two months, the Taliban have been conducting larger attacks this year than they did during the same time last year," Pace said. "The problem for the Taliban is that as they have gotten larger groups together, they have become much bigger targets. And they have lost about 300 Taliban in the last two months during those operations. So the Taliban are a tactical problem for the coalition in Afghanistan. [But] the coalition in Afghanistan is a strategic problem for the Taliban."

NATO spokesman Mark Laity said in Kabul today that it is not right for journalists to characterize the violence as worse than any time since 2001. But all agree that there has been an upsurge in Taliban attacks. "I would slightly challenge the word 'worse,'" he said. "I think the situation is probably more difficult and more complicated than in the past because there is an upsurge in attacks."

In London, independent defense analyst Ian Kemp said the Taliban is simply trying to undermine public support for the expansion of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force into southern Afghan provinces like Kandahar and Helmand.

"One reason for the increase in violence is [because the Taliban wants] to show the NATO forces as they arrive that they are not going to have the situation their own way," Kemp said. "And the second reason is that there is going to be an impact on public opinion. This is going to serve to undermine public morale in [NATO's] troop-contributing nations."

Coalition Forces More Offensive - Amin Tarzi, RFE/RL's analyst on Afghanistan, said recent Taliban attacks are a reaction by militants to increased offensive operations by NATO and the U.S.-led coalition. He said the reasons for the escalation of violence are mainly twofold.

"One is the offensive nature of the coalition forces right now," Tarzi said. "There is a [coalition] effort to clear [things] up, especially in southern Afghanistan, before NATO takes over there totally in July. [And the Taliban] are being attacked, so you see more reaction [by them as well.] The second [reason] is a broadening of the base of the opposition -- what I call the neo-Taliban. There is a manifestation of different groups within the neo-Taliban. [And there is] the Afghan government's own inability to even recognize their own enemy. They don't want to officially recognize the enemy because there is a political issue. All of that combined has created a more violent situation."

Tarzi said some recent violence reported as Taliban attacks may be related, instead, to Afghan drug lords trying to protect opium harvests and smuggling routes.

Emmanuel Reinert, executive director of an international security and development policy group called the Senlis Council, said ordinary Afghans are increasingly angry about civilian casualties caused by foreign troops. He said efforts by the Afghan government and its Western backers to eradicate poppy cultivation also contributes to greater sympathy in some regions for Taliban fighters (see below).

Disillusioned Citizenry? - "The local population is now totally disillusioned in relation to what the government in Kabul and the coalition has been trying to do," Reinert said. "They see no change in their daily lives. They still live in extreme poverty. And this is only getting worse. And the only thing they see coming from Kabul is eradication forces destroying their livelihoods -- and kids and women being killed."

During a visit to Tokyo on June 6, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta admitted that the Afghan government and its international supporters have made mistakes in the way they are conducting the war on terrorism.

"The problem is, I think, we have [made] some mistakes in our war against international terrorism because we have [aimed] our war against terrorism -- and [against] the phenomenon of terrorism in Afghanistan -- at the symptoms of terrorism," Spanta said. "But not against the sources of terrorism. And this is the main problem."

Spanta concluded that the three most important and critical challenges now facing Afghanistan are terrorism, drug lords, and how to make the government in Kabul more effective so that it can better deliver services to the people of Afghanistan.

Bamyan: Only two clinics with insufficient medicines

BAMYAN CITY, June 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News): "Only two private clinics for numerous patients in the central Bamyan province, and then opening of these medical centres in afternoon. Insufficient medics and medicines," clearly depicts the lofty claims of the government of providing health facility to the people of this region, said dwellers of this impoverished province.

The residents said there was only one shift in the clinics, and no doctor could be found once the working hours over. They said disease don't attack people with prior notice, and nor a person may fall ill when doctors were on duty, becoming ill would be more unfortunate in this province, particularly after duty-time.

Akbar Ali, resident of the province, told Pajhwok Afghan News there were two private clinics in the city, if one remained open only in the evening, the other most rarely.

He said doctors work in the clinics just for two hours in the evening. Rahimullah, a 12 th class graduate and dweller of the city, failed to get treatment after hard struggle to get to the doctor because of great rush and short working hours in the clinics.

He said: "I have a sever health problem, I could not find a clinic here, I dont know if there is any clinic in the area where doctors can provide quality treatment."

He urged provincial health department to provide health facility to the people of the region. The residents also complained the doctors had opened their private clinics in the region and compelled the patients to get this expensive treatment.

These doctors also run their own drug stores and prescribed such medicines that were only available with them with high prices. Abdul Khaliq, owner of a drug store, said there was neither professional doctor and nor laboratory in the city. However, Ghulam Haider, who introduces himself as professional doctor said he did not open a clinic as he did not expect earning much money.

Abdul Rahman, a journalist in this city, believed Bamyan had very small poor people that were not yet used to visit private clinics and thus doctors were not opening their own private clinic.

Director of the Provincial Public Health Department Dr Ihsanullah Shahir said private sector had yet to promote in this city. There was no specialist doctor in the region, he added. Confirming the problem, he said meagre health facility was there, but doctors refuse to examine patients when they were busy in dealing with some emergency.

Private bank opens office in Kabul - Mustafa Basharat 

KABUL, June 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): With opening of another private Afghan bank here on Tuesday, the total number of banks in the war-battered country reached to 13.

Azizi Bank was inaugurated here with a primary investment of $7 million. On this occasion, manager of the bank Mirwais Azizi said they would provide services of maintaining current account, short-time debts and transferral of money from and to foreign countries.

He said they planned to open branches of the bank in Kandahar, Herat, Balkh and some other provinces within a month. Commerce Minister Hedayat Amin Arsala, director of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency and head of the Afghanistan International Chambers of Commerce were also present on this occasion.

There are about a dozen banks currently working in the country, some of them are the Kabul International Bank, Aryan Bank, Al-Falah Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited, and Standard Chartered Bank.

US donates 8,567 vehicles to Afghan police

KABUL, June 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The United States Wednesday pledged to provide 8,567 different vehicles worth about $244 million to Afghan police.

In a ceremony held here in Afghan Interior Ministry, Brig Gen O'Brien deputy chief of CSTC-A handed over key of a double door vehicle to Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Muqbil.

Hailing the US assistance, the minister said the donation would further strengthen the police. He said: "Strong and efficient police can implement rule of law and act upon it."

He said they had earlier police of Kandahar, Nimroz, Helmand and Uruzgan with 300 vehicles from the donation. Muqbil said police would be equipped with all facilities until 2010. While terming the assistance as vital for the war-battered country, Brig Gen O'Brien said the aid was aimed to help police to perform their duty in the efficient manner. Afghanistan has to recruit 62,000 police according to Bone Agreement while country had about 5,5000 trained policemen

Where cell-phones always give 'low battery' signal

BAMYAN CITY, June 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Thanks to unavailability of electricity, large number of people in central Bamyan province frantically search for areas, where generators have been installed to charge their cell-phones batteries. Lacking of power has not only left the province in dark, but has also isolated it from other parts of the country.

In Bamyan, cell-phone may be used as a showpiece, but not a communication device, as here cell-phones always give one signal 'battery low', but power cannot be found to redress the just complaint of cell-phones by feeding it with electric charge.

The lacking of power has also made the work of cell-phones thugs easy, as they didn't need to sweat themselves like in big cities, but swam the only generator where people are compelled to visit to charge their cell-phones.

25-year-old Khan Ali, one of the victims, who has lost three cell-phone sets while charging them in hotels, as access to power is a far cry in his area.

"If I have access to power, I will not have faced such huge loss," he added. Zahar, teacher at girls High School in Bamyan, said because of low battery she often kept her cell-phone off that had turned her relatives and chums against her.

She said: "Because of fear that mobile charge will cease, I only switch it on when I need to make a call, otherwise keep it off."

She said even she could not find a chance to charge her cell-phone battery once in month. "I have to walk four kilometers to charge mobile at my uncle's house," she lamented.

However, Shir Afzal, employee of Roshan mobile company in this province said the demand for Roshan connection and credit card has increased in the region.

He also confirmed that customers were facing the problem of charging their cell-phone batteries. He said their costumers ask them to open cell-phone charging shops. Huge crowds have often seen in hotels for charging mobiles.

Karbalaie, owner of a restaurant Bamyan city, said:" Some people turn to restaurant only to charge their cell-phones batteries and dont eat or drink." Director at Electricity Department at Engineer Mohammad Yousaf told Pajhwok Afghan News besides government organs, about 4,000 shops and 200 houses would be extended power in two months.

He said foundation stone of the 500 kilowatts electricity generated by diesel generator was laid down on 10 June. He said they would also install 54 pillars for supply of the power.

[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.]