In this bulletin:

• Musharraf stays away from jirga
• U.S. surprised by Musharraf's snub of Afghan meeting with Karzai
• Afghanistan Prepares For 'Peace Jirga'
• Afghan analysts paint bleak picture of peace jirga
• Taliban repudiate sexual assault on Korean women
• Karzai condemns killing of de-miners
• Killing of de-miners suggests change in Taliban tactics
• Rice sees change in Pak perception on frontier areas
• Khalilzad to call on President Karzai
• Russia cancels most Afghan debt
• Al-Qaida members among 12 militants slain by Pakistan army near Afghan border
• Is Iran meddling in Afghanistan?
• Afghanistan becomes main focus for UK
• Turkish PRT to complete 100 projects in Maidan Wardak
• Baffling Afghan signals
• Afghanistan mission a success: returning commander
• The villagers, the vanquished and the Vandoos

Musharraf stays away from jirga – BBC

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says he will not attend a three-day "peace jirga", or tribal council, in the Afghan capital Kabul. Elders from the Pakistani tribal regions of North and South of Waziristan have also refused to attend.

Up to 700 tribal elders, Islamic clerics and leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan have been invited to the council, which will discuss terrorism. The Taleban have not been included, and are calling for a boycott of the event.

Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement on Wednesday saying Gen Musharraf had telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to assure his "full support in making the Joint Peace Jirga a success".

But he said engagements in Islamabad meant that he would not be able to attend the council, due to start on Thursday.

However correspondents say the decision may be intended as a snub to the US-sponsored jirga, following recent statements by US presidential candidates about alleged Pakistani failings in the "war on terror".

Correspondents say the jirga is also widely seen as a non-starter by the Pakistani establishment without the inclusion of the Taleban. Gen Musharraf will send Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his place to inaugurate the assembly along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The idea of a joint Afghan-Pakistan Peace Jirga, was first suggested by Mr Karzai during talks with US President George W Bush in September.

In October, President Karzai said he saw the jirga as an attempt to revive Pashtun civil society on both sides of the border, to combat what he called the growing Talebanisation of the region.

Jirgas are a traditional method of decision-making and dispute-resolution. The Taleban have denounced the jirga, calling it "George Bush's initiative". Supporters of the Taleban say talks that do not include them could be futile.

Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, secretary general of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) told the Associated Press news agency: "This is only a display, which cannot produce the true views of the Afghan people."

Tribal elders in north and south Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan have also said that they are boycotting the jirga.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary, however, said there was some optimism in Kabul about the jirga. Dr Nimatullah, an MP from Kabul, told the BBC: "Terrorism used to be a problem alone for Afghanistan but recently Pakistan too is affected."

The Afghan spokesman for the jirga, Asif Nang, explained that the jirga would look at "what causes the insecurity, locate the hideouts of terrorists, track finances and find out how we could deal with the whole problem".

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says that the sight of Pakistani flags throughout the city is unusual because of the climate of mistrust between the two countries.

U.S. surprised by Musharraf's snub of Afghan meeting with Karzai

The Associated Press - Wednesday, August 8, 2007

WASHINGTON: Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf decision on Wednesday to pull out of a planned meeting in Afghanistan with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was met with dismay in Washington.

U.S. officials were looking to persuade Musharraf to attend at least part of the council with hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders aimed at reigning in militant violence now plaguing both countries.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement that Musharraf had phoned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Wednesday to say he cannot attend because of "engagements" in Islamabad, and that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will take his place.

The Bush administration, which had brokered the meeting, was surprised by Musharraf's snub particularly after Karzai repeatedly expressed satisfaction about the meeting during a joint appearance with President George W. Bush on Monday.

"We want to understand whether there will be attendance at Musharraf's level," said a U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The U.S. ambassador in Pakistan, Anne Patterson, has been in touch with Pakistani officials inquiring about Musharraf's cancellation and whether he will attend any part of the meeting, the official said.

The idea for the jirga was hatched in September 2006 during a meeting between Bush, Karzai and Musharraf in Washington as a way to stem rising cross-border violence.

The absence of Musharraf, Pakistan's army chief and most powerful figure, could further undermine the effectiveness of the "peace jirga" due to start in Kabul on Thursday with more than 600 tribal leaders attending.

The four days of talks are already being boycotted by delegates from Pakistan's restive South and North Waziristan regions amid fear of Taliban reprisals.

Afghanistan Prepares For 'Peace Jirga'

August 8, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Preparations are under way in Kabul for an assembly known as the first "Joint Peace Jirga" between tribal leaders from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Some 700 tribal leaders from the restive mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan are scheduled to start talks on August 9 under a giant tent in Kabul.

They are expected to discuss ways to control crossborder infiltration by militants and how to work together against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.

Pakistan's delegation was to be led by Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. But the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad later said Musharraf has telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to say he would send Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz instead.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmed Baheen told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that Kabul has high hopes about the gathering.

"What is very important is that for the first time there is an opportunity for the people and representative of both countries to sit and talk about peace and stability issues in Afghanistan and in the region -- and [also] fighting terrorism and preventing actions by terrorists, mainly in border regions," Baheen said.

However, on August 6, tribal elders from Pakistan's volatile North Waziristan tribal area said they will not go to Kabul for the assembly. Mamur Khan, chief of North Waziristan's Wazir Turikhel tribe, said the absence of Taliban representatives would make the assembly pointless.

Some tribal leaders also had demanded that Pakistan withdraw troops from checkpoints in North Waziristan as a precondition for participation in the assembly.

Afghan analysts paint bleak picture of peace jirga

KABUL, Aug 8 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Boycott by leaders of a rightwing alliance including its head and a number of tribal elders from Waziristan may impinge on the outcome of an Afghanistan-Pakistan peace jirga, scheduled to begin here from tomorrow.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) representatives including Maulana Fazlur Rahman, tribal elders and parliamentarians had been invited by the Pakistan government to attend the huge gathering. However, they declined the invitation, arguing the government should try to douse flames of fighting in the restive border region before seeking to bring peace to the neighbouring country.

Wahid, Muzhda, analyst and writer, believes there was a ray of hope for encouraging results, but that has disappeared in the wake of the boycott. In a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, he says with Fazlur Rahman and his associates staying away from the event, the possibility of a positive outcome appears pretty remote.

Muzhda adds the decision of prominent tribal elders and parliamentarians also means they will not support implementation of any decisions taken by participants of the peace forum. "Afghanistan has long been claiming al-Qaeda and Taliban militants have training centers in the inhospitable mountainous terrain. When people from that area are not backing the mechanism, there is no point in the exercise. Whats the advantage then?" he asks.

Muzhda views Afghanistans improper political strategy as another reason for the likely failure of the meeting involving more than 700 politicians, elders, intellectuals and journalists from both sides. He opines the Karzai administration, which has been unable to deal with challenges on the domestic front, cannot resolve knotty issues with an uneasy neighbour.

Mohammad Hassan Wolesmal, editor-in-chief of Afghan National magazine, also characterises the four-day deliberations as an exercise in futility. "This jirga will produce no breakthrough from Afghanistans point of view," he predicts, alleging Kabuls nominees include ISI agents. Without naming names, the analyst charges many of the Afghan delegates are receiving cash and other favours from the Pakistani intelligence agency.

Wolesmal remarks: "There are a lot of such people. If I name them, they will feel embarrassed. How can they further Afghanistans interests?" he queries. The ISI - playing a key role in the destruction of the South Asian country - would never allow the jirga to succeed, he reasons.

How to defuse tensions between the two countries is the main question. To this, Wolesmal says: "The US bombarded Afghanistan to defeat Taliban. Now it should pound Taliban safe havens across the border in Pakistan." The prevailing unrest wont go away as long as militant training centers remain intact on either side of the frontier, he thinks.

Abdul Ghafoor Lewal, head of the Regional Studies Centre, is not hopeful either. He also cites opposition from the MMA secretary-general and some tribal leaders a hurdle to the jirgas success. Nevertheless, he says the mere assembly of so many people from both sides in an effort to tackle common problems is a step forward.

"It would be nave expecting momentous decisions from one sitting; the process will have to go on for quite some time for the two nations to arrive at a consensus on how best they can jointly address their shared woes," he maintains.

But Asadullah Ghazanfar has a different take on the meeting, to be addressed by Presidents Hamid Karzai and Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Participation by Pakistan in the regional peace jirga is a big achievement for Afghanistan, he insists. It clearly means Pakistan has accepted its interference in Afghanistans internal affairs." Ghazanfar links Waziristan elders boycott to pressure from Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives sheltering in the region.

Taliban repudiate sexual assault on Korean women

Sher Ahmad Haidar  - GHAZNI CITY, Aug 7 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Hostage-takers in the troubled Ghazni province Tuesday confirmed receiving some of the medicines delivered by a team of private doctors two days back.

Head of Wahaj Clinic Dr. Muhammad Hashim Wahaj told a news conference in Kabul they had sent a few bags of medicines through a third person to the ailing South Koreans in Taliban captivity.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News on Tuesday, Dr. Wahaj said only one bag of medicines had reached the Taliban hitherto.

Abdullah Abu Mansoor, a Ghazni-based Taliban commander, informed this scribe over the telephone that a small quantity of the medicines had been received.

A colleague of the commander - introducing himself as Masoom - said health condition of two hostages was serious. He added the government should either arrange exchange of prisoners for the sick Koreans or send them emergency medical assistance.

Meanwhile, Taliban strongly rejected allegations regarding sexual assault on four female Korean captives. Militant spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told Pajhwok they were waging jihad against obscenity, immorality and un-Islamic acts in Afghan society. He said the hostages would tell the world everything at the right time.

Regarding the meeting between President Hamid Karzai and his US counterpart George W. Bush, Ahmadi said they had agreed on eliminating Taliban. The United States, he alleged, wanted to kill Afghan children and raze their houses once again.

On the other hand, Qarabagh district chief Khwaja Muhammad Siddiqi said they had sent all the medicines to the address given by the Taliban. Taliban received all the medicines, but they were telling lies to denigrate the government, he added.

The Koreans were abducted on July 19 in Qarabagh district. Two of them, both males, have so far been killed by the captors.

Karzai condemns killing of de-miners

KABUL, Aug 8 (Pajhwok Afghan News): President Hamid Karzai Wednesday condemned the killing of three de-miners in the southern province of Kandahar.

In a statement issued here, the president termed the killing as dastardly act of terrorism. "The terrorists, through the callous act, have proved that they are the enemies of the peaceful lives of Afghans," said the president.

Extending his heartfelt condolences to the families of the slain workers, Karzai said they were sons of this soil who were striving to ensure safety for their countrymen.

Employee of the Mine Detection and Dog Centre (MDC), the three people were kidnapped and killed by armed men two days back.

Killing of de-miners suggests change in Taliban tactics

KABUL, 7 August 2007 (IRIN) - The bullet-riddled bodies of three de-miners shot dead on 5 July in Panjwai District in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar were brought to Kabul on a UN flight on 7 August, officials told IRIN.

Abdul Hassib, Mirwais and Meva Gul, who had been working for Mine Detection and Dog Centre (MDC), were abducted on 4 August and reportedly sentenced to death by a Taliban court.

"A man [speaking for the Taliban] called our office and said a Taliban judge would determine the fate of our colleagues," said Mohammad Shohab Hakimi, head of MDC.

The unidentified caller also asked whether the organisation would be ready to buy back a vehicle, two sniffer dogs and other equipment seized.

"We asked why we should buy back our own equipment," said Hakimi, adding that the kidnappers had not given them a chance to negotiate the release of the de-miners.

Nomad families who had set up tents near the insurgency-hit Panjwai District witnessed two Toyota trucks packed with armed men dropping off three handcuffed men who were then riddled with bullets, district police officials said.

Mine clearance has temporarily been suspended in Kandahar Province, an official who preferred anonymity told IRIN.

"We are shocked," said Nazar Mohammad, a de-miner in Kandahar. "They were murdered mercilessly," the young man said, reacting to the killing of his colleagues.

Officials say there are no special security measures in place for current mine clearing activities, even in volatile areas.

"Obviously we do not want to risk the lives of our staff. We will discuss de-miners' security with local elders, provincial authorities and other stakeholders and will make a final decision on whether to continue our operations or not," the head of MDC said.

On 17 June, 18 MDC workers were kidnapped in Ghazni Province. After nine days of extended negotiations between Taliban commanders, local elders and other influential mediators, the kidnapped de-miners were released. No ransom was paid for their release, the MDC's Hakimi said.

However, the kidnappers did not surrender five vehicles and other equipment (valued at about US$100,000) taken from the abducted de-miners, according to MDC.

In another incident in July, MDC's Kandahar office was plundered by unidentified gunmen. Six vehicles and office equipment - worth over $100,000 - were stolen in the incident.

In the growing violence in Afghanistan in 2007, 10 de-miners have died and 17 have been injured in different armed attacks, according to several de-mining non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Before his ouster from power in October 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a two-page decree in which anti-personnel landmines were proscribed as un-Islamic weaponry, while de-miners were praised as Mujahedin (Muslim fighters).

Sharing a copy of the decree with IRIN in Kabul, the director of MDC said: "I wonder if the Taliban have now changed their own rules and old leadership?"

It is still unclear why de-miners have been dragged into Afghanistan's armed conflict. Millions of anti-personnel landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) have been planted or dumped in Afghanistan since the Soviet Army invaded in 1979.

Since 1989, mine clearing NGOs have cleared one billion square metres of over 8 million pieces of UXO and landmines of various kinds, the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA) reported.

Some 150,000 Afghans live with disabilities inflicted by landmines, and every month 50-60 people become casualties of mines or UXO, MAPA said.

Afghanistan is a signatory to the Ottawa Convention against the Production, Stockpiling and Use of Landmines, and is committed to clearing its 647,500sqkm territory of landmines by 2013.

"Should insecurity continue and de-miners face more threats, Afghanistan will not meet its targeted goal in the seven years ahead," warned the director of MAPA.

Rice sees change in Pak perception on frontier areas

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Pajhwok Afghan News): US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that there has been 'changes' in the Pakistani perception on what needs to be done in the frontier area.

In interviews with two popular American news channels - CBS and FOX News - Rice said this was the reason why Pakistan army of late was seen more active in the region.

"I think there is no doubt that things have changed in terms of even Pakistani perception of what needs to be done in the frontier areas," Rice told the CBS' "Face the Nation" programme.

Referring to the links between Taliban and the then Pakistani government, Rice said: "Now this is a government that's on the right side in the war on terror."

Rice parried numerous questions about the recent remarks made by Senator Barack Obama, the frontrunner Democratic presidential candidate, that the US need to target the potential terrorist hiding grounds in tribal areas of Pakistan.

Reiterating that Pakistan is a 'key ally' in the fight against terror, Rice said: "If there are high-value targets, the US and Pakistan both are going to have a very strong interest in doing whatever it takes to make sure that those high-value targets are captured or killed."

Rice said besides talking reconstruction of Afghanistan and strengthening Afghan security forces, the situation on Afghanistan-Pakistan border would also figure prominntly during the US-Afghan talks at Camp David. Lalit K. Jha

Khalilzad to call on President Karzai

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Pajhwok Afghan News): US Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad will call on President Hamid Karzai before the latter's return to Kabul.

The meeting requested by Khalilzad was not in the original itinerary of President Hamid Karzai and was added only at the last minute, officials told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Although agenda of the meeting is not known as yet, Khalilzad is likely to discuss the UN role in Afghanistan and the Korean hostage crisis, said the official.

A meeting with Khalilzad is the only engagement of President Karzai apart from his Camp David meeting with his US counterpart George W. Bush.

The meeting is scheduled for about half an hour and is expected to be held at the Andrews Air Force Base, just before Karzai's departure for Kabul.

A former US ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, Khalilzad is the high ranking Muslim in the Bush cabinet. An Afghan by birth, Khalilzad has a keen interest in developments in this landlocked country.

Russia cancels most Afghan debt

BBC News / Monday, 6 August 2007

Russia has agreed to a deal that cancels 90% of Afghanistan's Soviet-era debt, worth about $10bn (£4.9bn). Correspondents say the agreement is a significant boost for war-ravaged and poverty-stricken Afghanistan.

Russia is by far the biggest creditor nation for Afghanistan, mostly for weapon sales during the Soviet era. The Soviet occupation of Afghanistan resulted in the death of about one million Afghans and lasted from 1979 to 1989, when the Red Army withdrew.

The agreement between Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and his Afghan counterpart, Anwar-ul Haq Ahadi, was signed in Moscow.

Correspondents say that the move is a major gesture of support for the Afghan government, which is trying to assert its authority - with the help of Nato and US-led forces - over Taleban rebels.

Mr Kudrin said Russia wanted to "support the government of Afghanistan in building a new life and stabilising the political and economic situation in the country".

He said that Russia would actively participate in helping the economy of Afghanistan. "This is a historic day for our two countries," he said. "Today we have drawn a line under many years of discussion on regulating the debts."

The Afghan government has welcomed the debt relief, which it said would help "the stabilisation of Afghanistan". "I look forward to greater cooperation with Russia. We would like further economic cooperation with Russia," Mr Ahadi said.

"We think Russian companies have the competitive advantage and that they can compete in Afghanistan's market."

Al-Qaida members among 12 militants slain by Pakistan army near Afghan border

The Associated Press - Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Some low-level al-Qaida members were among a dozen militant fighters killed by an artillery and helicopter attack on two compounds near the Afghan border, officials said Wednesday, raising the toll from the strike a day earlier from 10.

Fresh violence broke out Wednesday in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, where suspected tribesmen fired at a paramilitary patrol, triggering a gunfight in which one assailant was killed, police said.

On Tuesday, helicopter gunships and artillery pounded the two hide-outs in Daygan, a village about 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, military officials said.

Militants in the area fought to keep ground forces from approaching, but about 12 people were killed in the air attack, a local security official said on condition he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Chechens and Arabs were among the militants killed, he said, adding that there were no casualties among government forces. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad confirmed the number of militant deaths as 12.

In Derak Saraab, a mountainous area in insurgency-struck Baluchistan, suspected tribesmen attacked paramilitaries traveling in a pickup truck, police officer Imran Mahmood said. One attacker was killed in the ensuing gunbattle, he said.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Baluchistan has been the scene of attacks on security forces, government installations, gas fields and gas pipelines in recent years. Authorities blame the violence on ethnic-Baluch tribesmen who want the central government to increase royalty payments for resources in their areas.

The Daygan assault appeared to be the toughest military action since troops withdrawn from the tribal zone in September 2006 began to be redeployed there early last month, after a controversial peace deal with pro-Taliban militants to maintain local security collapsed.

Since then, attacks on government forces have surged and more than 360 people have been killed, including at least 102 who died in an army raid last month on Islamabad's radical Red Mosque. Militants have vowed to avenge those deaths.

Is Iran meddling in Afghanistan?

President Hamid Karzai, in meetings in Washington this week, said Iran is a valuable ally. But Afghan officials have grown increasingly wary of their Western neighbor.

By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor -  

Islam Qala, Afghanistan

Iran's broadening influence beyond its border with Iraq, together with its pursuit of nuclear technology, has Europe and the US on alert.

Now, its role along its opposite border here in Afghanistan is facing scrutiny, as well. It was a source of disagreement between President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai during the past two days of talks at Camp David.

Mr. Karzai told CNN just before his meeting with Bush that Iran "has been a helper and a solution."

But key members of the Bush administration disagree, with Mr. Bush saying Aug. 6 that the burden was on Iran to prove that it is not a "destabilizing force."

Both views could be correct, say experts and Afghan officials, and they reflect the subtlety of Iran's efforts to play both sides – to support the fledgling Karzai government, yet also to secure its own strategic aims in the region and beyond.

The interception of Iranian-made weapons in Afghanistan, as well as reports of increased insurgent activity along the Iranian border, are seen as a message to the West, in particular.

"They're saying, 'We're cooperating on the ground,' " says Amin Tarzi, director of Middle East Studies at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va. " 'But we can make a mess for you much bigger than Iraq' " if Europe and the US keep threatening action against Iran's nuclear program.

Iran plays two games in Afghanistan - Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Iran has been a useful neighbor to Afghanistan, maintaining peace along its border and undertaking a variety of development projects, particularly here in the border province of Herat.

Given that Iran and the Taliban were enemies who nearly went to war in 1998, "Iran benefited from the fall of the Taliban, too," says Sultan Ahmad Baheen, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Yet even as Afghanistan maintains a diplomatic gloss toward its powerful neighbor, Afghan government officials are worried that Iran is meddling to gain leverage on a variety of issues, both within the country and with the Western nations whose troops are deployed here.

"Iran is playing two games," says Mohammed Rafiq Shahir, president of the Council of Professionals, a group of analysts and businesspeople in Herat.

"The first policy is to support the government because it prefers this to the Sunni extremists of the Taliban," he says. "The second game is an anti-American policy: Whatever they can do to defeat Americans here, they will do it."

Iranian officials have repeatedly denied such allegations. Indeed, it is a matter of tradition in Afghanistan to blame the nation's woes on the interference of outsiders. But normally, such allegations are levied primarily at Pakistan, whose intelligence services are seen as funding and harboring Taliban leadership. By contrast, Afghanistan's relations with Iran during the past six years have been cordial, even exceptional.

"For most of the past few years, Iran has always been singled out as an exemplary neighbor by all sides," says Professor Tarzi.

It is one reason that Karzai would be loath to enter a war of words with Iran, experts say. He cannot afford to alienate what has been a close and peaceful ally. But some government officials are voicing concerns about what they call Iran's cautious yet deliberate efforts to gain influence in Afghanistan recently.

After years of goodwill, the criticism suggests a gradual shift in the relations of the two countries. There is no irrefutable evidence of wrongdoing, officials say, but rather a mounting of clues.

In recent weeks, the commander of the Afghan Border Police for the region bordering Iran, Col. Rahmatullah Safi, has been outspoken about Iran. In addition to the seizure of Iranian-made weapons in his territory, he alleges that Iran is harboring a hit squad led by former mujahideen commander Yahya Khortarak, which targets local leaders. Other security officials suggest that there is an Iranian terrorist training camp near the Afghan border.

It is doubtful that Iran would want to topple the Karzai regime, analysts say. Under the inclusive Western-backed government, Shiites have unprecedented power, despite the fact that they make up only 12 percent of the population. As a center of Shiite power, Iran would not wish to threaten such a delicate sectarian balance.

But with Europe and the United States talking tough about Iran's nuclear program, Afghanistan represents an opportunity for Iran to shift circumstances in its favor. "They're always trying to gain more leverage in these talks," says Tarzi.

The same is true with regard to Afghanistan itself. Earlier this year, Iran began deporting thousands of Afghan refugees. Though Iran was perfectly at liberty to do so, the abruptness of the decision, combined with the sheer number of deportees and the fact that many of them had legal documents to remain in Iran, pointed to a motive beyond expedience or impatience.

Water-rights issues of crucial importance to Iran are now in the balance, as well as Afghanistan's willingness to support the US and Europe in their anti-Iran campaign. The sudden arrival of thousands of jobless Afghans into a country ill-prepared to absorb them was designed to remind Kabul of Iran's ability to make life difficult for Afghanistan, critics say.

Here, along Afghanistan's border with Iran, beneath a massive admonitory portrait of Ayatollah Khomeini, the buses still often come more than once an hour.

They bring Afghans like Mir Mohammed Safari, a teenager who says he lived in Iran legally for seven years before being rounded up from his workplace without notice, taken here, and then shunted unceremoniously across the border.

He is one of thousands of Afghan workers who fled to Iran, either for safety or employment, who are now being thrown out.

For his new life in Afghanistan, he has only what he could fit into a plastic bag. "From everything, I brought this," he says with a wry smile.

Fellow refugee Javed Sharifi squints in the sunlight, as the wind whips violently over this arid border checkpoint.

Mr. Sharifi has only 500 Afghanis – $10 – to try to get to his home on the opposite side of Afghanistan, some 400 miles away. Says Sharifi: "I have no idea how I am going to get to Takhar."

• Mr. Sappenfield is the New Delhi correspondent for the Monitor and USA Today.

Afghanistan becomes main focus for UK

Patrick Wintour Wednesday August 8, 2007 The Guardian

The Foreign Office has decided that Afghanistan, and not Iraq, is the frontline in its battle to defeat terrorism, even if it may take decades to improve the country - as well as far greater international coordination than at present.

The UK military also wants to concentrate its forces in Helmand province, an area described by Tony Blair as the crucible in which the battle for the 21st century will be fought.

Ministers want improved coordination under the banner of the UN, and not just Nato, but suspect the US wants to maintain independence for part of its military operations aimed at al-Qaida in the country. Britain is backing the idea of a strong military, diplomatic and reconstruction coordinator.

Paddy Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, has been mentioned in British circles, but he is reluctant to take the job. In the spring, in a sign of British commitment to Afghanistan, Britain appointed one of its most highly regarded diplomats, Sherard Cowper-Coles as ambassador, and expanded the size of what would normally be a run-of-the-mill embassy. Ministers believe that if Afghanistan falls into the hands of the Taliban, Pakistan may also fall, with dire consequences for British security.

The decision by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, to go to Kabul was intended as a symbol that the UK regards Afghanistan and Pakistan as vital to fighting terrorism.

Britain has been pressing for greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but recognises that the border means little to local tribes. It still believes its counter-insurgency techniques are working, and the fact that the Pakistan and Afghan government will hold a joint parliament next week shows there is a mood to cooperate.

However, the foreign office minister Mark Malloch Brown has conceded that Britain may need to review its policy on the link between the military and development workers in its reconstruction work. The UN, where Lord Malloch Brown used to work, has always opposed development and military workers operating next to one another as it confuses the local population.

The Foreign Office does not seem to favour a radical change in policy in battling against opium production in Helmand, saying greater security will gradually lead farmers to sow alternative and currently less profitable crops.

The ministerial view is that Afghanistan is winnable and that British troops can act as a force for good - which is less easy to argue in Iraq. Nevertheless, the government is nervous that any withdrawal from Iraq this autumn will be criticised by allies of the Bush administration, especially if the report by general David Petraeus deems that the troop surge has been successful.

David Cameron: We still don't have a proper plan for Afghanistan

[Published: Wednesday 8, August 2007 - 09:45] Belfast Telegraph

Landing in an RAF Hercules at Camp Bastion, our desert fortress deep in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, you are struck immediately by the intensity of the British military effort. Helicopters land and take off, personnel move briskly about their business, the field hospital stands ready to receive casualties as our troops advance in furnace-like heat up the valley.

Our forces are performing daily acts of heroism in the toughest of combat environments. The amount of ammunition used testifies to the ferocity of the fighting. Forty-five soldiers have been killed in action. And yet several soldiers I spoke to felt they were taking part in a forgotten campaign.

We need to wake up to what is happening in Afghanistan. As the cradle of 9/11, preventing a relapse into Taliban control matters fundamentally to Britain's national security.

Due to the campaign over the past year, the military position has shifted away from the Taliban. In a conventional military sense, the insurgents are on the back foot. And yet our commanders are the first to say that military force alone will not bring stability. If we carry on as we are we could end up winning the war in Afghanistan, but still lose the country.

A year ago, General David Richards, then the British Commander of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), warned of the risk of failing in Afghanistan. To avoid this we now need to make some urgent course corrections. First, we must be realistic about what we are aiming to achieve, and the timescale. As our ambassador has said, this is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to avoid giving the impression that we can impose fully fledged Western notions of democracy and liberalism in a society that is deeply traditional. We must work with the grain of Afghan society.

Second, we need to promote local security solutions. Up to now, it has been too easy, once international forces have left an area, for the Taliban to slip back in. We need to give overriding priority to training up the Afghan army, as well as the police, whose reputation - in contrast to the army - is patchy. We should also look at how we can persuade shuras and tribal elders to help shore up local security.

Third, we need to change the way the international effort is run. It maximises confusion and duplication. It lacks the most basic pre-requisites essential in counter-insurgency and stabilisation operations: unity of purpose and unity of command.

On the military side, there are no fewer than seven chains of command. Isaf and the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom operate in parallel, one focusing on long-term peace and stability, the other on al-Qa'ida and terrorist networks. There is a strong case for merging the two, or dual-hatting Isaf's commander.

Nato, for its part, needs to raise its game. It is too bureaucratic and unwieldy. The lack of helicopters is constraining operations. If Nato cannot provide more helicopters - astonishing, given the hundreds which allies have on paper - then why can Nato not contract helicopters for ferrying cargo, and free up military helicopters for urgent frontline tasks?

Things are no better on the civilian side. There are at least 100 agencies in Afghanistan with more than $100m (£50m) to spend. No one has the authority to co-ordinate this sprawling effort. The time has come to appoint a senior, high-profile individual to provide leadership, much as Paddy Ashdown did successfully in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I raised this idea in Kabul a year ago: the need for such an appointment is now acute. That individual should have the authority of key capitals, as well as the UN and EU, to co-ordinate the effort on the ground.

Finally, we should look at extending the tours of our senior commanders to allow them to use to the full the contacts they make with tribal leaders and Afghan army officers. Any such change would have to be accompanied by alterations to welfare arrangements. Conversely, there may be a case for reducing the tours for fighting troops to four rather than six months - moving closer to the rotational model which we employed successfully in Northern Ireland.

Here at home, people are entitled to a clearer understanding of the Government's commitment in Afghanistan. The scale of the mission is daunting, and it is set to last many years. We must avoid repeating in Afghanistan the mistakes of Iraq. Foremost amongst these was the absence of a proper plan. It is still not evident that we have a proper plan in Afghanistan.

For the sake of our forces who are performing magnificently, for the sake of Britain's security, for the sake of Afghanistan and its neighbours, Gordon Brown needs to level with the public about the challenges we face, and put in place a plan to meet them.

The writer is Leader of the Opposition

Turkish PRT to complete 100 projects in Maidan Wardak

MAIDAN SHAHR, Aug 5 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Turkish-led provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in the central Maidan Wardak province is going to start reconstruction projects worth millions of dollars to improve the living standard of the people there.

This was stated by Civilian Coordinator of the Turkish PRT Hakan Aba Ci in an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday.

He said the recent incidents of violence would not affect their plans and they would continue with their efforts to convert Maidan Wardak into an exemplary province.

As part of their reconstruction efforts, he said, work on construction of a cold storage would soon be launched in Said Abad district of the province.

With the storage capacity of more than one thousand tons of fresh fruits, the project would be completed at the cost of one million US dollars, he informed.

In the same token, work would soon be launched on construction of a higher secondary school and a centre for women in the province, he continued.

The PRT civilian coordinator further said that work on construction of an agricultural school was near completion. It will be completed at the cost of $1.5 million.

He said they were going to start construction of a vocational training institution to train youth from different parts of the province in different fields.

He said they were also concentrating on provision of education, health, clear drinking water and communication facilities for the people of the province.

Referring to the recent incidents of violence in the province, he said keeping security was the main responsibility of the Afghan security forces. "We are here to carry forward the reconstruction activities."

At the same time, he said the Turkish PRT was also involved in training and strengthening the Afghan police and for this purpose, work on construction of a police training centre was in full swing.

More than 100 key reconstruction projects would be completed at the cost of millions of dollars in the province in the coming five years, he added.

Baffling Afghan signals

August 08, 2007 – Editorial Toronto Star

What message, exactly, did Afghan President Hamid Karzai intend to deliver during his visit to Washington this week?

On Sunday, before he met U.S. President George Bush, Karzai struck a gloomy note. "The security situation in Afghanistan over the past two years has definitely deteriorated," he told CNN. "There is no doubt about that." A few days earlier in Kandahar, Ehsan Zia, one of Karzai's cabinet ministers, painted an even bleaker picture. If foreign troops pull out, "what has been achieved will collapse," he warned.

But by Monday, after talks with Bush, Karzai boldly described the Taliban as "defeated," a spent force. "They're not posing any threat to the government of Afghanistan," just terrorizing civilians, he said.

Whatever the truth, these bafflingly mixed signals carry a message for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government as it contemplates Canada's next steps as our current combat mission begins to wind down next year. Going forward, we must not rely on Afghan assurances alone. Ottawa must undertake its own, critical, independent review before further committing troops or resources. That review must inform an intelligent debate in Parliament, cross-party consensus, and prudent action.

With 2,500 troops in Kandahar and a $1.2 billion aid program, Canada already has done more than many of our allies in the 37-nation coalition. By February, 2009, when our current mission ends, we will have been fighting the Taliban for seven years, taking a disproportionate share of casualties.

Given the Canadian public's waning enthusiasm for this role, Harper faces a tough battle winning Parliament's approval for another combat rotation. But Canadian troops could shoulder duty in Kabul or other less contested areas, help train Afghan troops or serve as backup forces. Alternatively, Ottawa might focus on delivering aid.

Even putting a positive construction on the mixed signals from Kabul, the Afghans will need military support and aid for years to come.

Just how Canada can best help is a decision we should make only after carefully taking stock of the situation on the ground, with our allies. Breezy assurances from Kabul that the war is won, or dire warnings that it could be lost, are no basis for rational policy-making.

Afghanistan mission a success: returning commander

Health, education and infrastructure construction moving along

By RENATO GANDIA , SUN MEDIA

Lt.-Col. Tom Bradley didn’t waste any time catching up with his wife and three kids after deplaning Tuesday from an extended military tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Cameras flashed as Bradley huddled in a corner and chatted with his two daughters and son. “We’ll have a big family hug,” his wife Carla Bradley tearfully told reporters.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Jeff Daley said he planned to put on some music and dance with his four-year-old daughter, Kaelin, as soon as he got home. The emotional reunion of 12 Edmonton-based soldiers, their families and friends became the centre of attention at the Edmonton International Airport.

“It’s wonderful. I can’t explain the feeling,” Daley said.

While being away from his family was hard, he said it was worth it because the soldiers’ mission was successful as evidenced by the stability in Kandahar compared to nine months ago when they deployed.

Afghans have become friendlier because now they recognize that the soldiers are there on a reconstruction mission, he said.

Maj.-Gen. Tim Grant, former top soldier of task force Afghanistan, told a press conference Canada’s mission was indeed a success. However, one thing he failed in, he said, was to convince Afghanistan-based reporters to report on progress in Kandahar.

The core of reporting from the region mostly dealt with combat operations and deaths, he said. “That’s an important part of the story, there’s no doubt.”

But soldiers knowingly risk their lives so that the mission of rebuilding hospitals, giving people a good life, and letting boys and girls go to school can happen, he said. “That’s the message that we just can’t get across, but it’s happening.”

Grant said healthcare has improved tremendously in Afghanistan. For example, the infant mortality rate has gone down according to a John Hopkins University study that found 40,000 babies born every year survive.

Kandahar, the bread basket of southern Afghanistan, has recovered from last year’s drought with the help of numerous irrigation canals soldiers built, he added.

People starved last year and moved out of their homes in search of food. But this year, it’s a bumper crop and people have moved back to their homes, Grant said.

Soldiers have also been successful in defeating improvise explosive devices (IEDs), the general said. “We don’t broadcast that. We don’t publish those results, but we do learn and we have been successful.”

On numerous occasions Afghans reported to soldiers where IEDs were planted because they realize they’re as much a threat against them as they are against the military, Grant said.

But the Taliban will remain a tough foe for NATO soldiers, he added. “The Taliban have truly resorted to terrorist activities, suicide bombs or roadside bombs. They attack indiscriminately. They don’t care who they kill or injure.”

The terrorist group, Grant said, is the major challenge Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche will face as the new head of the troops.

Grant, recently promoted to major general, will begin his new job in Ottawa after a month of vacation. About 250 Edmonton-based soldiers are expected to return home by the end of the month.

The villagers, the vanquished and the Vandoos

Quebec's Royal 22nd takes on the challenge of trying to win Afghan hearts while carrying the stigma of operating as a foreign army

ALEX DOBROTA - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail August 8, 2007

SHAH WALI KOT, AFGHANISTAN — Like many Afghan village elders, Haji Noor Mohammad has lost track of his exact age, but the long creases that line his face may well serve as a testament to the many years spent fearing foreign armies.

First, the Soviet Red Army indiscriminately bombed the arid countryside north of Kandahar and killed 40 of his fellow villagers on one occasion, Mr. Mohammad said. Then the Americans came. During the past two years, three Canadian patrols have also arrived, each pledging to help the villagers with building wells. So far, the village elder said, each has failed to live up to its promises.

So when armoured vehicles rolled through the dirt lanes of his village once again two days ago, sending children crying into the houses, Mr. Mohammad had little patience to answer the questions of the soldiers with Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment.

"By God I tell you, I don't know where the Taliban live," he told Lieutenant Jocelyn Demetre, speaking in Pashto through an interpreter. "We are poor people. We are scared of you and we are scared of the Taliban. ... You should not come around with tanks. Our people will leave this place."

Such is the challenge the Royal 22nd, known as the Vandoos, will be grappling with during the next six months. They will try, as other Canadian troops have tried before them, to persuade villagers across Kandahar province to collaborate with them against Islamic extremists.

Equipped with helmets, ballistic eyewear, body armour and a multipocketed vest that makes them look like futuristic androids beside the traditionally dressed villagers, the Canadians will also carry the stigma of operating as a foreign army in a country that has weathered invasions since antiquity.

Still, the soldiers make an effort. In a bid to observe local customs, commanding officers with B Company sat bareheaded at shuras - meetings with elders - in villages across Shah Wali Kot. Last year, a Canadian soldier received an axe blow to his head after removing his helmet at a similar gathering.

"We're trying to win their hearts," Lt. Demetre said. "They respect courageous men."

But courage alone has failed to entirely sway the villagers of Shah Wali Kot. The soldiers of B Company returned to Kandahar base yesterday, after four days of crisscrossing the scorched region, with only some generic information on Taliban tactics. But they had no exact knowledge of hideouts or weapons caches, and had not engaged the enemy.

The Vandoos were briefed before the mission that the Taliban have organized a shadow government in the area, but villagers questioned by the troops said they had never encountered the Islamic fighters in their village. Instead, they all asked for wells and irrigation systems.

The region, often the stage of violent clashes between Taliban fighters and the International Security Assistance Force, is renowned for its lush orchards of pomegranate trees.

But years of war have damaged irrigation canals and the orchards, and drought has ravaged the crops. The Canadian International Development Agency said it has built more than 1,130 wells across Kandahar province and is planning to rebuild an irrigation dam in Shah Wali Kot.

However, the villagers there often fail to make the connection between Canadian troops and aid projects.

"We need wells," Mr. Mohammad said. He sat on a traditional rug below a thatched veranda, next to a hole in the ground - a work in progress dug with shovels by villagers, who climb down ladders to the shaft of the makeshift well.

"I will write that down," Lt. Demetre replied. "That will be good," retorted Mr. Mohammad. "Because three times before, the Canadians have come, and promised, and haven't done anything."

In the next hamlet of mud and straw houses, the Vandoos received an even colder reception. As a Canadian light-armoured vehicle manoeuvred to form a security perimeter, it rolled across an onion field, crushing part of the harvest and angering Niaz Mohammad, the field's owner.

"I worked for four months to grow this to sell it," a livid Mr. Mohammad told Lt. Demetre. "This is my life."

The troops left, promising to compensate Mr. Mohammad. But the villager remained skeptical. "You pay me now," he told Lt. Demetre. "I won't see you again."

Back at the base, Lt. Demetre said the mission was a success. The Vandoos have made their presence known, he insisted. And while he said he intended to bring a supply of pens and notebooks for children during the next patrol, Lt. Demetre discarded the intimidating effect of the LAVs as a necessary evil.

"It's a show of force," he said. "They're afraid?" piped in Sergeant Danny Saleh, who mans the 25 mm gun on the LAV's turret at times. "If they're afraid, then the others [the Taliban] will be afraid as well."

But some soldiers said they wished they had used their weapons for more than deterrence, and voiced frustration at not having fought since having landed in Kandahar two weeks ago.

"That's what we're here for," said Master Corporal Samuel Gauthier, a hulk of a man, who does push-ups on the ramp of his LAV, even after walking for five kilometres across a jagged mountain range in 45 C heat. "And if it doesn't happen, we'll find it a little boring.

"We haven't come here just for the camping. We need some action."

[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.]