In this bulletin:

• Afghan Rebels Find a Haven in Pakistan, Musharraf Says
• Text of Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga declaration
• Musharraf asks Afghanistan to trust Pakistan
• Afghan-Pakistani Regional Peace Jerga results "outstanding": President Karzai
• Musharraf says not all Taliban terrorists
• Afghanistan, Pakistan hail peace jerga conclusion
• US withdrawal key to peace, says Fazl
• Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga doomed to fail: Babar
• Militants behead two ‘US spies’
• Afghan clash leaves 2 Pakistanis hurt
• Ahmadinejad Due in Afghanistan on Tuesday
• Iranian border forces reportedly kill four Afghan youths
• Afghan Forces Thwart Taliban Attack, Kill Nine
• Local radio station torched in Maidan Wardak
• Afghan Governor Says 2 S. Korean Hostages to be Freed
• Taleban rejects jerga call for Korean hostage release
• Musharraf's State of Emergency
• Bush and Karzai Show Signs of Divergence on Key Issues
• Fight Less, Win More
• Historic Kandahar City struggles to safeguard fragile progress

Afghan Rebels Find a Haven in Pakistan, Musharraf Says

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at the tribal assembly in Kabul

By TAIMOOR SHAH and CARLOTTA GALL, New York Times, August 12, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 12 — Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, made a rare admission today that support for militants emanating from Pakistan has caused problems for Afghanistan, and that his country should work to secure peace on its side of their mutual border.

“I realize this problem goes deeper, there is support from these areas,” General Musharraf told hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan delegates at a grand tribal assembly here. “There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistan soil. The problem that you have in your region is because support is provided from our side.”

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan nodded in agreement. General Musharraf’s words, and his appearance at the final ceremony of the four-day meeting in Kabul, were a sharp reversal for him.

In the past, he has argued that the insurgency in Afghanistan is a homegrown problem and stems from dissatisfaction with the Afghan government. By contrast, Mr. Karzai has often asserted that the source of the Taliban insurgency lies in training camps and madrasas in Pakistan and that the insurgents take sanctuary there. Relations between the countries have deteriorated over the past two years as their presidents have repeated their conflicting accusations over and over.

As recently as Thursday, General Musharraf abruptly canceled his scheduled appearance at the opening ceremony of the jirga. At first the cancellation appeared to be a slight to Mr. Karzai, but it later emerged that domestic political problems kept him at home in Islamabad, where he met with aides to consider imposing emergency rule in the period leading up to elections. Enormous diplomatic and political pressure was brought to bear on the president over the issue, including a phone conversation with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about 2 a.m. Thursday that seemed to help persuade him that an emergency-rule decree was not necessary.

Pakistani news editors who met with General Musharraf on Saturday reported today in The News, an Islamabad paper, that the general described the phone call as the third Ms. Rice had placed to him that day, and that most of their discussion had been about Afghanistan and the jirga. At the end of the call, the report said, she asked about the rumors on emergency rule.

His presence today at the closing ceremony of the four-day jirga lent weight to the proceedings. The assembly, convened to try to bring peace and stability to the region, concluded with a pledge by the 650 delegates to continue an “extended, tireless and persistent campaign against terrorism” and not to allow terrorist sanctuaries and training camps in their territory.

They agreed to establish a smaller jirga, consisting of 25 representatives from each country, to work on peace efforts with the Taliban and other antigovernment insurgents on either side, and to continue a dialogue between the countries. They also agreed to urge their governments to combat the narcotics trade in the region.

The Peace Jirga, as it was called, was an initiative of President Karzai, intended to reach out to the tribes and populations of the troubled regions along the border of the two countries, where antigovernment insurgents hold sway. It was the first time in decades that tribal leaders from both sides of the troubled border region have gathered in such numbers. The organizers hope to mobilize traditional social structures to end the fighting and a drift toward extremism.

Taliban fighters who fled Afghanistan after the United States invasion in 2001, which ousted a Taliban-controlled government, have regrouped in Pakistan and mounted a sustained insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan, in areas that were former Taliban strongholds. They have also spread their influence in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

In recent months, Pakistan has also had to battle growing violence on its own soil from homegrown Islamist insurgents based in the same region. General Musharraf said today that Pakistan did not seek to occupy Afghanistani territory, and stressed that it wanted prosperity and economic development for the region.

While the peace delegates met, the violence continued. Three American soldiers and their civilian interpreter were killed in a roadside bomb in Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan today, the United States military said in a statement. A British soldier was killed and several others were wounded in an attack in southern Afghanistan Saturday.

Text of Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga declaration

In the name of God Almighty, the most Merciful and the most Beneficent

AFGHAN-PAK JOINT PEACE JIRGA DECLARATION: To reaffirm and further strengthen the resolve of two brotherly countries to bring sustainable peace in the region, the Afghan-Pak Joint Peace Jirga was convened in Kabul, Afghanistan from August 9 to August 12, 2007 as a result of an initiative taken by the presidents of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on September 27, 2006.

This was the first historic event of its kind that opened a channel of people-to-people dialogue in which around 700 people including members of the parliaments, political parties, religious scholars, tribal elders, provincial councils, civil society and business community of both countries participated.

The inaugural session was addressed by Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Shauket Aziz, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The concluding session of the Joint Peace Jirga was addressed by Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and General Pervez Musharraf, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The main recommendations made by the first Joint Peace Jirga are summarised as follows:

1. The Joint Peace Jirga strongly recognises the fact that terrorism is a common threat to both countries and the war on terror should continue to be an integral part of the national policies and security strategies of both countries. The participants of this jirga unanimously declare to an extended, tireless and persistent campaign against terrorism and further pledge that government and people of Afghanistan and Pakistan will not allow sanctuaries/training centres for terrorists in their respective countries.

2. The Joint Peace Jirga resolved to constitute a smaller Jirga consisting of 25 prominent members from each side that is mandated to strive to achieve the following objectives:

a. Expedite the ongoing process of dialogue for peace and reconciliation with opposition.

b. Holding of regular meetings in order to monitor and oversee the implementation of the decisions/recommendations of the Joint Peace Jirga.

c. Plan and facilitate convening of the next Joint Peace Jirgas.

d. Both countries will appoint 25 members each in the committee.

3. The Joint Peace Jirga once again emphasises the vital importance of brotherly relations in pursuance of policies of mutual respect, non-interference and peaceful coexistence and recommends further expansion of economic, social, and cultural relations between the two countries.

4. Members of the Joint Peace Jirga in taking cognisance of the nexus between narcotics and terrorism condemn the cultivation, processing and trafficking of poppy and other illicit substances and call upon the two governments to wage an all out war against this menace. The Jirga takes note of the responsibilities of the international community in enabling Afghanistan to provide alternative livelihood to the farmers.

5. The governments of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with the support of the international community, should implement infrastructure, economic and social sector projects in the affected areas.

6. The comprehensive and important recommendations made by the five working committees of the Joint Peace Jirga for implementation are attached as annexure and form part and parcel of this joint declaration.

Musharraf asks Afghanistan to trust Pakistan

ANI 08/12/2007 -Kabul - President Pervez Musharraf today said the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan could not be successful without mutual trust, and Kabul should show faith in Islamabad.

"We couldn't be successful without mutual trust. Instead of levelling allegations Afghanistan should trust Pakistan," Musharraf said while addressing the closing session of Pak-Afghan Jirga here.

He reiterated that Pakistan would extend full support to the Afghan Government's efforts for peace in the country, adding that Islamabad and the people of Pakistan want peace and brotherhood with their Afghan brethren.

Musharraf said that Talibanisation is an ideology and we have to join ranks to work against it. Pakistan is well aware of its responsibilities and taking steps against terrorists in the border areas, The News quoted Musharraf, as saying.

He said a strong and stable Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan, adding, "We want peace and progress in the country."

Musharraf also expressed well wishes for success of Jirga for peace and stability in the region, and President Hamid Karzai and his government for hospitality and invitation to him for addressing the Jirga.

Afghan-Pakistani Regional Peace Jerga results "outstanding": President Karzai

Text of President Hamed Karzai's speech to the concluding ceremony of the Afghan-Pakistani Joint Peace Jerga broadcast live by state-owned National Afghanistan TV on 12 August

[Hamed Karzai in Dari] In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. My very respected brother His Excellency the president of Pakistan, welcome to Afghanistan and to our joint peace jerga. You honoured the people of Afghanistan with your participation. Thank you very much.

Dear brothers and sisters, it is a great pleasure that, with the grace of God, the joint peace jerga of the two brotherly and neighbouring countries was held, and is going to end with results, achievements, and a message to the two nations. [Applause]

[Hamed Karzai switches to Pashto] Dear brothers and sisters, I delivered my speech on the first day of the jerga. The esteemed president of Pakistan delivered his speech today. During the jerga, the representatives of the two brotherly and neighbouring countries spoke about friendship, brotherhood, security and peace. They also spoke against violence, extremism, and oppression. They asked for trust.

Afghanistan will undoubtedly give the required trust and assurances to its brotherly and neighbouring country of Pakistan. [Applause]

Afghanistan remains thankful to Pakistan for its fraternity, friendship, and hospitality it extended to Afghan refugees over the past 30 years. [Applause]

Dear brothers and sisters, a lot of efforts have been made to hold this jerga. The governments [of Afghanistan and Pakistan], individuals, and commissions made strenuous efforts. I avail the opportunity to thank our leader Mr Pir [Sayed Ahmad Gaiani]. He was the chairman of the Afghan peace jerga commission. He worked hard with great patience. I would also like to thank Mr [Aftab Ahmed Khan] Sherpao who chairman of the peace jerga commission from the Pakistani side for his hard work. He travelled to Afghanistan several times. He chaired the jerga meeting in the three or four days with great patience, happiness, and a good smile.

I would like to thank our young brother and strong mojahed - as we are growing older - Dr Abdollah Abdollah, who is one of the future young leaders of Afghanistan for his good role as co-chair of the jerga meeting. He co-chaired the meeting with very good behaviour and very good words.

Similarly, thanks to Mr Rustam Shah Mohmand, and Esmail Yun, the secretaries of the meeting, for their patience.

Thanks should also go to the participants, and the brothers and sisters who delivered speeches. They spoke with great sentiments for the sake of a specific objective, for conciliation and for the sake of protection of the honour of their people.

Thanks to our guests who came all the way from Pakistan to attend the jerga as members. There are very prominent tribal elders, politicians, scholars, and intellectuals, and sisters among our guests. We are honoured to have you here. We were indebted to your hospitality in the past years, and you once again made us indebted by your participation. You are always welcome, and I hope we have this trend of goings and comings regularly between the two nations. [Applause]

The jerga results are outstanding and beautiful. I am very happy with them. All the leaders of our country participated in the jerga very well. Hazrat Saheb [Sebghatollah Mojaddedi] was here from the first to the last day. Esteemed Ustad [Borhanoddin] Rabbani was here from the first day. We have Fahim Khan, Ustad Sayyaf, Prince Ahmad Shah Jan, Gen Sardar Wali, Gen Dostum, and [Hedayat Amin] Arsala with us here in the meeting. The deputy parliamentary and senate speakers, the attorney-general, [Mohammad Karim] Khalili, and Hajji Saheb Din Mohammad are here.

Several leaders from Pakistan are also here. Asfandyar Wali Khan, Mahmud Khan [Achakzai], Mandozai, Jiji Khan, and governors from the two Pakistani provinces, and several other leaders from Pakistan, including Mr Jagizai [names as heard] are here. I would like to welcome them all to Afghanistan.

May God give you success. You honoured the jerga, and made it a success.

May God ensure durable security and honour in both countries. Thank you very much.

Musharraf says not all Taliban terrorists

Daily Times, August 13, 2007

KABUL: The Taliban are a part of Afghan society and those among them who are not committed to endless violence must be brought into the political mainstream,

President Gen Pervez Musharraf said in an address to the concluding session of the Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga on Sunday, APP reports.

“We must understand the environment. Taliban are a part of Afghan society. Most

of them may be ignorant and misguided, but all of them are not diehard militants and fanatics who even defy the most fundamental values of our culture and our faith Islam,” Gen Musharraf said.

He said that military action was necessary against Al Qaeda militants and Taliban diehards who refused to reconcile, but a more comprehensive political and development approach was needed to defeat extremism and ‘Talibanisation’.

“Talibanisation and extremism ... represent a state of mind and require a more

comprehensive long-term strategy where military action must be combined with a

political approach and socio-economic development,” he said.

More importantly, he said, the population that appears to be sympathetic to the

Taliban is not militant. “Our approach must be focussed on isolating those diehard militants who reject reconciliation and peace. Here, it is a question of winning hearts and minds,” he said.

He said the success of the Afghan jirga delegates in achieving peace in their

country would “depend on political engagement and understanding in reaching

out to the people”.

Iqbal Khattak adds: Shortly before Gen Musharraf’s speech, jirga delegates were

handed copies of a joint declaration in which both Afghanistan and Pakistan

vowed to pursue “an extended, tireless and persistent campaign against

terrorism” and not to allow terrorists sanctuaries or training centres on their soil.

Calling the declaration a “stepping stone” towards peace, Gen Musharraf told the jirga: “Along with Afghanistan, Pakistan has also witnessed the rise of militancy and violence attacking our society. We cannot remain mired in the past.”

He conceded that there was support from the Pakistani tribal areas for the

insurgency in Afghanistan and extremism. Pakistan understood it had a “solemn

responsibility” to fight against such influences, he said.

The declaration said the jirga resolved to constitute a smaller jirga of 25

members from each side to “monitor and oversee the implementation of the

decisions/recommendations” made at the joint Pak-Afghan jirga. Delegates also

approved of dialogue and reconciliation with “opposition”, an indirect reference to the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Talking to reporters on his return to Islamabad, Gen Musharraf termed the joint

declaration and formation of the 50-member jirga “a good beginning” for a peace

process.

Gen Musharraf and Mr Karzai discussed cooperation against terrorism and the

outcome of the jirga in one-on-one meetings before and after the conclusion of

the jirga.

Over 600 delegates attended the Pak-Afghan grand jirga from both countries. The

participants discussed means to strengthen bilateral relations. They also

considered working out an effective mechanism to arrest the increase in poppy

cultivation, processing and trafficking and underlying connection between

terrorism and drug trafficking in the region.

The initiative to hold a joint peace jirga was undertaken after a suggestion in

Washington when President Musharraf and President Karzai resolved to settle

contentious issues between the two countries by arranging a jirga of elders from both sides.

Afghanistan, Pakistan hail peace jerga conclusion

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul, 12 August: Afghanistan and Pakistan Sunday [12 August] hailed the conclusion of the Regional Peace Jerga, hailing it as a "landmark and historical" event that would help bring peace and stability to the two countries.

Addressing a joint news conference after the announcement of the declaration at the conclusion of the four-day grand tribal gathering, jerga chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and his deputy Abdollah Abdollah claimed the delegates unanimously passed the declaration.

The Pakistani interior minister said the participants stoutly supported full implementation of the decisions taken by the assembly of more than 650 politicians, tribal elders, intellectuals and journalists.

For his part, Dr Abdollah parried a volley of questions regarding talks with main opposition groups - Taleban and Hezb-e Eslami led by former premier Golboddin Hekmatyar. Without naming any individual or group, Abdollah said it was the policy of the Afghan government not to enter dialogue with those involved in terrorism.

However, he explained, anyone who renounced violence and joined the democratic process under the constitution of the country would be welcomed for talks. For the purpose, he said, the reconciliation process was already on.

Both the people and the government of Afghanistan wanted to carry forward that process and bring the maximum number of dissidents into the mainstream, the former foreign minister maintained.

Sherpao interjected by saying those who opted to lay down arms and live peacefully by respecting the law of the country were invited to peace talks. However, he also ruled out parleys with those involved in terrorist activities and suicide attacks.

Asked what the Jerga declaration meant by the word "opposition", Abdollah replied any one involved in militancy, terrorism and attacks on government was part the opposition.

About the significance of the jerga for the people of Pakistan, Sherpao said the grand gathering of people from the two countries in itself was an important development. He added they had come together in search of solution to the problem of insecurity and in the two countries.

Answering a question about how to avoid the blame-game between the two countries, Abdollah revealed a mini jerga comprising 50 members from both sides had been formed to assess the situation and work for avoiding recriminations.

To another question about a reference to "foreign hand" by President Gen Musharraf, Sherpao said both the countries wanted peace. When both of them are in favour of peace, then it means they are not involved in disturbing the peace and security. There is someone else responsible for that and the two countries must find a solution to that.

Regarding confidence-building measures, Dr Abdollah assured they would utilize all opportunities of forging a closer bilateral relationship based on mutual trust and respect. He suggested enhanced people-to-people contacts, cultural and educational links and other similar steps in this direction.

US withdrawal key to peace, says Fazl

Dawn - LAHORE: The Joint Pakistan-Afghan jirga was convened at the behest of the United States and if Gen Pervez Musharraf was pressurised by US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to go to Kabul it was against all diplomatic norms, says Leader of opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, the JUI (F) chief said the US and other western powers were deliberately destabilising the region as well as the Musharraf government.

MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmad expressed identical views about the jirga in a press statement issued here on Sunday.

“Realistically speaking, there is no chance of peace in the region till the Americans maintained their presence in Afghanistan,” Maulana Fazl said, warning that a long US stay in the region might lead to another world war. He said the joint declaration of the jirga hardly reflected ground realities.

Qazi Hussain said the jirga could prove to be counter-productive. “The jirga should have involved real stakeholders for bringing about a lasting peace,” he added.

The JI Amir said the jirga was part of a US plan to eliminate all forces of resistance, including the Taliban, from Afghanistan. He said the solution to the problem in Afghanistan lay in the withdrawal of Nato and US forces and transfer of power to the Afghan people.

Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga doomed to fail: Babar

Daily News- NOWSHERA: Former federal minister and Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) leader Maj Gen (retd) Naseerullah Babar has said the US-sponsored Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga is doomed to fail as “real representatives” did not attend.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he said the Kabul peace Jirga would prove fruitless as important stakeholders like Taliban, Hizb-e-Islami of Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Jihadi commanders and elders from Waziristan, Bajaur and other bordering tribal areas stayed away from the moot.

Babar said President Musharraf also decided to address the Jirga after receiving a telephone call from Condoleezza Rice. He said the US had also recognised the status and reality of Taliban by inviting them to the Jirga. The American president and the government have also realised that “Pakhtuns believe in resolving disputes through Jirgas and dialogue and not through gun and force”, he added.

The PPPP leader said Benazir Bhutto would never accept dictatorship in the country and her meeting with Gen Musharraf was for the restoration of real democracy through free and fair elections and President Musharraf’s doffing his uniform. “The talks she held with Musharraf included independence of the judiciary, the election commission, ending of Army role in politics and ensuring rule of law in the country,” Babar claimed.

He said party tickets for the forthcoming elections would be awarded to workers who had given sacrifices. From PF-12 Syed Iftikhar Ali Shah, PF-14 Liaqat Shabab, PF-15 Mian Akmal Shah, NA-5 Tariq Khattak and NA-6 Mian Muzaffar Shah had been awarded tickets, he said, adding that for PF-13 he would himself contest the election while a decision on PF-16 was yet to be made.

Militants behead two ‘US spies’

Daily News - MIRANSHAH: Militants have beheaded two Afghan citizens in North Waziristan for ‘spying’ for American forces in Afghanistan. A headless body was found on Sunday in Miranshah village.

A note the militants left on the scene read, “I am Habibur Rehman, an American spy. My father is Zahir and grandfather’s is Ghulam. I belong to Khost province of Afghanistan. I was getting a $200 salary for spying on the Taliban in the Pakistani areas of Miranshah and Mir Ali. My friends are also spying for Americans and I have given their names to the Taliban.”

Another headless body found in Datta Khel bazaar was of Amir Khan. He

belonged to Khost. A note was also found near his body that carried statements

similar to the one found near Rehman’s body.

APP adds: The bullet-riddled body of an Afghan was found near Tank on the

Waziristan-Jandola road, officials said on Sunday. The body of Gul Muhammad, a resident of Draban road DI Khan, was found few kilometres from Khirgi checkpost near Jandola. The killers also placed a note along with the body, identifying the name and address of the slain man.

Afghan clash leaves 2 Pakistanis hurt

DAWN- Quetta, Aug 12: Two Pakistanis were injured in a gunbattle between Taliban and allied forces in Shorawak area of the Helmand province of Afghanistan close to Pakistani border.

According to the official sources, the Frontier Corps personnel intercepted a pick-up in the Inam-Bostan area close to the border in the Chagai district on Sunday.

Four people were in the vehicle and two of them were injured. The FC personnel took them into custody. During interrogation, the occupants of the pick-up said that Taj Mohammad and Allah Dost were working in the fields in a Pakistani village near Shorawak when the bullets fired by the Taliban and allied forces hit them.

The two men belong to Nushki and Kuchlak. They were admitted to the Nushki

hospital. Later, Taj Mohammad was shifted to Quetta as his condition was serious.

Ahmadinejad Due in Afghanistan on Tuesday

Sunday, August 12, 2007 - TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to start a five-day tour of three nations on Tuesday, which will take him to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.

On the first leg of his trip, the Iranian president is scheduled to visit Kabul to attend talks with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai who has already extended several invitations to Ahmadinejad to visit Iran's eastern neighbor.

Iran and Afghanistan have always maintained good and developing relations ever since the fall of the Taliban. Ahmadinejad will then leave Kabul for Ashgabat to meet senior Turkmen officials, including President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, during his two-day sojourn in that country.

On the next leg of his tour, the Iranian president is scheduled to pay a visit to the Kyrgyz capital to attend a summit of the Shanhghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Thursday, August 16.

During his two-day trip to Bishkek, Ahmadinejad is also due to confer with his Russian, Chinese, Pakistani, Tajik, Kazakh and Uzbek counterparts about bilateral ties and regional issues.

Bishkek is also due to host meetings of the security council secretaries, council of the foreign ministers and bank representatives of SCO member states on the sidelines of the summit of the heads of state.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an inter-governmental organization founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001 by six countries - China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia have observer status in the SCO. The Iranian president will take part in the summit in accordance with SCO regulations and an agreement reached by member states allowing participation by observer states.

SCO's six member states have a total population of 1.455 billion, about a quarter of the world's total.

Iranian border forces reportedly kill four Afghan youths

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Herat city/Islamabad, 12 August: Iranian border police shot dead four Afghan youths in Kohsan District of the western Herat Province, officials said on Sunday [12 August].

Col Rahmatollah Safi, chief of the 4th Border Brigade Police, told Pajhwok Afghan News the slain youths were aged between 15 to 17 years. He added hundreds of infuriated residents of Kohsan marched from the district headquarters building to the Islam Qala border, closing the highway for several hours.

"The residents demanded the dead bodies from Iranian police but were yet to receive them," said Safi, who continued the protestors torched tyres, blocked roads and chanted anti-Iran slogans.

Afghan Forces Thwart Taliban Attack, Kill Nine

By REUTERS, Published: August 13, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan security forces killed nine Taliban insurgents as they were preparing to attack a district police headquarters close to the Pakistan border, a provincial police chief said on Monday.

"We had intelligence that a sizeable group of Taliban militants were gathered in Spin Boldak district near the Pakistan border in a attempt to overrun the district police headquarters," said Sayed Agha Saqib, police chief of the southern province of Kandahar.

"Our soldiers thwarted the enemy's plan and killed nine of the Taliban insurgents," he said.

Taliban rebels have briefly overrun a number of isolated district centres, defeating the lightly armed and poorly trained police then withdrawing before the more powerful Afghan army or foreign forces arrive.

Spin Boldak is a border town on the main road from Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold, to Quetta in Pakistan, where Afghan officials say militants train, rest and recuperate.

Also near Spin Boldak, five Afghan police were killed and three more wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, Saqib said on Monday.

Taliban insurgents are conducting a campaign of bombings, ambushes and kidnapping to convince ordinary Afghans their government and its Western backers are incapable of providing security.

Local radio station torched in Maidan Wardak

KABUL, Aug 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Taliban have torched office of the Radio Yawali Ghag (voice of unity) in a last nigh attack Sayed Abad district of the central Maidan Wardak province.

Police chief of the province Muhammad Hussain told Pajhwok Afghan News the district centre was attacked around 11:30pm last night. The clash continued till 4:00am, said the police chief.

He confirmed the burning of a local radio station Yawali Ghag which was funded by Salam Watandar Radio of the Internews. He claimed four of the attackers were killed in the clash that continued for more than four hours while none of the police personnel were killed or injured.

Taliban spokesman Zabeehullah Mujahid, on the other hand, said their men had seized the district for a few hours. They relinquished control of the offices later.

Mujahid claimed a radio stationed was torched and an arms depot was also destroyed besides inflicting 'heavy casualties' on the government forces. The attackers had taken away large number of arms and ammunitions and secret documents from the district, he added.

Hazratuddin, head of the Yawali Radio, told Pajhwok besides the radio station, the district centre also partially damaged in the last night attack. He said a body was found in front of the offices of the district. Police said he was a Taliban killed during the encounter.

Spokesman for Maidan Wardak governor Abdul Wadood Pakhtoonzar confirmed the Taliban attack and burning of the radio station.

Afghanistan Independent Journalist Association (AIJA) has condemned the arson attack on the radio station and said they were investigating the incident. A statement from the Internews in Kabul said the radio was airing 10-hour transmissions on daily basis.

Quoting head of the Yawali Ghag Radio, the statement said the attackers set the station on fire after overpowering the security guards.

Commenting on the arson attack, Director Internews Afghanistan Jan McArthur said: "This reflects increasing insurgent activity in the district of Syad Abad and in Afghanistan in general. This is the second partner station of Internews to be torched in one year."

He said they would send a delegation in the area in a week to conduct an assessment. "We will also investigate 'repeater' options in this area to enable the community to have access to important local and national information via radio, without risking the lives of radio staff/volunteers, until the region is stable."

Afghan Governor Says 2 S. Korean Hostages to be Freed

By VOA News , 13 August 2007, The governor of Afghanistan's southeastern Ghazni province says that two of 21 South Korean hostages held by the Taleban will be freed Monday.

Governor Merajuddin Pattan said Sunday the Taleban promised to release two ailing female hostages as a gesture of good will. Reports from Afghanistan quote a Taleban spokesman as saying the two will be released at 1130 UTC.

However, confusion surrounds the status of the captives. On Saturday, Taleban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the release of all 21 was imminent, but then reversed that to say all 21 are still being held.

Then came word that two of the female hostages had been released but Afghan officials said none of them had been handed over to the government.

On Sunday, a third round of talks between South Korean officials and the militants took place with the assistance of representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross in the city of Ghazni.

The insurgents abducted 23 South Koreans on July 19 while traveling through Ghazni province on a humanitarian mission. Two of the captives have been killed, and the militants threatened to kill more if the Afghan government does not meet their demands to free Taleban prisoners.

Earlier this year, the Afghan government released five top Taleban prisoners in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist. The decision was widely criticized by the United States and other nations which argued it would provoke more kidnappings.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Taleban rejects jerga call for Korean hostage release

Text of report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Kandahar, 12 August: The Taleban have rejected a call at the regional peace jerga to release the Korean hostages. Speaking to Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] over the phone from an undisclosed location this morning, the Taleban spokesman, Qari Yusof Ahmadi, rejected the demand by the regional peace jerga to release the Korean hostages and said: "First, I should say that we do not accept this regional peace jerga because it was a drama planned by President Bush."

"Second, if the regional peace jerga calls for the release of the Korean hostages for the sake of humanity, it should also call for the release of Taleban prisoners and should know that the Taleban are also humans and have the right to live freely," said the Taleban spokesman.

The Taleban spokesman was responding after the regional peace jerga asked the Taleban to release the 21 South Korean hostages.

Musharraf's State of Emergency

The Washington Post, 08/12/2007 By Ahmed Rashid - LAHORE - President Pervez Musharraf was on the verge of imposing a state of emergency in Pakistan last week before being stopped by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and civilian advisers. It is clear to all in this extremely tense country that power is rapidly flowing away from Musharraf, even as he desperately tries to find a way out of an impossible political impasse.

Declaring a state of emergency would have suspended fundamental rights, placed restrictions on the Supreme Court and delayed this year's elections. It is unlikely that an already angry and mobilized public would have accepted new restrictions, even those imposed by the army, which Musharraf heads. Massive street protests and further mayhem might have ensued.

After eight years as president, Musharraf is battling for survival, refusing to yield power to civilians yet unable to exert the authority he needs to keep the peace at home and still be a useful ally to the West in rooting out Islamic extremists along the border with Afghanistan.

In recent weeks, Musharraf has considered imposing martial law, has tried to cut a power-sharing deal with exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and has enlisted support from President Bush to dampen the crisis that the country has been in since spring, but nothing has worked. Bhutto is backing away from any deal, and her aides describe Musharraf as a drowning man.

Since 2001 the Bush administration has refused to understand that political stability in Pakistan requires a modicum of democracy, a political consensus among the country's various liberal forces and a working relationship among the four provinces before any battle against extremism can succeed.

Washington presumed that because Musharraf wielded the army's power there was no need to push for democracy or bother with civilian politicians. As a result, the Bush administration has lost the hearts and minds of the Pakistani people. (They have become further alienated while watching Pakistan become a whipping boy in debates between U.S. presidential candidates.)

The Bush administration looked away when the army rigged presidential and parliamentary elections in 2002 and ignored the exiling or sidelining of mainstream politicians and political parties by Musharraf.

For the past few months tens of thousands of the country's liberal and secular elite -- lawyers, female activists and political workers -- have protested Musharraf's wrongful suspension of the Supreme Court's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, in March.

Yet even as our civil society filled the streets, the U.S. State Department and the White House maintained a studied silence -- betraying not only the Pakistani people and democracy but also America's abiding interest in having a stable government in Islamabad that would be a meaningful partner in the war against extremism.

Chaudhry was recently reinstated through a stunning legal decision, a major blow to Musharraf. The Supreme Court is now a wild card, capable of issuing any number of decisions that would make it untenable for Musharraf to continue as president and army chief.

In the days leading up to Aug. 14, when Pakistanis will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country's founding, Americans should recall that Pakistan's creation was the result of a long democratic struggle against British colonial rule.

In 1945 thousands of Muslim lawyers and members of civil society marched through the streets of British India, demanding a new country. Pakistan was not created by a tin-pot general or by mullahs. And Pakistan should never be compared to Muslim Middle Eastern dictatorships; its people have a long history of battling for democracy, despite a U.S.-backed military that has all too frequently seized power over the years.

Today, Pakistan faces immense problems. There is a full-blown tribal insurgency backed by al-Qaeda in the North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan in which more than 200 soldiers have been killed since mid-July, while suicide bombers have twice penetrated Islamabad.

The army, facing civil revolt and plagued by differences of opinion, cannot effectively go after extremists, while Pakistanis have yet to be convinced that this is their war against extremism and not one dictated by Washington.

The United States needs to help bring about a peaceful and fair political transition in Islamabad before it again insists that the army battle al-Qaeda. Musharraf needs to shed his uniform, hold elections and declare that he is not a candidate for the presidency. Washington then needs to help ensure that the new elected leadership works with the army to mobilize public support for the struggle against extremism.

Neither the army nor Bhutto can battle the extremists alone and save Pakistan from meltdown. Bhutto understands this, but the army still does not. Bush has to accept that his ally's political days are over -- that it is time to stop equating Musharraf with Pakistan.

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist, is the author of "Taliban" and "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia."

Bush and Karzai Show Signs of Divergence on Key Issues

World Politics Review, 08/12/2007 By Carl Robichaud - On Monday, Presidents Bush and Karzai concluded their Camp David meeting with a press conference at which they stood united on every major issue. By Thursday, the bloom was off the rose: In a snub to both Bush and Karzai, Pakistan's President Musharraf backed out of a tribal assembly that the United States had orchestrated, and a British commander made headlines when he said America's counterinsurgency operations are undermining NATO's efforts.

Not once during their eight meetings over five years have the two presidents faced such challenges at home. Karzai finds his once-meteoric popularity waning in the face of his perceived inability to blunt the Taliban insurgency or rein in corruption within his government. Karzai still has popular support (his approval ratings are roughly double those of Bush) but his opponents now include reformers and moderates as well as Islamists, traditionalists, and militia leaders.

Because Karzai has no power base of his own, and his authority is rooted in the public's perception that he is a rainmaker among foreign patrons, the president understands the importance of demonstrating that he enjoys the administration's full support. Nevertheless, on important issues of policy, rifts are becoming evident between Afghanistan and the United States. Karzai and Bush part ways on several issues in particular:

1. Counterinsurgency tactics: On Thursday, a senior but unnamed British commander was quoted in the New York Times as saying that American airstrikes are jeopardizing the NATO mission in Helmand. The comments come after a disastrous string of civilian casualties this spring. Blame should fall to the Taliban, which increasingly employs tactics designed to put civilians at risk, but it is coalition forces that have been tarnished.

America's approach to airstrikes is a central concern for Karzai, who for years has passionately called for greater caution and closer coordination with Afghan forces. At every turn, however, the United States has rebuffed the president's concerns, insisting that it was doing everything possible. What this means, in fact, is that U.S. and NATO forces are doing everything possible within their current operating procedures. Only recently has NATO acknowledged the need to change some of these procedures.

When questioned this week on civilian casualties, Karzai said he was satisfied with Bush's expressions of sympathy, saying "I was very happy with that conversation." But make no mistake -- he is under tremendous pressure to show more than a change of rhetoric. It is a bad sign for a leader if his own citizens start to question his ability to protect them from a foreign power ostensibly there to help.

2. Iran: Of all the topics the presidents addressed, Iran was the only one on which the two acknowledged any disagreement. Karzai referred to Iran as "a helper and a solution." Bush replied that he does not see things that way and that the "burden of proof" remains on the Iranian government. Iran is isolated, Bush argued, "and we will continue to work to isolate it. Because they're not a force for good, as far as we can see. They are a destabilizing influence, wherever they are now."

Washington's strategy -- to isolate and pressure Iran over its nuclear aspirations and ties to Hezbollah -- is one in which Kabul wants no part, especially since Afghanistan has its hands full with its neighbor to the southeast. Should Washington seek to put the screws to Tehran, Karzai would be in a deeply compromised position, since a conflict between America and Iran would have dire implications for Afghanistan -- and America's mission there.

The 20,000 United States troops in Afghanistan, coupled with thousands more offshore or at Central Asian bases, simultaneously pose a threat to Tehran and create a vulnerability for Washington. Tehran's past patronage of certain mujahideen and political groups gives it leverage today should it decide to complicate the coalition's efforts. Moreover, its long border allows Iranian agents to facilitate, actively or tacitly, the transshipment of arms or other support -- as recent discoveries have suggested.

3. Opium eradication: Drug warriors in Congress and the administration have thus far resigned themselves to follow the lead of the State Department and the Pentagon, which argue that incremental eradication is safer than a scorched earth policy. That's starting to change, and the push for aerial eradication is gaining steam among lawmakers who feel "enough is enough."

As we have seen in Colombia and elsewhere, indiscriminate eradication without alternative crops, security, and rule of law is a recipe for disaster. Karzai and America's NATO allies have opposed aerial eradication, noting that it would turn peasants and bystanders against coalition and Afghan forces -- and so far these objections have held back the duster planes. But it is anybody's guess how long Karzai can hold out if production continues to rise.

So while this week Afghanistan and the United States seemed on the same page, President Karzai, in strategy and tactics, is increasingly aligned with what might be called a "European" approach: less reliant on military solutions to the Taliban, less confrontational toward Iran, and less dogmatic about narcotics. At their mutual press conference, President Bush said that Karzai "knows best about what's taking place in his country. And, of course, I'm willing to listen." But it's not clear that he is hearing what Karzai has to say.

Carl Robichaud is a program officer at The Century Foundation, where he writes on nonproliferation and counterterrorism policy and directs the foundation's Afghanistan Watch program.

Fight Less, Win More

By Nathaniel Fick Sunday, August 12, 2007; Washington Post

On a highway north of Kabul last month, an American soldier aimed a machine gun at my car from the turret of his armored Humvee. In the split second for which our eyes locked, I had a revelation: To a man with a weapon, everything looks like a threat.

I had served as an infantry officer in Afghanistan in 2001-02 and in Iraq in 2003, but this was my first time on the other end of an American machine gun. It's not something I'll forget. It's not the sort of thing ordinary Afghans forget, either, and it reminded me that heavy-handed military tactics can alienate the people we're trying to help while playing into the hands of the people we're trying to defeat.

Welcome to the paradoxical world of counterinsurgency warfare -- the kind of war you win by not shooting.

The objective in fighting insurgents isn't to kill every enemy fighter -- you simply can't -- but to persuade the population to abandon the insurgents' cause. The laws of these campaigns seem topsy-turvy by conventional military standards: Money is more decisive than bullets; protecting our own forces undermines the U.S. mission; heavy firepower is counterproductive; and winning battles guarantees nothing.

My unnerving encounter on the highway was particularly ironic since I was there, at the invitation of the U.S. Army, to help teach these very principles at the Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy. The grandly misnamed "academy" is a tiny collection of huts and tents on Kabul's dusty southern outskirts. Since May, motley classes of several dozen Afghan army officers, Afghan policemen, NATO officers, American officers and civilians have been learning and living side by side for a week at a time.

The academy does much more than teach the theory and tactics of fighting the Taliban insurgents who are trying to unseat President Hamid Karzai and claw their way back to power. It is also a rare forum for military officers, civilian aid workers, academics and diplomats -- from Afghanistan and all 37 countries in NATO's International Security Assistance Force -- to unite in trying to bring good governance, prosperity and security to Afghanistan. The curriculum is based on the Army and Marine Corps' new counterinsurgency doctrine, released in December. Classes revolve around four so-called paradoxes of counterinsurgency. Unless we learn all four well, we'll continue to win battles in Afghanistan while losing the war.

The first tenet is that the best weapons don't shoot. Counterinsurgents must excel at finding creative, nonmilitary solutions to military problems.

Consider, for example, the question of roads. When U.N. teams begin building new stretches of road in volatile Afghan provinces such as Zabul and Kandahar, insurgents inevitably attack the workers. But as the projects progress and villagers begin to see the benefits of having paved access to markets and health care, the Taliban attacks become less frequent. New highways then extend the reach of the Karzai administration into previously inaccessible areas, making a continuous Afghan police presence possible and helping lower the overall level of violence -- no mean feat in a country larger and more populous than Iraq, with a shaky central government.

Said another way: Reconstruction funds can shape the battlefield as surely as bombs. But such methods are still not used widely enough in Afghanistan. After spending more than $14 billion in aid to the country since 2001, the United States' latest disbursement, of more than $10 billion, will start this month. Some 80 percent of it is earmarked for security spending, leaving only about 20 percent for reconstruction projects and initiatives to foster good governance.

The second pillar of the academy's curriculum relates to the first: The more you protect your forces, the less safe you may be. To be effective, troops, diplomats and civilian aid workers need to get out among the people. But nearly every American I saw in Kabul was hidden behind high walls or racing through the streets in armored convoys.

Afghanistan, however, isn't Iraq. Tourists travel through much of the country in relative safety, glass office towers are sprouting up in Kabul, and Coca-Cola recently opened a bottling plant. I drove through the capital in a dirty green Toyota, wearing civilian clothes and stopping to shop in bazaars, eat in restaurants and visit businesses. In two weeks, I saw more of Kabul than most military officers do in a year.

This isolation also infects our diplomatic community. After a State Department official gave a presentation at the academy, he and I climbed a nearby hill to explore the ruins of an old palace. He was only nine days from the end of his 12-month tour, and our walk was the first time he'd ever been allowed to get out and explore the city.

Of course, mingling with the population means exposing ourselves to attacks, and commanders have an obligation to safeguard their troops. But they have an even greater responsibility to accomplish their mission. When we retreat behind body armor and concrete barriers, it becomes impossible to understand the society we claim to defend. If we emphasize "force protection" above all else, we will never develop the cultural understanding, relationships and intelligence we need to win. Accepting the greater tactical risk of reaching out to Afghans reduces the strategic risk that the Taliban will return to power.

The third paradox hammered home at the academy is that the more force you use, the less effective you may be. Civilian casualties in Afghanistan are notoriously difficult to tally, but 300-500 noncombatants have probably been killed already this year, mostly in U.S. and coalition air strikes. Killing civilians, even in error, is not only a serious moral transgression but also a lethal strategic misstep. Wayward U.S. strikes have seriously undermined the very legitimacy of the Karzai government and made all too many Afghans resent coalition forces. If Afghans lose patience with the coalition presence, those forces will be run out of the country, in the footsteps of the British and the Soviets before them.

I stress this point because one of my many gratifying moments at the academy came at the start of a class on targeting. I told the students to list the top three targets they would aim for if they were leading forces in Zabul province, a Taliban stronghold. When I asked a U.S. officer to share his list, he rattled off the names of three senior Taliban leaders to be captured or killed. Then I turned and asked an Afghan officer the same question. "First we must target the local councils to see how we can best help them," he replied. "Then we must target the local mullahs to find out their needs and let them know we respect their authority." Exactly. In counterinsurgency warfare, targeting is more about whom you bring in than whom you take out.

The academy's final lesson is that tactical success in a vacuum guarantees nothing. Just as it did in Vietnam, the U.S. military could win every battle and still lose the war. That's largely because our primary enemies in Afghanistan still have a sanctuary in neighboring Pakistan. Rather than make a suicidal stand against the allied forces invading Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001, many Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters melted away to create a parallel "Talibanistan" in the lawless tribal areas of western Pakistan. Last fall, Gen. James Jones, then NATO's supreme commander, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Taliban leadership now operates openly from Quetta, a Pakistani border city that's long been a hotbed of Islamic militancy. Karzai reiterated this point during his visit to Camp David last week.

Chasing terrorists and the Taliban around Afghanistan leads to little lasting progress as long as they can slip across the border to rest and regroup. Since 2001, the United States has tolerated this quiet reconstitution of the Taliban in Pakistan as long as Islamabad granted us basing and overflight rights, tepidly pursued al-Qaeda's leadership and cracked down on A.Q. Khan's nuclear-proliferation network. The Durand Line, which separates Afghanistan from Pakistan, is a mapmaker's fantasy. Without political reform, economic development and military operations on both sides of the border, we can do little more than put a finger in the dike that's keeping radicalism and instability in Pakistan from spilling back into Afghanistan.

On the last afternoon of the course, I asked my students to define victory in Afghanistan. We'd talked about this earlier in the week, and most of their answers had focused on militarily defeating the Taliban or killing Osama bin Laden. Now the Afghan officers took the lead in a spirited discussion with their U.S. and NATO classmates. Finally the group agreed on a unanimous result, which neatly expresses the prize we're striving for: "Victory is achieved when the people of Afghanistan consent to the legitimacy of their government and stop actively and passively supporting the insurgency."

Winning that consent will require doing some difficult and uncomfortable things: de-escalating military force, boosting the capacities of the Karzai government, accelerating reconstruction, getting real with Pakistan. It won't be easy. But the alternative, which I glimpsed while staring down the barrel of that machine gun, is our nation going zero for two in its first wars of the new century.

Nathaniel Fick, a former captain in the Marines, is a fellow at the Center for a New American Security and the author of "One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer."

Historic Kandahar City struggles to safeguard fragile progress

Andrew Mayeda , Canwest News Service, Published: Sunday, August 12, 2007

KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan — Six years ago, the only thriving business at Capthan Madad Square was the Taliban’s ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice.

Bands of Taliban prowled the square, ordering residents to turn off their music or scolding women for not wearing burkas. The streets, say residents who lived here at the time, were all but deserted.

The ministry building has since been destroyed in an air strike. In its place sits a commercial plaza with cellphone stores and electronics shops.

“Afghanistan was turned into a big jail,” said Naseem Mohammad, who recently opened a modern coffee shop that is already flourishing along the square.

“Now, it’s a democratic country with an open environment. Business is booming, technology is coming. All the better aspects of life are coming.”

As recently as a year ago, NATO commanders worried Kandahar City would fall back into the hands of the Taliban. Today, there are signs that the city is getting back on its feet. Traffic bustles, merchants hawk their wares on the sidewalk, and construction sites rattle with activity.

Still, the threat of violence remains a daily fact of life for Kandahar residents. Suicide bombings, ambushes of police checkpoints and assassinations of high-profile government and business figures are commonplace.

Unless Afghan and NATO forces quell the violence, local merchants warn, the city’s nascent recovery will fizzle.  

“Some aspects are better, but in some ways things are not as good as they were supposed to be,” says Mohammad, who moved back to Kandahar from the United States a few years ago. “It’s a day-to-day struggle.”

Mohammad, 33, admits he was nervous when he opened the Kandahar Coffee Shop less than two years ago. He worried how the Taliban would react to a cafe that serves cheeseburgers and stocks American magazines. He considered posting armed guards at the entrance, but decided that would only make his shop more of a target.

Since then, his cafe has become a popular meeting place for young, educated Afghans and the occasional foreigner. “They just want to get away from the daily stresses, the daily problems and political issues that are on the street,” says Mohammad.

The clean, brightly coloured shop features Internet access for patrons and a billiard room. He is building a room downstairs where women can congregate.

With small successes like these, Mohammad and fellow residents hope that Kandahar might one day regain its lustre. Founded by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, the city eventually became the first capital of the Afghan empire in the 18th century.

The city has enormous holy and cultural significance. It houses the mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Duranni, the first Afghan king. A shrine next door holds the cloak of Muhammad, which bequeaths upon its wearer the status of king of all Muslims.

In the 1970s, the city became a popular stop for backpackers making their way to the Far East.

But 30 years of near-constant conflict have taken their toll, and not everyone has decided to stick it out. Real estate prices have dropped as businesses and residents pack up for safer cities elsewhere in Afghanistan or across the border in Pakistan.

Sadullah Khan, a real estate agent in town, said prime real estate was commanding prices of $50 per square metre last year. These days, prices hover between $25 to $30 per square metre.

 “The people are confused. They’re worried about their future, so a lot of people want to sell their land,” he said through an interpreter.

Businesses face other obstacles, such as corruption and inefficiency. Government officials implement the tax laws erratically, and businesses are often forced to pay bribes throughout their distribution chain, said Nasrullah Durrani, regional manager of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency.

Local factories, which produce everything from dried fruit to plastics, often have to shut down because of blackouts. As Durrani talks about the lack of reliable electricity supply, the power goes out in his office.

“Compared with six years ago, things have improved. But it is getting worse again, because of the insecurity and other problems,” he said.

The provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, says the security situation in the city has improved in the past year, and suicide bombings and other insurgent attacks have become less common.

“The police control all parts of the city, as well as the districts,” he declared in an interview this week.

Saqib conceded, however, that the provincial force has sustained casualties in its clashes with insurgents in restive districts such as Panjwaii and Zhari. Such instability, even in the rural areas, can affect the city’s economy.

Abdul Bari, who owns a paint store in Kandahar, said rural customers are reluctant to travel because of security concerns in their districts. “If you want to take money home at night, you have to carry a weapon to protect yourself,” he said.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]