In this bulletin:

• Taliban Resistance Over in Afghan Town
• Karzai seeks more Afghan forces
• President says Afghanistan still needs help
• Brown: UK troops in Afghanistan for decade
• Brown signals strategic shift as Taliban stronghold falls
• President Hamid Karzai Left for Kuwait
• Afghan National Front rejects president's foreign aid allegations
• Sixteen dead or missing in Afghan avalanche: government
• Denmark backs U.S. Afghan defense plan
• Bulgaria may increase number of troops in Afghanistan
• Dutch pound Taliban positions
• Canadians open new front against Taliban
• The Afghan war in microcosm
• Afghan border police strengthens role in prosecuting and preventing human trafficking
• DynCorp awarded construction job in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan Gets First Ever Bar Association
• We need to stay in Afghanistan – and we need to win
• Canada's absent Afghan partners
• Canada should not abandon Afghans
• Wheat crisis: ‘Higher exports to Afghanistan lead to flour shortage’

Taliban Resistance Over in Afghan Town

By AMIR SHAH – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan and NATO-led troops searched for any remaining Taliban fighters around Musa Qala on Tuesday, a day after the troops forced insurgents to retreat from the key southern town they had held for 10 months, the Defense Ministry said.

Taliban fighters still control three remote districts in northern Helmand province around Musa Qala, and the joint Afghan-NATO force will continue operations throughout the winter to target those areas, said the Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

The next two days will be crucial to completely secure Musa Qala and restore services for its citizens, Azimi said. The troops "are fortifying their positions as they continue with their cleanup operation," Azimi told reporters.

Twelve militants were killed in a coalition airstrike between Musa Qala and the nearby town of Sangin early Tuesday, said Sangin district police chief Mohammad Ali. More than a dozen militants were killed earlier in the clash for Musa Qala.

Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town following a contentious peace agreement that gave security responsibilities to Afghan elders. That deal was criticized by U.S. officials as surrendering to the Taliban.

President Hamid Karzai said the decision to enter Musa Qala — the only important territory that the militants controlled — followed reports of brutality there by the Taliban, al-Qaida and foreign fighters. But Karzai also said the successful attack was aided by some local Taliban leaders switching allegiance to his government.

Most of the fighters left Musa Qala in trucks and motorbikes on Monday after weeks of airstrikes and military operations by Afghan, British and U.S. forces.

At least 10 Taliban were killed Monday, on top of more than a dozen killed since fighting intensified Friday. The Defense Ministry said dozens were killed and wounded in fighting both in Musa Qala and nearby Sangin, which the militants attacked during their retreat.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said ISAF and Afghan troops had entered the outskirts of the main part of Musa Qala but would now proceed cautiously into the town center because of the danger of homemade bombs.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said militant fighters left Musa Qala because of a strategic decision to avoid Taliban and civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, in Maywand district of Kandahar province, Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy of NATO supply trucks on the main highway between Kandahar and Herat, sparking a two-hour gunbattle that killed five police and eight militants, said Kandahar provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.

In nearby Panjwayi district, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle near a NATO convoy, killing an Afghan man and child and himself, Saqib said. No NATO forces were killed, he said.

This year has been the deadliest since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Karzai seeks more Afghan forces – bbc

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has said that he needs more help from the international community to help build his country's armed forces.

Mr Karzai's comments come despite Afghan troops taking the lead in retaking the town of Musa Qala from the Taleban with Nato troops. UK and US troops are now in the town, trying to secure it.

Nato forces fear there may be mines or booby-traps waiting for them and are unwilling to declare the battle over. An Afghan ministry of defence statement recently said that the Afghan armed forces should be 200,000 strong.

But the BBC David Loyn in Kabul says there is no international support for that figure.

President says Afghanistan still needs help

The President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, says he still needs the international community to help build his country's armed forces.

His plea comes despite Afghan troops retaking the town of Musa Qala from the Taliban with the assistance of NATO troops. Government troops have reached the centre of the town after four days of fighting.

Mr Karzai says Afghan forces are not yet able to take full responsibility for security in the country. "We would like to have forces enough to secure Afghanistan against atrocities from terrorism," he said.

"At the same time we would like to have the international community continuing to add to the building of the Afghan forces so that Afghanistan can be ready in time to take on the responsibility of defending the Afghan country."

Brown: UK troops in Afghanistan for decade

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent, in Kabul

Independet.co.uk11/12/2007

British troops will have to remain in Afghanistan for more than a decade in order to defeat the Taliban and international drug gangs, Gordon Brown will warn tomorrow.

The Prime Minister is due to set out a new long-term strategy for Afghanistan after visiting the country yesterday amid some of the most intensive fighting British forces have encountered there.

Mr Brown arrived as almost 3,000 Britons helped drive the Taliban from the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province in the biggest UK operation in Afghanistan since the invasion of 2001.

"This is a very important mission and we will continue to give it support," Mr Brown said in Kabul after talks with President Hamid Karzai. "We must continue not only giving support in terms of our forces here but in terms of economic development."

Despite winning the battle for Musa Qala, military leaders know the final defeat of the Taliban is still far off. "This is a young campaign," said a senior British commander. "Operations against the Taliban could last 10 years."

Afghan government forces are playing a growing role in security but will need western support and training for some years yet, he added.

Britain has 7,800 troops in Aghanistan and Mr Brown said the mission "will be around that level for the foreseeable future".

A major deployment began last spring focusing on nation-building and drug enforcement. But commanders admit that the Taliban put up stiffer resistance than expected, setting back the strategy by up to 18 months.

British officers believe the Taliban will eventually reach a "tipping point" when they cease to exist as an effective force. However, that point may not be reached until 2016 or later, as initial gains are quickly reversed by returning Taliban.

"We can take territory quite easily but holding it is much harder" said one officer.

British generals are keen to play up the long-term commitment to Afghanistan as a way to counter Taliban propaganda. "We need to get across to the Afghan people that we are going to be sticking around," said a senior commander.

Yesterday's breakthrough at Musa Qala - with British troops supporting the Afghan army - followed four days of heavy fighting. "Our forces are inside the town and the clean-up operation is ongoing," said Gen Zahir Azimi, the Afghan defence ministry spokesman.

There was no immediate information on Nato and Afghan casualties, although the al-Qa'eda-backed Taliban claimed to have killed 17 and captured four.

British commanders said there were still pockets of fighting, while the Taliban said most of their forces staged a tactical withdrawal "to protect civilians".

A spokesman said: "We lost Musa Qala at noon. Our forces withdrew northwards and southwards."

Brown signals strategic shift as Taliban stronghold falls

By Colin Brown in Kabul - The Independent 11 December 2007

The Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala fell to Afghan forces last night, heralding a change of British strategy and an attempt to win the "hearts and minds" of the Afghan people in the fight against insurgents.

After four days of fierce clashes that left one British soldier dead, Taliban fighters in Musa Qala were said to have "melted away" into the mountains of northern Helmand, allowing Afghan army troops to re-enter the town without meeting resistance.

As the assault was taking place, Gordon Brown visited troops at Camp Bastion, the largest British base in the restive southern province. The Prime Minister, speaking later in Kabul alongside the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, said the offensive was an example of how Afghan and coalition forces could "make a difference" by working togther. He added: " There is no doubt the action in Musa Qala will make a huge difference and, when that action is completed, it will be followed by economic and social development."

In the Commons tomorrow, Mr Brown will announce a major policy shift which places greater emphasis on securing the support of the Afghan people with a three-pronged approach based on security, economic development and political cooperation with tribal leaders.

Although Musa Qala has only limited value as a military target, it is on the road to the Kajaki Dam – a hydroelectric plant which has come under frequent insurgent attack and which could make a difference to Afghan lives once it is rebuilt. Since taking over as Prime Minister, Mr Brown has highlighted the importance of economic reconstruction in support of military action.

He said yesterday: "We will continue to give support, not only in terms of our forces here, who are doing a brilliant job in support of democracy, but we will also continue to give support for economic development, for the building of schools, for the development of health care, for the creation of small businesses, for the rebuilding and reconstruction of the economy."

The strategy will include cash incentives for Afghan farmers to stop growing the poppies which account for 93 per cent of the world's illegal opium supply.

President Hamid Karzai Left for Kuwait

 Arg, Kabul 11 December 2007 – His Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, left for Kuwait this morning on a two-day state visit.

During this visit, President Hamid Karzai will meet with Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nasser Al-Muhammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait, Jasem Muhammad Al-Kharafi, Speaker of Kuwait Parliament and a number of Kuwait's prominent political figures to discuss bilateral relations, the strengthening of bilateral trade ties between Afghanistan and Kuwait, and Kuwait's role in Afghanistan's reconstruction.

A memorandum of agreement will be signed between foreign ministers of both countries in the presence of President Hamid Karzai and Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah.

The President is accompanied on this trip by Dr Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Zalmai Rasoul, National Security Advisor, Dr Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Minister of Finance, Muhammad Amin Farhang, Minister of Commerce, Eshaq Naderi, Senior Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs, Fatima Gilani, Head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, Taj Ayoubi, Advisor to the President on International Affairs, Muhammad Umer Daudzai, Chief of Staff to the President, and Humayun Hamidzada, Spokesman to the President.

Office of the Spokesperson to the President

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Afghan National Front rejects president's foreign aid allegations

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Ariana TV on 10 December

[Presenter] The National Front of Afghanistan has called for evidence to prove that political parties, including the National Front of Afghanistan, receive financial support from foreign states. In his yesterday's speech Afghan President Hamed Karzai said that some political parties received aid from foreign states to disturb the political situation in Afghanistan. The president did not speak about a specific group or party. However, most of the experts believe that apparently, most of the allegations by Hamed Karzai refer to the National Front, because it is considered to be the main political opponent of his government. My colleague Nasir Ahmadi has a report on this.

[Reporter] Addressing the participants in a ceremony held to mark International Human Rights Day in Kabul yesterday, Afghan President Hamed Karzai explicitly said that some political parties in Afghanistan receive financial aid from foreign countries. Mr Karzai said foreign countries send money! to these political parties to disturb the security situation in the country. Mr Karzai did not name a specific party. However, majority of the observers believe that Mr Karzai's meant the National Front of Afghanistan led by senior politicians, including jihadi commanders, former pro-Communist government and some others.

[Karzai] We had nothing but they had weapons, tanks, mortal and millions of dollars. Didn't they have? We had to take them into our government. Otherwise, they would continue the oppression they started some 30 years ago. Even the government was not in a position to prevent them from committing malicious acts. In some cases and even now, the government is not able to prevent them. That is why it is better to get them involved somewhere; otherwise, they will come back to you.

[Reporter] However, the National Front says the current crisis has been caused by the weakness and incapability of the government. The spokesman for the Natio! nal Front, Fazil Sancharaki, says an extensive rehabilitation within t he government structure may extricate the country from the current crisis. He adds that such allegations about the opponent party will not solve the crisis.

[National Front spokesman] This is not the first time that Mr Hamed Karzai has accused opponent political parties, specifically the National Front, of receiving financial aid from foreign countries. This has been said by the president several times. He even said that he would provide the media with some evidence to prove this. Nevertheless, the president has not provided any evidence to prove these allegations.

It is crystal clear that the president is not able to stand against the warlords. Some warlords are holding key posts in the government, walking step in step with the president, and he reshuffles them from one position to another.

[Reporter] The National Front of Afghanistan is mainly made up of Mojahedin commanders and former pro-Communist officials. Some times ago, President Karzai also accused the National Front of receiving financial aid from foreign countries. The majority of the National Front members, to whom Karza's allegations refer, are either holding key position in his government or acting as senior advisers to him.

Sixteen dead or missing in Afghan avalanche: government

KABUL (AFP) — Eight people were killed and as many others were missing after an avalanche engulfed a village in remote northeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.

Fifty people were initially trapped by the avalanche, the first this winter in the remote and mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan, but most were rescued by police and villagers, it said in a statement.

"Eight people were killed, four wounded and eight others are missing," the statement said. Badakhshan, a mountainous region on the border with China and Tajikistan, sees frequent natural disasters such as floods and avalanches.  

Denmark backs U.S. Afghan defense plan

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Denmark's government has announced its support of a U.S. proposal to arm groups in southern Afghanistan.

The move would help allow reconstruction efforts to begin in areas liberated by NATO, as well as help protect against the Taliban, the Copenhagen Post reported Monday.

The shortage of NATO forces in the region leaves already-liberated towns defenseless after the Taliban has been run out and the insurgents simply return once NATO troops move on.

The proposal is seen as a way to allow aid workers to move but still prevent the Taliban from returning.

Denmark Defense Minister Soren Gade said the shortage of combat troops in regions where the heaviest fighting against the Taliban has occurred, has led the government to support turning over security operations to local forces.

"We need to be pragmatic about this and admit that Afghani measures are needed to solve Afghani problems," said Gade.

Bulgaria may increase number of troops in Afghanistan

10 December 2007 FOCUS News Agency

Sofia. Bulgaria has been asked to increase the number of its contingent to Afghanistan, the Bulgarian Minister of Defense Veselin Bliznakov said during a meeting with media editors in Sofia, a reporter of FOCUS News Agency informed. The capabilities of Bulgaria are to increase the number of its contingent by 20 people, since it has a new guarding point in the province of Kandakhar.
The Bulgarian contingent in Afghanistan is under the guidance of ISAF and guards the airport in Kabul.

Dutch pound Taliban positions

Mark Dodd, Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan - theaustralian.news.com.au | December 11, 2007

DUTCH heavy artillery has been used to pound suspected Taliban positions as round-the-clock military operations continue without to root out insurgents operating in mountains close to this strategic base in Oruzgan province jointly manned by an Australian task force.

A brief siren wail was the only warning Sunday afternoon that a huge 155 millimetre self-propelled gun was about to fire.

Over the course of an hour the German-built Panzerhaubitze 155mm self-propelled howitzer, short-listed for procurement by the Australian Defence Force, fired six rounds of highly specialised extended range ammunition capable of hitting targets with pinpoint precision 40km away.

The thunderclap detonations sent shock waves through Camp Holland the name given to this predominately Dutch base that is shared by 400 Australian Army engineers and a 300-strong special forces task group.

Details of the fire support mission were not given but followed a day of intense air activity over Tarin Kowt involving Dutch Apache helicopter gun ships and Blackhawk transport helicopters.

Australian troops are also heavily involved clearing Taliban extremists from the strategic Baluchi Pass in the Chora valley north east of Tarin Kowt.

It was in this area that army trooper David Pearce and Special Forces commando Private Luke Worsley were killed in action.

Concerns have been raised that the NATO-backed International Assistance Security Force-ISAF of which Australia is a major member is spread too thinly especially in violence-racked Oruzgan the birthplace of Taliban spiritual leader, Mullah Omar.

The Dutch military who have administrative control of Tarin Kowt work closely with the Australian soldiers.

Their six F16 fighter bombers based at Kandahar, south of here, are ready to provide close air support and have already been used to assist New Zealand special forces during highly secretive missions.

Earlier this year coalition air support was so close to an Australian military convoy the exploding precision guided munitions temporarily knocked out radio communications in the Bushmaster and light armoured fighting vehicles (ASLAVs).

Using only his first name for security purposes a senior Dutch air force commander Major Richard said his biggest worry during high-risk close support missions was causing harm to innocent Afghan civilians.

UN human rights envoy Louise Arbour has criticised international troops in Afghanistan for what she calls the alarming level of civilian casualties here.

The commander of Australia forces in Afghanistan Major General Mark Evans told The Australian last week he had sought details of a special forces operation in Oruzgan during which two women and a child were killed during an Australian Special Forces attack on an alleged Taliban compound.

This was the action which led to the death of 4RAR commando Worsley.

"Obviously our biggest worry is civilians, their safety is the highest on our priority list, mistakes do happen. It's like anything we do. However, our pilots are very well trained," said Major Richard.

He confirmed that the Dutch air force is not using cluster munitions in Afghanistan.

And he said several close air support missions have been cancelled at the last moment when pilots were unable to identify with certainty that their target was armed combatants.

Canadians open new front against Taliban

Push into insurgents' territory part of a flurry of NATO activity in southern Afghanistan as winter starts to impede enemy's movement

GRAEME SMITH - From Monday's Globe and Mail December 10, 2007

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A Canadian-led offensive opened a new front against the Taliban in Kandahar this weekend, adding pressure on the insurgents as they also faced a major attack from NATO and Afghan forces in neighbouring Helmand.

Canadian soldiers and their allies advanced on foot into the fields around Zangabad, a village about 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city, at daybreak on Saturday. An Afghan military statement later said 10 insurgents were killed in the attack, but a Canadian commander said the number was higher, without giving details.

Under the name Operation Sure Thing, the offensive marked the first time Canada's battle group has fought alongside the famed Gurkhas, soldiers of Nepalese origins who have fought under British command since the 1800s. Afghan soldiers also joined the fight.

The Canadians made their push into Taliban territory at the same time as British and U.S. forces continue to lead an effort to recapture Musa Qala, a town in northern Helmand province that the insurgents had used as a model for their alternative system of government.

NATO officials had initially predicted a swift victory in Musa Qala, but after the death of two NATO soldiers over the weekend, the battle appeared to lose momentum. Brigadier-General Gul Aga Naebi, commander of the Afghan Army's 205th Corps, said 12 insurgents were killed on Saturday in Musa Qala, but none yesterday.

"We have surrounded Musa Qala town, but we haven't entered it yet," Brig.-Gen. Naebi said.

The fighting around Musa Qala was dwarfed by the battle in Kandahar, said Major Richard Moffet, Canada's acting battle group commander. "Compared to what happened in Musa Qala? Musa Qala is nothing," Major Moffet said.

Embedded photojournalist Louie Palu, travelling with the Canadian troops, saw smoke rising from artillery and air strikes that continued through Saturday, and Canadian soldiers kicking down doors of mud-walled homes.

He also witnessed a Canadian medic and soldier helping a Taliban fighter who was gunned down by Afghan forces, then carrying their wounded enemy 1,400 metres over rough terrain for medical evacuation.

The immediate goal of the Canadian offensive was to halt the persistent Taliban attacks on a newly established police station in Panjwai district, Major Moffet said, declaring the action a success.

The flurry of NATO activity in southern Afghanistan also comes as winter starts to impede the movement of insurgents. They're no longer comfortable sleeping outside and snows block the mountain routes to Pakistan.

In Kandahar, the Taliban territory now being targeted by Canadian forces is familiar ground, having already been captured in Operation Baaz Tsuka during the same cold season last year and later lost to the insurgents in the spring-time.

In Helmand, too, the fighting focuses on a town that British troops abandoned last year under pressure from the Taliban.

An air strike in the Nowzad district of Helmand province this weekend killed 12 civilians and left a boy as the sole surviving member of the family, said Abdul Satar Mazahari, head of the refugee department in Helmand province.

The British military reportedly described those killed in the strike as insurgents.

The Afghan war in microcosm

Guardian Unlimited 2/10/2007 Jason Burke

Musa Qala does not deserve the attention it is currently receiving. A dusty town that is the centre of a district with 35,000 inhabitants in the north of Helmand province, it is a key strategic location neither for the Nato-led ISAF forces and the Afghan National Army that are fighting alongside them, nor for the Taliban.

In the bigger Afghan picture, it is a small town in a rural, mountainous region, a long way from anything of serious strategic worth. If Afghanistan were France, it would be a small market town on the edge of the Massif Central that no one ever goes to.

It sits, it is true, astride a major drug-trafficking route leading from the lower, flatter, southern portion of Helmand into the mountainous north, and is important in terms of controlling the fertile valleys that need to be held by the coalition if the massive hydroelectric project at Kajaki is to be made to work and the Taliban are to be held back in the mountainous core of the country.

But it is not a major city, like Kandahar, nor even a key town, like Qalat or Gereshk, the control of which would allow the Taliban genuinely to claim to have "liberated" serious territory. It is not even equivalent to the Argandab valley, the agricultural zones to the west of Kandahar, which saw fierce fighting this time last year.

But Musa Qala has taken on massive symbolic value. It was taken by British forces last year and given over to tribal elders who had pledged to keep out the Taliban. In February, though, the agreement made among the diverse elements that currently make up the ever-shifting matrix of politics and power-broking on the ground in Afghanistan - the government, the Taliban, the various tribal leaders and the international forces - broke down. The Taliban retook the town without firing a shot a few days before the then Nato commander, General David Richards, who had strongly backed the agreement in the face of fierce criticism from US commanders and politicians, left the country.

The Afghan government and Nato then pledged to retake the town, the Taliban to defend it. And Musa Qala thus became a symbolic strategic location. For both sides, the struggle for the small country town represents in microcosm the battle for the country as a whole.

For their part, the Taliban have shown again their flexibility and ideological pragmatism. In Musa Qala they have banned female education and reportedly hanged "miscreants", but not imposed their infamous rules on lengths of beard, kite-flying, music etc nor conscription. They certainly have not banned opium cultivation, as they did in 1999-2000.

One reason is that at a strategic level, the Taliban leadership has learned from the public discontent that seriously weakened its rule in the late 1990s. The movement was initially welcomed in much of the country for the security it brought to previously anarchic areas. The Taliban know they need an element of public consent - as Nato and the Afghan government do - to be able to rule. And they know that the people of Musa Qala, like most Afghans, want to be ruled neither by a corrupt and inefficient government, nor by them, but to be left to themselves.

With this in mind, claims that the Taliban run more than 50% of Afghanistan should be treated with scepticism. Between 1998 and 2001, the Taliban repeatedly claimed to control 80% of the country. Yet to anyone who travelled extensively around the country in that period, it was clear much of that dominance was nominal, depending on the fickle allegiance of local powerbrokers, village chiefs and warlords.

A final reason for their relative flexibility in Musa Qala is that the Taliban are, largely, local men, part of the infinitely complex network of local power relations that makes Afghan society tick rather than being a network superimposed upon it.

And it is in this factor that many of the actual roots of the violence lie. The battle for Musa Qala is to a significant degree an inter-tribal conflict in which religion, varying degrees of ethnic and nationalist sentiment and external support have all been pressed into service to continue centuries-old struggles for scarce resources.

When the Taliban fell, the president, Hamid Karzai, appointed loyalists within the Akhunzada sub-tribe to key positions of power locally. For three years, the other sub- tribes, the Pirzai, Ibrahimzai, and Khalozai, tried to secure a fairer redistribution of lucrative administrative posts through more or less peaceful means, largely to no avail.

The result was that, when in 2005 the ideological hardcore of the Taliban launched their offensive to retake the south and east of Afghanistan, they found large numbers of ready allies in northern Helmand.

But with stalemate in the current battle for Afghanistan, Musa Qala has now become far more than a tribal fight. Both sides are searching for a symbolic victory that will indicate the future course of the war. The losers all round of course, will be the villagers themselves.

Afghan border police strengthens role in prosecuting and preventing human trafficking

Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM) - Date: 10 Dec 2007

AFGHANISTAN –The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today completed a two-day training for Border Police officers designed to raise their awareness of human trafficking, particularly across borders.

The training, the first of its kind, was held at the Border Police Training Centre in Kabul, in close coordination with EUPOL, which plays the central role in assisting the Afghan government with police reform.

A second batch of trainees will complete the same course later this week, bringing the total number of the IOM-trained Border Police officers up to 60, representing every province in Afghanistan.

The training focused on the risks of irregular migration, the specific nature of trafficking in persons, and how it differs from crimes such as kidnapping and people smuggling. It also addressed preventive measures and the role of the Border Police.

"The trainees were very enthusiastic to learn and explore their role in curbing this crime. We hope to expand this training to reach out to more Border Police officers nationwide," said IOM trainer Nigina Mamadjonova.

Afghanistan faces a serious human trafficking problem, both as a country of origin and as a country of destination, especially for women and children.

IOM's counter-trafficking programme seeks to address the issue through prevention, protection and prosecution. On the prosecution front, IOM has already facilitated study tours for Afghan law enforcement officers to Tajikistan and Italy this year, and is making a significant contribution in drafting Afghanistan's counter-trafficking law.

DynCorp awarded construction job in Afghanistan

Washington Business Journal - by Erin Killian Staff Reporter

DynCorp International Inc. has won a $49 million contract to build an army garrison in Afghanistan.

The Falls Church-based government contractor will construct 50 buildings including dormitories, dining facilities, training rooms, offices and maintenance and security structures on 160 acres in Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border.

The facilities, called the Afghan National Army Garrison, will accommodate up to 4,000 Afghan troops, according to DynCorp. The garrison will also have water, sewer, power and a telecommunication systems.

Not including the garrison contract, DynCorp has about 2,500 employees in Afghanistan training police, attempting to eradicate opium poppy and carrying out other projects.

DynCorp spokesman Gregory Lagana could not say how many employees would be working on the 300-day garrison contract.

DynCorp (NYSE: DCP) announced the Afghanistan contract a week after it said it was awarded an Army contract worth as much as $4.6 billion for translation services in Iraq. The contract award had been contested a year ago by L-3 Communications Corp.

DynCorp, with more than 14,500 employees worldwide, had 2006 net income of $28.4 million on revenue of $1.97 billion.

Afghanistan Gets First Ever Bar Association

NEWS 10 December 2007 Posted to the web 11 December 2007

By Akinwale Akintunde Lagos - Following the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute's (IBAHRI) efforts to establish an independent bar association in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai last week, signed into law legislation creating Afghanistan's first ever bar association, the Afghan Bar Association.

In a statement by the IBA made available to THISDAY LAW last week, IBAHRI had since 2004 been engaged in a project to establish an independent bar association in Afghanistan under a grant from the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

According to the statement, the Afghan Bar Association will not only control the admission of lawyers to the profession, it will also be responsible for setting standards of professional ethics, discipline, legal aid and continuing education for lawyers.

'This will ensure that a competent, honest and independent legal profession will help steer Afghanistan into a peaceful future. IBAHRI has worked closely with the Afghan Ministry of Justice for the last three years to establish the basis of a non-political, independent association which will both protect and advance the legal profession and also promote the rule of law in Afghanistan.'

The statement added that the new Afghan Bar Association was a big step forward in re-establishing the justice system in Afghanistan.

Mark Ellis, IBA Executive Director said the establishment of the Afghan Bar Association which is integral to the fulfilment of the justice pillar of the Bonn Accords is essential to the rule of law.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the IBAHRI, is working on the by-laws for the association governing ethics, discipline, admission requirements and continuing legal education.

We need to stay in Afghanistan – and we need to win

LORD ROBERTSON - Special to Globe and Mail Update December 11, 2007

The NATO decision to take on the International Stabilization and Assistance Force in Afghanistan was on my watch as secretary-general. I have never, not for a moment, regretted that decision. The task was necessary and urgent, and NATO was the only organization in the world that could do it.

Every member state in NATO — and there were 19 of them at that time — agreed that we had to do it, but that it was a big and challenging operation. The choice before us, and every democratic state, was simple and stark: either we go to Afghanistan, or Afghanistan comes to us.

That is still the choice, and it is still why we need to stay there — and why we have to win there.

And it's not just for the security of the Afghans we fight, nor is it just to protect the Afghan government formed after the first election in that country. We are there, first and foremost, to protect our own safety and security.

When Afghanistan was controlled by the Taliban, they allowed freedom to the plotters of the attacks on the West. In the caves and remote valleys of the Tora Bora mountains, they planned the destruction of the Twin Towers. The Kabul regime permitted, and encouraged, the criminal killers who projected their terror onto the streets of the West and wider. And make no mistake: If they got back to power, the exporters of bloodshed would be back in business.

That's why our brave troops must stay to fight the Taliban insurgents and help build a strong Afghan society and economy. That's why I salute the Canadian soldiers who serve in Kandahar province in the troubled south, and why I mourn with those who have lost dear ones in that distant land.

Of course, Britain and Canada and the others in the United Nations-approved NATO mission could pull out from Afghanistan. To some, it looks straightforward and easy. Leave the task to others, they say, and go peacekeeping in ancient battlegrounds such as Cyprus and the Golan Heights. After all, Kandahar is a long way from Edmonton and Halifax.

But not nearly far enough. New York and Madrid and London were too close. It's a very small world and the tentacles of the merchants of death and hate are long and deadly.

If Canada and Britain and the others took the easy way home, make no mistake: They will be followed by the very guys who saw us off. The tumbleweeds of organized crime and jihadists won't stay in their caves. They will congratulate themselves on defeating the world's most successful defence alliance, then reach out to kill again.

Last summer, I vacationed again in beautiful British Columbia — so far away from the world's trouble spots. At the Abbotsford Air Show, I bumped into an RCMP officer wearing NATO medals for the Balkans. Since these medals had been issued under my authority, I was happy to thank him. Thank him for what he, and his fellow Canadians, had done to help Europe deal with the snakepit of violence that was the old Yugoslavia.

That Mountie had gone to Sarajevo and served in an alliance cause that stopped the horrific violence spilling across borders and continents, fuelling migration and organized crime. By his service, he had helped make the good people of Abbotsford safe to enjoy the aviation spectacle that sunny August day.

Sure, it's dangerous for Canadian and British soldiers in Helmand and Kandahar. But as one blunt British soldier told me: "It's better we fight and defeat these bastards out there than in the streets back home." I was reminded of those sentiments when I recently passed a war memorial in London and saw these words: "They died with the faith that the future of mankind would benefit from their sacrifice."

For the past 60 years, we have indeed reaped the benefits of these sacrifices, but their sacrifice will be in vain if we allow evil to prevail. So let me adapt that sentence: "They serve, and some have died, in the faith that the future of mankind will benefit from their service and sacrifice."

Thank you, Canada.

Lord Robertson served as secretary-general of NATO from 1999 to 2003 and as Britain's defence secretary from 1997 to 1999.

Canada's absent Afghan partners

December 06, 2007 – Editorial Toronto Star

Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces a ticking clock as he ponders what to do with Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. Just four months from now, on April 2, our North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies meet in Bucharest. They will need to know whether Ottawa intends to extend our military deployment in war-torn Kandahar province, reshape it or bring it to an end.

Whatever Harper decides, his Conservative government and Parliament should not be pushed into a corner by NATO partners who want Canada to continue shouldering combat risks in Kandahar amid increasing violence while they pull light duty elsewhere.

As Prof. Roland Paris of the University of Ottawa told the Star's Allan Woods this week, the persistent refusal of major NATO countries to field troops in Kandahar makes it "unrealistic" to think that Canadian forces can leave when the current deployment ends in February 2009. If we don't sign on until 2010, we risk creating a security vacuum, Paris argues. In effect, NATO's risk-averse partners are forcing our hand.

While the view that Canada should take one more for the team may play well at NATO headquarters in Brussels, it shouldn't be the reason we stay in Kandahar, if that is the decision Ottawa ultimately makes.

By 2009, Canadian troops will have fought in Afghanistan for seven arduous years. We have spent $3 billion on the military, committed more than $1 billion for aid and suffered more than our share of casualties. If we quit Kandahar, or draw down our forces, blame for a security vacuum should be laid squarely at our NATO partners' doorsteps, not ours. NATO has had time to fill any gap.

If Harper opts to stay in Kandahar until 2011, as he prefers, and Parliament agrees, it must be out of conviction that Canadian troops are making a measurable, positive difference stabilizing the place. We must also be convinced that the Afghan people want us to remain, that the Afghan government is building up an effective army and police, and that development aid is getting through to those who need it,

Those are credible reasons for Canadian lives to be put at risk. But it is past time that others, including Germany, Spain, France and Italy, shouldered a comparable share of the risk. This is not a short-term project. Even by Harper's own impossibly optimistic forecast, President Hamid Karzai's government won't be able to defend itself until 2011. More realistically, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier believes it will take 10 years. Still others guess 25 years or more.

NATO, a powerful 26-country alliance, cannot expect the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands to pull the most dangerous duty forever in Afghanistan's hot spots while the bulk of the club stays safely on the sidelines, paying lip-service to burden-sharing.

That is a message the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan, headed by John Manley, should send when it reports in January. And when Parliament votes on our next role, it should condition any future Canadian involvement on greater NATO input.

Canada should not abandon Afghans

December 09, 2007 - Canada's absent Afghan partners, Editorial, Dec. 6

Your editorial is right to insist that Canada's mission in Afghanistan should not be extended beyond 2009 simply because that's how our NATO partners would prefer it. It must be stressed, however, that the converse is also true: Canada should not abandon its traditional values and moral obligations to the Afghan people just because France is not pulling its weight.

Afghanistan is the definitive test of the modern multilateral order. Together, the United Nations and NATO have invested considerable humanitarian, diplomatic and military resources. And we have made tremendous progress.

The security provided by the Canadian Forces has given Afghans the freedom to build their own country. If Canada leaves now, the Taliban will violently seize power and the modern multilateral order will have failed. That is not in the interest of Canadians, and certainly not in the interests of Afghans.

Canada's history is not one of doing just enough, as France has twice learned to its benefit. Of course we should continue to remind our NATO allies of their responsibilities in Afghanistan – but that is a separate issue. The Afghan people and their government are asking us to help them secure the progress they have made. We should not turn away.

Mark Graham, Canadians for Afghanistan, Toronto

Wheat crisis: ‘Higher exports to Afghanistan lead to flour shortage’
By Ijaz Kakakhel Daily Times (Pakistan) Sunday, December 09, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Export of wheat flour to Afghanistan in large quantities lead to a flour shortage in the country that forms the very genesis of the current wheat crisis, officials in the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (MINFAL) told Daily Times here on Saturday.

As usual 1,200 to 1,300 tonnes of flour was exported to Afghanistan per day and the government made proper preparation for it but recently about 2,000 tonnes of wheat were exported to Afghanistan, said Additional Secretary and Spokesman, MINFAL Raja Hussain Shahid. The demand for flour has jumped up in Afghanistan that was why the export to Afghanistan increases.

In order to ensure smooth supply of flour in domestic market, the government has imposed 35 percent duty on export of the commodity to Afghanistan. However, the imposition of such duty has no impact on export of wheat flour to Afghanistan due to higher demand as well as higher prices there, he maintained.

The government provides subsidy on wheat to flour mills for selling the commodity in local markets on lower prices. But the millers are exporting the commodity to Afghanistan to earn abnormal profits instead of selling it in the local markets.

Keeping in view higher demand for flour export to Afghanistan, the private sector had announced the export of one million tonnes flour to Afghanistan this year. Earlier, the private sector exported 0.6 million tonnes of flour to Afghanistan.

[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.]