In this bulletin:

• Nato 'kills 150 Taleban fighters' – BBC 1.11.07
• Zahre district secured – ISAF release
• Afghan Warlord: We helped bin Laden
• Afghan Government Recruiting Thousands of Auxiliary Police to Battle Insurgents -
• FM letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations
• Tripartite commission holds 20th plenary meeting in Islamabad
• Pakistan Rejects U.N. Claim on Taliban
• Pakistan must help keep out Taliban, Fraser says
• Names of Pakistani officials attending Afghan peace jerga announced
• Biometrics system at Chaman border
• Pakistan opposition leader says fencing border with Afghanistan "mistake"
• Editorial: Rethinking the mining option
• Millions of aid dollars spent in Afghanistan without any audits released
• Japan's Abe To Focus On Afghanistan In "historic" NATO Visit
• NATO: Poor communications to blame for civilian deaths in Afghanistan
• Afghan officials reject Daily Telegraph report
• Shaky Afghan progress
• Tory fate in hands of swing vote
• Landmines still claim lives in Afghanistan
• State-of-the-art water plant opens in Afghanistan
• Foreign specialists start repair work on Afghanistan's Buddha statues – report
• The Taliban's fire spreads
• Tackling the Taleban in the cold
• Channel 4 viewers get a taste of British experience in Afghanistan

Nato 'kills 150 Taleban fighters' – BBC 1.11.07

Nato says as many as 150 Taleban militants have been killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan. "The insurgents had been observed gathering in Pakistan and had crossed the border prior to launching an attack," Nato said in a statement.

Nato said Pakistan had helped Nato monitor the fighters, who were then hit with artillery and air strikes. The Afghan defence ministry earlier estimated 80 fatalities. There was no independent confirmation of numbers.

A Taleban spokesman said those killed were civilians, not militants. However, correspondents say there is very little civilian activity in the area of the attack.

The spokesman, Dr Muhammad Hanif, told Associated Press news agency that the figure of 150 Taleban fighters killed was "a complete lie". The battle took place in the Margha hills in Afghanistan's Paktika province, close to the Pakistani border.

The BBC news website has learned that at least four bodies of local Wazir tribesmen have been taken to the Miranshah area of North Waziristan on the Pakistani side.

The Nato statement said two groups of Taleban were monitored and tracked as they crossed the border, and then attacked. "Initial battle damage estimates indicate as many as 150 insurgents were killed," it said.

While the defence ministry put the death toll at 80, an Afghan commander, General Murad Ali, said only about 10 bodies were recovered. He personally estimated the death toll at about 50.

It is not clear why the figures differed so much and Nato did not say how it had arrived at the figure. Gen Ali only referred to one group of fighters crossing the border.

Major Dominic White, a spokesman for the Nato force in Kabul, told the BBC as far as he was aware there were no civilian casualties.

The death of civilians has been a major issue in Afghanistan, with Nato saying last week that its biggest mistake of the past year has been killing innocent people.

The alliance has been accused - including by President Hamid Karzai - of carelessness over civilian lives when attacking Taleban fighters.

Last month Nato said 80 militants had been killed in an operation in southern Helmand province, but the death toll was later reduced to eight.

If Nato's account of the latest battle proves to be correct it will be a notable success for the alliance as they prepare to counter an anticipated spring offensive by the Taleban, says the BBC's Dan Isaacs in Kabul.

It is also significant, he says, that Nato officials said they had the close co-operation of the Pakistani authorities in monitoring the insurgents before they entered Afghanistan.

The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, Gen David Richards, said increased Pakistani operations on the border had led to a reduction in Taleban activity towards the end of 2006.

Afghan leaders have repeatedly called for Pakistan to offer more help in fighting the Taleban. Paktika province borders the Pakistani tribal areas of North and South Waziristan, where Pakistan has signed non-aggression pacts with militants.

Afghanistan says this has allowed the Taleban to flourish and given them a base from which to launch an increasing number of attacks on its territory.

Zahre district secured – ISAF release

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (10 January) - Earlier today, ISAF and Afghan National Army (ANA) forces succeeded in securing Zahre district, Kandahar province, as part of the ongoing Operation Baaz Tsuka.

The neighbouring district of Panjwayi was secured in December and since then has benefited from considerable reconstruction and development. Today, Zahre was secured by ANA and ISAF forces, who have already started work on clearing the roads of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and building the first Vehicle Check Points. The Civil and Military Cooperation Teams are also preparing stocks of winter supplies to be donated to the local population.

ANA and ISAF forces encountered no resistance following extensive consultation with the local elders prior to the operation. A number of families have already returned to the village of Shia Choy in Zahre district and thorough searches are currently being carried out in the nearby Sangsar and Nalgam areas.

"This operation demonstrates how, with mutual cooperation, the insurgents can be squeezed out without damaging the area and thus allow aid and eventually, resettlement and reconstruction to begin," said Squadron Leader Dave Marsh, spokesman for Regional Command-South.

Afghan Warlord: We helped bin Laden

Insurgent leader says his men got terror leader out of Toro Bora in 2001

The Associated Press - Jan 11, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Afghan insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar claimed in a television interview broadcast Thursday that his fighters helped Osama bin Laden escape from the mountains of Toro Bora five years ago.

Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister and leader of the Hezb-e-Islami militant group, told Pakistan's private Geo TV network that when the United States began its assault on the Tora Bora mountains in late 2001, some of his fighters moved bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and other associates to "a safe place" where he met them later.

He did not say where they found the shelter. Hekmatyar was speaking in Pashto language. Only fragments from Hekmatyar's comments were audible under a voiceover translated into Urdu, Pakistan's main language. Geo did not disclose when or where the interview was made.

Afghan Government Recruiting Thousands of Auxiliary Police to Battle Insurgents - By Benjamin Sand VOA - Kandahar, Afghanistan 10 January 2007

With violence on the rise throughout Afghanistan, the Kabul government is recruiting thousands of auxiliary police to combat a growing insurgency.  The auxiliaries will relieve Afghanistan's thin-stretched international security forces and regular police, but they get only the most basic training. 
Supporters see the new auxiliary police force as critical in the effort to beat back the Taleban, but critics say the program is fueling the violence by rearming local militias.  And there are reports that Taleban extremists may have infiltrated the police auxiliaries.  VOA's Benjamin Sand reports from a police-training center in southern Afghanistan.

A final practice shot before heading out to face the real enemy... Every 14 days, more than 200 men pass through this training compound in Kandahar.  In two weeks they are expected to learn how to use a weapon and handle explosives, how to make arrests and uphold the Afghan constitution.

Ttwo of the young recruits, Jalil Luden and Noor Mohammed, are confident. Luden, is 19 years old. He says, "We are not scared.  It is my own country.  We have to help." Mohammed, 20,  adds, "Our country is like our own mother.  We will defend her from any enemy, from any terrorist."

In the next 12 months the government plans to deploy more than 11,000 auxiliary police.  U.S. and Canadian forces at centers like this one will train them. Most will be stationed in four key southern provinces, including the Taleban's traditional strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand.

These are the front lines for Afghanistan's young democracy, fighting against the hard-line Islamic Taleban insurgency.  The national army is stretched thin, and the police are the only security force in many isolated regions. Here in Kandahar, the police say they can not cope with the surge in militant activity.

Sergeant Mark Davidson, the head police trainer at this base, talks about the relationship between the Afghan National Police force, which he calls A.N.P., and the national auxiliary police, or A.N.A.P.  "It's very important that these (auxiliary) A.N.A.P. get trained to an adequate level as soon as possible, so that we can put them out with the (regular) A.N.P. in a support position, doing the jobs that A.N.P. would normally be doing, so they [the police regulars] can be free to do other tasks."

But there is mounting opposition to the new auxiliary force, which critics say is little more than a legalized militia.

Many of the recruits used to work for local warlords.  After just two weeks here, the question is, will the new policemen be more loyal to their former bosses or to the Afghan government, based hundreds of kilometers away in Kabul?

General Nasrullah Zarifi is the senior Afghan official at the Kandahar training compound.  He says, in fact, it is a good sign that the Taleban are joining the police. "All of us call the insurgents our unhappy brothers.  We want them to come and work with us.  We have no problem with them; our doors are always open for them."

Most new recruits are local men, and for many this is their first job.  Southern Afghanistan's unemployment rate is estimated at 40 percent or higher, after decades of war and civil conflict.  General Zarifi and others force argue that without these jobs, the Taleban would almost certainly entice some of these young police recruits into joining the insurgency. 

Even so, $70 a month from the government is hardly enough to support their families.  The Taleban reportedly pays its fighters at least $200 a month. And so the battle for hearts and minds continues, and the fight to secure southern Afghanistan has little end in sight.

FM letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations

Posted On MoFA website: Jan 11, 2007

Following an announcement by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in regards to their decision in erecting barbered wire fencing on and to mine their side of the Durand Line, the Afghan Foreign Minister, Dr Spanta sent an official letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations informing him of Afghanistan's strong opposition to such a proposal.

In the letter, he states that "while acknowledging the efforts by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to combat terrorism, the Government of Afghanistan strongly believes that the most effective ways to confront the menace of terrorism is to confront the financial, logistical, training and ideological sources and centers of Terrorism. To this end, we view full implementation of the Security Council Resolution 1267 by all members of the international community, in particular the regional countries, as one of the best mechanisms."  

He added that, the nature of terrorist activities and also many examples of recent terrorist attacks testify that barbered wire or mines cannot deter terrorists.

the letter referred to the fact that Afghanistan is one of the most affected victims of anti-personal mines in the world. Despite the massive efforts by the Afghan Government and our international partners, there still remain millions of unexploded mines in Afghanistan. Therefore, we cannot afford more anti-personal mines which will likely target civilians.

The letter asserts that, as a signatory member of the 1997 Ottawa anti-personal mine treaty, Afghanistan calls upon non-members to sign the treaty and join the global movement to put an end to the production and use of anti-personal mines which often target innocent civilians.

The letter concludes with a warning that taking into account the ethnic composition of the proposed areas; such a proposal will physically separate thousands of family, which will be an inconsiderate act on humanitarian ground.

Tripartite commission holds 20th plenary meeting in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (11 January) – The Tripartite Commission, comprising senior military representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, held its 20th Plenary Meeting in Islamabad today, today.

The senior delegates were General Bismullah Khan, Chief of the General Staff of the Afghan National Army; General Ahsan Saleem Hyat, Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army; and General David Richards, Commander of ISAF.

After introductory remarks and welcomes, the 20th Plenary began with reports from the Border Security Sub Committee, the Military Intelligence Sharing Working Group and the Counter-IED Working Group.

In spite of bad weather since November hindering some travel arrangements, one Regional Border Security Sub Meeting (BSSM) was held in December, and Border Flag Meetings have continued thereby further developing coordination at the tactical level. Further BSSMs are scheduled for the coming month. The main focus for these will be the detailed coordination of current operations related to Operation OQAB (the successful joint Afghan Army / ISAF Afghanistan-wide security operation being conducted throughout the winter months in order to facilitate reconstruction and development) and the planning for Spring operations based on the direction and guidance of the newly formed Operational Coordination Group (OCG).

The Military Intelligence-Sharing Working Group (MISWG) has focused on the technical details of providing intelligence support to the OCG and has also examined the responsibilities and procedures of the new Joint Intelligence Operations Centre (JIOC), defining the shared area of intelligence responsibility and developing procedures for communications and information exchange. The new building for this JIOC, located within HQ ISAF in Kabul, is now complete and has achieved an interim operating capability, and a number of Pakistan Army officers are about to move to Kabul to work alongside their ANA and ISAF colleagues. The JIOC will achieve full operating capability in April once further ISAF manpower arrives.

The Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Working Group has made real progress in the arena of information exchange, which has resulted in significant operational successes and the saving of numerous Afghan civilian lives. The Group is now considering information operations in relation to C-IED progress. Later this month delegates will meet at Bagram Air Field to tour the Combined Explosive Exploitation Cell (CEXC) and discuss blast site preservation techniques. At the end of the month the C-IED Working Group will meet in Pakistan to further their cooperation.

The opportunity presented by so many experts being gathered together enabled four ‘break out’ groups to convene. The OCG agreed its outline Terms of Reference and considered planning for Spring operations. Other groups discussed intelligence, IED and information operations.

At the conclusion of the meeting a Press Conference was held to announce the real progress made by this military to military Commission and its working groups. The Tripartite Commission will next meet in late April 2007 also in Islamabad.

Pakistan Rejects U.N. Claim on Taliban

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: January 10, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan angrily rejected a U.N. claim that it is harboring Taliban leaders, accusing multinational troops in Afghanistan of doing little to crack down on commanders of the insurgency.

NATO and the Afghan government say Taliban and al-Qaida guerrillas are launching attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan. Violence rose sharply in Afghanistan in 2006, with militants killing about 4,000 people in what was the deadliest year since the U.S.-led coalition swept the Taliban from power in 2001.

Chris Alexander, the deputy head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said Monday in Kabul that most of 142 Taliban leaders listed as such by the U.N. in 1999 ''continue to organize, plan and carry out terrorist activities in this country and in this region.''

Some of those leaders ''were in Pakistan for at least a part of 2006,'' Alexander said, without elaborating.

In a statement received by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the accusation was ''unsubstantiated'' and demonstrates ''ignorance of ground realities'' in Afghanistan.

The ministry also accused the U.N. of ''insensitivity to Pakistan's efforts to counter militancy and terrorism.''

Pakistan, a close U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, has repeatedly stated it is doing all it can to prevent the Taliban militants from using Pakistan as a base. The statement, which was dated Tuesday, noted that Pakistan's efforts have led to the arrest of several leading Taliban figures.

''One may ask how many Taliban on the list have been apprehended by the Afghan and multinational forces especially when the statement (also) implies their presence inside Afghanistan,'' the statement said.

Late last year, Islamabad announced plans to fence and mine parts of its long and rugged frontier with Afghanistan to stop the cross-border insurgency.

The plan was criticized by Afghan and U.N. officials who said it would not stop the insurgency, but only hinder cross-border travel by ethnic groups living on both sides of the border.

''Those who criticize Pakistan's decision should offer viable alternatives on controlling such activity,'' the Foreign Ministry statement said.

U.N. ''officials would be well-advised to restrict themselves to their mandate and refrain from questioning the intentions and sincerity of Pakistan, which has done more than any other country in the international efforts against terrorism,'' the statement said.

Pakistan must help keep out Taliban, Fraser says

Wed. Jan. 10 2007 - CTV.ca News Staff - The former Canadian commander of NATO troops in southern Afghanistan says the mission is making headway, but insists Pakistan must help shut down the Taliban.

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser discussed Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's recent visit to the region during an appearance on CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.

After a surprise trip to Afghanistan, where he visited development projects and met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, MacKay travelled to Pakistan.

While there, he met with his Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and was set to meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to discuss the porous border and efforts to control Taliban travel between the countries.

MacKay indicated Canada opposed Pakistan's plan to mine parts of the border, but could support an initiative to install barbed wire fence in some border areas and offered Canada's help. Fraser said the Taliban will not be shut down until Pakistan steps up efforts.

"I think in fact the problem that Afghanistan and Pakistan face is similar -- it's the Taliban regime. The Taliban is using both countries to operate out of and the solution will be Pakistan and Afghanistan working to rid both their countries of this, what I would call a cancer." Progress is being made towards that goal, Fraser said.

When he first arrived in Afghanistan, there was no working relationship between NATO and Pakistan. By the end of his tour, however, they were having regular discussions and Pakistan had stationed 80,000 troops along the border to support Fraser's operations, he said.

"They are working on the issue but there's more to be done. The solution is in Pakistan working against the Taliban." Fraser said progress is also being made in the area of development, but there is a long road ahead for Canadian troops helping rebuild the country.

"We are building a country that has gone through 30 years of war and there is nothing out there -- no infrastructure, no bureaucracy, no medical system or what not. We are starting from scratch, we are starting from a desert, and to build a country it takes a long time," Fraser said.

He touted road construction projects, such as Highway 1, which has gone from being a dirt track to a major thoroughfare since 2002, as evidence that development is taking place alongside military efforts.

However, he said other NATO countries must step up and do more. Much of the heavy lifting and actual fighting is being done by Canadian, British and American troops.

"NATO can step up to the plate and do more. We've asked them to do more and those discussions are ongoing."

Fraser said Canadian soldiers are doing a "phenomenal" job in Afghanistan, and as progress continues, the need for other countries to pitch in is going to grow even greater.

"When you start off in a city of Kandahar and you do well there, and you spread out into the hinterland, you're going to need more soldiers and more resources because that's success," he said.

Names of Pakistani officials attending Afghan peace jerga announced

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

Peshawar, 10 January: Pakistan has announced the names of the members of the peace jerga commission.

It was announced in Islamabad today that the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, had announced the names of the members of the peace jerga commission to make preparations for the jerga between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The governor of North West Frontier Province, Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai, the governor of Baluchestan Province, Owais Ahmed Ghani and Minister of Culture Syed Ghazi Gulab Jamal are also members of the commission.

Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has already been appointed chairman of the commission.

The Afghan and Pakistani presidents agreed in Washington last year to hold a tribal jerga to resolve Afghanistan's issues and since then some Afghan officials have accused Pakistan of delaying the jerga. It is worth pointing out that Afghanistan has already formed such a commission.

Biometrics system at Chaman border

Daily Times 11 January 2007 - CHAMAN: Pakistan on Wednesday opened its first biometrics system to screen travellers at a land border point with Afghanistan as a measure to curtail cross-border movement of militants, an official said.

The sophisticated identification system was inaugurated at the main border crossing between southern Afghanistan and Balochistan, near Chaman, said Brig Akhtar Hussain Shah, the Balochistan director general of the National Database Registration Authority.

After it was inaugurated, some 40 people were screened through the system that records a person’s fingerprints, retinas or facial patterns, for identification, Shah said.

Pakistani authorities would issue biometrics compatible “border passes” to residents of Chaman and the surrounding Qila Abdullah district, to help them travel to Afghanistan after being identified through the system, he said.

Shah said the new measure at the border crossing near Chaman was an effort in the fight against terrorism. “This is a step that we have taken to stop terrorism and to stop any illegal movement,” he said.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Iqbal Mehmood told reporters that 16 computers would keep record of people crossing the border. The new system, he said, would replace the traditional rahdari system. agencies

Pakistan opposition leader says fencing border with Afghanistan "mistake"

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

Islamabad, 10 January: Leader of the opposition in the Pakistan parliament Maulana Fazlur Rahman has said Afghanistan may turn to an international court if Pakistan sticks to its decision of fencing and mining on the Durand Line.

He said Afghanistan had never accepted the Durand Line. In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, the MMA [Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal] leader said Afghanistan could take the issue to the international court in Hague if his country did not shun its decision on fencing and mining.

He said Pakistan might face more problems while sticking to its decision. Fencing and mining would be a historical mistake by Pakistani government, he added. The opposition leader said the relation between the two countries might become further worsen, and this would raise the issue of Durand Line again.

He said: "We should not forget that Afghanistan has yet not accepted the Durand Line as international border so far, and the fencing decision may defame Pakistan in the international level." He suggested that other means should be sought for preventing the illegal border movements.

Editorial: Rethinking the mining option

The News International 11 January 2007

Pakistan's decision to review its plan to mine its border with Afghanistan to curtail cross-border movement of militant elements is a welcome gesture. Since its announcement late last year that it may use land mines as a way of guarding its western border, Islamabad has understandably drawn a lot of criticism from the international community, especially from signatories of the Ottawa Treaty that bans the use of land mines as a military option. However, Islamabad's willingness to review this decision indicates a welcome readiness to respect international opinion. It would be very easy for the Pakistani government to stick to its plan, especially since it is not a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty and because it has had to take some kind of decisive action in the fact of frequent public accusations from Kabul that it is providing support and sanctuaries to Taliban elements fighting NATO and Afghan forces inside Afghanistan.

The criticism of the plan to mine parts of the border may be justified on humanitarian grounds since experience suggests that the primary victims of land mines are not military fighters but the civilian population, especially children. However, it would be good if the international community and especially Kabul and the countries which have sent their troops for the NATO force currently in Afghanistan see the good faith in Pakistan's move to fence and mine the border. Islamabad seems to have become the whipping boy as far as the Taliban insurgency inside Afghanistan is concerned and is being constantly accused of harbouring and supporting the Taliban. One allegation, repeated ad nauseum is that the Taliban chief, Mullah Omar, lives in a well-guarded location just outside Quetta. Omar, though, recently denied any such thing in a recent newspaper interview also indicating that the Taliban are opposed to both the Afghan and Pakistan governments when it comes to matters relating to Afghanistan or the US-led war against terror.

With regard to the unending flow of accusations and public hand-wringing from none other than the Afghan president himself, Pakistan had to give some response. And it is good that this was restrained and constructive because at least Islamabad, unlike Kabul, came up with some suggestions on how to end the bilateral tensions. It would also be good if Karzai and NATO accepted the fact that perhaps the cause of the insurgency in eastern and southern parts of Afghanistan lies in the fact that Taliban fighters can blend in quite easily into a local population that is not only ethnically and linguistically the same as them but may also be sympathetic to their cause. As for the plan to fence the border, that too has run into some opposition from Kabul as well as from Pakhtuns in Pakistan who have called it a ploy to divide the Pakhtuns. One can understand Afghanistan's consternation at the fencing proposal because it goes against its historical view of the region that comprises NWFP, with which it shares a cultural, linguistic and religious bond. In fact, that is probably why Pakhtun nationalists like Mahmood Achakzai have also spoken against the fencing plan. The point, however, is that instead of indulging in frequent criticism, it would be good if Kabul and its allies were to provide some practical suggestions on how to end the alleged cross-border infiltration and also took some action at their own end to catch Taliban fighters when they engage Afghan and/or NATO forces.

Millions of aid dollars spent in Afghanistan without any audits released

Sue Bailey, Canadian Press - Published: Wednesday, January 10, 2007

OTTAWA (CP) - Five years after Canada began pumping millions of aid dollars into Afghanistan, taxpayers still have no idea how well the money is being spent.

Not a single audit has been publicly released by federal government officials. "This is the foreign-aid equivalent of the sponsorship scandal," says Amir Attaran, a law professor and development expert at the University of Ottawa.

"They're just scrambling," he said of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) officials who have not sent him "a single page of information" since he filed an Access to Information request last June. He asked for all evaluation and audit reports for Afghanistan since 2001.

Attaran was taken aback when the development agency said it would need the equivalent of eight months to consult with co-funding "third parties" such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

He has appealed what he says is a preposterous delay that breaches CIDA's duty to release information within reasonable time limits. "This is a very poorly run organization. It's an embarrassment to Canada and it's not bringing much development to Afghanistan."

An initial program review of progress isn't expected until this summer, says Patti Robson, a spokeswoman for CIDA.

Critics say it's a massive reporting void that leaves the public in the dark as Conservatives promote a mission that has been heavy on combat, light on reconstruction. It has also cost 44 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat their lives since 2002.

Afghanistan, still an international basket case of economic and security problems, received $100 million last year from CIDA and is to get the same amount for the next four years. Contributions are expected to total about $1 billion between 2001 and 2011 - more cash than Canada has promised to any other foreign-aid recipient.

Josee Verner, the minister for CIDA, says her government will account for every dollar. Her officials cite new wells, schools and several hundred kilometres of new or repaired road as proof that Canadian efforts are working.

Documents are being prepared for release to Attaran, Verner added. "We are committed to give all the answers people can have on what we're doing in Afghanistan," she said in an interview.

"We work with well-known partners" but it's still early days for many programs that are just getting off the ground. Money flows to non-governmental organizations and local agencies through the World Bank which itself releases independent audits, Verner said.

Attaran received several such reports. Trouble is, it's impossible to assess how well Canadian funds were spent because money from several sources is pooled, he said. "You can't separate it out." He says distinct tracking of Canadian cash is needed.

Alexa McDonough, foreign affairs critic for the NDP, has repeatedly raised questions about spending in Afghanistan. "In overall terms, the government's release of information has been pathetically inadequate."

The development agency finally released a list of funded projects in November after weeks of badgering by opposition MPs, McDonough said. Still, "it's pretty short on any clear sense of objectives and how you'd measure progress."

Of the 38 initiatives vaguely described, six were not scheduled to start until last month. Projects include everything from micro-credit loans for helping women launch businesses, to de-mining programs, new schools, vaccinations and road construction.

Development slowed last summer when intense combat against insurgents in Kandahar siphoned away reconstruction soldiers who were needed on the front lines. New troops have arrived to bolster the military's focus on aid.

Canadian critics aren't the only ones concerned about how billions of dollars in international donations are being used.

There's a double-standard that is especially troubling, says Ehsan Zia, minister for rural rehabilitation and development for the government of Afghanistan.

"The whole world is asking us to be transparent," he said in a recent interview. "But no one is asking them to be transparent," he said of myriad aid agencies that are funding programs - outside government control - that may or may not be sustainable. "We are very, very concerned about this."

Countries trying to help the Afghan government expand its authority face twin challenges of corruption and incompetence. The result is a chicken-and-egg dilemma: national ministries need to gain management experience, but many funders are reticent to hand over cash directly.

Japan's Abe To Focus On Afghanistan In "historic" NATO Visit

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's discussions with senior NATO officials in Brussels this week will focus on Afghanistan as well as Alliance plans for stronger partnerships with Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations, NATO officials said Wednesday.

Talks on January 12 between NATO chief Jaap de Hoof Scheffer and Abe - who will be the first-ever Japanese premier to visit NATO - could involve military and non-military support for NATO troops in Afghanistan, said Alliance spokesman James Appathurai.

Describing Abe's visit to NATO as "historic," Appathurai said non-military Japanese personnel engaged in demobilization and demining operations in Afghanistan were already working side by side with Alliance troops in the country.

As such Abe's talks with Scheffer would be a "conversation of equals" focusing on how Japan could contribute more to NATO operations in Afghanistan, he said.

No new cooperation structures with Japan were planned but the Alliance was seeking a further deepening of contacts with Tokyo, Appathurai added.

NATO leaders in the Latvian capital Riga agreed last November to expand relations with non-Alliance members including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Abe's visit to NATO headquarters comes at a time when Japan is increasing its global security role.

The Japanese parliament agreed last month to upgrade the Defence Agency to a full ministry and to expand the "primary duties" of the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to foreign peacekeeping operations, including support for the US military.

In addition to bilateral talks with Scheffer, Abe will attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO's highest decision-making body.

NATO: Poor communications to blame for civilian deaths in Afghanistan

The Associated Press Published: January 10, 2007

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Poor communications between NATO troops and Afghan authorities led to the death of several civilians during an alliance operation against the Taliban in October, NATO officials said.

NATO officials have said around 30 civilians were killed in the incident in the Panjwayi district of southern Kandahar province; Afghan officials have put the figure has high as 80.

A report into the incident, which followed a joint Afghan-NATO investigation, was presented to 26 NATO ambassadors on Wednesday.

"The main conclusion of the report is that this tragic event took place primarily because communications between international forces and local authorities did not work well enough," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

But he said the report would not be made public, and he would not give details, saying disclosure could reveal sensitive information about the operations of the 32,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force already had made improvements to the way it works with Afghan local authorities, he said.

Appathurai also expressed concern over an announcement last month by Pakistan that it is considering planting land mines at sections of its border with Afghanistan to stop insurgents from crossing the frontier.

"NATO is looking carefully at this issue, but I would say, with deep concern and strong reservations," he said, adding that the alliance hoped to discuss it soon at high-level meeting with Pakistani and Afghan officials.

All NATO nations apart from the United States have signed the Ottawa Treaty, which bans the planting of land mines.

ISAF has acknowledged that NATO troops had killed too many civilians during fighting last year against the resurgent Taliban militants. The deaths have prompted President Hamid Karzai to appeal for foreign forces to use maximum caution.

"The single thing that we have done wrong, and we are striving extremely hard to improve on (in 2007), is killing innocent civilians," Brig. Richard E. Nugee, ISAF's chief spokesman, told a news conference in Kabul last week.

NATO officials say Taliban attacks kill far more civilians, but it is concerned that fatalities caused by international forces are boosting support for the insurgents. "NATO takes every step to prevent civilian casualties," Appathurai said.

Most of the victims in the October incident were nomads who had wandered into fields where international forces and Afghan army units were seeking to hunt down "significant numbers" of Taliban militants, Appathurai told reporters.

"This was a highly complex, fast-moving operation," he said, adding that the report showed NATO troops had failed to coordinate with local authorities who were aware that the nomads were in the line of fire.

Afghan officials reject Daily Telegraph report

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

Jalalabad, 10 January: Officials today rejected reports of the existence of Al-Qa'idah leader Usamah Bin-Ladin in eastern Nuristan Province.

The security chief of Nurestan, Col Gholamollah Khan, said there was no [Al-Qa'idah] activity, not even by a low-level Al-Qa'idah or Taleban element, in the province.

According to a report published in the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph few days back, Usamah Bin Ladin has been hiding in Nurestan Province, in Afghanistan.

The report also said that the provincial administration in Nurestan was too weak to maintain security in the region.

Gholamollah told Pajhwok Afghan News in a satellite phone interview that officials in Nurestan strongly condemned the report.

He said the people took to the streets in Kamdesh and Bragmatal Districts to protest against the paper's report and to condemn it.

The district chief of Bragmatal, Engineer Nawruz, said the police and other law enforcement agencies were active and capable of preventing militants' [activities].

He said hundreds of local residents took part in the protest. The head of the joint security council of the two districts, Mawlawi Fazl Haq Muslim, said the British paper had hurt the feelings of the people in Nurestan.

Shaky Afghan progress

Toronto Star 01/10/2007 - Far from "sliding into chaos" as many Canadians fear, Afghanistan is making "a lot of progress," Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay cheerfully insists. It is a message Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Tories are eager to get out, having committed Canadian troops to a risky stint there that runs past 2008, and through an expected election.

So MacKay has ushered in the New Year by visiting Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan to showcase the "untold success" of Canada's $1 billion aid program and 2,500 troops. He toured a Canada-funded school and other Afghan projects this week and pledged $10 million in aid to the police.

But at every turn MacKay was haunted by reminders of Afghanistan's stubborn insurgency. His flight out of Kandahar Airfield had to be delayed when the base came under rocket attack.

In Kabul, Canada's former Afghan ambassador Chris Alexander, now a United Nations official, expressed the discouraging but accurate view that some in Pakistan are "supporting terrorist organizations that are causing insecurity and violence on a significant scale in Afghanistan."

And Barnett Rubin, a former senior UN adviser on Afghanistan, delivered this bleak assessment in the journal Foreign Affairs: "With the Taliban resurgent, reconstruction faltering, and opium poppy cultivation at an all-time high, Afghanistan is at risk of collapsing into chaos."

All this explains the sinking sensation that many Canadians felt when Harper extended our commitment. Far from accepting defeat, the Taliban wants to launch a spring offensive to cut the Kabul-Kandahar highway and to retake Kandahar, its former seat of power.

Five years after 9/11, Taliban leader Mullah Omar still is on the loose and few of the 140 Taliban leaders named by the UN have been captured. They direct the insurgency from Quetta, in Pakistan, and from Pakistan's Waziristan region. The countries share a 2,400-kilometre border.

Until Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf cracks down on them, they will continue to pose a threat.

During talks with Pakistani officials yesterday, MacKay sensibly urged them to tighten up the frontier by deploying better-trained guards, building fences and expanding aerial surveillance. He also rightly voiced Ottawa's opposition to laying land mines, which threaten civilians.

But Pakistan must be prodded to do far more than prevent infiltration. It needs to disrupt the Taliban leadership, and do it quickly. That should have been the thrust of the "blunt" message MacKay intended to deliver yesterday.

Rubin writes in Foreign Affairs: "Even as Afghan and international forces have defeated insurgents in engagement after engagement, the weakness of the (Afghan) government and the reconstruction effort – and the continued sanctuary provided to Taliban leaders in Pakistan – has prevented real victory."

Clearly, Musharraf must do more. Until he does, MacKay's celebration of our success in Kandahar is bound to ring a little hollow.

Landmines still claim lives in Afghanistan

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 10 January

[Presenter] Landmines claim the lives of 60 people, mainly children, every month in Afghanistan.

The head of the operations at the MDC [Mine Detection and Dog Centre] mine clearing organization says 1bn square metre land has been cleared of mines in the country, but there are still mines at every 100m square metres.

[Correspondent] The head of the operations unit of the MDC mine clearing organization says a residential area of 2,300 square metres has not yet been cleared of mines.

[MDC operations head] The Pakistani authorities' plan to mine the border with Afghanistan will create problems for the people living on both sides of the border.

[Correspondent] A report, released by the MAPA [Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan] mine clearing organization on Tuesday [9 Jan 07], said the landmine fatality cases had decreased from 138 to 60 per month. The report said it may take years for Afghanistan to be fully cleared of mines.

The report is released simultaneous with the Pakistani plan to mine its border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border militancy.

The head of the MDC operations unit says the plan will only create problems for the people living on both sides of the Durand Line.

Tory fate in hands of swing vote
Taxes, Afghanistan, environment expected to be determining issues
News Analysis By BRUCE ANDERSON

OTTAWA — A fairly small group of women, urban and Quebec voters could make the difference in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s bid to win the next election. How Harper handles taxes, Afghanistan and the environment may determine how they mark their ballots.

In our latest survey at Decima Research, completed on Jan. 2, about one in every two people reported satisfaction with the overall performance of the Harper government.

That’s 13 points more than the final rating we saw for the Paul Martin government, just before they lost office. If everyone satisfied with the new government’s performance voted Conservative, Mr. Harper would win a landslide.

Better still for the government, satisfaction rose from 43 per cent in March to 47 per cent in December. However, during the same period, the number of Canadians who said they’d vote Conservative in the next election dropped from the high 30s to the mid 30s.

What explains this different trajectory? And how to account for a 13 point gap between those who are satisfied with Ottawa’s performance (47 per cent) and those who tell us they’ll vote Conservative (34 per cent)?

First, some of those who are "satisfied"are really saying they aren’t as disappointed as they expected to be. Some are saying they’re satisfied but feel they’d be more satisfied with a different government.

This 13 per cent of voters represents the bottom line for the Conservatives. If Harper wins one in two of them, he could win a majority government. If not, it’s a minority or worse. But the Conservatives have been losing rather than making up ground among these voters in the last year.

Here’s why. These voters are more often than not women, and tend to live in cities and suburbs . A fair number are Quebecers who, in the absence of an appealing alternative, default to a Bloc Quebecois vote to promote Quebec’s interests with whatever government wins.

For these voters, the next election will turn on which of the Liberal or Conservative parties looks best on a small bundle of "ballot issues." Plausible ballot issues include: the economy, taxes, Canada-US relations, Afghanistan, health care and the environment. And in Quebec, the fiscal imbalance has become the new code for the perpetual issue of whether Quebec is being treated well or fairly enough by Ottawa. But if success is a function of focus, then it’s useful to try to distill the list.

Barring a major change between now and election day, the winner could be the party that looks best on at least two of the following three issues: taxes, the environment and Afghanistan.

These issues are not just nuts and bolts policy questions, but touch on fundamental values of voters and the two big parties. On these three issues, there’s been good news and bad for the Conservatives lately. Ratings on taxes are relatively good — up four points from September.

On international affairs (in recent months a surrogate for Canada’s policy in the Middle East and Afghanistan), public satisfaction is low by historical standards, but up four points since September.

On the environment, ratings have dropped by six points to become the single weakest area of federal performance, according to voters. Eighteen per cent credit the government with doing a good job, while 74 per cent say "poor job." Last week’s cabinet shuffle may signal to some voters that the government took note of their concerns.

Some analysts argue that foreign and environment policy won’t be ballot issues because they rarely have been in the past. This view could turn out to be right. But for the Conservatives to bet on this view and campaign on other agenda items, such as crime or democratic reform, might prove risky. Times could, in fact, be different.

It’s been 50 years since Canada was involved in a conflict as deadly and costly as Afghanistan is turning out to be. And while it’s true that environmental concerns wax and wane in relation to swings in the economy, few voters are worried about the economy today, and economic swings are mild. Finally, since Hurricane Katrina, Canadians have become more convinced that the climate is changing and the planet is in trouble. This phenomenon has never been present in any prior election.

And so, female, urban/suburban and Quebec voters will probably turn out to be the "swing voters" who hold the key to whether the Liberals or Conservatives form the next government. They’re engaged, want to be impressed, and their votes are up for grabs.

They want peace, but not at any price, want lower taxes, but not at any cost, and want more effort on the environment, with no qualification or prevarication.

State-of-the-art water plant opens in Afghanistan

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (8 January) – A state-of-the art, Afghan built, owned and operated, bottled water plant opened yesterday at Bagram Airfield.

The Aria Bottled Water Plant is a project that will provide long term benefits to both the Afghan people and Coalition forces.

“The plant demonstrates the will of the Afghan people to improve their country,” said Army Col. Larry D. Wyche, commander of the Joint Logistics Command here.

“The fact that this plant was started and completed in six months speaks volumes about the improved security situation in Afghanistan,” said Wyche. “You have an Afghan investor, investing several million dollars and creating hundreds of jobs. Every person that works in the plant now has a legitimate job, which ties directly into improving the stability and security of the country.”

When operating at full capacity, Aria’s four production lines will be able to produce nearly 400,000 bottles of water a day, said Army Maj. Tom Devine, the Joint Logistics Command civil affairs officer. The plant will also be able to produce much needed ice. The water and ice will be purified to meet or exceed the most stringent bottling standards in the world set by the International Bottled Water Association.

The equipment in the plant is like few others in this part of the world. The technology being used is currently used in only a handful of plants around the world and is the first in Asia to be IBWA certified, said Devine.

Construction of the 4,700-square-meter facility took just over five months. The total investment spent on the construction and equipment in the plant is over $10 million (USD).

When operational, Aria will employ hundreds of Afghans, pumping much needed job revenue into the economy, said Devine. This doesn’t include the secondary jobs created from the distribution, marketing and sale of the product.

Aria will also bring a certified training team to Bagram to train their employees in water bottling operations.

The plant is the brainchild of the Ramin brothers. These three Afghan brothers were living in the U.S. before the terrorist attacks of 9-11. After the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, they returned to their homeland with a little bit of money and a big dream of helping to rebuild their homeland. They chose the name Aria from the ancient name of the area that is now Afghanistan.

Foreign specialists start repair work on Afghanistan's Buddha statues – report - Text of report by Afghan independent Ariana TV on 10 January

[Presenter] The Afghan government has rejected claims by Italy that renovation of Buddha statues has started, with a budget of more than 50 million dollars, in Bamian Province.

Meanwhile, Abdol Ahad Abbas, the head of the department handling renovation of Afghanistan's historical sites, has said that German and Japanese archaeologists have started renovating the statues.

[Reporter] The Buddha statues up in the hills in Bamian Province are Afghanistan's religious and historical monuments. Their history goes back to the third century.

But, these precious historical sites were destroyed in March 2001 in line with a decree approved by the Taleban Supreme Court. The 38-metre statue and the other statues that were kept in the museums in Ghazni, Kabul, Jalalabad and other provinces and which belonged to the period before Islam, were destroyed. Abdol Ahad Abbas, the head of the department handling renovation, said: The government is unclear about whether the statues will remain like this.

Abdol Ahad Abbas also said that the Buddha and the other statues had been recorded in the world records by UNESCO. The Japanese and German archaeologists have started their preliminary tests. [footage of statues being destroyed]

The Taliban's fire spreads

Asia Times 1/09/2007 by Nicolas Martin-Lalande

If the ongoing empowerment of the neo-Taliban-driven insurgency is not contained, Kabul could become, once again, the capital of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", 10 years after being taken the first time .

The deficit of security - physical, economic and political - that marks the transition since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 threatens to close a window of opportunity inasmuch as the population will eventually pledge allegiance to the actor it perceives as the less-bad provider of security and government.

Certainly, the population will wait until it perceives a culminating point announcing a decisive swing of fortunes for either the Taliban or the government. As things stand, this balance is increasingly in the Taliban's favor.

An insurgency is a protracted political-military struggle that jointly resorts to terrorist action, guerrilla tactics and social-political mobilization to create chaos among the population. At the same time, support among the population is canvassed, using the rationale that the government is incapable of assuring security. Like an arsonist fireman, the insurgent creates a problem (instability), and then strives to become indispensable to the solution (stabilization).

The success of an insurgency springs from the encounter between an ideology-driven leadership and a dissatisfied population base, on the security, economic or political level. The insurgent's and counter-insurgent's objectives are obviously antagonistic. The counter-insurgent has to reduce the level of violence, take control of the provinces and eradicate the conditions that stoke the movement, to mobilize the support of the local population to isolate and then asphyxiate the insurgents.

Both sides aim to win the hearts and minds of the people, but disillusionment among the Afghan population is as profound as the post-conflict expectations were high after 23 years of armed hostilities when the Taliban were first driven out. A poll by the Asia Foundation last summer revealed that the Afghan population was first and daily concerned with unemployment, the weak economy, security uncertainty and poverty.

But the number of soldiers deployed and the international aid raised for the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan per inhabitant remains exceptionally low. Despite the many international conferences for donors (Tokyo 2002, Madrid 2004, London 2006), analyst James Dobbins of the RAND Corporation estimates aid at US$57 (2000 value) per inhabitant instead of $29 in Germany (post-1945), $206 in Iraq (post-2003), $526 in Kosovo (post-1999) and $679 in Bosnia-Herzegovina (post-1995).

For the government to improve its image before the population is completely alienated, it should quickly act on the social-political demands of the people. It must restore the central government's sovereignty over all of Afghanistan (President Hamid Karzai is teased as being only the mayor of Kabul); re-establish the regular functioning of public services; reduce poverty; secure the rule of law.

The international community needs to contribute toward counterinsurgency efforts and reconstruction strategies. At the military level, the number of international forces needs to be increased.

If these efforts are not made, the 1994-96 Taliban strategy is likely to succeed again. First, take Kandahar, then take control of the rural areas in the Pashtun tribal arc, and finally, lay siege to Kabul.

The Taliban leadership currently enjoys a psychological ascendancy. Emboldened by its resurgence (and the Iraqi insurgency's successes), it dismisses the idea of a full winter lull, planning on the contrary to intensify its propaganda war and moves to control the capital's support/communication lines. Time is against the counterinsurgents.

Nicolas Martin-Lalande is a researcher with the Raoul Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies (www.dandurand.uqam.ca), University of Quebec at Montreal.

Tackling the Taleban in the cold - By Dan Isaacs - BBC News, Kandahar

The landscape is bleak, and at night a biting January wind cuts through the mountains, whipping down onto the Kandahar plain.

This is the season when Taleban fighters dissolve into villages and the hills. Not until the spring weather sets in is the insurgency expected to resume with any real strength.

During this lull in military operations, the tactic being adopted by Nato, with the newly-trained Afghan security forces, is to drive a wedge between the hard-core Taleban and those paid to fight, but are less ideologically committed to the cause.

The battle is seen very much in economic terms. Give young men and women in villages the opportunity to earn a better living perhaps farming, or training with the Afghan police force, and the temptation to take up the Taleban cause will be reduced.

As the planting season approaches in the next couple of months, that theme extends to persuading local farmers not to plant the opium poppy, a major source of revenue for the Taleban.

It's a two-edged approach, explains Squadron Leader David Marsh, spokesman for Nato's southern regional command in Kandahar. From there NATO has a military offensive against the Taleban, and in particular its leadership, while at the same time building bridges within local communities.

The current military offensive in the Panjwayi and Zhari districts of Kandahar, known as Operation Baaz Tsuka, is being undertaken with these themes very much in mind.

At the core of the NATO military operation in Kandahar are some 2,500 Canadian troops. They are operating in districts that have seen some of the fiercest conflicts last year.

Canada's foreign minister, Peter Mackay donned his flak jacket and flew by military helicopter on Monday to see not only Canada's battlefield forces, but also some of the development projects being supported by the Canadians.

The easing of the Taleban offensive in the winter months, has given the Canadians and other Nato forces the opportunity to do what they came here for, to ensure an umbrella of stability to enable meaningful development assistance to reach ordinary Afghan people.

Mr Mackay made the most of this opportunity, announcing additional support to the Afghan police force, training, equipment and salaries.

At a time when public support for continued troop presence in Afghanistan is wavering across Nato countries, such diplomatic displays are seen as crucial, not least in winning the hearts and minds of the electorate back home.

It's a time of uncertainty. Nato commanders are confident that they've broken the back of the insurgency in southern Afghanistan, and yet they talk of "re-infiltration" of Taleban fighters back into areas they've previously claimed to have "subdued".

One of the key areas of concern is the extent to which the Taleban are able to move across the porous mountain border with Pakistan.

The Afghan government has repeatedly expressed frustration with its neighbour's lack of commitment in tackling what it describes as "safe havens" within Pakistan's lawless tribal areas; allowing the Taleban to regroup, train new recruits and finance their operations.

Pakistan has proposed erecting a fence and laying land mines along vulnerable stretches of the border, a plan which has appalled the Afghans, all too aware of the threat that poses to the Pashtun tribes that straddle the border, whilst doing little, the Afghan government argues, to crack down on Taleban operations within Pakistan.

Only with the arrival of the warmer weather, will it be possible to measure the success of Nato's current carrot and stick strategy within Afghanistan, against the threats from Taleban leaders to re-ignite the insurgency.

Channel 4 viewers get a taste of British experience in Afghanistan

Paktribune January 11, 2007 - LONDON: Britain's Channel 4 has broadcast a first hand account by a journalist of the hazards of being a British soldier in Afghanistan, fighting the wily Taliban and encountering the protagonists of the jihad.

In a two-part dispatch, titled Dispatches: Fighting the Taliban, the journalist, Sean Langan, captures the involvement of the British soldiers as part of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, in keeping the country together and fighting the insurgents to bring in a semblance of stability.

The footage in the first part aired by the channel Monday shows the British army had only little control of mainly isolated pockets in Helmand, the southern province in Afghanistan, where the troops were deployed to defeat the insurgents.

Langan ignored the U.K. ministry of defense orders and moved with the Afghan army, along with the British soldiers, to be a witness a mission to regain control of a strategic town, Garmser, in Helmand province. He spent a week with the soldiers and sent the dispatches to the channel. What he has captured on his camera, from the real battlefield, shows the extent of hardships faced by the troops, especially shortage of food. The British soldiers are seen eating corn cobs from the nearby fields as there was no food transported to them for want of any transportation facilities.

The soldiers belonging to both Britain and Afghanistan are seen in the video clips as virtually struggling to regain control of the town. The operation, originally planned to last for just a day, goes on for nearly a week. There were promises of replacements and reinforcements, but none arrived leaving the troops to fend for themselves in arduous circumstances.

An officer talks to Langan, describing how the area south of the town is wholly controlled by the Taliban, who appeared to have an edge over the British-Afghan combined forces. The Taliban forces have adequate supplies of essential items and there are reinforcements reaching the spots at the appropriate time, the officer was seen telling Langan.

Langan shows how exhausted the troops were and how low their morale was. In recording their conversations, he brings out the exhaustion each one of them experienced and how dejected they were. There were 17 British troopers in the group and they believed their task would be completed by the end of the day and they will be able to pull out, but that never happened. At the end of each day they are told they were to remain in position until the town fell. And there were no reinforcements in sight.

The dispatches indicate that the British troops are fighting a battle that is getting overstretched and perhaps unwinnable.

The second part of the program is scheduled for Thursday and it will include Langan's interaction with a Taliban leaders and jihad fighters, including a commander, Mullah Ibrahimi, who is said to control most parts of Helmand. Mullah Ibrahimi tells Langan that Taliban has its own judges, its own administration and a political system and nothing is possible in the region without the group's consent.

The ministry of defense said the video is outdated as British troops have since moved into the area.

Langan has traveled extensively in Afghanistan, including the porous border areas with Pakistan and has met Islamic fighters who are part of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

[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.]