In this bulletin:

• NATO air strikes kill 45 in Afghanistan's Helmand province
• Two Dutch soldiers killed in Afghanistan
• Twenty five civilians killed in clashes, airstrikes in Afghanistan
• Civilian casualties may have resulted from ISAF engagement with insurgents
• Afghanistan: NGO network raps international forces over civilian deaths
• Cat and mouse games in Afghanistan
• Walking Afghanistan's drugs tightrope
• US helping build Afghan prison
• Few venture into Kandahar's streets
• Pakistani official says border area blast was 'foreign attack'
• Pakistan in favor of strong, stable Afghanistan: PM
• Afghanistan: Kabul Investigates Reported Militant Movement From Iran
• Polish lower house speaker visiting Afghanistan
• Germany: Terror Threat Is on the Rise
• Karzai: Taleban Not A Threat To Long-Term Stability Of Afghanistan
• NATO chief urges Canada to extend Afghanistan mission
• Taliban losing the will to talk
• Taliban using illegal, immoral methods to fight
• Eye on Afghanistan
• Peel beneath decals to find true message
• On patrol in eastern Afghanistan

NATO air strikes kill 45 in Afghanistan's Helmand province

From our ANI Correspondent

Kabul, June 22: NATO air strikes have left 25 civilians and 20 militants dead ‎after suspected Taliban militants attacked police posts in southern ‎Afghanistan, a senior police officer said on Friday. ‎

‎ ‎The attack took place in the province's Gereshk District late on Thursday. ‎Among the dead were nine women, three babies and the mullah of a local mosque.‎

‎``A compound was assessed to have been occupied by up to 30insurgent fighters, ‎most of whom were killed in the engagement. We are concerned about reports that ‎some civilians may have lost their lives during this attack,'' said Lt. Col. ‎Mike Smith, an ISAF spokesman. Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the BBC this ‎week that civilian deaths caused by foreign forces would have to stop, other ‎wise Afghans might turn against those countries with a military presence in ‎Afghanistan. ‎

He added, however, that people were still grateful for that involvement. ‎

There are two international missions in Afghanistan: Nato's International ‎Security Assistance Force (ISAF), with 37,000 troops from 37 countries, ‎including the US. Its aim is to help the Afghan government bring security, ‎development and better governance. ‎

The US-led coalition - under the banner of Operation Enduring Freedom - is a ‎counter-terrorism mission that involves mainly special forces. ‎

The south of the country has this year seen the worst violence since the ‎Taleban were ousted from power in 2001 by US-led troops.‎

Two Dutch soldiers killed in Afghanistan

NETHERLANDS 22 June 2007 - Issue : 735‎

Two Dutch soldiers have been killed and six wounded in Afghanistan. One soldier ‎died and three others were wounded June 15 when a car bomb exploded in the city ‎of Tarin Kowt in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. Five Afghan children were also ‎killed in the attack. ‎

The three wounded Dutch soldiers and a number of Afghans were taken to a ‎hospital at the Dutch military basis near Tarin Kowt. Their condition was ‎described as “stable,” according to Dick Berlijn, Commander of the Armed Forces ‎in Afghanistan. ‎

On June 18, another soldier was killed and three others wounded in an accident ‎during a fighting against the Taliban near the Afghan town of Chora, Dutch ‎media reported. ‎

This was the third Dutch fatality in combat in Afghanistan since the troops ‎were deployed in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan last August. ‎

Sergeant-major Jos Leunissen, 44, from the Assen air mobile brigade, was killed ‎as a result of “an accident during the fighting,” the Dutch Defense Ministry ‎said. ‎

The cause of death was not officially confirmed, but he was apparently hit by ‎one of the Dutch mortar grenades, which were fired by his own unit but exploded ‎sooner than expected. The conditions of the three wounded Dutch soldiers were ‎stable, the ministry said.‎

The June 15 attack took place in the centre of Tarin Kowt on a two- to three-‎kilometre distance from the Dutch army base. The car containing the bomb drove ‎from a side road into a Dutch YPR-pantser vehicle. The Dutch victims were ‎inside the car, the killed Afghan children were standing nearby. ‎

Berlijn and Minister of Defence Eimert van Middelkoop spoke of a “cowardly ‎attack.” ‎

The 20-year-old killed Dutchman was a first class soldier of the 42nd ‎battallion of the so-called “Limburgse Jagers,” which the three wounded are ‎also part of. The Dutch Ministry of Defence will not publish the victim’s ‎identity and residence unless requested so by his family. ‎

The car bomb attack was the third on the Dutch forces in Afghanistan, and the ‎victim was the second Dutch soldier to die in military action in Afghanistan. ‎

In April, 21-year-old corporal Cor Strik died in the province of Helmand ‎following a side-road bomb. Five other Dutch soldiers died in Afghanistan ‎following accidents and one suicide. ‎

Minister of Defence Van Middelkoop said he was “deeply affected” by the June 15 ‎killing and immediately briefed the government. Van Middelkoop, who gave his ‎condolences to the bereaved family, said the government reacted to the news ‎‎“with shock.” ‎

Van Middelkoop also said the attack demonstrates “the kind of enemy we are ‎dealing with ... they want to make as many victims as possible.” The minister ‎said the incident did not shake Holland’s determination “to help the Afghan ‎people.” The Netherlands is one of the few European countries fighting there. ‎

Twenty five civilians killed in clashes, airstrikes in Afghanistan

06/22/2007 16:16

Taliban militants attacked southern Afghanistan police posts and NATO responded with airstrikes, killing 25 civilians, including 3 infants and the local mullah, a senior police officer said Friday.

NATO said its overnight bombardment killed most of a group of 30 insurgents and blamed them for the deaths of any innocents, saying they had launched "irresponsible" attacks from civilian homes.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized the rising civilian toll from NATO and U.S.-led military operations as "difficult for us to accept or understand."

The police posts came under fire late Thursday in Helmand province's Gereshk district, provincial Police Chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal told The Associated Press.

NATO responded by calling in airstrikes, which killed 20 suspected militants - but also 25 civilians, including nine women, three babies and the mullah or religious teacher at the local mosque, Andiwal said.

Taliban used at least two civilian compounds for cover during the clashes, which lasted into early Friday, Andiwal said.

"NATO was targeting the areas where the fire was coming from ... and two compounds were completely destroyed, and the families living in those compounds were killed," he said.

Villagers loaded the victims' bodies onto tractor trailers to take them to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, to prove they were innocent victims, but police stopped them, Andiwal said.

NATO said the aircraft struck after insurgents attacked troops from its International Security Assistance Force 14 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Gereshk town.

"A compound was assessed to have been occupied by up to 30 insurgent fighters, most of whom were killed in the engagement," an alliance statement said.

Lt. Col. Mike Smith, a NATO spokesman, expressed concern about the reports of civilian deaths. However, he claimed that - because insurgents had chosen the time and location for the attack - "the risk to civilians was probably deliberate."

"It is this irresponsible action that may have led to casualties," he said.

If confirmed, the casualties in Gereshk would bring the number of civilians killed in NATO or U.S.-led military operations this year to 177, according to an Associated Press tally of figures provided by Afghan officials and witness reports.

Civilian casualties may have resulted from ISAF engagement with insurgents

Release # 2007-458 22 June 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (June 22) – Last night, ISAF forces were attacked by insurgents 14 kilometers northeast of Gereshk in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. ISAF responded with small arms fire and an airstrike.

A compound was assessed to have been occupied by up to 30 insurgent fighters, most of whom were killed in the engagement. ISAF troops are now investigating reports that a small number of civilians may also have been in the compound. At this time it has not been possible to determine if civilians have been killed or injured, or indeed if civilian casualties were a result of insurgent or ISAF action.

"We are concerned about reports that some civilians may have lost their lives during this attack," said Lt. Col. Mike Smith, spokesman for Regional Command South. "However, it must be noted that it was the insurgents who initiated this attack, and in choosing to conduct such attacks in this location and at this time, the risk to civilians was probably deliberate. It is this irresponsible action that may have led to casualties."

ISAF officials have said previously that they continue to work to coordinate operations with Afghan officials to minimize the risk to civilians from military operations. ISAF forces remain in the area and will provide medical assistance as necessary.

Afghanistan: NGO network raps international forces over civilian deaths

By: IRIN Published: Jun 22, 2007 at 06:38

A network of Afghan and international non-government organisations (NGOs) has called on international forces in Afghanistan to do more to protect civilians in their combat operations.

The call comes amid increasing criticism of the international troops fighting Taliban insurgents, with scores of civilians, including women and children, perishing as a result of their operations.

"We strongly condemn the operations and force protection measures carried out by international military forces in which disproportionate or indiscriminate use of force has resulted in civilian casualties," read a statement released by the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), an umbrella of more than 90 humanitarian and development NGOs.

The statement holds Afghan and international forces responsible for at least 230 civilian deaths, including 60 women and children, in their military engagements in 2007 alone.

"Fourteen civilians have been killed for simply driving or walking too close to international military personnel or vehicles," the statement said.

On 17 June, US warplanes bombed a religious school in Zarghun Shah District of western Paktika Province, killing seven children aged 8 to 15, a US military press release said. US forces have blamed Taliban and al-Qaeda for the unfortunate incident.

"This is another example of al-Qaeda using the protective status of a mosque, as well as innocent civilians, to shield themselves," read a press release, issued on 18 June from the US military base at Baghram airfield.

The NGOs urged the international forces to comply with international and Afghan laws, and respect local culture while conducting house searches and arrests.

The NGO association, which includes many Western humanitarian organisations, said Afghan support for international military forces had "substantially diminished".

"Excessive and disproportionate use of force is not only illegal and wrong but is also counter-productive," the NGOs said.

NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US troops operating under Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) command in Afghanistan rejected the criticism.

"We have always respected international law in our military engagements and have worked alongside Afghan forces," said Maj Chris Belchera, a US military spokesman at Baghram airfield to the north of the capital, Kabul.

A spokesman for ISAF in Kabul, Maj John Thomas, gave a similar account, adding NATO would do its best to reduce civilian casualties in its operations.

"Sometimes we even call off air strikes to avoid unnecessary harm to noncombatants," Thomas said.

However, Matt Waldman from a British charity organisation, Oxfam GB, called on the US military to do more for the safety of civilians in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of civilians have died in numerous suicide and roadside explosions carried out by the Taliban and their allies.

On 15 June, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Tarinkot, the provincial capital of southern Urozgan Province, killing one soldier and 11 children, according to the UN.

Sources associated with Taliban rebels claimed responsibility for the attack but blamed soldiers for choosing to patrol where children were playing.

Members of ACBAR have, furthermore, asked Afghan and international forces, including all American armed units in Afghanistan, to establish a permanent body for better coordination and common standards of operation.

NGOs have indicated that many incidents in which unarmed Afghans have been affected by military operations are caused by inaccurate or false information.

Afghan, OEF and NATO forces, however, say their efforts are already well coordinated.

Thomas said ISAF maintained good coordination with Afghan and OEF forces on a daily basis: "We work together on tactical and operational levels."

Waldman calls the current level of coordination between NATO, OEF and Afghan forces "insufficient" and, according to him, in need of urgent improvement.

Based on a strategic partnership signed by Bush and his Afghan counterpart Karzai in May 2005, US troops have freedom of action in all military operations in Afghanistan.

The ACBAR network of NGOs has called on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the country's human rights commission (AIHRC) to investigate every incident in which armed conflicts affect non-combatants - with the aim of verifying conflicting pieces of information.

Cat and mouse games in Afghanistan

Last Updated: Friday, 22 June 2007, 13:16 GMT 14:16 UK

BBC Kabul correspondent Alastair Leithead comes face-to-face with the human cost of the guerrilla war in Afghanistan, embedded with British troops in Garmsir on Operation Bataka.

In the darkness I tried to find somewhere soft to lie down inside the open-air mud compound.

We were with British forces overnight on Operation Bataka in Garmsir, Helmand province, and the compound had for the last few months been in Taleban control.

I found a place and, still sweating in my body armour and with a big pack stuffed with water, rations and broadcast equipment, I settled down to catch some sleep before the men moved on.

The ground was unusually soft and comfortable but there was a strong, very unpleasant yet familiar smell.

It was the smell of a decomposing human body.

The Taleban had fought from here for months - even in the darkness there was evidence of where bombs and artillery shells had struck.

I moved to somewhere a little harder and somehow, despite the tension and anticipation, the heat and the insects, fell into a deep sleep that lasted until first light - and first contact.

Burying their dead is very important to the Taleban, and under fire from such high-tech opponents this would have been the perfect place for an improvised graveyard, as well as a bed for the night.

It was not to be my last encounter on this mission with the human cost of this guerrilla war.

The operation had begun at sunset on Thursday - a day later than planned - with more than 500 British troops and about 200 from the Afghan National Army.

Garmsir town centre is deserted, its shops looted and metal shutters flapping in the wind that also keeps the Afghan flag flying over what has been the frontline against the Taleban in this area for more than six months.

The small British bases at either end had been hammered day and night for months by the insurgents, using the network of irrigation channels and compounds to navigate the ground unseen until their attack.

The operation was designed to change all that - to push through into Taleban ground and to build a large bridge across the canal - to allow British troops to move into the no-man's land with relative ease in armoured vehicles.

Artillery shells barraging Taleban positions marked the beginning of the operation and with darkness we crossed the canal with British forces and gradually moved through to the compound that we would stay in until daylight.

And it was the sound of heavy machine-gun fire that began the day, as the British infantry troops moved forward one compound at a time.

Explosive charges created a route through as those further forward turned every corner expecting to see a Taleban fighter waiting for them.

Other units were responsible for different areas, all attempting to push the Taleban back on different fronts.

Apache attack helicopters hovered menacingly overhead, occasionally firing their distinctive and eerie high-powered canons at targets on the ground.

There was the threat of booby-traps so engineers worked carefully to move through the compounds.

We went through one doorway with the troops and saw the body of a Taleban fighter.

He had been shot a number of times - his and two other weapons were nearby. One frontline soldier said his compatriots had fled without their guns as the British troops moved forward.

The ground force then pulled back as the artillery shells, mortar bombs and helicopter fire continued to rain down on the area - considered by the UK commanders to be free of civilians.

And there was little sign of normal life amid the bombed-out houses and courtyards.

We headed back to the bridge - built in less than six hours by the Royal Engineers while I had been looking for somewhere to sleep.

It seems strange to plan and carry out such operations that gain ground, only to pull back straightaway, but British forces say they do not have the troops to completely secure such vast areas - and they never could have.

It's the tactic of guerrilla war - a game of cat and mouse between British and Taleban forces on the frontline in Helmand province and as I write, back in the main base, the shelling and mortaring continues.

Walking Afghanistan's drugs tightrope

By David Loyn BBC Developing World correspondent 22 June 2007, 14:13 GMT

The drug economy in Afghanistan is now worth about $3bn a year, larger than the legal economy, and it is having a distorting effect on the attempts by the country to return to normality after a generation of war.

The legal thicket entangling Gen Aminullah Amrkhel, the former head of customs at Kabul airport, is a morality tale that says a lot about the state of the nation.

When he first did a BBC interview in the spring of last year, he was confident about his ability to capture drug smugglers at the airport, not just with random searches, but using intelligence tip-offs.

He said he was turning down huge bribes from drug smugglers, and was on the verge of breaking a major international drugs ring.

He showed us a remarkable videotape of a woman who had been arrested carrying 5kg (11lb) of heroin in bags strapped to her body.

She threatened the lives of customs officers, demanding to be given her mobile phone back. She said that with "one call", she could make them "disappear".

She did turn out to have friends in high places, and despite the protestations of Gen Aminullah, she was released from custody.

Soon afterwards, he was himself charged with several offences, none involving drug smuggling, after investigators arrived at the airport to look through every aspect of his management.

One of the investigators withdrew early on in disgust, claiming in an Afghan TV interview that they had been made to swear an oath that they would find incriminating evidence against Gen Aminullah.

In December, the sacked customs chief fled to London after receiving death threats on his mobile phone.

He returned to a hero's welcome to Afghanistan's airport in April only after receiving assurances from senior politicians that he would be protected.

But when I met him in Kabul earlier this month, he was in hiding, moving often, and again in fear of his life.

"I have lost everything including my job because of an illegal plot by the mafia and smugglers, and that is because of the attorney general," he said.

"He is the protector of the drug smugglers, and he acted on a wrong and false allegation against me by them."

But Afghan Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet said in a BBC interview: "Don't believe him please, don't believe such nonsense as I was brought under pressure from drug dealers. If I can find a drug dealer like him, I will arrest him... He is lying.

"I am sure the court will convict him... He just tries to get away with his crimes. I am not going to let him go."

Gen Aminullah's case has attracted significant local support.

The speaker of the upper house of parliament, Sibghatullah Mujadidi, said he had been "working honestly" at the airport, and that he had "no suspicion" about him.

He said that instead it was the attorney general who should be dismissed: "If it was in my authority, I would not leave him one day in his job."

He said he had visited a jail near Jalalabad that was full of people who should not have been there, imprisoned after "personal clashes" with the attorney general.

A delegation of tribal elders chosen from a rally in support of Gen Aminullah outside parliament won an assurance from the speaker of the lower house, Mohammed Yunus Qanooni, that the whole case would be properly investigated.

The elders said they were planning to hold more widespread protests if the charges against Gen Aminullah were not dropped.

But the attorney general claimed they had been paid $50 each to attend the rally by Gen Aminullah. He said it was easy because "there are so many unemployed people in the city".

Gen Aminullah is bitter that the international community, and particularly the British, have not given him more support since he was removed from office.

He said they had now "lost the war on drugs... It is damaging British people in both places. Their soldiers die here, because it pays for ammunition and weapons, and the money for that comes from drugs.

"And in Britain they are dying in another way because people become addicted to drugs. It kills their youth there and their soldiers here."

US helping build Afghan prison

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The United States is helping build a prison in Afghanistan that would take some prisoners now at Guantanamo Bay, but the White House said Friday that it was not meant as an alternative to the detainee facility in Cuba.

The Bush administration wants to close Guantanamo Bay and move its terror suspects to prisons elsewhere, but says no decision about the status of the facility is imminent. White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said the United States has released about 80 of some 375 detainees, and hopes to transfer several dozen Afghans back to Afghanistan in the near future.

"America does not have any intention of being the world's jailer," Perino said, adding that the administration wants other nations to take their prisoners back, and treat them humanely, but not let them back on the battlefield.

She said President Bush has directed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work with her counterparts around the world to try to repatriate the detainees to their home countries, make sure that they are held safely and treated humanely and that they are not allowed to perpetrate acts of terrorism.

The Guantanamo Bay prison, set up in 2002 to house terror suspects captured in military operations, mostly in Afghanistan, has been a flash point for criticism of the Bush administration at home and abroad.

Human rights advocates and foreign leaders have repeatedly called for the shutdown of Guantanamo, and the prison is regarded by many as proof of U.S. double standards on fundamental freedoms in the war on terrorism.

Some of the detainees come from countries that are U.S. allies, including Britain, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Each of those governments raised complaints about the conditions or duration of detentions, or about the possibility that detainees might face death sentences.

Senior administration officials said Thursday that a consensus is building for a plan to shut the detention center and transfer detainees to one of more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Perino would not comment on whether detainees were headed to Kansas.

Bush's national security and legal advisers had been scheduled to discuss the move at a meeting Friday, the officials said, but after The Associated Press reported it, the White House said the meeting would not take place that day and no decision on Guantanamo Bay's status is imminent.

Three senior administration officials spoke about the discussions on condition of anonymity because they were internal deliberations.

Perino said the meeting was canceled "very late" on Thursday because it was determined that a "meeting wasn't necessary at this time."

"There was going to be a meeting in which Guantanamo detainee issues were discussed today, but that has been taken off the schedule," Perino said Friday. "That doesn't mean that people don't continue to work on what the president has asked them to do, which is work towards getting that facility closed."

Expected to consult soon, according to the officials, were Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace.

Few venture into Kandahar's streets

By Jason Motlagh THE WASHINGTON TIMES June 21, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The sight of children playing outside is a good sign, but people of any age are still scarce on the streets of Kandahar.

"The Taliban has lost lots of support by killing innocent civilians, so during the day it's fairly secure and people are out," said Canadian Lt. Des James, before a convoy of four armored vehicles rumbled out of the Canadians' concrete fortress deep within the warrens of this strategic desert city, the second largest in the country.

"Today, there's commercial activity again, fresh fruits in the market," Lt. James said.

In the city center, local produce was on display at vendor stalls, along with flea-bitten shanks of meat and shiny new home appliances from Pakistan and China. But relatively few customers browse the market or walk the streets.

Unlike last year, when the Taliban fought gunbattles against NATO's multinational force across the southern provinces, militants now increasingly rely on roadside bombs and other terrorist tactics to thwart reconstruction efforts around their former capital.

A Canadian convoy was attacked Friday by a suicide bomber here. No troops were injured, but earlier in the week a Canadian soldier was killed when a roadside bomb was detonated near his vehicle about 24 miles north of the city.

Roadside bombs have killed 20 Canadian soldiers, including three yesterday. In all, 60 Canadians have died fighting in Afghanistan.

On this late spring afternoon, haggard children were about the only people moving around. A passing military convoy received the thumbs-up sign from some and a middle finger from others — emblematic of the divided perspectives here.

The 110-degree heat is a factor, too, but some local entrepreneurs say it is mainly fear that stifles commerce in the south's traditional trading hub.

"There are security problems here in Kandahar city," said Mohammad Salim, an Afghani contractor for construction projects. "Each year since [the 2001 fall of the Taliban], business has been good. This year there is no one coming."

"If [NATO] was not here, we could not even work for one hour," he added.

According to a 2006 survey by Altai Consulting, 84 percent of Afghans nationwide said their lives are better now than under the Taliban. In the south, this number plummets to just 40 percent.

Leaders of the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) later spoke with local leaders at a mosque, where they had funded construction of a water well for devotees to perform ablutions before prayer.

Afghan elders shook hands with team members, touching their hearts in a traditional gesture of gratitude.

But as the team prepared to leave 20 minutes later, Mr. Salim admitted that some Taliban fighters were holed up about four rows back from where they stood — a tricky, if common scenario for security forces who know part-time fighters stash their weapons and blend in when it's convenient.

"It's time to go," said Lt. James. "We've been here longer than I'm comfortable with."

Navigating the city's bullet-strafed roads to visit project sites is a tense affair. Gunners inside the armored vehicles trained their sights on cars, vans and even motorcycles potentially packed with lethal explosives.

NATO officials say terrorist tactics are being used much more frequently this spring, a sign the insurgency has been hurt by an aggressive counteroffensive begun last year that has killed hundreds of fighters and eliminated key Taliban commanders.

"We are now seeing the fruits of Operation Medusa, which has had a tremendous effect on the leadership of the Taliban," said Canadian Lt. Col. Bob Chamberlain, commander of the Kandahar PRT.

Suicide bombings are down compared with last year, Western officials say, considered a sign that the hard-core, or "first-tier" Taliban leaders are finding it harder to attract less-motivated "second-tier" recruits for suicide missions.

Regardless of the tactics used, ordinary Afghans continue to bear the brunt of Taliban violence. A Friday suicide attack in neighboring Uruzgan province killed 13 Afghans, including five children and a Dutch soldier.

Pakistani official says border area blast was 'foreign attack'

Islamabad, June 22 (DPA) The chief minister of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province Thursday said the explosion in a border area with Afghanistan that killed 34 people was caused by a "foreign attack".

The Tuesday blast at a small compound south of Dattakhel town in the semi-autonomous North Waziristan tribal agency was initially described by Pakistan as "premature detonation" in a terrorist hideout.

"According to my information a foreign attack caused the deaths," Minister Akram Durrani told reporters in the provincial capital Peshawar.

However, he did not mention which foreign country might have carried out the attack.

Earlier, the legislative assembly in the province condemned the explosion, which they claimed was caused by a US missile attack from Afghanistan.

The opposition members - mainly from religious parties - of the national parliament accused the US of an alleged missile attack before staging a token walkout from the house.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said Tuesday that they had no knowledge of the incident.

Meanwhile, local media reported Thursday that the target of the incident was not an Islamic seminary, as suggested earlier, but a cluster of open shelters in the mountains where locals retrieved 23 recognizable bodies and the burnt body parts of 11 more.

One person was injured while seven survived miraculously even though they were just a few yards from the target of the alleged attack, which has put the government's 2006 peace accords with local tribesmen in strain.

Under the agreement, the security forces ceased their operations in return for an end of local support to foreign militants, who have sought shelter in the area since US-led forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001.

US officials believe the peace deals have only turned the tribal areas into safe-havens for Islamic fighters who used these areas to launch attacks into Afghanistan .

Pakistan in favor of strong, stable Afghanistan: PM

Posted June 22nd, 2007 by Indian-MuslimMuslim World News ISLAMABAD, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Noting that bilateral relations are improving, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said Pakistan is in favor of a strong and stable Afghanistan.

In an interview with a local private television, Aziz said Pakistan is doing everything it can for peace and development in Afghanistan and the improved relations with Afghanistan are in Pakistan's interests.

Aziz expressed concern over the nexus between drug money in Afghanistan and global terrorism, stressing that the drug money financing terrorism was "a matter of concern for us and for the world."

Explaining Pakistan's anti-terror efforts, the prime minister mentioned selective fencing of its 2500-km border with Afghanistan,increased patrolling, setting up of 1000 check posts along the border and deployment 80,000 troops in the area.

Aziz also referred to the 3 million Afghan refugees being hosted by Pakistan and said the refugees camps in Pakistan had become safe havens for terrorist activities.

Afghanistan: Kabul Investigates Reported Militant Movement From Iran

June 22, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- An Afghan border guard commander has told Western and Afghan journalists that armed militants have been seen crossing from Iran into Afghanistan. But when questioned by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan shortly after his comments were published, the commander said he couldn't confirm the intelligence reports until an investigation is completed.

Afghan officials have confirmed they are investigating intelligence reports about gunmen in two pickup trucks crossing into Afghanistan's western Farah Province from Iranian territory on June 18.

Colonel Rahmatullah Safi, an Afghan border guard commander for three provinces that border Iran, told the German news agency dpa on June 19 that about 20 armed men had crossed the border from Iran.

DPA quoted Safi as saying that intelligence reports indicated the gunmen were heading to a part of Farah Province that has seen escalating militant activity in recent months.

Safi made similar comments in an interview that was broadcast by Afghanistan's Ariana TV.

But when questioned by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan shortly after the German news agency published his remarks, Safi said he could not comment while an investigation is under way.

"We had some reports that two vehicles entered our country from the border areas," he said. "There were only some reports. We have not seen them personally. We have ordered our forces to control such movements. However, we did not find any other incidents."

Safi also has told Western and Afghan journalists that remnants of Iranian ammunition were discovered on the ground in Herat Province after fierce clashes last weekend between Taliban and Afghan police. He said five antitank mines with Iranian markings were also seized at the border two weeks ago.

But Safi told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that there is no evidence proving the weaponry has been sent by the Iranian government.

"So far we don't have any evidence which would satisfy our government and the international community that our neighboring countries have been undermining our country’s [laws]," he said. "We would need evidence to prove it. We have ordered our military units to check the reports. We will see what results we are getting after the investigation and assessments in the area."

Earlier this month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected allegations that the Iranian government may be sending weapons to Taliban fighters in an attempt to destabilize his country.

"We don't have any such evidence so far of the involvement of the Iranian government in supplying the Taliban," he said. "We have a very good relationship with the Iranian government. Iran and Afghanistan have never been as friendly as they are today."

But U.S. officials have accused Tehran of shipping advanced weaponry to militants who are trying to bring down Karzai's government.

Earlier this month, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Washington has "irrefutable evidence" that Iran's Revolutionary Guard is arming Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

But later, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington has suspicions but no hard evidence of a direct link between the Iranian government and weapons used in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

"I haven't seen any intelligence specifically to this effect, but I would say, given the quantities we are seeing, it is difficult to believe that it is associated with smuggling or the drug business or that it is taking place without the knowledge of the Iranian government," Gates said.

Tehran on June 21 categorically denied that it was sending any aid or weapons to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Iran's state news agency, IRNA, quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari as saying that the allegations are "so unfounded and irrational that independent officials" in both the United States and the United Kingdom has assessed the

Jean MacKenzie, the Afghanistan country director of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, says Karzai and his administration may be downplaying the issue in order to maintain good diplomatic relations with Tehran.

"Hamid Karzai is in a very difficult situation...at present," MacKenzie said. "He is under attack from all sides within Afghanistan -- people in the government who are not supporting him, a new political front dedicated to undermining Karzai's position and overthrowing him if possible, and then, of course, he has got the Taliban always making problems. Karzai needs all the friends he can get in the international sphere. His relationship with Pakistan is quite troubled. So I think he does not want to make any more enemies on his border and he is trying to keep the relationship with Tehran on as even a keel as possible."

MacKenzie says she is unsure if Karzai or his administration would publicly announce any "irrefutable evidence" that proves the involvement of Iran's government in weapons shipments to Taliban fighters.

"We have got reporters who are trying to run down the weapons link," she said. "There are many reports, much more than anecdotal evidence, that weapons are coming into Afghanistan from Iran. Specifically, into Herat and the other western provinces -- but mostly into Herat. It is very difficult to get people to go on the record on such a topic as weapons shipments, particularly when it involves a foreign government."

(Contributors to this report include RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Rashteem Qadiri in Herat and RFE/RL correspondent Farangis Najibullah in Prague.)

Polish lower house speaker visiting Afghanistan

UPDATED: 11:22, June 22, 2007

Ludwik Dorn, speaker of the lower house of Polish Parliament met Thursday in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzaj and other leaders.

They discussed political situation in Afghanistan and Poland's commitment to NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, Polish PAP news agency reported.

Dorn was quoted as saying that Poland treats its commitment in Afghanistan as a long-term task.

Earlier in the day, Dorn met Polish soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Poland has sent more than 1,000 troops as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Source: Xinhua

Germany: Terror Threat Is on the Rise

June 22, 2007 – 11:07 am By DAVID McHUGH Associated Press Writer

BERLIN (AP) - The threat of a terrorist attack against Germans in Afghanistan _ or even suicide bombings in Germany itself _ appears to be on the rise in recent days, officials said Friday.

German officials compared the current situation to that before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, citing a "mosaic" of clues and previous attacks. Germany has some 3,000 troops and several reconnaissance jets as part of the international security force in Afghanistan.

Three German Islamic radicals, believed to be part of a group of 10 people trained to carry out suicide bombings, were arrested in Pakistan, said Joerg Ziercke, head of the Federal Crime Office, the German equivalent of the FBI. He gave few details of the arrests but said the suspects were young Germans who had converted to Islam.

"There are indications that terrorist structures in the region of Afghanistan and Pakistan have gained strength and are capable of acting," Christian-Guenter Sachs, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said at a news conference. "We have information that persons from Europe, from Germany, are involved in these structures."

Sachs said the situation is reminiscent "of the early summer of 2001."

"There are increasing pieces of information, from our own services, from friendly services, indications from the Pakistan-Afghanistan region which permit conclusions that the danger level, as I have also laid out, is high for German interests," he said. "There is also a dangerous dimension, for example from suicide attackers, in the direction of Germany."

Security authorities are "at an increased state of vigilance," he said, declining to provide details of the actual measures. German officials have said security has been tightened around U.S. military bases and the U.S. Embassy has advised citizens to exercise added caution.

German officials cited an attack Saturday on a convoy outside Kabul that included vehicles from the German Embassy, in which no one was hurt.

They also pointed to the bombing of a police academy bus in Kabul Sunday that killed at least 35 people _ the same day the European Union took over a police training mission from Germany.

Three of the suicide pilots in the Sept. 11 attacks, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, lived and studied in Germany.

But Germany, which did not send troops to Iraq, has largely been spared terrorist attacks itself _ although its involvement in the attempt to stabilize Afghanistan against Islamic insurgents has led to fears it may be targeted.

In July 2006 two gas bombs were placed on commuter trains but did not explode in an attempt security officials said was motivated by anger over cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. Several suspects are on trial in Lebanon, and a Lebanese man has been charged in Germany.

Karzai: Taleban Not A Threat To Long-Term Stability Of Afghanistan []

6/22/2007 1:03:56 AM Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said in clear terms that the Taleban does not pose a threat to long-term stability of the country.

Karzai sounded defiant in his interview with the BBC, dismissing threats from the militant group that it plans to step up attacks on the capital, Kabul. He was referring to a Taleban spokesman's statement that the militant group was changing its tactics to intensify attacks on Kabul.

Taleban and al-Qaeda, which have previously taken control of the country's administration, had been thrown out and did not "have the guts" to seriously challenge the Afghan government, Karzai said.

He also said international forces in Afghanistan must contribute more to prevent the killings of civilians. Reports show that forces inside and outside the country have killed at least 230 civilians this year.

NATO chief urges Canada to extend Afghanistan mission

22/06/2007 05:47:05 AM GMT 

MONTREAL (AFP) - Visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Canada to prolong its mission in Afghanistan beyond February 2009, as Canadians mourn the deaths of three more soldiers this week.

Taliban losing the will to talk

By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online / June 22, 2007

KARACHI - Back-channel negotiations between the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Taliban proved so successful in Helmand province in Afghanistan that North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led forces took advantage of the lull in Taliban activities to step up their offensive.

The result, ironically, was a breakdown in the peace initiative and intensified fighting that continues today.

The FCO, the British government department responsible for overseas relations and foreign affairs, began negotiations with the Taliban in Helmand last year and continued through to early this year. The medium was tribal elders and religious clerics, and especially former Taliban commanders who were also tribal leaders.

The talks, which were a part of an official FCO policy to engage and "reconcile" with the Taliban, resulted in peace agreements in many parts of Helmand and Kandahar provinces between the Taliban and the Afghan administration. By this March, a lot of sting had been taken out of the Taliban's much-vaunted spring offensive.

NATO forces, however, used the lull among the Taliban's rank and file to step up operations from March onward. This caught the Taliban by surprise, and they retreated from many of the districts they had occupied.

They resurfaced over the next few months in large numbers in the southwest on the border areas with Iran, in turn taking NATO by surprise.

The FCO is still looking for a broader political deal with the Taliban leadership, but things have changed. The Taliban, having taken up the offensive again, want to keep the momentum going, and few leaders now want to talk of any political power-sharing formula.

A key figure in the interaction between the FCO and the Taliban was Rais Baghrani, a tribal chief in Baghran district, Helmand province. Rais left the Taliban movement several years ago. He engaged top Taliban commanders, including Mullah Dadullah, who was killed fighting coalition forces last month.

The initial motivation of the FCO was to establish a more secure environment for British troops posted in Helmand province and, second, to obtain guarantees and safeguards for reconstruction projects from Taliban attack. Ultimately, the FCO's aim was to establish the rule of law in the province.

The initial motivation for the Taliban was to get some breathing space and ultimately to take over full governance of the province. The focal point of this was to legitimize the Taliban so they could take power, even if it meant sharing it to some extent at first.

So the peace process began to roll. The Taliban were talking and FCO officials were allowed to visit districts in Helmand province. British officials noted that the Taliban were very relaxed; some commanders and men went to Pakistan on vacation and others returned to normal life.

All the same, there were sporadic attacks and NATO believed that the Taliban would never give up on trying to rule Afghanistan. So intensive operations were resumed in March. The Taliban lost many of their top commanders, including Dadullah.

But they have fought back, including in the Kajaki district, where NATO forces are thick on the ground to protect workers involved in the refurbishment of the hydroelectric Kajaki dam on the Helmand River. The dam, which was built in 1953, currently generates as little as 12 megawatts of electricity. It is hoped to increase this to 51MW. According to recent reports, the Taliban have retaken the area.

In this climate, the FCO's desire to re-establish back-channel contact with the Taliban is bound to fail, especially as the Taliban are passing through another transition in which various groups under their field commanders are devising tactics according to their own ideologies.

The Taliban have also received a fillip with the revival of activities in the Pakistani tribal areas of South Waziristan and North Waziristan on the Afghan border. The Taliban command center there has gathered thousands of fresh jihadis. They are mostly of non-Afghan ethnic stock and the flag bearers of an emerging caliphate that is envisaged to spread from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond.

As long as the number of these jihadis remains relatively small, the Taliban can remain flexible and pragmatic, but should global jihadis become a dominant force, the Taliban will become totally rigid and geared for idealist absolutism.

With Iran and Pakistan looking to further their interests, the Afghan quagmire is deepened. At this stage, neither the Taliban nor the coalition forces appear strong enough for a decisive victory.

Thus the Taliban's present push in the southwest will be watched closely. Whether either side will be prepared - or willing - to return to the days of back-channel talks remains an open question.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.

Taliban using illegal, immoral methods to fight

Release # 2007-459 22 June 2007

KHOWST, Afghanistan (June 22) – Taliban extremists have been desecrating cemeteries and burial sites, using children as bombers, and violating Islamic tradition, according to ISAF officials here.

“They placed explosives on a 6-year-old boy and told him to walk up to the Afghan Police or Army and push the button,” said Capt. Michael P. Cormier, company commander. “Fortunately, the boy did not understand and asked patrolling officers why he had this vest on.

“This type of action is not tolerated by any culture or any people,” said Maj. Donald A. Korpi, ISAF’s Regional Command-East spokesman. It was the people in the area who first reported these activities to the Afghan security forces in the Andar district, he said.

Afghan National Army and ISAF troops supporting Operation Maiwand reported increased improvised-explosive device attacks and finding weapon caches near grave sites recently, Korpi said.

“We have received reports that Taliban are watching convoys and security forces from cemeteries and exploding the device as the soldiers or police vehicles pass,” Korpi said. The Taliban dig up graves and wait for passing soldiers, he added. When the soldiers clear the area after the explosion, the Taliban extremists re-bury the body.

Another ISAF official noted the Taliban are doing activities they forbid.

“We have seen the Taliban in recent weeks shave their beards and even wear women’s clothing in an attempt to avoid detection by security forces,” Cormier said.

Recent attacks by the Taliban show their desperation, according to Cormier.

“In another incident they placed explosives in a Sunni mosque used by local workers and contractors,” Cormier said.

nationalpost.com

National Post Friday, June 22, 2007

National Post graphics editor Richard Johnson is in Afghanistan, sketching and writing about the everyday life of Canadian troops deployed there. The following is an excerpt from his Kandahar Journal, available atwww.nationalpost.com/afghanistan:

"I woke up early and spent some time sitting on a diesel can drawing a LAVIII that had been hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). As I worked, a few Afghan Army soldiers came and looked at what I was drawing and gave me the thumbs up. By the time I had finished my ass was black with diesel and I could feel the sun burning the back of my neck. 7:30 a.m. time for breakfast.

After breakfast I was back on company time and so was concentrating on the portraits of soldiers. All of the portraits that I am doing will eventually run with brief biographies in the National Post.

The Global guys, Francis and Tim, starved for news, and acting under orders from somewhere, decided they wanted to do a story on me. To that end, they would follow me around with their camera as I worked.

I tried to dodge this by putting on my gear quietly and exiting through the rear of the tent but Tim the cameraman tracked me down during my first portrait of a cook. The cook was a real nice fella and agreed to being filmed as well as drawn.

Tim followed me through another portrait of a mechanic, before finally getting bored and wandering off for a bit of a nap. Bless him."

Eye on Afghanistan

June 22, 2007 - Let's see if we can remember why the United States (and, later, NATO) sent troops to far-away Afghanistan, a remote and relatively undeveloped nation that posed no threat to the West, a nation where the most profitable cash crop (poppies) fuels the world's illicit drug trade and, unlike Iraq, where there are no oil reserves.

Oh yes. How could anyone forget? The objective was to track down Osama bin Laden, the elusive mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the leader of al Qaida. But, as the sixth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, there is little reason to believe that bin Laden will be brought to justice in the near future, if ever.

He enjoys the protection of the Taliban, the fiercely fundamentalist Islamic radicals who are making a strong military comeback after it had appeared they'd been thoroughly routed by American troops back in late 2001.

In the meantime, the terror bin Laden and his radical followers inflicted on the United States has gravely altered the American way of life, at least for those who have had the misfortune to feel the heavy hand of the Department of Homeland Security impede their freedoms and those who have been identified, rightly or wrongly, by the White House as enemies of the state.

Anyone who reads a daily newspaper or watches the nightly network or cable news shows knows all about the dreadful and ever-climbing American death toll in Iraq (although much less about the number of Iraqis, innocent or otherwise, who have died since the conflict began). But Western military deaths in Afghanistan – there have been 90 this year, including three Canadians who died Wednesday when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb – draw far less attention, just as the fighting in Afghanistan itself often gets scant notice in the Western media.

So, almost six years later, how close are we to victory in Afghanistan? That would seem to be a fair question because, after all, the United States was engaged in World War II for approximately four years and came away with decisive (if tremendously costly) victories against Germany and Japan, countries far more powerful and sophisticated than Afghanistan.

Britain's BBC addressed that question in depth this week and found that "the Taliban have new confidence and new tactics, and their campaign against the government and its NATO backers has been increasingly successful since the beginning of this year."

In parts of Afghanistan, Iraqi-type suicide attacks are now so commonplace that the road from Jalalabad to Kabul, the nation's capital, is referred to as "the Baghdad road." And Western journalists are advised to take extra precautions because, as the local police warned a BBC correspondent, "there are spies everywhere."

A senior Taliban leader who recently defected told the BBC that many Taliban leaders dislike al Qaida and want to find a third way between the Western-backed government (with its notions of democracy) and the religious extremists. But he acknowledged that the Taliban increasingly is successful against the government and that its goal is to surround Kabul and eventually capture it. That's a scary thought.

As in Iraq, there appears to be no straightforward solution in Afghanistan, although there's one significant difference: While the many presidential hopefuls are quizzed daily about Iraq, they seldom are asked about Afghanistan. However, whoever succeeds President Bush had better bring a nimble mind to the Oval Office, because Iraq won't be the only intractable issue .

Peel beneath decals to find true message

Fri, June 22, 2007 By MICHAEL HARRIS

Not since Bill Clinton tried to wriggle out of extramarital hanky-panky by referring the whole matter to the meaning of a verb has a single phrase received such close scrutiny.

The great "Support Our Troops" debate gave Toronto a pretty good shake and burned up the lines at CFRA. My colleague Steve Madely ended a segment of the Lunch Bunch by observing that the hot debate was "straining friendships" and since I was the only person in the studio disagreeing with him, I guess he meant me.

Steve, who is an estimable debater and as passionate a supporter of the war in Afghanistan as he was of the war in Iraq, ended the show with a threat to Toronto: Take the Support Our Troops labels off your fire trucks and ambulances, Toronto, and I will boycott your city.

Orson Wells could not have delivered the warning with more thespian bellicosity.

Well, Toronto voted to keep its labels for another year and I am happy that Steve can now take in the occasional Leaf game if Ottawa happens to be playing in Hogtown.

But are we any better informed about the real issue in play here: The use of public vehicles to billboard quasi-political slogans in part at public expense?

One argument that is used to support this practice is this: All the slogan means is support for the families of our troops, and proper care for our soldiers if they come back from a mission wounded.

In other words, it is a kind of truism that absolutely no one would dispute.

If that is all the slogan means, though, why did so much of the controversy focus on trashing the loyalty of Canadians who don't support the war in Afghanistan? If Support the Troops was just a general exhortation to honour men and women putting themselves in harm's way on our behalf, why don't our ambulances and fire trucks have a lot more stickers -- Support our Firefighters, Support our Police, Support our Bus drivers, yes, even Support Our Teachers for braving the war zones we have made of our schools?

In a better world, issues as momentous as war, life and death, and national honour, would not be decided by slogans but by open debates and good information.

The Harper government has marketed this unpopular war by associating good things with a mission that two-thirds of Canadians don't like and want out of by 2009 -- the Stanley Cup to Afghanistan, ex-NHLers making the trip for a game of road hockey with the troops, and rosy reports about a war that is, as British PM Tony Blair recently observed, turning into another Iraq.

The label campaign, conceived by military wives and supported by many in the public, plays into the government's marketing strategy. If you can convince people that the troops sanctify the mission, everyone stops thinking about the wisdom of the civilian command in involving Canadian combat troops in the first place. Patriotism trumps reason.

There are many good people who see it differently. So we should have the debate. But I'd rather see the stickers on people's cars and trucks, not on public property.

How, I wonder, would the harmless words Pro-Life look on all our ambulances.

The truth finally does reside in a nuance.

On patrol in eastern Afghanistan

By Damian Grammaticas BBC News, Khost, Afghanistan, 22 June 2007, 10:27 GMT

The voice on the radio crackles into life "at this time I am going to switch to green, let me know if you are green, One Two, Three."

The reply comes: "One Two, roger out... One Three, roger out," and a column of vehicles grind into gear.

It is eastern Afghanistan, close to Pakistan, inside a heavily armoured Humvee. The air is sticky, hot, swirling with dust. From a forward American base we have just set out on a day's patrol.

We are with a company of men from the 82nd Airborne, led by Captain John McGrady, and their task is to try to tame these wild borderlands.

Deep in the barren hills, we stop by a ruined building. A hole has been blown through one of its walls by a rocket-propelled grenade. The ceiling is pitted with shrapnel marks.

This was a police post sited at a strategic spot on the road leading into Pakistan. A few weeks ago it was destroyed in a Taleban attack.

"They attacked from that mountain," says the local police chief Major Bismillah. "They used heavy weapons."

"You just need to sandbag it, put a roof on here, done," says Capt McGrady.

It is a wild and windswept location. Maj Bismillah says it is vital that he can control this spot.

"We have problems with this route. All of the suicide terrorists they come along that road because that is the main road from Pakistan," he says. "This is what we call Ghulam Khan border. Most of the terrorist people are coming through that way to Khost city."

This mountainous border is one of the key fronts in the global struggle against terrorism. The coalition forces must control the area.

It was here that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda found the sanctuary and space to plot the attacks of 9/11. It was across here that they and many Taleban fled six years ago.

And now, from inside Pakistan, fighters launch attacks and smuggle weapons which fuel the insurgency in Afghanistan.

Our column of Humvees drives into a mountain village close to the border with Pakistan There is just one street, lined with mud and stone houses. Donkeys are struggling up the hill laden with freshly-harvested wheat.

Under a tree, the village elders are sitting sharing a cup of tea with Capt McGrady. Last night the Taleban came to this village and told people not to co-operate with the Americans.

"They are telling us that 40 guys came from the mountain and were broadcasting messages telling people not to work for the coalition," says Capt McGrady.

"We asked them where they came from, they pointed due south," he adds. "Pakistan is to the south. This is very good because this is the first time we have been told about this. This is them demonstrating their trust in us."

But the reality is US and Afghan government forces still come under daily attack along the border.

In many villages the Americans get a hostile reception. Coalition soldiers have been before and promised new wells and schools. Villages that do not get them feel angry, let down.

In one such village, Shapur tells me angrily: "Before when they came, the Americans, they just wrote something down and then left."

"We don't have water, we don't have electricity, we need a barrier to stop the river flooding. We are just asking for this from the American people."

Lieutenant Tom Roth is in charge of assessing the needs in villages in this area. He is trying to placate the man. He explains he will pass on Shapur's request to the local Afghan authorities, as they, not the Americans, decide where wells get dug and which schools get built.

The whole coalition strategy is designed to build up Afghanistan's own government, to extend its reach right out into these borderlands.

"What we are really trying to do is to stress government competence," says Lt Roth. "We are trying to take our face off it and put an Afghan face onto it."

That evening, we gather at the local police station, outside in the courtyard under a star-lit sky to listen to one of the most famous singers in all of Khost.

As the man sings and the drummers beat out their rhythm, a single figure twirls across the courtyard, dancing. Clapping him are about 50 Afghan soldiers and policemen cradling their Kalashnikovs. The men of the 82nd Airborne look on politely.

"The war is a counter-insurgency war. The word we use is non-kinetic. And the main efforts are very much non-kinetic," Capt McGrady tells me.

"That means talking to a lot of people and becoming friendly with them, and showing them that we are here not to put a gun in somebody's face. But we are here to pay somebody to turn in mines or build schools."

What are the challenges, I ask Capt McGrady? "Definitely I have to gain trust of the people," he says.

"They have to realise that coalition forces are here doing positive things, and not just running around kicking up dust with a bunch of Humvees and splashing dust on their yard. That's definitely a challenge."

[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.]