In this bulletin:

• U.N. chief in Afghanistan, focus on lack of law and order
• Aid agency distributes tents, blankets after floods kill 50
• Unusual storm breaks weather in Afghanistan
• Taliban beheads alleged Afghan teenager spy
• 21 suspected militants killed in raid, clashes in Afghanistan
• Taliban release all mine-clearing experts but one
• Yoldashev followers detained, claims intelligence official
• U.S. commander: Taliban forces growing near Kabul
• Three Pakistani militants fall prey to own explosives
• Ban to attend Rome moot on rule of law in Afghanistan
• Canadas support to Afghanistan remains strong: Envoy
• AFGHANISTAN: Taliban impose rule, hefty taxes in Musa Qala District
• WFP hails arrival of biscuits donated by India
• Medical Teams Scale Back As Attacks on Them Rise
• Six tonnes of drugs set alight in Kabul
• A world awash in heroin
• Soap to clean up Afghan economy

U.N. chief in Afghanistan, focus on lack of law and order

By Sayed Salahuddin - June 29, 2007 - KABUL (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a surprise visit to Kabul on Friday to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai ahead of a conference in Rome next week that will seek ways to improve law and order in Afghanistan.

The meeting took place amid heavy security at the presidential palace, which still bears the scars of the past 30 years of conflict in the central Asian state. Journalists were called to the palace, but there was no news conference.

Earlier this month, U.N. Special Representative to Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, said Ban would make the establishment of the rule of law in Afghanistan a top priority at a conference to be held in Rome on July 2 and 3.

Koenigs said he was dissatisfied with the progress made in the last three to five years and an era of lawlessness, corruption, unprofessional police and an unreliable justice system had to end.

Karzai was hand-picked by Western governments to lead Afghanistan after U.S.-backed forces ousted the Taliban in 2001, following al Qaeda's attacks on New York and Washington.

Afghans are growing increasingly impatient with Karzai, having voted for him as president in 2004, in the belief that he would bring about an economic revival and improve security for ordinary people.

Critics say Karzai has failed to stamp out corruption in government, and has little influence outside Kabul.

Afghanistan is the world's leading supplier of opium and heroin, and money from the drugs trade is helping to finance the Taliban insurgency.

But, some criminals and drug barons are linked to former warlords who helped U.S.-led forces evict the Taliban six years ago and who now serve inside government.

The lower house of parliament, populated by ex-warlords and former militia leaders along with suspected drug dealers, has also proposed a blanket amnesty for those who committed war crimes over nearly 30 years of conflict.

Meanwhile, Afghan police are poorly trained and ill equipped, and violent street crimes often go unpunished.

Ban also met General Dan McNeill, the U.S. commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, with Afghan anger growing over the growing number of civilian casualties resulting from U.S. and NATO military operations against insurgents in the south and east of the country.

On Friday, according to an Afghan rights group, U.S. soldiers killed an 85-year-old man, two of his sons and a grandson during a raid in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

The soldiers arrested 15 people during the pre-dawn raid in Khogiani district, on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Jalalabad, Lal Gul, the head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Group said.

A U.S. military official confirmed the operation and said coalition soldiers killed three militants after they came under fire and arrested 16 more militants.

But a provincial official said four civilians were killed in the operation. Villagers later protested chanting anti-U.S. and anti-Karzai slogans.

Aid agency distributes tents, blankets after floods kill 50

KABUL - 28 June 2007 - (IRIN) - Floods have killed at least 50 people and injured tens of others in seven provinces in the north, east and south of Afghanistan over the past two days, Afghan officials said.

"Initial reports indicate that flooding has killed up to 17 people in [northern] Panjshir Province alone," Abdul Matin Adrak, director of the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA), told IRIN on 28 June.

Several people have also died in southern Paktia, eastern Kunar, and northern Parwan provinces, and in Kabul, ANDMA said.

A joint disaster response committee comprising several government bodies, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fear the number of people who have died in the floods that have hit different parts of Afghanistan since 24 June could be higher.

"These are only initial reports which may change once extended assessments are conducted," Ghulam Haider, a government official, said.

Afghanistan's disaster response committee has also reported the destruction of tens of houses in flood-affected areas, which has displaced many families.

"Bridges, canals, roads, agricultural land and many other things have been destroyed," a joint government and NGOs rapid assessment report indicated.

On 27 and 28 June about 2,500 individuals, surrounded by floodwaters, were evacuated by military helicopters from a remote location in eastern Kunar Province, officials said.

Forty other stranded people were airlifted from Kama District of Nangarhar Province on 27 June, according to provincial officials. However, torrential rains halted evacuation operations late on 28 June in Kunar Province.

"Unrelenting rainfall is increasing the level of floodwaters thereby threatening the lives of some 200 people who are awaiting help on a hillside," the governor of Kunar, Shalizai Deedar, told IRIN from Kunar.

Kunar is one of the worst flood-affected provinces. According to the governor and ANDMA, at least eight people have died and many others have been injured.

Meanwhile, the airlift ran into difficulty on 27 June when a military helicopter was stranded for lack of fuel in Kunar Province.

Afghanistan's Red Crescent Society has started distributing tents and blankets to some affected families in Kunar, Paktia and Panjshir provinces.

UN agencies and some international humanitarian organisations have, meanwhile, pledged to send food and nonfood relief to those displaced and affected by the recent flooding.

However, humanitarian aid will only reach needy people after need assessments have been conducted, a UN official in Kabul said.

The UN World Food Programme will distribute foodstuffs and the UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) will distribute family kits, which include tarpaulins, plastic sheets and kitchen appliances.

"A disaster management commission chaired by Second Vice-President Karim Khalili has approved plans for the disbursement of 10,000 Afghanis [US$200] for any individual killed in the flooding," the head of ANDMA said.

According to Afghanistan's national meteorology department, heavy rain, flooding and storms are unusual at this time of the year.

"There will be rain in some parts of the country in the coming three days," said the head of the meteorology department, Abdul Qadir Qadir, without specifying how heavy it would be.

"It is due to global climate change that we are seeing increasingly violent fluctuations in our weather conditions," Qadir said.

Unusual storm breaks weather in Afghanistan

CTV.ca, Canada - Jun. 28 2007 Associated Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

The scream of fighter jets, the rat-a-tat of the firing range, even the echoing boom of a controlled detonation perks few ears at the Kandahar Airfield where the volume on the soundtrack of military life is always set on high.

Weather this time of year in Afghanistan rarely adds to the score; the whir of a thousand air conditioners drowns out the sound of dripping sweat and sarcastic quips of "hot 'nuff for ya?"

But the silent glare of the burning sun was replaced this week by the staccato of raindrops and the slaps of wind as a three-day storm washed out roads, flooded tents and frustrated military operations.

The culprit was a storm over the Gulf of Oman, which Cpl. Glen Slauenwhite, a Canadian meteorological technician, described as an "absolute monster."

"This storm is an anomaly in that it hit us," said Slauenwhite, from Halifax. "Much like how (hurricane) Juan hit Halifax, how the tornadoes in Edmonton hit in '87. On a climatological scale, these things don't happen - these areas aren't prone to getting hit."

The storm swirled up on Tuesday, unleashing wind and rain throughout Afghanistan over three days, including a three-hour crackling thunderstorm that at times was hard to discern from the roar of military aircraft.

At first it was the smell that gave away Mother Nature's coming fury: the harsh stench of dust muted by the moisture in the air.

Next came the brown clouds of dirt, swept along by hearty winds up the gravel roads of the airfield, taking the idea of military camouflage to a new level -- total invisibility.

The temperature plummeted and as the dust storm blew through the airfield, soldiers and civilians alike played weather tourist, taking pictures and narrating home videos of the wacky weather.

The glee turned to flee as dust rained down, coating everything in a gritty film soon to turn to muck by the rain. Row upon row of tent lines housing Canadians at the airfield were flooded.

Though the prospect of wringing out clothes and carpets was daunting, it didn't stop a pair of civilian employees from having a water fight late Thursday afternoon as a trio of frogs jumped gamely by.

The usual rainfall this time of year for southern Afghanistan is zero. By late Thursday night, 40 millimetres had fallen.

In parts of Afghanistan, the impact of the storm was severe; Afghan National Police and coalition soldiers rescued 42 people Wednesday who were trapped on rocks in the province of Kapisa, in the eastern part of the country.

Further east, in Pakistan, the provincial relief commissioner Khubah Bakhsh estimated that some 200,000 houses were destroyed or damaged. More than 800,000 people have been affected by floods from heavy rains and overflowing rivers and dams, he said.

In Kandahar City on Thursday morning, before a further deluge of rain frustrated locals even more, children swam along muddy sidewalks, shouting with glee as irate shopkeepers vainly tried to sweep the waters away.

The storm cut off power and phone access for thousands of people, bogging down side streets and main arteries throughout the city.

Farmers especially were worried about the unusual weather. One grape farmer mocked a westerner who was enjoying the respite from the heat, saying the rain would certainly ruin what had looked to be a bumper crop this season.

Some military operations ground to a muddy halt in the rain, though Slauenwhite said in some circumstances storms can be good for fighting as there's no moonlight to illuminate night time operations.

"However, trumping it is trying to live through the mud and rain and the discomfort that brings along," he said.

"Even if it is 24 degrees right now it's a relative issue. If you've been here for five months, 24 feels cold."

The weather was expected to return to normal Friday. With Kandahar having already reached last summer's record high of 45 degrees Celsius two weeks ago, extreme heat is likely to return.

The region is entering the season known as the Wind of 120 Days, an arid blast of air that sweeps over from Iran, and unstopped by the vast desert of southern Afghanistan, rips across the country with gale-force strength.

Having reviewed the weather reports on Afghanistan for the last few years, Slauenwhite said the weather-related buzzword on everyone's lips in North American hasn't found it's way into the Afghan weather lingo quite yet.

"There hasn't been any real significant climate change in Afghanistan," he said. "It's still hot and dry and dusty."

Taliban beheads alleged Afghan teenager spy

www.chinaview.cn 2007-06-28 19:16:11 KABUL, June 28 (Xinhua)

Taliban insurgents beheaded a teenager in southern Afghanistan, who was accused of spying for Afghan and foreign troops, a local police said Thursday.

Taliban militants abducted an 18-year old boy, who they claimed was a spy, in Nawbahar district of Helmand province on Wednesday, district police chief Zarif Khan told Xinhua. The teenager's beheaded body was found on Thursday, he added.

Zarif alleged the ill-fated boy was innocent and had no cooperation with government and foreign troops. Taliban militants kidnapped a 14-year-old son of police chief of Sangin district in Helmand on June 23 and beheaded him.

21 suspected militants killed in raid, clashes in Afghanistan

The Associated Press - Friday, June 29, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan: U.S.-led and Afghan troops raided three compounds in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing four suspected militants and detaining 16 others, while clashes and airstrikes in the south left 17 more militants dead, officials said.

The raid in the eastern Nangarhar province targeted compounds suspected "of harboring Taliban and foreign fighters," the U.S.-led coalition said.

"Taliban forces inside two of the compounds attempted to engage coalition forces as they approached," it said in a statement. "The forces fired on the militants, killing the assailants and quickly securing the compounds."

Troops found rocket-propelled grenade launchers and several grenades, which were removed and destroyed, it said.

The statement did not identify those killed or detained, and said no civilians were injured during the operation.

Malek Zaman, an elder of the village where the raid took place, said the U.S. troops used explosives to break through the house gates in an operation that killed four people — a local man, two of his sons and his grandson.

Zaman denied that the four were militants, saying those killed and detained were innocent civilians who were not involved in the insurgency against Afghan and foreign troops.

"People will be angry and might even react to these killings," Zaman said.

Violence is soaring in Afghanistan, with over 2,400 people, mostly militants, killed in fighting this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western military and Afghan officials.

But it is the killing of civilians by U.S. and NATO-led troops that prompted President Hamid Karzai to say that lives of Afghan civilians were not "cheap." He urged restraint and better coordination of military operations with the Afghan government.

While militants killed 178 civilians in attacks through June 23, Western forces killed 203, according to an AP count based on figures from Afghan and international officials.

Exact counts are nearly impossible in the chaos of war. Separate figures from the U.N. and an umbrella organization of Afghan and international aid groups show that, through May 31, the number of civilians killed by international forces was roughly equal to those killed by insurgents.

In other violence, a suicide car bomber exploded near a NATO's International Security Assistance Force convoy in Paktika province on Thursday, killing one Afghan civilian and wounding six other people, including two ISAF soldiers, a NATO statement said.

Those injured were transported to a military medical facility for treatment, the statement said.

In neighboring Zabul province's Mizan district, Taliban fighters ambushed a joint NATO and Afghan patrol on Thursday and in the ensuing clash two militants were killed and five others were wounded, said Mohammad Younus Akhunzada, a district chief.

The Taliban left the dead bodies on the field and took the wounded with them, Akhunzada said. There were no Afghan or NATO casualties in the clash, he said.

On Wednesday, a series of clashes and airstrikes in southern Afghanistan killed 15 suspected militants, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Eight militants died in fighting in Helmand province's Gereshk district, and seven more were killed in an airstrike in Tirin Kot in Uruzgan province, the ministry said.

Taliban release all mine-clearing experts but one

GHAZNI CITY, June 28 - (Pajhwok Afghan News) - Sixteen of the 17 mine-clearing experts - kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in the volatile Andar district of the Ghazni province at the weekend - have been freed, officials said on Thursday.

Seven of the eight last deminers, freed Thursday morning, reached their office in Ghazni City at 5.00am while their 17th colleague is expected to join them shortly. Hours earlier, the captors set free nine of the experts of two different mine-clearing agencies.

Abducted five days back were 13 experts of the Mine Detection Dog Centre (MDC) and four of the Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA) - with four vehicles and specialist mine-sniffing dogs.

Eng. Zia, head of the MDC office in Ghazni City, confirmed to Pajhwok Afghan News the arrival of all the abducted employees but one. He hoped the last deminer - probably on the way to the office - would be them within an hour or two.

One of the demining experts, Inayatullah said they were treated well in captivity and that he was glad to be released unhurt. However, he added, the kidnappers would shift them from one place to another for reasons not known to him.

By the same token, Eng. Dost Muhammad too was happy about being "let off without harm." He said the militants did not bother them during the five-day kidnap saga that hogged the headlines in the Afghan Press.

Although the workers' ordeal has come to an end, the guerrillas have not yet returned their four vehicles and mine-detecting equipment. Also, three trained dogs of MDC died due to hot weather conditions and lack of proper feed.

Aminullah Atif, Taliban spokesman in Ghazni, announced late Wednesday the release of nine experts. The remaining kidnappees would be freed later at night or Thursday morning, he added.

MDC chief Shahab Hakimi, hailing the release as a welcome move, said: "I'm so glad they have been freed." He thanked all those who made efforts at securing the release of the NGO staffers, who had no problem with anyone.

Hakimi was optimistic that all warring factions, aware of the importance of mine-clearing operations, would cooperate with them in protecting the Afghans from the threat the hidden weapons posed to their lives.

Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are conducting mine-clearing operations in Afghanistan, which remains one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world - an unenviable legacy of prolonged strife and the decade-long Soviet occupation.

Taliban have scorned the suggestion they had sought ransom from MDC, MCPA or families of the deminers. "We had certain doubts about them. However, our misgivings were cleared during interrogation of the kidnappees," Qari Yousaf Ahmadi said a day earlier.

Yoldashev followers detained, claims intelligence official

KABUL, June 28 - (Pajhwok Afghan News) - Intelligence officials Thursday claimed arresting two associates of most wanted Uzbek militant Tahir Yoldashev in the northern Sar-i-Pul province.

An official of the Intelligence Department named the recently detained activists of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) as Qari Abdul Qadir and Qari Hekmatullah.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News the detainees, who had direct telephone contact with representative of the Yoldashev, were being quizzed by intelligence officials.

According to the source, both the men had confessed to receiving instructions from IMU militants with regard to disruptive activities inside Afghanistan.

The two allegedly received orders from Mullah Hafiz, a representative of Yoldashev, and Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for carrying out terrorist acts in northern Afghanistan.

Respectively hailing from Zaab and Balchiragh districts of the Faryab province, Qari Abdul Qadir and Qari Hekmatullah have reportedly admitted to their involvement in creating insecurity in their areas.

Linked to bombings, killing a headmaster and conducting attacks on police personnel in Sar-i-Pul, they are said to have received training in terror techniques at Harira seminary in Quetta, capital of Pakistans Balochistan province.

Ten Klashnikov assault rifles, 15 landmines, explosives and sensitive documents were sized from the terrorists, the official said.

With close links to al-Qaeda, IMU chief Tahir Yoldashev has been active in the rugged autonomous tribal areas of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan after the toppling of the Taliban regime in 2001.

In the wake of a string of military operations in the tribal region and an amnesty for local fighters, support to the Uzbek militant among Waziristan tribesmen has considerably declined.

U.S. commander: Taliban forces growing near Kabul

Reuters.co.uk -Thu 28 Jun 2007 WASHINGTON, June 28 - The Taliban has infiltrated an area of Afghanistan once seen by the United States and NATO as secure, boosting ranks and giving fighters strategic access to Kabul, a U.S. commander said on Thursday.

U.S. Army Col. Jonathan Ives, responsible for operations in five provinces in northeastern Afghanistan, said the Taliban had boosted recruiting in part of Kapisa, about 30 km (19 miles) north of the capital city.

"What we've seen is an escalation of force in there from about 50 to 200 -- about fourfold -- this year," Ives told reporters by videolink from Bagram Air Base near Kabul.

He said the area had been "somewhat ignored" by coalition and Afghan security forces. "We thought that it was safe and secure in this province and so we considered it to be a non-threat area and so we didn't apply or maintain a security force," Ives said. "(The Taliban) did fill that vacuum in this case."

Violence has risen over the past 18 months, the bloodiest period since the Taliban government was ousted after a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Senior U.S. defense and military officials have downplayed Taliban activities this spring, saying the expected offensive after winter snows melted had not materialized.

But U.S. and NATO officials have refused to release data on the number of Taliban attacks this year. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, NATO's deputy commander in eastern Afghanistan, this week.

Three Pakistani militants fall prey to own explosives

ISALAMABAD, June 28 - (Pajhwok Afghan News) - Three would-be bombers were blown up while planting roadside bombs in Pakistans North Waziristan Agency, bordering Afghanistan, on Thursday.

Mehrab Khattak, a government official in the restive tribal region, told Pajhwok Afghan News by the telephone the pre-dawn blast took place in Datakhel area of Miranshah at 3:00am.

The militants were planting bombs in Doga locality to target a military convoy, which was going to Datakhel from Miranshah town. Security forces have recovered the bodies and have launched an investigation to ascertain whether they are Afghan Taliban or their tribal collaborators.

In another incident, unidentified miscreants blew up three CD shops in Matan locality of Peshawar late last night. Afzal Ahmad, a police ISI, said the shops were completely destroyed in the blast.

Pakistani Taliban have imposed a ban on music and shaving beards in the Frontier province, where a large number of audio and video cassette shops and hairdressing salons have been destroyed.

Ban to attend Rome moot on rule of law in Afghanistan

NEW YORK - (June 28) - The UN secretary-general will visit Rome to attend the Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan, to be chaired by the world body and the Afghan and Italian governments.

On Ban Ki-moons two-week itinerary are Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the United Kingdom, according to a spokesperson for the United Nations.

Bans first stop will be Geneva, where he is slated to open a high-level portion of the annual month-long session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on July 2.

Spokesperson Michele Montas informed reporters here the UN chief would travel from Geneva to Rome to attend the Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan, scheduled for July 2-3.

The two-day conference is aimed at ensuring high-level political commitment to reform in Afghanistans justice sector, endorsing a donor action plan and institutionalising coordinated mechanisms between the judiciary and the police.

Apart from the UN chief, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer are also expected to attend the conference.

Ban will return to Geneva for the Global Compact Leaders Summit slated July 5-6, billed as the largest gathering ever held by the UN on the issue of corporate citizenship. He will then proceed to Portugal.

The whirlwind trip will also take the secretary-general to Brussels, where he will attend the first meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, hosted by the Belgian government.

Ban will also pay an official visit to the United Kingdom before returning to New York on July 12, Ms. Montas concluded.

Canadas support to Afghanistan remains strong: Envoy

NEW YORK, June 28 - (Pajhwok Afghan News) - Canadian support to Afghanistan continues to remain strong, even though it is weaker in some parts of the country, said Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad.

Speaking in the context of recent protests and opposition to Canadian mission in Afghanistan, Samad told Pajhwok Afghan News: Now the Liberal Party agrees the mission in Afghanistan should last till 2009, which helps the Conservative government.

Samad, who had the privilege of addressing the Canadian troops last week in Quebec, agreed there would be debate in Canada in the months to come as to what to do after 2009.

Overall, Samad said: Canadas commitment to Afghanistan remains strong, even though there are all kinds of political pressures and partisan politics.

Recent opinion polls have revealed that some Canadians are skeptical about combat operations in Afghanistan beyond 2009 while others say it is important for the country to keep its commitment.

Addressing troops of the22nd Royal Regiment, to be deployed to Kandahar in the next few months, Samad said: The emerging Afghan army, police and local authorities are there to learn from you and help you in our common mission to prevent a Taliban return.

More than 2,000 members of the regiment would be sent to Afghanistan. The event took place at a time when some of the polls in Quebec showed that more and more people are against the deployment of Canadian forces to the Central Asian country.

As the ambassador visited the city, he saw on the streets of Quebec popular support for troops. At the same time, he encountered small demonstrations too.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban impose rule, hefty taxes in Musa Qala District

Reuters AlertNet, UK - 28 Jun 2007 Source: IRIN - Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

LASHKARGAH, 28 June 2007 (IRIN) - The bodies of four bearded men still hang from two tall poles at a roundabout in Musa Qala District, Helmand Province, in southern Afghanistan. Musa Qala District is controlled by Taliban insurgents.

The four were hanged two days ago allegedly for spying for the Americans and the government of President Hamid Karzai. Only a Taliban decree can bring the decomposed bodies down and allow them to be buried according to Islamic rites.

In both Islamic and international law governing conflicts, dead bodies, even those of armed enemies, should be protected from disrespect, mutilation and pillage.

The Taliban have set up a special tribunal in the territory they control at which judges sentence whomever they deem to be culprits, or against the Taliban, to death, amputation or stoning, a source who cannot be identified for security reasons told IRIN.

In February 2007 Taliban rebels recaptured Musa Qala District, about 165km north of Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand Province, after a roughly five-year interval. It happened after a deal brokered by the then governor of Helmand, Engineer Daud, under which NATO-led British forces had agreed to withdraw from Musa Qala District Centre and local elders promised to keep the Taliban away, proved ineffective.

The British Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), part of a larger NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), struck the controversial deal to impede Taliban control over the restive district in return for the withdrawal of British and Afghan forces.

Afghan officials say the government and its international supporters have delayed plans to recapture Musa Qala because of concerns that civilians might be harmed.

"We could retake the district in less than 24-hours, but we fear that non-combatants could be affected," said Gen Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence.

However, nothing has stopped the Taliban from re-imposing their harsh interpretation of Shariah Law on the estimated 14,000 people of Musa Qala.

Millions of girls and women returned to schools and work after the Taliban were ousted in October 2001, but with the rebels return in Musa Qala schools have again been closed.

"There is no school for boys or girls in Musa Qala. Some boys go to mosques for religious studies," a resident of the district who did not want to be named for security reasons, told IRIN.

'Burqa' compulsory

Even after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, women in Helmand Province, including Musa Qala District, did not feel a tangible change in their restricted daily lives, according to local officials.

"Either due to insecurity or a lack of opportunities women in Musa Qala have always - even when the Taliban were not ruling there - suffered deprivation and violence," said Fawzia Olomi, director of the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) in Helmand.

In Musa Qala, after 2001 women could choose to wear the 'burqa' or not, but did not get punished if they failed to wear it. That has now changed.

Furthermore, even a woman who covers her head and body with a 'burqa' now needs to be accompanied by a male relative if she leaves home.

"Women are treated like slaves in Musa Qala," said Olomi.

Taliban radio launched

Under the Taliban music was banned, as were all visual depictions of living beings, and TV.

According to one resident, broken TV sets and cassettes now dangle on trees and electricity pylons in Musa Qala warning locals not to watch TV or listen to music even in their homes.

The Taliban have, however, started broadcasting a daily two-hour programme on FM radio in which calls are made for a religious war against the government of President Karzai.

The Taliban are levying heavy taxes on the impoverished citizens of Musa Qala.

"They have imposed hefty 'Ushor' and 'Zakaat' [Islamic charity] taxes and forced people to pay them. Those who fail to comply are punished," a local resident said.

Taliban elders call upon locals to support their cause by all possible means.

A young man from Musa Qala who moved to Lashkargah, said he was forced either to join the insurgents or pay 50,000 Afghanis (about US$1,000) as a form of compensation.

"Many people join the Taliban simply because they do not have any other option," the displaced man said.

In addition to Musa Qala, Afghan ministers have confirmed that the insurgents now control at least two other districts in Helmand Province and one in Kandahar Province - both of which border on Pakistan.

In 2007 the Taliban have begun to establish a hold in some regions, using them as operational and logistical hubs, warned a retired military commander, Khalilurahman Siddique.

Since 2001 Taliban fighters have maintained a hit-and-run insurgency in the south and east of Afghanistan. They have increasingly been using suicide attacks, roadside bombs and bombs planted in towns designed to hit ordinary people.

WFP hails arrival of biscuits donated by India

KABUL, June 27 - Pajhwok Afghan News)- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed the arrival of over 15,000 tonnes of fortified biscuits donated by the government of India to Afghan schoolchildren.

WFP said Wednesday the biscuits - part of a one million tonne wheat donation - were the fourth tranche to arrive since 2004. The Indian wheat has been converted into biscuits, fortified with micronutrients that boost a child's nutrition, reduce short-term hunger and enhance the ability to concentrate and learn.

This year, the Ministry of Education and WFP are planning to give biscuits to around 1.4 million schoolchildren living in 160 districts of Afghanistan, according to a WFP press release.

"WFP appreciates this timely arrival of biscuits. It means both the health and educational condition of many poor children in Afghanistan will be improved," said WFP Representative and Country Director, Rick Corsino.

He added: "Biscuits are extremely valuable in helping these children emerge from short term hunger. We and the Ministry of Education are very grateful to the Indian government because they have chosen to support Afghan children through our food for education programmes."

In addition to the daily distribution of fortified biscuits, WFP provides 400,000 schoolgirls with a 3.7-litre tin of fortified vegetable oil to take home to their families. The oil serves as an extra incentive for parents to keep their daughters in school.

In the last five years, the overall ratio of girls in school has risen from three girls for every ten boys to six for every ten boys.

WFP also aims to distribute a winter ration of 100-kg of wheat to around 450,000 primary schoolchildren to address food gaps in harsh winter areas and to provide incentives to families to send their children to school.

The children receive 50 kilograms of wheat at the beginning of the academic year and 50 kilograms at the end.

Medical Teams Scale Back As Attacks on Them Rise

By Griff Witte - Washington Post Foreign Service, June 29, 2007
JALALABAD, Afghanistan

This month, two Afghan medical workers drove off into the hazy blue mountains that rise above this dusty provincial capital. They have not been seen since.

No one knows who took them, but their disappearance has had far-reaching consequences. With security in doubt, other health-care workers have been ordered off the roads. Clinics are fast running out of medicine because supplies can't be delivered. Doctors are searching for safer places to work.

The problems here mirror a developing crisis across Afghanistan. Just as violence is heating up, with civilian casualties rapidly escalating, the health-care system is breaking down, according to Afghan and international medical experts.

The deterioration has been especially pronounced in rural areas, scene of some of the most intense fighting between Taliban and international forces. In those places, clinics are shutting their doors because the medical workers have become targets.

"Day by day it's becoming worse," said Nadera Hayat Burhani, a doctor and the government's deputy health minister. "In each country, it's a rule that you let the medical staff do their work. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan it is not that way. Here, they kill the medical staff."

Insurgents have been campaigning for years to prove to Afghans that their government has little to offer. Police officers, schoolteachers and local political leaders have been targets of violence. Now medical workers fear that they are in danger as well.

The International Committee of the Red Cross recently said it faces a more restrictive environment than it has in two decades of work in Afghanistan. "It's not a conflict where there are clear front lines," said Franz Rauchenstein, the agency's deputy chief in Kabul. "It's more complicated than in the good old days, when you had Party A controlling one area and Party B controlling another. Now that can change every day."

Rauchenstein said his organization has had to pull back from many areas because it has not been able to get security guarantees. Other groups have pulled back, too. The ones that remain in the most dangerous regions are reconsidering their operations with each new attack.

There has been a series of disturbing episodes in recent months. A nurse was beheaded by Taliban fighters, who blamed his death on the government's failure to turn over the body of their former commander. Six medical workers in the northeastern area of Nuristan have been taken hostage. Overall, 39 government medical workers have been killed in less than two years, according to Health Ministry statistics.

Mohammad Naseem, a doctor who manages health care in the Jalalabad area for HealthNet TPO, a Dutch nonprofit organization, hopes his two workers aren't added to the list.

The two -- 35-year-old Shiraz and 40-year-old Wali Jan -- were helping with an immunization drive in the remote district of Shirzad when they were abducted June 13. Since then, the kidnappers have periodically used Jan's cellphone to make demands and to threaten to kill their hostages if they don't get what they want.

HealthNet TPO has worked in this eastern Afghan province for 12 years, but this is the first time its workers here have been seized. Now the organization, which runs 54 health facilities in the province, is contemplating getting out.

"If something goes wrong, there will be a very, very negative impact on health care in this area," Naseem said. "At the moment, our health facilities are open. But the time may come when we will not be able to supply drugs, and the services will collapse."

Even before the kidnappings, health facilities in the area were showing signs of strain.

While up to 80 percent of Afghans have access to basic health care, about 70 percent -- 22 million people -- lack a nearby hospital capable of treating more serious conditions.

That's why the health facility in the Shinwar district, a rural outpost an hour's drive from Jalalabad amid corn and poppy fields, has become so popular. The campus of spare concrete buildings looks rudimentary from the outside, but the two surgeons inside -- along with a pediatrician and a gynecologist -- are enough to draw patients from 50 miles away along rough mountain roads. Many die making the journey.

The facility is equipped to receive 1,800 patients a month; these days, it gets 6,000. Lately, more and more of them are war wounded.

On March 4, a patient arrived at the clinic with a gunshot wound to the neck. A second showed up minutes later with a bullet hole in his jaw. Over the next several hours, 21 additional trauma patients arrived -- victims of an attack by U.S. Marines that the military later called "a mistake" and apologized for.

The staff was overwhelmed. Anyone in the area who knew basic lifesaving skills was brought in to help. The local pharmacy was emptied of medication. Patients who were not in imminent danger had to give up their beds.

"If two or three trauma patients come in at once, we can cover that very well," said Aman Gul Amani, a doctor and the hospital manager. "But 23 is too much."

Similar mass-casualty events have been reported across Afghanistan in recent weeks. According to an Associated Press estimate, NATO and U.S.-led forces have killed 203 civilians this year; Taliban fighters have killed 178 civilians. Hundreds more people have been wounded.

NATO and U.S.-led forces say that they do everything they can to provide care to civilians and that they routinely offer medical evacuations by helicopter or plane.

But the areas where airstrikes occur are often exceptionally remote, and some are even beyond the reach of international forces.

Such was the case this month in the southern province of Uruzgan. There, 120 people were wounded and more than 60 killed over three days of intense clashes between NATO and Taliban forces.

Jan Mohammed, who is in his late 50s, was asleep at 4 a.m. in the Uruzgan district of Chowreh when a bomb tore through his home. Lying amid the wreckage, he could see the bodies of his wife, children and grandchildren. Overall, 22 members of his family were killed.

He was barely alive himself, with severe bleeding from his arm, abdomen and legs. For four hours, he lay there, desperately hoping for help. It finally arrived, but not in the form of an ambulance or military convoy. Instead, it was his neighbor, who put together a makeshift rescue squad to ferry the injured on the treacherous two-hour journey to the nearest medical facility.

"The hospitals didn't help us. The government didn't help us. The foreign people didn't help us," said Mohammed, breathing heavily through tears. "Only my neighbor came to help me."

Six tonnes of drugs set alight in Kabul

KABUL, June 27 - (Pajhwok Afghan News) - Six tonnes of narcotics including heroin, morphine, opium and hashish were torched in front of senior Interior Ministry officials and foreign diplomats here on Wednesday.

Deputy Interior Minister for Counter-Narcotics Lt. Gen. Daud Daud, who set alight the huge heap of drugs in Deh Sbaz district of Kabul, acknowledged: "Narcotics and terrorism posed serious threats to peace and security in Afghanistan."

The burning of narcotics today signified the Afghan government's strong resolve to press on with its campaign against the twin scourge, Gen. Daud argued.

He asserted the government's achievements in controlling poppy cultivation and drug trafficking, saying the number of poppy-free Afghan provinces had risen to 17 this year from a mere six in 2006.

The United Nations noted a day earlier in its grim annual report a sharp increase in the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2006. The UNODC chief said Helmand alone grew more poppies than the rest of Afghanistan put together.

Maj-Gen. Syed Kamal Sadat, in charge of the Interior Ministry's counter-narcotics campaign, told journalists the drugs torched had been seized in different parts of the country.

As many as 196 Afghans and 10 foreigners were arrested on the charge of drug trafficking, he said, adding 52 vehicles, five motorbikes, 58 pieces of weapons and cell-phones were recovered from the detainees.

Another senior official of the ministry, Eng. Muhammad Sami accused neighbouring countries of not cooperating with Afghanistan in curbing drug smuggling. He called for greater international assistance to the Afghan government for banishing the menace of narcotics.

A world awash in heroin

Economist, UK- Jun 28th 2007 From The Economist print edition - And much of it from one unruly region of Afghanistan

THE smell of the Afghan poppy season is unmistakable, even from the open door of a Black Hawk helicopter. NATO Soldiers in Helmand province see the expanse of purple and pink blossoms flashing by, but they do little to stop drug production; they worry instead about Taliban fighters mingling among the villagers, and are grateful to avoid being shot down.

Yet the opium economy and the insurgency are mutually reinforcing; drugs finance the Taliban, while their violence encourages poppy cultivation. Not surprisingly, perhaps, both problems have grown more severe in recent years, nowhere more so than in Helmand.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the province is set to harvest another record crop this year, producing more opium (and from it heroin and other illegal drugs) than the rest of Afghanistan put together. Indeed, this surge has overshadowed the past decade's striking decline in the “Golden Triangle”—the border region of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos—which UNODC says is “almost opium free”.

Afghanistan has put a blot on what UNODC says is a hopeful global picture. Its latest “World Drug Report”, published on June 26th, says that the market has largely stabilised for all classes of illicit drugs—including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis. The global area under cultivation for both poppy and coca has declined over the past decade, although improving yields mean opium production has reached record levels while cocaine remains steady. Demand for opiates and cocaine is stable. Moreover, UNODC reckons that a startling 26% of global heroin production and 42% of cocaine output has been intercepted by government authorities. Meanwhile, cannabis cultivation in Morocco, the source of 70% of hashish in Europe, has dropped. World production of amphetamines and similar stimulants appears to be steady.

The drugs business is by far the most profitable illicit global trade, says UNODC, earning some $320 billion annually, compared with estimates of $32 billion for human trafficking and $1 billion for illegal firearms. The runaway Afghan opium trade—worth around $60 billion at street prices in consuming countries—is arguably the hardest problem. Heroin is finding new routes to the consumer, for instance through West Africa to America, and via Pakistan and Central Asia to China.

The opium market puzzles experts. They say there is now an over-supply of opiates, but the price for farmers or drug users has not changed much. UNODC suspects opium is being hoarded, and that traffickers are squeezing their vast profit margins and increasing the purity of heroin doses to maintain stability.

At the time of the 2001 war in Afghanistan, the Taliban were blamed for presiding over widespread poppy cultivation. Yet they did impose a successful but short-lived ban in 2000. Their Western-backed successors have been less able to stop the inexorable spread of poppy farming. These days, says NATO, Taliban commanders and drug smugglers are often one and the same.

Afghanistan last year produced the equivalent of 6,100 tonnes of opium, about 92% of the world total. There is an interesting divergence: in areas controlled by the government, production is either decreasing or stable (or even poppy-free); where the insurgency is strongest, it is for the most part increasing.

Nevertheless, the impact is felt throughout Afghanistan. The opium trade is worth about $3.1 billion (less than a quarter of this is earned by farmers), the equivalent about a third of Afghanistan's total economy. It has forced up the exchange rate, sucked in unproductive luxuries and stoked a boom in construction, particularly around Kabul. In a country as poor as Afghanistan, opium rots any institution it touches. Some of the biggest drug barons are reputedly members of the national and provincial governments, even figures close to President Hamid Karzai. The whole chain of government that is supposed to impose the rule of law, from the ministry of interior to ordinary policemen, has been subverted. Poorly paid policemen are bribed to facilitate the trade. Some pay their superiors to get particularly “lucrative” jobs like border control.

Despairing of the failure of the anti-narcotics effort, formally led by Britain, which has focused on seeking alternative livelihoods for poppy farmers, the United States has been pushing for a more aggressive eradication campaign with aerial spraying. Its experts say that incentives alone will never work when farmers can earn eight or nine times more from poppy than from wheat. “You need a stick as well as a carrot,” says one senior American official. To show that aerial spraying works, the Americans point to UNODC's estimated 52% reduction in coca cultivation (but not cocaine output) in Colombia since 2000. However, European governments and many military commanders strongly oppose such draconian measures, fearing they will drive even more Afghans into the arms of the Taliban.

American officials were outraged last April when British commanders used a local radio to tell Helmand villagers that foreign and Afghan troops “do not destroy poppy fields” and “do not want to stop people from earning their livelihoods”. At military checkpoints, British soldiers assure passing Afghans they are there for reconstruction, not eradication, and they often turn a blind eye when they find opium.

President Karzai has so far allowed only limited destruction by hand or with tractors. But this cautious approach has arguably made matters worse in places like Helmand. The discretion allowed to local government and police officials to choose which fields should be destroyed turned last February's eradication effort into a “harvest of money” as some Afghans called it. Wealthier or better connected farmers bribed police to spare their crops. Poorer farmers bore the brunt, while some of the nastiest warlords-cum-druglords were hardly touched.

Some 500 police officers, backed by American security men with helicopters, raked in about $3m, according to some officers. They were supposed to destroy 12,000 of the estimated 100,000 hectares of poppy in Helmand. They claimed 7,000 hectares had been ripped up, but the UN verified only half this amount. Ordinary policemen averaged $1,000 each in backhanders. “We do a dangerous job and we get $70 salary a month,” said one, “If we are killed there is no money for our families. We just have to make money while we can.” One police colonel is said to have treated himself to a new Lexus car.

Can Afghanistan learn from the successes of other countries? Thailand rid itself of poppy by an active policy of encouraging alternative economic development. But through the 1980s and 1990s it enjoyed strong economic growth driven by tourism and exports, and a fairly stable government. A lobbying group known as the Senlis Council says Afghanistan should copy Turkey and India in licensing legally poppy farming to make painkillers, such as morphine and codeine. This would draw farmers away from the drug barons and the Taliban, provide a source of income and improve skills by helping farmers to make painkiller tablets in their own villages.

The Senlis Council argues that a large unmet need for painkillers could be filled by Afghanistan, particularly if it undercuts other producers. UNODC disagrees. It says there is no shortage of such drugs; the problem is poor distribution and many countries' lack of medical experience in using opiates. In any case, says UNODC, the inability to punish those who break the rules means licensing could increase demand for illegal poppies.

Romesh Bhattacharji, India's narcotics commissioner until 2001, supports the Senlis Council. Pointing to the millions of new cancer cases every year, he argues that too many patients are dying in unnecessary agony. But he also enumerates the difficulties: in India, the government must survey 70,000 farms, suppress illicit cultivation, resolve countless disputes over allocations and prevent the theft or diversion of crops. This may be beyond the ability of a fragile state like Afghanistan.

Another option under discussion is to stimulate licit agriculture, perhaps by guaranteeing prices for non-poppy crops. Afghanistan is, after all, within striking distance of the lucrative markets in the Gulf. But such measures might encourage smuggling of produce from neighbouring countries. In any case, encouraging agricultural exports requires more than higher prices, not least refrigeration, reliable electricity, safe roads, finance, marketing skills and access to markets. Dry opium, by contrast, can be stored almost indefinitely and often acts as a family's store of wealth.

UNODC officials propose some partial steps, including targeting laboratories that convert opium to heroin, taking action against some of the best-known drug smugglers to signal the government's seriousness, and rotating police officers frequently, particularly those in bribery-prone positions such as border posts. Ultimately, though, halting Afghan opium production means reducing demand in Europe and other drug-consuming states. Progress in Afghanistan, if it comes, is likely to be incremental and will involve a mix of eradication, development, stimulating agriculture and licensing poppy. But all these measures require the same elusive ingredient: a stable government that controls its own territory and borders.

Soap to clean up Afghan economy

Wed. Jun. 27 2007 10:57 PM ET - CTV.ca News

Violence-ravaged Afghanistan is faced with the daunting task of ridding itself of a reputation as a war zone that harbours Taliban militants. Even the country's agriculture sector is known mainly for its poppy production.

Journalist and author Sarah Chayes is trying to cleanse the country of that dubious distinction and simultaneously jump-start it's economy. It is a daring venture into an industry not known to Afghans.

In 2005, Chayes founded a co-operative known as Arghand -- named after the city of Arghandab, where it is based. The soap-manufacturing operation is run out of her home and the tools are donated by the Canadian forces. The company makes hand-crafted specialty soaps from crops and herbs that are abundant in the local area.

"Everyone looks at this barren landscape and they can't imagine that there are really nice crops." Chayes said. "There's pomegranates, apricots and almonds"

The most valuable crop for Chayes is the pomegranate. The specialty fruit grows well in the local area but it is the findings of a recent study that have Chayes excited.

"University of Michigan Medical School comes out with this study, showing that pomegranate seed oil stimulates regeneration of the epidermis," Chayes said.

Not only is the soap lauded for its medicinal value, each bar is molded to look like a river-polished piece of local marble. The 125-gram bars sell for $7 each. Indeed, the products are so popular at North American retailers that Chayes cannot produce enough to keep the shelves filled.

Even though the company has yet to make a profit, Chayes hopes to makes it as successful as her other Afghan ventures. Before Arghand, she had teamed up with Quyam Karzai, the older brother of the Afghan president, to create an organization known as Afghans for Civil Society in Kandahar. The organization helped rebuild a village, launch a radio station, and establish a women's income generation project in the country.

Chayes came to Afghanistan as a reporter for a Paris-based radio service in 2002. When confronted by the struggle of the Afghan people, she decided to leave reporting and took on the task of restructuring the society and bridging the gap between Afghanistan and the world.

"It seems to me the most important thing people who are a healthy and of active age can do is to figure out how to build bridges rather than build walls," she said.

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