In this bulletin:

• NATO launches offensive against Taliban
• US military defends erasing of Afghan ambush footage
• Italian reporter in Afghanistan has not been in touch with paper
• Kidnappings in Afghanistan
• Pak-Afghan Jirga Commission to meet on 10th
• Envoy rejects Afghan claims
• US disappointed on slow progress of Peace Jirga
• Record Opium Crop Possible in Afghanistan, U.N. Study Predicts
• EU vows to help Afghanistan tackle drugs
• EU welcomes cooperation between Afghanistan and neighbours to combat drug trafficking
• Singapore to join New Zealand in Afghanistan
• Bulgaria to increase peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan: DM
• Defence Minister leaves for Jordan
• Afghan defence minister will shortly visit Moscow
• Russia to resume military aid to Afghanistan
• Lower house of Italy's parliament to vote on refinancing Afghan mission
• Senate Committee Questions Taliban, al-Qaida Gains in Afghanistan
• PRT accused of illegal excavations in Badakhshan
• Nine ANA soldiers wounded in Panjwayee bomb blast
• Safe havens or recruiting grounds?
• In search of the Taliban
• Provincial council heads call for signing of amnesty draft
• Kabul calling
• Canadian Aid Distributed in Afghanistan
• Upper House condemns senator's home search by ISAF

NATO launches offensive against Taliban

Kabul (AP) - NATO-led troops launched an offensive against Taliban militants in a southern Afghan province where hundreds of militant fighters have massed in recent months. One NATO soldier was killed Tuesday in combat in the south.

The operation, which will eventually involve 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghan soldiers, was launched Monday at the request of the Afghan government and will focus on the northern region of Helmand province, Col. Tom Collins, the spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said Tuesday.

The offensive "is focused on improving security in areas where Taliban extremists, narco-traffickers and foreign terrorists are currently operating," Collins said. "Once the security situation is improved, we will begin short- and long-term reconstruction projects."

Dubbed Operation Achilles, the offensive is NATO's largest-ever in the country. But it will involve only half the number of soldiers that fought in a U.S. offensive in the same region just nine months ago, when some 11,000 U.S.-led troops attacked fighters in northern Helmand province during Operation Mountain Thrust.

Collins said that although thousands of British, American, Canadian and Dutch troops were returning to the same region, the situation was "fundamentally different" this year, and NATO had a much better opportunity to establish a permanent presence because more troops were in the country. Some 1,500 U.S. troops will take part in Achilles.

A long-term NATO presence in northern Helmand would help the government establish control in areas where hundreds of militants from Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa have massed, Collins said.

"We cannot allow extremists, criminals and Taliban to decide what happens in this country," Maj. Gen. Ton van Loon, ISAF's southern commander, told reporters. "We need to make sure the government of Afghanistan with our support ... secures the area."

An ISAF statement said one soldier died Tuesday in the south during combat operations, but it gave no further details. Collins said he did not know if the fallen soldier was involved in the new operation.

The government has little control over many parts of northern Helmand, and the British troops stationed there battle almost daily with militants. U.S. intelligence officials say Taliban fighters have flooded into Helmand the last several months, and there are now more fighters there than anywhere else in the country.

The militants overran Musa Qala, in northern Helmand province, on Feb. 1 after defying a peace deal between the government and elders reached last fall that capped weeks of fighting. The Taliban still control the town more than a month after the initial attack. Collins said forces would not move into the village until given approval by the government.

British troops have also been battling militants in the nearby district of Kajaki to enable repairs on a hydroelectric damn there, which supplies close to 2 million Afghans with electricity.

Helmand is the world's biggest producer of opium, and a new U.N. drug assessment indicates this year's poppy harvest could be higher than last year's record output. The U.N. says Taliban fighters protect poppy farmers and tax the crop, deriving much-needed income for their insurgency.

Meanwhile, a remote-control bomb targeting a police vehicle on Tuesday killed one policeman and wounded another in Murja district, also in Helmand, said Ghulam Nabi Mulakhail, the province's police chief. The blast also wounded six Afghan civilians nearby, said Abdul Basir, a police officer in the district.

US military defends erasing of Afghan ambush footage

AFP - 03/05/2007 - KABUL - The US military in Afghanistan Monday defended the erasing of media photographs and video after an incident which left up to 10 civilians dead, saying this was allowed in "extreme circumstances."

Photographers and cameramen working for international and Afghan media said soldiers deleted footage of a site in eastern Nangarhar province where US troops opened fire after an ambush.

Afghan officials say 10 civilians were killed. The US-led coalition says eight died in the ambush and subsequent return fire, but has not admitted outright to causing civilian deaths.

A media spokesman for the US-led coalition admitted some pictures of the scene may have been erased. "Some of those facts may be accurate but there is some context that is due," Major William Mitchell told AFP.

The journalists had gone beyond a security perimeter and had been asked to remove their images to "protect the integrity of the investigation," he said, adding that the scene may have been altered before they arrived.

The concern had been that the "photographers would not accurately represent what the scene looked like immediately after the ambush," Mitchell said. "In this case we give a lot of deference to the commanders at the site conducting the investigation," he said.

However, "we have reminded our forces in the area that only in extreme circumstances is this practice condoned," Mitchell added. The United Nations said it was trying to verify what happened. In "general nobody should be allowed to interfere in journalists carrying out their lawful work," spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

Italian reporter in Afghanistan has not been in touch with paper

The Associated Press - Tuesday, March 6, 2007

ROME: An Italian newspaper has lost contact with its journalist in Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry and the paper said Tuesday.

Rome daily La Repubblica has had no contact with Daniele Mastrogiacomo since Sunday, the ministry said. The Foreign Ministry and the Italian Embassy in Kabul were trying to locate the reporter.

"We have not heard from him since Sunday, he was in Kandahar on assignment," said the paper's editor-in-chief, Ezio Mauro, according to La Repubblica's Web site. Kandahar is the Taliban's former stronghold in the country's volatile south.

Kidnappings in Afghanistan

March 6 (Reuters) - The Taliban said on Tuesday they had captured a British journalist and two Afghans in the southern province of Helmand, a major drug producer, but gave no further details.

Pak-Afghan Jirga Commission to meet on 10th

Daily Times 6 March 2007 - ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Afghan Jirga Commission meeting has been summoned here on March 10 and will be presided over by Interior Minister and Commission Chairman Aftab Sherpao. Sources said the jirga would resolve issues regarding the allegations made by both sides on bilateral matters. The jirga will also discuss cooperation for war against terrorism between both countries. online

Envoy rejects Afghan claims

By TARIQ KHONJI – Tuesday, 6th March 2007 - Gulf Daily news

PAKISTAN'S envoy to Bahrain has categorically denied claims by Afghanistan that his country is sheltering Taliban forces. Pakistani Ambassador Iftikhar Hussain Kazmi said that the accusations were an attempt by the Afghans to draw attention away from their own shortcomings.

"The problems of Afghanistan mainly lie inside their country. The failure of the attempts at national reconciliation is at the heart of the violence and conflict," he said.

"Taliban are operating all over Afghanistan. Pakistan is the victim of the conflicts in Afghanistan. Pakistan still provides shelter to over three million Afghan refugees."

Mr Kazmi said that Pakistan placed 80,000 troops in the area to counter Taliban and Al Qaeda activity. "We must emphasise that it is not just Pakistan's responsibility to prevent movement by Taliban across the border," he said.

"If any of the Taliban leaders are moving across the border, the international security assistance force, Nato and Afghan forces have equal responsibility to check and interdict them."

Mr Kazmi said a large-scale plan for economic projects was needed, along with action to raise the standard of local security forces in areas of Afghanistan where there is trouble and conflict.

"Pakistan has committed $300 million (BD113m) for reconstruction in Afghanistan. Projects worth close to $110m (BD41m) have already been completed," he said.

US disappointed on slow progress of Peace Jirga

NEW YORK, Mar 4 (Pajhwok Afghan News): As Afghanistan and Pakistan are moving at a snails pace to remove bottlenecks to convene a regional Peace Jirga, the United States has expressed its disappointment over its slow progress.

It was last September that the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, and his Pakistani counterpart, Pervez Musharraf, at a meeting convened in Washington by the US President, George Bush, had decided to call a regional Peace Jirga of leaders from both the countries.

There is some disappointment there (in the US Government) that it (the Peace Jirga) has not been held so far, a senior State Department official told Pajhwok Afghan News.

At the same time, he acknowledged that there is significant logistical challenge in putting all these things together in order to convene the Jirga. There is absence of Pakistan and Afghan official presence in these areas. They need to develop the relationship with the local tribal leaders, he said.

We are trying to get the process move. We are encouraging them, the official said, hoping that the process would now be accelerated by leaders of both the countries.

It is only recently that the two countries initiated steps to remove the bottlenecks in convening the Peace Jirga. The two countries have constituted their respective Jirga commissions. An Afghan delegation had visited Pakistan early February at their invitation to discuss the various issues related to it.

He appreciated that both the countries have now initiated the process and come up with practical ideas. The extreme climatic conditions too had a role to play in this delay, he said hoping that with the onset of spring, the move would gain pace and the Peace Jirga would soon see the light of the day.

Terming the Peace Jirga as crucial to bringing peace and development across the Afghan-Pakistan border, the State Department official said: We are eager to have the first Peace Jirga that produces results and spells out developmental priorities.

It is based on the recommendations of the regional Peace Jirga that the United States-led international community and Afghanistan and Pakistan governments would go in for large scale developmental activities in the border areas of both countries to generate employment and bring economic prosperity to the people of the region, which would ultimately result in bringing lasting peace.

We want from them, what they need, the official said. As tribal leaders on both sides of border share same language and culture, it is argued a meeting between them would help identify the problems and spell out developmental priorities.

The $11.6 billion aid to Afghanistan announced by the US has separate provisions for several millions for the developmental activities in this region, the official said.

Record Opium Crop Possible in Afghanistan, U.N. Study Predicts

NY Times - By CARLOTTA GALL Published: March 6, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 5 — Afghanistan’s opium harvest could be bigger than last year’s record crop, with nearly half of the provinces showing an increase in planting this year, the director of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime said here Monday.

His office released an assessment of winter planting trends, which shows an increase in 15 provinces, no change in 6 provinces, and a decrease in 7 provinces. Six of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces have no poppies, the study said.

Similar assessments of the size of the crop and harvest have proved accurate in the past. Afghanistan had a substantial increase of poppy cultivation last year, resulting in the highest recorded harvest, more than 6,000 tons, the drugs and crime office said.

Although some of the country is showing a decrease in poppy cultivation this year, the south, which has been plagued by the insurgency and traditionally has been the biggest source of poppies, is showing a continued increase, “which may result in an overall increase in opium poppy cultivation in 2007,” the report said.

The ample rainfall and snowfall this winter would also contribute to a good harvest in 2007, it said. “The real increase is taking place in the provinces characterized by insurgency, and the problem there is not only a narcotic problem but an insurgency problem,” Antonio Maria Costa, the director of the drugs and crime office, based in Vienna, said in an interview. “The southern provinces are a textbook case of lawlessness prevailing, and therefore everybody from farmers and labs, traffickers and warlords are trying to profit from the bonanza of the product.”

Lack of security has also prevented aid from reaching farmers who want to change crops, he said, which has been a major factor in other areas in persuading farmers to abandon poppy growing.

Mr. Costa said a decrease in poppy growing across a band of provinces that have been the target of such an effort was an important development. Money was provided in those areas to help farmers change crops.

“We may be able to create a corridor, or an area ranging from Pakistan in the southeast to Turkmenistan in the northwest” that is free of opium, Mr. Costa said. The strategy was, he said, “Establish a stronghold of opium-free, or provinces with a negligible amount, and then slowly regain control of the other provinces.”

The intent of the big traffickers is uncertain because the huge crops last year produced a glut of opium on the world market, he said. The excess, which was worth about $1 billion, has not reached the market and depressed the price of opium, so someone is holding it for future sales, he said.

“Is it in the insurgents’ hands?” he asked. “It is not under the bed of the farmers,” he said, adding, “It could become a serious problem down the road.”

EU vows to help Afghanistan tackle drugs

(DPA) 5 March 2007 Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

BRUSSELS - The European Union on Monday vowed to help Afghanistan combating drug production and trafficking and pledged further support for strengthening the country’s justice sector.

The country’s flourishing drug business has a ‘significant and detrimental impact...upon the stability and security of Afghanistan and the surrounding regions, as well as internationally, including on the EU member states themselves,’ EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels warned.

They said that the bloc would support Afghanistan’s efforts to promote the development of the police, courts, prisons and the justice system with a focus on counter-narcotics activities.

EU defence ministers last week gave the green light to a police mission in Afghanistan to train local policemen as part of a renewed international drive to stabilize the war-torn country.

The United States warned recently that insurgents of the radical Islamic Taleban movement are benefiting most from Afghanistan’s illicit drug trade, which again reached record levels in 2006.

Afghanistan produced 90 per cent of the world’s opium in 2006, during which time the number of hectares dedicated to opium cultivation increased by 61 per cent to 172,600, according US data.

EU welcomes cooperation between Afghanistan and neighbours to combat drug trafficking

Brussels, March 5, IRNA - The EU Foreign Ministers' Council meeting in Brussels Monday said it recognises the significant and detrimental impact that production and trafficking in drugs are having upon the stability and security of Afghanistan and the surrounding region as well as internationally, including on the EU Member States themselves.

The Council in a statement expressed its support to the Government of Afghanistan in its efforts to tackle drugs through the National Drug Control Strategy.

It called on all EU Member States to continue their support, in particular through rapid implementation of the recommendations in the EU's Action-Oriented Paper "Increasing EU support for combating drug production in and trafficking from Afghanistan, including transit routes."

The Council welcomed the European Commission's current and planned activities in support of existing justice programmes, in particular an initiative under the North-South Drugs budget line to strengthen cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours against precursor diversion and to combat drug trafficking.

Singapore to join New Zealand in Afghanistan

Tuesday, 6 March 2007 - Press Release: New Zealand Government

Defence Minister Phil Goff welcomed the announcement today by Singapore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean that Singaporean Armed Forces (SAF) personnel will join New Zealand's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan.

"I had the opportunity to discuss a possible Singapore contribution to our PRT during the visit to New Zealand earlier this year by Singapore's Second Minister of Defence, Dr Eng. I am very pleased at their decision to contribute to humanitarian and reconstruction projects as part of the New Zealand PRT", said Mr Goff.

"We worked together well with the SAF in East Timor when they joined New Zealand troops there from May 2001 to November 2002. We also have a close relationship as partners under the Five Power Defence Arrangements, training and exercising together.

"This decision to deploy with us in Bamiyan will further strengthen our good defence relationship. "The SAF will undertake two humanitarian reconstruction projects, establishing a dental clinic at the provincial hospital and working on the construction and repair of bridges in the province.

"A five person SAF dental team will bring in specialist equipment and establish the dental clinic. The Singaporean team will operate the clinic and provide training for local Afghans to enable them to eventually take over and run the clinic.

"The second project will see five SAF engineers work alongside New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) engineers and local contractors on the ongoing construction and maintenance of bridges in the province.

"The SAF commitment will increase and enhance the considerable contribution the New Zealand PRT makes to the province. In the end, stability and security in Afghanistan will be achieved if we can ensure that through development we can improve the lives of the people. Singapore's assistance will help us achieve further improvement in the well-being of the people of Bamiyan", said Mr Goff.

Bulgaria to increase peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan: DM

Peopl’s Daily 6 march 2007 - The Bulgarian government will agree to send another batch of troops to Afghanistan in the summer, Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov said on Monday.

Bliznakov told a military award ceremony that about 200 troops are scheduled to be sent to defend the airport in the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in mid-summer.

The defence minister said the government will make a final decision on the matter in the next few days. The government can dispatch the troops without the approval of parliament because the action is part of NATO's deployment.

Bliznakov said it will be safe for Bulgarian troops to take charge of the security inside the airport while security outside is in the hands of the British troops.

Bulgaria first sent peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan in February 2002. It now has 82 soldiers in Afghanistan.

Bulgaria has decided to send another 120 troops in April and May this year and the 200 soldiers will bring the total number of Bulgarian troops in Afghanistan to 400.

NATO has a force of more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan. Many countries have contributed, but the brunt of the fighting has been borne by U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch forces deployed in the restive south.

A resurgent Taliban have threatened a spring offensive to follow 2006, the bloodiest year since they were ousted by U.S. forces in 2001. Source: Xinhua

Defence Minister leaves for Jordan

KABUL, March 04 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Afghan Minister of Defence, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, left for Jordan on Sunday, to meet Afghan military commandoes who are currently under training with the Jordanian Army.

Major General Zahir Azimi, Defence Ministry spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Wardak will meet King Abdullah of Jordan and military officials.

100 Afghan National Army (ANA), soldiers have been in Jordan for two months on commando training.

The aforementioned troops are part of 5000 ANA soldiers, who are to receive three months military training in a foreign country.

Defence Ministry officials said the training for all 5000 soldiers would be completed simultaneously with the training of another 70,000 ANA soldiers in Afghanistan. There are currently over 43,000 soldiers present in the ANA, and the targetted figure of 70,000 is expected to be achieved by end 2010.

According to the Defence Ministry, the commando troops will be used under emergency conditions and in situations where regular army personnel may not be able to operate.

Afghan defence minister will shortly visit Moscow

MOSCOW, March 5 (Itar-Tass) - The defence minister of Afghanistan will shortly pay a visit to Moscow, an official of the Russian Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass on Monday.

“The defence minister’s negotiations in Moscow may take place already this March or in the following two months,” he said. “At present, both sides are timing the visit and coordinating it with the working schedules of the leaders of the ministries concerned. It is necessary to give solid substance to the negotiations and we believe the concrete applications of the Afghan side and our replies to them should be ready by the time of the visit,” the diplomat noted.

Director of the Second Asia Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Maryasov said “Russia had rendered technical aid to Afghanistan in the period from 2002 to 2005. However, military-technical assistance was later suspended because Russia wanted to avoid duplicating the actions of the Americans,” he noted.

Today, due to the growing activity of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda movements, as well as of other extremists, President Karzai and the Afghan government have asked the Russia to resume its deliveries of armaments and equipment” to their country, the diplomat divulged.

Russia to resume military aid to Afghanistan

Moscow, March 5 (RIA Novosti) Russia is willing to discuss the resumption of military aid to Afghanistan during the upcoming visit of the country's defence minister to Moscow, a Russian diplomat said Monday.

"In the light of increasing Taliban and Al Qaeda activities, President Karzai and the Afghan government have asked Russia to resume supplies of military equipment to Afghanistan," said Alexander Maryasov, a department head at the Foreign Ministry.

In Dec 2002, Russia's Defence Ministry signed a contract with Afghanistan to provide military-technical assistance to the Central Asian state with deliveries of motor vehicles, fuel and lubricants, communication equipment, topographic maps, truck-mounted repair workshops and automobile and armour equipment spare parts.

However, deliveries of Russian weaponry to Afghanistan were suspended in 2005 presumably in order to avoid "the duplication" of US aid to the country, which that year totalled over $929 million, more than 80 percent of which was earmarked for the military and the police.

"In 2002-2005, Russia's military-technical assistance to Afghanistan exceeded $200 million," the Russian diplomat said. "We have delivered airport maintenance equipment, a missile defence system to protect the Kabul airport, communication equipment, trucks, repair equipment, spare parts and manuals," Maryasov said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Feb 23 that Russia and Afghanistan have coordinated the terms of settlement of Afghanistan's debt to the former USSR, which, according to Russian experts' estimates, totals $10 billion.

"The problem of Afghan debt settlement has been coordinated, and only some formalities remain to be settled," the minister said on a working visit to Afghanistan.

Lavrov said Afghanistan is ready to cooperate with the regional security bodies, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, to fight terrorism and drug trafficking.

Afghanistan has regained its position as the world's top drug producer since US-led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001. Illegal drug production and trade is the only source of income for many in the war-torn southwest Asian nation, and is a major source of financing for Islamist militants.

Lower house of Italy's parliament to vote on refinancing Afghan mission

The Associated Press - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - ROME: The lower house of Italy's parliament was to vote Tuesday on a decree that would refinance the country's missions abroad, including one in Afghanistan that has created rifts in the government.

The Chamber of Deputies was expected to give the green light to the decree, which must then go to the Senate for final approval. The vote comes a day after Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Italy was worried following reports of the killing of Afghan civilians by U.S. forces.

"What happened creates a great upset in us," D'Alema said. "We must reflect on what to do."

Italy's mission in Afghanistan, involving 1,800 Italian troops, has split Premier Romano Prodi's center-left government because Communist coalition allies are against the troop deployment.

Prodi's forces have ample margin in the lower house, but they command only a razor-thin majority at the Senate, where any defections can lead to the ruling center-left losing a vote.

However, the conservative opposition led by Silvio Berlusconi, the media mogul and former premier, is expected to back the mission, ensuring passage of the legislation.

Senate Committee Questions Taliban, al-Qaida Gains in Afghanistan

By Sayed Zafar Hashemi - (AXcess News) Washington - Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he is worried about Afghanistan, given violence over the last year and an expected spring offensive by a regrouped Taliban.

Noting "there are deep differences in the Congress about the way forward in Iraq," Levin said at a hearing Thursday there is great unity for doing everything that must be done militarily and economically to prevent Afghanistan from again providing a safe haven for the terrorists.

Levin sought answers for the "disturbing" security situation in Afghanistan, in particular in the south and eastern regions and Pak-Afghan, the border area with Pakistan, where the Taliban are regrouping.

They have not only been attacking Afghan security forces but also showing resistance to the 34,000 NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces and 13,000 U.S. coalition forces of Operation Enduring Freedom.

He said there has been a two- to three-fold increase in attacks along sections of Afghanistan's borders with Pakistan within weeks after Pakistan signed an agreement with pro-Taliban militants in September. Those militants are the so-called Taliban of northern Wazeristan, the tribe-led border areas of Pakistan. Al-Qaida also established training camps for terrorists in the border region.

"A third disturbing tend over the past year is the Afghan people's growing loss of confidence in the institutions of government, at the national levels or below," Levin said.

According to his prepared statement, a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies released in February shows increasing discontent among the Afghan public with the Afghan government and a significant drop in their view of the government's legitimacy and effectiveness.

Levin also expressed concern about the growing narcotics trade and its corrupting influence. "It's providing money for the insurgency, it's contributing to corruption of public officials and prevents the emergence of the new Afghanistan," Levin said.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. James J. Jones stressed to the committee that the efforts of the international community combined with those of NATO need to be increased to consolidate and expand the gains made throughout the nation to ensure long-term success.

Jones said President Hamid Karzai has recognized the need for closer cooperation and coordination between NATO and the government of Afghanistan, as well as other groups involved in reconstruction.

"This group is designed to reach down the provincial, district and community people," he said "I believe that this group has a good chance of succeeding and will contribute to the enhanced cohesion and coordination that thus far has been absent in the deliver of international relief."

Eric S. Edelman, under secretary of defense for policy, reminded the committee of achievements since the 2001 invasion toppled the al-Qaida-backed Taliban regime.

"We must recognize that these gains in Afghanistan remain vulnerable and that our enemies are tenacious" Edelman said. "We expect an even greater increase in Taliban violence this coming spring."

He said the National Security Council staff led a comprehensive interagency review of the overall U.S. strategy. "Based on the conclusion of the review," he said, "while our goal remains a stable and democratic Afghanistan, we must increase and accelerate our efforts across the spectrum of activities in order to reach the goals." Source: Scripps Howard Foundation Wire

PRT accused of illegal excavations in Badakhshan

FAIZABAD, Mar 4 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A number of local officials in northeastern Badakhshan province accused the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) of lapses in coordination and of "irresponsible activities" within the province.

PRT officials said they had convened a gathering to facilitate understanding and cooperation between locals and the PRT, but locals accuse the troops of carrying out illegal excavations during their reconstruction missions.

However the German-led PRT officials while rejecting the allegations of excavations insisted that they carry out their activities in consultation with the local government officials.

Speaking to a gathering, Abdul Qadir Buran, a lecturer in the provincial Higher Education Institute, said PRT soldiers visited historical sites and were involved in illegal excavations.

Ahmad Shah Zigham, former district chief of Werduj had earlier claimed PRT soldiers deployed at a graveyard in this district and had allegedly discovered historical relics from this area. He claimed the foreign forces also killed, Khairudin, a local commander there.

The head of the provincial education department, Abdul Muhammad Fatih, complained of the lack of coordination by the PRT and some other NGOs for the construction of schools in some districts, and urged them to improve their coordination.

Similarly, Engineer Pir Muhammad, head of the provincial Rural Rehabilitation and Development Department and Rohul Amin Amani, member of the provincial council, demanded that the PRT consult them prior to undertaking any reconstruction activities in this province.

Through coordination they could convey the problems and needs of the people to the PRT, Amani added. However Col. Shewetla of the PRT, while rejecting the allegations said their objective was cooperation and assistance and insisted that their activities  had always been closely coordinated with the local officials.

PRT officials said they had implemented 120 welfare projects, costing  over $2.7 million in this province, in 2006 alone. The projects included agriculture, education, electricity, health, security and water supply schemes,  PRT officials said.

Nine ANA soldiers wounded in Panjwayee bomb blast

KANDAHAR CITY, Mar 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): An army officer and eight soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in the southern province of Kandahar on Sunday.

The defence ministry spokesman in Kabul, Zahir Azimi, said a convoy of the Afghan National Army was on the way to Panjwayee district this morning when a roadside bomb hit it in the Pashmol area.

The Commander of the Attal 205 Army Corps, Rahmatullah Raufi, confirmed that nine of his service members were wounded in the blast, but said they were in stable condition.

Safe havens or recruiting grounds?

Globe and Mail 3.6.07 - GRAEME SMITH investigates how camps are aggravating tense cross-border relations - GRAEME SMITH With a report from Estanislao Oziewicz

GIRDI JUNGLE, PAKISTAN -- On the map, this place is marked as a refugee camp. Under the harsh desert sun, however, Girdi Jungle seems unusually prosperous by the bleak standards of this region. The market stalls are full of fresh herbs and vegetables, and generous hunks of meat hang from the butcher's hooks.

Hints about the sources of the settlement's wealth are scattered everywhere, too, as sport-utility vehicles with Dubai licence plates roar along the dirt roads, and shopkeepers crank up the volume on cassette players blaring Taliban propaganda songs. (Dubai has long been a financial centre for militant Islamic groups.) This place was a desperately needed refuge during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, as millions of people fled the war.

Two decades later, war continues to rage in Afghanistan. This time, however, this camp and others like it no longer serve as beacons of hope for a stricken people. Instead, they are emerging as a key point of friction between Afghanistan and Pakistan, aggravating a relationship that is already dangerously inflamed.

Afghan officials say the camps now serve as recruiting grounds, training centres and transit points for the Taliban insurgents who launch attacks across the border. Pakistani authorities complain that drug dealers use the camps as shipment and refinery centres, bringing tonnes of opium and a culture of criminality into Pakistan.

In their warren of rutted lanes and mud walls, the refugees claim innocence on all counts, saying they're caught in the political crossfire between the two bickering countries.

"The world knows this is a conflict between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan," said Haji Abdul Qayum, 40, head of the tribal council that rules this settlement of about 43,000 people. "We are caught between them." All sides of the argument are partly correct, observers say: Drug dealers and Taliban insurgents likely use the camps, but the refugees are also trapped in an increasingly difficult spot.

The Pakistan government has been threatening for years to forcibly shut down the camps. In recent months, spurred by Afghanistan's complaints about the Taliban, the Pakistani authorities have set deadlines for the closing of four major camps this year, including Girdi Jungle, and paramilitary border guards are already preparing to enforce the order. Islamabad has informed the United Nations High Commission for Refugees that all of the estimated 2.4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan must return home by 2009, citing concerns for Pakistan's national security.

"This time, the government is serious," said Duniya Aslan Khan, a UNHCR officer in Quetta, Pakistan. Last week, the UNHCR announced the last chance for unregistered refugees to go home with a $60 (U.S.) cash grant to cover travel costs.

Astrid Van Genderen Stort, a UNHCR spokeswoman, said on Friday that Pakistan's decision to close the four camps was agreed to by Afghanistan and the UNHCR. Katchagari (in North West Frontier Province) and Jungle Pir Alizai (in Balochistan) are scheduled to close by June 15. Jalozai (NWFP) and Girdi Jungle (Balochistan) are set to close by Aug. 31.

"Camp closure is the prerogative of the host government, but UNHCR maintains that affected Afghans must be given viable options," she said in an e-mail. "Afghans living in the four camps are being given a choice between assisted voluntary repatriation and, if they cannot return at the moment, relocation to existing camps in Pakistan identified by the government." Law-enforcement officers are already preparing for trouble around the Girdi Jungle camp. Pakistan's Frontier Corps recently constructed seven checkpoints giving the paramilitaries control of all roads to the settlement, said Qamar Masood, district co-ordination officer in the nearby town of Dalbandin.

So far, the metal arms of the checkpoints remain open, and during a recent visit, the paramilitary officers hardly glanced at a shabby sedan visiting the camp. Afghan refugees say they have faced insults and intrusive searches at the checkpoints, but mostly they resent the new posts because they represent an implicit threat.

"They surrounded our camp on all sides, and they harass our people," said Haji Mehmoud, a tribal elder. "There are many cases in which some local [Pakistani] people are kidnapping refugees for ransom, for money," Mr. Mehmoud said. "But what can we do? We pay them, to release our people. We don't want to stay here, but inside Afghanistan, the peace situation is not good. If the peace comes, we will return home."

At the local government offices, however, Mr. Masood said Pakistan deems the situation in Afghanistan stable enough for the refugees to go home. The checkpoints are necessary, he added, because the Afghans might be tempted to commit crimes on the way out.

"The Afghan government is creating the impression that we're using these refugees to cause trouble," Mr. Masood said. "But it's just the opposite. They're making trouble for us."

While the Pakistani government is making preparations for the refugees' departure, Pakistani officials complain bitterly that their Afghan counterparts are not keeping up. Across the border, in Kandahar, Afghan authorities acknowledge they're not ready, saying they would face a crisis if tens of thousands of refugees come streaming back in the coming months.

Kandahar's department of refugees and repatriation has already registered about 19,000 displaced families living in the vast, squalid camps west of the city, many of them forced to flee their homes several years ago because of drought or war. Those people must be resettled first, said Agha Mohammed Nazari, the department's deputy director.

"How can we handle new refugees in Afghanistan?" Mr. Nazari said. "We don't have the capacity."

In search of the Taliban

Sunday Herald - 03/05/2007 By Trevor Royle - AFGHANISTAN WAS never supposed to be a simple mission, nor is it turning out to be one. Five years into the West's involvement and less than a year since Nato took over responsibility for running the volatile southern and eastern areas of the country, there are worrying signs of drift, with both the US and Nato voicing concern about the internal security situation. Britain has been forced to increase the size of its force in Helmand province by sending an additional 1400 troops, and commanders on the ground would prefer a larger deployment.

Poppy production is also causing problems. Last year the country's opium production increased by 50%, making it the source of 92% of total global production, and the profits are being channelled into the Taliban to fund their insurgency against president Hamid Karzai's administration. A leaked UN report shows that the opium trade is worth $3 billion to the local economy and that the market is dominated by sophisticated criminal dealers who enjoy the protection of Taliban warlords.

To complicate the issue, neighbouring Pakistan has become part of the equation, with continued claims that the country's security forces have been aiding and abetting the Taliban and failing to crack down on suspected al-Qaeda cells in Quetta and Peshawar.

"Despite the stationing of around 80,000 troops in the tribal areas along the border, Pakistan has neither been able to prevent the al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters crossing the porous borders into Afghanistan nor to prevent the radicalisation of its own tribal belt," claims Harsh V Pant of the department of defence studies at King's College London. "The Taliban have found a particularly hospitable environment in Waziristan and the border areas of neighbouring Baluchistan."

advertisementIn Washington, the Bush administration has warned that Afghanistan risks becoming a failed state if the deteriorating internal security situation is not taken more seriously by Nato, and last week vice-president Dick Cheney warned president Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan that he had to do much more to stop the flow of Taliban fighters across the border.

There are fears that the Taliban are about to open a fresh offensive against Nato forces and that the insurgency will be difficult to contain as long as the Taliban receive unofficial strategic support from Pakistan. Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, has long been suspected of playing host to a Taliban headquarters, and that seemed to be confirmed on Friday when the Pakistani security forces arrested mullah Obaidullah Akhund, the highest ranking Taliban warlord to fall into their hands.

While the arrest has been hailed as a breakthrough, it will not remove the pressure on Musharraf, who stands accused of signing up to the war on terror but continuing to help the Taliban behind the scenes. A leaked British Defence Academy paper has already alleged that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been lending support to the Taliban, and a recent Pakistani truce agreement with pro-Taliban elements in North Waziristan was met with undisguised fury in Washington. As part of the agreement, Musharraf agreed to end military activity in the area, which is suspected of being a haven for Taliban fighters and other militants.

With elections due later this year or early next year, Musharraf does not have his troubles to seek. In the wake of 9/11 he was given the choice of supporting Washington or being punished as a supporter of terrorism. With little option but to choose the former, he signed up to Bush's war against terror, and from time to time his security forces have delivered important information about terrorist activity. However, the suspicion remains that Musharraf has not done enough, and that what has been done, such as last week's arrest, has been done only as a sop to Washington.

Part of the problem is that Musharraf is being undermined by his own military. Despite all the denials, it is clear that both the army and ISI retain their links with the Taliban, because they view them as the best means of retaining Pakistani influence in Afghanistan. For many years the Taliban were seen as the best bet to stave off Indian influence, which has grown during Karzai's period in office. At the same time there has been an upsurge in anti-US sentiment in Pakistan, matched by a rise in Islamic militancy.

"Yes, we're unhappy about the lack of progress in containing the Taliban, and yes we've got our suspicions about the involvement of the Pakistanis in fomenting trouble in Afghanistan," says a US diplomatic source. "But no, we're not going to push Musharraf too hard, as we know only too well that he has to make compromises to remain in power."

While the north of Afghanistan remains relatively calm, there has been widespread disenchantment with the slow pace of redevelopment in the volatile southern provinces and a growing cynicism about the validity of Karzai's government. The most recent assessment by the CIA paints a bleak picture of a country on the brink of failure, and unable to exist without external military and financial support. While there have been improvements, the rate of reform has been too slow and unfocused. This has led to resentment with the Karzai regime and a growing perception that the Taliban is a valid alternative, hence the increasing number and ferocity of attacks against US and Nato forces.

And, thanks to the profits made out of the drug trade, it is not a problem that attracts easy solutions. Cash from the sale of poppies for drug production means that Taliban warlords can easily recruit fighters who are paid $100 a month, a huge amount of money in Afghanistan. Small wonder that US and Nato forces have evolved an eradication programme, and it is hardly surprising that Taliban fighters are doing all they can to resist it.

Provincial council heads call for signing of amnesty draft

KABUL, Mar 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Chairmen of a dozen of provincial councils asked President Hamid Karzai on Friday to sign into law the amnesty draft passed by the parliament.

The call to the President to support the immunity bill came in the face of widespread criticism by human rights agencies of the plan, urging him, on the contrary, to bring to justice those involved in past war crimes.

In a gathering in a mosque led by Maulvi Habibullah here today, heads of the 12 provincial councils said it was now time for forgiveness of past wrongdoings in order to strengthen national unity and cohesion. Habibullah, who is also chairman of the Kabul Provincial Council, said in his address: We support the amnesty plan because crimes happened during the past wars were committed by a mass of people, not by few individuals and we cannot try them all in court, said Habibullah.

He added that Afghanistan was now in a critical time and it was needed to focus in reconstruction of the war-ravaged country rather than taking revenges and raising controversial issues.

Yasin Akbari, chairman of the Provincial Council of Daikundi, said as sooner President Karzai approves the draft the better it will be. We call on the President to sign the draft into law without any delay, said Akbari.

The National Reconciliation Draft, approved a month ago by the lower house and adopted by the upper house later last month, is now pending for its final stage in order to come as a valid law. According to the draft, all those who were involved in war during the past three decades are immune from the state prosecution.

The idea was proposed mainly by former Mujahideen leaders and communist-era leaders and other warlords also joined them to ensure their immunity from prosecution in the face of increasing call by rights watchdogs to the Afghan government to bring war criminals to justice.

A massive rally called by the warlords ten days back in Kabul also voiced support to the draft and called on President Karzai to sign it into law.

Kabul calling

The Times of India, Editorial - 03/05/2007 By Mahendra Ved - Right-thinking people across the world are dismayed at efforts in Afghanistan to pass a law granting immunity to war criminals and exempting them from judicial proceedings.

"For bringing peace and reconciliation among various stratum in the society and starting a peaceful life in Afghanistan, all those political and belligerent sides, which were involved during the two and half decades of war, will not be prosecuted legally and judicially", says a resolution passed after a heated debate by the National Assembly.
It is part of a Bill that also seeks an extraordinary reconciliation commission to be formed within the assembly to accelerate the talks with opposition groups that include Taliban militants and the Mujahi-deen who fought each other during 1992-96.

It will be debated and put to vote in the upper House. President Hamid Karzai would need to sign it to become law. Shukria Barekzai, a woman member, walked out when the Bill was put to vote, saying, 'It is the act of some warlords who try to bury their past atrocities by approving such a Bill".

The UN, under whose aegis the Bonn Agreement was signed in December 2001 to usher in the present era in Afghanistan, has been the first to voice its strong opposition saying that it violates the basic tenets of human rights and the Geneva Convention.

Others, who have been concerned about the fratricidal conflict of nearly 30 years, are bound to follow suit. The UN has said: 'There can be no sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan without respect for the rule of law".

The criticism of the assembly's move is undoubtedly valid. However, it seems unmindful of the ground reality that prevails in Afghanistan. For one, Afghanistan's government and institutions are nascent and weak. The country has failed to stabilise politically and economically.

Worse, Taliban, yesterday's rulers, have not only survived, but have displayed a capacity for resurgence against a combined military force of the government in Kabul and its supporters within and outside.

Worst still, the past record of Taliban's adversaries, who are in power now - a good number of them elected to Parliament - has been no better. Indeed, people on both sides are responsible for human rights violations.

Non-combatants, women and children have been victims of their policy. Realising that he is too weak to take on Taliban, Karzai has repeatedly held out the olive branch, urging all to accept the constitution and join the national mainstream.

Parliament debated the Bill days after his last such appeal which, significantly, did not meet with the usual derisive rejection from Taliban.

The Taliban wants Karzai to evict all foreign forces before considering reconciliation. They know they have the upper hand. Any reconciliation would actually be a wholesale compromise. The role of Pakistan, the 'frontline' state in this fight, is well known.

Pakistan's own geopolitical interests, the Pushtuns' sympathetic stance towards Taliban and the presence of foreign mercenaries in the no-man's-land between Pakistan and Afghanistan, make Islamabad a broker of sorts.

While everyone in the Afghan imbroglio is committed to fighting terrorism, their actual role has been different. For some, this fight is just another phase of countering Russian and Chinese presence. The US has the biggest stake, but it has outsourced the task of Afghanistan's security to NATO.

Within NATO, the Germans and the French are losing interest, leaving the US and the UK, mainly, to hold the baby.

Despite claims to the contrary, and measly augmenting of forces, there is a certain fatigue in the West that began with the Iraq war and grows worse with the rising prospects of another one in Iran. All along, the US has never stopped looking for 'good' Taliban.

The British too reached an understanding with local tribes in the area they are supposed to police - something that is breached repeatedly. It would be unfair and unrealistic to expect the Afghans alone to abide by the Geneva Convention and human rights and conduct war crime trials.

Unlike South Africa, the Afghan Bill seeks to pave the way for a national reconciliation that is really guided by realpolitik. Unfortunately, Afghanistan is too poor and remote to be anything but a sacrificial lamb in the new Great Game.

Canadian Aid Distributed in Afghanistan

Paktribune March 06, 2007 - KABUL: Canadian food was distributed to thousands of drought victims and war refugees in southern Afghanistan. In exchange for the food, the farmers must clear sand from clogged irrigation canals.

The United Nations World Food Program distributed wheat, peas, cooking oil and salt to hungry farmers in Spin Boldak near the Pakistan border.

The Canadian International Development Agency will spend $4.9 million this year on emergency food assistance to vulnerable families in Kandahar province.

Upper House condemns senator's home search by ISAF

KABUL, Mar 4 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Meshrano Jirga (upper house of the parliament) on Sunday condemned search of home of a senator from Kabul by foreign forces, terming it as against the law.

A statement issued by the House said NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces and police searched illegally house of Senator Muhammad Afzal Ahmadzai two days back in Khak-i-Jabar district of Kabul.

It strongly condemned the action, calling it against Afghanistan's law.

We strongly condemn this action and call upon relevant government officials to give us full explanations about the incident, said the statement.

Ahmadzai himself told Pajhwok Afghan News that foreign troops accompanied by local police entered his home Friday afternoon and searched it, but found nothing. He lamented that foreign forces were always misguided by wrong intellgence, causing lack of confidence of people over the government.

He said no provincial or local officials, like Kabul governor and police chief, were informed about the search operation in advance. However, chief of the crime branch of the Kabul police Alishah Paktiwal was with the ISAF forces.

[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.]