In this bulletin:

• Afghan minister hurt in bombing
• Pakistan and Afghan forces clash
• Double bombing hits Afghan city, seven dead
• Reinforcements rushed to Afghan border
• Clashes at Pakistan refugee camp
• Afghans saddened at clashes with Pakistan
• Pakistan, S Arabia may pose bigger problems than Iraq, Afghanistan
• Afghan parliament insists on FM's dismissal 
• Afghan refugee crisis brewing
• Iran, Pakistan blame refugees for violence
• Expelled refugees could turn to extremism
• Refugee agency launches operation in Katcha Garhi camp
• US urges France to keep troops in Afghanistan
• Bush names war czar
• Improved intelligence helps target top Taliban
• Poppy Fields Are Now a Front Line in Afghan War
• Afghan policy – need for re-assessment
• Border clashes
• Border quagmire
• Begging to Get Suckered Again
• New Afghan forces gaining momentum
• Returnees from Iran to be sent to their provinces: IOM
• Purdue gets grant to help Afghanistan
• PRESS RELEASE – AFGHAN ATTORNEY-GENERAL ATTEMPTS TO INTIMIDATE TOLO TV STAFF
• Raising cash with Afghan girls!
• Iranian experts to search for Saffarid capital in southern Afghanistan

Afghan minister hurt in bombing

– BBC

Three people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar which left the culture minister slightly hurt, officials say.

The bomber rammed his car into a convoy of government vehicles carrying the minister, Abdul Kareem Khuram, said provincial governor Assadullah Khalid.

"I am fine, but the information minister is wounded," Mr Khalid said. The attack comes after troops killed top Taleban commander Mullah Dadullah. Militants have vowed more violence.

Two policemen were among six killed in two separate blasts just metres apart in Kandahar earlier on Thursday.

Pakistan and Afghan forces clash

BBC News / Thursday, 17 May 2007 - Pakistani troops have exchanged fire with Afghan soldiers across their common border in the latest in a series of similar incidents this week.

A Pakistani military official said mortars and small arms were used in the overnight clash. No casualties were reported in the skirmish across the line dividing the Pakistani tribal region of Kurram from Paktia province in Afghanistan.

The two countries share a mountainous 2,640km-long border. On Sunday, at least three people were killed after Pakistani and Afghan forces traded fire on the border.

At a meeting later to discuss the fighting, a US soldier and a Pakistani soldier were shot dead in disputed circumstances. Both sides accuse each other of trying to establish posts on a disputed hilltop in the Terimangal area in the border region.

Reports say four Afghan troops and a Pakistani soldier have been injured in the latest clashes. The governor of Afghanistan's Paktia province told the Associated Press that his border police told him that Pakistani forces began firing mortars at their positions early on Wednesday.

"I told my police forces, be patient and tolerant, because fighting is not the solution," Governor Rahmatullah Rahmat said.

Last month, Afghan troops tore down part of a new anti-Taleban fence being erected by Pakistan on the border between the two countries. Afghan officials had said the move led to fighting between Afghan and Pakistani troops. Pakistan had denied the fence claim, saying the clashes had started after one of its patrols came under fire.

Afghanistan disputes the border between the two countries - known as the Durand Line - saying it cuts off part of its territory. The Durand Line was drawn up in 1893 by the colonial British administration in India. It left the powerful Pashtun tribes split between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Double bombing hits Afghan city, seven dead

May 17, 2007 - KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Two bombs tore through the centre of Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar about 30 minutes apart, killing seven police officers and security guards, police said.

The first blast struck the vehicle of a private security company, killing four of the guards, Kandahar police chief Ismatullah Alizai told AFP on Thursday. The interior ministry later identified the firm as US Protection and Investigation (USPI) company. It gave the same death toll.

About half an hour later, as police and reporters gathered at the site, a second bomb exploded just metres (yards) away, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

"It took place as the security chief with his investigation team arrived at the site," the ministry said. "The explosion killed three, including a police officer and two policemen."

A policeman at the scene, Mohammad Jan, said four officers were wounded including the security chief, who is also the deputy provincial police chief, Abdul Hakim Angar. A news reporter was also slightly wounded.

The bodies of the four men killed in the first blast were hurled from the vehicle by the force of the explosion, the AFP reporter said. The vehicle was destroyed and burst into flames.

Both bombs were remotely detonated, the interior ministry said in a statement. There was no claim of responsibility, but similar attacks have been carried out by the Taliban insurgent movement that is particularly active in southern Afghanistan.

They exploded at the site where five United Nations security guards, including four Nepalese nationals, were killed in April when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle.

In early December a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the USPI office in Kandahar, killing two American and five Afghan employees. Texas-based USPI is one of the biggest security firms working in Afghanistan.

In another attack on Thursday, a remote controlled bomb struck a vehicle of the provincial police chief of the northern province of Badakhshan, killing a guard and wounding the officer and his aide, the interior ministry said.

A provincial official, Shamsul Rahman, blamed the attack on the "opposition forces." The Taliban-led insurgency sees regular attacks in southern and southeastern Afghanistan and the extremist militia has vowed to step up violence in the north and west, where other armed militia are also active.

The movement rose from Kandahar province in the early 1990s and was in government by 1996 before being toppled by a US-led coalition in late 2001.

Reinforcements rushed to Afghan border

By Ali Afzal Afzaal - The News International (Pakistan) May 17, 2007

PARACHINAR: Tension gripped Kurram Agency on Wednesday as the Pakistan Army sent reinforcements to the Pak-Afghan border following reports that the Afghan National Army had deployed in significant numbers on the Durand Line along with extra artillery and mortar guns.

The situation became even more serious in the evening when the political administration decided to make announcements from mosques and through vehicles fitted with loudspeakers about the possibility of outbreak of firing on the Pak-Afghan border. It advised the people not to become scared due to intense firing because this would be due to the situation on the border and on account of external factors. It said the firing should not be construed as a new outbreak of violence due to any internal conflict.

The authorities said the announcements were made to prevent eruption of a new round of sectarian violence. Recent sectarian strife in Kurram Agency had led to the killing of more than 70 people from the Sunni and Shia sects.

Following the public announcements and the arrival of fresh troops in the border areas, worried villagers from Teri Mangal, Sursarang and Kotri started vacating their homes so as to move to safer places. Families from the border villages such as Bhurki and Kharlachi also began shifting to villages and towns away from the Durand Line.

Reports from across the border spoke of a similar evacuation from the Afghan villages near the Durand Line. There were reports that villagers were evacuating from the border areas in the Jaji and Chamkani districts, both part of Paktia province.

Earlier, reports from Paktia said the Afghan tribal and village elders had held a big meeting in the Alikhel Garrison and overwhelmingly pledged to retake the land allegedly annexed by Pakistani forces on the border.

There were some sane voices in that meeting also, who told the crowd that the border dispute should be resolved through negotiations and must not lead to clashes. They also recalled the gesture of the Pakistan government and the people welcoming thousands of Afghans on their soil and allowing them to stay there for years. Subsequently, Afghan civilians moved to the border areas with a view to augment the Afghan National Army in case of fighting with Pakistani militiamen from the Frontier Corps.

Problems on the border arose four days ago when the Pakistani and Afghan border forces clashed following a dispute on the exact location of the border. The Afghan authorities later said 13 Afghans, including six members of their border security forces and seven civilians, were killed in the shelling by the Pakistani troops. The Pakistan Army said seven Afghan troops were killed and six people were injured in their areas.

A day later, an American and a Pakistani soldier were killed in Pakistan's border town of Teri Mangal following a flag meeting convened by International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) military commanders to resolve the issue of land ownership on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

An Afghan government spokesman later alleged that a Pakistani security official had fired at the US and Afghan military officers walking back to their helicopter and killed two American soldiers. The Pakistan government maintained that miscreants had fired at the troops, killing American and Pakistani officials.

Meanwhile, ISAF issued a statement in Kabul on Wednesday to explain the incident and demanded full investigation by the Pakistani military. The statement said: Following the meeting and prior to the ISAF-and-Afghan delegation's departure, an individual reported to be wearing a Pakistan Frontier Corps uniform, "in a heinous and despicable act, fired as an assassin, into the group that had come with peaceful aims," said Lt Col Maria Carl, ISAF spokesperson.

He said one ISAF soldier was killed and four others in the delegation were wounded. He said ISAF soldiers returned the fire in self-defence. "ISAF expects a full investigation of this incident by the Pakistani military. We will continue to dialogue with our Afghan and Pakistani allies to promote better security and greater cooperation. We are confident that our Pakistani allies seek the same goals," Carl said.

Clashes at Pakistan refugee camp

BBC News / Wednesday, 16 May 2007 - At least three Afghan refugees have been killed after clashes between Pakistani security forces and refugees in south-western Pakistan, police say. Both sides say the other started the violence in Pir Alizai camp after officials tried to demolish homes.

The camp was set up for Afghan refugees after the Soviet invasion in 1979. The Pakistani authorities have said they want to shut it down by next month. Islamabad says the camps are used by militants and drug traffickers.

The clashes come a day after violence at another Afghan refugee camp, Katchagarhai in North West Frontier Province, which the Pakistani authorities also want to shut. There were differing account as to exactly what happened during Wednesday's clashes at Pir Alizai camp in the province of Balochistan.

"The police and paramilitary soldiers went there to supervise demolition of abandoned houses. All of a sudden a few people came out of the camp and started firing," police chief Naseebullah Ghilzai told the Reuters news agency.

But refugees at the Pir Alizai camp, which is close to the Afghan province of Kandahar, accused police of trying to demolish their homes without any reason. The refugees say that when they resisted, police opened fire.

Correspondents say that about 36,000 people live in Pir Alizai, one of four large camps that the Pakistani government plans to close by September. Around 300,000 people live in the four refugee camps. The camp is inhabited by refugees who have fled decades of fighting in Afghanistan.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said they must close because they are used by Taleban militants and criminal gangs trafficking opium and heroin produced by Afghanistan's booming drug industry. A UN report released earlier this month found that most of those still in Pakistan want to stay.

Afghans saddened at clashes with Pakistan

By Sayed Salahuddin / May 17, 2007 - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan is saddened by the ongoing border clashes with Pakistan but hopes they will not affect a planned bilateral meeting to find ways of curbing the Taliban insurgency, President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday.

The skirmishes, which began at the weekend and resumed sporadically on Thursday, are the bloodiest in decades between the two uneasy neighbours who are also major U.S. allies in its fight against terrorism.

Afghanistan says Pakistani troops seized some high ground in a southeastern border region. Islamabad accuses Afghan troops of firing without provocation.

"We want an end to these skirmishes. It is not in the interest of any country," Karzai replied when a reporter asked him to comment on the clashes, which Afghan officials say killed at least 13 police and soldiers and several civilians. "Afghanistan is very sad about these incidents. Afghanistan does not like casualties on either side ..." he said.

Karzai said he hoped there would be no repeat of the clashes and expressed the wish that a planned peace jirga, or council, aimed at finding ways to stop the Taliban cross-border infiltration and insurgency, would take place as planned between the two countries.

The meeting, to involve 700 politicians, tribal elders, scholars and writers from the two countries, is expected to be held in August.

The Taliban's ability to operate from sanctuaries in the tribal areas of Pakistan has been a thorny issue in ties between Kabul and Islamabad since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001.

The two countries have historical disagreements over the border and the skirmishes have further soured relations. The clashes came more than two weeks after Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf met for the first time in months and agreed to step up security cooperation.

Relations between the two leaders have deteriorated sharply over the past 18 months, amid an increase in Taliban attacks on Afghan and Western troops in Afghanistan.

Kabul and Islamabad accuse each other of not doing enough to stop Taliban violence. Karzai repeated on Wednesday that the violence in his country emanated from Pakistan, once a major backer of the Islamists. Pakistan denies that and says the root of the Taliban problem is in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, thousands of Afghans chanted "Death to Pakistan, Death to Musharraf", outside the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.

On Monday, a NATO soldier was killed and four wounded in an ambush as they returned to the Afghan side of the border after meeting Pakistani counterparts in a bid to end the skirmishes.

Pakistan, S Arabia may pose bigger problems than Iraq, Afghanistan

Daily Times Monitor

CANBERRA: Security collapse in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could pose far greater problems for the west than either Iraq or Afghanistan, a former US general said on Tuesday, according to the Australian Associated Press news agency.

General John Abizaid, who headed US Central Command from 2003 until retiring in 2007, said the problem was that Pakistan had nuclear weapons while Saudi Arabia had about a quarter of the world’s oil reserves.

Speaking at an Australian Defence College and Royal United Services Institute security seminar, he said the two biggest problems were not necessarily Afghanistan and Iraq. “They may very well be Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” he said. “The two countries are struggling with the security implications that they have to deal with in regard to their external and internal security problems and, in the case of Pakistan, with the fact that they happen to be a nuclear state.”

“A meltdown in the security apparatus of those two countries could have implications for us that make the current situation look easy.” General Abizaid said both countries’ administrations were now much more resilient against the extremist threat than they were a few years ago. “The challenge now is to figure out how to move the campaign against terror forward in a way that

does not inadvertently embolden, enhance or empower the extremist cause,” he said.

“One of the reasons that the ideology of Bin Laden isn’t growing in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is because it doesn’t offer anybody anything. It’s very dark, very narrow and very negative and people understand that.”

General Abizaid said he had great respect for the valour, professionalism and competence of Australia’s small but highly trained defence forces. “You should make sure you understand that you do matter and that we can’t continue to operate without our friends,” he said. “We need friends like you and hope you understand that this fight we are engaged in means that in the long run you need to invest in your own security and invest in the professionalism of your security forces.”

Afghan parliament insists on FM's dismissal 

May 17, 2007 - KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's parliament demanded that President Hamid Karzai accept its decision to sack the foreign minister over the forced return of thousands of Afghans in Iran illegally.

Rangeen Dadfar Spanta lost a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament on Saturday, which meant he should lose his job. But Karzai referred his case to the Supreme Court, saying his dismissal may be unconstitutional.

"It's absolutely constitutional," Mohammad Younus Qanooni, Speaker of the powerful lower house of the parliament, told reporters in Kabul. "We want the president to respect the decision of the people's representatives."

Karzai said this week Spanta would remain in office until "clarification" from the Supreme Court, including on whether a minister could be subjected to a no-confidence vote on an issue not directly related to his work.

Spanta was accused of not doing enough to persuade Iran to ease its policy on the forced repatriations. "It's a matter involving a million Afghans living abroad," Qanooni said. "It's related to the foreign minister -- he could do a lot if he wanted."

Iran said last month it wanted about one millions Afghans in the country illegally to be out by March 2008. About 55,000 had been forced out since April 23, UN officials said this week.

Afghan refugee crisis brewing

By David Montero - The Christian Science Monitor May 17, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A severe crisis threatening Afghanistan is unfolding just over its borders. In the past three weeks, Iran has forcefully deported 85,000 Afghan refugees back over Afghanistan's southern and southeastern borders, where fighting between the Taliban and coalition forces is escalating. And in neighboring Pakistan, security forces yesterday killed four Afghan refugees during an eviction drive at a camp in Balochistan, according to reports from Agence France Presse (AFP) and other news outlets.

The forceful evictions of the refugees, who have lived in Iran and Pakistan for nearly three decades, are part of the two countries' larger plans to repatriate all Afghan refugees within a few years. Iran says it will send 1 million by next March. Pakistan, according to local media reports, plans to use force and economic sanctions to compel thousands of Afghans to leave camps that many call home.

On Saturday, Afghanistan's parliament, outraged by Iran's expulsions, ousted the Aghan foreign minister, Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, citing his gross mishandling of the situation. Mr. Spanta's dismissal followed Repatriation and Refugee Minister Mohammad Akbar Akbar's ouster by lawmakers last Thursday. Iran responded by agreeing to slow the rate of deportations, AFP reported.

The flare-ups heighten international concerns that both Iran and Pakistan have accelerated measures to purge their Afghan populations. With violence in Afghanistan at record levels and basic services already overwhelmed, their moves could be catastrophic for the region, analysts say.

"Certainly having very large numbers of Afghans return all of a sudden, especially to the south, would be disastrous," says Paul Fishstein, the director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, a think tank in Kabul.

Almost 30 years after Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan, Pakistan is still home to more than 2 million registered refugees and Iran to more than 900,000. As many as 1 million more Afghans live in Iran as illegal immigrants.

Iran, Pakistan blame refugees for violence

As terrorism flares in Iran and Pakistan, both governments have blamed Afghans for the violence and intensified efforts to send them home.

The Iranian government says that those deported were all illegal immigrants, according to Iranian TV reports, and that registered Afghans can stay.

But international agencies are concerned. "Sending so many people home will overwhelm the government … simply because Afghanistan has so little absorption capacity," says Vivian Tan, a regional spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), speaking from Tehran. "We do believe it should be done in a more humane way."

Iran says it would like all Afghans to leave eventually, though it hasn't specified a timetable. Developments in Pakistan are also a cause for concern. Quoting a local police officer's account, AFP reported on Wednesday that four Afghan refugees were killed when a team of Pakistani paramilitary troops stormed the Jungle Pir Alizai refugee camp in Balochistan, seeking to evict inhabitants.

Four camps in Pakistan, which together hold 230,000 refugees, are scheduled to be closed by 2009, the first two beginning this summer.

Inhabitants are supposed to have a choice: either go home or be shifted to other camps, which authorities insist are adequate for their needs. But during a high-level meeting this week, members of the Pakistani government reportedly considered using force to expel camp inhabitants, according to Pakistani newspapers. In some areas, economic sanctions – including bans on renting to Afghans – have already been promulgated to force refugees to other areas.

"The message is, we are closing the camps and you have to go home," says Aimal Khan, of the Islamabad think tank, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Abdur Rauf Khan, chief commissioner of Afghan refugees in Islamabad, has denied that Pakistan will use force. Responding Wednesday to claims that four Afghan refugees were killed by Pakistani security services in Balochistan, he said that while not in a position to confirm or deny the reports, "I have it on the authority of my secretary that no such incident took place."

Pakistan's government insists it has worked closely with UNHCR and Afghanistan to devise the terms for repatriation. Afghanistan says it will certainly support the efforts of Afghan refugees to return, but only so long as it is voluntary.

A May UNHCR report, along with other studies, suggests that returnees would likely congregate in a few already overburdened Afghan cities like Kabul, further straining housing stocks, water, and electricity supplies.

Expelled refugees could turn to extremism

While closing camps and deporting undocumented refugees may help in the short term, it will create regional problems down the line, observers say. "There will be some kind of resistance. And the situation in Afghanistan is not that ideal for the refugees to go back," says Mr. Khan of SDPI.

According to the May UNHCR report, 82 percent of Pakistan's refugees do not want to go home. Some three-quarters are below the age of 28, and nearly as many have no formal education – a combination that could make them susceptible to extremism. "You just have uprooted people who are [angry] and who may be more susceptible to creating mischief," says Mr. Fishstein in Kabul.

Refugee agency launches operation in Katcha Garhi camp

CAR has planned five phases for vacating the camp which will be closed by June 15 - By Zakir Hassnain

PESHAWAR: The Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) launched an operation on Tuesday to demolish mud shops and houses at Katcha Garhi refugee camp as the inhabitants have showed no willingness so far to vacate the camp which will be closed on June 15.

The commissionerate had militia and police support and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and City Development and Municipal Department (CDMD) officials were also present during the demolition operation that will continue for some days to force refugees to quit the camp.

“It seems from their (refugees’) attitude that they are not going anywhere for the time being and we have given them a message through the first day demolition operation that they will have to leave the camp before the June 15 closure date,” a CAR official requesting anonymity told Daily Times.

The official said CAR had planned five phases. “In the first phase, we’ll demolish mud shops and houses on the Jamrod Road side and in the second, shops and houses on the inner side of camp will be razed to the ground,” said the official.

The CAR official also said that in the third phase, refugees’ vehicles would be impounded and the fourth phase would include the arrest of refugee maliks or elders. The official said in the final phase, electricity to the camp would be disconnected.

The official said several jirgas had been sent to refugee elders but there were no signs of refugees’ departure from the camp. “They will not go unless we force them to,” he said, adding that the demolition operation would continue for some days and that the camp refugees had not resisted so far.

Sher Muhammad and Javed, two young inhabitants of the Katcha Garhi camp, said refugees would not leave the camp at any cost. “We are ready to be run over by bulldozers and die at the camp as we don’t have any houses and land in Afghanistan,” they said. They also said they could not go to Afghanistan unless peace was restored there.

Qari Rizwanullah, a camp refugee, said they would have to vacate the camp and go to Afghanistan. “This is Pakistani land. We came here as guests and it’s time now to go home,” said Rizwan. Some refugees said they did not want any quarrel with Pakistani authorities as the Pakistan government had looked after the refugees for 28-29 years.

During the first-day operations, the police intimidated young refugees with sticks to disperse them. Young refugees and children were seen shifting their belongings to safer places.

The Katcha Garhi camp, located only a few kilometres from Peshawar, is one of the oldest refugee camps. The camp houses over 50,000 registered individuals and will be closed on June 15 along with the Jalozai refugee camp which shelters 107,000 registered individuals and will be closed on August 31. The government offered refugees of these camps to relocate to the Dir and Chitral refugee camps if they did not want to return to Afghanistan, but the majority of refugees are not prepared to shift to the Dir and Chitral camps.

US urges France to keep troops in Afghanistan

May 16, 2007 - PARIS (AFP) - US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Wednesday he hoped France would keep its troops in Afghanistan, and that new French President Nicolas Sarkozy would reconsider his opposition to letting Turkey join the EU.

"It is important that all of our allies, including France, recognize the importance of remaining together in Afghanistan as one unit. Each country contributes decisively to our ability to succeed," he said during a visit to Paris.

"Our NATO partners are very committed to Afghanistan and we would hope and expect that commitment continues to hold," he told a conference at the French-American Foundation.

France has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 37,000-strong NATO contingent from 37 nations deployed to help local security forces fight the Taliban and wrest back control of the rugged nation.

Sarkozy, who became France's new president on Wednesday, said last month that the long-term presence of French troops in Afghanistan was "not decisive."

He made the statement at a time when two French aid workers were being held hostage by the Taliban, who were demanding the departure of French troops. The two hostages have since been released.

Negroponte also said Tuesday he hoped Sarkozy would reconsider his objections to allowing Turkey, a predominantly Muslim nation of 70 million people, join the European Union.

Sarkozy has argued that most of Turkey's territory is in Asia and that the idea of a united Europe would be diluted if its borders stretched that far. "Our view is based on the thought that it would be important to integrate this strategically significant country into the European continent," said Negroponte.

"We would simply hope ... that the government of France will keep an open mind on this subject and ... think about what the consequences inside Turkey and for the region might be if the door were closed completely to Turkish membership of the EU," he said.

Turkey carried out a series of far-reaching democratic reforms to win the green light for EU membership talks in 2005, despite strong opposition among the European public, notably in France.

But a row over Ankara's refusal to grant trade privileges to Cyprus led the EU in December to freeze talks in eight of the 35 policy areas that candidates are required to complete.

Bush names war czar

WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush named U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute as the White House's new "war czar" to coordinate U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the new position, Lute will oversee operations by both the military and the U.S. State Department.

"General Lute is a tremendously accomplished military leader who understands war and government and knows how to get things done," Bush said in a statement, The Washington Post reported. At least five retired four-star generals refused to be considered for the "war czar" job, the Post reported.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Financial Times that Lute would have a "911 number" for military commanders and would be empowered by the president to phone the Cabinet and say, "The president would like to know why you haven't delivered what's been asked for yet."

Sources told the Post that Lute was concerned about the effectiveness of the "surge" of troops in Iraq announced in January.

Improved intelligence helps target top Taliban

Coalition air strike kills Mullah Manan, local commander known for bloodthirsty tactics - GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

May 16, 2007 - KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — The latest air strike against a Taliban leader has killed a notorious local commander who used villagers as human shields and fought in the largest battles Canadian troops have faced in half a century, Afghan officials and villagers say.

Mullah Abdul Manan was somewhere in the area of Nalgham and Sangisar, two clusters of villages west of Kandahar city, when he was struck while riding a motorbike by what locals described as a large blast that shook their farms at 3 a.m., local time.

His death marks another in a series of successful targeted strikes against prominent Taliban figures in southern Afghanistan. The most important insurgent commander, Mullah Dadullah, made international headlines when his death was confirmed on Sunday. Dozens of less prominent Taliban chiefs have been killed without fanfare over the past six months, however, as the foreign troops in southern Afghanistan appear to be improving their intelligence about the insurgents.

"This is great news," said Asmatullah Alizai, Kandahar police chief, in a telephone interview. "He made a lot of trouble for us." Mullah Manan ranked among the minor commanders, with perhaps a few dozen fighters under his control, locals say. Two others killed along with him, Mullah Abdul Hakim and Mullah Zarif, were described as his lieutenants. Mullah Uror, another small-time commander, was injured.

Follow-up attacks on people who gathered in the area may have killed local civilians, villagers suggested. Mr. Alizai said the air strikes killed 60 insurgents and injured 30 others; when asked whether some of those might be civilians, he acknowledged that it's possible. Afghanistan's Defence Ministry described lower numbers, saying perhaps 11 Taliban were killed.

There was also confusion last night over who conducted the air strike, as neither the North Atlantic Treaty Organization nor the U.S. counter-terrorism forces took responsibility. Afghan authorities in Kabul and Kandahar described it as a NATO attack, but the alliance's International Security Assistance Force quickly issued a denial.

"Contrary to press reports, ISAF is unaware, at this time, of any NATO air strikes or significant operations near Kandahar early this morning," the statement said.

Mullah Manan was born perhaps 28 years ago in Keshano village, not far from the spot where he died. A Tokhi tribesman with dark eyes and an unimpressive physical presence, his fellow villagers say he only worked as a driver for the Taliban during their regime. His father owned a small farm of three or four hectares, producing grapes and raw opium. His brother owned a passenger bus and ran a service between Herat and Kabul until the U.S. invasion in 2001.

Mullah Manan's role in the Taliban regime made it difficult for him to establish a new life under the Karzai administration, villagers say. He joined the insurgency two years ago and gained a reputation as a fierce fighter, facing the Canadian troops in the fields of Pashmul during September's Operation Medusa.

At times, his tactics were bloodthirsty. After a quarrel with a local village about whether the elders would allow Taliban fighters to operate in their area, Mullah Manan reputedly sent two insurgents armed with a recoilless rifle to set an ambush on a nearby road. His men spotted a Canadian patrol passing near the village and opened fire, provoking a fight designed to catch the offending locals in the crossfire.

But the Canadian soldiers disappointed Mullah Manan by exercising restraint in their response, villagers say; the only damage was inflicted on vineyards and poppy fields crushed beneath the tracks of armoured vehicles.

The successful air strikes against Mullah Manan and Mullah Dadullah come at an opportune moment for the foreign forces as they struggle against criticism from Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai, that bombings are killing too many civilians.

Last week, a U.S. air strike in Sangin district of Helmand province killed dozens of people; the provincial governor estimated the dead at 21, but locals claim many times more. Another air attack last month left an estimated 57 civilians dead in Shindand, in western Afghanistan.

Poppy Fields Are Now a Front Line in Afghan War

By JAMES RISEN – NY Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a walled compound outside Kabul, two members of Colombia’s counternarcotics police force are trying to teach raw Afghan recruits how to wage close-quarters combat.

Using wooden mock AK-47 assault rifles, Lt. John Castañeda and Cpl. John Orejuela demonstrate commando tactics to about 20 new members of what is intended to be an elite Afghan drug strike force. The recruits — who American officials say lack even basic law enforcement skills — watch wide-eyed.

“This is kindergarten,” said Vincent Balbo, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration chief in Kabul, whose office is overseeing the training. “It’s Narcotics 101.” Another D.E.A. agent added: “We are at a stage now of telling these recruits, ‘This is a handgun, this is a bullet.’ ”

It is a measure of this country’s virulent opium trade, which has helped revive the Taliban while corroding the credibility of the Afghan government, that American officials hope that Afghanistan’s drug problem will someday be only as bad as that of Colombia.

While the Latin American nation remains the world’s cocaine capital and is still plagued by drug-related violence, American officials argue that decades of American counternarcotics efforts there have at least helped stabilize the country.

“I wanted the Colombians to come here to give the Afghans something to aspire to,” Mr. Balbo said. “To instill the fact that they have been doing this for years, and it has worked.”

To fight a Taliban insurgency flush with drug money for recruits and weapons, the Bush administration recognizes that it must also combat the drug trafficking it had largely ignored for years. But plans to clear poppy fields and pursue major drug figures have been frustrated by corruption in the Afghan government, and derided by critics as belated half-measures or missteps not likely to have much impact.

“There may have been things one could have done earlier on, but at this stage, I think there are relatively limited good options,” said James F. Dobbins, a former State Department official who served as the administration’s special representative on Afghanistan.

Poppy growing is endemic in the countryside, and Afghanistan now produces 92 percent of the world’s opium. But until recently, American officials acknowledge, fighting drugs was considered a distraction from fighting terrorists.

The State Department and Pentagon repeatedly clashed over drug policy, according to current and former officials who were interviewed. Pentagon leaders refused to bomb drug laboratories and often balked at helping other agencies and the Afghan government destroy poppy fields, disrupt opium shipments or capture major traffickers, the officials say.

Some of the officials declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and military leaders also played down or dismissed growing signs that drug money was being funneled to the Taliban, the officials say.

And the C.I.A. and military turned a blind eye to drug-related activities by prominent warlords or political figures they had installed in power, Afghan and American officials say.

Not so long ago, Afghanistan was trumpeted as a success, a country freed from tyranny and Al Qaeda. But as the Taliban’s grip continues to tighten, threatening Afghanistan’s future and the fight against terrorism, Americans and Afghans are increasingly asking what went wrong. To that, some American officials say that failing to disrupt the drug trade was a critical strategic mistake.

“This is the Afghan equivalent of failing to deal with looting in Baghdad,” said Andre D. Hollis, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics. “If you are not dealing with those who are threatened by security and who undermine security, namely drug traffickers, all your other grandiose plans will come to naught.”

Administration officials say they had believed they could eliminate the insurgency first, then tackle the drug trade. “Now people recognize that it’s all related, and it’s one issue,” said Thomas Schweich, the State Department’s coordinator for counternarcotics in Afghanistan. “It’s no longer just a drug problem. It is an economic problem, a political problem and a security problem.”

More American Help - To step up efforts, last fall President Bush privately prodded President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan to curb opium production, then vowed publicly in February to provide more help.

While the D.E.A. has imported Colombian trainers in Kabul, United States Justice Department officials are helping build from scratch an Afghan judicial system to deal with drug cases. State Department officials, meanwhile, have helped found the Afghan Eradication Force to wipe out opium poppy crops. The American military is providing logistical support for D.E.A. raids and eradication.

The symbolic heart of the Bush administration’s efforts is a construction site amid tin shanties and junkyards near the Kabul International Airport: a new $8 million Counternarcotics Justice Center. After its scheduled opening in July, the center will be a one-stop shop for drug cases, with two courts, offices for 70 prosecutors and investigators and jail cells for 56 suspects.

But while new Afghan drug prosecutors are charging hundreds of messengers and truck drivers with drug offenses, major dealers, often with ties both to government officials and the Taliban, operate virtually at will.

An American counternarcotics official in Washington said a classified list late last year developed by several United States agencies identified more than 30 important Afghan drug suspects, including at least five government officials. But they are unlikely to be actively sought anytime soon, several American officials caution.

In part, that is because the Afghan drug prosecutors are eager, but their legal skills are weak. “You look at the indictments, and it looks like a sixth grader wrote it,” said Rob Lunnen, a Salt Lake City federal prosecutor assisting the Afghan drug task force.

Another American prosecutor said, “If we try to go after deputy ministerial or ministerial level corruption cases, then you are not going to have a system that can handle it, and they would just get released.”

The few times that influential drug figures have been investigated, the resistance has been intense. In January, for example, the D.E.A. and the Afghan national police arrested two drug suspects in remote Kunduz Province, only to find themselves hauled before the provincial governor as a crowd gathered outside. The drug team had to leave their suspects in custody in Kunduz.

“It’s happened several times that there will be a raid, and a mayor is involved, and nothing happens,” Mr. Lunnen complained. “Every day we feel frustrated.” He added that the Karzai government did not adequately support the Afghan drug task force because it was viewed “as a creation of the West.”

Failing to charge major traffickers feeds Afghans’ skepticism about American intentions, said counternarcotics officials, lawmakers and experts on Afghanistan.

“To Afghans, our counternarcotics policy looks like a policy of rewarding rich traffickers and punishing poor farmers,” Barnett R. Rubin, a New York University professor and an expert on Afghanistan, told a Senate panel in March.

Many Afghans are hostile to opium eradication, saying it deprives farmers of their livelihoods. Mr. Rubin and others say that destroying crops drives villagers into the arms of the Taliban. But the United States has not embraced large-scale aid and employment programs that might deter farmers from planting poppies. Instead, the antidrug teams venture out into the countryside, where some have been killed by suicide bombers and Taliban forces allied with drug lords.

Fearing a backlash from the populace, the Afghan government has rejected American proposals for chemical spraying, permitting only manual eradication. That requires hundreds of men with sticks and tractors — often surrounded by American contractors for protection — to knock down poppy bulbs by hand. It is agonizingly slow and largely ineffective.

So far this year, about 20,000 acres have been destroyed, just a fraction of the record 407,000 acres planted with opium poppy, according to the United Nations. The crop is expected to yield more than 6,500 tons of opium, exceeding global demand. The export value — about $3.1 billion — is equivalent to about half of the legal Afghan economy.

Like the law enforcement efforts, the eradication program is rife with corruption. Farmers know they must offer bribes to avoid having their crops destroyed, American and Afghan drug officials said. It is often only those who lack money or political connections whose fields are singled out.

“I would go out to an eradication site, and we would be driven past miles and miles of poppy fields, and the Afghans would say, ‘You can’t do that field,’ because it belongs to such and such a commander, ‘You can’t do that field, you can’t do this field,’ ” recalled one American counternarcotics official. “Finally, we would arrive at one field where we could set up for eradication, and you had to wonder, why had they chosen this one?”

Gen. Sayed Kamal Sadat, chief of the Afghan national drug counterforce, acknowledges that many officials are for sale.

Opium Used as Currency - “We have security chiefs, police chiefs, who traffic in drugs,” he added. “Traffickers give money to governors to allow cultivation in their areas. So far, I haven’t seen any governor or security commander willing to crack down.” Drug production is now greatest where the Taliban is strongest. In Helmand Province, which the insurgents mostly control, opium is so abundant that blocks of it serve as local currency.

Farmers growing poppies in Taliban-controlled areas pay a tax to the insurgents, who then hire “day fighters.” For their part, drug traffickers pay the Taliban for security. Smugglers who take opium and heroin out of Afghanistan bring weapons and bombs back for the insurgents, officials say.

In Nimruz Province, in southwest Afghanistan, the Taliban demanded that traffickers provide $4,000 a month and a Toyota Land Cruiser to support 10-man fighting units, according to United Nations officials. An Afghan official said Taliban forces were given five Land Cruisers for attacking the Afghan border police so traffickers could move drugs more easily.

The Bush administration was reluctant to take on the drug issue even from the start of the war. Soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, military and intelligence analysts turned over to the Pentagon a list of targets linked to Al Qaeda — and its Taliban hosts — inside Afghanistan. It included military targets, as well as drug labs and warehouses, where the Taliban was believed to have stockpiled opium after banning poppy cultivation in 2001.

Destroying the government’s principal source of revenue would help put the Taliban out of business, the analysts figured.

But when the air campaign over Afghanistan began, top military officials removed all drug-related targets, according to one analyst who attended meetings where the bombing raids were discussed. After the Taliban collapsed in late 2001, farmers began to plant opium across the countryside.

Some warlords and commanders that the C.I.A. and military helped put in power — including tribal figures who had been in exile in Pakistan and others in the American-backed Northern Alliance — quickly began to enrich themselves through drug trafficking, several American officials say.

“At the time of our intervention, there wasn’t an active drug trade going on,” said Mr. Dobbins, the former State Department official. “But some of the people we supported became involved and active as the drug trade took hold.” American officials say that the postwar chaos left them with no choice but to work with militia leaders involved in drug dealing.

“You’ve got to consider the time and the context,” said Craig Chretien, a counternarcotics official at the United States Embassy in Kabul. “D.E.A. wasn’t here. There was no investigative arm to look into any of their activities of these people after whatever cooperation they gave the C.I.A.”

Some Afghans do not share that view. “The C.I.A. should have moved swiftly against those people,” said the Afghan attorney general, Abdul Jabbar Sabit, arguing that ignoring the drug dealing encouraged lawlessness.

Later, though, American officials in several agencies urged taking steps to curb opium cultivation and trafficking, and grew frustrated when nothing happened.

Mr. Rumsfeld opposed any military involvement in counternarcotics operations, several American officials say. Aside from concerns about stirring up resentment by peasants or alienating Afghan officials, the Pentagon viewed fighting drugs as a dangerous diversion from fighting terrorism.

And with a war in Iraq already quietly under discussion, Mr. Rumsfeld and his commanders did not want to commit more forces to Afghanistan.

The Pentagon also argued that countering drugs had always been a law enforcement mission, not a military one. But in war-ravaged Afghanistan, without the assistance of American troops, it was virtually impossible for other agencies to work effectively.

Seizing an Opportunity - The Pentagon’s own counternarcotics office, though, was eager to take on the fight. Soon after the American-led invasion, Mr. Hollis, the former counternarcotics official, raised the matter with top military officials.

“The commanders said we don’t do drugs, we’re just killing terrorists,” Mr. Hollis recalled. “That showed a lack of understanding of the threat. I cared about going after the drug routes. If you could smuggle drugs, you could smuggle weapons and terrorists. It concerned me that if we didn’t go after the drug trade then, we would lose a golden opportunity.”

Later, when Mr. Hollis asked the Defense Intelligence Agency to assess the link between drugs and the Taliban, the agency refused to do so, he said. It was not until the fall of 2004, when both the United Nations and the C.I.A. issued stunning estimates of Afghan opium cultivation, that the White House expressed alarm about the issue.

That November, President Bush met for the first time with his top advisers to discuss the drug strategy. Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, pushed for aggressive measures that had been used in Colombia — aerial spraying, promoting alternative crops, singling out drug labs and disrupting drug shipments.

Mr. Bush seemed willing to adopt the measures, saying he did not want to “waste another American life on a “narco-state,” recalled Bobby Charles, a former State Department counternarcotics official who attended the session. But the president later backed off after lobbying by Mr. Rumsfeld and Zalmay Khalilzad, then the American ambassador in Kabul, according to Mr. Charles.

A spokesman for Mr. Khalilzad, now the American ambassador to the United Nations, said he did not want to discuss his recommendations to the president. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Rumsfeld’s decisions, as did a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld.

D.E.A. officials were also thwarted in their attempts to stem drug corruption. In 2005, D.E.A. agents and their Afghan counterparts found nine tons of opium in the office of Sher Muhammad Akhundzada, the governor of Helmand Province.

But the counternarcotics team was blocked from taking any action against the governor, who had close ties to American and British military, intelligence and diplomatic officials. Mr. Akhundzada, in a recent interview, said he was just storing opium that had been seized as contraband. Eventually, he was forced aside, though he now serves in the Afghan Senate.

The Taliban offensive in the spring of 2006 finally forced military officials and civilian Pentagon officials to drop their opposition to fighting drugs. The resignation of Mr. Rumsfeld, along with prodding by some House Republicans, also contributed to what Mr. Chretien, the counternarcotics official, described as a “sea change” in attitude among defense officials.

In Kabul, the D.E.A. is trying to move ahead, if only in small steps, like training the Afghan drug force. “The Colombians are here to instill the heart of the lion,” said Mr. Balbo, the D.E.A. official. But even that appears daunting.

Recruits for the 125-member National Interdiction Unit lined up in sweatsuits one day in March. Supposedly a handpicked elite, they were a ragtag group as they stretched for their morning jog. Some were young, but many were older and out of shape. During the day, they had trouble keeping up with the Colombians.

“They aren’t used to working long hours, “ said Lieutenant Castañeda, the Colombian counternarcotics officer. Trying to be diplomatic, he added: “I understand that there are cultural challenges that we have to deal with. They have a lot to learn.”

Mr. Balbo counseled patience. Drug wars are long, he said, and there are no quick solutions. “This is going to take 20 or 30 years,” he said. “D.E.A. has been in Thailand for 40 years. Here, we’re in year two.”

Afghan policy – need for re-assessment

Tayyab Siddiqui – Pakistan media article

The relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been on the slide for almost a year. Neither side has shown any maturity and continue to indulge in blame-game making the atmosphere eve more tense. Personal equation between the two Presidents has also come under severe strain, each trading barbs and allegations.

Karzai held Pakistan and in particular ISI directly responsible for heightened violence in Afghanistan and increasing acts of Taliban resistance. Musharraf accused Karzai of “doing nothing to fight terrorism”, and ridiculed him – “Those who say that the ISI helps the Taliban because we want a weak Afghanistan are liars”.

To meet Afghan concerns of continuing infiltration of Talibans from border areas of Pakistan, Islamabad had in Feb 07 decided to pursue three measures – Mining of border, fencing and checking posts along the border.

Surprisingly neither was acceptable to Kabul and authorities roundly condemned the idea and declared tht none of these measures will be allowed, as thus amount to divide the tribes and the families straddling across the two countries and that the unmarked frontier was disputed.

Pakistan has stood its guns and refused to bow to Afghan demand to give up fencing. Pakistan’s assurances of good will and cooperation fell on the deaf ears and Kabul raised the stakes. Pakistan’s assurances that fencing would be done in the “areas of concern to divert the people towards authorised routes and retrict the movement of miscreants” drew sharp protest from Afghanistan stating that it does not recognize the frontier, which is still disputed.

Pakistan has however continued with the process and has completed the first section of the fence on the Afghan border “blocking the key corridor used by Taliban militants”.

The dispute and discord on fencing and Taliban infiltration issue reached a crisis, and friends of both countries felt that this acrimonious debate needs to be put down, both in the interest of a joint efforts against terrorism and unity between two neighboring Muslim states.

At this juncture, Turkey moved in and announced its offer of mediation by arranging a meeting between two estranged leaders in Ankara on April 30.While the effort was inspired by most noble feelings, it failed to make any impact on the ground situation. Even the protocal pretences were ignored. The two Presidents refused to shake hand or talk to each other. The formal speeches at the banquet hosted by Turkish President Ahmed Needet Sezer by the two Presidents did not relieve the tension either. Karzai was bitter in his grievances against Pakistan.

Musharraf, repeated his thesis that anti-Pakistan feelings were ingrained in Afghan establishment, and that Afghan problems were essentially internal. The Ankara visit could have been a minor diplomatic fiasco, but to avoid embarassment to their Turkish hosts, both Presidents agreed to the issuance of a joint press statement, that spoke of “comprehensive, cordial and useful talks”, and of their determination to “cooperate in promoting peace, security, stability and economic development in the region”.

The formal press statement referred to as Ankara Declaration was a classical example of diplomatic finesse. It avoided any mention of the issue of fencing, which ostensibly was the issue that took two leaders to Ankara. Again, significantly, the word Taliban, or “Talibanisation” was missing from the text. It was, infact, based on 7 September 2006 statement, issued after Musharraf’s visit to Kabul and hence hardly any thing new was mentioned in the statement.

Perhaps the only significant advance on Sept 2006 position was a Joint Working Group along with the participation of Turkey to monitor the progress. Turkey has also offered to organize further meetings later this year and in 2008.

The official spokesmen as usual hailed the positive outcome of the meeting and determination of the parties involved for increased cooperation. However, there is no evidence that there has been any abetment in Afghan’s hostility against Pakistan, for what it perceives as Pakistan ill will towards Kabul. Nor there is any likelihood of joint working group delivering any thing significant and durable. Already there are a number of bilateral and multi lateral mechanisms

between Kabul and Islamabad, such as Tripartite Commission, Peace Jirga Commission and now the Loya Jirga, which is likely to meet in August.

The Ankara meeting has not only failed to resolve the issues, but unnecessarily internationalized a bilateral matter. It also reflects poorly on Pakistan’s capacity to sort out its problems with a neighbor, its inability and to demonstrate flexibility and diplomatic skill needed to settle a nettlesome issue, complicated by lack of adequate appreciation of the gravity of situation.

It is a stark failure of our diplomacy and Afghan Policy. It is pathetic that on the one hand our President gallantly offers to mediate in Palestinian issue, that has defied 50 years of mediation at the highest level of the super powers, and for which Pakistan has neither any particular qualification or influence, and on the other we need a third country to rescue our relations with

our neighbors, until recenly considered our strategic depth and for whose integrity and political independence Pakistan put its own existance in jeopardy, and provided shelter to 3 million Afghan refugees.

There is need for a paradigm shift to restore peace in Afghanistan, both in Kabul and Islamabad. The blame game should stop and to overcome the “trust deficit” between two neighbours, Pakistan should take the lead and a policy of constructive engagement should be followed. The increasing terrorist acts within Pakistan and the shrill noise from Washington and NATO to “do more” has placed Pakistan in a very awkward and vulnerable position. The Indian designs

against Pakistan are neither secret nor its overwhelming influence in Kabul. It may sound a cliché that Pakistan is passing through a very sensitive state, with dangers to its security and sovereignty looming large. But unfortunately that is the truth.

The configuration of political forces in our neighbourhood, regional dynamics and India’s proclivity to fish in troubled waters to hurt Pakistan, coupled with our economic and strategic interests, demand a very cautious and careful chartering of the course by pursuing political measures to disabuse the Afghan leadership of any hostile intentions or actions by Pakistan. That instability and insecurity of Afghanistan has serious repercussions for Pakistan should be our constant refrain, duly supported by political steps that meet Karzai’s concerns.

If Pakistan can follow an apeasement policy towards India for settlement of its disputes, why cant we open new channels of communications, establish close rapport with its leadership at all responsible levels and begin a sustained dialogue by following a creative diplomacy that will involve rising above the controversial statements and provocative actions. Our destiny is interlinked.

If Afghanistan were to become a failed state, the consequences for Pakistan would be equally unpleasant. The writer is a former ambassador

Border clashes

Editorial: (Pak. Media) - The killing of two US officials and a Pakistani soldier after a flag meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US is a stark reminder, to all parties concerned, that their fight is not with one another, but with militant elements in the area who benefit every time the three countries have a misunderstanding. The meeting, held in a border town in Pakistan, Teri Mangal, was an important one aimed at diffusing fresh tension on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan that had arisen after a clash between the armed forces of the two sides on Sunday.

The clash, which took place at the Gavisar area on the contentious Pakistan-Afghanistan border, reportedly claimed the lives of seven personnel of the Afghan National Army and injured several Frontier Corps personnel and had led to skirmishes in other border regions. The shootout was the result of a dispute between the two sides over the possession of a bunker in the Gavisar area.

The meeting on Monday, therefore, was necessary to defuse the situation. It was reported that an agreement was reached to resolve all disputes between the two neighbours through dialogue, which is a good sign. However, as always, the difference between agreeing to resolve and actually resolving is one that needs to be over come if such instances are to be avoided in the future.

At the moment, it seems that all parties concerned are keener on blaming each other rather than finding a solution to the situation -- which is the case particularly with Kabul's Hamid Karzai administration. In this regard, the comments by Afghanistan's defence ministry's spokesman that a Pakistani officer had shot at the US officials, an example of precisely what not to say in such a

situation (particularly since it turned out to be incorrect). Such remarks, made without substantiation and presumably out of mistrust, only serve to fuel the distrust between the two sides -- and which is precisely what must be removed if bilateral relations are to improve.

However unfortunate these events, Pakistani troops cannot let intruders come frolicking into their territory. Such instances will continue to happen if Kabul is not willing to accept certain ground realities and respect the border. First, it needs to realise that it cannot solve things unilaterally and that it will need to negotiate with Pakistan if it wants problems resolved.

Secondly, its demands are only subjective in nature -- Pakistan is in no way obliged to accept them. In the end, all this does is provide the distraction that serves as a bonus for the militants -- who are enemies of both countries.

Border quagmire

Dawn, Wednesday, May 16, 2007 – Editorial - INSTEAD of getting better, Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan seem to have deteriorated, for political antagonism looks like giving way to military clashes. The good offices of the Turkish government had aroused hopes that the Ankara summit would put an end to the blame game between the two countries.

Instead, there is a sharp deterioration as can be seen in two days of

clashes between Pakistan and Afghan security forces in the Paktia region, leaving 12 dead, including some civilians. On Monday gunmen fired at a convoy carrying officials after a tripartite US-Pakistan-Afghan “flag meeting” at Teri Mengal in the Kurram Agency. The firing killed a Pakistani and an American soldier and pointed to the Taliban’s ability to attack at a time and place of their choosing. Against this background, one would doubt if the Reconstruction

Opportunity Zones (ROZs) Ms Condoleezza Rice spoke of have a chance of ever becoming a reality. Speaking at a businessmen’s gathering in Washington, the US Secretary of State said these ROZs would consist of pockets along the Pakistan-Afghan border where goods would be manufactured to be sent to the US duty-free. These ROZs, she said, would be a major component of America’s counter-insurgency strategy in the area. However, it is doubtful if the condition along the border will make things that easy.

The war against the Taliban is more than five years old, but there is no sign yet that they are being beaten. While Pakistan is doing a lot to fight the Taliban and the foreign militants on its territory and has deployed 90,000 troops along the Durand Line, the situation across the border does not seem to hold out much hope. President Hamid Karzai has failed to deliver.

He is aptly called the mayor of Kabul because his writ does not run beyond the capital city. Since he came to power, he has made no effort to put emphasis on a political approach to put an end to the slaughter going on in his country. Instead, he has left it to the US and Nato-led International Security Assistance Force to tackle the Taliban militarily.

The end-result has been colossal suffering for the Afghan people, for in spite of the care which he foreign forces claim they exercise while choosing targets, the US and ISAF air strikes and ground operations continue to take a huge of toll of Afghan civilians, besides inflicting colossal material damage.

Often Mr Karzai has shed tears over his people’s plight, blaming the foreign forces for the death of Afghan civilians. But it is he himself that Mr Karzai has to blame. The other day, the Afghan senate — half of whose members are nominated by Mr Karzai — called for a dialogue with the insurgents to put an end to the fighting. It is unlikely that Mr Karzai will rise to the occasion and take meaningful steps to engage the insurgents in order to seek a negotiated end to the strife.

Instead, his convenient cover for inaction is to blame Pakistan for all his trouble. He has done nothing to end poppy cultivation, thus turning Afghanistan once again into the world’s major heroin and opium supplier. Ms Rice, who has plans like ROZs, and other western officials who accuse Pakistan of not doing enough should pay attention to this aspect of the situation and make Mr Karzai realise his duty to the Afghan people by controlling corruption and establishing a broad-based government that will truly represent Afghanistan’s multi-lingual, multicultural community.

Begging to Get Suckered Again

New York Post - 05/16/2007 By Michael Fumento - IS it time to negotiate with the Taliban? Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf cut a deal with the Afghan extremists last fall, allowing them to flourish safely in his nation's Waziristan province. Then-Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist said in October that we must "assimilate" them into the Afghan government. Now, in apparent reaction to civilian deaths caused by the Taliban strategy of hiding among regular Afghanis, Afghanistan's upper house of legislature has voted for an immediate cease-fire and talks followed by withdrawal of NATO forces.

But the futility of talks is obvious from Taliban beliefs and history. "Moderate Taliban" is an oxymoron, like referring to a lighter shade of black. The Taliban are defined by extremism. Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, responding to a German call for talks with the "moderate Taliban," said, "I do not think there is a moderate and 'non-moderate' Taliban. This distinction was invented by somebody who knows nothing about Afghanistan."

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan now under house arrest in Kabul, agrees: "There is no separation between Taliban as moderate, hardliner or others," he said. Then how about simply negotiating with the Taliban, period?

Consider that the Taliban is a small subset of one ethnic group (the Pashtun) that is a minority in the country. Yes, it conquered 90 percent of the nation - but not via military acumen. Most Taliban training, then and now, is religious.

It succeeded through two means: bribes (hence its desire to hang onto Osama bin Laden and his huge purse after 9/11, even under threat of U.S. attack) and negotiation.

Negotiation is part and parcel to a warlord society, wherein battles are expensive but talk is cheap. The Taliban negotiate with dual purposes - either to bring over a new warlord whom they keep loyal through payments or to get his followers to lay down their arms and then slaughter them.

Negotiating with the Taliban is like going to dinner with Hannibal Lecter. You can't gain. Musharraf found that out after negotiating his truce with the group: He kept his word; they broke theirs instantly.

And what could the Afghan government offer the Taliban? One suggestion is to allow the Taliban an Afghan "mini-state," where they can practice their murderous brand of Islamic Sharia. But they already have that - they now run the show in much of Waziristan - which they see as one country with Afghanistan.

Moreover, the Taliban started out with an Afghan mini-state in the mid 1990s - and used it as a base from which to expand. Indeed, their fanatical religious beliefs dictate expanding their control to "infidels" throughout the entire country and even beyond. That's why neighbors such as Iran, Turkey, Russia and most of the Central Asian republics opposed them.

Finally, just what part of the Afghan populace are we going to throw to these wolves?

When I first sat in on a conversation with the Zabul region's Mizan district chief during my April embed in that Pashtun area, he told us that his people "blame it on Taliban" when raids by American or Afghani soldiers disrupted their lives. At first, I suspected he was just saying what we wanted to hear - but over the course of lengthy conversations (the only kind Afghans have) I realized he was quite straightforward.

Further, a WorldPublicOpinion.org poll released last December showed that merely 7 percent of Afghanis have a positive view of the Taliban, down slightly from a survey 11 months earlier. They have not forgotten the horrors of extremist rule.

Ultimately, however, we must remember that we didn't invade Afghanistan to liberate the people. We fought to eliminate the staging ground for attacks by the world's most dangerous terrorist group, al Qaeda. That meant driving out the Taliban and keeping them out.

Sure, they'd be happy to retake power while offering an absolute guarantee that al Qaeda won't come along - and it's absolutely guaranteed that they'd be lying.

Michael Fumento was embedded in April with U.S. and Romanian troops in Afghanistan's Zabul Province.

New Afghan forces gaining momentum

Canadians mentoring; Reduction in AWOL Rate one sign of progress;
National Post - Wed, May 16, 2007

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD - Their uniforms are a bit on the baggy side, they use weapons three decades old and they occasionally walk away from their units because-- well, they feel homesick.

Even so, the troops of the Afghan National Army, like those who showed up at a ceremony here yesterday, are nothing less than Canada's way out of Afghanistan, said the Canadian officer who is a mentor to many of them. Despite a steep learning curve, the newly formed military force is moving steadily to the point where it can take over the country's security, Lieutenant- Colonel Wayne Eyre said.

"This is an organization that has positive momentum," Lt.- Col. Eyre insisted in an interview inside a dusty compound of this massive military base. "It is getting better and better and will continue to do so. This army is indicative of the future of Afghanistan. This war is winnable."

Lt.-Col. Eyre spoke after his Canadian team of 78 officially assumed command from the Americans of the Afghan army mentoring program in Kandahar province, the heartland of the Taliban and site of some of the insurgency's fiercest battles.

"This work is essential," Lt.- Col. Eyre said. "If we eventually want to get out of here, we have to develop Afghan security forces so they can take care of their own security." He refused to say, however, just how long that process could take.

The Afghan army is more than halfway to the government's goal of 70,000 troops. The Canadians and Americans have been helping train the first brigade of the Afghan army's 205th corps.

The soldiers, however, still rely entirely on the United States and NATO for their uniforms and much of their equipment. And there are serious gaps in that equipment, as the Afghan soldiers head into battle without the armoured vehicles or flak jackets that are standard issue for coalition forces.

Capt. Amrruind, the Afghan officer who represented the army at yesterday's ceremony, was effusive in his praise of the Canadian mentors, saying his people will not forget this country's contribution.

Some of his other comments, however, underlined that the force is not quite ready to go it alone. Asked to name the top item on his equipment wish list, his answer was modest: "Modern weapons."

"The weapons we are using were used 30 years ago by our army," said Capt. Amrruind. "These are old weapons."

Similar programs involving NATO soldiers exist elsewhere in the country, though the work here is particularly urgent in light of the continuing Taliban resistance.

One key sign of progress has been a significant reduction in the AWOL (absent without leave) rate among the local troops. The soldiers, many from small villages, would often take off out of homesickness, said Lt.-Col. Eyre. The army recently introduced a system of regular leave throughout the year to deal with the problem, he said.

Returnees from Iran to be sent to their provinces: IOM

Ahmad Khalid Mohid  - KABUL, May 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will send tens of thousands of refugees expelled from Iran in recent weeks to their native provinces in Afghanistan.

At a news conference here, IOM Director-General Fernand Arocena said they were in talks with the Afghan Transport Ministry on the transfer of the refugees to their respective provinces.

About 55,000 people were pushed into Herat and Nimroz provinces, said Arocena, who voiced concern over the lack of jobs for the returnees in provinces of their origin. Nevertheless, the IOM DG promised they had supportive programme for the returnees.

Nimroz officials should find a specific location for new returnees, the official stressed, regretting the attitude of Iranian police towards the refugees - some of whom complained of violence and torture upon reaching Afghanistan.

Purdue gets grant to help Afghanistan

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 -BY GERRY DICK The Times of Northwest Indiana

Purdue University has been awarded a $7 million grant to help develop agricultural education programs in Afghanistan. The grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development is meant to help rebuild the country's economy through agriculture. The Advancing Afghan Agriculture Alliance program will help develop ag and veterinary programs at Afghan universities. The grant will also help build demonstration farms and a greenhouse.

PRESS RELEASE – AFGHAN ATTORNEY-GENERAL ATTEMPTS TO INTIMIDATE TOLO TV STAFF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 16 May 2007 - Abdul Jabar Sabet, the ‘former’ Canadian resident who is currently the Attorney-General of Afghanistan, has again attempted to intimidate the media in Afghanistan through the Afghan Police.

Tolo TV staff were advised recently that the Attorney General of Afghanistan, Jabar Sabet, had instructed the Afghan police to summon Hamid Haidary (journalist) and Siddiq Ahmadzada (Director General – Tolo TV) for questioning relating to the events of 17 April 2007.

On that night, the Attorney-General ordered the 10 th District Police (against the law) to raid Tolo TV’s premises and arrest Tolo TV staff, as a result of which 3 staff were beaten and detained only to be released within the hour with no charges. In addition to the Tolo TV staff, 4 Associated Press staff were also detained and abused.

Here is a brief run-down of what transpired very recently on 15 May 2007:

• At around 8.00am Monday, the Tolo TV news team received a call from the 10 th District (Hauza 10) Police precinct (the same precinct involved in the illegal raid of Tolo TV on 17 April 2007) informing Tolo that the above two individuals will be summoned by the Attorney General sometime soon and that it may be best to make an appearance at the Attorney General’s Office.  

• Tolo TV contacted the police to seek provision of legal documentation relating to the summons of the two Tolo TV staff. The Police claimed that it would take some time to prepare the legal documentation. Tolo TV made it clear that it required proper legal documentation.  

• Naturally, the staff of Tolo TV, fearful of a repeat of the incident of 17 April 2007, where staff were beaten and arrested for no reason, are reluctant to trust the Police and the Attorney-General, especially given the brazen violations of the law on 17 April 2007 by the Police and the Attorney-General have yet to be addressed legally by anyone. 

• At around 5.00pm the Tolo TV news team again received a call from the Criminal Directorate of the Police HQ (Qumandani) asking Messrs Ahmadzada and Haidary to make an appearance at the Police HQ (no specific time was mentioned).  

• This was confirmed by telephone by the Kabul Police Chief Daulatzai an hour or so later when contacted by the Tolo TV legal staff.  He asked for the accused to make an appearance at the Police HQ at 8.00am the following day. Daulatzai remained evasive regarding any documentation ie ‘we will provide you with this when you come in tomorrow’.    

• At around 6.30pm, Siddiq Ahmadzada’s wife received a visit from the local criminal police (Hauza/District 3).  As Mr Ahmadzada was not present at home, they decided to take his younger brother (who does not work with Tolo TV) into a police vehicle which was parked outside (along with another half a dozen police cars).  

• Tolo TV also received news that two police vehicles were waiting outside Mr Haidary’s residence at Kolola Pushta (District 4) in Kabul.  

• Based on Tolo TV investigations, Minister Zarar who is the Minister of Interior has claimed that he had received no news of the above until much later that day. 

• By 10.00pm the criminal police had still not abandoned their ‘siege’ of the Tolo TV staff residences.   

• By 10.15pm it was becoming apparent that Mr Ali Shah Paktiawal, Director of the Criminal Directorate of Kabul Police, and his troops were unwilling to budge.  

• Minister Zarar then dispatched Commander Aghbar (Police commander on duty) to deal with the situation – with instructions to arrest the insubordinate police officers.  

• By 10.30pm Mr Aghbar’s officers managed to break the siege at District 3. However the siege at District 4 (outside Mr Haidary’s house) continued up until the next morning.  

• Separately on 16 May 2007, a letter was received by Tolo TV from the Ministry of Information and Culture quoting from a letter sent to it by the Attorney-General’s Office essentially asking Tolo TV to submit to the demands of the Attorney-General  

Tolo TV is very concerned about the above incidents, and in particular:

• This is a continuation of the intimidation of the free media by the Attorney General Mr Sabet which started some time ago culminating in the events of 17 April 2007 (for which Tolo TV has lodged a formal complaint with the Supreme Court and the Office of the President)  

• On the night of 17 April 2007 according to evidence obtained by Tolo TV, the Attorney General breached at least 11 provisions of the laws of Afghanistan, including laws relating to the specific role of the Police vis-a-vis the Attorney-General’s office  

• The Director of the Criminal Directorate of Kabul Police, Ali Shah Paktiawal, refused to take instructions from his superiors (Minister Zarar and Chief of Police Daulatzai).

• The Attorney-General has been attempting to contact Police officers directly and instruct them to take specific action against the laws of Afghanistan.  

• The Attorney-General is conflicted in respect of the incident of 17 April 2007 given the proceedings commenced against him by Tolo TV so he should not be investigating this matter himself  

• Police officers being used to intimidate journalists and other private citizens.  

• The Ministry of Information and Culture instead of standing for the rights of the media being used by the Attorney-General’s office to intimidate the media

 The above incidents point to the continuing erosion of the rights of the media and journalists in Afghanistan which commenced from about the time Minister Karim Khuram became the Minister of Information and Culture. A free and vibrant media is crucial to the support of democracy in Afghanistan.

We hereby call on the support of all those who want freedom of the media in Afghanistan, and speak out against this type of physical intimidation by the Attorney-General, the Police and the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan. Specifically, we call on all countries who are active participants and contributors to Afghanistan’s development to make a stand and voice their position on the issue of media freedom and intimidation of journalists and those working in the media.

On the issue of 17 April 2007, again Tolo TV calls for independent investigations into the actions of the Attorney-General, the Police and the Ministry of Information and Culture. Turning a blind eye to actions of the past will only encourage further breaches of the law into the future.

Raising cash with Afghan girls!

The News, Wednesday, May 16, 2007

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan: Shabana, a pretty Afghan teenager with a modern haircut, was 12 years old when she was forced to marry a man 38 years her senior to settle her father’s $600 gambling debt. Two years later, she is unhappy and angry. She doesn’t like her husband, 52-year-old farmer Mohammad Asef. “He is wild—he destroyed my hopes,” she said in their humble mud brick home in the northern province of Balkh, speaking out only when Asef went

into another room to take a call.

She doesn’t get on with her husband’s first wife, who is aged 42 and lives with them. And she is disgusted with her father. “He sold me,” she told AFP. Her father and husband once farmed together, growing wheat and opium poppies on a plot in neighbouring Jawzjan province. Two years ago, after the harvest was in, Asef went to Balkh’s Mazar-i-Sharif city to visit his family.

“When I came back, my father-in-law had gambled away all the harvest,” he said. “He promised me to get my money in one month but he couldn’t find it. I knew he wouldn’t because he is a very poor man. It was about $600. “When he couldn’t find the money, I married his 12-year-old daughter in compensation.”

Shabana, who likes to wear jeans and read novels and newspapers, was taken out of school. Now she spends most of her time doing chores in the simple house for which Asef cannot yet afford doors. The illegal practise of exchanging girls to settle debts, including those owed to opium farmers, or to settle disputes between clans persists around the country—with the latter more common in the north.

There are no statistics partly because there are no resources for collecting such data, said Ministry of Women’s Affairs legal adviser Sayed Abdul Wahab Rahmani. And in areas hit by the Taliban-led insurgency, the precarious security situation would prevent such research, he said. Exchanging girls for debt is illegal but persistent. About 670 women went to the ministry in the capital last year with complaints ranging from forced marriage to domestic violence, Rahmani said, by way of offering some sort of figure.

About 57 per cent of girls are married before the legal age of 16, according to statistics from the women’s ministry and women’s groups. Between 60 and 80 per cent of all marriages are believed to be “forced”—a term that covers a range of practises including marrying off girls to repay debts or without their consent, according to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. This is one of the main factors behind girls and women running away from home or committing suicide, including by setting themselves alight by dousing themselves in fuel and igniting it with a match. In Afghanistan, as in many Asian and African cultures, men pay the family of their wives-to-be an agreed sum, sometimes called the bride price, as well as the cost of the wedding which can also run into thousands of dollars—the average in Kabul is $4,000.

This can be an enormous sum in one of the poorest countries in the world where a low-grade civil servant earns about $60 a month. To be able to afford his own wife, Abdul Raheem, also from Balkh province, says he wants to marry off his 12-year-old sister as soon as he can. The family of the woman he has set his heart on wants $6,000 for her. Raheem, who earns $60 a month as a cleaner in a police station in Mazar, has saved $2,000. “It’s very difficult for me to find $4,000 ,” he said. But if he could marry off his sister, “then I can marry my girlfriend,” he told AFP. In the same district, 31-yearold Aka Rahman says he paid $14,000 to marry his wife two years ago, 8,000 of which went directly to her father. He knows his own son will one day have to face a similar expense and he hopes for a daughter to offset the cost. “If I don’t marry off my daughter, I can’t get my son married. With the money from my daughter, I can get my son married. Everyone is doing this,” he says.

Rahmani, from the women’s ministry, said this un-Islamic practise reflects a belief among some Afghan men that women are possessions. “They think women are their property and they can deal with women any way they like.

Iranian experts to search for Saffarid capital in southern Afghanistan

Mehr News Agency (Iran) - TEHRAN, May 16 (MNA) -- A team of Iranian archaeologists plans to search for the capital of Yaqub ibn Laith as-Saffar, the founder of the Saffarid Empire, in the Nadali district of southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

“After two years of waiting, Afghan officials have granted permission to the Iranian team to begin excavating Nadali Tepe in search of the capital by the end of the (Iranian) year,” director of the Archaeology Faculty of the University of Sistan-Baluchestan, Reza Mehrafarin, told the Persian service of CHN on Tuesday.

The Iranian calendar year ends on March 19, 2008. The plan is a joint project approved by the University of Sistan-Baluchestan and the Archaeological Research Center of Iran (ARCI) two years ago.

Yaqub ibn Laith was an Iranian ruler from Sistan, whose capital was Zaranj (also known as Zarang). Since Afghanistan was once a part of Iranian territory, it is surmised that the Nadali Tepe is the lost capital of Yaqub ibn Laith, Mehrafarin explained.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Yaqub ibn Laith (840-879) was the founder of the Saffarid Empire, who rose from obscurity to rule much of present Iran as well as portions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

After Laith’s apprenticeship as a coppersmith (Saffar, whence the name of the dynasty), he became a bandit and assembled an independent army. He won a measure of respect from Islamic rulers in Baghdad by conquering non-Muslim areas in what is now Afghanistan.

He then began to act as an independent ruler, minting his own coinage and driving out the Tahirid dynasty from control of Khorasan, in eastern Iran.

Laith next seized control of the Iranian food-producing provinces of Fars and Ahvaz. Finally in 878 he marched on Baghdad itself but was stopped when its defenders cut irrigation dikes.

Laith is a popular folk hero in Iranian history, and it was at his court that the revitalization of the Persian language began after two centuries of eclipse by Arabic.

[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.]