In this bulletin:

• President Hamid Karzai Condemns the Terrorist Attack in Baghlan Province
• Afghanistan in mourning after attack kills 40
• Afghanistan mourns bomb victims
• Eyewitness: Deadly Afghan bombing
• Afghan blast, Pakistan turmoil show extremist threat: Karzai
• Secretary-General deplores deadly suicide attack in Afghanistan
• Bush Renews Anti-Terrorism Vow After Afghan Attack
• Germany condemns Afghan suicide bombing
• CANADA CONDEMNS COWARDLY ATTACK ON AFGHAN PARLIAMENTARIANS
• Tehran condemns terrorist act in Afghanistan
• Taliban attacks fuel tactical worries
• President Karzai Inaugurates  Senior Police Leadership Seminar
• AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Tehran expels 8,000 Afghans
• Taliban insurgents capture a district in Afghanistan
• MacKay unhurt in rocket attack on Afghan base
• Kyrgyzstan to continue supporting U.S. operation in Afghanistan
• Korea to send civilian health workers to Afghanistan
• TAP gas pipeline project: Pakistan asks India to confirm its position
• Taliban stage a coup of their own
• Italy Breaks Up European Terror Cell
• Air raid kills 20 Taliban militants in Afghanistan
• Herat University to receive more than $2.5m in grant
• Afghanistan, Oman share T20 trophy

In this image taken TV shows two seriously injured children after a suicide attack in Baghlan province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007. A bomb attack targeted a group of lawmakers in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people, including five parliamentarians, officials said. Death tolls varied widely in the confusion of the attack, which also wounded dozens of school children. The bomb blast went off outside a sugar factory in the northern province of Baghlan as the lawmakers were about to go inside. The blast struck school children, Afghan elders and government officials who had gathered to greet the visiting delegation of 18 lawmakers from the lower house, officials said. (AP Photo/APTV)

President Hamid Karzai Condemns the Terrorist Attack in Baghlan Province

Arg, Kabul– His Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Baghlan province which killed a number of Afghan MPs, women and children during a visit to the Baghlan sugar factory.

Security agencies report that the enemies of peace and security in Afghanistan carried out a terrorist attack in the Baghlan sugar factory and martyred a number of Afghan MPs namely Sayed Mustafa Kazemi, Abdul Mateen, Alhaj Sahibur Rahman, Hajji Muhammad Aref Zarif and Sebghatullah Zaki.

The President expressed his deep sorrow at the martyrdom of a number of Afghan MPs and said, "This heinous act of terrorism is against Islam and humanity and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It is the work of the enemies of peace and security in Afghanistan."

The President has directed the Ministry of Defence and other relevant authorities to take immediate action in transporting and treating the injured.

The President expressed his deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and prayed for the full and speedy recovery of the injured.

AFP 11.7.07 - Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared three days of national mourning after 41 people were killed, six of them lawmakers, in the country's deadliest suicide bombing.

Hundreds of people attended funerals for the dead in the rural town of Pul-i-Khumri, 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Kabul, where the attacker targeted a crowd gathered Tuesday to welcome visiting parliamentarians.

A military plane flew the bodies of the six MPs, including prominent opposition figure Mustafa Kazimi, back to the capital, where several government officials attended a ceremony.

The parliamentarians, elected in Afghanistan's first democratic polls in 2005 -- three years after the removal of the Taliban government -- were to be given a state funeral on Thursday.

Two other lawmakers were wounded, a grave-looking Karzai told a press conference, announcing the mourning period and ordering that all national flags be dropped to half-mast.

Television stations abandoned normal programming to broadcast recitations from the Koran, religious music and analysis of the incident.

The president said he had been told that 41 people were killed including the six lawmakers, but this toll was still being finalised.

The governor of northern Baghlan province, Alam Ishaqzy, also said 41 people were dead and more than 80 wounded. Many of the casualties were children but the number was not yet clear.

The national assembly accused the local government of not providing sufficient security for the visiting parliamentary delegation, who had been about to inspect a sugar factory on the outskirts of Pul-i-Khumri, the Baghlan capital.

The small town, which has seen almost none of the Taliban-linked violence plaguing southern and eastern Afghanistan, was reeling after the attack.

"I only had one brother," said a weeping young man named Qais who was mourning the loss of his sibling. "Taliban are not Muslims. If they were Muslims, they would not attack Muslims."

The extremist Taliban movement has been behind most of a mounting number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan but denied it was involved in Tuesday's blast.

Karzai said the bombing and the upheaval in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency at the weekend, showed the gravity of the extremist threat in the region.

"We are once again reiterating that the best way for stability in this part of the world, in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, is an effective, sincere, very, very serious fight against extremism and terrorism," Karzai said.

Taliban insurgents have in the past three years dramatically stepped up their use of suicide bombings in a campaign against Karzai's Western-backed government that Afghan officials say is plotted in Pakistan.

Other extremist groups have joined the Taliban-led insurgency, including a radical faction led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The Taliban have often warned they would take their campaign into the relatively calm north and west. The western provinces have this year seen a surge in attacks, with two districts captured by the militants last week.

A provincial-level legislator was meanwhile shot dead by two men on motorbikes in southern Helmand province on Tuesday in a Taliban-style assassination.

The blast drew strong condemnation from the nations and organisations involved in a multi-billion-dollar effort to help Afghanistan stand on its own feet after decades of war.

Afghanistan mourns bomb victims - BBC

Afghanistan has begun three days of mourning, a day after dozens of people were killed in what is being called the country's worst suicide bombing.

Politicians, children and teachers were among those killed in the devastating attack in northern Baghlan province. The bodies of six MPs have been flown back to Kabul for a funeral ceremony.

President Karzai said the attack showed the need to fight extremism. It is not clear who carried out the bombing - the Taleban have denied responsibility.

At a news conference, President Karzai called the attack "miserable and sad". Expressing his condolences to those who had perished or lost loved ones, he said extremists had to be fought "with dedication and seriousness".

"Our teams have gone to Baghlan for preliminary tasks to thoroughly investigate the issue," he said. The exact number of casualties has not yet been established.

President Karzai said about 35 people had been killed - most of them children, teachers and MPs - while the provincial governor told the BBC there had been 41 deaths.

The BBC's Alix Kroeger in Kabul says it is still not entirely clear whether this was a suicide bomb, although President Karzai said that was the most likely explanation.

But our correspondent says many questions remain, including that of responsibility. The Taleban have denied that they carried out the attack, but they and al-Qaeda are the only ones known to use suicide bombs in Afghanistan so far.

If it was not a suicide bomb, then that widens the field considerably to take in other political or armed factions, our correspondent says.

Fighters loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar - a former mujahideen leader who is battling the Kabul government independently from the Taleban - are known to be active in Baghlan.

The bomb exploded at a sugar factory in a town in Baghlan province while a delegation of parliamentarians was visiting.

"The children were standing on both sides of the street, and were shaking the hands of the officials, then suddenly the explosion happened," said Mohammad Yousuf Fayez, a doctor at Baghlan's main hospital, the Associated Press reports.

The scene of the attack was left littered with bodies and splattered with blood. Shoes, sandals, hats and notebooks were scattered about. Among the MPs killed was Mustafa Kazimi, a former mujahideen fighter and prominent opposition figure.

Tuesday's bombing shows the reach of the insurgency is growing, analysts say. Until now, most suicide attacks have taken place in Afghanistan's south and east, or in Kabul. Such bombings in the north are rare.

Germany, which has troops stationed in the north, said the attack was aimed at scaring off international help to rebuild Afghanistan. The Taleban, al-Qaeda and other militant groups are fighting thousands of Afghan and foreign soldiers in Afghanistan.

Civilians have often been the victims of the violence in Afghanistan - not only in attacks by insurgents, but also in bombing by Nato and US forces in the country.

Eyewitness: Deadly Afghan bombing – BBC

Asadullah Noorzay is a soldier working for the Afghan National Army in Kabul.

He was on holiday, visiting his parents in Baghlan on Tuesday, when he witnessed scores of people being killed in what is described as the country's worst suicide attack at a factory ceremony.

I was on my way to the bazaar to buy food, when I had to stop where the ceremony was held. There were many people gathered there: schoolchildren, members of parliament, journalists and local people.

The traffic was pretty bad and I thought I'd stop for a while to watch the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then there was a big explosion.

I do not have enough words to describe what I saw. There were dead bodies everywhere and the ground was covered in blood. Pieces of human bodies were scattered around.

I was in shock and I just stood there in silence, for God knows how long. I realised that I was myself covered in blood when I was taken, together with scores of injured people, to the hospital. I even thought that I was injured myself. But there was nothing wrong with me so they let me go.

I went home realising how lucky I was. I heard on the news that 40 people had died. There were definitely many more than that.

At first I thought that the Taleban is behind the attack. But they denied it and I believe them, since they have taken responsibility for every other suicide attack. I don't know who is to blame - it's something political that I don't understand.

This is the first suicide attack in Baghlan and the local people are really worried that there might be more. They have asked President Karzai to send a special team to investigate and find those behind it.

I am a soldier and I have been close to death before. Last summer I witnessed - and survived a suicide attack. A bomber blew himself up just in front of our truck. He died and three of my fellow soldiers were injured.

But this is nothing compared to what I saw in Baghlan. It reminded me of what's happening in Iraq almost every day, where a single attack is able to claim the lives of a hundred people. I hope Afghanistan won't turn into Iraq.

Afghan blast, Pakistan turmoil show extremist threat: Karzai
Wed Nov 7, 4:20 AM ET

KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan' s deadliest suicide bombing and the turmoil in neighbouring Pakistan have demonstrated the gravity of the threat from extremism in the region, President Hamid Karzai said.

Karzai declared three days of national mourning following Tuesday's bombing in the northern town of Pul-i-Khumri which killed around 40 people, including six lawmakers and several children.

The bombing and the upheaval in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency at the weekend, showed "the seriousness and gravity of the situation," Karzai said.

"We are once again reiterating that the best way for stability in this part of the world, in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, is an effective, sincere, very, very serious fight against extremism and terrorism," Karzai said.

"Unless we do that, we'll continue to suffer; unless we do that, we'll continue to be unstable," he said.

Karzai and US officials have regularly said that militants waging an insurgency in Afghanistan are armed and trained across the border in Pakistan.

The Afghan president has in particular accused his neighbour of not doing enough against extremists who have found sanctuary in lawless tribal areas along the common border.

Islamabad, which itself has seen a surge in extremist attacks, says it has deployed tens of thousands of troops on the border to stop rebels moving into Afghanistan.

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush renewed his commitment to fighting terrorism in Afghanistan after at least 40 people were killed in the deadliest suicide bombing since the 2001 fall of the Taliban.

The attack on a parliamentary delegation touring a sugar factory in northern Baghlan province yesterday was a ``despicable act of cowardice,'' Bush said in a statement.

The U.S. will work with President Hamid Karzai's government and NATO to ``fight the terrorists who use murder to advance their hateful ideology,'' he said.

BERLIN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Germany condemned the suicide bombing that killed dozens of people in northern Afghan province of Baghlan on Tuesday afternoon and called for punishment of those behind the attack.

The German government condemned the "cowardly and insidious attack" on a group of Afghan lawmakers visiting a sugar factory funded with German assistance in Baghlan, said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a statement.

    "The purpose of this terrorist attack is obvious: It is intended to frighten away those prepared to work for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in order to open real future prospects for the country," he said.

"We must not give in to this threat. The people of Afghanistan are counting on us not to abandon them. The rule of terror by the Taliban must not be allowed to win the upper hand a second time," Steinmeier added.

CANADA CONDEMNS COWARDLY ATTACK ON AFGHAN PARLIAMENTARIANS

November 6, 2007 - No. 155 - The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement on the attack against Afghan parliamentarians:

“Canada strongly condemns the attack against Afghan parliamentarians and civilians in northern Afghanistan. On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to express my deep condolences to the victims and their families, and to the Afghan people.

“This heinous attack is a deliberate assault on democracy. Members of Afghanistan’s parliament are central to advancing the interests of their people and providing them a voice in governing their country. By targeting members of the Afghan Parliament, these terrorists were seeking to undermine Afghan development. Their utter disregard for the schoolchildren and other innocent civilians gathered to greet the Afghan parliamentary delegation is reprehensible. This deplorable attempt to hinder Afghanistan’s progress only strengthens our resolve.

“Canada remains unequivocally committed to supporting Afghanistan and its democratically elected government.”

Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

Tehran condemns terrorist act in Afghanistan

Tehran, Nov 7, IRNA - The Islamic Republic of Iran has condemned recent terrorist act against the Afghani people and members of parliament, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Wednesday.

Hosseini added that illogical approaches prompted terrorists to target innocent people and MPs, and that such criminal acts run counter to Islamic tenets and human values.

He expressed concern about the willingness of certain governments to cooperate with terrorists, adding that ignoring international principles and goals in campaign against terrorism would encourage terrorist elements in the region.

The spokesman also hoped that the bitter incident, which claimed the lives of a number of people including representatives of the noble Afghan people, would not weaken the determination of the Kabul government and nation to confront terrorism.

Hosseini expressed regret over the death of former trade minister and Head of Economic Commission of Afghan Parliament Mostafa Kazemi, who had a brilliant record of struggle for independence of Afghanistan.

Taliban attacks fuel tactical worries
Near miss on MacKay, suicide blast suggest improved capacity to gather intelligence - GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail, November 7, 2007

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — The Taliban are getting increasingly sophisticated as they try to assassinate leaders, analysts worry, after a suicide bomber killed six Afghan parliamentarians among scores of others and rockets landed near visiting Defence Minister Peter MacKay Tuesday.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi refused to say whether his men knew Mr. MacKay was visiting a small Canadian desert base, about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar city, when insurgents fired two rockets at the outpost.

But a local Taliban commander who operates in Zhari district, near Forward Operating Base Wilson, said his group received a phone call from their superiors in Pakistan earlier in the day with specific instructions to attack the base.

"We got information that a big Canadian leader came to Zhari," the low-ranking insurgent said. "So we attacked him."

Taliban are prone to empty boasting, and a military spokesman said the Canadians have no reason to believe that Mr. MacKay was targeted personally. The minister wasn't hurt, although four Canadian soldiers suffered minor injuries.

The insurgents were more successful later, when a suicide blast killed at least 40 people and injured 120 others during a visit by dignitaries to a sugar factory in a northern province.

It was the deadliest attack since the 2001 invasion, and the most effective against high-profile targets. Among the dead is the head of the Afghan parliament's economics committee, and the injured include the country's deputy agriculture minister.

"This shows the gravity of the situation," said Seth Jones, an analyst at RAND Corporation, who last visited Kandahar a few weeks ago. "The Taliban have improved their ability to gather live intelligence and execute on that information."

If a group of local Taliban did receive orders to attack Mr. MacKay, it would mark a departure from the insurgents' usual way of working, Mr. Jones said, because the Taliban are usually a loosely knit collection of fighting units. The insurgents get their strategic planning from above, but their masters don't often exert the sort of command and control found in a regular military operation.

In Ottawa, Chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hillier said he did not think the attack was aimed at Mr. MacKay. "No, I do not believe he was targeted," he said. "These are things that occurred coincidentally in time and space."

Afghanistan's suicide bombers are also considered the worst trained in the world; a recent United Nations study found that although the number of suicide attacks increased sevenfold last year, the bombers often kill only themselves.

But the Taliban's co-ordination has been improving. In February, the insurgents learned of an unscheduled visit by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney and launched a suicide attack on a northern base during his short stay.

Last week's fighting in Arghandab district also showed a degree of sophistication, as the insurgents kicked up diversions in several other parts of the province to distract government forces from the main offensive north of Kandahar city.

Still, Mr. MacKay looked unruffled and calm as he talked about the rocket attack, describing it several hours afterward as a typical episode in the war.

"There was a rocket attack that I'm told is not unlike some other attacks we've seen in the past," the minister said.

The Taliban often launch old Russian 107-millimetre rockets at larger military bases in Afghanistan, but they usually lack any aiming devices for the weapons and they rarely inflict serious damage. An accurate hit on a small base is far less common.

"It's the first time, a shell like this," Colonel Stéphane Lafaut, commander of the Canadian military's Operational Liaison Mentoring Team, told reporters who accompanied Mr. MacKay, speaking during the first moments after the impact. Rocket fire has been aimed at FOB Wilson only one other time in the past month, Col. Lafaut said.

"Today it seems they have a special interest, I don't know why, eh?" he said with humour, although he added that it's unclear whether the attack was related to the minister's visit.

The first rocket landed around 11 a.m. local time, and a pool reporter for The Canadian Press saw Mr. MacKay's bodyguards scramble for their helmets, clutch their guns, and quickly summon a light armoured vehicle to serve as an improvised bunker for the minister.

"There was an explosion. It was a loud bang," Mr. MacKay said. "When it happened, we heard the explosion, we heard the whistle overhead, we were told to get down and we did." He continued: "Everything went like clockwork. We were taken out of harm's way very quickly, put in an armoured vehicle, the people who I'm travelling with are consummate professionals."

A second rocket arrived about 15 minutes later and hit the base itself, a concrete-walled compound roughly the size of a football field.

With a report from Alan Freeman in Ottawa

President Karzai Inaugurates  Senior Police Leadership Seminar

Kabul (Presidential press statement) - President Hamid Karzai addressed Tuesday police chiefs and senior police officials of Afghanistan's 34 provinces during a three day senior leadership seminar at the Serena hotel in Kabul. The seminar is aimed at raising level of policing knowledge, techniques and duties.

The President termed the seminar “important in improving police performance” and praised police role in protecting and serving the society. The President said it was the duty of the government to take care of the families of any security forces that fall victims while protecting their nation.

Speaking to more than 100 senior police officials, the President called upon everyone to use the opportunity that Afghanistan enjoys today: “we are free today; the international community is with us, so please use this great opportunity that the world especially the US with its instructors and mentors have provided you to uplift your capacity for a better and a brighter future.”, President Karzai said.

The President stated it was very important for our police to serve in a “national spirit” and be proud to perform their duties as a police force of Afghanistan.

President Karzai also said improvements were needed in the payment of police salaries, which he had been told were not paid on time and were subject to irregular cuts.

"I want to have you promise me that we as guardians of people's security should make every necessary effort so that the people of Afghanistan are not afraid of their government," the President continued, "Thanks God our government is 1,000 times better than it was in the past, but there are still cases where people are threatened, even tortured," Karzai said.

"Our first task is to eliminate these tyrants, terrorists, but even if we capture such criminals, we must treat them humanely. Respect humans and your acts must be bound to laws," he said.

The President urged the police officials even "blood-sucking tyrants" should not be physically abused; there should be a difference between you and the ruthless insurgents.

President Karzai also praised the police force, which is on the front line of the insurgency and forced to fight rebels.

HERAT , 5 November 2007 (IRIN) - The government of Afghanistan has

called on Iran to stop deporting thousands of Afghan citizens without work

permits or refugee status, Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

told IRIN on 5 November.

"Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to any mass deportation during

winter," said Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the ministry, adding

that the country lacked the capacity to integrate a large number of

deportees.

In April and May this year, Iranian authorities deported thousands of

Afghans - a move that caused a humanitarian problem for ill-prepared

Afghanistan .

Iran slowed down the expulsions after the government of President Hamid

Karzai, the UN and several other international organisations

criticised the move and called for a more gradual deportation process.

However, Afghan officials in western Herat province, bordering Iran ,

say the deportations have restarted in the past 10 days, with at least

500 Afghans being sent home daily.

"Since 23 October, about 8,000 people have been deported from Iran to

Herat province," said Shamsuddin Hamid, director of the provincial

department of refugee and returnee affairs.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul declined to comment on the issue.

Vulnerable deportees

Most deportees are young, single men who migrated to Iran mostly in

search of employment and economic opportunities, aid agencies say.

Provincial officials, however, are concerned that hundreds of women,

children and elderly people have also been evicted.

"There are deported women whose husbands still remain in Iran ," Hamid

told IRIN. "There are also deported men whose children and wives are

left in Iran ," he added.

UN agencies have helped Afghan authorities set up two transition

centres in Nemroz and Herat provinces where deportees receive assistance and

shelter for up to 48 hours. Some also receive help to reach their final

destinations inside the country, according to the UN.

Refugees and "illegal migrants"

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says there are more than 900,000

registered Afghan refugees in Iran . The government has given assurances it will not force Afghan refugees to return home, UNHCR has confirmed.

However, the large numbers of Afghans who do not have refugee status

and are considered illegal are not protected by UNHCR.

Since 2002, about four million Afghans - three million from Pakistan

and about 850,000 from Iran - have been repatriated to Afghanistan with

UN help, according to UNHCR.

Meanwhile, at least 35 people, allegedly with valid refugee identity

cards, have also been deported to Herat in the past 10 days, provincial

officials said.

Salvatore Lombardo, head of UNHCR mission in Afghanistan , said the

organisation was verifying these reports.

Iran has reportedly ordered all foreigners, including thousands of

Afghan refugees, to leave Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Taliban insurgents capture a district in Afghanistan

Kabul, Nov 6 (Xinhua) Taliban insurgents have reportedly captured a district in Afghanistan's central Daikundi province, a day after they had claimed to have overrun two districts in the west.

'Taliban fighters captured Kajran district Monday night,' parliamentarian Nasrullah Sadiqizada from Daikundi told Xinhua Tuesday.

Local people said that one Taliban commander and one government soldier were killed in the fight, which lasted for a couple of hours.

Neither government officials nor Taliban fighters were immediately available for comments.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi claimed Monday that militants were in control of Gilistan and Bakwa districts in the western Farah province.

Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have claimed the lives of more than 5,500 people, mostly insurgents, so far this year in Afghanistan.

MacKay unhurt in rocket attack on Afghan base

Updated Tue. Nov. 6 2007 5:57 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Two Taliban rockets struck a forward operating base west of Kandahar Tuesday during a visit by Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

MacKay was conducting private meetings at Forward Operating Base Wilson, about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar city, when the attack occurred.

After the first rocket landed around 11 a.m. local time, Mackay was taken into an armoured vehicle for safety.

"I do not believe he was targeted," Gen. Rick Hillier told reporters on Tuesday. "I think these are things that have occurred (coincidentally) in time and space. I think it is less dangerous now during any time we've been there for the last 18 months, for ranking Canadians to go out there and to move around in the vicinity."

Hillier said he moved though the area by vehicle during his visit a week and a half ago, something he wouldn't do if he thought it would put soldiers in the line of danger.

Bill Graveland, a reporter for The Canadian Press who was at the forward operating base with MacKay, told CTV Newsnet the attacks were likely spurred by the increase in helicopter activity at the base.

"I don't believe that there was any way they had any idea the Mr. MacKay was there, but if you see a number of Blackhawk helicopters flying over a base, you're going to assume it's somebody important," he said.

Military analyst Sunil Ram said the Taliban tend to keep a "very sharp eye" on the day-to-day activites of the troops.

"The minute they notice a change, it generally will trigger an attack. Albeit a rocket attack is incredibly inaccurate, and as a direct targetting of the minister, I think it's unlikely," Ram said on CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live.

About 15 minutes after the first attack, another rocket landed about 50 metres away from passing soldiers and reporters. Four soldiers suffered minor injuries from the second rocket.

Back at Kandahar Air Field, MacKay described the attack to reporters.

"There was an explosion. It was a loud bang," said MacKay. "When it happened, we heard the explosion, we heard the whistle overhead, we were told to get down and we did. Thankfully, again, when missions like this are underway, you're given a very thorough briefing as you'd expect. We're told how to react, everything went like clockwork. We were taken out of harm's way very quickly, and put in an armoured vehicle."

Hillier said the attack is a sign of how desperate the Taliban have become since being pushed back by coalition forces.

"What was subjected to attack was one of our forward operating bases and that has been consistent because the Taliban have been driven back so they have to resort to long-distance attacks," he said.

MacKay's visit is his first since taking over as defence minister last August.

On Monday, the defence minister warned that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan could face a greater risk to their safety as a direct result of the political uncertainty in Pakistan.

He said a flood of refugees could spill into Afghanistan from Pakistani refugee camps, providing new recruit potentials for the Taliban.

MacKay is supposed to be using the trip to trumpet successes in Afghanistan, including an economy that has tripled in size and improvements in access to health care and education.

On top of that, MacKay said Afghans are increasingly shouldering more and more of the burden for security in their own country.

MacKay said that his visit to the region would continue despite Tuesday's attack.

"And I'm grateful for the experience, because now I have a greater appreciation of how competent, how able and how successful our people are in the field," he told reporters.

With files from The Canadian Press

Kyrgyzstan to continue supporting U.S. operation in Afghanistan

BISHKEK, November 6 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan will make every effort to provide support to the United States in their anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz Security Council secretary said Tuesday.

The U.S. established a military base in the region in 2001 using the Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan as a spearhead for operations in Afghanistan, during the U.S.-led invasion by coalition forces against the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

"When it comes to the fight against terrorism, drugs trafficking and religious extremism, we have always sided with the antiterrorism coalition," Tokon Mamytov said at a meeting with Admiral William J. Fallon, the commander of the U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. Ganci airbase, or Manas, located 30 kilometers (17 miles) east of the Kyrgyz capital, accommodates 1,000 U.S. troops along with nine refueling and cargo planes supporting antiterrorism operations in Afghanistan.

Mamytov also said that the development of cooperation with the U.S. is one of the top priorities for Kyrgyzstan, but the sides still have to resolve some problems caused by the presence of American servicemen in the country.

Among the problems he named emergency dumping of aviation fuel by U.S. Air Force pilots, which raises serious concern among local environmentalists, and asked the U.S. to complete the investigation into the death of a Kyrgyz national by a U.S. soldier in last December as quickly as possible.

Alexander Ivanov, 42, a driver at the fuel supply company Aircraft Petroleum Management and father of two, was shot dead December 6 by U.S. airman, Zachary Hatfield, while undergoing a routine security check at the Manas airbase. The Americans said Hatfield reacted to a threat.

Fallon said in turn that the U.S. is ready for closer cooperation with Kyrgyzstan and will definitely provide Kyrgyzstan with the results of the investigation, which will be completed in the nearest future.

Although Russia applied pressure on Bishkek to demand the withdrawal of American troops, the impoverished nation of five million needs U.S. support and the military base, which is leased for $150 million annually under a new agreement, has generated jobs and is a strong contributor to the Kyrgyz economy.

Russia has established its own military base in Kyrgyzstan as a counterweight to the U.S. airbase at Manas.

Korea to send civilian health workers to Afghanistan

The Chosun Ilbo, November 6, 2007 - Early next year the Korean government plans to send up to 30 civilian medical workers to Afghanistan to offer free services there.

Yonhap News Agency reported quoting Korean government sources that Seoul intends to continue supporting reconstruction in Afghanistan even after withdrawing its troops from the country at the end of this year as scheduled.

The Korean government reportedly plans to propose the medical dispatch to the National Assembly in the near future for approval.

Korea has dispatched two military contingents to Afghanistan to provide medical services and help in reconstruction efforts.

Meanwhile Seoul's defense ministry says it will complete the pullout of some 200 Korean non-combat troops in Afghanistan before the presidential election in mid-December.

TAP gas pipeline project: Pakistan asks India to confirm its position

Daily Times (Pakistan) - November 6, 2007 - ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has asked India to affirm its position, by November 9, whether or not would it join talks on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project that are likely to be held in December this year at Islamabad, sources told Daily Times.

A high-level official in petroleum ministry told this scribe that all the stakeholders have been asked to forward their comments to chalk out agenda of the meeting.

India has also been asked to inform the stakeholders regarding its participation in the talks aimed at materialising the billion dollars project, the official said.

India has earlier been participating in the talks as an observer. It would, however, become a stakeholder in the project after joining the coming talks. Pakistan would import 3.2 billion cubic feet gas from Turkmenistan which then would be shared with India.

“India would have to make a formal request to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s facilitation to join the talks,” the official said.

After India becomes a member, the project will be named as Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline project.

Costs on the proposed project are being estimated at six to seven billion dollars. Though the ADB is presently sponsoring the project, other investors would also be invited to carry out the scheme.

The official said that matters concerning the availability of adequate gas reserves in Turkmenistan, third party certification of reserves, project structure, and security and gas pricing would be discussed during the meeting. As security threats in Afghanistan tend to hamper the billion-dollar project, the Afghan government would be asked to ensure necessary security measures so that the project could be materialised. The projected is expected to be completed by 2011-12. Turkmenistan claims to have gas reserves of 159 trillion cubic feet at its Daulatabad fields with Russia being its major importer.

Taliban stage a coup of their own
By Syed Saleem Shahzad – Asia Times 11.8.07

KARACHI - While the world's attention focused on the troubles of President General Pervez Musharraf following his declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan at the weekend, the Taliban have launched a coup of their own in Afghanistan and the Pashtun areas of Pakistan.

Pakistani troops had prevented the Taliban from launching their planned post-Ramadan (Muslim holy month) offensive into Afghanistan by invading the Pakistani North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areas on October 7.

The Taliban managed to set up a counter engagement by stirring their network in the Swat Valley in North-West Frontier Province, which took the pressure off the Waziristans. The November 4 declaration of an emergency and the preparations before it was enforced distracted the military. As a result, several villages and towns in the Swat Valley, only a drive of four hours from Islamabad, have fallen to the Taliban without a single bullet being fired - fearful Pakistani security forces simply surrendered their weapons.

The Taliban have secured similar successes in the northwestern Afghan province of Farah and the southwestern provinces of Uruzgan and Kandahar, where districts have fallen without much resistance.

A new wave of attacks is expanding the Taliban's grip in the southeastern provinces of Khost and Kunar. And on Tuesday, the Taliban are suspected to have been responsible for the massive suicide attack in northern Baghlan province in which scores of people died, including a number of parliamentarians, most notably Sayed Mustafa Kazimi, the Hazara Shi'ite leader.

Such unexpected offensives have become a hallmark of the Taliban. They surprised many with their successful spring offensive in 2006, when the West had already anticipated their demise.

The Taliban occupied several key districts in the southwest and then as the winter snows closed in - normally a time for the guns to fall silent - they struck ceasefire deals with coalition troops. The aim was that once the weather improved, they would launch a mass uprising and force the surrender of major cities.

However, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) coalition sprung a surprise of its own by breaking the ceasefire agreements and conducting military operations one after the other from December 2006 onwards against the unprepared Taliban.

This forced the Taliban's abrupt retreat from important arteries and effectively ended the dream of a mass uprising this spring. Instead, the Taliban turned more to the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks to irritate the enemy rather than cause serious damage.

NATO was relaxed during the month of Ramadan as Afghans generally don't fight in this period, and with the winter setting in, it was believed that the next Taliban action would only take place next spring.

But the Taliban have taken advantage of Pakistan's political troubles - the Pakistani army is busy saving its political interests in Islamabad - to keep on fighting in what is probably their first real winter offensive.

The fate of the Taliban's offensives in Afghanistan and Pakistan are closely linked with the fate of Musharraf's second coup. He will have to restore the country to normalcy very quickly. If not, the Taliban will go from strength to strength and a vital US-led "war on terror" theater will be closed.

"It is the duty of every citizen, and especially lawyers, to struggle for the supremacy of law, independence of the judiciary and real democracy," lawyer Shaukat Rauf cited Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry as saying in a telephone address to the bar in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Chaudhry is one of thousands of lawyers and opposition members to have been arrested or placed under house arrest since Saturday.

Chaudhry's defiant call illustrates that rolling back the emergency is only a part of the problem - what is wanted is the reinstatement of deposed judges and the full restoration of an independent judiciary.

The imposition of the emergency came as the Supreme Court was about to deliver its verdict on whether Musharraf could run for president while still serving as army chief. Last month, he was reelected by an overwhelming majority in national and provincial assemblies.

The opposition boycotted the polls and asked the Supreme Court to intervene and the judges ordered that official results be withheld until a verdict was reached. It is thought the court planned to rule against Musharraf, hence emergency rule.

Chaudhry has had run-ins with Musharraf before. He was suspended in March for alleged malfeasance (the real reason was the judiciary's opposition to Musharraf's role as army chief). Widespread protests and violence followed, and eventually when the Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry, the Musharraf regime had little choice but to accept the decision.

Chaudhry might be detained for now, but he has emerged as a formidable foe for Musharraf, and his following is growing by the day.

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

Italy Breaks Up European Terror Cell

By COLLEEN BARRY – MILAN, Italy (AP) — A Europe-wide sweep disrupted an Islamic cell that was recruiting potential suicide bombers for attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, Italian police said Tuesday, announcing the arrests of 20 terror suspects.

Police said the suspects, mostly Tunisians, were arrested across Europe as part of the sweep against a cell based in the northern Italian region of Lombardy.

Executing the arrest warrants, police said they found al-Qaida manuals for making explosives, detonation devices and poisons, and instructions on guerrilla techniques.

"The investigation has revealed recruitment, training and passage to aspiring terrorists to Iraq and Afghanistan," lead investigator Gen. Giampaolo Ganzer, of Italy's paramilitary Carabinieri police, told a news conference.

The suspects were wanted on charges ranging from association with the aim of committing international terrorism to falsifying documents to aid illegal immigrants.

"Once more, the central role of Milan and Lombardy in the panorama of Islamic militants has been confirmed," the Carabinieri said in a statement.

The group's members had been indoctrinated in militancy in mosques since at least 1998, according to police transcripts, and appeared to take serious precautions.

In one intercepted call, a suspected cell member said that "things are being done with extreme calm, haste does not bring the desired results."

Eleven were arrested in the northern Italian cities of Milan, Reggio Emilia, Imperia and Bergamo. Nine others were arrested on warrants issued in France, Britain and Portugal, Italian news agencies reported.

Authorities in Britain, France and Portugal confirmed arrests.

The Lombardy cell had ties with a group in neighboring Emilia Romagna whose aim is to establish an Islamic state extending from Morocco to China, Italian investigators said. Intercepted phone calls made clear the aim of sending jihadist fighters to Iraq via Syria, including specific instructions on shaving off beards before departure to give the impression of making a "peaceful trip."

Ganzer said that while the main aim of the group were attacks aimed at western targets in Iraq and Afghanistan, they also had ties to groups that planned attacks in Italy. Police said the Milan-based cell helped a Tunisian involved in planning a failed attack in Bologna flee to France in 2006. The attack was meant to be carried out around Italy's national elections in April 2006, police said.

Giuliano Amato, Italy's interior minister, said the suspects are mostly Tunisian. He praised the sting as an example of strong cooperation among European countries.

In Britain, authorities said two suspects were arrested in London and Manchester and face extradition to Italy. The men, identified as Ali Chehidi, 34, and Mohamed Khermiri, 53, were accused of forging documents to help volunteers enter Italy illegally.

Portuguese police said they arrested a North African in the northern Portuguese city of Porto on suspicion of international terrorism, illegal immigration and smuggling. He had been in Portugal for three years and had a Portuguese residence permit allowing travel within Europe's Schengen area.

Air raid kills 20 Taliban militants in Afghanistan

KABUL, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Operation and air raids against Taliban hideout in Afghanistan's western Badghis province killed 20 insurgents including their commander, a military officer in the area said Tuesday.

"Air strikes carried out by NATO and ground operation by Afghan troops in Ghormach district Monday left 20 rebels including their commander Mullah Babai dead," General Murad Ali Murad told Xinhua.

He also claimed there were no casualties on Afghan forces and civilians living around. The clean-up operation, according to the commander, is going on.

Meanwhile, Mullah Abdul Hai, who claims to speak for the Taliban fighter in the area, rejected Murad's claim, saying only two insurgents were killed and 10 others sustained injuries.

The remaining of the casualties, according to Taliban purported spokesman, are civilians.

Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have claimed the lives of more than 5,500 people, mostly insurgents, according to officials so far this year in Afghanistan.

Herat University to receive more than $2.5m in grant

HERAT CITY, Nov 5 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Berlin University would train Herat University lecturers and offer them higher study courses in Germany, an official said on Monday.

Herat University Dean Dr. Muhammad Naeem Asadi told Pajhwok Afghan News they wrapped up an agreement of cooperation with the Berlin Technical University here on Sunday.

More than $2.5 million of the development aid granted by the World Bank to the Higher Education Ministry was meant for capacity-building of the staff and equipping the Computer Science Department, he explained.

Dr. Asad added an information technology (IT) system, linking the Computer Science Department with outside world, would be established soon. Seven lecturers would be sent to Germany for two and a half years to do their masters in computer science.

With 11 departments and more than 6000 students, 20 per cent of them females, the Herat University has linkage programmes with 17 international universities, including those in Germany and the US, according to the dean.

Afghanistan, Oman share T20 trophy

Khaleej Times, 11/05/2007 - DUBAI — The ACC Twenty20 Cricket Tournament came to a sensational end at the Hubara Oval at Ahmadi on Friday when Afghanistan tied with Oman in controversial circumstances in front of a huge partisan crowd of Afghan supporters, a Press release said.


Circled by thousands of impassioned fans, the ICC President, Ray Mali and ACC President Jayantha Dharmadasa and the heads of the Bangladesh and Pakistan cricket boards, Afghanistan and Oman, the best teams in the competition produced the ultimate cliff hanger but had to be satisfied with shared spoils in a highly charged final.

Earlier in the day Kuwait beat UAE by three runs to take the third place.

Oman, chasing 152 for victory, were on 150 for 7 when Afghanistan’s captain Nowroz Mangal bowled the last ball to Oman’s Awal Khan. Khan stepped forward, heaved, missed, and keeper Karim Sadiq took off the bails and thousands of Afghanistan’s supporters invaded the field to celebrate.

But Awal Khan wasn’t out, stumped. The umpire hadn’t raised his finger. Awal was rooted at the crease, with his partner half-way down the wicket. The ball was still in play as the umpire had not called time. Khan responded to his partner’s call and completed the single amidst the confusion of the appeal turned down and the crowd invasion. With Oman’s batsmen having completed the run, a tie was declared by the match officials once the players left the field.

Oman started their chase disastrously as Hamid Hassan took an Omani wicket in the very first ball and another three balls later. The dangerous Hemin Desai and Zeeshan Ahmed both gone without scoring. Nilesh Parmar and Adnan Ilyas then rebuilt superbly, stealing singles, rotating the strike, hammering boundaries whenever possible.

The hundred partnership, the first of the tournament, came up in the 14th over. Then Ilyas fell for 52, Hemal Mehta went soon after to a fine catch by Mangal and Parma was run out for 66. The match was going down to the wire. Farhan Khan – Oman’s man for any crisis came in to bat in the 19th over with 12 wanted. He hit his second ball for a massive six.

The last over began with five required for a famous run chase but two wickets a single and a scrambled two leg byes brought on the drama of the last ball.

Earlier Afghanistan got off to a great start thanks to Nowroz Mangal and Karim Sadiq, putting up 50 in the 7th over but three wickets fell in four deliveries and thoughts of 160 and above had to be tempered with the need to bat out the overs. Some enterprising hitting by Raees Ahmadzai towards the end of the innings saw Afghanistan finish on 151 for 9.

In the end the Afghanistan supporters created a part of the mayhem that cost them the match. “I don’t know whether to be happy or sad,” said Afghanistan’s coach Taj Malik. “We could have won, we could have lost. We should have won!”

A bowl-out which was in order according to the playing conditions was deemed impossible with the crowd still gathered on the pitch and the square in a little disrepair, match officials declared the match a tie and the trophy shared between the two teams.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 151 for 9 (T. Hussain 3-31, Z. Ahmed 3-30) in 20 overs tied with Oman 151 for 7 (A. Ilyas 52, N. Parmar 66) in 20 overs.

Kuwait 126/7 in 20 overs (Yaseen Mughal 24, Hisham Mirza 23, Shadeeb De Silva 2/35, Ahmed 1/12 beat UAE 123/8 in 20 overs (Saqib 53, Prashant Braggs14 Yaseen Mughal 4/21, Khalid Butt 2/10)

Afghan Struggle to Change Poppy Fields Into Roads

By WILLIAM GRIMES- NY Times - A Year on the Afghan Frontier - By Joel Hafvenstein - The Lyons Press.

Joel Hafvenstein returned to Afghanistan in late 2004 armed with nothing but good intentions. Employed by Chemonics, a private company with a contract from the United States Agency for International Development, he was part of a team trying to discourage cultivation of the opium poppy by providing an alternative income for poor farmers.

Within months the mission was in disarray, its American workers huddled in a fortified bunker after eight of its Afghan employees had been murdered. The next year’s poppy harvest would be the largest on record.

The sobering dispatches in “Opium Season,” a wrenching account of lofty hopes and bitter disappointments, shed a dismal light on American efforts to improve the lot of ordinary Afghans. All over the country development projects are under way aimed at winning over the Afghan people, depriving the Taliban of popular support and propping up Hamid Karzai’s government. The obstacles are as steep as the surrounding mountains, as Mr. Hafvenstein discovered and ruefully recounts in this bitter but affectionate book about his three stints in Afghanistan from October 2003 to May 2005.

In Helmand Province, where Mr. Hafvenstein had his final tour of duty, the immediate plan was simple: hire local people for big public-works projects and put money in their pockets before the government started cutting down profitable poppy fields. This stopgap effort would be the prelude to large-scale infrastructure projects that would lift the local economy permanently. Easier said than done.

Getting a multimillion-dollar project up and running plunged Mr. Hafvenstein and his co-workers into a social, political and economic morass that eventually sucked them under. In a country with scant resources, every dollar shifted the local balance of power in unforeseen ways.

The influx of international development companies distorted the Afghan economy, driving up the cost of housing and drawing educated Afghans away from vital but poorly paid jobs in, for example, education. Local power brokers, whether government officials or tribal leaders, eyed the Americans askance, worried that their own influence might be diminished. Big landowners schemed to steer benefits in their direction.

Mr. Hafvenstein arrived eager but unprepared in a region known to the ancient Persians as “the land of the unruly.” Racing to set up a project office, he interviewed a long line of Afghans with spotty qualifications and modest expectations. One stated on his application that he looked forward to working in “a mullet-cultural environment.” Another, hesitant to accept a job that required him to travel with payroll money, said, “I would like a job where I will not be killed.”

The security situation was indeed tenuous. Early on Mr. Hafvenstein got a cold dose of reality when the company’s security officer rattled off a list of must-buy items for the offices. These included blast film for the windows, razor wires for the walls and a windowless safe room lined with sandbags “if things get ugly.” Nevertheless, before safes arrived, Mr. Hafvenstein carried around bricks of American, Afghan and Pakistani currency in the inside pockets of his waistcoat.

The cash-for-work program showed progress. Chemonics hired thousands of laborers to do roadwork or dig out the silt from canals in a huge irrigation system built in the 1940s by Morrison-Knudsen, the engineering company that built the Hoover Dam and the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Spurred on by an energetic, idealistic Afghan-American in the office, the company made every effort to extend its reach to remote valleys badly in need of development aid.

But the hard realities of the poppy economy quickly reasserted themselves. The local government would plow under the poppy fields belonging to poor farmers just enough to mollify the central government, while powerful landlords paid the police to pass them by. After a particularly heavy rain in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, Mr. Hafvenstein noticed a thriving poppy field directly across the street from the American military outpost, its existence revealed by a collapsed section of earthen wall.

Everyone in Helmand, directly or indirectly, depended on poppy income, including top officials. In June 2005 police raided the mansion of Helmand’s governor, Sher Muhammad Akhundzada, and found nine metric tons of opium. Mr. Akhundzada, who enjoys close family ties to Mr. Karzai, explained that he had seized the opium from traffickers and was merely waiting for the appropriate moment to dispose of it.

Mr. Hafvenstein and his team disturbed the status quo, although they were never clear precisely when or how. When several workers were victimized by a carjacking, informants blamed common thieves, but the act might have been retaliation for giving too many jobs to members of the wrong clan. Later, in the same area, two Afghan workers were ambushed and killed. A party that set out the following day to transport the dead bodies to a cemetery in Kabul was also ambushed and its members executed. One man, an ethnic Hazara (member of the Shiite minority) was shot through the eyes.

Local leaders blamed the Taliban. But the killings might have been ordered by poppy growers angry that the American project was depriving them of badly needed labor for the harvest. The police showed little enthusiasm for investigating the matter.

That was it for Mr. Hafvenstein and his American colleagues. They headed home, sadder and wiser. “We had come to Helmand thinking of opium as the local currency, and had tried to replace it with cash,” Mr. Hafvenstein writes. “But security was the real currency of Afghanistan. The traumatized population of Helmand would trade anything for it, follow anyone who could offer it.”

In a country where violence trumps money every time, the United States, Mr. Hafvenstein suggests, will have to work out a different equation.

[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.]