In this bulletin:

• Six Afghan tribal elders shot dead
• US-led troops kill 18 in Afghanistan
• Taliban kills 4 policemen in central Afghanistan
• Suicide bomber wounds five Afghan civilians
• Afghan minister compensates families of Baghlan suicide bomb victims
• Afghan daily says Baghlan suicide bomb perpetrators must be caught
• Afghan paper blames "Pakistani Taleban" for Baghlan suicide bomb
• Afghan-Canadians join the Embassy in prayer services for Baghlan victims
• Spanta, German ambassador to ink 83m agreements
• Chinese, Afghan military leaders hold talks
• Japanese committee votes to resume Afghan support
• Macedonia to increase number of peacekeepers in Iraq, Afghanistan
• Denmark want more troops, or money, to NATO's Afghanistan mission
• Who are the Taleban?
• Afghan police torch large quantity of drugs in west
• 200 Special Forces troops to target Taliban drug trade
• Canada Needs a New Plan for Afghanistan
• Afghanistan's heroin addiction
• Feature: Post-Taliban Afghanistan witnesses rapid developing media
• Pomegranate project proves fruitful
• 40 Afghan businesses to attend 27th IITF
• Okanagan 10-year-old's fundraising idea raises enough to pay 26 Afghan teachers

Six Afghan tribal elders shot dead

Posted Mon Nov 12, 2007 - Unknown gunmen on motorbikes have shot dead six pro-government tribal elders as they headed to a prayer service in western Afghanistan, a provincial police chief says.

The gunmen opened fire on the elders as they were travelling to a mosque in Herat province, Juma Khan Adil told AFP. "The elders were going to the mosque. The armed men opened fire on their vehicle and killed six of them," he said. A seventh man was injured, he added.

The police commander was unable to say who might have been behind the killing but similar such incidents have in the past been blamed on Taliban insurgents who target people associated with or who support the government.

But a Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, denied his group was involved in killing the elders. Mr Adil says two men were detained at the site of the shooting in Gozara district on suspected links to the murder.

The Taliban, who are fighting a fierce insurgency launched months after they were ousted from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001, have been blamed for a series of assassinations of influential community figures.

In a similar attack on Tuesday, armed motorcyclists killed a provincial legislator in southern Helmand province, where the Taliban militants are most active.

A massive suicide blast in the north on Tuesday killed nearly 80 people, 59 of them children, but the rebel movement also denied its involvement as it has done previously in incidents that have taken a high civilian toll.

The Taliban have increased attacks in recent years and their insurgency has been its deadliest this year, killing nearly 6,000 people, most of them rebels but including hundreds of civilians.

There are other groups involved in the daily violence in Afghanistan, some also following an extremist ideology and others linked to the opium trade or carrying attacks for reasons of personal enmity or power. - AFP

US-led troops kill 18 in Afghanistan

By FISNIK ABRASHI - Associated Press Mon Nov 12

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition troops battling suspected militants in southern Afghanistan lobbed a grenade that destroyed a house and killed 15 militants as well as a woman and two children, the coalition said Monday.

Meanwhile, weekend reports of other violence included the deaths of three policemen and a coalition soldier in separate explosions and raids.

The U.S.-led troops were raiding compounds suspected of housing bomb makers in the Garmser district of Helmand province on Sunday when militants attacked them with heavy fire, the statement said. Coalition forces responded with small-arms fire, killing several militants, it said.

"During one of the engagements, several militants barricaded themselves in a building on the compound and engaged coalition forces with a high volume of gunfire. Coalition forces used a single grenade which killed the attacking militants," the statement said. "However, the building the militants were fighting from collapsed."

After the clash, troops recovered the bodies of a woman and two children from the collapsed building, along with several militants and their weapons, it said. Another woman was wounded during the battle and taken to a medical facility for treatment. Two suspected militants were detained for questioning, the coalition said.

"We would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased," said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman.

"When militants knowingly engage coalition forces with innocent people in the background, it only shows the extremists' complete disregard for innocent lives," Belcher said in a statement.

More than 5,800 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, a record, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Civilian casualties in particular have incited resentment and demonstrations against U.S. and NATO forces, though officials blame militants for using civilian homes as cover during clashes. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with Western forces to do all they can to prevent such deaths.

In other violence, a soldier with the U.S.-led coalition died after a battle Saturday about 40 miles northeast of Kabul, the coalition said on Sunday. It did not disclose the soldier's nationality.

In Helmand province, Afghanistan's center for opium-poppy production, a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives near a NATO convoy, wounding three bystanders, said Helmand police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.

And elsewhere in the country, Afghan police came under attack by land-mine blast, ambush and an assault on a checkpoint. Three policemen died, one was missing and three were wounded in the scattered attacks.

This has been the deadliest year for the U.S. military in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, with more than 100 U.S. troops killed, according to an AP count.

New Zealand Defense Minister Phil Goff said Monday his nephew was one of six U.S. soldiers killed in eastern Nuristan province in a recent attack.

Lt. Matthew Ferrara was born in the United States and had dual U.S.-New Zealand citizenship, Goff said. He had graduated near the top of his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and had been serving in Afghanistan for about five months.

New Zealand has about 120 of its own troops in Afghanistan, most of them in a provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan province. No soldiers in New Zealand's contingent have been killed, though five have been wounded.

Taliban kills 4 policemen in central Afghanistan

KABUL, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Taliban insurgents in an overnight attack on a police checkpost in central Afghanistan's Ghazni city killed four policemen, provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai told Xinhua on Monday.

The Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, however, told Xinhua through telephone from an unknown location that some seven policemen were killed in the incident which took place on Sunday night.

There were no reports about casualties of the Taliban insurgents in the incident. Around 5,600 people have lost their lives in militancy-related violence and conflicts since January this year, hitting a record high since 2001.

The Taliban, toppled in late 2001, has waged an insurgency against the Afghan administration and the international troops currently deployed in the country for several years.

Suicide bomber wounds five Afghan civilians

Sun Nov 11, KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - A suicide bomber wounded five Afghan civilians including children when he blew himself up Sunday near troops in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The bomber struck just outside the town of Gereshk in Helmand province among a group of Afghan soldiers distributing food to a group of widows, the defence ministry said, retracting an earlier statement that five people were killed.

"A suicide bomber on foot exploded himself, resulting in the injury of five of our civilian countrymen including children," it said in a statement.

The district chief, Abdul Manaf, said the bomber had targeted a convoy of troops with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

The defence ministry did not mention the foreign soldiers and ISAF could not immediately confirm an attack.

The extremist Islamic Taliban movement has claimed responsibility for most of a wave of around 130 suicide bombings in Afghanistan this year.

They have however denied they were behind the country's worst such attack which killed nearly 80 people Tuesday, most of them children, in the northern province of Baghlan.

Afghan minister compensates families of Baghlan suicide bomb victims

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Pol-e Khomri, 11 November: The presidential office has distributed a cash amount of 15m afghanis to 130 families affected by last week's massive suicide bombing in the northern Baghlan town.

The suicide bombing that took place near a sugar factory where lawmakers had gone to assess the economic condition of the people. Six legislators and many schoolchildren and teachers were among the victims.

Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel handed over 100,000 afghanis each to the families of the 65 people killed in the attack while relatives of each of the injured were granted 50,000 afghanis.

The minister expressed his condolences with the affected families while making solatia [compensation] payments to them. Moqbel said he had come with a group of officials to Baghlan to investigate the incident and sympathies with the victims' families.

Muhammad Qasim, 35, who lost two minor sons in the blast, told Pajhwok Afghan News: "This money could never c! ompensate the loss of my sons." He asked the government to bring the governor, the education director and the perpetrators to justice.

Still in a state of shock, the man alleged, scores of students were killed and wounded as police and bodyguards of legislators opened indiscriminate fire following the blast. Baghlan security forces have arrested two suspects including a cleric on the charge of masterminding the attack.

Afghan daily says Baghlan suicide bomb perpetrators must be caught

Text of editorial, "All facilities should be mobilized", published by state-run daily Etefaq-e Eslam on 11 November by state-owned Afghan newspaper Etefaq-e Eslam on 11 November

The Baghlan bomb blast shocked the whole Afghan nation. Not only were a number of parliamentarians but also a large number of our innocent compatriots, particularly schoolchildren, were martyred or wounded in this incident. Such a big incident has not happened in the past few years. The incident has had a huge impact on the government, parliament and all citizens of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, who held the funeral ceremonies splendidly. The media, particularly the private media, took part in this national mourning and chiefly focused on the incident. According to Mohammad Yunos Qanuni, the Speaker of parliament, this incident has yet again united the people of Afghanistan and also proved that the country's enemies do not care our race, language and religion and the people are confronting one single enemy which is a threat to all. So how can we tackle this enemy, which sheds the blood of this country's sons in a brutal manner, and how can we prevent such incidents! ?

It goes without saying that the government should take large-scale measures and should convey the people's demands to the international community. The government should benefit from both national and international facilities to tackle this blind terrorism. It is reported that two suspects have been arrested on charges of involvement in the Baghlan bomb blast. Strict measures must be taken to identify and the perpetrators of this bloody incident and the people, who witness their children are being killed, should be informed about the results of these investigations. Afghanistan and the elected government are stepping on the new path of their political and social life, but a blind terrorism is putting obstacle in the way of this nation. The government officials are expected to identify and punish the masterminds of the incident so that we will not encounter such incidents in the future.

Afghan paper blames "Pakistani Taleban" for Baghlan suicide bomb

Text of editorial, "Baghlan blast, a pre-planned incident" published by independent daily Pagah on 10 November

It is crystal clear that the attack on Mostafa Kazemi, the spokesman for the United [National] Front and his colleagues as well as a large number of children and innocent people was neither accidental nor inadvertent or untimely. This is because the incident will make the disagreement and clash between the executive and legislative even worse and in this way one can find a chance to easily fish in the troubled waters. Before analysing other issues, one should clearly identify the Taleban, who are divided into three groups.

First, those Taleban who are trained by the extremist, religious circles on the other side of the Durand Line (Northern Waziristan) to launch terrorist attacks. These Taleban claim they are against the military presence of other countries (Non-Muslim) in Afghanistan. Second, those Taleban who are sent by Pakistan from the other side of the Durand Line [into Afghanistan], who are holding axes to chop away at the Afghan! government's roots and in this way are putting into practice in Afghanistan the foreign policy of our southern neighbour, Pakistan. Third, those Taleban who have come from among the people of Afghanistan and take part in the fight because of their religious beliefs; we also count some partisan fighters with this group.

Now, with the speculations of political circles, newspapers and the media, one can point the finger of blame at the following groups:

First, the government, for weakening the United [National] Front as its biggest opposition.

Second, the Taleban for... [ellipsis as published]

Third, the Baghlan residents because of their personal enmity with a number of MPs?

Before making any judgment, it is worth noting that the disagreement arose between the executive and legislative following the impeachment of two ministers, particularly Mr [Foreign Minister] Spanta. The Pakistani Taleban clearly took the advantage of this situation.

Interestingly, the Taleban always claimed responsibility for suicide an d terrorist attacks but they now strongly deny any involvement in the Baghlan bomb blast. On the other hand, is martyring more than 100 people and particularly Mr Kazemi not worse for the Afghan government than accepting the United National Front as its major opposition group? We will make a wrong judgment if we think the incident was due to personal enmity among Baghlan residents because the residents have already suffered from heavy casualties in the explosion.

So who are the perpetrators of the incident?

The strong possibility is that the scenario has been written in a different way and that the Pakistani Taleban are trying to cause irreversible damage to our national unity and government this time. Currently there has been suspicion between the two powers since the blast has taken place and this is to such an extent that the parliament has not approved the government delegation assigned to investigate the 15 Aqrab incident [the Baghlan bomb blast occurred on ! 6 November] and has been making efforts to identify the perpetrators on its own.

The hope is that the government will help the parliament with more vigilance and prudence to overcome the bloodthirsty movement that has risen from the south and is now trying to destabilize the secure areas. We hope that mothers will no longer mourn for their kids and the intellectuals will no longer fall victim to the sinister plots of this group.

Afghan-Canadians join the Embassy in prayer services for Baghlan victims

Montreal – The Embassy of Afghanistan in Canada joined by members of the Afghan-Canadian communities in Ottawa and Montreal organized a prayer service on Sunday to remember the victims of last week’s terrorist attack in Baghlan province.

Ambassador Omar Samad and staff of the Embassy were joined by more than 300 community members at the Chateau Royal near Montreal, where a fateha service was held, expressing condolences to the families of the martyrs and all Afghans.

At the end of the prayer service, the Afghan Ambassador spoke to the audience and denounced the “inhuman and barbaric act of terrorism that took the lives of more than 80 Afghans, including 60 school children, six members of Parliament representing five provinces, teachers and a number of innocent citizens.”

He told the audience that preliminary evidence shows that the attack was a suicide bombing, in which ball-bearing material is said to have been used to maximize the impact. Amb. Samad also reiterated the Afghan government’s strong commitment to pursue an investigation and bring the culprits behind this bombing to justice.

The Ambassador lauded the members of Parliament for their work as members of the Lower House’s Economic Committee and for their past services. Expressing the Afghan people’s strong anger, Amb. Samad described the act of terror as “un-Islamic and counter to Afghan norms.”

He urged all Afghan communities overseas to strengthen their ties with their compatriots inside Afghanistan who are in need of help by setting up special humanitarian funds through trusted intermediaries and provide assistances when a crisis takes place. He also cautioned community members not to be distracted by the negative propaganda of certain individuals and groups who do not have the best interests of Afghanistan in mind and do not offer solutions to the country’s problems.

He thanked the organizers, especially the leadership of the Council of Ismaeli Community in Quebec, and the volunteers for their help in making arrangements for the prayer service.

Embassy of Afghanistan

November 11, 2007

Spanta, German ambassador to ink 83m agreements

Pajhwok News Agency - 11/11/2007

KABUL - The governments of Afghanistan and Germany are set to ink two agreements on programmes in focal areas of German-Afghan development cooperation.

Foreign Minister Dr Spanta and German Ambassador Dr Seidt will sign the financial accords worth 83 million euros on programmes implemented by the Frankfurt-based KfW Development Bank.

The signing ceremony would mark the friendly and long-standing relationship between the two countries, the Embassy of Germany said in a statement mailed to Pajhwok Afghan News on Thursday.

Without giving an exact date of the signing ceremony, the press release said it flags the strong German commitment to contribute substantially to Afghanistans reconstruction and development.

Projects covered by the agreements deal with basic education, the energy sector, micro-finance and upgrading potable water supply in Kabul. All the schemes, which have already commenced, will receive additional funds under the agreements.

On November 10 (Saturday), acting Education Minister Dr Ghaznawi and the German ambassador will attend a ceremony marking the commencement of rehabilitation work on the buildings of the Mechanical Institute here.

With the advisory assistance of the German Development Service, KfW will implement the project worth 3.5 million euros. The buildings are being rehabilitated in order to re-establish the Mechanical Institute as a vocational centre for Afghan craftsmen.

The ceremony marks the 70th anniversary of the Institute, founded in 1937, besides reflecting the friendly relationship between Afghanistan and Germany.

Chinese, Afghan military leaders hold talks

BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, held talks here on Monday with Besmillah Mohammadi, chief of the General Staff of Afghan National Army.

Chen, also member of the Central Military Commission, said China and Afghanistan were neighbors and had respected each other over the past years.

The two countries had no dispute, he said, adding that the Chinese military would like to further exchanges with the Afghan military to enhance the state-to-state relations.

Besmillah expressed gratitude for China's support for Afghanistan's reconstruction. He said Afghanistan had supported China's independent foreign policy of peace and adhered to the one-China principle.

Japanese committee votes to resume Afghan support

TOKYO (AFP) — A Japanese parliamentary committee voted Monday to resume support for the US-led "war on terror," setting the stage for a fresh showdown with the opposition.

The naval mission providing fuel to coalition forces in Afghanistan ended on November 1 because of objections by the opposition, which controls the upper house of parliament and argues Japan should not be part of "American wars."

But a committee in the lower house, where Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's coalition enjoys an overwhelming majority, passed a bill to redeploy the ships in the Indian Ocean for one year.

The full lower house is expected to approve the measure Tuesday and send it to the upper house, where the opposition is likely to use its power to reject it.

"I hope the legislation will be approved so that Japanese warships can resume the Indian Ocean mission," Fukuda said in the lower house committee.

"Both sides need to make efforts to resolve the differences in opinion," he said.

The lower house can override a rejection by the upper house, but the opposition has threatened a censure motion against Fukuda's government if it resorts to such drastic measures.

Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party in turn has warned the opposition, which has recently been in disarray, of a snap general election if it pushes through a censure motion.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has said the censure motion would be for "breaching the will of the people."

"We will decide whether or not we will present the censure motion to the upper house after assessing which view the people consider right -- our view or the view of the government and the ruling party," DJP secretary general Yukio Hatoyama said in television panel discussion Sunday.

The opposition seized the upper house in July in a voter backlash over scandals in then prime minister Shinzo Abe's government.

Abe abruptly quit in September, citing in part the opposition's refusal to extend the Indian Ocean mission. Fukuda is expected to head later this week to the United States, Japan's main ally, on his first foreign trip for talks with President George W. Bush.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates last week visited Tokyo and called on Japan to resume the mission, saying the Asian power should play a role befitting "one of the world's greatest and wealthiest democracies."

Japan has been officially pacifist since the end of World War II, making all of its military operations overseas controversial.

Macedonia to increase number of peacekeepers in Iraq, Afghanistan

Excerpt from report by Macedonian A1 TV website on 11 November

[Report by Irina Gelevska: "Macedonia To Deploy More Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq"]

The lack of progress in meeting the political requirements for joining NATO is compensated for by deploying more troops in peace missions. After the government's decision on the twofold increase of the number of Macedonian peacekeepers in Iraq, further increases have been announced for the contingents in Afghanistan and again in Iraq.

"All this is coordinated and in agreement with the US-led coalition. We will have a symbolic enlargement in Afghanistan - with three staff officers," Defence Minister Lazar Elenovski says.

The plan is to have the ARM [Army of the Republic of Macedonia] get involved in the Iraqi Army's training under NATO's command next year. Sending three or four staff officers to Afghanistan comes after NATO's appeal to the allies to make additional contribution to the mission. [passage omitted on Greek peacekeepers, US envoy to NATO Nuland'! s comments]

It seems that the Assembly will again unanimously approve the deployment of an additional 80 Macedonian soldiers in Iraq, most probably during the next rotation of the forces in December.

"All political parties support all ARM operations abroad. We are in Iraq because of our alliance with America, which is our greatest lobbyist and promoter for joining NATO," Vlatko Gjorcev of the Assembly's Defence Committee has said.

There have already been announcements that these Macedonian troops are not going to be deployed in Taji, as has been the case so far, but in Baghdad's "Green Zone."

"It appears that our unit will, after all, be deployed in the 'Green Zone,' which is not all that safe. We should have considered this a bit more seriously, after all, especially because most of the states participating in this mission are currently in the process of considering either a withdrawal or cutting down the number of their troops," expert Blagoja Mark! ovski says.

With the latest increased number of soldiers in Afgh anistan and Iraq, Macedonia will have over 250 peacekeepers next year.

Denmark want more troops, or money, to NATO's Afghanistan mission

The Associated Press - Monday, November 12, 2007

COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Denmark's prime minister on Monday urged other NATO nations to send more troops and money to boost the alliance's operations in Afghanistan.

NATO has some 41,000 troops in Afghanistan, but commanders complain the mission lacks helicopters, mobile units and instructors to train the Afghan army. The alliance also needs more quick-maneuver units to take control of territory won from the Taliban.

"I urge all our partners in NATO to reconsider their contributions to the Afghan mission," Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters. "I think we need not only more troops, but also more solidarity in the NATO alliance."

If alliance members cannot contribute with more soldiers, "it might be possible to provide NATO with funds to finance the operation in Afghanistan," he said.

In September, Denmark increased its contingent in the NATO force in Afghanistan from 440 to some 600 troops. The bulk of the Danes are based in the volatile Helmand province, the scene of some of the heaviest recent fighting.

"The security situation in the southern part of Afghanistan is definitely not satisfactory," Fogh Rasmussen said. Seven Danish troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

Who are the Taleban?

BBC, 10-Nov-07 - The last couple of years have seen the re-emergence of the hardline Islamic Taleban movement as a fighting force in Afghanistan.

Nearly five years after losing power in the country, the Taleban are making their presence felt by launching guerrilla operations against Nato forces, killing aid workers and kidnapping foreigners involved in reconstruction work.

Parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan have been rendered more and more insecure due to the increasingly daring Taleban attacks.

There has been a huge increase in violent attacks in recent months, particularly in the south where Nato forces are helping the Afghan government to extend its authority.

The government blames most of the violence on what it calls "enemies of Afghanistan" - shorthand for the Taleban and their al-Qaeda allies.

But it is becoming increasingly difficult to establish with any certainty who is behind some of the violence. The Taleban first came to prominence in the autumn of 1994.

Their leader was a village clergyman Mullah Mohammad Omar, who lost his right eye fighting the occupying forces of the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

Their target was the feuding warlords known as the mujahideen who had forced the Soviet troops out of the country.

The Taleban's promise was to restore peace and security and enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power. Afghans, weary of the mujahideen's excesses and infighting, generally welcomed the Taleban.

Their early popularity was largely due to their success in stamping out corruption, curbing lawlessness and making the roads and the areas under their control safe for commerce to flourish.

From their birthplace in the province of Kandahar in south-western Afghanistan, the Taleban quickly extended their influence.

They captured the province of Herat, bordering Iran, in September 1995.

Exactly one year later, they captured the Afghan capital, Kabul, after overthrowing the regime of President Burhanuddin Rabbani and his defence minister, Ahmed Shah Masood.

By 1998, they were in control of almost 90% of Afghanistan.

Pakistan 'the architect' - The circumstances of the Taleban's emergence remained the centre of controversial debate. Despite repeated denials, Pakistan is seen as the architect of the Taleban enterprise.

Suspicions arose early on when the Taleban went to the rescue of a Pakistani convoy stranded in Kandahar following attacks and looting by rival mujahideen groups.

Many of the Afghans who joined the Taleban were educated in madrassas (religious schools) in Pakistan.

Pakistan was also one of only three countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which recognised the Taleban regime. It was also the last country to break diplomatic ties with the Taleban.

The US put Pakistan under pressure to do so after the 11 September, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.

Pashtun sympathies - The Taleban were overwhelmingly Pashtun, the ethnic group that forms the majority of Afghanistan's diverse population and also inhabits the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan in neighbouring Pakistan.

Even now, the resurgent Taleban draw considerable sympathy from fellow Pashtuns in Pakistan.

Some of their fugitive leaders are able to find refuge across the long and porous border in NWFP and Balochistan.

Once in power, the Taleban set up an authoritarian administration that tolerated no opposition to their hardline policies.

Islamic punishments, such as public executions of convicted murderers and amputations of those charged with thefts, were introduced. Television, music and cinema were banned after being adjudged as frivolities.

Girls aged 10 and above were forbidden from going to school - working women were ordered to stay at home. Men were required to grow beards and women had to wear the burqa.

The Taleban's religious police earned notoriety as they tried to implement these restrictions. Taleban policies, particularly those concerning human and women's rights, also brought them into conflict with the international community.

Bin Laden and al-Qaeda - But what was to bring much greater conflict was the Taleban's role as host to Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement.

The August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that left more than 225 people dead prompted Washington to present the Taleban with a difficult choice.

They were required to expel Bin Laden, who the US held responsible for those bombings and other attacks, or face the consequences.

When the Taleban refused to hand over their Saudi-born guest, US President Bill Clinton ordered a missile attack on a Bin Laden camp in southern Afghanistan.

As further punishment, the US persuaded the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Taleban-ruled Afghanistan in 1999.

Harsher UN sanctions were put in place in 2001 in another effort to force the Taleban to deliver bin Laden.

The sanctions, and the denial of Afghanistan's seat in the UN to the Taleban, increased the political and diplomatic isolation of their regime. It also prompted it to pursue a more isolationist and fundamentalist agenda.

For example, the Taleban went ahead with the destruction of the priceless Bamiyan Buddha statues carved out of a mountain cliff in central Afghanistan, despite international outrage.

US onslaught - The events of 11 September signalled the beginning of the end for the Taleban's control of Afghanistan.

The US reiterated its demand that the Taleban hand over bin Laden to face trial for masterminding the attacks on US soil. But again, the Taleban defended bin Laden and refused to expel him.

On October 7, 2001, a US-led coalition intervened militarily in Afghanistan and by the first week of December the Taleban regime had collapsed.

Mullah Omar and most of the other senior Taleban leaders, along with Bin Laden and some of his senior al-Qaeda associates, survived the American onslaught.

Mullah Omar and his comrades have evaded capture despite one of the largest manhunts in the world and are believed to be guiding the resurgent Taleban.

The Taleban retreat enabled them to limit their human and material losses. However, differences on strategy and Mullah Omar's authoritarian style have prompted some Taleban to quit the movement or become inactive.

Afghan police torch large quantity of drugs in west

Excerpt from report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on 11 November

[Presenter] The security forces torched more than 1,500 kg of narcotics in Herat today. The security officials report that the police have discovered this quantity of drugs over the past three months. Hami Azad has more details on this:

[Correspondent] Herat Security Commander Gen Joma Adil says they have set to fire 1,583 kg of narcotics, adding that they were seized in separate operations over the past three months. The Afghan border police have discovered most of the amount. [Passage omitted: commander's remarks condemning any acts to make young men addicted to drugs]

The security forces have already set fire to more than 3 tonnes of narcotics in two occasions since the beginning of this year.

It is said that drug smugglers usually use Herat as their main route because this province shares borders with Iran and Turkmenistan. That is why the security forces discover large quantities of narcotics every year. According to the security officials, 26 drug traffickers have been arrested in the past three months.

200 Special Forces troops to target Taliban drug trade

IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent

Theherald.co.uk November 12 2007

Almost three-quarters of the fighting strength of the SAS is to be committed to targeting drug factories in the Taliban heartland of southern Afghanistan as part of an intensive British counter-narcotics offensive.

At least three of the four "sabre" squadrons of the Hereford-based special forces - about 200 soldiers - are to be sent to Helmand with orders to destroy the network of refineries processing raw opium resin into the heroin sold on the streets of Europe.

The SAS troopers - some being withdrawn from Iraq to take part in the operation - are to be supported by 500 paratroopers and other members of the Special Forces Support Group, a unit set up last year to add muscle to undercover missions.

The military "surge" next spring is to coincide with a new UK initiative expected to be outlined by Prime Minister Gordon Brown today to pay subsidies to Afghan farmers to encourage them to grow fruit and cereals rather than lucrative opium poppies.

A poor farmer can earn 10 times as much growing poppies than from attempting to cultivate wheat or maize in conditions that vary from searing summer drought to sub-zero winter cold.

The UN says the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan rose this year from 165,000 to 193,000 hectares and the harvest of opium resin increased from 6100 to 8200 tonnes. Opium production is heavily concentrated in areas of insecurity, with the British area of responsibility in Helmand now the world's biggest source of illicit narcotics.

The number of deaths in Scotland from heroin, morphine and other opium-based drugs rose to 374 in 2006, an increase of 42% on the previous year. There are an estimated 51,000 heroin addicts north of the border.

The statistics, compiled by police forces across Scotland, show nearly 71% of the deaths were attributed to heroin and morphine overdoses.

There were 1366 heroin-related deaths in England and Wales over the same period, according to coroners' data.

A military source said yesterday the special forces would target major dealers who pay Afghans to grow poppies and harvest the resin.

The UK initiative comes in response to US pressure for tougher anti-drug measures and threats to begin aerial spraying of poppy fields with defoliants. Nato officials fear such a drastic approach could drive poor farmers into the hands of the Taliban.

The SAS mounted one of the biggest raids in its 56-year history against a drug refinery in southern Afghanistan in November 2001 in Operation Trent. Some 120 troopers staged an assault, killing up to 60 drug traffickers and destroying large stocks of opium.

Nato sees eradication of the heroin trade in Afghanistan as a key plank in establishing enough physical security to allow improvements in health, transport and communications infrastructure.

Although the Taliban does not grow poppies, it exacts a tax on the product from dealers, allowing it to finance the purchase of weapons and ammunition and pay recruits.

The counter-narcotics campaign is expected to be linked to a new spring offensive by up to 8000 British conventional troops to break the Taliban hold on Helmand.

All three battalions of the Parachute Regiment, plus its Territorial support, and up to half of the Royal Regiment of Scotland's soldiers have been earmarked for deployment to Afghanistan in March.

Canada Needs a New Plan for Afghanistan

Arm the Wheat Board - by Neil Kitson, Antiwar.com 12 November 2007

We live in difficult times. Afghanistan is sucking up NATO money (and lives) at an alarming rate, with no end in sight and no measurable progress. Member countries are apparently unable to agree on policy or implementation. The laughable Afghanistan Compact, which has no basis in law, set mid-2007 as the goal for an end to all illegal armed activity. Maybe that seemed reasonable from the bar of a London hotel.

Meanwhile, opium production is up. Here's an idea: send in the Canadian Wheat Board, armed.

"The history of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) is grounded in the experience of farmers prior to World War I. Many farmers at the time felt captive to the railways, the line elevator companies, and the Winnipeg Grain Exchange for the delivery, weighing, grading, and pricing of their grain. They wanted greater power and protection for themselves in the grain marketing system. They developed a strong confidence in cooperative strategies and government intervention for addressing their needs…."

So Afghan farmers are in a similar position: they have a cash crop, but they're dependent on distributors and middlemen who make a fortune and might not pay a decent price. The whole thing needs to be taken out of the hands of these cartels, warlords, drug barons, and what have you, then nationalized and professionalized. That's where the Wheat Board comes in.

Various difficulties present themselves: the end-market user, protection for farmers, and competition.

End-market user

As I understand it, almost all the Afghan opium crop ends up on the streets of Europe as heroin, and the actual opium grower gets a pittance compared to the final market price. This can be remedied by having the Canadian Wheat Board buy the entire crop at a fair price, then license the refining into heroin to reputable pharmaceutical companies (as opposed, say, to some pharmaceutical division of Gazprom with links to Russian oligarchs).

The problem of course is the illegality of heroin consumption. Assuming no changes to current law, heroin could be held by the Wheat Board as a "strategic reserve," much like oil or indeed the various foodstuff "mountains" accumulated in the European Union as part of subsidized agriculture. Pharmaceutical-grade heroin is a perfectly useful drug, which could be used in medical practice worldwide.

Protection for farmers

It seems obvious that the current middlemen in the Afghan opium business would object to being cut out of their enormous profits. The Wheat Board is very experienced in this sort of difficulty. It will be necessary to protect Afghan farmers, and of course the Afghan family farm, from intimidation and threats. That's why the Board needs appropriate munitions. This solution will involve arming Afghan farmers, of course, but attack helicopters and AC-130 Spectre gunships may be needed to root out any remaining resistance. Tactical nuclear weapons may be impractical for protection of the crops, but rocket-propelled grenades will be useful if the opposition tries to use armor.

Competition

When this first phase comes to fruition, Afghans will have a steady source of income, fairly distributed, and can begin to support their own economy. The black market in opium will have to look elsewhere for raw materials (assuming heroin is not legalized in Europe), and the obvious source is the Golden Triangle, currently run by gangsters who wear uniforms and live in Singapore. Thus, Phase 2 of the NATO plan involves taking and holding territory in the Golden Triangle and establishing cooperatives within the secure perimeter. This will almost certainly require surface-to-air missiles and other conventional arms. None of this is beyond the capabilities of the Wheat Board.

Some might regard this proposal as frivolous. What could be more frivolous than the waste of over 70 Canadian lives and over 6 billion Canadian dollars without any forethought – or afterthought, for that matter?

Afghanistan's heroin addiction

Letters, Monday November 12, 2007, The Guardian

The idea of the UK buying out the Afghan farmers' poppies with a direct transfer of development aid into the hands of producers is not new (Report, November 10). I briefly had the thankless task Mark Malloch Brown now has of dealing with the drugs question in Afghanistan as a junior Foreign Office minister. Six years ago I asked officials about buying out the crop and got the usual "Can't be done, minister" replies from the experts of Whitehall. Afghanistan heroin production is now a massive problem for Iran, Pakistan, China and India. India alone has received more than £1bn of Department for International Development largesse in recent years, despite running its own £250m development aid programme to increase Indian influence in the region. Perhaps that money could be used in Afghanistan?

On a recent visit to Afghanistan I was told that as long as corrupt middle-men in the Afghanistan state bureaucracy are allowed to take mammoth cuts from the heroin trade, little will happen. Second, Islamist militant fundamentalists in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan need first to be defeated in order that some security and confidence in state administration can allow farmers to move away from profitable poppy cultivation. It is fashionable to blame US and UK foreign policy for Islamist militancy. As hapless Pakistani soldiers trying to guard the frontier with Afghanistan are beheaded for apostasy after being taken prisoner by Islamist fundamentalists, is there anyone willing to admit that contemporary Islamist ideology is part of the problem of containing the heroin production in Afghanistan?
Denis MacShane MP
Lab, Rotherham

Feature: Post-Taliban Afghanistan witnesses rapid developing media

KABUL, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Glancing at newspaper copies at a newsstand here in Kabul, the capital of post-Taliban Afghanistan, Ahmad Sarosh, 47, said that he was happy to see dozens of daily papers and magazines published today in his country.

"Almost every morning I come here to buy a newspaper and make myself aware about the development and situation at home and abroad," Sarosh said.

During the Taliban reign, which was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, only a few of state-run media outlets, including the national radio, had served as the mouthpiece of the regime.

Both the print and electronic media have been rapidly developing in the post-Taliban nation as more than 300 newspapers, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, about half a dozen private news agencies, several media production firms and more than 40 radio stations are operational in today's Afghanistan while many more are in the offing.

Over 80 individuals and companies, according to Afghan officials, have registered with the Ministry for Information and Culture to launch their are operational in the Central Asian state.

Afghans considers the freedom of press and boosting media as one of the major achievements of the Afghan government over the past six years.

"In the past, we had only one television channel run and controlled by government," Sarosh said. "Fortunately today we have10 television channels and by airing different and fascinating programs they keep us busy and happy."

Though being young in the war-torn country, the private media, has taken edge from the state-run press entities.

"I earn about 400 Afghanis (8 U.S. dollars) daily through selling newspapers and magazines," said 59-year-old Noorudin, a local newspaper hawker.

The old hawker and father of seven, who had suffered due to unemployment during the Taliban regime, added that developing media like other national institutions can create more job opportunities for people in the country.

More than 5,000 people are said to have been absorbed by different media outlets in the country over the past five years.

The reason behind the fast development of media in Afghanistan, is the dynamic and broad minded press law, which guarantees freedom of press and facilitates an Afghan national to establish media bodies, media observers say.

The annual tax of a newspaper to the Afghan government, according to editor of a local newspaper, is 10,000 Afghanis (200 U.S. dollars) while a television channel with round the clock broadcasting has to pay 5 percent of its income as tax to the government.

"Annual tax of a television channel depends on its income," said Dr. Ahmad Shah, an official at the Revenue Department of the Finance Ministry. "It could be 1,000 U.S. dollars and could be 100,000 U.S. dollars and it has to pay 5 percent of its income to the government."

Increasing media outlets and cheap price of newspapers have boosted the culture of newspaper reading in the war-devastated country, which has an adult literacy rate of 28 percent and some 29 million population.

"This year I have 35 to 40 clients daily to buy newspapers and magazines while last year it was less than 30," Noorudin added.

Nevertheless, the inhabitants of rural areas have little access to print media as media runners seldom send newspapers to the countryside where vast population of the country live.

To quash their thirst for media and get access to the world, some villagers in rural areas, have dared to install satellite dishes and watch hundreds of European and Asian channels in the conservative state, where watching television, cinema and other entertainments had been banned by the Taliban regime during its six-year reign.

"In addition to watching western movies and Indian soap operas, I also watch Afghan television channels through satellite dish with friends, relatives and neighbors at my home in village," said Syed Aqa, a villager from Nahrin district in northern Baghlan province.

Using a China-made small generator to light his home and run his mini-screen, Aqa, 32, noted, "It is the 21st century and we have to adopt our way of life in accordance with the requirements of our era."

Pomegranate project proves fruitful

With the help of USAID, Kandahar's farmers are selling their famous fruit overseas for the first time since the Taliban's collapse

GRAEME SMITH, The Globe and Mail- November 12, 2007

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- During the worst fighting north of Kandahar city earlier this month, as gunfire crackled through the orchards and hundreds of villagers fled their homes, a truck loaded with pomegranates rumbled along dirt roads in the middle of the night.

The fruit delivery was late, and the truck driver's boss in Kandahar city called him for regular updates on his crawl out of the war zone.

The driver reported some of the usual annoyances of transport in southern Afghanistan - a flat tire, engine trouble, getting stuck in a river - but with each phone call, his friends were relieved to hear he wasn't caught in crossfire.

Another worker for the same agriculture project had been hit in the shoulder by a bullet during the battles, and local co-ordinators from the United States Agency for International Development didn't want another casualty - not only for the driver's sake, but because they needed to get the truckload of pomegranates onto the next morning's cargo flight at Kandahar Air Field.

"I didn't sleep all night," said Mohammed Gul, a project manager for USAID. "It was the worst time of my career."

Meeting the shipment deadline was critical to the fledgling project, in which hundreds of tonnes of Kandahar's pomegranates are packed into boxes and flown to supermarkets around the world. It's the first time since the collapse of the Taliban regime that the region's farmers have sold their fruit overseas, and as harvest season finishes up this week, the people involved with the effort are quietly celebrating.

After three years of trying to open foreign markets to Kandahar's legendary fruit, once hailed as the best of the continent, the luscious red spheres are finally arriving in places such as Dubai, Delhi, Singapore, London, and even Vancouver.

It's part of a $120-million USAID project called the Afghanistan Alternative Development Program, intended to foster a legal economy in the south that might eventually replace the booming trade in opium.

The project has faced enormous difficulties along the way. Foreign staffers who oversee the work say they cannot be identified for security reasons, as the risk of kidnapping and murder rises in Kandahar city. The Taliban snatched Mr. Gul's driver, a local Afghan employee, and held him for more than a week in August until he negotiated a $5,000 (U.S.) ransom and bought his freedom.

As the Taliban encroached on Kandahar city during the autumn months, the pomegranate harvesters were forced to move their packing operations to a more secure location on the outskirts of the city. But the shipments of fruit never stopped entirely, and even the late-night delivery from war-torn Arghandab district didn't disrupt the operation: Mr. Gul mustered his team at the darkened warehouse, and got the sorting, grading, and packing finished in time for that morning's flight to Dubai.

"It was down to the last minute, but we kept it going," Mr. Gul said.

Prompt delivery, and high quality, are essential to breaking buyers' prejudices against Afghan products, a USAID official said: "They hear it's from Afghanistan, and all they can think about is war," he said.

A different image of Afghanistan is now displayed in major supermarkets, where USAID officials have photographed their pomegranates featured prominently in major upscale stores.

"This is the first time in the history of Afghanistan that our fresh fruit has reached Europe, North America, and the Middle East," said Mustafa Sadiq, owner of Omaid Bahar Ltd., one of the distributors involved in the project.

Mr. Sadiq estimates that he has risked $200,000 on the venture so far, and may sink another $500,000 into the deal. The U.S. aid agency pays only the costs of shipping and boxing the fruit, which means a distributor such as Mr. Sadiq must arrange to purchase the fruit from the Afghan farmers and get it into stores.

Doing business in a war zone always means risks, Mr. Sadiq said, but he says wealthy Afghans have a patriotic duty to help their country.

The USAID project has driven up demand for pomegranates this season, increasing prices by 30 per cent in Kandahar, generating a better income for farmers.

"I don't know how much longer we will have war, but at least now we have business," he said. "As a businessman, I feel responsible, I have to do something."

Ten tonnes of Kandahar's pomegranates have already been shipped to Vancouver as a test of the market, Mr. Sadiq said, adding that he's planning a visit to Canada at the end of the year in hopes of finding more buyers.

If buyers are available, Kandahar's farmers see no reason why the fighting would interrupt their shipments.

Shamsullah, 22, stood munching on pomegranate pips during a break from packing the fruit into boxes, and seemed puzzled by the question of how the rising violence might affect the prospects of his small orchard in Arghandab district.

"Some orchards are damaged by fighting, but they're not destroyed completely," he said, casually. "We cannot stop working during the wars in Afghanistan, because otherwise we would never work."

40 Afghan businesses to attend 27th IITF

Hindustan Times - The US Agency for International Development’s Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED) project is partnering with the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) to facilitate the participation of 40 Afghan companies at the upcoming India International Trade Fair (IITF).  The IITF 2007 will be held in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India from November 14-27.

The Afghan pavilion will offer an excellent opportunity to thousands of fair attendees many of the products Afghanistan is famous for, such as carpets, dried fruit, handicrafts, and marble. The Indian market is particularly interesting to Afghan producers of dried fruits, since India used to be a traditional market for these goods nearly three decades ago. Recently, dried fruit exporters from Afghanistan have been making strides in re-capturing that market and this trade fair will help develop new market linkages.

“Participating in IITF will help us regain the markets for our dried fruits, carpets and medical agriculture products not only in India but the whole region. Also, we will learn about technological developments in different industries," says Haji Hassan, president of the Kabul Consortium and one of the exhbitors in the trade fair. "Additionally, IITF will help us learn about consumer demand in the region. As a whole, the fair will boost Afghan trade and economy,” he adds. In addition to the exhibition, AISA and ASMED will sponsor a matchmaking event on November 21st called “Doing Business in Afghanistan.”

Okanagan 10-year-old's fundraising idea raises enough to pay 26 Afghan teachers

By Matthew Ramsey , Vancouver Province, Canada.com November 11, 2007

What started as one Winfield girl's inspiration may soon blossom into a national movement.

Ten-year-old Alaina Podmorow began raising money to pay for teacher's salaries in Afghanistan in 2006 after she learned most girls her age in that country can't go to school and most women can't work. Many Afghans believe their girls should be taught by female teachers, and there simply isn't enough money to pay for those educators.

"I felt bad," said Podmorow. "I want to have more people aware of what is happening [in Afghanistan]."

Through hard work and the help of 18 other girls her age, Podmorow formed Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan, a junior branch of the non-profit group Women for Women in Afghanistan.

The girls organized, held potluck dinners and a silent auction and raised about $3,500, enough to pay the annual salaries of five teachers.

"After that, it felt really good so I wanted to do something more," said the Davidson Elementary student. "I was happy to help them."

That "something more" eventually became a gala variety show held at the Creekside Theatre in Winfield Saturday night. The event, featuring, music, singing and dance performances and a silent auction, brought in about 200 people and with them an estimated $20,000.

Reached at her home on Sunday morning, the size of Podmorow's group's accomplishment had yet to sink in.

"[We raised enough for] well over six teachers. Maybe even more, I think," she said.

Lots more. If the early estimate is correct, Little Women for Little Women now has enough cash to pay the yearly salaries of roughly 26 teachers.

And, says Podmorow's mother Jamie, the family phone is ringing with callers from across the country wondering how they can set up Little Women groups in their home communities.

Jamie is naturally proud of her little girl and the highly motivated team of girls who have rallied to the cause.

"Whenever these little girls do anything, this is how it is," Jamie said. "They make people stand up and listen. The worst thing you can do is nothing."

[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.]