In this bulletin:

• Brown call to share Afghan burden
• NATO should focus on training Afghan forces: Karzai
• Taliban ambush Afghan army, eight dead
• Blast hits Afghan governor convoy
• Nato plans more Afghan resources
• Afghan rebuilding a task for a 'generation'
• Afghan burden tasks Nato allies
• Canada's top military commander says Afghanistan not ready to go it alone
• Most Afghans view security as a major concern
• Bush seeks more funds for war & Afghan uplift
• Afghan policewomen face uphill battle
• Canadian panel on Afghanistan swings into action
• Efforts to help Afghan girls generate optimism
• Canadian firm may benefit from plan to put more 'copters in Afghan skies
• Afghan city of party prohibitions
• Fatal attack on Pakistan troops
• 'Pakistan army ill-suited to fight tribal insurgency'

Brown call to share Afghan burden - BBC

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the international community to share the burden of the military campaign in Afghanistan. It comes during Afghan president Hamid Karzai's visit to Downing Street.

Mr Brown said a combined effort had put the Taleban on the defensive and the strategy for the future was "development, defence and diplomacy".

Nato have appealed for more western troops to make up a shortfall in the alliance's 35,000-strong Afghan force.

Mr Brown told a news conference the military campaign in Afghanistan was vital to the fight against terrorism. "Afghanistan is the frontline against the Taleban," he said.

"We cannot allow the Taleban to be back in control of such an important country. And the work that has been done in the last six years to build a democracy in Afghanistan is an important bulwark against terrorism everywhere in the world."

Mr Brown did not say how long British troops would remain in the country but pledged to work with the Afghan government to make sure its people have a stake in the country's future.

Mr Karzai thanked Britain for its support in the last six years. His country, he said, had moved forward with new roads, raising of the army and police, a rural development programme, better schools and hospitals and an improved economy.

But problems of narcotics, drug cultivation and the war against terrorism persisted, he added.

Nato defence ministers meeting in the Netherlands for a second day will hear calls for more troops, helicopters and other equipment to be sent to Afghanistan. The US has voiced growing concerns that European Nato members are not doing enough in the country.

National caveats currently prevent some countries - such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain - from either fighting, or from being based in the more dangerous provinces.

Meanwhile, US, UK, Canadian and Dutch troops are unhappy about bearing the lion's share of fighting a revived Taleban, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt says.

Robert Hunter, a former American ambassador to Nato, said: "If things get worse, pressure - particularly by the US on other allies - will intensify.

"The next time there's a problem in Europe it may be hard to get the Americans to ride to their rescue," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

At the weekend, the Ministry of Defence made clear Britain was not planning to offer extra troops during the two-day summit at Noordwijk.

Earlier, Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said a number of alliance members had offered more resources for the military campaign in Afghanistan.

The exact shape of any new contributions to the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) of 41,100 in Afghanistan could become clear next month during a meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Belgium.

Currently, the UK has 7,700 troops in the country and are fighting the Taleban in Helmand province, one of the most dangerous areas. Since 2001, 82 UK troops have been killed on operations.

Meanwhile, Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup said the Afghanistan situation can only be resolved politically.

In an interview with Sky News, Sir Jock, head of the UK armed forces, said: "There is a misperception that the issues in Afghanistan, and indeed elsewhere around the world, can be dealt with by military means.

"That's a false perception. The military is a key, an essential element in dealing with these problems, but by and large these problems can only be resolved politically."

NATO should focus on training Afghan forces: Karzai

AFP, 10/24/2007 - LONDON - The NATO-led force in Afghanistan should focus on training Afghan security forces and strengthening domestic institutions, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview.

Karzai also told Channel 4 News he was concerned about reports that neighbouring Iran was helping to arm the Islamist Taliban militia and would discuss the issue with Iranian officials.

"The answer to the difficulty in Afghanistan is the strengthening of the Afghan institutions, not adding more troops, from any country to Afghanistan," Karzai said.

"We need NATO to train more Afghan forces, we need NATO to train more Afghan police, we need NATO to, or the countries of NATO, to concentrate on enhancing the abilities of the Afghan government, the civil services.

"The strengthening of Afghan institutions and for Afghans shouldering more of the responsibility is the way forward."

Thirty-seven nations are contributing around 40,000 troops to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

But the US, Britain and Canada are doing the lion's share of the fighting and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is expected to call on NATO defence ministers at a meeting in the Netherlands Wednesday for reinforcements.

Karzai also reiterated his concerns over the number of civilian casualties from NATO-led operations in Afghanistan, saying it was of "very serious concern" to the Afghan people.

A nomad child was killed Tuesday after clashes between NATO-led forces and insurgents, while ISAF is currently looking into claims that 13 civilians were killed in a bombing raid on Monday west of Kabul.

"Six years on (from the US-led invasion of the country in 2001), the continuation of civilian casualties is something our people cannot understand, and rightly so," Karzai said.

Asked whether he was concerned by reports that Iran was helping to arm the Taliban, which was ousted in 2001 but has been mounting a violent insurgency in the past year, Karzai said: "It's something that definitely worries us."

"Since we have close relations with Iran, we have the liberty to discuss these issues with them," he added, noting that he had spoken to Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki recently on the subject.

"It's something that worries us, they deny it, but we will have to find out the truth."

The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeill, said earlier this month that a convoy of explosives intercepted in September had arrived from Iran and probably with the knowledge of the Iranian military.

US and British officials have alleged for months that weapons from Iran are going to the Taliban. Iran has denied the allegations and Afghanistan has also said it has no proof.

Taliban ambush Afghan army, eight dead

AFP, 10/25/2007 -KABUL - Taliban insurgents ambushed an Afghan army convoy north of Kabul in an attack that left five soldiers and three militants dead, the defence ministry said Thursday.

The militants attacked the convoy 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of the capital in Kapisa province on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement. Four militants were also critically wounded in the exchange of fire.

The remaining insurgents fled into the harsh mountainous terrain, taking their wounded and dead fighters with them. They left one body behind, the ministry said.

There have been several major battles near the capital in recent weeks linked to Taliban-led insurgents who have stepped up a rebellion launched soon after their leaders were removed from government in late 2001.

Separately, nine soldiers were wounded in a rocket attack launched by militants Wednesday in Daychopan district of troubled Zabul province, the ministry said.

The government also updated to nine the number of people hurt in a failed suicide attack on the governor of eastern Khost province on Wednesday.

The Taliban appear to be gaining ground in parts of the country and spreading their insurgency out from traditional hotspots in the east and south.

Blast hits Afghan governor convoy - BBC

The governor of Afghanistan's Khost province has survived a suicide car bomb attack on his convoy. A Taleban leader claimed responsibility for the blast, in which three people were injured, correspondents say.

Governor Arsala Jamal was unhurt in the blast near the south-eastern border with Pakistan. Two of his bodyguards and a provincial councillor were hurt.

"I was in another car," Mr Jamal told Reuters news agency. "The car bomber hit a vehicle ahead of me. I am fine."

Mr Jamal has survived at least three previous suicide attacks. Violence has soared in the last two years in Afghanistan. More than 3,000 people have been killed this year as Afghan and foreign forces battle Taleban fighters.

Nato plans more Afghan resources - BBC

Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says a number of alliance members have offered more resources for the military campaign in Afghanistan.

Officials at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in the Dutch coastal town of Noordwijk said as many as nine nations had offered more input to the mission.

Among the new offers were two by France and Germany for military instructors. US officials, who have been calling for allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, welcomed the development.

The Nato secretary general told a news conference: "I've noticed offers from nations, including for the southern part of Afghanistan. "We have 90% filled of what we need, but there are still shortages."

The exact shape of any new Nato contributions to the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) of 41,100 in Afghanistan could become clear next month during a meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Belgium.

The BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Noordwijk says US, UK, Canadian and Dutch troops have been unhappy about bearing the lion's share of fighting a revived Taleban. The US has an additional 7,000 troops serving in Afghanistan outside the Isaf framework.

National caveats currently prevent some countries - such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain - from either fighting, or from being based in the more dangerous provinces.

Nato's secretary general said he would float the idea of more national contingent rotations around the country, although he stressed it was a long-term idea.

French officials indicated they were planning to send up to 50 military trainers to the frontline in the south of the country to instruct Afghan security forces.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung announced Berlin would contribute more military trainers too. He also said reconstruction was as important as fighting insurgents.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the AP news agency: "I wouldn't say I'm satisfied. But I would say that today was considerably more positive than I anticipated."

The Netherlands, which is under growing public pressure to pull out its troops from Afghanistan, joined US calls for allies to share the burden as the two days of talks began.

"One thing is certain, there is no such thing as a free ride to peace and security," said Dutch Defence Minister Eimert Van Middelkoop.

Six years since the toppling of the Taleban regime, there is an air of concern, if not crisis, about the 38-nation mission to Afghanistan, say analysts.

As well as a Taleban fight back and record poppy crops, rebuilding has gone more slowly than expected, while civilian and military casualties have tested public support for the mission.

International Security Assistance Force Troop contributing nations

Afghan rebuilding a task for a 'generation'

It will take at least that long to bring peace and stability to the war-torn country, NATO Secretary-General asserts

ALAN FREEMAN - Globe and Mail Update, October 25, 2007

NOORDWIJK, The Netherlands — Prime Minister Stephen Harper may talk about completing Canada's mission in Afghanistan by 2011 but the head of NATO believes the military alliance will need to remain there for at least a generation.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail yesterday, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he hopes that Canada will stay in Afghanistan past the current deadline of February 2009. Mr. Harper now says he would like Canadian forces to remain for two more years but the NATO leader said it is up to Canadians to decide how long their troops should stay in the country.

Nevertheless, the former Dutch foreign minister made it clear that he believes NATO's job in Afghanistan is a long-term one that involves training of Afghan security forces, reconstruction and building national institutions.

“Development and nation-building is a matter of at least a generation, if not generations,” he said in an interview at the start of a day-two meeting of defence ministers from the 26-nation alliance.

“My analysis is that NATO will have to be present in Afghanistan in the military sense for the foreseeable future,” Mr. de Hoop Scheffer continued, refusing to put any dates on the deployment of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

But he emphasized the importance of expanding the kind of training that Canadian forces are engaged in with the Afghan National Army, and to a lesser extent, the national police to assure that Afghanistan can increasingly take charge of its own affairs.

“I hope that more and more, the NATO forces can take the background and more and more we see the Afghan National Army can take the front. The better we train them, the better we equip them, the better they can do, the better they can take their responsibility as any normal national armed force and any normal police force will do.”

Mr. de Hoop Scheffer called the current stage of the NATO mission “the most difficult phase” as the transition is made towards increased training at the same time as there is a continuing need for combat troops.

“We came in after the Taliban had been chased out of the nation for which every Afghan will be grateful still. . . . That was the first phase. Now we are in the phase where we have to do two things: reconstruction and development. Also fighting, also combat, particularly in the south.”

“That should develop into what I call a third phase. That why I make such an important point of training. Training, training, training.”

In last week's Throne Speech, Mr. Harper said that he believes that Canadian troops still have work to do training Afghan forces Kandahar and the task will not be completed in 2009. “Our preference is to continue that track and we believe it should be completed by 2011,” he said in his reply to the Speech on Oct. 17.

It's expected that the special panel named by Mr. Harper and led by former foreign minister John Manley will discuss this and other options for the Canadian presence in Afghanistan in its deliberations on the future of the mission. The panel is due to make its recommendations by Jan. 31.

Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said he hopes that Mr. Manley and his fellow panelists will visit him at NATO headquarters in Brussels or elsewhere if necessary. He said he follows the Canadian political debate closely but, in the end, it's not NATO's call.

“It's a sovereign Canadian decision which will be taken at a certain point in Canada on the government proposals, supported I hope by the Parliament,” he said.

Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said he sees NATO's and therefore, Canada's role as a three-pronged one, involving protection of the Afghan people from the brutality of the Taliban, building the Afghan nation and fighting against terrorism.

“And when you realize that we do this that with the full mandate of the United Nations, I think that you do it with full legitimacy,” he said.

The NATO leader said that despite difficulties, there has been tremendous progress in Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban in 2001.

“Six million Afghans are going to school, one third of them girls. Eighty per cent of Afghans have access to health care. Thousands of kilometres of roads have been built. There is a government,” he said.

His conclusion is that it is worth sending Canadian young men and women to support the coalition in Afghanistan though he recognizes the heavy toll it has taken. “Every single fatality is one too many. And it is a drama. It is always a drama.”

Mr. de Hoop Scheffer also strongly denied suggestions that the NATO force in Afghanistan is understaffed and under-equipped.

“If you compare the number of troops we have now, 40,000, and the number we had half a year ago, we have seen an important increase in the forces,” he told The Globe.

The NATO force now has 90 per cent of what it needs in terms of troops and equipment. “I will continue with my pleas and my calls to fill everything we need. ... I will not be satisfied as secretary-general when the allies will not fill what is required, which is 100 per cent.

“This is not an alliance in crisis as I have heard in the preparations for this meeting. Of course, it is rather absurd to say that.”

Afghan burden tasks Nato allies

By Caroline Wyatt - BBC News, Noordwijk

Tensions over Nato's mission in Afghanistan are clearly far from over, though the message from Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was one of reassurance.

Speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in the Dutch seaside resort of Noordwijk, he dismissed the idea that the mission was facing a crisis, and said some Nato countries had now offered to contribute more.

Despite a resurgent Taleban and pressure on some Nato governments - such as the Netherlands and Canada - to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, the Nato chief insisted the alliance was making good progress there, and would see the job through.

Although the US stepped up the pressure at the meeting, there were no offers of major reinforcements, though up to nine nations may now be willing to increase their contributions.

However, what seems to be promised are more soldiers to help train the Afghan National Army (ANA) rather than to take the fight to the Taleban, as the US would like.

America wants more nations to help with the war-fighting aspect of Nato's mission.

The US currently supplies half the overall foreign forces in Afghanistan, some 15,000 of them working on the Nato mission in the south, while Britain is the next largest contributor, with 7,700 troops fighting fierce battles with the Taleban in Helmand Province.

Some member-countries, such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain, are constrained by so-called national caveats, which restrict where they can station their forces and whether or not they are allowed to fight.

German troops, for example, are confined to the relatively peaceful north in a non-combat role.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung announced at the talks that his country would triple the number of military trainers embedded with Afghan units to more than 300

France promised to send several dozen extra trainers to Uruzgan Province, where Dutch troops are based.

Betraying a hint of the tensions underlying the meeting, Mr Jung rejected US calls for the German trainers to accompany Afghan units into the south, and criticised US calls for Nato allies to provide more troops.

"We need security and reconstruction and development: that is the wider concept," he said. "That's why I think these calls simply for more and more military involvement are misguided."

So are Britain and the US being asked to do too much, while others do too little? Jaap de Hoop Scheffer insists not.

"They're shouldering an important part of the burden, given the fact that in the southern part of Afghanistan where they are, the going is tough from time to time," he said.

"I keep saying that the fewer national caveats the better, and the more financial and military solidarity the better."

Britain itself sent out a strong message at the meeting that Nato must stick together as an alliance, if it is not to lose its credibility - and that nations wavering about long-term commitment must be supported and kept within the fold.

The Dutch, for example, have 1,600 troops in Uruzgan province, but are under pressure at home to bring the troops back when their current commitment ends next autumn.

If the Dutch leave, that could have a knock-on effect on Canada, where opposition parties are keen to bring their troops' war-fighting contribution around Kandahar to an end.

Experts warn that time is running out to get it right, with reconstruction in Afghanistan progressing more slowly than expected, and the Taleban regaining some hold in the south, in parts that the ANA is not yet able to protect.

Nato commanders on the ground have also said they need more troops and equipment, though the secretary-general said that 90% of what had been promised had been delivered.

Dr Paul Cornish, security expert at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, believes this mission is a crucial test of Nato's will.

"What you're seeing is some member states of Nato saying 'we're part of this mission, and we want the overall thing to achieve its goal but we won't take the risk that others are taking'," he said.

"That is divisive and it's corrosive at the heart of Nato, so there are some very fundamental problems that are being taken very seriously indeed at the highest levels."

Despite the tensions, though, Nato's allies are still agreed on one thing: the mission in Afghanistan cannot be allowed to fail - because as well as Afghanistan's future, Nato's credibility, too, is at stake.

Canada's top military commander says Afghanistan not ready to go it alone

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - There is little chance that Afghanistan will be able to handle it's own security needs any time within the next decade, Canada's top soldier said Thursday.

Gen. Rick Hillier made the comment as he wrapped up a three-day whirlwind visit to war-torn Kandahar province to meet with commanders and troops in the field.

Hillier's frank assessment may come as a disappointment to those hoping the Afghan military may be close to being able to operate on its own and keep the Taliban in check, thus allowing Canadian troops to go home.

"I think most Canadians living in the incredible country that we have don't always see all the complexities of trying to rebuild a country and, in some cases, build a country from the 25 years of destruction that took place in Afghanistan," Hillier told reporters at Kandahar Airfield.

The Afghan soldiers that have been trained so far are "top-notch," Hillier said, but he noted it takes about three years to train a single battalion - about 500 to 600 troops.

"You just don't build that overnight and the international community will have to be involved for some time to see this through to the final level where you've got a government that works effectively," Hillier said.

After years of work and training, there are about two battalions of Afghan soldiers in Kandahar province and about 38,000 troops overall. It sounds good on paper but is only about half of what is needed for Afghanistan to provide its own security.

"An army is what's required to allow them to keep their security, so that's a long term project," Hillier said.

"It's going to take 10 years or so just to work through and build an army to whatever the final number that Afghanistan will have, and make them professional and let them meet their security demands here."

"Canada will decide whatever role it's going to play," Hillier said. "The panel is in place and the government will make its decisions."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed a five-person panel, headed by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley, to examine options for the future of the Afghan mission. The range of options includes the continued training of the Afghan army and police, or withdrawing altogether.

But the Harper government's throne speech indicated it wants Canada's direct involvement in Afghanistan to continue until 2011, two years past the current deadline.

Canada has about 2,500 troops serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force, also known as ISAF. Most of them are in Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan where the bloodiest fighting during the conflict has taken place.

Since 2002, 71 Canadian military personnel and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan. The Canadian government is under public and opposition pressure to bring the troops home.

In the short-term, Hillier is hoping to get additional support from other NATO allies in terms of helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and more troops.

"What would be best here would be another manoeuvre battalion group to give us the flexibility to be able to ... keep a footprint in an area where we've been until the Afghan police and army can take that area over by themselves," Hillier said.

"That will allow us to manoeuvre off to other areas where the Taliban are slightly stronger, and put them on the back foot in those other areas."

"With just the one battle group here, even with the Afghan National Army forces and the police we are now getting here, we still do not have all the capabilities that we have to do."

Most Afghans view security as a major concern

KABUL, Oct 23 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Forty-two percent of Afghan citizens believe their country is moving in the right direction, compared to 44 in 2006 and 64 percent in 2004, reveals a new US-funded survey released here on Tuesday.

Released by the Asia Foundation here, the survey finds 24 percent of the Afghans - a number up from 21 percent in 2006 and 11 percent in 2004 - think the war-battered country is headed in the wrong direction while 25 percent have mixed feelings.

A spreading Taliban-led insurgency and escalating violence during the year fuelled people's concern about security, with an overwhelming majority of respondents viewing it as the most complex issue facing the nation.

The latest public opinion poll, covering the largest population sample ever

surveyed at one time in all the 34 provinces, captures the publics perceptions of reconstruction, security, governance and poppy cultivation.

Afghanistan in 2007: A Survey of the Afghan People follows polls conducted by the Foundation in 2004 and 2006. It also reflects attitudes towards government and informal institutions, the role of women and Islam in society and the impact of media.

Collectively, the non-profit organisation said, the three surveys establish an accurate barometer of public opinion across Afghanistan to help assess the direction in which the country is moving in the post-Taliban era.

Security issues, including terrorism and violence, are the single biggest problem in Afghanistan, according to a third of the people polled. In 2006, only 22 percent of the respondents accorded top priority to security concerns.

Conducted in June 2007, the fieldwork for the survey consists of a random sample of 6,263 in-person interviews with Afghan men and women 18 years of age and above, from different social, economic, and ethnic communities in rural and urban areas in all 34 provinces.

Funded through the Asia Foundation's ongoing cooperative agreement with the US Agency for International Development, the survey was designed, directed and edited by the foundation, with all in-person interviews completed by 494 Afghan men and women employed by the Afghan Center for Socio-economic and Opinion Research (ACSOR) in Kabul. Similar surveys will be conducted in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Respondents also listed joblessness, the out-of-whack economy and widespread graft as fundamental concerns that need to be addressed. Around 57 percent say the level of corruption has increased in the past year.

The Asia Foundation's Kabul office was re-established in February 2002 to launch programmes in areas vital to the political, social, economic, and intellectual development of post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Headquartered in San Francisco, the Foundation addresses a wide range of issues on both a country and regional level. In 2006, the Foundation provided more than $53 million in programme support and distributed 920,000 books and educational materials valued at $30 million throughout Asia.

Bush seeks more funds for war & Afghan uplift

NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Pajhwok Afghan News): US President George W. Bush, asking Congress to approve more funds for the war on terror and uplift projects in Afghanistan, Monday claimed considerable gains have been made in the war-battered country.

After sending a supplemental war bill of about $46 billion for Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush said additional funds were needed to create political and economic stability in the Central Asian country.

"In Afghanistan, our troops, NATO allies and Afghan forces are making gains against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Bush added. In his supplemental war budget, he called for an increase of nearly $46 billion.

A fact sheet issued by the White House did indicate that besides spending a considerable amount on the US forces' day-to-day fighting and their weapons upgrades in Afghanistan, the supplemental war bill focussed on meeting critical reconstruction needs and improving the democratic process and governance.

An amount of $50 million has been earmarked for roads, $115 million for emergency power projects in Kabul and surrounding areas and $5 million to help the Afghan government to set up Reconstruction Opportunity Zones to encourage export growth.

The supplemental war bill also recommends $100 million to support national elections in 2009 and $225 million to help build the governance capacity of the Afghans to extend the reach of the central government into the provinces and improve governance at the local level.

Another $242 million has been suggested for the Commanders' Emergency Response Programme in Afghanistan, which allows commanders to address urgent needs of local communities, the supplemental bill says.

A major chunk of the money ($.8.8 billion) is allotted to refurbish or replace worn-out or damaged equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan while $14.1 billion is required for the protection of the US forces.

In a letter addressed to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the US president urged an early passage of the supplemental war bills.

"These amendments include funding for urgent and unanticipated international programmes, including support for extraordinary security and operating costs associated with US diplomatic activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush argued.

Lalit K.

Afghan policewomen face uphill battle

By Alastair Leithead - BBC News, Kabul

Two by two the women walked down the impromptu catwalk in the hotel gardens, showing off their well ironed, shiny-buttoned uniforms.

The fashion show featured policewomen from across the Muslim world, in Kabul to give advice and a morale boost to the Afghan women outnumbered by the men in their force by 250 to one.

Getting policewomen out on the beat is a long way off in this traditional and conservative society, but there is a lot more they could be doing.

"It's a chance for all the women to see each other's uniforms, to be able to compare notes and to see what is appropriate for women doing policing in an Islamic society," said Tonita Murray, the senior police and gender advisor for the Afghan Ministry of Interior.

She is leading the policewomen's conference which is designed to help Afghan women gain confidence through sharing experiences with those from places like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Some of the uniforms have head covers built into their peaked caps or are long and baggy - to be acceptable in a place where just a few years ago women were beaten in the streets by the Taleban for being unaccompanied or not totally covered from head to toe.

Even today many women in Afghanistan still wear burkas, or are almost completely covered. Society's rules make it difficult for women to be independent, but Khadeja Shojai is a young policewoman who is determined to do her job well.

She trains recruits at the Police Academy, teaching them the basics, and even leads Kung Fu classes.

"Sometimes wearing the uniform is hard for us," she says. "If we wear it, some people may attack or kill us, but I like to wear my uniform to go to the office because our society needs to understand we have female police officers. "If they want to kill me they can."

There are around 62,000 policemen in Afghanistan and just 240 women. The Afghan force does not have a good reputation outside the capital.

Corruption is a huge problem within the poorly paid ranks, and despite the billions being spent by the international community, there has been little progress.

Encouraging more female officers is part of that remit, and Tonita Murray acknowledges it has to be a gradual process in such a conservative country.

"Afghan policewomen are beginning to have an impact but at the moment they are still not being utilised to the degree they could be," she said.

"They could be in intelligence, criminal investigation, forensic science or most importantly doing community policing and working with women and children, but still they don't have the independence."

It will be a long time before there are women out on the beat in Kabul, and there are only a handful in senior roles, but after decades of war and repression suffered under the Taleban it was always going to be a slow process.

Canadian panel on Afghanistan swings into action

NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A Canadian panel, appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to look into the future of Canadas mission in Afghanistan, has begun its work.

Informed sources told Pajhwok Afghan News the five-member panel headed by former deputy prime minister John Manley had its first meeting over the weekend at its office in downtown Ottawa. Moving at a fast pace, it recruited officials from the government.

As details of the meeting were not immediately available, sources indicated the panel discussed the process to be adopted to carry forward its mandate and submit recommendations to the Harper administration before the deadline of January 2008 expired.

The panel is believed to have decided against holding public hearings to solicit people's opinion on the future of Canadas mission in Afghanistan, an issue that has generated a heated political debate at home.

Due to vocal opposition to the presence of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, the Harper government has been compelled several times to go on the defensive, with his opponents calling for withdrawal of troops from Kandahar.

The Manley Panel is learnt to have already started touching base - informally though - with representatives of the Afghan government, major political parties in Canada, officials of the Harper government, NATO leadership, civil rights groups opposing the mission and various Canadian aid agencies working in Afghanistan.

Panel members will be visiting Brussels, NATO headquarters, and Afghanistan in coming months as part of its mandate. The dates of its visit to Kabul and most possibly Kandahar are kept under wraps for security reasons.

In his announcement on October 13, Harper said the five-member panel would look into the issue of the future of Canadian security forces in Afghanistan beyond its present mandate of January 2009.

Among other members of the committee are Derek Burney, former Canadian ambassador to the US; Pamela Wallin, former Canadian consul general in New York; Paul Tellier, Montreal business executive, ex-clerk of the Privy Council, and Jake Epp, then federal minister and current chair of Health Partners International. Lalit K. Jha

Efforts to help Afghan girls generate optimism

October 23, 2007 - Richard Gwyn – Toronto Star

At times, the Harper government's justification for continuing the mission in Afghanistan has seemed to rest on the mantra of "schools for girls."

Politically, that's an adroit sound bite. The notion that Canadian soldiers are there to help girls get some education and potentially some freedom – and perhaps even some equality – is immensely appealing to the Canadian public.

The sound bite may have an additional, and a more important, quality to it. It just might be right. In the survey done by Toronto-based Environics and reported last week, Afghans who said they thought things were getting better were asked why this was so.

Seventeen per cent said because security had improved, and 15 per cent said because of reconstruction and rebuilding.

The most surprising response came in the third largest group: Ten per cent attributed their optimism to the fact that "Schools for girls have opened."

Another 4 per cent cited, "Women have more freedom," while still another 4 per cent said it was because, "Women can now work."

Those three responses, added together, constitute the largest single reason for optimism expressed by ordinary Afghans.

The accuracy of the Environics survey can be questioned, of course, but considerable care was taken in the exercise. The respondents – some 1,800 – were questioned in their homes by fellow-Afghans in either of the two principal languages, Pashto and Dari. Men were quizzed by men and women by women.

The response rate to the survey was an astounding 85 per cent. Those asking the questions reported that very few respondents showed any sign of feeling either intimidated or scared.

It would be absurd to treat the specific replies as having the potential accuracy of similar surveys in Canada. Yet this one has a ring of veracity about it, not in detail but in tone and trend.

Thus, when those in and around the southern city of Kandahar, where the Canadians are stationed, were asked about the sources of their negative opinion of the Canadians – a large group had a positive opinion – almost 45 per cent said, "Killing innocent people."

This was wholly understandable, and also deeply troubling. The Taliban are well aware of the rage inspired by the deaths of Afghan civilians. So they provoke the soldiers to fire on them by shooting at them from inhabited villages and farms. (In fact, most civilian deaths are caused by ill-executed bombing raids.)

The second largest cause of anger at the soldiers, though, was expressed by the 24 per cent who complained of "Searching houses without permission."

Searching houses for suspected Taliban is necessary and unavoidable. But the intrusion is deeply humiliating to Afghan men since it shows them as unable to protect their women and children.

Another confirmation of the survey's credibility came from the fact that while many of its findings were decidedly encouraging – although many had complaints about their government, 71 per cent hold positive feelings about it – there was also one that was decidedly challenging.

In Kandahar, 82 per cent want the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to negotiate with the Taliban, while 72 per cent would favour a coalition government that included the Taliban. (The national responses to both questions were somewhat more cautious.)

There were other signs of this attitude of moderation. Even in Kandahar, only one in 10 cited the fact that the foreign soldiers were "infidels" as a reason for hostility toward them. And opinion was overwhelming that if foreign troops left, the Taliban – about whom only 14 per cent have positive feelings – would take over.

The various percentages don't really matter. What does is that Afghans seem to recognize that they actually have a chance for a better life, and that, among them, no one has more to gain, or to lose, than their women. So we should keep building schools, while also protecting them.

Canadian firm may benefit from plan to put more 'copters in Afghan skies - CanWest News Service - Thursday, October 25, 2007

OTTAWA -- A Canadian company that supplies transport helicopters for military operations in the Sudan says it is ready to provide similar aircraft for the Afghanistan mission and has already been talking to NATO about its choppers.

SkyLink Aviation of Toronto is one of several firms from around the world that could provide the choppers NATO is now looking to use in Afghanistan. The firm has supplied aircraft for operations in the Sudan, Iraq and other world hotspots.

"We have been working with NATO and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) providing them the information they would need in order to go out for a commercial lease agreement," said Jan Ottens, SkyLink's general manager. "The procurement has not come out yet but we are clearly capable and interested in bidding on it."

NATO defence ministers were meeting in the Netherlands on Wednesday to discuss the helicopter issue and other Afghanistan-related topics.

The lack of helicopters for the Afghanistan mission has been identified as a major problem by Canadian and other NATO officers.

The aircraft are used for everything from transporting supplies and troops to picking up wounded soldiers. Officers point out that making more use of helicopters to move around the battlefield would cut down on the need for ground convoys that are favourite targets of suicide bombers and attackers using improvised explosive devices.

Last summer the Harper government announced it would spend $4.7 billion to purchase a fleet of 16 Chinook heavy lift helicopters and put in place a 20-year support package for the aircraft. But that acquisition appears to have since bogged down and air force officials confirm formal negotiations have not yet started for the purchase. Informal discussions, however, are continuing with Boeing, the U.S. firm that builds the Chinook.

Delivery of the helicopters will be required within three years of a contract being signed and military officials have suggested the new choppers will not be available for actual operations until at least 2011.

The Canadian Forces used to operate Chinook choppers but those were sold off in the early 1990s by the Conservative government.

With helicopters in short supply in Afghanistan, NATO is looking at leasing about 20 choppers from commercial providers for use in the southern part of the country where Canadian soldiers are fighting.

Private security firms operating in Afghanistan already use both Russian-built and U.S.-built choppers for their missions and similar privately owned aircraft have also ferried NATO troops from time to time. Ottens said a request for the helicopter lease is expected to be released by NATO sometime within the next two to three weeks.

He estimated it would cost NATO about $80 million a year for the helicopters. That figure assumes the military alliance would provide accommodation for the private pilots as well as fuel for their choppers.

SkyLink already provides 25 Mi-17 helicopters to support the mission in Darfur. Those are used to transport African Union peacekeepers, equipment and food.

"It's basically the same kind of work we expect the helicopters will do in Afghanistan," Ottens said. The Russian-built Mi-17 has a crew of three and can carry up to 32 passengers. In the Commons on Wednesday, NDP defence critic Dawn Black questioned the government about the safety of helicopters provided by private firms, noting that such aircraft do not carry defensive equipment.

Laurie Hawn, the parliamentary secretary to the defence minister, said NATO and the United Nations already use such civilian helicopters. He said the government is "assessing options to mitigate the shortage of helicopters in Afghanistan."

Ottens said his firm has not been contacted separately by the Canadian Forces to provide Mi-17 helicopters for Afghanistan, although it has supplied the military with choppers for other missions. "If they want to call we are ready," he added. Ottawa Citizen

Afghan city of party prohibitions

By Charles Haviland - BBC News, Mazar-e-Sharif

Since the fall of the Taleban, some areas of life in Afghanistan have relaxed, with girls going back to school and kite-flying and music - both of which the Taleban completely banned - returning.

Yet, in this highly conservative country, some places are becoming more restrictive again, including the relatively liberal northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Here, in July, local mullahs persuaded the provincial authorities to introduce new restrictions on parties and celebrations. Evidence of the new rules and regulations is clear on a Friday night on the terrace of the Hotel Kefayat. Neon-lit plastic palm trees glow, while party music drifts through doors that swing open from time to time, giving glimpses of women and young children inside - a very un-Afghan looking scene.

Many of the women are wearing tight tops and short skirts. The male wedding party was held separately; now the girls and women are having their fun. Outside that very private space, smartly dressed men and boys - family, mostly - wait for them on the terrace, chatting.

A genial man clutching red prayer beads, the groom's Uncle Faizullah, tells me the women's party is subject to new rules. All the live musicians and singers are children; no adult male entertainers are allowed.

"It's because of a suggestion from the religious scholars to the respected governor of our province," he says, referring to General Atta Muhammad Noor, a well-known former Mujahideen commander.

"Our governor agreed, because he wants to impose Islamic law here. So he decided not to allow men or boys over 14 or 15 to entertain at women's parties. Men of 20 or 30 used to perform at women's parties, but that's changed now."

Mazar-e-Sharif has a special relationship with weddings, as a visit to the famous shrine to Hazrat Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law, shows. At this 15th century monument in the heart of the city, exquisitely decorated in blue and turquoise, a steady flow of solemn young bridegrooms visit with their friends to seek Ali's blessings on their marriage.

Under the new, stricter rules, the city's many hotels and marriage halls can continue to host wedding parties, but nothing else. They are banned from hosting engagement parties, parties for the newborn, parties for pilgrims to Mecca, or any other types of celebration.

At the Asadia Madrassa, a modern Islamic school with 700 pupils including 60 newly-admitted girls, I meet its head, Mawlawi Rahmatullah - the senior local mullah who persuaded the governor to tighten the laws. The softly-spoken cleric greets me warmly. He says one major reason for the changes is that people often get into debt because they feel obliged to hold too many parties, especially before and after weddings.

"So we are getting rid of the extra parties," he says. He would like further restrictions. "To be honest, Islam bans music," he says. "Music is unlawful. Anyone who listens to it is guilty. Anyone who listens and enjoys it is more guilty."

I tell him some people are describing the current clampdown in Mazar-e-Sharif as Talebanisation. He rejects this.

"It's not Talebanisation; it's Islamisation. The Taleban was a strong government because it was able to ban music. The other governments should have banned music," he says, referring not only to Afghanistan but the wider world. Not far away, Shoib Najafizada showed me round his garden, an oasis of fruit trees and flowers in a hot and dusty city, and explained how the new rules have affected him.

His first child, a boy, was born five days earlier. But he couldn't formally name him without a special party - a party usually held in a big public place. "We need to take this party in a hotel to really enjoy it," he said, laughing at the recollection.

"I asked many hotels. But they rejected us and said that 'sorry we don't have permission from the government'. I said, 'what if we take this party as a secret?' He said 'no, it's not possible for it to be kept secret!'"

Mr Najafizada said it was not up to the government to tell people how to spend their money and he did not believe the new rules would be popular.

"In the past there were parties, music, everything was in Mazar-e-Sharif. It's very difficult to change the habits." I met the provincial governor's adviser on social matters, Abdul Qadir Misbah. He seemed uneasy about the mullah's denunciation of music - but stressed that his government would punish hotel owners who allowed unauthorised parties.

"There are many factors involved," he said. "One is the need to implement religious rules. Another is the freedom of neighbours not to be disturbed by music at night. Also we need to help the younger generation to marry, even if they don't have much money."

That is the message the authorities in Mazar-e-Sharif are stressing - they mention the need to protect people from going into debt in justifying their tighter rules. Some local people welcome the changes for that very reason.
But underneath there also seems to be a more basic tension at work - between mullahs who admire the Taleban's extreme austerity, and more liberal people who are waiting to see whether party-going and music are going to be further restricted.

Fatal attack on Pakistan troops - BBC

At least 18 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in an attack on an army vehicle in the northern region of Swat. The attack comes one day after the army deployed 2,500 more troops in the area to combat rising militancy.

Some civilians are reported to be among the dead. More than 35 people were taken to hospital for treatment. The Swat valley in North West Frontier Province has become a stronghold of an anti-government militant leader, Maulana Fazlullah.

He has reportedly used radio broadcasts to call for jihad, or holy war, against the Pakistani authorities. The army vehicle, carrying munitions, exploded in the attack in Mingora, the main town in the district of Swat. Most reports indicate that the blast was caused by a roadside bomb.

"It was a huge explosion. Then the truck was on fire," student Taj Mohammed Khan said, the Associated Press news agency reports. "There were flames, smoke and people crying. People were scared to go near because bullets were going off."

Police say that civilian bystanders were killed or injured. Dr Asadullah of the Saidu Sharif hospital in Mingora said 18 bodies had been brought in, many of them charred by the blast and fire that erupted afterwards. At least 35 injured people were being treated by hospital staff, he said. A local journalist at the scene told the BBC the death toll could be higher because many dead bodies of civilians were not taken to the hospital.

He said about 45 paramilitary troops were sitting in the truck when it was hit by an improvised explosive device planted on the road side. The main military spokesman, Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told the BBC that the dead troops were all paramilitary soldiers.

The army said on Tuesday that the 2,500 soldiers deployed there as reinforcements were setting up checkpoints across Swat, a valley popular with tourists until an upsurge of violence earlier this year.

"The deployment may cause inconvenience to local population, but it is necessary to restore law and order in Swat," the caretaker Chief Minister of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Shamsul Mulk, told the BBC.

In July at least 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Swat. It was part of a wave of attacks on the army in response to the security forces' storming of the radical Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad that left more than 100 people dead.

'Pakistan army ill-suited to fight tribal insurgency'

KABUL, Oct 23 (Pajhwok Afghan News): No matter what government is in office, the Pakistan army is ill-suited and perhaps incapable of accomplishing the necessary in the Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan, says a report appeared in Washington.

The analysis by Mark Sappenfield in the Christian Science Monitor quotes Moeed Yusuf of Strategic and Economic Policy Research, Islamabad, as saying, If this continues, the army will tone it down because there will be too many losses.

The US must temper its expectations of what Pakistan can do militarily in the war on terror or risk inflaming the situation further, through increased anti-American attitudes or even possible defections from the army.

The US correspondent writes that the offensive is almost universally perceived to be an American war contracted out to its Pakistani ally. The army built to counter the massive threat of the Indian military is being asked to fight its own citizens in an unpopular counterinsurgency campaign that it has neither the will nor the skill-set to fight.

The Army officers have started realising that this battle is not worth the cost, according to Hassan Abbas of Harvard University. It has had a huge impact on the psychology of the Army.

Yusuf told the Monitor that despite misgivings about the current offensive in the Tribal Areas, the army brass does not dismiss the need for action there. The military is thinking about it very seriously. The threat is an internal one for years to come. Some in the army still believe the militants are a useful and manageable tool.

If the West leaves Afghanistan as many here believe it will they will give Pakistan a means to influence events there. Moreover, the army is hardly designed to take them on in their own territory. Since its inception, the Pakistani army has looked eastward to India, focusing on the plains of Punjab and sands of Sindh, from where any invasion might come. It is not trained to fight the kind of insurgency it is now engaged in.

The article quotes Pakistani diplomat Zamir Akram as telling a recent meeting in Washington, When we hear people in Washington or London say that Pakistan needs to do more, the question is: Do you understand what youre asking us to do?

Would you go into Texas or wherever on the border areas and actually kill Americans? For this reason, many experts do not expect the current offensive to continue. If it does, the army will get divided vertically, with officers remaining loyal to headquarters and the rank and file becoming increasingly alienated, according to Ayesha Siddiqa. Cracks are appearing, she adds. She agrees that the way forward is not militarily it is by developing the region economically over the next 15 to 20 years, undercutting the poverty and lack of education that feeds extremism. PAN Monitor

[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.]