In this bulletin:
- Third attack in Afghanistan's Kandahar, one dead
- Clash Kills 15 Taliban, Including 2 Commanders In Afghanistan
- Afghanistan Recognizes Kosovo's Independence
- Afghan general prosecutor summons ex-warlord
- General forced out over 'abduction' affair
- Afghan tribes plan manifesto of dissent
- Canadians were warned about bomber: Afghan governor
- Afghan bomb attacks to increase this year: NATO
- Merkel attacks Nato debate on Kabul
- Afghan army takes delivery of Czech-donated helicopters
- Norwegian troops in Afghanistan for seven more years
- Aussie troops boost Afghan training role
- Humanitarian situation worsens as Afghan hostilities spread
- Governance linked to defeating insurgency
- UNICEF pledges $26m to Education Ministry
- Severe Flooding Expected During Afghan Spring Thaw
- Kuchi nomads seek a better deal
- Beautiful Afghan rugs are splendid poverty fighters
- Liberal parties rout mullahs in NWFP : All the King’s men, gone!
Third attack in Afghanistan's Kandahar, one dead
Kandahar (AFP) - A car bomb rocked Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar Tuesday, killing one person and wounding several more in the third such attack in the province in as many days, officials said.
The interior ministry in Kabul said the bombing was carried out by a suicide attacker -- as were blasts on Sunday and Monday -- but this was not confirmed by police on the ground.
"There was a suicide bombing in a taxi. One civilian has been killed and another was injured," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP. "I think the target was a police vehicle but it did not reach them," he said.
The attack in a busy area in the heart of the city was similar to scores carried out by the extremist religious Taliban movement but the group did not immediately claim responsibility.
A police officer at the site, who gave his name as Ahmad Jan, confirmed one person was killed and said four others were hurt. He said it appeared the car had been filled with explosives, parked and remotely detonated.
"I was sleeping at home when I heard a big bang. When I came outside, I saw three people laying on the ground," a witness said. A house and a shop were damaged in the attack.
Kandahar province has in the past two days suffered two of the worst attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban were removed from government in late 2001 and started an insurgency a few months later.
Sunday's suicide attack was the deadliest in the country's history: a bomber killed more than 100 people at a crowded dog-fighting match outside Kandahar city.
Authorities said the blast was aimed at an anti-Taliban commander who was killed with about 35 of his men, according to an aide. The Taliban however denied responsibility.
The following day, another suicide attack killed 37 civilians in the town of Spin Boldak on the Pakistan border. The Taliban admitted involvement in that bombing.
The attacks showed the desperation of the "enemies of Afghanistan," President Hamid Karzai's office said Tuesday, warning more may come.
"It shows the weakness of the enemies of Afghanistan that they resort to inhuman, purely terroristic measures to show their real face," his chief spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, told reporters.
"Whether they claim responsibility or not, they are held responsible by the people and the government of Afghanistan."
Karzai met last week with international and Afghan military leaders to discuss measures to boost security this year, the official said.
"We will maybe have this heartbreak in the future -- it shows that the enemies of Afghanistan are determined," he added.
The Taliban were toppled in a US-led invasion weeks after the 9/11 attacks blamed on the Al-Qaeda network, which then had training camps in Afghanistan.
Their insurgency was its deadliest last year, with around 6,000 people killed. The violence is expected to be just as intense this year.
The Afghan security forces are helped by nearly 60,000 international troops in their efforts to quell the unrest and establish the authority of the government, which critics say barely extends out of Kabul.
An ongoing operation in southern Uruzgan province resulted in the killing of two "significant Taliban commanders" and 13 of their followers, the interior ministry said Tuesday. It did not say exactly when the men were killed.
Clash Kills 15 Taliban, Including 2 Commanders In Afghanistan
February 19, 2008 - Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) - At least 15 Taliban militants were killed, including two local rebel commanders, over the past two weeks, the Afghan interior ministry said in a press release Tuesday.
In a statement, the ministry said local security forces killed two key Taliban extremist leaders Mullah Hanif and Mullah Dadgul, including 13 other Taliban fighters in Uruzgan province, Deh Rawad district, southern Afghanistan.
It said that two weeks of operation was launched by the Afghan forces to exterminate the Taliban. The hunt against the militants is still on going, the ministry adds.
Uruzgan has been considered a Taliban-controlled area together with other neighboring provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul in south Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Recognizes Kosovo's Independence
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
February 18, 2008 -- Afghanistan's government today recognized Kosovo's independence. Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said Afghanistan supports "the determination of the people and recognizes Kosovo's independence."
"The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in respect to the will of the people of Kosovo that was expressed during the elections of parliament on November 3rd, 2007, based on the UN Charter, and based in the firm belief in democratic values, human rights, the right of self determination of nations, the expansion of friendly relations between the nations of the world, supports the will of the people of Kosovo for independence and officially recognizes Kosovo. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan wishes further development and progress for Kosovo and a prosperous life for Kosovars,” Bahin said.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership announced on Sunday its independence from Serbia. Kosovo's leaders today sent letters to 192 countries seeking formal recognition of independence.
U.S. President George W. Bush today said that Kosovars "are now independent," but stopped short of an official declaration of recognition
Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Madrid will not recognize Kosovo's independence. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry also said his country does not recognize the new state.
Romania's President Traian Basescu today said he considers Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence an "illegal act."
Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Bulgaria have also indicated they would not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
Afghan general prosecutor summons ex-warlord
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's office of the general prosecutor has ordered an ex-ethnic Uzbek warlord and current senior armed forces officer, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, summoned over allegations he beat a former ally.
Police briefly surrounded the luxury Kabul villa of Dostum early this month after he entered the house of Akbar Bay with some 50 gunmen and beat him up in a drunken rage, according to police and Bay.
They say Dostum, a fierce warlord who has changed sides and alliances many times during Afghanistan's 30 years of war, also shot a bodyguard of Bay.
The office of the general prosecutor has ordered Dostum's suspension from his current symbolic position as chief of staff of the high command of the armed forces until he shows up for investigation, officials said on Tuesday.
It has warned it will arrest Dostum, a one-time presidential candidate, if he fails to appear, officials added. Dostum, who has denied the accounts by police and Bay, could not be contacted for comment on Tuesday.
Bay was active in Dostum's campaign during presidential elections in 2004 when the general gained 10 percent of the votes. The burly and mustachioed general played a key role in helping U.S.-led forces drive the Taliban from power in 2001.
He rose to command ethnic Uzbek fighters allied to the Soviet Union during the 1979-89 occupation, then switched sides as Soviet troops withdrew. The pro-federalist and self-proclaimed leader of Afghanistan's Uzbeks then formed and broke alliances several times during the ensuing civil war.
At the height of his power, he ran a mini-state in the north and his well-equipped army kept even the Taliban at bay until 1997. He printed his own money, set up his own airline, drove an armored Cadillac and vowed never to bow to a government that banned whisky and music.
General forced out over 'abduction' affair
Written by Quqnoos.com - Monday, 18 February 2008 16:41
Attorney-general threatens to arrest Dostum if he fails to attend abduction hearing
THE attorney-general says he will arrest General Abdul Rashid Dostum if the ex-militia commander fails to attend a hearing set up to investigate allegations of abduction.
In a letter sent to Quqnoos.com today (Monday), the attorney-general said that Dostum had been removed from his role as chief of staff to the commander in chief of the Afghan National Army until the end of the hearing.
He threatened to arrest General Dostum and two other members of parliament if they refused to turn up to the abduction hearing within the next two days.
Leader of the Kangre Milli party, Lateef Pedram, has also been told he will be arrested and have his passport taken from him unless he turns up to the hearing.
All four are being investigated for their role in the alleged abduction and brutal beating of General Dostum's former campaign manager and one time ally, Akbarbai.
Dostum is alleged to have stormed Akbarbai's house with 70 armed militiamen on February 3 before ordering his men to beat and kidnap him.
Police surround Dostum's house on February 3 Akbarbai was only let go after police surrounded Dostum's house and demanded his release.
Kabul’s police chief, Salem Ahsas, said at the time that General Dostum had been drinking before he stormed the house.
Both Dostum and Akbarbai command large militias based in the northern provinces of Afghanistan, especially in and around the city of Sheberghan, Jowzjan.
The pair were once allies, switching sides between the communists and mujahideen during the Soviet invasion, and later joined forces to fight the Taliban as part of the United Front (Northern Alliance).
Akbarbai went on to become the general’s campaign manager when he ran for president in 2001 against President Hamed Karzai.
Akbarbai’s recent formation of the Turkmen Tribal Council is thought to have angered General Dostum, who fears the group could undermine his authority in the north.
Afghan tribes plan manifesto of dissent
Government can't contain violence, document says, after Taliban attack on Canadian convoy kills 38 civilians
GRAEME SMITH - From Tuesday's Globe and Mail, February 19, 2008
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A groundswell of anger over the rising violence in Kandahar has prompted the major tribes to consider a manifesto expressing a lack of confidence in the Afghan government, even as another explosion killed at least 38 people.
Political talks are usually set aside during the mourning days that follow any major tragedy in southern Afghanistan, but an organizer of the meeting says the recent spike in violence leaves no time for such traditions. At least 100 people are feared dead after a massive blast on Sunday, and yesterday's suicide bomber injured four Canadian troops and turned a busy market into a bloodbath.
An unusual gathering of 27 powerful tribal elders is scheduled tomorrow in Kandahar city to approve a seven-point manifesto, which starts with a blunt declaration: "The problems are now so great, it's impossible for the government to control them," according to the draft text. "The people need to stand up."
The latest attack injured close to 30 people and destroyed about 120 small shops and vendors' carts as fire engulfed parts of Spin Boldak, a town near the Pakistani border, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.
Canadian troops helped the wounded civilians and took their own injured for treatment at Kandahar Air Field. All the Canadians' injuries were minor, but the death toll is expected to rise because several Afghans are in critical condition.
Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have climbed 64 per cent in the past year, from about 4,500 incidents in 2006 to about 7,400 in 2007, according to NATO statistics released yesterday in response to a query from The Globe and Mail.
Those numbers include insurgent attacks, ambushes, small or heavy arms fire, rocket or mortar fire, improvised explosive blasts, mine strikes and surface-to-air attacks.
Such violence has been concentrated in the south, causing a rising discontent among the tribal elders of Kandahar who serve as a fulcrum of power in the southern provinces.
A group of 120 leading tribal leaders met quietly in Kandahar last fall to debate their response and selected a group of 27 representatives to continue the discussions. Last week a five-man drafting committee finished its manifesto, which will ultimately be presented to the full assembly of 120 for final approval.
"The foreign soldiers aren't helping, they're behaving like an occupying force," said Haji Mohammed Essa, Kandahar's former attorney-general and a leading organizer of the tribal gathering.
"You kicked out a government that called itself a legitimate government, but you didn't bring any better government."
The new council of elders does not intend to position itself as a rival to the existing provincial council, Mr. Essa said, but others involved in the project said it's an effort to circumvent a government that isn't working.
Ahmed Wali Karzai, who has served for years as chairman of the provincial council, said it's too early to draw conclusions from the tribal process because the draft manifesto hasn't yet been approved.
Asked whether the gathering of elders represents a challenge to his government's authority, he said: "No, no, not at all."
Mr. Karzai and his older brother Qayum Karzai sit on the council of 27 elders, and some observers say it's possible they may still exert a moderating influence on the group, possibly tempering the manifesto's language so that it's less critical of the government led by their brother, President Hamid Karzai.
As it stands, the document offers several pointed suggestions about how to stem the violence.
It repeatedly calls for an end to "discrimination" among the tribes, saying jobs and government offices should be distributed without favouring any tribe. That's a reference to the theory that the war has evolved into a tribal struggle between pro-government tribes and others disenfranchised from the political process.
Other parts of the document are less controversial, as the elders call for a stronger education system, a stand against narcotics, and an end to corruption.
The manifesto also endorses negotiations with "all sides" of the conflict, supporting the popular idea that Taliban fighters must be drawn into talks. President Karzai has called for negotiations with the Taliban, but he recently expelled two foreign diplomats who were reaching out to the insurgents.
But extreme acts of violence, such as the past two days of bombings in Kandahar, raise questions about the changing nature of the insurgency and whether any political solution is possible.
The events also appeared to strain relations between the Canadians and their local allies, as Kandahar Governor Asadullah Khalid told reporters that he warned the Canadians to stay away from the Pakistani border areas because of a specific threat of attack.
A Canadian military spokesman, Lieutenant-Commander Pierre Babinsky, retorted that the troops will travel anywhere they deem necessary.
"We regularly receive threat warnings and obviously we go where we want to, when we want to, in our area of operation," LCdr. Babinsky said.
On a conference call with reporters, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Afghanistan's worst bout of violence since 2001 does not represent a worsening of the situation.
"I wouldn't describe it as an escalation," Mr. MacKay said. "I would describe it as another example of, sadly, how determined the Taliban insurgents continue to be."
Canadians were warned about bomber: Afghan governor
Brian Hutchinson, National Post Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The governor of Kandahar province said a bombing that killed dozens of Afghans and wounded four Canadian soldiers Monday could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings that a suicide bomber was moving about the area.
For the second time in two days, suicide bombers attacked security forces inside an area of Canadian military responsibility, killing dozens of civilian Afghans.
The latest attack occurred at 2:30 p.m. local time Monday and was directed at a small convoy of Canadian armoured vehicles conducting a routine patrol alongside the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak district, about 100 kilometres southeast of Kandahar city.
Driving a civilian vehicle that carried explosives, the assailant approached the Canadian convoy and detonated "in close proximity" to it, said Lt.-Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a Canadian Forces public affairs officer based in Kandahar.
"The blast resulted in approximately 30 Afghan civilians being killed and approximately the same number being injured," he added.
Other reports put the number of Afghans killed at either 35 or 38. Four Canadian soldiers were wounded. "They are in good condition," said Lt.-Cmdr. Babinsky. "They all notified their families themselves."
The injured Canadians were flown by military helicopter to hospital at Kandahar Air Field; three were soon released from care. One was kept overnight for observation.
In a surprise statement, the governor of Kandahar province said the bombing could have been avoided had Canadian soldiers heeded his warnings.
Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid told reporters he had tried to discourage Canadian officers from sending their troops on patrol in Spin Boldak.
Mr. Khalid said he knew of a suicide bomber in the border area, and that he had passed his information to Canadian and NATO forces as early as Sunday. He said he repeated his warning to them five times but was ignored.
"We regularly receive threat warnings," said Lt.-Cmdr. Babinsky, when asked about the governor's statements. "And obviously we go where we want to, when we want to, in our area of operation. We obviously take notice of the warnings but our aim is to operate freely within our area of operation, despite threats."
Among other things, Canadians are tasked with conducting reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions from a forward operating base a few kilometres from the town of Spin Boldak. They also liaise with the Afghan national army, Afghan national police, and Afghan border police.
Asked if he felt Mr. Khalid was attempting to shift blame for the latest carnage in Spin Boldak, Lt.-Cmdr. Babinsky said: "it's not for me to speculate."
There is talk that the governor is feeling pressure to finally resolve the lack of security in Kandahar, and that he is unhappy with some aspects of Canada's military mission. Specifically, he is said to believe that Canadian and coalition soldiers sometimes operate without putting the safety of Afghans first.
That is not the Canadian position. "We're fully committed to working with the Afghan authorities and security forces to further strengthen security in our area of operation," said Lt.-Cmdr. Babinsky. "While we see progress in the security situation, we unfortunately also witness continued indiscriminate targeting of Afghans by anti-government elements." Unfortunately, he added, "we've had two incidents in two consecutive days."
Witnesses said the explosion ripped through a roadside market, killing helpless fruit and vegetable vendors and their customers, and damaging 20 small shops. The area is adjacent to a major border crossing that's usually jammed with people travelling to and from Pakistan; however, the crossing was closed because of Pakistan's general election.
One Canadian armoured vehicle "sustained the blast [and] was damaged to a certain extent," noted Lt.-Cmdr. Babinsky. The vehicle was a Coyote, a light armoured reconnaissance vehicle usually equipped with sophisticated surveillance devices.
The bombing came less than 30 hours after an even deadlier suicide attack. On Sunday morning, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a dog-fighting rally just outside Kandahar city.
That incident claimed the lives of at least 100 Afghans, including a senior Afghan auxiliary police commander and five or more of his officers.
It was initially thought that 80 Afghans were killed on Sunday. It was the worst terrorist strike in Afghanistan since Taliban insurgents were removed from power in 2001.
A Taliban spokesman calling himself Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told Canwest News Service that his group did not co-ordinate the first suicide strike, but took responsibility for the second. The suicide bomber was a Kandahar resident named Abdul Rahman, he said.
Mr. Ahmadi went on to claim, incorrectly, that the blast had killed only Canadian soldiers and Afghan National Security Force members. "There were no civilian casualties," he insisted.
Direct insurgent assaults on Canadian troops in Spin Boldak district are rare, but suicide attacks on Afghan police are not. In early January, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the town of Spin Boldak, the district's main centre. He killed one border police officer and injured six others. And in October, a motorcycle bomber killed seven border police officers and four civilians.
Watching his brother-in-law recover in hospital from head wounds sustained in the Sunday attack, one local Afghan called for a higher power to intervene.
"Against Islam and humanity, the insurgents have killed innumerable innocent people," said Abdul Qaum. "God will punish them. We can't."
Afghan bomb attacks to increase this year: NATO
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Guerrilla attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan will rise this year as insurgents resort to such tactics in the face of a growing NATO presence, the alliance's top operations commander said on Monday.
A suicide bomber targeting a foreign military convoy killed 37 civilians near the Pakistan border on Monday, a day after more than 100 people were killed in the deadliest suspected suicide raid since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001.
"The numbers will go up," NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe John Craddock told a news conference of guerrilla attacks by Taliban and other insurgents on the 43,000-plus NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Apart from suicide bomber attacks, Craddock singled out roadside bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as a potential source of rising danger for NATO.
Craddock rejected suggestions, most recently from British politician Paddy Ashdown, that NATO was in disarray and insisted the rise in guerrilla attacks was because the Taliban had realized they could not take the alliance on in direct warfare.
"If we see any offensive (this year) it is going to be ISAF's offensive, just like last year," he said in the news conference at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium.
Craddock repeated his plea for NATO nations to fill longstanding shortfalls in the security force, saying commanders were still short of three battalions, or just over 2,000 ground troops, and needed more intelligence and surveillance resources.
Merkel attacks Nato debate on Kabul
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin - Published: February 19 2008 01:35 | Last updated: February 19 2008 01:35
Angela Merkel on Monday said she was “worried” about the attitude of some Nato allies to Afghanistan, and criticised the government in Kabul for failing to spell out exactly what it expects of the international community.
In her most outspoken comments on Afghanistan since Germany came under pressure this month to send more troops, the German chancellor said she had “absolutely no time” for proposals to redeploy Nato troops within Afghanistan.
The US and other governments have called on Germany to send more troops to the war-torn regions in southern Afghanistan. The chancellor rejected this, but appeared to leave open the option to dispatch more troops in the autumn, when the parliamentary mandate for Berlin’s deployment expires.
Without naming specific countries, Ms Merkel told a meeting with foreign correspondents in Berlin that she was “worried about the current debate in Nato. We decided only a few years ago on a division of labour among Nato partners,” she said, referring to the role of Germany’s 3,300 troops in the relatively peaceful north and the responsibilities of other countries elsewhere.
Now was not the time to change this division of tasks. Rather, “continuity and stability” were needed to give the Afghan people a sense of security. She attacked suggestions that Germany had taken the easy option: “We’re not just digging wells and building houses; we also have a military mission.”
Her comments came ahead of a meeting on Tuesday in Berlin at which leaders of the ruling coalition were set to agree a proposal to increase to 18 months – from 12 months at present – the length of the next Afghanistan mandate, starting in the autumn. Ms Merkel said the size of the deployment would remain unchanged “until the autumn”. She refused to comment on whether extra troops would be sent to the south after that, as requested by Washington.
She said “one of the biggest weaknesses” in reconstruction was Kabul’s reluctance to specify its expectations of the international community. Referring to the international training of the Afghan police force, in which Germany had assumed a leading role, she said: “Afghanistan must say more clearly what it wants.”
Afghan army takes delivery of Czech-donated helicopters
Jane’s - The Czech Republic has provided the Afghan National Army (ANA) with the first three of six modernised Mil Mi-17 helicopters as plans were revealed for the long-term build-up of the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC).
The Czech government approved a donation, equivalent to CZK610 million (USD35 million), of six Mi-17 transport helicopters and six Mil Mi-24 combat/attack helicopters from the Czech Air Force in April 2007 following a NATO and Afghan government appeal for assistance in building the ANA's capability. The remaining three Mi-17 helicopters should be handed over by May 2008.
All of the helicopters have undergone an overhaul programme at the Letecké Opravny Malesice (LOM) aircraft repair works in Prague, Czech Republic, with the USD33 million upgrade costs borne by NATO. The Mi-17s were the first to be modified due to the ANA's critical lack of transport helicopters. Each has received the more powerful TV3-117VM engine and add-on cockpit armour, while the cargo hold/troop compartment is protected by a matting of ballistic fabric. Each window in the hold has a firing port for personal weapons.
Lateral outriggers with racks for the attachment of six 57 mm unguided rocket launchers have also been fitted, and the helicopters are also equipped with a NATO-standard identification friend-or-foe (IFF) transponder in addition to new intercoms and radios.
Following assembly and testing the three Mi-17s were taken over by ANA representatives on 17 December 2007 and the formal handover with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commanders took place in January.
Norwegian troops in Afghanistan for seven more years
Defence Minister Anne-Grete Stroem Erichsen does not believe that Norwegian troops can be pulled out of Afghanistan for another seven years, at the earliest.
This is the first time the Defence Minister gives a concrete estimate of when the Norwegian military engagement in Afghanistan may be terminated.
Speaking to the newspaper Dagsavisen, she said that NATO can't pull out until the Afghan army is functioning well.
The Afghan army today numbers around 40,000 men, and Stroem-Erichsen estimates that at least double that number is needed. Norway has currently 500 special forces in Afghanistan.
Aussie troops boost Afghan training role
The Age 02.19.08 - Australia is to adopt a stronger role training Afghan soldiers so they can secure territory which traditionally reverts to insurgent control as soon as coalition soldiers withdraw.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the new training team would number 70 and include soldiers for security plus experienced personnel to instruct members of a 600-strong Afghan National Army Battalion in military skills.
He said work already had started on this transition. "We want a greater emphasis on training of the Afghan National Army (ANA). We see strengthening of the ANA as critical to longterm military success," he said.
"The key to longterm military success is making sure the ANA reaches critical mass and has the skill level required to hold down military gains.
"This has been one of our great frustrations. Our special forces have cleared areas only to see them fall back to the insurgency after we leave.
"Giving the ANA a capacity to hold these areas is absolutely critical."
Mr Fitzgibbon said a prime example was the Chora Valley, a short distance from the Australian-Dutch base at Tarin Kowt in the restive Oruzgan province in the country's south-central region.
This has been the scene of large scale operations and regular bitter fighting but has persistently reverted to Taliban control.
Australia currently has some 1,000 troops inside Afghanistan, including the 300-member special forces task group, the 400-member reconstruction task force, a helicopter unit, Royal Australian Air Force radar team, plus support personnel.
Under the current plan the training team will replace some reconstruction task force members, making no increase in overall numbers.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the work of the reconstruction task force ebbed and flowed and the transition could be achieved without excessively impacting on their good work.
He told parliament the government of Afghanistan needed to be able to develop its security forces to provide for the security for its own citizens into the future.
"Based on both our review and consultation with partners, the government believes the time is right for Australia to evolve the role of its forces so that the additional task of training the Afghan army can be adopted," he said in a ministerial statement.
Opposition defence spokesman Nick Minchin backed the move. "I welcome the commitment to enhance the capabilities of the Afghan National Army but, given there is no increase in troop numbers, question the validity of the claim that all our reconstruction and combat efforts will be retained," he said in a statement.
"Clearly there must be changes and I will be seeking a full briefing from Defence on how the roles of existing service personnel deployed in Afghanistan will change."
Similarly, Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James endorsed a greater emphasis on training.
"The addition of a training team makes sense. However, we are somewhat puzzled at the apparently arbitrary decision not to increase the size of the force," he said.
"How can you send in a training team and not increase numbers without reducing some of the other vital roles that either the special forces task group or the reconstruction task force are doing."
Humanitarian situation worsens as Afghan hostilities spread
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross - February 18, 2008
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is deeply concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. As armed hostilities spread and insecurity grows, more and more people are being forced to flee their homes. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for the ICRC to access displaced people throughout the country. In addition, freezing temperatures and blizzards have affected several areas, killing hundreds. Interview with Franz Rauchenstein, ICRC Deputy Head of Delegation in Afghanistan.
What is the ICRC's reading of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan?
The ICRC is worried that an increasing number of people are being displaced as the result of spreading hostilities between security forces – both Afghan and international – and the armed opposition.
Throughout the country, the humanitarian needs have increased significantly over the past two years. In addition to the southern provinces, large areas in the east and west are now also affected by the armed conflict, with around two-thirds of the country affected by hostilities.
What's more, bitter cold in central and western parts of Afghanistan have also left many residents in dire straits, especially in the remote mountain areas, where temperatures have plummeted. When spring comes, these vulnerable villages may see more suffering as the result of floods.
How are civilians being affected by the hostilities?
It's impossible to estimate exactly how many civilians have been displaced by the hostilities because our access to the field is extremely limited, making reliable information and figures hard to come by.
The displacement of large numbers of Afghans is putting a strain on health and sanitation services. Having lost their homes and means of livelihood, many displaced people are forced to depend on their relatives in order to survive.
Meanwhile, those who have chosen to stay in conflict affected areas face the risks of confrontation and intimidation. For example, villagers are often approached by the armed opposition at night, demanding food and shelter. During the day, they're questioned by the other side, who accuse them of helping the opposition fighters. As a result, their homes are sometimes destroyed, leaving them with little choice but to flee.
Those who stay put must cope with restricted freedom of movement, which makes it difficult to go to the market or trade goods. It's also difficult to take the wounded and sick from remote areas to health centres and referral hospitals.
How has the ICRC's work been affected by the spreading insecurity?
It's difficult to assist those who have been displaced. We have less access to them now than at any time during the past 20 years, and that's both worrisome and frustrating.
The prevailing insecurity, coupled with the presence of criminal groups in the conflict-affected areas, is hampering the ICRC from moving around safely in the field.
As a strictly neutral, independent and humanitarian organization, the ICRC maintains contact with all parties to the armed conflict. In our experience, this is the surest way of gaining access to those in need... but it's not getting any easier.
Thanks to the Afghan Red Crescent Society, we are able to support the distribution of food and non-food assistance to people in many areas, but it's risky work for them too and we cannot bring help everywhere it's needed. The ICRC also supports medical facilities, orthopaedic programmes and water and sanitation projects in several areas of the country.
What does ICRC have to say about detention in Afghanistan?
The intensification of the conflict has led to a dramatic increase in the number of detainees. The number of prisoners and detainees has more than doubled over the past two years, rising from around 5,000 to 13,000. They are held in prisons and detention centres designed to accommodate a quarter of that number.
The ICRC visits detainees held in connection with the conflict to evaluate their conditions of detention and treatment. Because we don't have access to all parts of the country, we cannot visit all places of detention, but we do know that many of them are overcrowded.
The ICRC also visits detainees held by the International Security and Assistance Force and the United States-led coalition, including at the US-run Bagram Temporary Internment Facility. The ICRC maintains a bilateral and confidential dialogue with the detaining authorities on its findings regarding the conditions of detention, treatment and respect for basic judicial guarantees.
When needed, it also supports the Afghan prison authorities in the construction or the repair of sanitary facilities in places of detention.
Governance linked to defeating insurgency
Pajhwok Correspondent - Aug 2, 2008 - NEW YORK (PAN): The US intelligence chief said on Thursday governance was the key factor in defeating the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and finally winning the war against terrorism in that country.
Defeating the insurgency in Afghanistan will depend heavily on the government's ability to improve security, deliver effective governmental services and expand development opportunities, National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell said.
At a Congressional hearing at the Capitol Hill, McConnell added: Efforts to improve governance and extend economic development were hampered by a lack of security in some areas and sheer limitation in government's capacity to do so.
In 2007, a number of attacks in Afghanistan's Taliban-dominated insurgency, mostly in the south, exceeded that of the previous year. In part, that was because coalition and Afghan forces undertook many more offensive operations over the past year, he observed.
Characterising the narco trade as one of the greatest long-term challenges, McConnell maintained insidious effects of drug-related criminality continued to undercut the government's ability to assert its authority, develop a strong rule of law-based system and rebuild the economy.
The Taliban operating in poppy-growing regions, at a minimum, received some level of financial support tied to opium traffickers, he told members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during the hearing on world-wide threats.
Responding to a question from Congressman Hoekstra about al Qaeda in Pakistan, the intelligence chief acknowledged the network had strengthened its base in tribal area after September when Osama Bin Laden issued a fatwa against the Musharraf government.
From that time until now, we've seen more and more of the militant groups in the FATA energized by their dialogue with al Qaeda and then, as I mentioned, in the casualty figures I provided in my opening remarks, 60 suicide bombings, killing that many people, he said.
Congressman John McHugh said the general impression had been that neo-Taliban activities, although worrisome in terms of stability in Afghanistan, obviously posed a threat to national stability of Pakistan.
I note that former deputy director of MI6, Nigel Inkster, has now labelled that neo-Taliban movement, headed up by Baitullah Mehsud, is probably the number one non-state actor and threat to stability within Pakistan, he observed.
The intelligence chief agreed with McHugh that Baitullah Mehsud was at the centre of that nexus and right now at that bridge between al-Qaeda and Pashtun extremism and separatism.
UNICEF pledges $26m to Education Ministry
Zarghona Salehi - Feb 16, 2008 - KABUL (PAN): The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Saturday promised to provide $26 million to the Education Ministry for the construction of schools as well as conducting literacy courses and teacher capacity-building.
An accord on provision of the assistance was signed between UNICEF representative Katrin and Education Minister Dr. Muhammad Hanif Atmar.
Atmar said the financial support would pave the ground for the construction of 4,600 schools that would hopefully create education facilities for 200,000 girls in different provinces.
Besides the construction of 300 schools, 3500 literacy courses will be also conducted for 90,000 illiterate women. Stationary, equipment and textbooks would be provided to three million primary students at the beginning of the new year, Atmar continued.
He hoped the problems of textbooks for primary and secondary schools would be resolved and about 50,000 teachers trained with the support of UNICEF. The UNICEF representative told journalists she welcomed the education ministry plans and would extend support to it.
Severe Flooding Expected During Afghan Spring Thaw
VOA, 02/19/2008 By Lisa Schlein - United Nations aid agencies warn the onset of spring in Afghanistan is expected to bring severe flooding in many parts of the country. They say they are gearing up to help tens of thousands of Afghans survive the worst of the spring thaw. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
Geneva - U.N. officials say people in Afghanistan's Western Region are living through one of the harshest winters in nearly 30 years. The United Nations reports more than 800 people have lost their lives so far this winter in the four provinces of Herat, Farah, Badghis, and Ghor.
In addition, 135,000 livestock have died from cold and lack of fodder. The United Nations says tens of thousands of people have lost their homes and possessions due to the heavy snow and severe cold.
UN humanitarian spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says these people are living in the open in freezing conditions, exposing them to many illnesses.
"We have seen because of this cold, many respiratory problems and hypothermia cases among the population," she said. "Over 170,000 people with pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections have been diagnosed and treated at health centers across Afghanistan in the past months. We are concerned about the spread of winter diseases especially in Ghor and in Nooristan provinces."
Byrs says many remote villages are cut off to outside assistance because of the snow. And the authorities are doing their best to clear the roads to make these places accessible.
She says the coming spring will bring no respite. The melting snows will simply add to the misery already endured by the Afghan people.
"We have to get prepared for landslides, for avalanches and also for flooding. That is why the international assistance and international donors will be requested for their preparedness measure in order to avoid more disasters in those poor villages which have already suffered from this bad weather," said Byrs.
Byrs says 25 provinces are in danger from spring flooding and preparations are underway to head off the worst. She says more than 840,000 sandbags and thousands of other barriers have been bought to provide protection to vulnerable communities.
She says these protective measures will benefit more than 75,000 people who are particularly exposed.
Kuchi nomads seek a better deal
KANDAHAR, 18 February 2008 (IRIN) - There are no accurate figures on the number of Kuchis - predominantly Pashtun nomads - in Afghanistan. The war-ravaged country has not conducted a population census in 25 years, and counting Kuchis is particularly difficult because of their nomadic lifestyle.
However, the Independent Directorate of Kuchi Affairs (IDKA), estimates their number at 2-3 million.
The past two decades of armed conflict, poverty and other socio-economic changes have had a profound impact on Kuchi families, their way of life and their livelihoods, experts say.
“In the past Kuchis had access to pastures and grazing land all across the country,” said Daudshah Niazi, director of the IDKA in Kabul. “Now, local people do not allow Kuchis to enter their areas, and widespread insecurity, local militias and landmines also inhibit their access to grazing land,” he said.
In some instances this has led to clashes over grazing rights, for example between Kuchis and Farsi-speaking Hazaras in the central highlands when several people were killed in July 2007.
Years of drought and environmental degradation have further deteriorated Kuchi herders’ access to pasture land.
Rapid urbanisation and imports of dairy produce from Iran and Pakistan have also reduced demand for traditional Kuchi produce which, according to the IDKA, accounted for up to 35 percent of Afghanistan’s dairy produce in the 1980s.
Since 2001 donors, aid agencies and the government have disbursed over US$15 billion in developmental aid, but precious little has reached the Kuchis, Ministry of Finance (MoF) officials concede.
Per capita aid to Afghanistan is estimated at about $60, but the Kuchis have received an estimated 20 US cents per person, according to IDKA and statistics compiled by MoF.
“International aid money has usually been earmarked through provincial and ministerial budgets, and Kuchis have been left out because there is no Kuchi province and/or ministry,” said Ali Ahmad Rahmani, an official of the MoF.
Kuchis have 10 of the 249 seats in the lower house of the Afghan National Assembly, and they are widely under-represented in provincial and district councils in Afghanistan’s 34 provinces because they are not considered to be local residents.
Time to settle? Many Kuchis say the time has come for them to establish a settled existence somewhere, as their traditional way of life has become unsustainable. But the prospects do not look bright.
A young Kuchi man, Torak Jan, explained his wish-list: “We want land on which to build our houses; we want our children to be educated; we want our patients to be treated in hospitals; we want to have jobs; we want safe drinking-water; we want electricity; and we want a normal life like everybody else in this country.”
However, the Kuchis’ desire for a settled life is hampered by the Afghan government’s inability to provide such things and by the Kuchis under-representation in provincial and national decision-making bodies.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly promised to establish mobile schools and health clinics for Kuchis, but little has been done so far, according to Niazi of the IDKA.
“God created Kuchis to wander in deserts, valleys and mountains… and raise animals,” said Shah Mirlal, an elderly Kuchi. He would be happy to remain a Kuchi like his forefathers, but, he said: “I am not a Kuchi any more, but a poor and desperate human being.”
No community is as vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters in Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan, as the over 400 nomadic families that live in tents and mud huts in Sheengazay District on the outskirts of Kandahar city.
Their tents are vulnerable to seasonal flooding, their women and children to disease, and their main source of livelihood - animal husbandry - to various risks.
Since autumn 2007, when the Kuchis first camped in Sheengazay, at least 15 children and five women have died owing to diarrhoea, pneumonia and lack of medical facilities, Kuchi elders told IRIN.
Kuchi children in Sheengazay do not have access to formal education and schooling. Like their parents they will most probably end up illiterate with few prospects for a better future.
Camped on privately-owned land, they are liable to eviction at any time and could be forced to roam in areas either affected by insecurity or replete with anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance.
“We are tired of this life,” one elder, Zalem Kahn, said.
Beautiful Afghan rugs are splendid poverty fighters
By MARIA PUENTE • USA TODAY • February 18, 2008
It's an age-old question: What can any one person do to fight global poverty? You can shop. For luxury rugs. That's the answer offered by Arzu, a non-profit, for-benefit corporation that is bringing the traditional rugs of Afghanistan to the Western market while providing stable employment, education and health care benefits to female weavers and their families.
"This is a new trend in social entrepreneurship," says Connie Duckworth, president of Arzu ("hope" in the Afghan language Dari), a retired Goldman Sachs highflier. "The biggest empowerment for women is a job and the ability to earn income. The idea was to (find) the highest-quality high-end product that can be produced for export."
The answer: Afghan wool rugs, which have been coveted for millennia. But near-constant conflict in recent years had diminished rug production and quality and threatened the loss of traditional patterns and techniques.
Arzu aims to reverse that. It employs the weavers — so far, 700 women, plus their families, in 10 villages — and pays them a salary plus bonuses for finished rugs. Proceeds of the sales of the rugs, about $1,000 for a small one and up to $18,000 for large, are invested in village schooling and health care.
"Each rug is unique, and we know who made it and their family circumstances," Duckworth says. "They get away from the idea that charity items are junk made for tourists."
Since fall 2004, nearly 700 rugs have been sold through trunk shows in high-end markets around the USA, through the website (ArzuRugs.org) and through architects and interior designers. She hopes to produce up to 1,200 rugs a year soon.
Liberal parties rout mullahs in NWFP : All the King’s men, gone!
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI/ QUETTA/PESHAWAR: President Pervez Musharraf’s political allies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), appear to have lost their grip over the country’s parliament, with the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) and the PML-Nawaz (PML-N) overtaking the “bicycle” in the election race.
Lion roars again: The PML-N swept Punjab despite low voter turnout in all 35 districts of the province.
PML-Q’s Sheikh Rashid lost to PML-N’s Makhdoom Javed Hashmi in NA-55. He also lost to PML-N’s Muhammad Hanif Abbasi in NA-56, according to unofficial results.
Shujaat lost to PPPP’s Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar in his hometown of Gujrat and was lagging behind PML-N’s Rana Abdus Sattar in Sialkot. PPPP’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi also won his seat.
PPPP’s Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan beat out PML-Q’s Chaudhry Amir Hussain. PML-Q Punjab President Pervaiz Elahi was losing on two NA seats but won a third in Attock. PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, former population welfare minister, lost his seat for NA-62.
Other PML-Q bigwigs that lost include Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Sher Afgan Niazi, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Nasir Khan, Hamid Nasir Chattha, Humayun Akhtar Khan, Chaudhry Amir Hussain, Ijazul Haq, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Daniyal Aziz.
Meanwhile, showing that the PML-Q was not completely out, Faisal Saleh Hayat of the party beat PPPP’s Abida Hussain in NA-88.
PPPP comes home: The PPPP, based on early results, appears to have overtaken the PML-N and the MQM in Sindh, establishing the party as a force to be reckoned with in its home state. PPPP’s Amin Fahim was one of the big winners in the province.
ANP kicks in: The Awami National Party (ANP) took the maximum number of seats based on early poll results, leaving the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in the dust. PML-Q NWFP President Amir Muqam and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, both ‘King’s men’, won the seats in their respective constituencies. According to unofficial results, Jamiat Ulema-e-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman won in NA-26, but lost NA-24 to Faisal Karim Kundi.
Business as usual: Balochistan witnessed a historic low turnout in the parliamentary elections and the early poll results did not show a clear winner in the province, although the PML-Q appeared to be leading.
[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.]
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