In this bulletin:

Afghanistan: Taliban fighters killed by police

AKI - Adnkronos International

Kabul, 8 May (AKI) - Afghan police reportedly killed six Taliban fighters, among them two rebel commanders, in conflict in western Afghanistan on Thursday.

Early media reports quoted the provincial police chief Shah Jahan Noori as saying the Taliban-appointed governor for the western province of Ghor, Mullah Jalil, was among the victims.

Two policemen and a civilian were also wounded during the gunbattle that lasted for several hours.

He said about 10 militants had crossed into Ghor from the restive neighbouring province of Helmand.

On Wednesday afternoon, two American soldiers and one civilian were killed in an attack just north of the city of Khost, in eastern Khost province near the Pakistan border.

A second roadside bomb blast was also reported near Khost and a failed suicide bomb attack.

ISAF soldier dies of wounds, one injured in southern Afghanistan engagement

KABUL, Afghanistan (Military News) 8 May 2008 – Two ISAF soldiers and one civilian were killed in an explosion during a routine patrol in Sabari district, Khowst province today. Two ISAF soldiers were also wounded by the blast.

The wounded soldiers were transported to an ISAF hospital to receive treatment.

“ I would like to offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured by the blast,” said Brigadier General Carlos Branco, ISAF spokesperson. “ At this time we are doing everything we can to assist our injured troops.”

In accordance with ISAF policy, ISAF does not release the casualty’s nationality prior to the relevant national authority doing so.

NATO appoints new civilian representative in Afghanistan

Xinhua / May 8, 2008

NATO Secretary General Jaap de HoopScheffer on Wednesday appointed Fernando Gentilini of Italy as NATO 's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan.

Gentilini replaces Daan Everts of the Netherlands who served as NATO's second senior civilian representative in Afghanistan from August 2006 to December 2007. Following Everts' departure, MauritsR. Jochems of the Netherlands served as acting senior civilian representative.

Gentilini, 46, has a long career in the Italian Foreign Ministry. He served as European Union High Representative's personal representative to Kosovo in 2004 and most recently as deputy diplomatic advisor to the Italian prime minister since August 2006.

The senior civilian representative officially represents the political leadership of NATO in Kabul. He provides a direct channel of communication between the theater, the NATO headquarters in Brussels, and decision-making North Atlantic Council.

He also works closely with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, the United Nations and other coordinating bodies established by the international community and the Afghan government.

A new Canadian general in Afghanistan

Brigadier General Dennis Thompson (L) speaks to a Canadian officer on arrival at Kandahar airfield May 7, 2008.

May 07, 2008 Murray Brewster THE CANADIAN PRESS

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The next commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan hit the ground in Kandahar Wednesday and says he believes the mission will take on a different flavour during his nine month tour.

Brig.-Gen. Dennis Thompson says evolving conditions in the war-torn region mean there will be more of an emphasis on the civilian side of development and reconstruction.

He says there will still be a military aspect and doesn't expect the army will be adopting a defensive posture just because the focus is shifting.

"I think there will be a change in emphasis, but I'm not prepared to say how much that will be (because) there are other players here," Thompson said, referring to the Taliban.

The Conservative government is in the process of refocusing the mission and setting down objectives to be achieved before the military mission runs out in 2011.

Thompson will be laying the groundwork for that and for a civilian administration at the provincial reconstruction base, which Canada operates in Kandahar City.

He will be replacing Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the current commander, in the near future.

Thompson is the former commander of the 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade at CFB Petawawa, a base that has suffered a lot of casualties, and he says that aspect of loss personalizes this assignment for him.

"You tend to know an awful lot of people that are either injured or killed," he said.

"It sharpens your focus and it makes you want to do everything you can to mitigate all of those risks."

Thompson arrived at Kandahar Airfield one day after the latest soldier was killed in a shootout with the Taliban.

Cpl. Michael Starker, a reservist and medic, was killed while on patrol with his Civil-Military Co-operation unit, which reaches out to local Afghan villages and serves as a bridge with the community.

Despite the killing, Laroche said yesterday that Kandahar province is safer than when he took over almost 10 months ago.

He said the area where Starker was killed on foot patrol was an area Canadians couldn't enter a year ago.

Thompson and his staff have spent nine months training for the assignment – longer than any other headquarters staff.

Their training has involved in-depth briefings and analysis on not only military matters, but development and diplomacy, as well as the complex web of Afghan tribal politics.

Last winter Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, in an interview with The Canadian Press, described the training as giving the incoming officers and soldiers "a PhD in Afghan affairs."

Dutch FM visits Afghanistan

BRUSSELS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen embarked on a short visit to war-torn Afghanistan on Thursday, Dutch news service ANP reported Thursday.

    He will be holding talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Sima Samar of the independent Afghan human rights organization AIHRC about the treatment of prisoners and human rights, ANP said.

    The minister will also raise the question of capital punishment, media law and the low number of police officers in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan with the president.

    The Netherlands has some 1,700 soldiers stationed in Uruzgan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

    During Verhagen's trip, he is accompanied by his Slovak counterpart Jan Kubis and Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Baska. Slovakia recently pledged to send 250 soldiers to Uruzgan.

Afghan ambassador urges action as schools torched, staff attacked

The Canadian Press / May 7, 2008

OTTAWA — Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada calls a rash of attacks on schools in his country an alarming bid to derail progress that demands action.

"We need to realize the gravity of this escalation," Omar Samad said Wednesday in an interview. "Some hard decisions have to be made as to whether we're going to allow our children and our teachers to be targets of terrorism."

"We need to figure out who supports such drastic attacks and who doesn't. And a decision has to be made as to who you reach out to and who you cannot reach out to. This is a test."

Samad said there have been several attacks on schools over the last two years and it's too soon to tell whether this year will be much worse.

A report published Wednesday cites 36 sabotage incidents in the last two months, including fire-bombings, arson, staff assaults and abductions. It said the security situation is so bad that nearly half the schools in Kandahar are closed some or all of the time.

Samad said the report sounds credible and that similar attacks are taking place along the Afghan border with Pakistan.

The London Times article also describes the mutilation of a school caretaker whose ears and nose were cut off because he collaborated with the Afghan government.

"This is part of a pattern of targeted attacks on institutions and certain groups of people in society to instill fear," Samad said.

"It is also politically motivated by those groups that do not want to see Afghanistan progress and its people live in peace and prosperity."

He blames 'ignorant' forces bent on dragging Afghanistan back to the days before Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when the Taliban ruled with an iron fist.

Eighty-three Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died trying to help stabilize the country since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001.

In comments later Wednesday before the special parliamentary committee on Afghanistan, Samad again thanked Canada for such sacrifices.

"Your presence ... is at the request of Afghanistan and mandated by the United Nations to prevent extremists and terrorists to regain control of Afghanistan or use it as a base for other attacks."

Close to five million refugees have come home, more than six million boys and girls are in school and basic health care is spreading, he said. Economic growth continues, albeit slowly, in one of the poorest and most war-ravaged nations on Earth.

"Terrorism or violence perpetrated by extremist or criminal groups remains the top concern for Afghans," Samad said, citing "shifting regional complexities that cannot be ignored.

"We need to go to the source of insecurity and deal with the various aspects of it using a comprehensive and multi-faceted strategy supported by all entities."

Corrupt cash mostly flows from narcotics, arms trading, smuggling and a small number of fraudulent aid agencies, he said.

"On the narcotics side, we aim to further increase the number of poppy-free provinces and to reduce the poppy growing fields by at least 25 per cent in 2008-09," Samad said. The battle against the lucrative opium trade "can succeed through increased security, better governance" and, most importantly, alternative livelihoods for farmers, he stressed.

Corrupt officials not receiving Canadian money: ambassador

Juliet O'Neill ,  Canwest News Service

Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008

OTTAWA - Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada assured MPs Wednesday that Canadian aid funds are not winding up in the "pockets or bank accounts" of corrupt government officials.

Ambassador Omar Samad made the comment at a Commons committee as he urged Canada to support a request by Afghanistan to ensure a greater portion of international aid arriving in the country is channelled through the government, rather than non-government organizations and private corporations.

Afghanistan will be making that case at an international donors' conference next month in Paris where authorities will discuss the fate of billions of dollars in assistance while the security situation in the country has worsened.

Canada's aid pledge to Afghanistan will total about $1.2 billion by the end of 2011.

The ambassador said between 70 and 80 per cent of the foreign aid invested in Afghanistan does not flow through the government and that it is the government that is subject to "strict" controls and supervision by such international organizations as the World Bank. the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. He said non-government recipients should be held accountable as well.

"The notion that your money ends up in Afghanistan government officials' pockets doesn't really translate into reality in Afghanistan," he told the Commons special committee on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"There are other types of resources that may end up in people's pockets but I can assure you there is no evidence so far that shows that your taxpayer's money ends up in somebody's pocket or somebody's bank account somewhere."

He was responding to a question from Toronto Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert who said corruption must be dealt with head on as countries contribute to Afghanistan's reconstruction. New Democratic Party MP Alexa McDonough quoted from a report which said two thirds of the international aid bypasses the Afghanistan government, including 100 per cent of aid from the United States.

She expressed concern that without more Afghanistan government control of aid funds, the poorest people of the country would be neglected. It is the poor, she said, "who become ripe for recruitment to insurgencies."

The committee was established to find ways to increase parliamentary and public knowledge of the conduct and progress of the Canadian military mission and is to review laws and procedures under which the government has claimed secrecy on grounds of operational and national security.

The committee was struck as a result of a motion passed in the Commons extending the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan by two years to 2011 on condition Canada's 2,500 troops are bolstered by personnel from allied NATO countries. France is prepared to move troops into Eastern Afghanistan to free American troops to work with Canadians in the south.

The committee plans to travel to Europe, Washington, New York and Afghanistan.

Ottawa Citizen

No US troop increase in Afghanistan without deeper cuts in Iraq: Pentagon

(AFP) 7 May 2008-The Pentagon has said that any sizeable increase in much-needed US forces in Afghanistan will depend on deeper troop cuts in Iraq than currently planned.

Military commanders, worried about a persistent and growing Taliban challenge, have said they require up to three more brigades, or about 10,000 troops, to fill gaps in a NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

But Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell made clear that relief in Afghanistan can only come from Iraq, where US forces now find themselves embroiled in a bloody struggle with Shiite militias.

"We really have to get down in Iraq below 15 brigade combat teams for us to consider adding multiple additional brigades to Afghanistan," Morrell told reporters Tuesday.

"So, not until we get to that point can we even consider that prospect," he said.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had said after a summit of NATO leaders in Bucharest last month that he expects the United States to make a significant addition of its forces in Afghanistan next year.

Gates also has expressed hope that US force levels in Iraq can be drawn down below the 15 brigades, or roughly 130,000 troops, that will be left there when the last of the "surge" forces return home at the end of July.

But General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, has insisted that there be no further troop cuts until he assesses the impact on security of the current drawdown.

After a sharp decline at the peak of the surge, levels of violence appear to be on the rise again in Iraq.

The US military death toll spiked in April to 52, its highest point in seven months, as US forces fought Shiite militias in Sadr City, a bastion of forces loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Petraeus will be responsible for both Iraq and Afghanistan after he is confirmed to head the US Central Command. He is expected to assume that role in mid-September.

Currently, there are 158,000 US troops in Iraq. The United States has 34,000 troops in Afghanistan, 16,000 of which are under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Experts Voice Concerns About US Approach on Pakistan, Afghanistan

(VOA) 8 May 2008 - The hearing came as lawmakers digest findings of the [U.S.] Government Accountability Office (GAO) about the impact of more than $5 billion given Pakistan to help it fight al-Qaida and Taliban forces, since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The $5.5 - billion figure is part of more than $10 billion Pakistan has received from the United States since 2002.

Among major points in a preview of a full report to be released soon: a lack of oversight of U.S. Coalition Support Funds, unsuccessful efforts by the Pakistan Army in defeating terrorist forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan, and deficiencies in counter-insurgency capabilities, equipment and training.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat from California:

"Why is the U.S. Government being asked to reimburse Pakistan for air defense radar maintenance? Al-Qaida is not known to have an air force and the purpose of these funds is to support the fight against extremists, not to boost Pakistan's conventional warfare capability," said Howard Berman. "This calls into question not just the value this administration has put on these tax dollars, but the effectiveness of what they are doing to keep us safe."

Former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke and Thomas Pickering focused on the issue of U.S. assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also on broader questions of U.S. policy.

Holbrooke criticizes U.S. assistance plans for Pakistan's tribal areas, calling a $750-million five-year plan, in his words, pathetic, and referring to one of the GAO's findings.

"It is absolutely true as the GAO has said that there is no strategy for the United States," said Richard Holbrooke. "Worse than that, the Pakistani government, which is focused on its internal domestic lineup in this new era of democracy in Pakistan after a decade of military rule, is also not clear what it is doing."

Both Holbrooke and Pickering stress the fragility of Afghanistan, and what they say is the lack of an effective overall U.S. and NATO strategy.

Pickering says stronger Pakistan federal government control in the tribal areas will not be easy against the background of Pakistani political developments.

"We now have an electoral process, parties that have moved to the fore as a result of democratic competition, parties which are strange bedfellows historically and which have had not in my view had a fantastically remarkable track record either in governance or indeed in honesty in government," said Thomas Pickering. "They will somehow have to be dealt with, in a new conundrum, to move them ahead, they will have to assume the responsibility I believe for trying to make progress in the FATA area."

Pickering says failure in Afghanistan would mean new threats from the Taliban and al-Qaida from their Pakistani sanctuary.

He and Holbrooke share pessimism about Afghanistan with Major General James Jones, a former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

Among a range of problems, Jones points to burgeoning opium cultivation and an inadequately - Afghan trained police force, and says no amount of NATO troop contributions will be sufficient without Afghan government accountability.

"The Karzai government in my view has to be held accountable to the international community for doing the things it can do, for the expansion and reach of its influence, for stamping out corruption in the government and doing the things that the international community deserves to expect from a government that is benefiting so much from the sacrifice in both treasure and lives by so many countries around the world," said General Jones.

General Jones also had this observation about Afghanistan's problems and what they might mean for Pakistan:

"I have a sense that the problem with regard to Afghanistan and in fact the region could be migrating East, and that is not a good thing," he said. "We certainly want Pakistan to be a free and democratic state, but I am troubled by the fact that the largest proportional increase in suicide bombings is in fact in Pakistan now, not in Afghanistan or in Iraq and usually that is the precursor of worrisome things."

California Republican Ed Royce finds it difficult to be more optimistic that U.S. Aid money can stabilize Pakistan's frontier areas.

"I think we are bringing our mindsets and our structures to Pakistan instead of dealing with it as it is and as I think it is going to continue to be, because the rapid transformation of Pakistani society we are seeing is primarily the Talibanization of the country as these maddrassas [Islamic fundamentalist schools] graduate more and more students," said Ed Royce.

Democrats are citing GAO findings about U.S. Assistance in criticizing Bush administration policies toward Pakistan, with two Senate lawmakers saying this week that future funding must be subject to strict guarantees that money is being used to fight terrorism.

US Official Says Terror Safe-Havens in Pakistan Remain a Challenge

(VOA) 7 May 2008- A top counterterrorism official says the United States has had a mixed record of success in the fight against al-Qaida terrorists. President Bush's nominee to run the National Counterterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, said Pakistan could do more to crackdown on terror safe-havens, as VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Michael Leiter, who has served as Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center since November of last year and is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate, listed a number of successes in the fight against terrorism, including tracking and disrupting plots.

But he said more must be done to thwart al-Qaida terrorists, particularly in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

"We have clearly not succeeded in stopping core al-Qaida plotting. We are better at disrupting it, but we have not disrupted the senior leadership that exist in the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), and we have also not stopped the organization from promulgating a message, which has successfully gained them more recruits," he said.

Leiter says the United States is committed to working with Pakistan on the problem of safe-havens, and says success rests with the Pakistani government.

But some Democrats remain skeptical about Pakistan's ability or willingness to address the issue, prompting this exchange with Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat:

"WYDEN: Do you think any time soon the Pakistani government will be capable of taking away al-Qaida safe-havens in that area?

LEITER: I think there is much more the government of Pakistan could do."

Congressional Democrats are also critical of a U.S. aid program that has reimbursed Pakistan's military nearly $6 billion since 2001 for antiterrorism operations along its border with Afghanistan.

The Government Accountability Office Tuesday released a preliminary report saying Pakistan has been unable to defeat terrorists inside its borders despite the U.S. aid program. The GAO says Pakistani security forces are not structured to target an insurgency and face equipment and training shortages.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to hold a hearing on the issue Wednesday.

Afghan intellectuals criticise US, NATO operations

(AFP) 8 May 2008 - About 3,000 Afghan politicians and intellectuals criticised Thursday the international military campaign against Islamic militants in Afghanistan and called for dialogue to ending the fighting.

The meeting of mainly Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group, launched a new body that it said would work on "saving people captured in fighting" and assist "those involved in conflict to stop fighting."

Afghanistan is in the grips of an insurgency by the extremist Taliban, a majority Pashtun group that was in government between 1996 and 2001. The country depends on about 70,000 mainly US troops for security.

"Today our elders, children and women are captured and jailed," civil society activist Daud Mirakai, one of the founders of the new National Peace Jirga of Afghanistan, told the crowd.

He was referring to arrests of suspects during US- and NATO-led operations mainly in Pashtun-dominated southern and eastern Afghanistan where Taliban militants are most active and are said to have local support.

The forces regularly round up suspects but no women are known to be among them.

"Today, they (foreign forces) break through our doors while our women are sleeping," he continued, raising a highly emotive issue among Pashtuns that prompted shouts of "Allahu akbar" (God is greater).

International troops looking for Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other rebels have been accused of not respecting local culture; they in turn say militants deliberately position themselves among women and children.

Mirakai said international forces claimed to have brought peace and democracy to Afghanistan but this was not true.

Instead "people are forced to abandon their villages under the shells and mortars of US forces and their allies who are killing people first and asking questions later," he said.

Pashtuns were main victims of the unrest, he said, claiming the ethnic group which has ruled for the past two centuries had been pushed aside by the government of President Hamid Karzai, himself a Pashtun.

"Peace in Afghanistan is impossible when Pashtuns are targeted from the air and ground on a daily basis," he added, referring to military operations.

Another key organiser, parliamentarian Bakhtar Aminzai, said the new jirga, the Pashtu word for council, wanted to bring peace through talks with the rebels.

"Fighting is not the solution," he said. "Dialogue and reconciliation is the solution for the conflict," he said.

Netherlands pledges five million euros for Afghan human rights

(Radio Netherlands) 8 May 2008 - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen began a short visit to Afghanistan on Thursday. The trip will include meetings with President Hamid Karzai and Dr Sima Samar of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). Mr Verhagen is to continue discussions with Mr Karzai on the death penalty, media legislation, and the shortage of police in the province of Uruzgan. With Dr Samar he will discuss human rights issues and the treatment of prisoners.

Mr Verhagen admits that conditions in Afghan prisons are appalling. However, he maintains that no serious abuses are now taking place, thanks to an agreement with Afghanistan about the treatment of prisoners captured by Dutch troops and handed over to the Afghan authorities. His remarks come in response to recent Dutch media reports of complaints by prisoners, which have led to questions in parliament. The Foreign Minister wants to ask AIHRC to extend its prison visits from the capital Kabul to Uruzgan, and is prepared to offer the organisation logistical help to do so.

"Because we want to prevent any semblance of abuse, independent monitoring is important."

Women's rights and justice
During his trip Mr Verhagen will be accompanied by his Slovakian counterpart Jan Kubis and the Slovakian minister of defence Jaroslav Baska. Slovakia is a new partner of the Netherlands in Uruzgan and recently agreed to send 250 troops.

At the start of his visit Mr Verhagen announced that the Netherlands would be providing 2.5 million euros for the improvement of women's rights in Afghanistan. The United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, is to receive one million euros for projects to combat violence against women. The rest of the money will go to the Asia Foundation, which is active throughout the country in improving women's access to justice. The Netherlands is also to grant 1.5 million euros to the International Center for Transitional Justice, which promotes the national reconciliation programme in Afghanistan.

Pak FM’s Afghanistan tour on May 24

ISLAMABAD(Geo) 8 May 2008 - Foreign Minister Shah Mahmud Qureshi will visit neigbouring Afghanistan on May 24. According to senior journalist Hanif Khalid, this would be the first foreign visit by Shah Mahmud Qureshi as foreign minister. Qureshi will visit Afghan President Hamid Karzai and convey him the messages from President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. The Pakistani foreign minister will have a special meeting with his Afghan counterpart to boost the bilateral relations, among them, issues of transit trade, holding the grand jirga, the repatriation of Afghan refugees and other affairs would be pondered over.

Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan agree on UN-brokered anti-drugs plan

UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (APP): Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have agreed to step up cross-border controls to stop the flow of illegal drugs, the U.N.  Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced Thursday.

The three countries, meeting in agreed to establish Border Liaison Offices on each of their three borders, to plan joint operations against traffickers attempting to smuggle heroin out of Afghanistan, Vienna-based UNDODC said in a press release which was also distributed at UN Headquarters in New York.

The countries also announced that they would step up the campaign to block the transport of precursor chemicals for heroin production in and around Afghanistan.

Another key focus was on how to prevent trade links and road transport from being used for the smuggling of narcotics. “We need to ensure that ways to facilitate trade are not exploited by smugglers of guns, chemicals and weapons,” Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of UNODC, said in Vienna. 

Today’s meeting in Tehran was part of the Triangular Initiative brokered by UNODC, the press release said.

Speakers at the meeting stressed the devastating impact of opium and heroin on their countries, and urged the international community, particularly European countries, to reduce demand for drugs and support the new plan.

With UNODC’s assistance, Iran will establish a permanent secretariat for the Triangular Initiative and a regional centre for intelligence exchange, it added.

FEATURE-U.S., NATO battle on uneven Afghan patchwork

MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan, May 8 (Reuters) - Last week U.S. Captain Roger Hill led a patrol into the Jaldez valley, just southwest of Kabul, and was immediately ambushed from three sides by 50 Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

The army of attackers, robed and bearded, fired somewhere between 25 and 30 grenades at his convoy, Hill said, pinning the patrol down in a furious two-hour gun battle that ended only when U.S. fighter planes swooped in for support.

It was a relatively rare and surprisingly staunch attack for that area of Afghanistan, reminiscent in its intensity to episodes in Iraq, where Hill spent more than a year. Yet asked where he would rather be deployed, he is clear.

"I feel like we're getting somewhere here. In a way we've had to start much more from scratch in Iraq than in Afghanistan," he said. "Here there's a sense of progress."

His commander Major Christopher Faber, the operations officer for a task force of the 101st Airborne Division in Maidan Wardak, a province just south of Kabul, is even more succinct.

"In Iraq, it's hunting season all year long for them," he said, referring to the insurgents. "Here, I feel like there's a lot more optimism."

In some ways those views contradict the received wisdom on Afghanistan, described by military experts in the United States as a "forgotten war" and one America and its NATO allies will lose if they do not boost numbers and change tactics rapidly.

Yet on the ground in Afghanistan the conflict quickly shows itself to be far more nuanced, with large swathes of the country relatively stable and making slow if very cumbersome progress, while other areas -- particularly the far south -- are mired in a conflict that frequently eclipses Iraq for intensity.

"THE RITZ"

In the southern portions of east Afghanistan, where U.S. forces have been operating for more than six years, even the provinces that border Pakistan and have been a refuge for the Taliban in the past are showing signs of calm.

U.S. commanders spend the bulk of their days meeting local Afghan officials, trying to coordinate efforts with French, Czech or Turkish reconstruction teams and running patrols alongside the slowly improving Afghan army.

There tends to be little combat, although rockets are still frequently fired at U.S. bases, roadside bombs are an occasional threat and an uptick in violence is expected as the weather warms into a possible Spring offensive by the Taliban.

At the main U.S. base in the area, just 20 km (13 miles) from the Pakistan border, U.S. soldiers appear very relaxed about their deployment and the day-to-day duties.

"This place is the Ritz," says Private Adam Grow, 23, referring to what is known as Forward Operating Base Salerno.

"I work a 9 to 5 shift, get my work done, and then go the gym or take a class. There's definitely worse places to be."

Grow and his friend Specialist Christopher Moore, 34, are taking a philosophy class as part of a military education programme. The gym on the base is the size of an aircraft hangar with 10 running machines, endless weight racks, ice-cold water on tap from stainless steel fridges and live U.S. sports on TV.

"This is a war zone, believe it or not," jokes Moore.

GENERATION TO RECOVER

Three provinces to the southwest, it very much is a war zone. In Kandahar and Helmand, in the desert regions of southern Afghanistan, U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch troops battle furiously against an entrenched Taliban on a near-daily basis.

Hundreds of U.S. Marines were sent in the last week to retake a town in south Helmand, where around 7,000 British troops have been based for two years and are making slow progress, sometimes taking territory only to lose it weeks later.

The battle to secure Helmand, which alone produces nearly half the world's opium, could drag on for years more. Afterwards, years of intense reconstruction would still be required to prevent the region collapsing again.

Kandahar, the one-time headquarters for the Taliban, is little different. Alone, the two vast provinces help explain why even military and civilian optimists think it could be a generation before Afghanistan is fully on the road to recovery.

At the same time, in those areas to the east and in northern Afghanistan where progress appears to have been made, the United States and NATO have to be sure to coordinate their efforts so that the overall impact is not two steps forward and one back.

Forty countries are now contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which has around 47,000 troops, but drawing up a strategy that unifies their work has proved elusive. In addition, the United States has some 14,000 troops serving in a separate force.

The U.S. defence secretary has expressed frustration that NATO cannot or will not come up with more troops to support the fight. Washington has mooted it could now send up to 7,000 more of its own troops to boost numbers next year.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan—Statement by the IMF Mission at the Conclusion of the Discussions for the Fourth Review of the Program under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Arrangement

Kabul, April 30, 2008

An IMF staff team visited Kabul during April 19─May 1, 2008. Discussions with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) focused on maintaining macroeconomic stability and other reform priorities, including steps to address the revenue slippage in the second half of 2007/08. The mission reached understandings with the authorities on prior actions that will need to be implemented before the completion of the fourth review under the PRGF program. Looking ahead, continued macroeconomic discipline, effective revenue mobilization, progress in key structural reforms, policies to enhance private sector development, and political support for the reform agenda are critical for Afghanistan to keep the program with the IMF on track and to achieve the growth potential and poverty reduction objectives spelled out in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS).

Program Performance

1. Performance under the PRGF program in the second half of 2007/08 fell short of expectations. The authorities met all quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for end-2007/08, with the notable exception of the floor on domestic revenue, which was missed by a 6 percent margin. Nonetheless, preliminary data suggest that expenditure restraint permitted observance of the targets on the operating budget deficit and central bank financing of the government. Real GDP growth in 2007/08 was revised downward to 11.5 percent, mainly because the drought in 2006/07 was less severe, and the ensuing 2007/08 rebound in agriculture weaker than previously thought. Higher prices of imported fuel and foodstuffs led to an increase in consumer prices, with 12-month (end-of-period) inflation reaching 20.7 percent in March 2008.

2. Domestic revenue declined as a share of GDP from 7.5 percent in 2006/07 to 7.0 percent in 2007/08, but the operating deficit target excluding grants has been attained. While lower than projected imports may have contributed to the revenue shortfall, key factors behind the disappointing revenue performance were policy inertia, inadequate enforcement efforts, and undervaluation of petroleum imports by customs. Nevertheless, the operating budget deficit excluding grants is estimated to have narrowed from 3.8 percent of GDP in 2006/07 to 3.6 percent in 2007/08 (slightly better than programmed). Development expenditures are estimated to have been broadly in line with program projections at Af 45 billion, or 9.4 percent of GDP.

3. Despite the effect of higher inflation on money demand and a surge in government spending during the last months of 2007/08, the central bank observed the ceiling on currency in circulation in the program. Currency in circulation grew by 18.5 percent in 2007/08—significantly below the growth of nominal GDP (24 percent).

4. DAB is gradually improving its capacity to supervise the banking sector, but there is an urgent need to strengthen enforcement procedures further. To contain emerging risks in the banking sector, DAB continues to restrict credit growth of weak banks to 5 percent per quarter, and has refrained from issuing any licenses for new branches to these banks.

5. Despite important steps taken to restructure the state-owned electricity provider (DABM), its relations with the MOF are yet to be put on a sustainable footing. In March 2008, Cabinet adopted the articles of incorporation of the state-owned electricity provider (transforming DABM into DABS), thereby allowing it to operate on a commercial basis. However, the authorities missed the structural benchmark on the conclusion of an agreement between the MOF and the DABM on quarterly reform benchmarks in exchange for subsidy disbursements.

6. Performance in a number of areas has been mixed. The authorities met the structural benchmarks on the: (i) submission of the core budget to parliament; (ii) publication of the schedule of fees charged by the state-owned petroleum enterprise (FLGE); (iii) establishment of a system for automatic monitoring of the central bank's six regional branches from DAB's headquarters; and (iv) repeal of the requirement for commercial banks to invest 80 percent of their deposits in the domestic economy. However, policy inertia and the lack of a consensus among key stakeholders further delayed preparation of a comprehensive restructuring plan for non-Tassady enterprises. Other commitments, ranging from a review of fiscal relations between the government and key state-owned enterprises to the passage of important pieces of legislation aimed at improving the business climate and strengthening the financial sector, have not yet been fulfilled.

Policies and Prospects for 2008/09

7. For 2008/09, real GDP growth is projected to moderate to 7.5 percent due to a downward revision of the growth projection for agricultural output on account of drought during the Spring germination period. Inflation is projected to decelerate to 13 percent at year-end. The external position is projected to strengthen further due to strong export growth, mining-related FDI, and aid inflows in excess of 50 percent of GDP.

8. With the prospect of scaled-up aid flows in the context of the ANDS, the authorities' need to ensure the implementation of fiscally sustainable policies. The quantitative fiscal program for 2008/09 seeks to rebuild a track record in revenue performance and maintain expenditure discipline. The revenue target of Af 42.9 billion (7.3 percent of GDP) includes policy measures estimated to yield additional revenue equivalent to 0.4 percent of GDP. The operating expenditure envelope remains as programmed at Af 63.4 billion, plus an adjuster (Af 1.9 billion) for a security contingency to enable acceleration of ANA recruitment. Following the receipt of in-kind donations for Ministry of Interior fuel, the authorities reallocated the cash set aside for that purpose to increase the food allowances for the army and police, in response to food price increases.

9. Improvements in revenue performance are crucial to maintaining the PRGF program on track. Corrective measures to bring the revenue performance in line with the program are feasible but their implementation will require resolve and diligence. The mission agreed with the authorities on several measures to be implemented before the IMF Executive Board discussion for the fourth review of the program.

10. Monetary policy will remain focused on containing inflationary pressures. To that end, DAB will need to strengthen its cooperation with the Ministry of Finance in preparing liquidity forecasts and will need to develop a framework for timely monitoring of commercial banks' liquidity. The mission welcomed DAB's intention to increase the role of capital notes auctions and to develop the secondary market for these instruments. However, volumes of capital notes auctions should be commensurate with market conditions to avoid unnecessary interest rate volatility.

11. Rapid growth in commercial bank activities calls for further strengthening of regulatory and enforcement procedures. The mission stressed the importance of strict and prompt corrective measures when warranted by bank examinations.

12. The mission urged the authorities to move forward with structural reforms to enhance private sector development, investment, and growth. This includes following up on commitments to improve transparency in the domestic petroleum sector and preparing for the privatization of FLGE. Regarding state-owned enterprises, the mission urged the authorities to accelerate the restructuring/privatization of the most important non-Tassady enterprises. The mission also stressed the need to clarify the relationship between the budget and key public enterprises.

13. The mission welcomed the completion of the ANDS and looked forward to its implementation. A Joint Staff Advisory Note is currently being prepared by staffs of the World Bank and the IMF and will be discussed, together with the ANDS, at the Boards of the two institutions in early June, 2008.

14. The Government has decided to purchase about US$50 million of wheat from neighboring countries to sell in the domestic market. The mission urged the Government to sell the imported wheat at a price consistent with full cost recovery, and in a manner that would minimize distortions in the domestic wheat market. The government plan is unlikely to allay social concerns about the increase in food prices. The mission recommended instead that the government work with donors to develop mechanisms to provide assistance to the needy and argued that additional efforts by the government should rely on targeted cash transfers to vulnerable households, instead of direct wheat imports.

15. The mission stressed the importance of improving data collection, particularly in the areas of national accounts, trade, and poverty indicators. The authorities will need to seek donor support in these areas and be prepared to mobilize funding, as necessary, from discretionary development expenditure to revamp and equip properly the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and strengthen its professional capacity.

16. The mission will return to Kabul in July 2008 for a staff visit to discuss performance under the program. As on previous occasions, the mission appreciated greatly the open and frank dialogue with the authorities and other public and private sector representatives. We would like to thank all of them for the hospitality, time and effort put into the discussions.

UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

05 May 2008

Good Morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our Monday morning press briefing, my name is Aleem Siddique, from UNAMA Spokesperson's Office.

Explosion in Kabul

News just coming into to us this morning is that three children may have been killed and in a separate incident many police officers have injured both by ordinance that exploded

here in Kabul city today. This appears to

have been an unfortunate accident. We would

like offer our sincere condolences to the

victims and their families at this early

stage and we will of course continue to

monitor the situation over the coming hours

and update you as more information comes in.

No damage to Bamyan Buddha site

I also wanted to clear up some media reports

that we saw yesterday on alleged damage to

the site of the Buddha remnants in Bamyan.

This was a controlled explosion carried out

by ISAF at the request of the Government's

ANBP disarmament programme. The Governor had

been informed as had the local authorities

and all necessary precautions had been taken

to prevent any possible damage to the Buddha

remains.

UN officials who have visited the site have

confirmed that this exercise to make the

area safe for local residents was completed

successfully without any damage to the

archeological remains.

Victory day attack in Kabul

There has been much debate and speculation

about last Sunday's attack in the media and

also in parliament. We all recognise the

need to review the events of this attack but

we must also recognise and acknowledge some

key salient facts:

Once the attack began the perpetrators were

stopped in their tracks and defeated by

Afghan security forces within minutes.

This attack was an attempt to dishonour the

sacrifice that the Afghan people have made

for their own independence and to sow

discord amongst the Afghan people.

Afghans must remain united and stand in

solidarity in the face of such provocation

When such an incident occurs we must of

course look at what could have been done to

prevent such an event, but we must also

acknowledge that the security forces when

called upon and under extreme circumstances

did their utmost to minimize loss of life

and stepped up to successfully protect the

President.

Whether such attacks happen in Kabul, London

or Madrid there will always be lessons to be

learnt. While it will always be difficult to

prevent such attacks by those determined to

undermine peace and stability, we have seen

an increasing number of terrorist attacks

thwarted by the Afghan security forces.

The important thing that we must focus on is

that the Afghan security forces must be

recognised for their efforts on Sunday, they

must of course be held accountable but we

must also acknowledge their determination to

learn the lessons of last Sunday and their

openness in explaining the circumstances of

this attack to the Afghan people

Accountability must squarely rest with the

perpetrators of this attack and the Afghan

people and their Government must continue to

stand united in the face of such terrorist

actions.

Eighty families return to home to Bala

Murghab

The first group this year of

internally-displaced people left Herat

province for their homes in the Bala Murghab

district of Badghis province last week. More

than 80 families, over 500 individuals

returned to their homes after fleeing from

violence and conflict nine months ago.

The return operation was jointly organised

by the Department of Refugees and

Repatriation, UNHCR, WFP and IOM. The

returning families, in addition to receiving

free transportation to their homes also

received non-food items, including blankets,

jerry cans, plastic tarpaulins and soap.

Upon their arrival in Bala Murghab they will

also receive wheat flour, lentils, cooking

oil and salt from the World Food Programme.

There is an estimated 150,000 internally

displaced people across Afghanistan -

111,000 are located in the southern

provinces.

Food-for-work in Laghman and Logar provinces

Nearly 9,000 people from Laghman province

will benefit from the World Food Programme's

'food-for-work' scheme. Approximately, 1,636

tones of wheat will be distributed to those

who work on WFP road-gravelling project in

five districts of the province.

3,200 people from four districts of Logar

province will have short-term job

opportunities as part of WFP's food-for-work

projects. WFP will fund 11 food-for-work

projects in Baraki Barak, Khoshi, Kharwar

and Puli Alam districts over the coming

months.

Promoting women's access to public

transportation

A new policy to help women secure equal

access to transportation will see 35 percent

of seats on all public transport reserved

for women, children, elderly and physically

impaired people in Kabul and Herat cities.

Messages and signs have been developed and

are now ready to be painted or sprayed on

the buses. A workshop on promoting women's

access to transport is planned for the

drivers and conductors of forty buses. The

implementation of this policy will be

monitored by the Afghan Women's Network.

For more information on this initiative and

other activities that UNIFEM are currently

engaged in, please collect a factsheet from

the side table.

Training centre in Nangarhar handed over to

local government

One hundred ex-combatants and 45 women will

benefit from a new vocational centre in

Nangarhar province.

The project to upgrade the Nangarhar

vocational training centre has now been

completed and the centre will be officially

handed over to the local government by

UNDP's urban development group tomorrow in

Jalalabad city.

The centres will be used for vocational

training for ex-combatants and vulnerable

people as a part of the Ministry of Labour,

Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled 'Basic

Vocational Training Project for

ex-Combatants'. The centre will promote

sustainable livelihoods and equip

ex-combatants, the disabled, widows and the

most vulnerable people who are out of work.

For further information on this project,

please collect a press release from the side

table.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Sabah TV [translated from Pashto]: Pakistan

says that they will negotiate with the

Pakistani Taliban. Don't you think that this

will allow them to become more powerful?

Secondly, the director of National Security

Directorate (NSD) has said that the attack

on President Karzai on 27 April, were

masterminded in Bajour agency of Pakistan.

What is your view on this?

UNAMA: The United Nations has always

advocated for a joint response to deal with

the insurgency in this country. We need to

see a joint response from both Afghanistan

and Pakistan. We need to see that the

brother countries of Afghanistan and

Pakistan join hands to defeat those who are

undermining peace and stability in both

countries. Quite clearly we have seen

evidence of that over the last months. We

have seen encouraging signs from the new

Pakistani Government in recent weeks. We

want to encourage those coordination efforts

between Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal

with the threat to the people of both

countries. Any efforts that can be made to

bring peace in both countries must be led by

the Government's of both countries. Let me

assure you of the United Nations full

cooperation in assisting the people of this

region to deal with the shared challenge of

defeating the insurgency and bringing peace

to the people of both countries.

RFE/RL: Some of the Afghan political experts

claim that a number of Afghan officials were

involved in the attack on President Karzai

on victory day. Do you agree with this?

Secondly, are you against talks between

Pakistan and the Taliban?

UNAMA: Let me clear up this issue whether we

are for or against the Pakistan's talking

with the insurgents on that side of the

border. UNAMA has no mandate to talk about

Pakistani affairs. Our interest is the

safety, the security and the progress of the

people of Afghanistan and that is where our

focus remains. As the United Nations we are

an organization of member countries and

Pakistan is a vital part of the United

Nations and of course we encourage our

member states to work cooperatively together

to defeat common challenges that they face

and that the world community faces. We want

to see Afghanistan and Pakistan work closely

together and we have seen some encouraging

signs in that direction in recent weeks.

On your first question, it is an issue of

concern and we have seen swift concerted

action from the Afghan security forces on

this very issue which we welcome. There are

two things you have to look at in such an

instance. How the conduct of the Afghan

security forces was during the event and

what lessons they have learnt after such an

event and what actions they have taken to

ensure that such an event cannot take place

again. These are two important factors that

one needs to judge. If we look at both of

those key areas, firstly what action did

they take during the event when this attack

was underway? They [Afghan security forces]

stopped and defeated this attack within

minutes. Secondly you need to look at what

action the Afghan security forces take to

deal with the aftermath of this attack and

within a week you have seen the Afghan

security forces take decisive action against

the perpetrators of this attack and those

that are suspected to have been involved in

assisting this attack.

IRNA [translated from Dari]: Regarding the

last Sunday's attack you stressed that we

must also recognise and acknowledge some key

salient facts, can you tell us what are

those facts?

UNAMA: Please talk to me afterwards and I

can repeat exactly what I have already said

to you earlier in the conference.

Radio Killid [translated from Dari]: The

parliament speaker Mr. Yonus Qanooni talked

about a new scheme by the international

community regarding the Counter Narcotics

efforts, under which 50 percent of the

international community's assistance will be

provided to farmers, and why was it

previously provided directly to the

government? and you talked about a new

policy by UNIFEM that will secure equal

access of women to public transportation,

why do you not put pressure to avoid

violence against women, for example violence

in the northern provinces of Afghanistan

continue to take many victims?

UNAMA: On your first question on counter

narcotics and government plans to extend

more funding towards farmers, of course the

United Nations is working very closely with

the government authorities to do exactly

that, the United Nations has been one of the

strongest advocates for alternative

livelihood for farmers in this country. The

United Nations is in complete agreement with

the government of Afghanistan in the need to

provide alternative livelihood to those

farmers who currently growing poppy, to

encourage them towards growing legal crops

in place of poppy. On second part of your

question, which was to do with violence

against women, the United Nations has been

one of the strongest advocates against the

violence against women, if I can just

highlight to you that UNFPA and UNIFEM are

playing a major role in setting up

counseling centers and referral centers for

women who are suffering due to violence

within their communities and within their

families. We have five such centers now set

up in the major cities of this country that

are offering support to women in need. If

you are genuinely interested in this issue,

I invite you to come and join us and visit

one of these centers in Herat, Jalalabad, or

Mazar, and we can show you the work we are

doing to tackle this issue. But let us not

forgot that the first and primary

responsibility for protecting women against

such violence rests within our own

communities and families. As brothers,

fathers and husbands we are the key to

ensuring the safety of our Afghan sisters,

daughters and mothers.

REF/RL: I would like know about your view

point on the impacts of peace agreement

between Pakistani government and Taliban for

the people of Afghanistan.

UNAMA: Thank you madam, I think it would be

the reiteration of the previous answer that

I gave. The United Nations has always made

clear, this is a regional insurgency, we

need to have a regional solution, and we

need to see the brother countries of

Afghanistan and Pakistan join hands to

defeat those that are trying to undermine

peace and stability in both counties. The

United Nations has always made clear that we

need to see more than simply military

action, we need to see development action,

and we need to see political outreach and

that includes political outreach from both

sides of the border. We have no mandate to

comment about what the sovereign government

of Pakistan is doing on its own territory,

but we have made clear publicly already, we

need to see the brother countries of

Afghanistan and Pakistan working together to

defeat this insurgency and this requires not

only military efforts but also political

outreach efforts and also development

efforts. Whether these efforts will succeed

or fail; only time will tell. Let me assure

you that the United Nations will play every

role that it possibly can to support both

governments in succeeding.

Thank you very much.

Gun battle message shocks parents

A US couple checking their answering machine heard a frightening three-minute recording of their son caught in a battle in Afghanistan.

Stephen Phillips, 22, was fighting insurgents when his mobile phone was pressed, causing it to dial his parent's number in Otis, Oregon.

Most of the sounds were gunfire, but swearing and shouts of "more ammo!" and "incoming!" could also be heard.

Nobody was wounded or killed in Mr Phillips' unit during the battle.

He is serving with the Army 546th MP Company 3rd Platoon and has been in Afghanistan for about a year.

The recording has since been posted on the video-sharing website YouTube, where it has been listened to more than 200,000 times.

'Embarrassed'

Mr Phillips had spoken to his parents on his mobile phone a few hours before the battle, and amid the confusion of the fight, he somehow hit the redial button.

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His mother, Sandie Petee, and her husband, Jeff, heard the message after returning home from shopping.

"His friend died a year ago in Iraq and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, this may be the last time I hear my son's voice on the phone'," Mrs Petee said.

Mr Petee said: "It's something a parent really doesn't want to hear. It's a heck of a message to get from your son in Afghanistan."

The couple frantically tried to contact Mr Phillips, and eventually reached him a few hours later.

When he was played back the message, he said was embarrassed by all the swearing.

"He said, 'Don't let Grandma hear it'," Mrs Petee said.

Afghanistan Unplugs Bollywood's Siren Song

By Aryn Baker

(TIMES) 8 May 2008 - "These serials are against Afghan culture. They are anti-Islamic and bad for the Afghan people," says Abdul Qadir, a 20 year-old student, on the government decision to ban the wildly popular Indian soap operas that have come to dominate Afghan TV during prime time. "People aren't working, they aren't studying, because of these serials." Yes, but Qadir freely admits he that for the past year, he has watched every nightly episode of Tulsi, the tale of an Indian housewife and mother more properly known as The Mother-in-Law Was Once a Daughter-in-Law Too. And now he supports the government closing down his show because he thinks he could be using his time better. Couldn't he just turn off the television? Qadir shrugs. "If there is TV, we will watch it. We do have self control, but..." He can't finish the thought. Nasrullah Mohammadi, a 23-year-old police officer, is more succinct. "It's like an addiction," he says. "It's the government's duty to stop this."

An informal poll of some three dozen men conducted on a Friday afternoon in Kabul's Shar-e-Naw Park found that all watched Tulsi, and all supported the government ban. That discrepancy, says Shoib Yaqoobi, a 20-year-old student who also works at a restaurant patronized by foreigners, is a sign of the immaturity of Afghan democracy. "No one knows what democracy is. They think it is wearing sexy clothes, watching TV, having fun and wasting time. But democracy is not just doing whatever you like. It is educating yourself to make choices. So now, the government needs to stop the serials in order to help the people."

The Afghan parliament this week passed a law banning Tulsi and competitor Bollywood serials such as Tests of Life and Waiting, calling them immoral, anti-Islamic and a threat to Afghan culture. Apparently nobody told the religious leaders who, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan last fall, petitioned broadcasters to delay Tulsi, in order to accommodate evening prayers. It wasn't just that the Mullahs were losing their flock to an Indian temptress; some made clear that they didn't want to miss an episode themselves.

Private TV networks have flourished since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban — which had banned television — and their staples have been imported dramas, news programs and homemade reality TV shows. Broadcasters were smashing taboos as quickly as they could find the staff: Women read the news, male and female DJs joked together on the radio, and would-be rock stars vied for attention in a nation that once banned music. Social conservatives grumbled, but appeared powerless in the face of insatiable demand that saw Tulsi garner an estimated viewership of some 10 million — one third of the population — according to broadcaster Tolo TV.

That prompted rival TV stations to acquire their own Indian serials, lured by their low cost and addictive appeal, and soon the impact of Bollywood was so ubiquitous that Afghan children were seen reenacting Hindu marriage rituals and prayers, while teenagers have taken to touching their elders' feet in a very non-Afghan sign of respect.

The opposition to this trend is hardly confined to conservatives: The government ban on the Bollywood serials passed by near unanimity in parliament, with support from U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai.

Shukria Barakzai, one of the few parliamentarians who voted against the ban, sees it as a sign of government impotence in the face of real issues. "There is poverty, there is corruption and there is a lack of security. What bill is the parliament providing for that?" she asks. "Why are you stopping TV shows when you can't stop rape cases across the country? Why are you stopping women dancing on TV when you can't stop young boys dancing for the men who sexually abuse them? They do this because they have no other ideas."

So far two TV stations have pulled the "offending" serials, but Saad Mohseni, director of Tolo TV, has refused, calling the ban illegal and ill-defined. He may eventually have to acquiesce, although he has plenty of other programs to fill the gap. Tolo already airs the terror-themed Hollywood drama 24, while a Korean mini-series and an Afghan-made soap opera have proved popular. So, it's not the ratings effect of dropping Tulsi that worries him, Mohseni says; it's the precedent. "Is this going to cut back on what we enjoy, freedom of expression? The Indian shows go first, then they ban music, then women on TV. Once they get a taste of power, once they are successful with this, what stops them from going all the way? I can feel the Taliban breathing down my neck."

Indeed, some members of parliament recently proposed a ban on loud music, video games, billiards, playing with pigeons and public mingling between men and women — prohibitions familiar from the Taliban era. In January a university student was sentenced to death for an Internet posting questioning Islam's treatment of women. A few months earlier, a prominent journalist was jailed for translating the Koran into Dari, a local language. The trend worries Barakzai, prompting her to ask, "Why are we even bothering to fight the Taliban?"

[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.]