In this bulletin:

• Burqa-clad suicide bomber kills 16 in Afghanistan
• Afghan police kill would-be suicide bomber 
• UN: Foreign agents behind spate of Afghan killings
• Thousands displaced by fighting in Afghan south: U.N
• Pakistan Truce Talks May Boost Afghanistan Attacks, NATO Says
• Pakistan in Taliban prisoner swap
• Pakistan Frees Rebels In Bid for Peace Deal
• Dozen militants killed in suspected US strike in Pakistan: security official
• General proclaims progress in Afghan mission
• Help us keep Afghanistan poppy-free, Afghan ambassador asks
• Afghans, troops pave way to safer road
• Widow of fallen Calgary medic supports Canadian mission in Afghanistan
• Afghan mission now top priority
• Strategic Policy Institute urges more troops for Afghanistan
• Is Nato repeating the USSR's Afghan mistakes
• Russia, China, India seek Afghan anti-drug "belt"
• Afghanistan National Seed Association is born

Burqa-clad suicide bomber kills 16 in Afghanistan

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber apparently wearing a burqa detonated in a busy bazaar in southwestern Afghanistan, killing 16 people including four policemen, a provincial governor said Thursday.

The extremist Taliban movement, which regularly uses suicide attacks in its campaign against the government, immediately claimed responsibility for the blast in Farah province's Delaram district.

Police were the target, Farah deputy governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli said. "Twelve civilians have been killed and 22 others wounded. Four police have been killed and six others wounded," he told AFP.

Rasouli said the body of the bomber was destroyed. "But we have found pieces of women's dress, shoes and a burqa," he said, referring to the all-covering garment worn by most Afghan women which also hides the face.

The interior ministry in Kabul gave a lower death toll, saying seven civilians and five policemen were killed.

The police chief for southwestern Afghanistan, Ikramuddin Yawar, also said investigations had shown the bomber was wearing a burqa. "The bomber wore a burqa, which indicates it might be a woman," he said.

If confirmed the bomber was female, it would be the first known suicide attack carried out by a woman. Male attackers have sometimes worn burqas as a disguise.

Juma Khan, an official in the provincial police department said women and children were also probably killed in the blast in a crowded bazaar.

"The bombing was in a crowded bazaar. We think there might be women and children among the casualties," he told AFP.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said a member of his organisation -- whom he identified as a man named Khalid -- carried out the bombing, which he said killed a dozen police and was aimed a police commander.

The Taliban were in government between 1996 and 2001 and were ousted in a US-led invasion for harbouring Al-Qaeda leaders after the 9/11 suicide attacks.

Their insurgency was at its bloodiest last year, and routinely steps up over spring, with a surge in violence in the past weeks.

In the deadliest suicide attack in recent weeks, a blast among a team of police and officials preparing to eradicate opium poppy fields in eastern Afghanistan killed 19 people on April 29. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

The insurgency is mainly focused in southern and eastern areas of Afghanistan, along the long and porous border where the rebels are said to crossing over from Pakistan.

But Farah and neighbouring Nimroz province both bordering Iran have seen a spike in militant attacks over the past two years.

Four Taliban were killed in separate battles with Afghan soldiers in Nimroz on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.

Another militant was killed and 13 captured in a raid by US-led troops in southern Helmand province's Garmser district where US Marines and British forces launched a major operation against rebels two week ago, it said.

Afghan police kill would-be suicide bomber  

KABUL, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police have shot dead a would-be suicide bomber in eastern Khost province, an official said Thursday.

    A man equipped with explosive devices and assault rifle was gunned down Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Wazir Badshah told Xinhua. "The man was attempting to enter Khost city the provincial capital to carry on suicide attack."

    On Monday, Afghan police arrested two more would-be suicide bombers in the country's northern Balkh province. The Taliban, fighting Afghan and the international troops since being ousted from power in 2001, vowed early this year to conduct more suicide attacks and roadside bombings against Afghan government and international troops across the country.

UN: Foreign agents behind spate of Afghan killings

By FISNIK ABRASHI – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A U.N. rights official alleged Thursday that foreign intelligence agents were acting with impunity in Afghanistan and have taken part in secret raids that have killed civilians.

U.N. envoy Philip Alston said he was aware of at least three such recent raids in the country's south and east. He said no one was taking responsibility for the killings.

He did not name a particular country, but mentioned one raid in January that allegedly killed two Afghan brothers that was conducted by Afghans and personnel from a U.S. special forces base in Kandahar.

He said Afghan government officials have said the victims had no connection to Taliban insurgents.

"It is absolutely unacceptable for heavily armed internationals accompanied by heavily armed Afghan forces to be wandering around conducting dangerous raids that too often result in killings without anyone taking responsibility for them," Alston told reporters.

Alston is a special rapporteur of the U.N. Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions. He has spent 12 days traveling Afghanistan.

He said foreign intelligence agencies were operating with apparent "impunity" in certain provinces. He said such secret operations were "absolutely unacceptable."

"Based on my discussions, there is no reason to doubt that at least some of these units are led by personnel belonging to international intelligence services," he said.

"I am trying to encourage both the Americans and the Afghan government and others to take some of this seriously," Alston said.

U.S. military officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Alston said there had also been raids in the eastern province of Nangarhar — another hotbed of the Taliban insurgency and al-Qaida militants, where U.S. special forces and other American-led units operate.

"When the international military forces at whatever level are asked what they know about them (the raids), the answer sometimes is, 'I know nothing,' and sometimes 'It is interesting, I must inquire into it,' but usually 'Yes, it's a problem, I wish we could do something,'" Alston said.

He said so far this year, more than 500 civilians have been killed by various assailants, including Taliban militants, Afghan and foreign security forces and Afghan militiamen.

He accused Taliban and Afghan police of involvement in unlawful killings. But he said there was no evidence that international forces commit widespread intentional killings in violation of international humanitarian law.

NATO and the U.S.-led coalition have nearly 70,000 troops fighting the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan and say they make every effort to prevent civilian casualties.

Reports of civilian deaths in military operations have reduced over the past year as foreign forces have taken more precautions in their targeting amid concern such incidents have dented public support for foreign military presence in Afghanistan. But civilians are increasingly killed in suicide bombings launched by insurgents.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber wearing a burqa killed 12 civilians and three police at a crowded market in western province of Farah. Twenty-two people were wounded.

Thousands displaced by fighting in Afghan south: U.N

Tue May 13, 2008 8:18am EDT, By Jonathan Burch

KABUL (Reuters) - Thousands of people have fled their homes as a result of fighting between U.S.-led forces and Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan this month, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.

In the latest incident in Garmsir district in the southern province of Helmand, coalition forces killed around a dozen militants on Monday in a joint air and ground operation, the U.S. army said on Tuesday.

"The information that I have...is that some 1,200 families have become displaced from that district (Garmsir) because of the recent fighting," said Mohammad Nader Farhad, a spokesman for the U.N. agency for refugees in Afghanistan, citing government estimates.

Of the 1,200 families, 900 have ended up in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, while the rest have gone to Registan district, Farhad said.

Frustrated by the failure of NATO allies to send troops to the south, the United States sent 3,200 Marines in March to bolster NATO-led British, Canadian and Dutch forces engaged in daily clashes in the region.

Late last month, the Marines launched their first large operation since arriving and were said to have taken control of Garmsir in Helmand, the world's biggest opium-producing region and a hotbed of insurgent activity.

"Because of the insecurity, we don't have access to those areas and that's why we cannot verify exactly how many have become displaced. There are probably more," Farhad said.

A joint United Nations and government team will be providing food and non-food items to meet the basic needs of the refugees, he said.

According to the U.N. more than 150,000 have fled their homes in Afghanistan as a result of recent years of fighting between Taliban militants and foreign troops.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday that it provided assistance to over 15,000 internal refugees in southern Afghanistan from January until April.

Pakistan Truce Talks May Boost Afghanistan Attacks, NATO Says

By Ed Johnson - May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Truce talks between Pakistan's government and militants in the tribal region may be causing a rise in terrorist attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, NATO said.

The level of extremist violence in eastern Afghanistan last month was 50 percent higher than the same period last year and approached the peak seen during fighting in August 2007, spokesman James Appathurai said yesterday.

``The concern is that deals being struck between the Pakistani government and extremist groups in the tribal areas may be allowing them, the extremists, to have safe havens, rest, reconstitute and then move across the border,'' Appathurai told reporters in Brussels.

Pakistan's ruling coalition, elected Feb. 18, says it will use a combination of military force and negotiations to curb terrorism and began holding truce talks with the country's most prominent Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, last month. The policy has raised questions from Bush administration officials, who say previous truces let the Taliban step up attacks on U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan.

The Taliban regime was ousted from Afghanistan by a U.S.- led coalition in 2001. NATO leads a force of 47,000 soldiers that is battling Taliban guerrillas in southern and eastern provinces and trying to stabilize the country under President Hamid Karzai's government.

Prisoner Swap

Pakistani authorities and pro-Taliban militants exchanged dozens of prisoners yesterday as part of the truce talks with Mehsud, Associated Press reported.

Thirty militants from North and South Waziristan districts were freed in exchange for 12 government soldiers, AP said, citing unidentified Pakistani intelligence officials.

Mehsud is demanding the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from the border region in return for a commitment to halt terrorist attacks and expel non-Pakistani militants.

The army said two days ago it had ``decided to readjust'' its positions in Waziristan, as Pakistani newspapers reported that troops were being pulled out of the area.

Pakistan's government said this week the truce talks won't undermine military operations in the tribal region, where U.S. intelligence agencies say al-Qaeda has established bases.

``The security requirements will not be abandoned or ignored under the policy,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq as saying May 8.

Last month, authorities in North West Frontier Province freed militant leader Sufi Muhammad, the founder of a movement that seized control of the northern Swat Valley in October. Under the truce, he promised to respect government institutions so that order can be restored in the region.

Pakistan's new government, which faces public pressure to step back from cooperating with the U.S. war on terrorism, has said it is reviewing its counterterrorism policies.

Since 2002, President Pervez Musharraf has allowed the U.S. to target suspected militants in the tribal region using Predator pilotless drones.

A suspected missile strike late yesterday on a village in Pakistan's Bajur tribal region near Afghanistan killed about a dozen people, AP said. Local Taliban leaders had gathered for a feast at the targeted house in Damadola, the news agency said, citing villager Ibrahim Khan.

Pakistan army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas couldn't confirm reports of the strike, AP reported.

Pakistan in Taliban prisoner swap

BBC - Pakistan's army has swapped prisoners with the Taleban and cut troop numbers in a tribal area near Afghanistan, stirring growing alarm in the West.

An army spokesman said more than 30 people detained by the military had been freed. Twelve security personnel were released by militants in return. The moves in South Waziristan are part of efforts to end violence in the area.

Nato criticised the deals by Pakistan's new government, saying cross-border attacks in Afghanistan are on the rise.

Pakistani army officials say troops have been shifted from at least two parts of South Waziristan, as officials try to reach agreement with leading pro-Taleban commander Baitullah Mehsud.

Nato and the US say such deals have led to "safe havens" for the Taleban and al-Qaeda along the border. Nato spokesman James Appathurai said such agreements could let militants "rest, reconstitute and then move across the border".

He said the alliance did not want to interfere in Pakistan's internal affairs , but wanted to "convey our concerns about what is happening inside Afghanistan".

Wednesday's prisoner handover took place after negotiations by tribal elders. Correspondents say it is not thought any high-profile suspects were among detainees released by the military.

Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said two officers were among the soldiers and paramilitary Frontier Corps constabulary freed by the militants. It is thought some had been held for months.

Scores of soldiers were taken hostage by the militants last year as they stepped up a campaign of attacks and suicide bombings that killed hundreds across Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of Pakistani security personnel have been stationed in areas near the Afghan border as part of efforts to curb militant activity. But more than 700 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and the militants are in de facto control of large areas.

The opposition won February elections in Pakistan and the new government wants to negotiate "peace deals" to end the violence. It is thought the government wants guarantees from militants that shelter will no longer be given to foreign fighters.

Pakistan Frees Rebels In Bid for Peace Deal

By ZAHID HUSSAIN, May 15, 2008, Wall Street Journal

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan freed dozens of militants Wednesday and started pulling troops from areas of a volatile tribal region as a part of an effort to make peace with Islamist militants.

Government officials also said the two sides were close to a deal that could end hostilities in the country's tribal region of South Waziristan and in parts of North West Frontier Province, one of Pakistan's four provinces.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said it is concerned that the Pakistani government's peace efforts have led to a sharp rise in attacks on the coalition's forces in eastern Afghanistan, where they are fighting insurgents. NATO spokesman James Appathurai said Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer plans to visit Islamabad soon for talks.

Pakistan's new government has been trying to reach a peace deal with Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban, a militant outfit involved in several bloody terrorist attacks in northern Pakistan. But the talks stalled last month after the government rejected the militants' demand to pull out troops from a tribal region.

The government's efforts have alarmed Washington, which worries that the lull will allow al Qaeda and other militant groups to regroup inside Pakistan and attack both there and over the border. But Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said the Pakistani government's past strategy, centered on military assaults, failed to produce the desired results.

The government Wednesday freed more than 37 militants in exchange for 12 soldiers. An army spokesman confirmed that the prisoners were exchanged as part of peace talks with Taliban militants. More prisoner exchanges are expected in next few days. Some 200 Pakistani soldiers and officials, including Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, are still held by Mr. Mehsud's followers.

The government is reluctant, however, to release some of the top Taliban commanders, including Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former defense minister in Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime. Most of them have been captured in Pakistan with the help of information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies.

"We cannot free them, as it will have huge consequence," said a senior army official. Mr. Mehsud is said to command about 20,000 militants and has expanded his influence in the past year from South Waziristan into several parts of North West Frontier Province.

Mr. Mehsud has also been charged by a Pakistani court with masterminding the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Analysts said a major objective of the militants is to force the government to pull army troops from tribal regions, which would allow the militants to concentrate on fighting NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan this week started thinning out troops in parts of South Waziristan. A military spokesman said the troops were being relocated to allow tribesmen to return home, but the move also met a key militant demand.

"The army has decided to readjust present positions and open various roads," said Major Gen. Athar Abbas.

According to another military official, the government intends to replace the regular army troops in the region with the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force that is being trained and equipped by the U.S.

Meanwhile, there are signs that Islamic hard-liners are gaining influence in North West Frontier Province. The province's government this week agreed to establish Islamic Shariah-law courts in the region of Swat, which has been the main center of Islamic insurgency for the past year.

Dozen militants killed in suspected US strike in Pakistan: security official

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — At least a dozen militants including foreign fighters were killed Wednesday in a suspected US missile strike on two houses in northwestern Pakistan, a senior security official said.

Two missiles apparently fired by a US drone aircraft demolished a house and a compound used by suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Bajaur tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, the official, who declined to be identified, told AFP.

"We have reports that the missile strike killed at least 12 militants including some foreigners," the official said. The houses targetted belonged to Maulvi Taj Mohammad and Maulvi Hassan, the official said, though it was unclear if they had been killed in the strikes.

"Both were Al-Qaeda facilitators," he said, adding there was an ammunition dump in one of the houses. Separately, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that the army was unaware of any missile strike in the region.

"We have no information about the strike," he said, adding the army was not in the area.

Similar missile attacks in the past have claimed the lives of several militants in Pakistan's volatile tribal belt.

Although there were no immediate claims of responsibility Wednesday, a US Predator drone targetted Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Damadola in January 2006, killing several rebels but missing him.

A similar missile strike on a pro-Taliban militant camp in another tribal area killed 10 people in November last year, though it was not clear who was responsible.

Pakistan's army at the time said it was not involved while the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, the only force known to operate drones in the area, said it was not aware of any activity.

The attack on Wednesday came as NATO urged Pakistan to improve security on its border with Afghanistan following a rise in cross-border attacks by Taliban fighters and Al-Qaeda militants.

"The number of attacks is up significantly from the same period last year," the alliance's chief spokesman James Appathurai said in Brussels. "There is not enough effectiveness in border control on Pakistan's side."

"The concerns have been communicated to Pakistan," he told reporters.

The Taliban, ousted from power in Afghanistan in late 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden, have been using Pakistan's lawless tribal belt to stage attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan this week moved its troops away from villages and towns in a volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan as a peace process moves forward, officials said Wednesday.

As part of the process, more than 30 tribesmen held in various prisons were freed Tuesday in return for the release of a dozen soldiers detained by pro-Taliban militants, a security official said.

The new government in North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, which replaced the pro-Taliban Islamist administration after February elections, has launched peace talks with the militants led by Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani warlord Baitullah Mehsud, local officials said.

"Talks are being held behind closed doors," a senior government official told AFP. "Some progress has been made," he said but did not elaborate. It was not clear what impact Wednesday's missile strikes would have on those talks.

The United States has expressed concern about any peace deal between Pakistan and militant fighters. Pakistan's military said troop positions across the restive region were being "readjusted," with soldiers being moved away from towns and villages.

The moves were mainly to facilitate the return of people who had fled the area due to previous unrest, the military said.

General proclaims progress in Afghan mission

Updated Tue. May. 13 2008, CTV.ca News Staff

Canada's outgoing commander in Afghanistan believes he's ending his tour with real progress being achieved in some of Kandahar's toughest districts.

In the Zhari and Panjwaii districts, families that left because of conflict are now returning to their homes, Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

"We have been able to conduct many projects in the area with the help of our Canadian partners ... I think life is better for the Afghan people in Kandahar."

Any progress has come at the cost of 17 Canadian lives since Laroche took command last August, most lost to so-called improvised explosive devices planted on roads.

Last fall, the military brought in some specialized bomb detection equipment and The Canadian Press reported earlier this month that the military is planning on buying even more such equipment.

Meanwhile, Canada is paying for a 6.5-kilometre road-paving project in Panjwaii. The project provides much-needed employment for hundreds of Afghans, will make it easier for Afghan farmers to get their products to market -- and make it tougher for insurgents to plant bombs.

There are plans to eventually build about 22 kilometres of paved road in the district. "I think we have done a lot of things to improve the security of our people," Laroche said.

Working closely with Canada's Afghan partners will help improve security further, he said. "We see more Afghan national security forces in places like Zhari-Panjwaii again," Laroche said.

"They are now in charge of Zhari district, which is a very difficult piece of ground."

Laroche is about to hand the job of commanding Task Force Afghanistan off to Brig.-Gen. Dennis Thompson.

Thompson has said he expects an increased emphasis on development and reconstruction.

The military has been working with Canadian diplomats and CIDA, the development agency, over his tour to establish the groundwork for that shift, Laroche said.

"Our main task for the forces is to support that effort by the other departments," he said.

One controversy that arose during the mission was reports that Canadian troops were "negotiating" with Taliban insurgents.

A poll released Tuesday by Angus Reid Strategies found that 48 per cent of respondents oppose active negotiation with the Taliban, while 37 per cent were open to the idea.

More than 1,000 people were interviewed for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

"We don't negotiate as such with the Taliban," Laroche said.

The Afghan government drives the reconciliation program, he said. There were discussions "at the tactical level" between soldiers and possible insurgents, he added .

"But again, we cannot call that negotiations," Laroche said.

Help us keep Afghanistan poppy-free, Afghan ambassador asks

(CP 05.13.08) - OTTAWA — Afghanistan's ambassador wants Canada and other members of the international coalition fighting in his country to offer incentives to Afghan farmers as a way to ensure poppy-free regions remain that way.

Omar Samad said there are about 20 provinces now in the North, East, Northeast and Central regions of the country that are considered poppy-free. This is up from 16 this time last year.

"When the province goes poppy-free and there are forces that want to reverse this trend, the government and the international community needs to step in, and they need to provide incentives and rewards in some ways to the farmers and to those who are keeping the province free of poppies."

Poppies are used to produce heroin that is sold to the international community. The Taliban profits from those sales to fund their insurgency against Canada and other NATO allies in Afghanistan. Farmers are paid about $10 a day to harvest the poppies.

Many of the poppy fields under Taliban control are in the south of Afghanistan where Canadians have spear-headed the fight against an insurgency.

Incentives that might lead to a decline in the poppy crop "doesn't mean cash, per se," the ambassador said.

"It could mean rural development, it could mean clinics, it could mean roads, it could mean providing them with agricultural machinery and so on and so forth."

Samad does admit that there is always a risk that those losing money from the banned poppy harvest could be swayed to the join the Taliban if they are promised income.

"But the history in the past two or three years in most of these provinces shows that there is very strong, popular support, even amongst farmers, for not resorting to poppy cultivation."

Earlier this month, the ambassador told the a House of Commons committee on Afghanistan that his country aims to increase the number of poppy-free provinces and reduce the poppy growing fields by a minimum of 25 per cent throughout 2008 and 2009.

Increasing security, better governance and implementing a program designed to help affected farmers with items like alternative livelihoods and rural development are the key ways to put an end to poppy production, according to Samad.

However, this is not going to be a quick fix, he says. "I think that all of these measures will take ten years to make a difference."

The increasing price for wheat may also end up being a boost to efforts to reduce poppy production. Farmer in some parts of Afghanistan are planting more wheat to take advantage of higher demand and rapidly rising prices.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been toiling in bone dry, 40 C heat for the last few weeks to bring in the poppy harvest, expected to be the largest in southern Afghanistan in living memory. The picking, all done by hand, is expected to go on for another two or three weeks.

What comes after that is what worries NATO commanders in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, the two biggest poppy producing regions in the country.

Once unemployed, those thousands of mostly illiterate field hands become a deep recruiting pool for the Taliban. Often they are bought off with money made in large part from the spoils of refining poppies into opium and heroin for the illicit drug trade.

Afghans, troops pave way to safer road

Work being done on route by locals could mean difference between life and death for Canadian soldiers

KATHERINE O'NEILL - From Thursday's Globe and Mail May 15, 2008 at 5:13 AM EDT

BAZAR-E-PANJWAI, AFGHANISTAN — Road construction at this time of year is a fact of life around the world, including war-torn Afghanistan.

However, work being currently done by a small army of Afghans on a key dirt road that snakes through the Panjwai district could mean the difference between life and death for Canadian soldiers deployed to the volatile area.

In many respects, the front line in the war in Afghanistan is on its dirt roads because Taliban insurgents use them to hide improvised explosive devices. The majority of the 84 Canadians killed in the conflict died in roadside bomb attacks.

"First and foremost, this will give soldiers more freedom of movement," said Captain Guy Dumont, a Canadian soldier helping to supervise the major road-construction project. "It's not hard right now to blow one up."

The military has hired about 320 Afghan men, mainly from the Panjwai district, a region where unemployment is rampant, to construct and pave the road - a move that will make it harder for the Taliban to hide bombs. More workers are expected to be hired after the poppy harvest finishes later this month.

However, getting locals safely to the construction site and protecting them while they are there has been half the battle.

Capt. Dumont said some of them have been targeted by Taliban insurgents, and security is a daily major concern. At least one worker was shot on his way to work earlier this year. The Canadian military paid for his medical bills.

On April 12, the heavily guarded construction work site, which is located about 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar, was hit by a rocket.

There's also been a problem with violence breaking out between workers. Some have gotten into fights, once even over a bet about a sandwich.

The project, which started in February, has been painstakingly slow because most of the back-breaking work has been done by hand in 40-degree weather and the majority of men had to be trained on the job.

While the Afghans have been issued gloves and reflective belts, they refuse to wear construction boots and helmets.

All the construction materials have to be trucked in from Kandahar Airfield. A hard-to-find cold pavement that had to be ordered from South Africa has yet to arrive. The paving, which has to be done with shovels, is expected to start early next month.

The first stage of the project is expected to cost $4.5-million, and pay for 6.5 kilometres of road to be paved. So far, only about 700 metres have been prepared.

Capt. Dumont said the Canadian government, which is paying for the project, could have done the work itself a lot faster, but would have missed out on the opportunity of employing so many Afghans and boosting the local economy.

He added the Canadian government also wanted it to be built by local Afghans because in the long run the road is for them.

The military hired a local Afghan to recruit workers. While one of the goals is to hire young jobless men who are at risk of being recruited by the Taliban, their workers range in age from 13 to 92. The military has had to turn away boys as young as 10 who want to work on the road.

Workers receive about 300 Afghanis a day, the equivalent of $6, which is the average wage for a local general labourer. About 95 per cent are illiterate so the military uses a fingerprint system for workers to pick up their paycheque every Thursday.

Each Afghan carries a photo identification security card that lists his name, height, weight and even the tribe he belongs to. They are searched every morning before entering the work site, which is under the constant watch of Canadian soldiers.

Habibullah Muhammad is one of the oldest workers. The 80-year-old said six of his seven sons are dead - all killed in fighting over the years - and he had to go back to work to support his 14 family members. His remaining son is 10 years old.

"This money is for my family so we can eat and buy clothes," he said. Like many of the other older workers, he's assigned to traffic control.

All workers are provided water and lunch, a selection of rice, bread and meat. They are also given time to pray in a roadside mosque, which is effectively a small compound with walls that are built to knee level.

Before they leave for the day, workers can visit a military medic. Most line up to get aspirin or face moisturizer. However, some complain about long-term ailments and dental problems.

Sergeant Adam Bell is in charge of four work crews totalling 100 men. "This is very rewarding. I'm actually outside of the wire doing something that will be here for a long time," said Sgt. Bell, an Edmonton-based soldier.

While the project has several interpreters, Sgt. Bell has learned several Pashto phrases such as "How are you?" and "It's quitting time" so he can speak with his workers. "We are not building the road, they are," he said.

Widow of fallen Calgary medic supports Canadian mission in Afghanistan

Calgary Herald Tuesday, May 13, 2008

CALGARY - The widow of a Calgary medic killed in an ambush in Afghanistan last week says losing her husband hasn't changed her opinion of Canada's mission in the war-torn country.

"I support Canada as a peacekeeping nation and what happened to Mike hasn't changed that for me," Nicole Starker said in an interview with the Calgary Herald on Tuesday - on the one-week anniversary of her husband's death outside of Kandahar. "His death provides a real connection to what's happening overseas."

Cpl. Michael Starker, 36, was on foot patrol when his group was attacked in the Pashmul region of the Zhari district May 6. The reservist, who worked as a paramedic for Calgary EMS, was serving with the Calgary-based 15 Field Ambulance unit as a medic.

Nicole Starker, 35, said she never expected anything would happen to her husband when he left for Afghanistan in February.

"He said, 'Nothing is going to happen to me, there's nothing to worry about,' and I honestly believed him. "I thought he was too good a guy for anything to happen to him."

A public funeral for Cpl. Starker is scheduled for Friday in Calgary. A total of 83 Canadian soldiers have died during the Afghanistan mission.

Afghan mission now top priority

Patrick Walters, National security editor | May 14, 2008

THE war in Afghanistan will cost taxpayers $620 million this year as the Rudd Government lifts its military and diplomatic commitment to the NATO-led stabilisation mission and scales down Australia's troop commitment to Iraq.

Afghanistan is destined to become the main focus of Australia's military operations abroad and the budget will see an extra $26million earmarked for the new embassy in Kabul.

Spending on Iraq will fall from $490 million this year to an estimated $216 million in 2008-09 as the army brings home its 550-strong battle group based at Tallil in southern Iraq. In Afghanistan, our military will top 1100 personnel by mid-year compared with about 200 remaining in Iraq.

Total expenditure on the ADF's overseas operations is budgeted at $1.05 billion, a drop of $265million largely due to Iraq. East Timor will cost $174 million while the commitment to the regional assistance mission to the Solomon Islands will cost $27million.

A billion-dollar slowdown in spending on new capital equipment has generated only a modest 0.8 per cent real increase in this year's defence budget in a sharp break to the hectic spending of the Howard years and well below the annual 3 per cent real growth target pledged by Kevin Rudd.

Defence spending will total $21.7 billion in 2008-09 compared with last year's outcome of $20.3billion with the total budget expenditure equivalent to 1.8 per cent of GDP.

But the budget papers show that this year's modest increase is a one-off with defence spending set to surge again next year and average 4 per cent real growth per annum over the next four years.

Wayne Swan said last night that on current projections defence spending would be about $6billion more in 2011-12 than last year.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Defence would spend $4.8 billion in 2008-09 on new equipment. A total of $650 million would be spent expanding the army with the eventual goal a 30,000-strong land force consisting of 11 core battle groups.

Mr Fitzgibbon sought to bolster the Government's commitment to long-term support for the ADF saying the Government would extend its 3 per cent per annum real increase in the defence budget from 2016 out to 2018. This would help underpin the new defence white paper due to be published at the end of this year.

"The increase will provide an additional $2.8 billion to defence over the two years and will ensure that our soldiers have the necessary equipment, training and support they require to undertake their difficult work," he said.

Defence analysts agree that the budget must grow by at least 3 per cent in real terms for the foreseeable future to accommodate sharp increases in new capital equipment as well as personnel and operating costs.

Reprogramming of $1.66 billion in major capital equipment spending this year, including further delays in Project Wedgetail, the RAAF's troubled $4 billion airborne early warning aircraft, is the main item in this year's overall budget slowdown. Defence sources say Wedgetail is running about three years behind schedule.

The budget papers also contain $24 million over four years for high-priority intelligence requirements for the Defence Department led by the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD).

The Defence Department has recently embarked on a $10 billion 10-year savings drive and this year's budget has found savings worth $190 million, mainly gleaned from revising repair and maintenance budgets and postponing capital works.

Overseas operations this year will be funded to the tune of $1billion by internal savings worth $210 million and an $826million windfall received by Defence from an abnormally high inflation index due to Australia's record terms of trade.

Strategic Policy Institute urges more troops for Afghanistan

ABC - A key strategic policy body is recommending that the Federal Government boost troop numbers in Afghanistan, only weeks after another Australian soldier was killed there.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute recommends in its report that more aid and more Australian soldiers be sent to Afghanistan now and that the Australian force make more of an effort to deal with the Pakistan border problem.

The institute argues that an increased effort now will speed up Australia's ultimate withdrawal from Afghanistan. Australia currently has more than 1,000 personnel deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Since October last year, four Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan battling Taliban fighters. The Institute's report says the Federal Government has spent more than $2.3 billion on Afghanistan since 2001.

But Raspal Khosa, a research fellow at the Institute and the report's author, says he thinks some of the allies' efforts are in vain. He has recommended three changes to Australia's defence and aid operations in Afghanistan.

"Number one, focus on security sector reform - that's training capable Afghan security forces to take control of their own security sector, which ultimately expedites our withdrawal from that country," he said.

"Secondly, to improve the effectiveness of our aid commitment through coordinating and integrating our military and civilian resources.

"And three, to closely engage with our friends and allies, Pakistan. Pakistan acts as a safe haven for insurgents who are conducting operations in Afghanistan."

ISAF commanders recently asked for an extra 10,000 allied troops to deal with the insurgents. Mr Khosa says even a modest commitment of 100 extra Australian troops could make a huge difference and he says there are dangers involved in withdrawing too early.

"The Australian troops act as a substantial force multiplier. When you're talking about additional troops you're also talking about thousands of extra Afghani troops and police, which is what's required," he said.

"Now if we put 100 troops in there, they will train thousands of extra Afghani troops. What you require are Afghans to actually hold the tactical advantages and gains that ISAF forces are reaching in Afghanistan.

"The problem is when you go in and you clear an area of Taliban, you can't hold that area because you haven't got sufficient local troops, and ... the Taliban will move back in there, so an additional 100 I think is a substantial force multiplier."

Mr Khosa says he cannot envisage western forces leaving Afghanistan within the decade, and he says a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan would send the country back into the "internecine fighting and war-lordism" of the 1990s.

"You would get criminal groups exploiting the situation to traffic even more opium out of that country. Afghanistan currently is responsible for 92 per cent of the world's illicit opium," he said.

"You may ultimately get Al Qaeda and the Taliban regaining control of parts of that country if not the whole country, although I don't think that's a likely outcome, to use that as a base for terror once again.

"You would get large refugee movements out of that country. You'd get humanitarian crises. So it's not a pretty picture I paint." He says Australia would not be immune from the fallout.

"We've seen in earlier years of this decade large numbers of refugees that moved out of Afghanistan into surrounding countries and ultimately numbers of those refugees ended up in Australia," he said.

"You're also getting more heroin from the golden crescent, which is the Afghanistan-Iran region, turning up on Australian streets, brown heroin, but that's becoming increasingly refined into China white.

"But you'd also get an export of terror into our region through groups such as Jemaah Islamiah and the Abu Sayyaf group."

Is Nato repeating the USSR's Afghan mistakes

By Alastair Leithead - BBC News, Kabul Thursday, 15 May 2008

Twenty years ago today the tanks and armoured cars started to rumble north out of Kabul as the Soviet Union began its withdrawal from Afghanistan after eight-and-a-half years of war.

The mujahideen, backed by money and weapons from an alliance of the United States, Britain, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, had beaten a world superpower.

Today the country is scattered with reminders of the Soviet occupation - you don't have to go far even in Kabul to stumble across the rusting wrecks they left behind.

The aptly named Zamir Kabulov first arrived in Afghanistan as a young Soviet diplomat in 1977 and has lived through the last turbulent 30 years of this country's misfortunes.

Same mistakes

Now he is Russian ambassador in Kabul and his voice of experience will ring in the ears of today's Nato- and US-led forces.

"There is no mistake made by the Soviet Union that was not repeated by the international community here in Afghanistan," Mr Kabulov said, listing the problems.

"Underestimation of the Afghan nation, the belief that we have superiority over Afghans and that they are inferior and they cannot be trusted to run affairs in this country."

His list goes on.

"A lack of knowledge of the social and ethnic structure of this country; a lack of sufficient understanding of traditions and religion."

Not only that, but he says they the country's new patrons are making their own new mistakes as well.

"Nato soldiers and officers alienate themselves from Afghans - they are not in touch in an everyday manner. They communicate with them from the barrels of guns in their bullet-proof Humvees."

And he admits to some satisfaction, watching those who once backed the mujahideen now suffering in the same way.

"To some extent, yes, I would not hide that. But I am even more satisfied by not having Russian soldiers among Isaf [Nato's International Security Assistance Force] because I don't want them to suffer the same results, implications your soldiers are suffering."

After the Soviet withdrawal the mujahideen turned on each other and tore Afghanistan apart.

Kabul crumbled in the civil war as the various factions rocketed at each other across the city, killing thousands of civilians.

Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, a mujahideen leader and prime minister in exile during the 1990s, admits they failed in the years following the Soviet withdrawal.

He is now an opponent of the government who stood against President Hamid Karzai in the last election and also draws parallels between the 1980s and the current international mission.

"The Russians were beaten because they invaded our country. They were the transgressors, not us," he said.

And asked how the Soviet occupation compared to today's mission: "To my opinion the ground situation is no different because the Soviets were imposing their Communist regime on us. The present forces - they are imposing their so-called democracy on us.

"They were wrong then and the present Nato forces are doing wrong now by killing innocent people - men, women and children."

Nato commanders object to this and say they are doing everything they can to stop civilian casualties, arguing they are making military progress against the insurgents.

"They are winning the battles but losing the war," ambassador Kabulov said, explaining that things are even harder now than they were in the 1980s.

"The structures of government then were very much there and our task was very much was to support and to win loyalty - or, if you will, hearts and minds - but we had a working administration."

In Helmand province British forces in Kajaki are fighting from positions originally built by the Soviets.

There are wrecks of armoured vehicles rusting in irrigation ditches in the same places they are now fighting the Taleban. They are fighting over the same patches of land.

"We didn't bother to collect the wrecks of our burned tanks and other vehicles but you do - you are more resourceful perhaps, or maybe you have fewer losses," the ambassador said.

"But if things continue going the wrong way, as they are now, come back in two years and you will find plenty of your own wrecks." A negative, sobering but very well-informed opinion - and the kind that is often ignored.

Russia, China, India seek Afghan anti-drug "belt"

By Conor Sweeney - Thu May 15

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) - China, India and Russia called on Thursday for the creation of a security belt around Afghanistan to halt the spread of heroin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a joint communique on boosting links between the three large developing countries would look at enhanced co-operation on humanitarian aid, fighting terrorism and combating drug trafficking.

"We discussed the situation around Afghanistan, where the drug threat emanates. It would help to build drug-secure belts around Afghanistan," Lavrov said after holding talks with his Chinese and Indian counterparts in this Urals city.

Afghanistan, devastated by three decades of Soviet occupation and civil war, accounts for 93 percent of world opium output, according to United Nations data.

Around 90 percent of the global supply of heroin emanates in Afghanistan, with output increasing since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

One of the main drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan lies across sparsely populated post-Soviet Central Asia to Russia. From there Afghan drugs make their way to Europe.

Lavrov, together with his Indian and Chinese counterparts, said they wanted to boost cooperation after talks in Yekaterinburg. The city sits on a major geographic division alongside the Ural mountains that divide Europe from Asia.

"I believe that against the backdrop of a multi-polar world it is necessary to advance cooperation between Russia, China and India, the three countries that are rapidly growing and enjoying strong economic growth," said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Yang said China wanted further expansion of cooperation with "more content and substance" that would cover sectors like agriculture, medicines and disaster relief. He did not specify how this would operate.

The next trilateral meeting will take place next year in India, said Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

He said India also wanted to boost its cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement countries which apart from China and Russia include four former Soviet Central Asian states.

Afghanistan National Seed Association is born

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Kabul, 15 May 2008 - The Afghanistan seed industry has reached another important milestone in its recent development with the unanimous agreement by stakeholders nationwide to establish the Afghanistan National Seed Association (ANSA) as their umbrella organization for advocacy and representation both nationally and internationally. This decision was an outcome of sub-national consultations in the different regions of the country, which culminated in a wrap-up workshop in Kabul on 12th May 2008 that brought together more than ninety stakeholders representing the public, private and NGO sectors.

The consultation meetings and wrap-up workshop were organized under the aegis of the Variety and Seed Industry Development project, which is being implemented by FAO and MAIL with funding from the European Union (EU). The meetings benefited from the long experience and knowledge of the key technical facilitator, Mr. Jean-Louis Duval (former President of the International Seed Federation, European Seed Association and French Seed Association), who guided the discussions and assisted in the process of reaching amicable conclusions. Dignitaries at the workshop included Eng. Mirdad Panjsheri, Chief Advisor to the Minister of MAIL and Chairman of the National Seed Committee, and Mr. Matin Behzad, Rural Development & Food Security Advisor of EU.

While unanimous agreement was reached on key issues such as name of the association, the establishment of three regional committees, and the aims and objectives of the association, there were different opinions on other matters including definition of membership, membership fees, and voting rights, but all these were resolved finally and joint position reached through majority voting. A quick poll at the end of the workshop revealed that 36 Afghan enterprises would wish to register as ordinary members and 9 as associate members, bringing the initial expected membership to a total 45.

The next steps following the workshop will include the drafting of the Articles of Association, consultation with the Ministry of Justice to confirm that the Articles are in harmony with Afghan legislative requirements, and organisation of the founding assembly most probably in the autumn of 2008.

[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.]