In this bulletin:

• Taliban turn to Iraq-style tactics to take Kabul districts
• Afghanistan: Secret Taleban cells spread lessons of jihad in Kabul University
• Hundreds of Afghans protest Quran shooting
• Osama in K2 mountains?
• Afghanistan concerned over Pakistan talks with militants
• NATO urges Pakistan to prevent Afghanistan spillover
• Thirteen police and 11 civilians killed in Afghanistan
• Afghan official reportedly opposes Pakistani proposal to fence border
• Afghan governor accuses Pakistan of supporting insurgents
• Taliban vow to fight, but open to talks
• Pakistan won’t let militants cross into Afghanistan: Ghani
• Islamabad, Kabul should unite to tackle extremism’
• British defence secretary says talks with terrorists mistake - Afghan TV
• Optimism Grows as Marines Push Against Taliban
• Afghan defence minister to visit Russia to discuss arms deals
• Slovakia plans to send more troops to Afghanistan
• Russia says regional security blocs can help in Afghan drug war
• Police seize 170 kg of drugs in Afghan west
• Iran drug tsar blames US for hikes in Afghan drugs
• Afghanistan flour trebles in price
• Govt and Taliban nearing pact in Mohmand Agency
• Taliban distribute pamphlets in Hangu
• Media war is the real war: Mehsud
• Taliban allow girls to attend schools
• ‘HIV risk in Afghanistan high’

Taliban turn to Iraq-style tactics to take Kabul districts

By Tom Coghlan in Taggab District, Kapisa Province

Telegraph.co.uk 26/05/2008

Taliban militants have begun infiltrating districts around Kabul, adopting Iraq-style insurgency tactics against Nato forces and the fragile Afghan government.

The strategy can be seen in microcosm in Taggab, which lies just 40 miles to the north of Kabul and where the Taliban is seen by many as a credible alternative to the weak US-backed government.

"Three months ago there were many Taliban preachers who moved through this area, calling the people to begin jihad," said Mohammad Nabi "Rahimullah" Safi, the deputy governor of Kapisa province.

"Then armed groups arrived. The people were consulting the government less. They went to the Taliban instead to sort out their issues."

Taliban tactics have shifted sharply away from frontal attacks on Nato forces in the first four months of the year. However, the overall level of violence has risen and roadside bombings are up by 34 per cent overall. At the same time, there have been reports of Taliban fighters moving into several rural districts north and east of Kabul, the capital.

The strategy seeks to exploit local grievances and disillusionment with the Afghan government in rural areas.

Around 60 per cent of the country is still controlled by local tribes or warlords, according to the most recent US intelligence survey. The Afghan government and its Western backers effectively control about 30 per cent and the Taliban 10 per cent.

One Western military source explained: "The shadow governments that they attempt to form are more worrying than insurgent violence."

Nine Taliban commanders now operate in and around Taggab and there are growing links to local supporters of Hizb-e-Islami, a powerful faction that is split on whether to join the Taliban insurgency.

The Taliban has been able to exploit long-standing tensions between local Pashtuns, the ethnic tribe from which the Taliban draws its support, and neighbouring Tajik areas associated with the Northern Alliance that helped US troops evict the Taliban in 2001.

"The police and the army round here are all Tajik thieves from the Northern Alliance," said one local Pashtun. He said that Tajik areas received preferential treatment.

Driving into the district – which was once a popular picnic destination for residents of Kabul – The Daily Telegraph passed the wreckage of a burning truck close to the new US base in Taggab. It had been ambushed by Taliban fighters armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades just an hour earlier. Six Afghan soldiers were killed and 13 injured last month.

That evening, Gul Rahman Safi, the local governor, and his police bodyguards waited for darkness before fleeing across nearby fields to the mud fortress home of a sympathetic businessman. Hours later their caution was justified by the whistle and thud of an incoming rocket and 10 minutes of gunfire from the hills above the town.

"This is a pivotal point," said Capt James Bithorn, 26, the commander of the small American base in the valley.

"The Taliban don't tend to mess with my guys, they pick off the soft targets. Really the fights don't matter too much. My focus has to be the population. We are in a tug of war for their support. " But according to the local MP, who stays mostly in Kabul these days, the population has lost faith in the government.

"President [Hamid] Karzai got 40,000 votes from Kapisa Province, but now he wouldn't get five," said Abdul Hadi Safi. "Since 2001, Taggab was left to fester. I went to the government. I begged for help.

"They ignored me. I guarantee that I will not be voted again the MP. The situation will get worse. If it gets worse it is not my problem. I tried."

Afghanistan: Secret Taleban cells spread lessons of jihad in Kabul University

From The Times, May 27, 2008

To his professors and peers at Kabul University, Abdul is the epitome of a model student. The 21-year-old law undergraduate takes copious notes in class, always finishes assignments on time and hopes to become a teacher when he graduates.

What they do not know is that when class is over he spends his time on less wholesome activities - watching videos of bomb attacks on American troops and plotting to overthrow the Afghan Government.

Abdul is not just a Taleban sympathiser: he is a member of a secret Taleban cell at Kabul University that claims several hundred members and is a worrying new sign of the movement’s expanding influence.

“At the time of the Taleban there was security and basic justice and prices were not as high as now,” Abdul told The Times. “There also was not as much corruption. Lots of aid money comes to Afghanistan and disappears. We want to liberate our country, to remove these authorities and do something for the people.”

The university cell does not fight but is ready to take up arms if called upon by its leaders, according to Abdul and another member, who gave false names. “I’ll fight until I die but I won’t do suicide because it’s forbidden in Islam,” said Abdul, who claims to have recruited nine other students.

The university cell illustrates how the influence of the Taleban has spread beyond its traditional support base in the south - and right to the heart of Afghanistan’s most prestigious educational institution and its largest with 12,000 students. It also shows how the movement appeals to educated young Afghans as well as the poor, illiterate farmers who make up the bulk of its fighting force.

At the same time it suggests that the Taleban is divided between extremists, who target civilians and reject all forms of modernity, and relative moderates, who want development but oppose foreign troops.

Abdul said that he was recruited by a Taleban “representative” from his region a month after he arrived at the university last year. One of his motivations was a Nato air raid on his village in the eastern province of Paktia, which he says killed 25 people, including several cousins, last year.

Javed, a literature student, said that he joined the Taleban after three months at the university, angered by the death of a 19-year-old woman in a house raid by American troops in his village in the southeastern province of Khost. He said that he had since recruited 16 other students.

Javed and Abdul said that they did not know the identity of their ultimate leader on campus because the cell was structured to prevent members from informing on one another. “Everything is very secret. Everyone knows one or two people,” Javed, 25, said.

“We don’t know how many we are because we don’t get together in a conference hall. But there are hundreds and the numbers are increasing.”

Several other students and teachers said that they were aware of the cell but refused to discuss it with a foreign reporter. Abdul Azim Noorbaksh, a university spokesman, admitted that Taleban activity was a problem on campus but said that the university authorities had no power to stop it.

“We try to teach students to choose some better alternative,” he said. “If they join a political or religious movement, that’s their own business. It is up to the Government to respond.”

The Interior Ministry said that it was keeping a close eye on the campus, where political activity is banned, but did not yet regard the Taleban cell as a serious problem.

“Their ideology is very different from those fighting the Government,” Abdul Hakim Asher, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said. “They are ordinary students. They are not a threat.”

Abdul and Javed agreed that they had no sympathy for Taleban militants who killed civilians, used suicide bombers and burnt down schools. “They are supported by the Pakistanis,” Javed said. “We are with the real Taleban, who only target foreign troops.”

The pair also said that their leaders, while wanting to introduce Sharia, tolerated music, films, men without beards and women’s education.

They said that there was nothing moderate about their hatred of President Karzai and the international community, which they said had brought nothing but corruption to Afghanistan. “They haven’t done anything in seven years,” Javed said. “The international community isn’t here to bring peace and security, but to destroy our country and to kill Muslims.”

Hundreds of Afghans protest Quran shooting

To day’s Zaman 27 May 2008

Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Monday in two different provinces against a US sniper in Iraq who used a Quran, the Muslim holy book, for target practice.

Demonstrators tore apart an effigy of US President George W. Bush and chanted anti-US slogans. A Lithuanian soldier and two Afghan civilians were shot and killed last week when about 1,000 Afghans gathered in western Afghanistan to protest the incident. Monday's demonstrations in Balkh and Logar provinces involved several hundred people but were not violent, provincial officials said. The US military has said it disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used the Quran for target practice on May 9. Bush apologized to Iraq's prime minister for the incident after several US military officials tried to soothe anger. Qari Abdul Qahar, a cleric who helped lead the demonstration in Balkh province, also called for the death sentence to be upheld against Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, a 24-year-old Afghan journalism student convicted of insulting Islam after downloading a paper from the Internet.

Osama in K2 mountains?

Daily Times 27 May 2008

LAHORE: Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is hiding in the Karakoram segment of the Himalayan range, Arabic television network Al-Arabiya quoted its sources as saying on Monday. According to the Dubai-based network, in the past few days United States (US) security and military officials had a top-level summit at a military base in Qatar’s capital Doha to plan an operation to hunt for Osama. US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus and US ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson were reported to have attended the summit. Last week, Petraeus testified before a US Congressional committee about security in Iraq and warned that members of Al Qaeda based in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas were planning a new attack on the US. According to the channel, reports say the Central Investigation Agency (CIA) has located Osama in the “rooftop of the world”, the area of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan to the west, in particular the chain of mountains of Afghan province of Nurestan and China to the north. The report says that support for Al Qaeda is broadening, not only among the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani tribes that deny Osama’s presence in the area, but also fundamentalists including the Muslim Brotherhood that has changed its strategy. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahdi Akef has called Osama “a mujahid that sincerely fights against foreign occupation in order to be closer to Allah”. In an interview published on the Arab website, Elaph, Akef said he supported the activities of Al Qaeda against occupiers and not those against the people. daily yimes monitor

Afghanistan concerned over Pakistan talks with militants

May 27, 2008 - KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan Tuesday voiced concerns over peace talks between Pakistan and Taliban-linked militants active in the rugged tribal areas along its frontier saying such deals could increase violence.

Top Pakistani militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, who is based in restive South Waziristan tribal district, vowed last week to continue attacks in Afghanistan while pursuing peace talks with Pakistan.

"We welcome any political efforts by Pakistan to find solutions for internal problems," Homayun Hamidzada, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, told reporters.

"But such agreements should not result in intensified attacks and infiltration of terrorists to Afghanistan," the spokesman said. He said Kabul had conveyed its concern officially to Islamabad, with whom it is seeking friendly relations.

"Pakistan as a sovereign country has the responsibility not to allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities against its neighbours. "If such activities take place, it will undermine its sovereignty," the spokesman said.

Afghan officials have repeatedly blamed Pakistan for turning a blind-eye to alleged Taliban militant training centres and finance networks in its semi-autonomous border regions.

Islamabad has strongly rejected the accusations.

Pakistan has already signed a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, about 99 kilometres (55 miles) from Afghanistan, to quell the violence.

Islamabad has repeatedly suggested it could fence its long porous border with Afghanistan to stop crossborder infiltration. Hamidzada said to fence the border was not a solution.

"We must go to the roots of the problem. The problem is the hideouts, the nests of terrorism and Pakistan should neutralise that and not divide families by the fence," he said.

The Taliban regime was ousted from government in Afghanistan by US-led military in 2001 when they refused to hand over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 attacks.

The network has allegedly regrouped in Pakistan and a Pentagon report last week said the growth of Al-Qaeda safe havens there was "troubling."

Last year was the deadliest of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, with 8,000 people killed, according to UN figures. Most of the dead were rebels, though 1,500 civilians and several hundred soldiers were also slain.

NATO urges Pakistan to prevent Afghanistan spillover

May 27, 2008 - BERLIN (Reuters) - NATO's secretary-general urged Pakistan on Tuesday to prevent a spillover of violence from its border region into Afghanistan and called for stronger political dialogue between Pakistan and the U.S.-led alliance.

Faced with a wave of suicide attacks, Pakistan has begun negotiations with Taliban militants who control much of the mountainous region on its side of the border with Afghanistan and thinned out the number of troops in the area.

But NATO's force in Afghanistan has said the peace talks have led to an increase in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.

"It is...important for Afghanistan's neighbours to be involved in a constructive manner and especially for Pakistan to prevent spillover across its border with Afghanistan," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told members of NATO's parliamentary assembly at a meeting in Berlin.

"It is of great importance that the alliance establishes and increases its political dialogue with Pakistan," Scheffer said, adding he hoped to travel to Pakistan in the autumn.

"I hope to discuss this in a very constructive spirit," he said. "The right approach is to consider Pakistan as part of the solution, not part of the problem ... It's important that apart from military dialogue, to have serious political dialogue."

Afghan forces, backed by more than 60,000 foreign troops, are engaged in daily battles with Taliban militants, mostly in the south and east, the areas closest to the border.

A Pakistani government official said on Monday Pakistan was determined to stop militants crossing to fight Western troops in Afghanistan and is activating tribal leaders to squeeze out the militants.

Afghan officials have often accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to use Pakistani territory as a safe haven from which to direct and launch attacks and also rest and regroup.

Many al Qaeda and Taliban militants fled to Pakistan's border lands, that have never come under the full control of any government, after U.S-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

(Reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Thirteen police and 11 civilians killed in Afghanistan

May 27, 2008 - KABUL (Reuters) - Eleven civilians and 13 policemen were killed in a series of blasts and Taliban attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said.

Nine police were killed in Taliban attacks in Shor Abak district of southern Kandahar, provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told Reuters.

"The Taliban killed five police in an attack on their post and the other four were killed when we sent in reinforcements later," he said.

Three children were killed by a blast while playing near a police station outside Kandahar city, he said, adding the explosion occurred as a Taliban militant was planting the device under a bridge.

Earlier in the day, one woman, a child and six men were killed when a blast hit a bus in Del Aram district of western Farah province, deputy provincial governor Mohammad Younus Rasuli said.

The blast occurred on a road where Afghan and foreign troops have come under similar attacks and ambushes by Taliban insurgents in recent months, he told Reuters.

The other four policemen were killed in an explosion in Logar province south of Kabul, a provincial official said.

In another incident on Tuesday, U.S.-led troops killed several Taliban militants in an operation in Helmand province in the south, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Violence has escalated in Afghanistan in the past two years, the bloodiest period since Taliban's removal from power in 2001.

Some 13,000 people, including more than 370 foreign troops, have been killed during this period.

The violence comes despite the presence of more than 62,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military as well as some 150,000 Western-reliant Afghan forces.

The al Qaeda-backed Taliban are mostly active in southern and eastern areas along the border with Pakistan's tribal region where the militants have some bases.

Afghan official reportedly opposes Pakistani proposal to fence border

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Ariana TV on 26 May

[Presenter] At his meeting with the US senators on Sunday [25 May], Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani said that his government was planning to erect fences and install biometrics systems along the borders with Afghanistan to prevent cross border movement. The Afghan government officials, however, have opposed the plan. The Afghan government has said that the best way to tackle insurgency is better coordination among the countries in the region and targeting the root causes of terrorism in Pakistan. Emal Habibi is reporting:

[Correspondent] Soltan Ahmad Bahin, the Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman, has told Ariana TV that fencing the Durand Line will [only separate] the people living on both sides of the border, who share common ties and have had long coexistence, and this is not a proper anti-terror solution.

According to the spokesman, the Pakistani foreign minister is due to visit Kabul and the Afghan officials are going to share their conce! rns on the issue.

The Pakistani government raised the issue of fencing the border with Afghanistan last year, which was strongly opposed by the Afghan government.

Observers believe that the newly-established government of Pakistan is pursuing the previous policies. They add that the Pakistani government has already proposed a compromise with the Taleban and it sees fencing of the Durand Line as [part of efforts for] the anti-terror campaign. This strategy has so far failed and yielded no positive results, however.

The Pakistani prime minister has talked about fencing the border at a time when the newly formed Pakistani government just signed a peace pact with the Taleban.

Afghan governor accuses Pakistan of supporting insurgents

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV, on 26 May

[Presenter] The governor of Laghman Province has spoken about the activities of a number of foreign terrorist groups in that province.

The governor stresses that there is no serious challenge facing the security situation in Laghman, but according to him, foreign terrorist groups come to the province every now and then and carry out some attacks. My colleague Tamim Hamid reports from Laghman.

[Correspondent] The governor of Laghman Province says Taleban have a weak presence in the province. Mr Mashal, meanwhile, spoke of sporadic attacks by foreign terrorists in Laghman, but stressed that the activities of the groups were confined to limited parts of the province.

[Lotfollah Mashal, governor of Laghman] Majority of the people involved in destructive activities are foreign spies. They are funded by the neighbouring countries, especially by Pakistan. Laghman is close to Nurestan, Konar and Nangarhar provinces, and is located near the border wi! th Pakistan. The destructive elements that enter Afghanistan from the tribal areas are the main causes of insecurity.

[Mawlawi Saidorrahman, MP for Laghman Province, in Pashto] With the grace of God, the situation in Laghman is much better in comparison to other parts of Afghanistan. It is very safe. There are no threats for the government or ordinary people other than people's personal problems.

[Correspondent] The Afghan authorities have previously warned that terrorists enter Afghanistan from the other side of the borders. Pakistan has mainly been criticized by Afghan authorities for what they describe as lack of cooperation in the war on terror.

[Presenter] Pakistan, on the other hand, has always emphasized its comprehensive cooperation in the war on terror.

Taliban vow to fight, but open to talks

By REUTERS, Published: May 26, 2008

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban will fight on till the last foreign soldier is driven out of Afghanistan, but their door is always open to talks with other Afghan opposition groups, the Islamist movement said on Monday.

The offer comes days after Burhanuddin Rabbani , a former president and mujahideen chief, now opposition leader, said the Taliban had shown a desire for political dialogue and called for serious efforts to establish talks with the Islamist rebels.

The Taliban "will fight till the withdrawal of the last crusading-invader, but the door for talks, understanding and negotiations will always be open for the all the mujahideen," the Taliban said in a statement on its website.

But, the Taliban said, the mujahideen should join the insurgency and help fight to drive out foreign forces.

Rabbani and other former leaders of the mujahideen forces which fought the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, then each other in the 1990s, now dominate the opposition in parliament.

The Taliban have previously said they would also fight on to depose President Hamid Karzai , but there was no mention of the Western-backed Afghan government in Monday's statement.

The Taliban cited "sacrilege" against Islam since U.S. President George W. Bush spoke of a crusade against terrorism in 2001, up until the recent shooting of a Koran by a U.S. soldier in Iraq. All proof of the "crusaders' hostility towards Islam."

"Now, the Muslims of the world and Afghanistan, and in particular, the leaders of the groups who consider themselves Muslims and mujahideen are under the service of the invaders and crusaders," the Taliban statement said.

The mujahideen, the Taliban said, "may have realized the time has come to begin an armed jihad against the crusading-invaders. This is the only way for rescuing the Islamic nation and dear Afghanistan."

Rabbani, who now leads the opposition block in parliament, said he had established contact with the Taliban several months ago and had received a letter in recent days containing "some encouraging messages" from the Taliban addressed to the alliance of parties he leads.

The Taliban statement did not directly refer to Rabbani's comments. U.S.-led troops, helped by Afghan mujahideen groups, toppled the Taliban in 2001 after the hardline Islamist movement refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But many of the factions that helped topple the Taliban now feel sidelined and some have privately shown dissatisfaction with the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

More than 12,000 people have been killed by violence in Afghanistan in the past two years, the bloodiest period since the overthrow of the Taliban government.

More than 62,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military are stationed in Afghanistan. Foreign commanders say the troops will leave the country when Afghan security forces are able to stand on their feet.

Pakistan won’t let militants cross into Afghanistan: Ghani

Daily Times 27 May 2008

* NWFP governor says talks being held with tribal elders to isolate militants
* Expects deal to be struck soon in South Waziristan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is determined to stop militants crossing its border to fight Western troops in Afghanistan and is activating tribal leaders to squeeze out the militants, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said on Monday.

Ghani defended the government’s efforts to bring peace to the Tribal Areas through talks, saying that Pakistan was committed to Afghanistan’s security.

“Pakistan is fully committed to interdicting cross-border movement of terrorists,” he told Reuters in an interview.

“In no way can we allow militant forces to use Pakistani territory as a base to operate in Afghanistan or anywhere.” A re-think was needed in the war against the Taliban, Ghani said.

“This war against these extremists ... has now entered the seventh year and I feel that we need to actively review our strategies,” he said.

“What we need to do is to reduce the space available to these negative forces,” he added.

Many Al Qaeda and Taliban militants fled to Pakistan’s border lands, that have never come under the full control of any government, after US-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

There they were welcomed by the conservative Pashtun tribes who, since the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, had given refuge to Islamist fighters battling foreigners in Afghanistan.

Winning over the tribes was crucial, Ghani said.

Isolate militants: The Pakistani government is not talking to the militants but to the Pashtun elders in the border areas in an effort to get them to exert their authority and isolate the militants, the governor said.

“We are talking to the majority tribes, their leaders, because it is their area and they are citizens of Pakistan and we are activating them so that they take control of their area and they reduce the space available to these militants,” Ghani said.

Tribal leaders would be obliged to ensure militants don’t launch attacks in Afghanistan and the government would have the right to take action in case of any violation, he added.
Expecting peace: Ghani said he expected a deal to be struck soon in the South Waziristan region, where the government has been negotiating with elders of the Mehsud tribe.

A militant chief from the tribe, Baitullah Mehsud, has emerged as Pakistan’s most notorious militant commander, accused by the government of a string of attack and suicide blasts, including the one in which Benazir Bhutto was killed in December.

Mehsud, who leads an umbrella groups of Pakistani militant groups, said on Saturday fighting with the Pakistani government should end, but he vowed to carry on the jihad in Afghanistan. Another senior government official reiterated that any pact would aim to ensure an end to cross-border attacks.

“No agreement will be signed without the provision of no cross-border terrorism,” the second official said. reuters

‘Islamabad, Kabul should unite to tackle extremism’

By Sajjad Malik, Daily Times 27 May 2008

ISLAMABAD: Extremism along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan poses a serious threat to global security and both countries should make concerted efforts to tackle the issue, UK Defence Secretary Des Browne said on Monday.

According to a statement released by the British High Commission, Browne is in Pakistan for a series of talks on regional security, following a three-day visit to Afghanistan. It said that during his visit, Browne called on Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid, and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani.

“Pakistan and Afghanistan share common problems and I am encouraged by both countries’ commitment to work together, with the international community’s support, towards tackling them,” he said after talks with Pakistani civil and military leaders.

Double funding: Browne discussed several bilateral issues and received an update on the political and security situation in FATA, the statement said. He said, “The UK is committed to doubling development spending in Pakistan to almost $1 billion over the next three years, and we are prioritising good governance, growth and the delivery of basic services.”

During his meeting with the Defence minister, the UK secretary said that Britain supported the new government’s initiative to achieve peace in the Tribal Areas through dialogue. “The UK supports the agreement and the process of reconciliation with the insurgents as initiated by the Government of Pakistan,” Defence Ministry officials quoted him as saying. He also admired Pakistan’s key role in combating the menace of extremism.

Mukhtar, meanwhile, highlighted the counter-terrorism measures taken by Pakistan, saying that the country was committed to fighting and eliminating the twin menaces of terrorism and extremism. He said the security forces of Pakistan were actively engaged in preventing cross-border infiltration along the border with Afghanistan. He said Pakistan was endeavouring to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan, because a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in the best interest of the whole region.

Des Browne also called on CJCSC Gen Tariq Majid at Joint Staff Headquarters and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest. According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, the CJCSC told Browne that Pakistan was committed to nuclear non-proliferation but wanted the international community to follow a non-discriminatory approach. During a discussion on regional security, with a specific focus on the war against terrorism and recent developments in Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas of Pakistan, the CJCSC called for a holistic and comprehensive approach to attain the ultimate objective of peace.

Satisfaction: Majid expressed satisfaction with the expansion of military ties and co-operation between the two countries’ armed forces following the formation of the Pak-UK Defence Co-operation Forum, which has been meeting regularly.

Also on Monday, Des Browne told the Foreign minister that the two sides had discussed bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common interest. Pakistan thanked the UK for its role in restoring Pakistan’s membership in the Commonwealth.

Browne also called on the Chief of Army Staff General Kayani. The ISPR said the two leaders discussed matters of professional interest.

Following his meetings, Browne attended a dinner at the Pakistan Air Force Officers’ mess in Islamabad, which was held in his honour by the Defence minister.

British defence secretary says talks with terrorists mistake - Afghan TV

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV, on 26 May

[Presenter] Des Browne, the British defence secretary, has stressed that the interests of Afghanistan and Pakistan should be taken into account when deals are struck in any of the two countries. The British defence secretary says Pakistan shall be responsible for the consequences of any deal it makes.

The remarks come after recent comments by Baitullah Mehsud, and the deal reached between the government of Pakistan and the Taleban. My colleague Parwez Shamal has more on this.

[Correspondent] The deal by the government of Pakistan with local Taleban in Swat area and the recent remarks by Baitullah Mehsud about the continuation of war in Afghanistan have provoked different reactions.

The British defence secretary told Tolo Television in an exclusive interview that any deal that is reached should be in accordance with regional interests.

[Des Browne in English with Dari translation superimposed] The important issue is that terrorism is a ! [common] problem of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Any decision at any country on one side of the border will affect the other side of the border. The interests of both countries should therefore be observed when making a decision. Any decision should be made in consultation between the two countries. My view, in general, is that holding talks with terrorists, who harm the people, is a mistake. But the process of strengthening peace and talks with the opposition depends on the strength of a government.

[Correspondent] The Foreign Affairs Ministry, on the other hand, has strongly criticized any type of negligence in the war on terror.

[Soltan Ahmad Bahin, Foreign Ministry spokesman] We are strongly against any kind of one-sided agreements that will weaken the anti-terror front and will in the long run prepare the ground for the second country - in this case Afghanistan - to be attacked. We are strongly against it and we are seriously concerned about such deals.

[Correspondent] National Defence Ministry had previously criticized th e deal by the government of Pakistan with Pakistani Taleban, saying that Afghanistan would soon raise its concerns at the tripartite meeting of Afghan, Pakistani and NATO representatives.

[Presenter] The government of Afghanistan stresses that the advantage and disadvantage of such deals for the two countries should be taken into consideration.

Optimism Grows as Marines Push Against Taliban

NY Times, By CARLOTTA GALL Published: May 27, 2008

GARMSER, Afghanistan — For two years British troops staked out a presence in this small district center in southern Afghanistan and fended off attacks from the Taliban . The constant firefights left it a ghost town, its bazaar broken and empty but for one baker, its houses and orchards reduced to rubble and weeds.

But it took the Marines, specifically the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, about 96 hours to clear out the Taliban in a fierce battle in the past month and push them back about 6 miles.

It was their first major combat operation since landing in March, and it stood in stark contrast to the events of a year earlier, when a Marine unit was removed in disgrace within weeks of arriving because its members shot and killed 19 civilians after a suicide bombing attack.

This time, the performance of the latest unit of marines, here in Afghanistan for seven months to help bolster NATO forces, will be under particular scrutiny. The NATO-led campaign against the Taliban has not only come under increasing pressure for its slow progress in curbing the insurgency, but it has also been widely criticized for the high numbers of civilian casualties in the fighting.

The marines’ drive against the Taliban in this large farming region is certainly not finished, and the Taliban have often been pushed out of areas in Afghanistan only to return in force later. But for the British forces and Afghan residents here, the result of the recent operation has been palpable.

The district chief returned to his job from his refuge in the provincial capital within days of the battle and 200 people — including 100 elders of the community — gathered for a meeting with him and the British to plan the regeneration of the town.

“They have disrupted the Taliban’s freedom of movement and pushed them south, and that has created the grounds for us to develop the hospital and set the conditions for the government to come back,” said Maj. Neil Den-McKay, the officer commanding a company of the Royal Regiment of Scotland based here. People have already started coming back to villages north of the town, he said, adding, “There has been huge optimism from the people.”

For the marines, it was a chance to hit the enemy with the full panoply of their firepower in places where they were confident there were few civilians. The Taliban put up a tenacious fight, rushing in reinforcements in cars and vans from the south and returning repeatedly to the attack, but they were beaten back in four days by three companies of marines, two of which were dropped in by helicopter to the southeast.

In the days after the assault began, hundreds of families, their belongings packed high on tractor-trailers, fled north from villages in the southern part of the battle zone, according to marines staffing a checkpoint. The Taliban told them to leave as the fighting began, they said. Hospital officials in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, reported receiving eight civilian casualties as a result of the fighting, including a 14-year-old boy who died from his injuries. The marines did not sustain any casualties, but one was killed and two were wounded in subsequent clashes.

Marines from the unit’s Company C said the reaction from the returning civilians, mostly farmers, had been favorable. “Everyone says they don’t like the Taliban,” said Capt. John Moder, 34, the commander of the company. People had complained that the Taliban stole food, clothes and vehicles from them, he said.

There are about 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan, with more than 3,000 marines having been sent into the country after NATO requested additional help in the south, where the Taliban are particularly strong.

The deployment occurred almost a year after up to 19 unarmed civilians were killed and 50 people wounded on March 4, 2007, when a Marine convoy opened fire after a suicide car bomb wounded one marine. On Friday, the Marine Corps said it would not bring charges against two of the commanding officers from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit for the episode, a decision that was greeted with dismay in Afghanistan.

The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, had a checklist of tasks around the country for 3,200 marines when they arrived in March. But the majority of them have spent a month in Garmser after changing their original plan, which was to secure a single road here, when they realized how important the area was to the Taliban as an infiltration and supply route to fighters in northern part of Helmand Province.

“This is an artery, and we did not realize that when we squeezed that artery, it would have such an effect,” said First Lt. Mark Matzke, the executive officer of Company C.

They also realized it was worth exploiting their initial success. The whole area was unexpectedly welcoming to the American forces and eager for security and development, Captain Moder said. “Us pushing the Taliban out allows the Afghan National Army to come in,” he said. “This is a real breadbasket here. There’s a lot of potential here.”

This southern part of Helmand Province, along the Helmand River valley, is prime agricultural land and still benefits from the large-scale irrigation plan kicked off by American government assistance in the 1950s and 1960s. It has traditionally been the main producer of wheat and other crops for the country. During the last 30 years of war, however, the area has given way to poppy production, providing a large percentage of the crop that has made Afghanistan the producer of 98 percent of the world’s opium.

The region has long been an infiltration route for insurgents coming across the southern border with Pakistan, crossing from Baluchistan Province in Pakistan via an Afghan refugee camp known as Girdi Jungle. The Taliban, and the drug runners, then race across a region known ominously as the desert of death until they reach the river valley, which provides the ideal cover of villages and greenery.

With such a large area under their control, the Taliban were able to gather in numbers, stockpile weapons and provide a logistics route to send fighters and weapons into northern Helmand and the provinces of Kandahar and Oruzgan beyond.

The Taliban, who kicked out villagers and took over their farmhouses, were also mixed with an unusual proportion of Arabs and Pakistanis, Major Den-McKay said.

“The majority of elements in this area are Arab and Pakistani, and the locals detest them,” he said. The insurgent commanders were from Iran, which shares a border with Afghanistan to the southwest, as well as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, he said.

Afghan villagers confirmed that there were local Afghan Taliban fighting, too. But they also said that there were Pakistanis, ethnic Baluchis from southern Iran and Arabs fighting as well.

Locals complained that the Taliban taxed them heavily on the opium harvest. They demanded up to about 30 pounds of opium from every farmer, which was more than the entire harvest of some, so they were forced to go and buy opium to meet the demand, said Abdul Taher, a 45-year-old farmer.

“We had a lot of trouble these last two years,” said Sher Ahmad, 32. “We are very grateful for the security,” said his father, Abdul Nabi, the elder of a small hamlet in the village of Hazarjoft, a few miles south of Garmser. “We don’t need your help, just security,” he said.

Villagers were refusing humanitarian aid offered by the marines because the Taliban were already infiltrating back and threatening anyone who took it, Lieutenant Matzke said.

After a month in the region, the marines have secured only half of a roughly six-square-mile area south of Garmser. Taliban forces operating out of two villages are still attacking the southern flank of the marines and are even creeping up to fire at British positions on the edge of the town.

But the bigger test will come in the next few weeks as the marines move on and the Afghans, supported by the British, take over. The concern here is that the Taliban will try to blend in among the returning villagers and orchestrate attacks.

Major Den-McKay said they were ready. “The threat will migrate from direct attacks to suicide attacks” and roadside bombs, he said.

Now on his fourth tour in Afghanistan, Major Den-McKay said he had seen considerable progress in the confidence and ability of the Afghan security forces. Reinforcements of the police, trained and mentored by the British and Americans, have already moved in and are working well with border police and intelligence service personnel, he said.

The marines, meanwhile, prepare for their next move. To the south are miles upon miles of uncontrolled territory where the Taliban still operate freely, as well as a dozen other districts around the country demanding their attention.

Afghan defence minister to visit Russia to discuss arms deals

Text of report by corporate-owned Russian military news agency Interfax-AVN website

Moscow, 26 May: Afghan Defence Minister [Gen] Abdorrahim Wardag will visit Russia shortly to discuss the possibility of supplying Russian weapons to Afghanistan.

"The defence minister will visit Russia shortly and we are going to discuss this subject," Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin [Dadfar-]Spanta told a news conference in Moscow on Monday [26 May].

The Afghan minister stressed that the rearmament and training of the Afghan Armed Forces was one of the necessary conditions for the Afghan authorities to take upon themselves ever more responsibility for security in the country.

"Right now, NATO presence in Afghanistan is vital for our national security but we hope that the Afghan Armed Forces will increasingly take responsibility for it," Spanta said.

Slovakia plans to send more troops to Afghanistan

Text of report in English by Czech national public-service news agency CTK

Bratislava, 26 May: Slovakia is to deploy some 246 troops in Afghanistan in the next years under the Defence Ministry plan that is yet to be approved by the Slovak government and passed by parliament, the ministry's spokesman Vladimir Gemela told CTK today.

Gemela said three guarding units could be sent to the country in 2010 at the earliest. They would be deployed within NATO's ISAF operation.

He said the units needed special training and equipment.

At present, 69 Slovak soldiers operate in Afghanistan and the number is to rise to 115 later this year.

Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Baska said in April he wanted combat units to be part of the Slovak contingent in Afghanistan, but Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico rejected the idea.

Fico repeatedly said he is against any participation in fighting. According to the latest plan, the three Slovak guarding units would not operate outside military bases.

Later this year, a Slov! ak unit should go to the Tarin Kut base in the central Afghan province of Uruzgan. Although parliament agreed with sending 35 troops, the ministry reckons with up to 50 of them.

The ministry would like another 50-member guarding unit to leave for the Uruzgan province in mid-2009.

It has also proposed to slightly increase the number of troops serving in operation and training teams, provincial reconstruction teams and NATO headquarters.

On the other hand, seven Slovak doctors working in the Czech field hospital in Kabul are to return home by the end of the year.

Slovak soldiers are now deployed in relatively safe zones. A majority of 60 engineers operate in a well-guarded camp at the Kandahar airport.

A total of almost 600 Slovak soldiers are deployed in foreign missions. Last year, Fico's government withdrew 100 engineers from a risky mission in Iraq.

Russia says regional security blocs can help in Afghan drug war

MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - Regional security organizations could make a significant contribution to combating the inflow of drugs from Afghanistan and ensuring regional security, Russia's foreign minister said on Monday.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while the SCO also includes most CSTO countries and China, apart from Armenia and Belarus, with Mongolia, India, Iran and Pakistan having SCO observer status.

"For the [anti-drug] action to be effective, it is necessary not only to support the efforts of the Afghan authorities to bring the situation in the country under control, but also to support the efforts of international security forces which should actively boost their fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, at the same time promoting cooperation with all of Afghanistan's neighbors," Sergei Lavrov said after talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Dadfar Spanta.

According to the UN, Afghanistan supplies around 90% of the world's opium used to make heroin, and the country produces $4 billion worth of heroin each year.

Lavrov also said both organizations are introducing specific drug control programs to help deal with the ever-growing threat.

Lavrov said the two parties had discussed the possibility of using both UN agencies, which need to play a central role, as well as regional organizations such as the SCO and the CSTO.

Spanta said development of bilateral relations with Russia and regional organizations, in particular, the SCO, is a priority for Afghanistan's foreign policy. SCO and CSTO countries have previously discussed the need to give Afghanistan observer status.

He said negotiations in Moscow "have become a new step in the development of bilateral ties and a new stage in cooperation between Russia and Afghanistan."

Police seize 170 kg of drugs in Afghan west

Excerpt from report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on 26 May

[Presenter] National security forces have seized 170 kg of crystal in [western] Herat Province. A statement released by the Herat National Security Directorate said that the drug had been placed inside the tyres of a lorry. Here is Hami Azad with a report on this:

[Correspondent] The statement adds that security forces had been attempting to discover the drug. It is said that after the security forces received a tip-off, they stopped the lorry in Rabat-e Parya on the Herat-Eslam Qala highway. The statement says after the lorry was searched, they discovered 170 kg of crystal from inside the tyres of the vehicle.

Drug smugglers were trying to carry the drug to Iran. No-one has been arrested in this connection and the driver of the vehicle has fled the area. However, the police's investigation to arrest the man continues.

[Passage omitted: Background information]

Iran drug tsar blames US for hikes in Afghan drugs

Text of report by Iranian state-run provincial TV from West Azarbayjan on 25 May

[Presenter] Increasing drug production is one of the goals of the US occupation of Afghanistan. The caretaker secretary-general of the Anti-drug Headquarters, Dr Jahani, told a central news unit [state television] correspondent today.

He added that according to statistics, before the occupation of Afghanistan the amount of produced drug in this country was 3,000 tonnes, but, this amount has increased by 300 per cent to 10,000 tonnes per year.

Dr Jahani said that establishing centres of infection at Iran's borders and embroiling a significant part of [Iran's] security, intelligence, medical and cultural forces were among important US goals for increasing drug productions in Afghanistan. He said that this was a new form of Western cultural invasion against Iran.

He noted that 31 per cent of drugs produced in Afghanistan were taken by drug traffickers via Iran to European countries.

According Jahani, 900 tonnes of drugs were discovered at b! orders and inside the country last year. This year, with the start of the plan to secure eastern borders, it is hoped that 60 per cent of drugs going to Europe through Iran would be discovered.

He described increases in intelligence operations, changes to operations, and provisions of modern surveillance systems at national borders as other programs to increase discovery of narcotic [trafficking] in the country.

Afghanistan flour trebles in price

By: Nick Paton Walsh, Channel 4 News (UK) May 26, 2008

In Afghanistan the cost of flour trebles in the space of months. Food prices have been soaring around the world, but this is one of the worst affected places.

Pakistan has cut off grain supplies to the country, and local bakers fear their businesses won't survive.

But one curious side-effect of the crisis is that farmers can now make so much money from wheat, they've stopped growing opium. That's angered the Taliban, who use the poppy's crop as a major source of cash.

Govt and Taliban nearing pact in Mohmand Agency

Daily Times 27 May 2008

GHALANAI: The government and Taliban were close to achieving a peace agreement in the Mohmand Agency on Monday. A jirga of tribal elders met Taliban representatives in Safi tehsil’s Gurbaz area, following which Taliban announced they would not attack government officials. However, they said ban on non-government organisations working in the area would continue and female government officials would not be attacked if they wore veils while on duty. Malik Fazal and Mohammad Ali Haleemzai led the jirga while Qari Shakeel represented Taliban. The jirga members later met Political Agent Amjad Ali to inform him about the progress in talks. mukarram khan

Taliban distribute pamphlets in Hangu

Daily Times 27 May 2008

Staff Report

HANGU: Mujahideen Islamic Taliban distributed pamphlets in Balmeena area of Hangu district on Monday asking people to handover criminals to them. The pamphlets also urged those involved in drug trafficking to adopt alternative businesses otherwise actions in accordance with the Shariah would be taken against them.

Media war is the real war: Mehsud

* TTP preparing propaganda offensive with greater outreach

By Iqbal Khattak
Daily times 27 May 2008

KOTKAI: The Taliban are preparing to launch a propaganda offensive with greater (global) outreach by arming some of its members with requisite skills to upload videos on websites such as YouTube.

“The real war is the media war,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud told Daily Times. “It is our desire to learn also how one should fight the media war.”

Mehsud paved the way for a media counter-offensive on Friday by inviting more than 30 journalists from national and international media organisations to North and South Waziristan.

This came on the heels of the army airlifting around 20 journalists to Speenkay Raghzai on May 18 to showcase the forces’ forward positions in areas from which militants were ousted during ‘Operation Zalzala’ in January.

It became apparent during the second visit that the militants had returned. Residents said they had done so on May 20 – a day after the army readjusted its positions to facilitate the return of displaced Mehsud families.

Mehsud sought to win over reporters by terming the murder of Express TV’s Bajaur correspondent ‘unforgivable’. He assured journalists that his organisation would “hang the killers” of Ibrahim if they were identified.

“The Taliban have not been very advanced as far as the media war is concerned. But we are making efforts to catch up with the latest methods, and we will soon be available on YouTube,” a non-Pashtun and non-combatant member of the Taliban’s media cell told Daily Times, his face covered up to evade the identifying gaze of invited lenses.

Access to the latest technology does not appear to be a problem for the Taliban; their media cell employed the latest digital video cameras and laptops to record every moment of the ‘biggest Taliban media show’.

Senior BBC Urdu reporter Haroon Rashid commented that the media show put on by the Taliban underscored the “completer control of the militants” over Waziristan.

The Taliban media cell has already been releasing video CDs showing horrific images, apparently with different aims. One such video, screened during an army media briefing on May 18, shows a boy as young as 10 firing shots at the head of a blindfolded man and beheading another.

“Such images leave a deep impact on viewers. It is part of Taliban psychological warfare to break down opponents psychologically,” a retired army expert on psy-ops warfare told Daily Times in Peshawar.

Taliban allow girls to attend schools

Dawn By Our Correspondent

GHALANAI, May 26: Local Taliban have agreed to allow female education and protect government employees in Safi area of Mohmand Agency.

This was announced by a jirga of tribal elders after a meeting with a Taliban delegation on Monday.

Leader of the 10-member jirga Abdul Manan Kodakhel said that the Taliban had agreed to allow girls’ schools provided their teachers wore the veil.

Former MNA Maulana Abdul Malik who negotiated for the Taliban also agreed to provide protection to government employees in the area and said they could do their job without any fear.

The Taliban, however, announced that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would not be allowed to resume work in the area and accused them of ‘spreading obscenity’ which could not be tolerated.

They also said that roads in the agency could be used by security forces, but attacks by foreign forces must be stopped forthwith.

Later, a group of tribal elders met Amjad Ali Khan, the Political Agent of Mohmand Agency, and apprised him of the outcome of talks held with the Taliban.

The political agent appreciated the peace efforts of the jirga. The political authorities, meanwhile, released seven men of the Qandahari tribe and asked the jirga to work for peace in the area.

Also on Monday, the Tribal Union of Journalists held a demonstration in protest against the murder of TV journalist Mohammad Ibrahim and demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

Led by TUJ president Nasir Mohmand, the journalists marched to the office of the political agent and raised slogans in support of their demand.

Mr Mohmand said that Mohammad Ibrahim was the sixth journalist killed in the tribal area since the beginning of the US-led war on terrorism, but the government had failed to arrest killers of any journalist.

“We would go to the Governor House in Peshawar and the President House in Islamabad if the Bajaur Agency administration failed to arrest the killers of Mohammad Ibrahim,” he warned.

‘HIV risk in Afghanistan high’

Daily Times 27 May 2008

KABUL: The prevalence of HIV is low in Afghanistan, but the potential risk factors for the spread of the disease remain high, the Public Health Ministry said on Monday. So far 435 HIV positive cases have been reported in Afghanistan, the ministry said in a statement, but it is estimated there are 2,000-2,500 cases in a population of some 26 million, still a relatively low infection rate. “But ... war, poverty, illiteracy, massive international and external displacement, the high level of poppy cultivation, drug trafficking and usage, the existence of commercial and unsafe sex, unsafe injection practices and blood transfusion are potential risk factors for its spread,” the ministry said. The World Bank has granted $10 million to the ministry for identifying and creating public awareness among those groups most at risk of HIV and AIDS, the government said. reuters

[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.]