April 3, 2005

Insurgents kill 11, wound eight in renewed violence in Afghanistan
Sunday April 3, 4:45 AM AFP
Eleven people were killed and eight wounded in four separate incidents in Afghanistan, marking a surge in an anticipated Taliban offensive against the US-led coalition, Afghan forces and police, the interior ministry said.

Suspected Taliban insurgents attacked government district offices in the southeastern province of Helmand Saturday, killing four policemen and injuring three others, officials said.

Dozens of suspected insurgents from the country's ousted Taliban regime stormed the Disho district office during the attack, provincial intelligence chief Dad Mohammad told AFP.

Saturday's attack followed three other deadly incidents on Friday, and came in the wake of several rebel strikes during the past two weeks.

A bomb planted on a tractor trolley killed two people and injured five in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif while a roadside bomb blast in southern Kandahar province killed two teenagers.

A three-truck convoy was ambushed in the town of Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border on the route taken by drivers to carry fuel to the US forces, Kandahar police chief Mohammad Ayoob Salangi told AFP.

Three truck drivers including two Pakistanis were killed in the attack and the insurgents burned their vehicle, Salangi said.

Authorities said they had no immediate clues on who carried out Friday's attacks but such incidents have previously been linked to Taliban insurgents.

"We don't know who was behind the attacks," interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal Mashal said, adding that police were investigating the two blasts.

Spin Boldak, five kilometers (three miles) from the southwestern Pakistani town of Chaman, is considered a stronghold of remnants of the Taliban regime which was ousted from power in late 2001 by US-led forces.

After an unusually harsh winter, the coming of Spring has brought a surge in attacks on the US-led coalition and Afghan forces.

Bombs have caused carnage in Kandahar, Kabul and eastern Jalalabad and there have been several other attacks targeting Afghan soldiers, police and US-led coalition forces in the past two weeks.

"The number and severity of attacks against Afghan and coalition forces has increased compared to the winter," US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore said in a statement Saturday.

Coalition and Afghan forces have seized a number of improvised explosive devices in the past few days, Moore said.

"This shows that some in the Taliban or other anti-government insurgents will continue to try to destabilize Afghanistan through violent acts," she said.

The commander of US forces in the country, Lieutenant General David Barno, told AFP this week that Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network was making fresh efforts to engineer a comeback by the Taliban and regain a foothold of its own in Afghanistan.

Last weekend a roadside bomb was detonated in the Afghan capital, Kabul, injuring a Canadian and three Afghans.

On Thursday two suspected insurgents were killed by a bomb which they were laying on a road to target a government official in Kandahar's neighboring province of Urzgan, another stronghold of the ousted Taliban.

In addition to a 18,000-strong coalition forces under the command of the United States some 8,000 NATO soldiers are stationed in Kabul and some northern and western provinces to maintain security.

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Taliban militants storm government building, killing nine Afghan soldiers
April 3, 2005
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban militants stormed a government building in southern Afghanistan and killed nine Afghan soldiers in a two-hour gunbattle before fleeing, officials said.

The militants were in control of on Helmand province's Deshu district headquarters, 700 kilometres (437 miles) south of the capital Kabul, throughout the exchange before being forced out, they said on Sunday.

"A group of Taliban attacked the district headquarters of Deshu Sunday morning and in the exchange of fire nine Afghan soldiers were killed and three were injured," district commissioner Haji Mohamed Rahim told AFP.

"Taliban were in control of the district (headquarters) for two hours and then we managed to force them out."

There was no word on the militants' casualties.

A Western security source in Kandahar linked the attack to an ongoing counter-narcotics drive in Helmand province and said security was deteriorating there.

"There is a lot of unrest in Helmand province at the moment because of drugs eradication," he said on condition of anonymity.

Violence has surged in recent weeks after the bitterest winter in a decade reduced attacks to a minimum, with a rise in Taliban-related violence in southern, southeastern and eastern Afghanistan.

More than 18,000 US-led coalition forces and Afghanistan's newly trained national army and national police are fighting remnants of the former Taliban regime, which was toppled from power in a US-led coalition in late 2001.

Opium poppy cultivation has soared since the ousting of the hardline Islamists and Afghanistan now produces 90 percent of the world's heroin.

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Muslims praise Pope
Sun Apr 3, 2005 8:57 AM BST By Clarence Fernandez
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Muslims around the world have praised Pope John Paul's drive to build bridges with Islam, saying his compassion and leadership have forever changed their view of the Catholic Church.

The Pope, the first to officially set foot in a mosque, during a visit to Syria in 2001, led a campaign over the past two decades to help turn conflict into cooperation between the world's 1.1 billion Catholics and 1.2 billion Muslims.

Palestinian and Afghan leaders commended his support of their people's desire for freedom, and clerics in Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh hoped his successor would build on the Pope's efforts to strengthen ties of understanding with Islam.

Palestinian President Mamoud Abbas called the Pope "a great religious figure who devoted his life to defending the values of peace, freedom, justice and equality for all races and religions, as well as our people's right to independence".

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said, "We remember that during the years of Afghanistan's occupation by the Soviet Union, the Pope raised his voice of support to the Afghan people.

"He also urged the Afghan people build peace during the dark years of factional conflict and interference in Afghanistan," Karzai said in a statement.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said the Pope had commanded the three paths of religious learning, philosophical thought and poetic and artistic creativity.

The first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, John Paul II threw off many of the formalities of his office, travelling widely, writing five books and putting together a CD of religious music.

Officials in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, where Muslims number 85 percent of a population of 220 million, recalled his dedication to peace.

"We...certainly feel sorrow for the passing away of the Pope because he has dedicated himself all his life to humanitarian and peace efforts," said Hasyim Muzadi, leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim group, with 40 million members.

Many Muslims hope the Pope's successor will continue to tread the path of understanding between the two religions that he chalked out. A key event along this route was the Pope's 1986 invitation to Muslims and adherents of other faiths to pray together at Assisi for world peace.

"BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN FAITH"
In Kuala Lumpur, Azizan Razak, a cleric and senior leader of the opposition Parti Islam-se Malaysia, said, "We hope his successor will follow his footsteps to increase understanding between Muslims and Christians."

In Bangladesh, home to nearly 140 million Muslims, Moulana Obaidul Haque of the Baitul Mokarram national mosque, said the world had lost a great religious leader. "We hope his successor will also work for world peace," the cleric added.

The Pope's vigorous opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was widely appreciated in the Islamic world, Malaysian political analyst Chandra Muzaffar said.

"He was also right at the forefront of the protest against the war on Iraq," Chandra said."That showed he was committed to global justice and peace."

In Pakistan, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the Islamist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance said the world had lost a man of peace.

"(U.S. President) George Bush's talk of a Crusader war was a clear negation of Pope John Paul's efforts to promote interfaith dialogue and harmony," said.

In the largely Catholic Philippines, one leader of an influential group of Islamic clerics said John Paul served as a "bridge of understanding" between Christians and Muslims.

"I was touched by his gesture to pardon a Muslim who tried to assassinate him," said Sharif Julabbi of the Ulama League.

The Pope survived an attempt on his life by a Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, in May 1981.

But some in the Arab world had only disdain for the Pope.

"He meant nothing to me," said Abdul Rahman al-Mashari, an engineer in Riyadh. "He was not even as important as a hair on my head."

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Three Truckers Killed in Afghanistan
By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Sat Apr 2, 9:09 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban gunmen ambushed a convoy of civilian trucks carrying vehicles to the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan, killing three drivers, an official said Saturday.

Also Saturday, dozens of Taliban fighters attacked the office of a district chief in southern Afghanistan before dawn, killing three Afghan soldiers, an official said. He said they believe the soldiers also killed about nine rebels.

The attacks were part of a wave of violence that followed a lull during the harsh Afghan winter.

"This shows that some in the Taliban or other anti-government insurgents will continue to try to destabilize Afghanistan through violent acts," said Lt. Cindy Moore, a U.S. spokeswoman. "There is still a threat out there."

The gunmen attacked the trucks Friday after they crossed the Pakistani border at Spin Boldak, 55 miles south of Kandahar city, Spin Boldak District Chief Fazeluddin Agha told The Associated Press.

Three drivers — two Pakistanis and one Afghan — were killed in a hail of gunfire that severely damaged the trucks and two of the military vehicles, Agha said. He did not identify the types of vehicles being transported.

The fourth driver escaped and told authorities that four gunmen had appeared in the road in front of the convoy and opened fire, Agha said.

Agha blamed Taliban militants, but provided no evidence. Purported Taliban officials have in the past claimed responsibility for attacks on trucks supplying U.S. bases.

In southern Helmand province, dozens of Taliban attacked a government office in the district of Daisho, 175 miles southwest of Kandahar, triggering a shootout that left three soldiers dead and four wounded, Afghan official Haji Mohammed Rahim said.

"We think our men killed about nine Taliban, but Taliban took their bodies," Rahim said, adding the soldiers had not seen the body of any attackers.

U.S. commanders insist the insurgency is unraveling in the face of American operations and Afghan offers of reconciliation, while warning that a hard core of Taliban militants will fight on more than three years after the hardline militia was ousted for harboring al-Qaida.

Moore had no information on Friday's incident, but said the "number and severity of attacks" had increased and that the 17,000 U.S. forces in the country would "aggressively pursue those seeking to destabilize the government."

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80 US, Afghan soldiers enter Pakistani territory
By Pazeer Gul Dawn (Pakistan) April 3, 2005 issue
MIRAMSHAH, April 2: About 80 soldiers of the US and Afghan forces entered the Pakistani territory near Lawara Mandi border point and carried out patrolling up to two kilometres in the agency on Saturday.

The allied troops returned to their area of operation across the border after they were requested by the paramilitary forces to go back. The American soldiers said "sorry" to the Pakistan security forces when they were reminded that they had entered the Waziristan tribal agency.

Two helicopters were also witnessed to be providing air cover to the allied soldiers during their incursion into the Pakistan tribal territory.

According to reports, the US forces have recruited about five tribal Maliks, who have been asked to bring at least 1000 tribal youths for joining the allied forces.

The US forces have also offered attractive incentives to the new recruits.

Tribesmen have been asked to join the allied forces in return for special incentives, including education, power generators, tractors and other facilities.

Meanwhile, pamphlets and handbills were distributed in different areas of the agency, threatening the tribesmen with dire consequences in case they worked for the allied forces.

The tribesmen were also warned against supplying food items for the allied forces.

It is to be mentioned here that about 50 army trucks have reached the Lawara Mandi area to seal the border and keep watch on the cross-border movement.

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Media Invited to $1.8 million Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital Renovation
Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs) April 3, 2005
MEDIA ADVISORY
KABUL, Afghanistan – Media are invited to the Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital on Tuesday, April 5, to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony and tour the facilities, which are undergoing a $1.8 million renovation.

The hospital, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan are hosting the event to celebrate the start of construction on the electrical, sewer and water systems that are in a state of disrepair.

The deputy minister from the Ministry of Public Health, the director of the Rabia Balkhi Hospital and a senior official from Combined Forces Command will speak at the event.

Refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP no later than 7 p.m. today via e-mail to Maria Or at: maria.or@tac01.usace.army.mil. Access into the hospital facilities will be enforced and limited to a guest list.

Media who wish to attend are asked to meet at the Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Parking will not be available inside the facilities.

For more information, contact Maria Or at 070-18-8397.

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Mine explosion kills one, injures four in northern Afghanistan
KABUL, April 2 (Xinhua)-A landmine blast killed one and injured four civilians including three children in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province Friday night, Afghan official said Saturday.

"A civilian was killed and four others were wounded, one of them in critical condition, when their vehicle ran over a mine on Balkh-Mazar-e-Sharif road last night," Lufullah Mashal, Interior Ministry spokesman told Xinhua.

He declined to blame any particular individual or group for theincident or comment on whether the mine was freshly laid or left over in the past 23 years of war.

An investigation had been initiated into the case, he added.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb explosion targeting a Canadian diplomat vehicle injured four civilians last Sunday.

A suicide car bomb killed the driver in the eastern city of Jalalabad when American First Lady Laura Bush paid a five-hour visit to Kabul last Wednesday.