Afghanistan News October 12, 2005

October 12, 2005

Rice in Afghanistan, to visit Pakistan
Wednesday October 12, 8:36 AM
KABUL (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Afghanistan in a show of support for the government as Washington tries to bolster its influence in the region as an antidote to Islamic extremism.

"The Afghans are opening a new page in their history," Rice said on arrival in Kabul, referring to nationwide elections that have put the troubled nation, scarred by decades of conflict, on the road to democracy.

In a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, whose government is fighting hardline insurgents loyal to the hardline Islamic Taliban that were ousted from power here by a US-led war four years ago, Rice promised the United States would assist Afghanistan "as long as we are needed."

Four rocket attacks in Kabul before she landed underlined the difficulties facing Afghanistan, where warlords, drug traffickers and Islamic militants are challenging the authority and control of the Karzai government.

The country produces more than 80 percent of the world's opium, which is smuggled out and made into heroin, and the illegal crop contributes up to 60 percent of Afghanistan's economy.

Rice said she wanted her meetings in Kabul to also touch on the country's "considerable difficulties" with drugs.

Rice is on a three-day tour of Central Asian nations aimed at boosting US influence in the region, while firming up support for the US "war on terror" and pushing for democratic reform.

Afghanistan embarked on a process to democratise after the Taliban were toppled, with last month's parliamentary election -- the first in more than three decades -- a key step.

The United States is leading a force of 20,000 soldiers in Afghanistan that has been trying to root out insurgents from the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies, who conduct almost daily attacks in the south and east as part of their efforts to overthrow the new government.

Violence linked to the insurgency has killed 1,300 people this year, many of them militants, up from 850 last year.

Rice said she would make an unscheduled visit to Pakistan after leaving Afghanistan to show US support after Saturday's powerful earthquake, which killed at least 23,000 people and made some 2.5 million homeless.

"I do want to affirm with the Pakistani people that the international community and the US are with them in this terrible time," she told reporters here.

Rice first visited Afghanistan in March, when she praised the Afghan people as an inspiration to the world for emerging from decades of turmoil and embarking on the road to democracy.

The country is a flagship for Washington's efforts to promote democracy in the Islamic world, particularly with the US-led forces still caught up in controversial operations in Iraq.

After Pakistan, Rice is due to continue her Central Asia tour in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

She arrived here from Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic where the United States has stationed troops used in the Afghanistan mission.

Rice on Tuesday denied that the United States was in geostrategic competition with Russia to gain the upper hand in Central Asia, but Moscow has grown increasingly uncomfortable with the US military presence in the region.

The US military presence in Kyrgyzstan was established after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which then led the war in Afghanistan after the Taliban refused to hand over the alleged mastermind, Osama bin Laden.

Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday assured the United States that its troops could continue using a base until the situation stabilized in Afghanistan.

"What we are not willing to do is to make a choice between our objectives in terms of the immediate concerns about military access and our objectives in terms of democracy," Rice said.

"We think there is a inextricable link between our strategic goals of democratisation and the war on terror."

Lithuanian president arrives in Kabul
KABUL, October 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A statement released from ISAF headquarters Wednesday said Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus had arrived here on a three-day visit at the head of a high-powered delegation.

During his visit, said the release, President Valdas would hold discussions with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai besides meeting commanders of ISAF, coalition and Lithuanian forces in the western Ghor province.

Lithuania has contributed about 110 soldiers for the Nato-led ISAF in Afghanistan, who are running a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Chaghchran, capital of the province. Lithuanian forces are also imparting training to Afghan police, said the release.

Ahmad Khalid Moahid

Rockets fired at Afghan capital, one wounded
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - A rocket exploded outside the residence of the Canadian ambassador in the Afghan capital early on Wednesday, wounding a guard, while a second damaged a government building, police said.

The pre-dawn attacks came hours before a visit by U.S. Secretary for State Condoleezza Rice to the capital for talks with President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan officials.

The residence is tucked away behind a heavily fortified street of the diplomatic enclave, about one km from the presidential palace, the U.S. embassy and headquarters for the NATO-led peacekeeping mission.

The second rocket landed inside an intelligence department office not far from the palace, police said, adding no one was wounded but that it had caused some damage.

Residents said another rocket had hit elsewhere in the city, but this could not be immediately confirmed.

"Thank God the rockets did not come during the day time, otherwise it would have caused lots of deaths," a senior city police told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear who fired the rockets, but a policeman guarding the site of the attack outside the residence blamed Taliban guerrillas.

No Taliban member could be immediately reached for comment.

Kabul has come under a series of rocket attacks since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001 but they have not caused any major damage or casualties.

The attack is the latest in a spate of violence by militants in the country, mostly in the south and east, in which dozens of people have been killed following last month's presidential and parliamentary polls.

The violence included five suicide attacks, one in the capital that killed more than 10 national army officers two weeks ago, and four in less than a week in the southern city of Kandahar where four British government officers were wounded.

Eighteen national police were killed in adjacent Helmand province on Monday.

Rocket explodes outside Canadian ambassador's residence in Afghanistan
06:11 AM EDT Oct 12 The Canadian Press
KABUL (CP) - A rocket exploded outside the Canadian ambassador's residence in the Afghan capital on Wednesday.

Two local men believed to be guards employed at the residence were injured in the blast just before dawn. Defence Minister Bill Graham is currently in Afghanistan but "was not involved," Defence Department spokeswoman Kiersten Leus said from Ottawa. She would not say where Graham was when the rocket exploded. The new Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, David Sproule, has been in the country for about a week, a Canadian embassy official in Kabul told The Canadian Press. It was not known where Sproule was when the rocket exploded.

Some Canadians were in the building when the rocket, one of two to hit the city on Wednesday, exploded, said Dan McTeague, the parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad.

"We had guards from a local company and two of them were injured," said the Canadian embassy official. "The rocket in fact struck very close to our embassy residence."

The area of the city is heavily protected because it is home to buildings housing offices and residences of foreign diplomats. It was not clear whether the Canadian building was damaged.

It also wasn't clear whether the Canadian building was the intended target of the rocket or whether it was fired in the general area because of the number of foreign offices and residences located there.

The rocket hit just seconds after another rocket exploded inside a large compound housing the Afghan government's intelligence service, said an official.

Graham was scheduled to speak to reporters later Wednesday as he visits Canadian troops serving with the NATO force in the country.

About Canadian 250 troops are working in Kandahar, about four hours from Kabul, with about 1,000 more set to deploy early next year.

A small special forces unit from Canada is also operating in the area, hunting and killing Taliban and al-Qaida rebels. Canada will also take command of the international operation in the region next year.

Afghan govt yet to identify elements behind rocketing Kabul
www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-12 14:59:28
KABUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The government of Afghanistan has yet to identify the elements responsible for rocketing capital city Wednesday morning that injured at least two persons.

"Investigation has begun but it is too early to say who was behind the heinous crime," spokesman of Interior Ministry Yusuf Stanikzai told Xinhua.

However, he put the attack on the "enemies of peace and security", a term used against Taliban militias.

No one has been arrested in this case so far.

Moreover, another official who refused to be named said that both the rockets fired from Shina and Kamari hilltops, two suburbsin the east side of Kabul.

Meantime, remnants of the Taliban movement have yet to comment on the subject.

Besides Taliban, fighters loyal to former Prime Minister and dissident warlord Gulbudin Hekmatyar as well as al-Qaida associates have also been engaged in anti-government activities over the past three years.

Two rockets with few minutes interval fired from east directionhit Afghan capital city early morning today hours before the arrival of US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to Kabul, and wounded two local guards at the Canadian embassy.

One of the rockets slammed into the compound of National Security Directorate but according to officials caused no life or property damages.

Interestingly, the Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham was also in Kabul when the rocket exploded outside the embassy but it is not known if the Defense Minister was inside the compound.

Rice, who is on her central Asian countries' tour, will talk with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the bilateral issues, regional issues including war on terrorism, US support to Afghanistan and situation in the region.

Taliban's loyalists who failed to sabotage the landmark Afghanparliamentary polls on September 18 have stepped up their activities over the past couple of weeks.

More than 1,200 people including militants, Afghan and US troops as well as pro-government figures and aid workers have beenkilled in Taliban-led insurgency since the beginning of this year.

Six missing policemen in Helmand clash found alive
KABUL, October 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Six policemen who went missing following shoot-out in restive southern Helmand arrived back in their respective police station, deputy police chief said on Wednesday.

As many as 20 policemen, including provincial security chief, and three militants were killed in Tuesday clash.

Haji Muhammad Ayub, deputy police chief in Helmand, told Pajhwok Afghan News via telephone that six policemen that went missing had arrived back from nearby hills.

Registan district had great importance for smugglers, as they had seized six tons opium in the area few days back, he said, adding drug-traffickers and Taliban were involved in the attack.

150 policemen had been deployed in the area to track down the culprits, deputy police chief maintained.

The gunbattle took place near Pakistan border and after the attack over the miscreants had crossed into neighbouring country, he claimed.

Haji Ayub said smugglers had joined hands with Taliban in launching attack on police convoy after their many attempts of drug-trafficking were foiled by security forces in the district.

Taliban have stepped up attacks in the southern parts of the country after the September 18 parliamentary elections.

Several suicide blasts have been happened over the fortnight, three of them in Kandahar, killing a number of government officials and civilians.
Reported by Aziz Zahid & translated by Rahman

Militants kill six police, five medical workers in Afghanistan
Canadian Press Wednesday, October 12, 2005
KABUL (CP) - Militants killed six police and five medical workers in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, and President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he believes the rebels are receiving support from the country's booming drug trade.

In a separate attack, a rocket exploded outside the Canadian ambassador's residence in the Afghan capital on Wednesday. On Tuesday, six police officers were killed by suspected Taliban rebels who ambushed their convoy in mountains in Uruzgan province, the second major attack on the fledgling force in two days, local Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan said.

One officer was still missing after the attack and feared dead, while four police vehicles were destroyed. Reinforcements have been rushed to the area "to hunt down the Taliban," Khan said.

The attack on the medical workers occurred Wednesday near Kandahar city, a former Taliban stronghold, said doctor Abdul Qadir, director of UN-sponsored Afghan Help Development Services, a local aid group that employed the five.

Gunmen opened fire on their vehicle as they drove through the desert. Two of the five dead were doctors. Three other medical workers in the vehicle were wounded, Qadir said. The eight were returning to Kandahar after treating refugees in a nearby camp.

The pre-dawn blast near the Canadian ambassador's residence on Wednesday injured two local men believed to be guards employed at the residence.

Defence Minister Bill Graham is currently in Afghanistan but "was not involved," Defence Department spokeswoman Kiersten Leus said from Ottawa. She would not say where Graham was when the rocket exploded.

The new Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, David Sproule, has been in the country for about a week, a Canadian embassy official in Kabul told The Canadian Press. It was not known where Sproule was when the rocket exploded.

Some Canadians were in the building when the rocket, one of two to hit the city on Wednesday, exploded, said Dan McTeague, the parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad.

"We had guards from a local company and two of them were injured," said the Canadian embassy official. "The rocket in fact struck very close to our embassy residence."

The area of the city is heavily protected because it is home to buildings housing offices and residences of foreign diplomats. It was not clear whether the Canadian building was damaged.

It also wasn't clear whether the Canadian building was the intended target of the rocket or whether it was fired in the general area because of the number of foreign offices and residences located there.

The rocket hit just seconds after another rocket exploded inside a large compound housing the Afghan government's intelligence service, said an official.

Graham was scheduled to speak to reporters later Wednesday as he visits Canadian troops serving with the NATO force in the country.

About Canadian 250 troops are working in Kandahar, about four hours from Kabul, with about 1,000 more set to deploy early next year.

A small special forces unit from Canada is also operating in the area, hunting and killing Taliban and al-Qaida rebels. Canada will also take command of the international operation in the region next year.

Karzai made his comments about the violence in a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

When asked about an attack on police in southern Helmand province Tuesday that left at least 19 officers dead, he said there was "co-operation between the drug trade and terrorism." He said the region was well known as a centre for trafficking opium and heroin.

Afghanistan produces an estimated 87 per cent of the world's supply of both the drugs, sparking warnings the country is becoming a "narco-state" four years after a U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power.

"We will have terrorism attacking (us) ... for quite some time," he warned.

Karzai's U.S.-backed government is struggling to strengthen Afghanistan's fragile democracy while dealing with a stubborn rebellion that has left about 1,400 dead in the past half-year.

Rice said the 21,000-strong U.S.-led coalition was doing its best to quash the insurgency.

"We are doing everything we can to defeat the terrorists. We cannot simply defend ourselves, we have to be on the offensive," she said.

There had been hopes that the U.S. military may have been able to reduce its number of troops here next year as a separate NATO-led peacekeeping force takes responsibility for security in volatile regions.

But Rice said U.S. forces will remain "for as long as they are needed in whatever numbers they are needed to make certain that they defeat the terrorists and Afghanistan becomes a place of stability and progress."

Kyrgyzstan says US can keep airbase until Afghanistan stable
10.11.2005, 12:11 PM
BISHKEK (AFX) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received an assurance here that Kyrgyzstan would let the United States maintain an airbase there until the situation in nearby Afghanistan was stable.

'We have repeatedly emphasised that the coalition base in Manas will be necessary until the situation in Afghanistan is completely stabilized,' Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev told reporters after talks with Rice.

Bakiyev and Rice signed a joint statement expressing support for the presence in the former Soviet Central Asian republic of US-led 'coalition forces until the mission of fighting the terror in Afghanistan is completed, a mission supported by the UN.'

As a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional body dominated by Russia and China, Kyrgyzstan has however supported calls from that group for the United States to spell out a timetable for the withdrawal of its military personnel from the region.

The leadership of neighboring Uzbekistan ordered US forces deployed there to leave by the end of the year, and Washington is reported to be looking for another place to base military personnel in one of the other former Soviet republics on Russia's southern flank.

Taliban claim hitting US ’copter
By Rahimullah Yusufzai The News International (Pakistan) / October 11, 2005
PESHAWAR: The Taliban claimed on Monday that their fighters hit a US helicopter with anti-aircraft rockets in the eastern Nuristan province and killed a pro-government commander and his four men in Kandahar.

There was no independent confirmation of the Taliban claims. The US military and Afghan government invariably reject Taliban claims. Speaking from an undisclosed location, the new Taliban spokesman, Salimullah Khan Mujahid, told The News that the US military helicopter caught fire after being hit by rockets shortly before noon. However, he said he was unaware if there were any casualties once the chopper caught fire. He said US jet-fighters and helicopter gunships bombed the area after the incident.

Mujahid, who replaced Taliban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi following the latter’s arrest in Quetta last week, also claimed responsibility for the assassination of pro-Afghan government commander Aqil Shah alias Agha Shah and his four men Monday in Kandahar city. He said nine other supporters of the slain commander were wounded in the attack.

The Taliban spokesman alleged that the murdered commander was a cruel man and had made life miserable for the people of Kandahar. He said the deceased Aqil Shah was loyal to former Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzoi, presently Governor of Nangarhar, and had committed atrocities on the Afghan people as Sherzoi’s commander and henchman. Besides, the Taliban spokesman argued that Aqil Shah deserved to die for serving the cause of the US military against the Afghan nation.

Journalist held on blasphemy charges goes on trial
Pajhwok Report
KABUL, October 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A provincial court Tuesday started hearing in a blasphemy case filed against Ali Mohaqqiq Nasab, editor-in-chief of monthly Haqooq-i-Zan (women rights).

Muhaqqiq was incarcerated some ten days back for publication of anti-Islam articles in his magazine. Ansarullah Maulvizada, head of the provincial court, said the magazine would resume publication after the court absolves the accused from blasphemy charges.

During the hearing, the prosecution demanded of the court to award severe punishment to the accused for allegedly publishing blasphemous articles.

Asserting his innocence, Mohaqqiq said he was falsely implicated in the blasphemy case. He prayed the court to arrange an open discussion of religious scholars to decide the case.

However, the court declined his arguments and sought explanation from the accused regarding the alleged anti-Islam articles published in his magazine.

In a statement released here, president of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) Rahimullah Samandar demanded a fair trial of the arrested journalist. He said Muhaqqiq should be provided opportunity to clarify his position.

After Three Years Of Reconstruction, Government Says Country Is Back In Business
Nikola Krastev - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The Afghan government is holding a series of promotional seminars throughout the United States in an effort to woo U.S. investors with promises of efficient business registration, favorable taxation, improved security, and opportunities for investment in the food, tourism, and textile industries. After three years of reconstruction, the government says, Afghanistan is back in business. It says the economy has been growing at an average annual rate of 20 percent and that growth is forecast to remain strong over the next decade. The main selling points are the country's central location and the determination of the current government to establish a better investment climate than those in neighboring Central Asian states. RFE/RL attended a recent Afghan investment seminar in New York and filed this report.

New York, 10 October 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The Afghan government says that, in the last two years, more than 3,000 new investment projects have been registered in the country, totaling $1.3 billion. Almost half of that money, it says, comes from foreign investment.

Afghan Commerce Minister Hedayat Amin Arsala told RFE/RL that Afghanistan's location makes it a natural transportation hub for joint energy projects -- for instance, for delivering oil and gas from Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan to India or Pakistan.

"The pipelines will have to go through Afghanistan because that's the shortest route to India and to Pakistan," Arsala said. "And Afghanistan can also serve as a bridge between Central Asia and South Asia. So, for all those [reasons], I think, we're in a very good position. I mean, we're all in a good position to have trade from all the way from Russia to India, from Central Asia to India."

Without naming countries, Arsala expressed disappointment with the travel and commercial arrangements Afghanistan has with some of its Central Asian neighbors.

"The trading arrangements, the transit arrangements, and things like that have not been worked out as we would like to see them work out," Arsala said. "And at the same time, of course, they are going through a process of change, and change, of course, takes time. And I think that there's enormous potential in those countries. It would be a shame not to realize the advantage of all that potential."

The rugged terrain of Afghanistan, Arsala said -- combined with its rivers, mountains, and rare wildlife -- make it a perfect spot to develop eco-tourism:

"Tourism is going to be one of the greatest possibilities in Afghanistan and in that region, particularly if we work together [and] organize tourism arrangements," Arsala said. "My feeling is that security is not really a big problem. It's exaggerated when people talk about these things outside Afghanistan."

Security Concerns

Security is, nevertheless, a major concern for potential investors in Afghanistan. More than 1,200 people have been killed in fighting across southern and eastern Afghanistan since the spring -- most of them suspected neo-Taliban fighters. In the latest violence, a prominent former militia commander and three other people were killed today by a suspected suicide bomber in the southern city of Kandahar, and another blast followed within hours.

There are currently some 12,000 NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, plus a separate force of more than 20,000 U.S.-led troops. Plans are under way to increase deployment of NATO-led troops by next year in southern Afghanistan.

Omar Zakhliwal is the president of the Afghan Investment Support Agency, which has been established within the framework of Commerce Ministry to facilitate and promote investment in Afghanistan. He said the overall security situation in the country is not being accurately portrayed by the media.

"Yes, we have incidents here and there, but people are going about their lives," Zakhliwal said. "There are already investors who are on the ground and doing business. In the past three years that I've been in Afghanistan, I do not have an example of an investor coming to Afghanistan and then leaving for security reasons. That's the indicator of the situation we have on the ground."

Corruption An Issue

Afghanistan, Zakhliwal said, is known for its hospitality toward non-Afghans, and he said there are more than 10,000 foreigners enjoying life in Kabul today.

Corruption is an issue, he conceded, but he said the government is determined to tackle the problem.

"There are corruption problems," Zakhliwal said. "Given the background of Afghanistan, it is only to be expected. But lots of improvements have taken place. I say one example of this [is] that anybody entering Afghanistan will get their [business] licenses within three to four days, without a penny being paid for bribes or anything like that."

Mariam Nawabi, the commercial attache at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, pointed to the importance of engaging female entrepreneurs in investment opportunities. Despite the image of oppressed Afghan women, she said, there is an entire class of female entrepreneurs working in the construction, transportation, and food industries.

At this point, she said, most of the businesses are family-related and locally operated. The main challenge for women, she said, is to become integrated into the business system and to get more global exposure.

For female entrepreneurs coming to Afghanistan from abroad, she told RFE/RL, the overall experience has so far been positive.

"For women who are trying to do business in Afghanistan coming from the outside -- foreign women coming -- the challenges are the same as the ones that the men may have when they enter Afghanistan," Nawabi said. "Just finding local partners, information, finding out how to best take their project forward. And I have met many American businesswomen who are moving forward with their projects. When they go to Afghanistan actually, they have not expressed to me any problems that they’re having dealing with the men."

The lack of infrastructure and a suitable transportation network remain major challenges for foreign investors in Afghanistan, as well as the limited know-how and global perspective of Afghan entrepreneurs. Current law also does not permit land ownership for foreigners. They can lease land for up to 99 years.

A front-row seat in the plodding war on the Taliban
By Scott Baldauf / The Christian Science Monitor / October 11, 2005
BADO KALAY, AFGHANISTAN - The squad jumps from the back end of a Chinook helicopter into a swirl of sand kicked up by the rotors. We take positions on the bank of a mountain stream and pause in silence, scanning the hillside for movement.

The eight-member team is young - the oldest is 28 - and all are fighters of the elite 82nd Airborne, nicknamed the "Ghost Busters." Their mission: To work with about 40 US and 10 Afghan soldiers from a nearby base to sweep villages never before visited by US forces. They're looking for Taliban or their weapons.

For the next five days, I will have a front-row seat in what some call "The Other War," where 18,000 US troops continue fighting four years after ousting the Taliban government and sending Osama bin Laden into hiding. I will accompany a US Army squad carrying a mere 40 lbs. of body armor, notebooks, water, and MREs, while they carry up to 115 lbs. of "battle rattle" - guns, ammo, food, body armor, radios, and night-vision equipment.

Together, we will tell a lot of unprintable jokes, see a lot of sheep, find a few Taliban weapons caches, and try to reassure scared villagers.

My team's role this morning is to climb a steep, 1,650-foot hill to secure the high ground. They will keep watch over the roads while other US squads, including troops from the fledgling Afghan Army, search a village that Taliban fighters have often used as a rest stop.

The squad leader, Sgt. Jeremy Brannan of Panama City, Fla., almost inaudibly gives the order to move: "Let's go."

These remote mountains, stretching from western Ghazni through Zabul, Kandahar, and Uruzgan provinces, have been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting - and highest casualty rates - since the Taliban government fell in 2001. This is partly because of the insertion of small squads like Sergeant Brannan's into ever-more-remote corners of Afghanistan in an effort to disturb Taliban hideouts and entice their elusive foe into engagements. When the Taliban stand to fight US soldiers, who are aided by American air power, the insurgents usually lose.

Soldiers like Brannan and his men accept the dangers of their work.

"For so long, it was quiet here, then it got kicked up," says Brannan, sitting at a watch post high above the village, where the house-to-house search for weapons has begun. "I think they hide up in the mountains and see how big an element we're sending in. Mostly they don't fight. But when they do, it's mostly spray, pray, and run."

Iraq war vets

The squad is led by a few veterans from the Iraq war, such as Brannan and Pvt. Mike Patraw of Platteville, Wisc. The men say they are shocked at the poor Afghan living conditions, and Brannan says it's hard to know which conflict is more dangerous. "I'd be tempted to say Iraq, but we've had a lot of dudes die here recently," he says. "But the Taliban aren't very good. Mostly it seems like lucky shots."

Brannan's men meet the danger, and the physical challenge of climbing up mountains loaded with equipment, with a sense of humor. As an outsider, it occurs to me that the standard GI gear must include a rifle, camouflage, and an unabridged Dictionary of Scatological Terms and Crude Jokes.

Trained in the woodland terrain of Ft. Bragg, N.C., these men are used to rugged conditions. But on this day, they struggle up Afghan hillsides of loose slate and sedimentary rock with difficulty. Some, like Private Patraw, carry M-240 Bravos, a medium-caliber machine gun that weighs about 50 lbs. Others carry the lighter M-4 carbines, but help out carrying the heavy ammunition for the M-240, along with several gallons of water and pounds of food.

"Now imagine you had to carry this," says Patraw, as I pause, huffing like the big bad wolf, just four miles into our march. I try to put that thought out of my head.

Big picture, small picture

As is true in most wars, it's often hard for the troops on the ground to see the big picture.

American commanders remind the 18,000 US troops here that their presence in Afghanistan will give some breathing room for the Afghan government to establish its credibility, for the Afghan army to become strong enough to defend the country, for the Afghan people to accept the rule of their new government.

But as they patrol the villages, the squad also knows that democracy often has little to do with local loyalties. Unarmed Afghan villagers will always cooperate with whatever gunman is in town at a given time. Brannan's men know that a village of "friendlies," as cooperative Afghans are called, can turn into a Taliban haven overnight.

"I don't know who the villagers are closer to, the Taliban or us," says Senior Airman Brian Mellon, alias Gunslinger 37. He's an Air Force forward air controller temporarily assigned to Brannan's unit to call in and coordinate airstrikes if needed. "If we go there, we talk to them, give them food. But if the Taliban go there, they beat the local people. So if your life's in danger, it's more conducive to work with the Taliban."

Down below the unit, shepherds guide a hundred or so sheep across the rocky hillside, staring at the US soldiers. The soldiers stare back. "OK, now what are these guys up to?" asks Pvt. John Hernandez, of Long Island, N.Y.

"Just keeping an eye on us to tell their Taliban buddies," smirks Patraw.

"Sometimes it gets frustrating," says Brannan. "You get back to the base and you say, 'So what did you do today?' I didn't see any friendlies, I didn't see any enemies."

Private Hernandez jokes. "Saw some sheep."

As the afternoon drags on, I join the men as they start to dig into their MREs (meals ready to eat). I save the beef and mushrooms medley for later and pull out a package of vegetable crackers and cheese spread. There is so much dust in my mouth, I can hardly taste a thing, which may be a blessing.

Later on, I join in on an impromptu game of "hoops," tossing stones into an upturned Kevlar helmet, and occasionally hitting Pvt. Brian Martin of Trenton, Mich., the sniper, by mistake. Some of the soldiers scrape out hollows in the steep hill with their hands, in case they have to sleep on the mountain for the night.

Then at 4 p.m., Senior Airman Mellon, a native of Kailoa, Hawaii, receives a radio message from the village below. The village has been cleared. Afghan soldiers have confiscated stacks of Kalashnikov ammo magazines and, oddly, a pair of brass knuckles. None of the villagers have weapons themselves, so commanders believe the ammunition belongs to the Taliban.

Once again, in his quiet voice, Brannan gives the order. "Let's go."

A few hours later, the men reach the night's resting place, a hilltop above another village cleared by other platoons. Kicking away stones, they fall in for the night.

• First of three articles. Wednesday: Out of the hills and into the villages.

AFGHANISTAN: Increase in people living with HIV/AIDS
11 Oct 2005 16:46:16 GMT
KABUL, 11 October (IRIN) - The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan could cripple the desperately poor country unless urgent prevention and treatment measures are taken, the Afghan health ministry warned this week.

Available data on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan are very limited, although infection rates are thought to be many times higher than the official figure.

"We have 41 clinically proven HIV/AIDS cases, however we are estimating between 1,200-1,500 cases across the country," Ghulam Sarwar, a national AIDS control programme officer at the health ministry said in the capital Kabul.

While confirming the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan, Sevil Huseynoba, a medical officer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan said the spread of the disease was being assisted by the movement of refugees and labour migrants, along with long, porous borders.

Low levels of awareness about the disease also fed its spread, Sarwar said. Lack of health education, growing intravenous drug abuse and sex work linked to poverty, were also factors fuelling HIV/AIDS, the health ministry said.

"To tackle this problem, [of increasing HIV/AIDS rates] we need a proper budget, technical staff and training," Said Azam Sajid, a national surveillance officer for the national HIV/AIDS programme, said.

The health ministry's Sarwar noted that assisting those infected was still in its infancy in Afghanistan, pointing to the fact that there was only one Voluntary Confidential Counselling Testing Centre (VCCTC), in the capital Kabul. More such centres are planned for other Afghan cities.

The first official victim of HIV/AIDS in the country was an Afghan returnee and his children who died in November 2004 of AIDS-related illnesses, according to the health ministry. The fear now is that many more deaths will follow.

Globally, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has already claimed over 20 million lives and another 39 million people are currently estimated to be living with the syndrome.

PR provides more wagons to clear Afghan cargo
By Imran Ayub Wednesday, Daily Times - Oct 11 2:22 PM
KARACHI: The Pakistan Railways is providing more wagons to clear stuck cargoes imported under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) within 10 days, as a 40 percent decline in the particular imports rang alarm bells in government quarters.

Official sources and customs agents say the railways authorities have increased the wagons’ supply following a meeting with traders and for the past three days the railways has more than doubled the number of wagons.

“For the past three days the Pakistan Railways is supplying 200 wagons,” said a source close to the development. “At a meeting couple of days ago called by railways authorities it was decided to clear the stuck cargoes with the next 10 days.”

He said with the increased supply of wagons the stuck cargoes were expected to move by the end of the week, which would encourage Afghan importers to place fresh orders from Pakistan. “Now we expect a reciprocal response from Afghan importers, who are avoiding to transit their goods from Pakistan due to delayed supplies,” said a senior customs agent.

Supply of ATTA goods came to almost a halt more than two weeks ago as less-than-demand supply of wagons by the Pakistan Railways resulted in stranding more than 2,000 containers at the two ports of the country.

Customs agents, involved in clearing ATTA consignments from the ports, said in the first phase containers were dispatched to Peshawar through railways and from there, the consignments crossed borders on trucks.

“As per agreement regulations, within Pakistan ATTA goods can only be transported through the Pakistan Railways,” said another agent. “So there is Pakistan Railways’ monopoly on moving ATTA goods within the country, which sometimes causes delays in supply.”

He said during September 2005 the country witnessed an alarming decline in ATTA imports, which forced the Pakistan Railways to take immediate steps to avoid a major loss of revenue in future. Figures, compiled by the customs agents in September, show that the country’s ports received 1,600 containers under the ATTA in September compared with 2,800 received in August.

“On an average the ATTA consignments cross 2,500 mark every month, but delay in cargo supply from Pakistan due to shortage of railway wagons forced Afghan importers to place and receive fresh consignments orders via Iran,” said Amir Altaf, secretary of the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Clearing Agents Group.

He said since the Pakistan Railways had increased wagons’ supplies the ATTA cargoes, stuck for more than the past two weeks, could take more than six days to clear from the two ports.

Imports under the ATTA have registered a sharp jump over the past three years as traders and official believe that improving conditions in Afghanistan and increasing construction activity have paved the way for increased trading activity there.

The ATTA imports touched Rs 20 billion mark during financial year 2003-04 up by 48.7 percent compared with figures for 2002-03 and are expected to cross Rs 30 billion by the end of June 2006. But the people involved in the trade say delayed supply of goods to Afghanistan could damage the prospects.

“We have asked the commerce ministry to allow private carriers to transport ATTA goods to avoid such a situation in the future,” said Mr Altaf of the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Clearing Agents Group. He said other sources of transportation could make the Pakistan Railways’ job easy and would also offer an alternative to the importers.

Rice's soft tone in Central Asia
By Jonathan Beale / BBC US State Department correspondent - Monday, 10 October 2005
Condoleezza Rice will have to tread carefully in this region in which both Russia and China have strategic interests, as she begins a tour taking her to Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. She wants to reinforce President George W Bush's message of spreading "freedom" without causing too much offence.

Countries in Central Asia continue to be important allies in America's war on terror. Kyrgyzstan, along with Uzbekistan, has provided the US with former Soviet bases from which it has mounted missions into neighbouring Afghanistan.

Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan all have large Muslim populations. The US needs them to counter Islamic extremism. And this region is a major route in the narcotics trade - all important reasons for Ms Rice to make friends not enemies.

Field of influence - The US plays down talk of a power struggle in this region, but China and Russia are flexing their muscle and exerting influence. Moscow historically has looked at much of the region as "their territory" - part of the former Soviet Union.

There are good reasons to continue the ties: a large Russian population, and Kazakhstan's oil supplies. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are all members of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.

The group's primary aim seems to be to curb Washington's influence. In July its members signed a declaration calling for a timetable to be set for the closure of US military bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Another reason for the US secretary of state not pressing too hard on the pace of democratic and economic change. America's most senior diplomat for the region has already signalled the softer tone.

Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried said "the art of diplomacy and foreign policy making is taking principles, sticking to them, but applying them in the real world in ways that make sense." Ms Rice herself talks of giving countries time and space to find their own democratic path. In other words too much pressure may prove counterproductive.

Avoiding Uzbekistan - Not long ago Uzbekistan was seen as one of America's most important allies in the region. President Islam Karimov provided tough leadership to combat the threat posed by Islamic extremism.

He also allowed the US to use an airbase in the country for missions against the Taleban. But the relationship has since soured and deteriorated. The violent suppression of a protest against his regime in Andijan last May brought widespread condemnation.

The US was slow off the mark to join in the criticism, but has since added to international demands for an independent investigation into the killings which left hundreds dead.
Mr Karimov has refused - and to add insult has told the US they must leave the base at Khanabad. This illustrates the dilemma for Ms Rice. Uzbekistan is a country that has now turned to Russia instead.

Afghanistan Progress - This will be Ms Rice's second visit to Afghanistan as secretary of state. Last time she pressured President Hamid Karzai to set a date for parliamentary election.
This time she wants to celebrate the fact that they have taken place. But Afghanistan still has security problems. Freedom may be on the march... but its still very fragile.

Three water-supply schemes completed in Kunar
Pajhwok Report
ASADABAD, October 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Three water supply schemes costing 1725,000 afghanis have been completed under the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) in Sawkai district of the eastern Kunar province.

Eng. Abdul Hanan Stanakzai, head of NSP's consultative committee for Kunar, told this news agency on Tuesday: "With the completion of these projects, the drinking water problem in the district will be resolved to a large extent."

Stanikzai said the NSP was trying to achieve the twin objectives of providing employment to the unemployed and resolving people's pressing problems. He promised all possible efforts would be made to ensure the availability of basic civic amenities to the masses.

In Sawkai district, the NSP official pointed out, they had dug 10 wells in Khari Qila village and built a 113-metre embankment along a ditch in Dewa Gul valley. Both schemes were among longstanding demands of residents.

District chief Maulvi Sirajuddin described the water supply schemes as a welcome step towards meeting masses' demands for basic civic amenities. He assured NGOs and charity organisations could carry out carry out uplift activities in the district, where the security situation was satisfactory.

A dweller of the district, Mohammad Amin hailed the completion of the projects, saying they would spare his family a lot of toil fetching water. Earlier, they would walk half an hour to fetch potable water but the schemes, he hopes, will alleviate their trouble.

Kabul to host ECO conference in November
KABUL, October 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The third conference of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) would be held in Kabul next month, officials said on Monday.
Investment Manager of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), Shakib Noori told Pajhwok Afghan News AISA would host the conference, due on 9th and 10th of November, in collaboration with Afghan Commerce Ministry (ACM).

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will inaugurate the conference that aims the development of private sector and reconstruction of the country.

ECO is formed by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan in 1985 and currently the number of member countries has reached ten including Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Conference is meant to promote trade and investment among the member states. The summit will also focus on business-to-business interaction and networking opportunity.

A bilateral cooperation would be encouraged in member nations regarding transportation, transit and investment. The summit will arrange hot debates on social problems in general but trade and commerce in particular.

Noori said that an exposition of the products of member countries would also be opened by the conference begins. Representatives from private sector, Afghan cabinet ministers, diplomats, and policy makers and as well as mediamen are expected to attend the conference.

Commander killed as armed men storm jail
FAIZABAD, October 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former commander of Jamat-e-Islami Pahlawan Mukhtar was killed and his two supporters sustained injuries after armed men stormed jail in Argoy district of northeastern Badakhshan, security officials said Tuesday.

Haji Abdul Salam, senior provincial police official, told Pajhwok Afghan News that nearly 40 supporters of former Hizb-e-Islami commander Abdul Wahab attacked the prison and killed Pahlawan Mukhtar after giving a sound thrash to the prison chief.

Earlier, a famous Buzkushi athlete Mukhtar (27) shot dead Abdul Wahab (40) a few hours ago and surrendered himself to the police, official said, adding the two parties had some old feud.

Basir Ahmad (32) uncle and Muhibullah (27) cousin of the deceased (Mukhtar) who got injuries in the attack were rushed to the provincial hospital.
Basir Ahmad said, "I went jail to meet Mukhtar, meanwhile, armed men stormed the prison and sprayed bullets on Mukhtar, one bullet hit me in the leg."

Haji Salam said the case was under investigation and none of the attackers were arrested. However, three loyalists of Mukhtar had been nabbed, he added.

Ten women educators from Afghanistan visit Holyoke
(Holyoke, MASS - AP) — Ten women educators from Afghanistan are spending three weeks in Western Massachusetts studying techniques to improve their abilities to manage adult education programs in Afghanistan.

During a reception at Holyoke Community College yesterday, the ten women said they are benefiting from the experience of American professionals, and hope to implement those lessons back home.

Their program was created by Institute for Training and Development, a nonprofit education corporation in Amherst.

The institute's executive director — Mark Protti — said the women are here building skills primarily in how to manage community based literacy programs.