Afghanistan News February 10, 2006

February 10, 2006

19 killed in clash between Sunni, Shiite in W. Afghanistan
www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-10 08:17:22
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 19 persons were killed and more than 80 others injured Thursday in the traditional Ashura ceremony when Sunni and Shiite clashed in Afghan western province of Herat, local TV station reported.

"Today is Muslim's traditional Ashura Day when thousands of Shiite Muslims went to the street to hold the ceremony. At about 12 a.m. local time (0730 GMT) a clash broke out between Sunni and Shiite, which led to at least 19 people killed," Afghan National TV said.

"We have received more than 80 injured persons, and some of them are in serious condition," Dr. Nabi Zirkohi from Herat hospital told Xinhua.

According to some eyewitnesses, some mosques and cars in the street have been set on fire also. Hundreds of policemen have beensent to the place, and the situation has been controlled.
The investigation of the reason of the clash is still going on.

Afghan Shiite Muslims a minority in the Sunni-dominated Islamicstate celebrate this Ashura Day by chest beating and knifing in the capital of Kabul and other big cities on Thursday to commemorate the day.

Ashura is being observed by Shiite Muslims in the Islamic countries every year to commemorate the martyrs of Prophet's grandson Imam Hussain and his 72 family members and followers in Karbala of Iraq.

Imam Hussain and all his family members and comrades known as the martyrs of Karbala among the Muslims were murdered by the armed forces of king Yazid 1466 years ago after Hussain termed Yazid's rule as illegal and rejected to make allegiance.

Eight Afghan soldiers killed in two blasts
ASADABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Roadside bombs killed eight Afghan soldiers on Friday, a provincial governor said, in the latest incidents in a surge of violence as NATO members prepare to expand an Afghan peacekeeping force.

Seven soldiers were wounded in the two separate blasts in Kunar province, which is on the border with Pakistan, said the province's governor, Assadullah Wafa.

"The soldiers were going in convoys when the enemies of Afghanistan set off bombs planted on the roads," Wafa told Reuters.

Six soldiers were killed in one of the blasts and two were killed in the other, he said.

He did not elaborate on who he thought was responsible but Taliban and allied militants are known to operate in the province.

U.S. forces mounted a major sweep to clear insurgents from Kunar last year and 16 U.S. troops were killed there in June when their helicopter was shot down.

A U.S. missile strike on a Pakistani village opposite Kunar last month killed at least 18 civilians, and possibly several suspected al Qaeda members, though no bodies have been found.

A U.S. missile strike on a Pakistani village opposite Kunar last month killed 18 civilians as well as several suspected al Qaeda members.

Afghanistan has seen a surge of bomb attacks in recent months, including numerous suicide blasts.

Violence has also erupted in recent days over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad published in European newspapers, with 10 people killed in clashes when angry protesters tried to storm foreign military bases and clashed with police.

Trouble also erupted between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims at a religious procession in the western city of Herat on Thursday and at least five people were killed and scores wounded in fighting between members of the different sects.

Despite the violence, NATO defense chiefs meeting in Italy on Thursday pledged to expand alliance peacekeeping in Afghanistan.

Defense ministers agreed to check security measures for their 9,000-strong International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, but insisted its expansion to 16,000 troops this year would go ahead as planned.

NATO plans to expand the force -- already in the north, west and the capital Kabul -- to the more volatile south and ultimately the east.

NATO would then manage all international peacekeeping in the country, allowing a larger U.S.-led force to reduce troop numbers and focus on hunting the Taliban and al Qaeda remnants seen as behind the insurgency.

Suspected Taliban bombs kill six Afghan soldiers
KABUL (AFP) - Two separate bomb blasts by suspected Taliban rebels killed six Afghan soldiers and wounded eight others in volatile northeastern Afghanistan, the defence ministry said.

Two soldiers were killed and four wounded in the first blast in the troubled Peche Valley of Nuristan province, spokesman General Mohammed Zahir Azimi said on Friday.

A convoy sent to their aid struck another mine and four more soldiers were killed and four hurt, Azimi said.

"In both attacks six Afghan soldiers were martyred and eight wounded," he told AFP.

It was not clear if the explosions were caused by landmines or remote-controlled bombs, he said.

Azimi blamed the attacks on the "enemies of Afghanistan", a catchphrase that usually refers to remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and their Al-Qaeda allies who have mounted a guerrilla-like insurgency against the new government.

Afghan security forces and the nearly 30,000 foreign troops trying to help them maintain order are among the main targets of insurgency-linked violence, blamed for the deaths of about 1,700 people last year, many of them militants.

The ultraconservative Taliban government was removed from power in a US-led invasion in November 2001 after it failed to surrender Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, wanted for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Nato to send 6,000 troops to southern Afghanistan despite surge in violence
By Demetri Sevastopulo and Peter Spiegel in Taormina, Italy,,and Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
February 10 2006 02:00 Financial Times, UK
Nato's defence ministers yesterday insisted they remained committed to sending 6,000 troops to southern Afghanistan in spite of escalating violence in the provinces where the British-led mission will deploy in May.

Meeting in Sicily, the ministers prioritised their discussions of the Afghan southern expansion because of the outbreak of fighting in the country that has left dozens dead.

The violence has been linked to widespread protests over the Danish publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed.

The violence in the south has escalated over the past week. In the province of Uruzgan, where Dutch peacekeepers will be deployed as part of the new mission, a pitched battle between Afghan police and Taliban militants last week left 16 militants and six police dead.

In Kandahar, where the new mission will have its headquarters, a suicide bomber killed 13 people. Nato forces, which currently patrol Kabul and the northern and western provinces, have already come under attack because of cartoon-related violence.

Norwegian troops were attacked on Tuesday by rioters and British forces were flown in to help secure the region.

"When Nato troops arrive [in the south] they will be facing much worse conditions than this time last year," said a western security source in Afghanistan. "Nato forces have very different operating styles from the US troops and this is something that the Taliban will be waiting to take advantage of."

Nato ministers will also discuss the expanding Afghan mission today with ministers from six Arab states and Israel, who are joining a Nato summit for the first time as part of the alliance's Mediterranean Dialogue. In spite of the rising violence, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Nato secretary-general, said: "There have been serious difficulties at the beginning of the week but we remain fully committed to expanding Nato's mission in Afghanistan."

On his way to the summit, Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, declined to comment on the cartoons and the ensuing violence. But he said he still expected Nato would eventually take over responsibility for all of Afghanistan with the exception of offensive counter-terrorism operations.

Violence continued in Afghanistan yesterday, although there were fewer outbreaks in the south. At least five people were killed and 52 wounded in western Afghanistan in clashes between hundreds of Sunni and Shia Muslims commemorating the Shia holy day of Ashura.

NATO to press on with Afghan expansion: Rumsfeld
By Will Dunham and Mark John Thu Feb 9, 10:10 AM ET
TAORMINA, Italy (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday said Washington remained committed to transferring all international peacekeeping in Afghanistan to NATO troops, increasingly the target of violence there.

Protesters angered by cartoons depicting Islam's Prophet Mohammad tried to storm a NATO base housing Norwegian troops on Tuesday in one of the worst outbreaks of violence prompted by the controversy. Afghan police opened fire, killing four.

In all, 10 Afghans have been killed in protests this week.

The upsurge in tension comes as NATO readies to expand its 9,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) -- already in the north, west and the capital Kabul -- to the more volatile southern Afghanistan and ultimately to the east.

NATO would then manage all international peacekeeping in the country, allowing the U.S.-led coalition to focus on hunting the Taliban and al Qaeda remnants seen as behind the insurgency.

"That's the plan. And they're en route toward that," Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Sicilian resort of Taormina.

Rumsfeld gave no fixed timetable for when NATO was expected to take over peacekeeping in the eastern part of Afghanistan, saying only that the plan was "to eventually at some point either this year or next to expand over to the east."

U.S. and NATO officials have in the past expressed firm hopes that ISAF would take over all peacekeeping by end-2006.

But the move to the south, which was initially intended for early 2006, is now seen some time in the middle of the year after hesitation among some allies to come forward with troops.

Asked whether he was disturbed at how long it was taking, Rumsfeld, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said:

"I wouldn't say they (NATO allies) never get their act together. They eventually do. They're in the north, they're in the west, they're going to be in the south. No, I'm very comfortable with it."

"ORCHESTRATED ACTIONS"
After much debate, Dutch lawmakers finally voted this month in favor of sending up to 1,400 troops to Afghanistan to join the deployment into the south. Britain and Canada are the two other main contributors, taking ISAF strength up to 15,000.

The United States has some 19,000 troops in Afghanistan and has plans to reduce numbers to 16,500 in the coming months.

The U.S. troops, who invaded in 2001 to topple the Taliban rulers who had harbored al Qaeda militants responsible for the September 11 attacks on America, lead an effort targeting Taliban fighters and seeking fugitive al Qaeda leaders.

NATO officials hastily rescheduled the agenda of the meeting to allow ministers to be briefed on Thursday about the security situation in Afghanistan after this week's violence. A planned discussion on NATO reforms was put back until Friday.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the violence provoked by the cartoon controversy would be discussed when the NATO defense ministers meet counterparts from six Arab states and Israel, also scheduled for Friday.

"We have a joint responsibility to make sure we get this unacceptable violence under control," he told reporters. "These are not spontaneous actions, but orchestrated."

NATO said this week its plan to expand into the south was not in doubt despite the protests against caricatures first published in Denmark and then reprinted in newspapers across Europe. Rumsfeld steered clear of the controversy, saying he would not add to comments already made by other U.S. leaders.
(Additional reporting by Carsten Lietz in Taormina)

41 Pak workers detained over Afghan cartoon protests
(AFP) 9 February 2006 via Khaleej Times
KABUL - Afghan authorities have arrested more than 40 Pakistani workers for inciting violence during a protest against cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in which four people were killed, an official said on Thursday.

The men were arrested with their Arab boss in Qalat in southern Zabul province where police opened fire to quell rampaging demonstrators Wednesday.

“The protests were supposed to be peaceful. But we have proof that these men were involved in turning it to violence,” provincial spokesman Gulab Shah Alikhil told AFP.

Alikhil said 16 of the 41 arrested men had confessed to having had a “hand in violating the protests”. All would go on trial, he said. The Arab boss was a Saudi national, he said.

Authorities in Qalat also planned to expel more than 100 Pakistani workers in coming days, Alikhil said.

“We’ll not allow even a single Pakistani worker to work in Zabul any more,” he said. This included workers who entered Afghanistan with a visa.

The deaths in Qalat took to 11 the death toll from five days of protests in Afghanistan against the cartoons, which have appeared in several international newspapers, most of them European.

Protestors in the city pelted police and US-led coalition soldiers with stones and set alight several vehicles and a school, witnesses said. Four protestors were killed in police shootouts and several people wounded.

Defence ministry spokesman General Mohammed Zahir Azimi said Wednesday Pakistani workers had played a role in “sabotaging” the Qalat demonstration.

A police spokesman said however that the cartoon protest had turned violent after being joined by Afghans who had been at a separate demonstration about jobs in the town going to nationals from neighbouring Pakistan.

NATO praises restraint of troops in Afghanistan amid riots
Thursday, 9 February 2006
TOARMINA, Italy (AFP) - NATO defence ministers will praise the actions of troops in Afghanistan where at least 11 people have died in protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, a spokeswoman said.

"First they are going to praise the restraint shown by the troops during the riots," the spokeswoman said as the ministers were beginning two days of informal talks in Taormina, southern Italy.

"The troops showed how the alliance is adapting, because we managed to move the rapid response force really quickly" to help a Norwegian contingent that came under attack from protestors, she said.

The demonstrations against the cartoons, which have appeared in several international newspapers, most of them European, have run on for five days and have also injured at least five Norwegian troops working with NATO.

The inflamed religious sensitivities over the caricatures, first published in a Danish newspaper and reprinted in Norway, come as the alliance tries to improve its image in Muslim and Arab nations and appear as more than a military machine.

Nevertheless NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer believes that the riots are not directly aimed at the alliance-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"We have the support of the population," the spokeswoman said.

NATO officials have tried to focus attention away from the riots ahead of the talks, held in this tourist resort amid tight security -- including warships, helicopters, dog and explosives teams.

They want to focus on a tricky phase of NATO's enlargement into southern Afghanistan, where attacks on troops and civilians have been rife in recent weeks, which the alliance hopes to finish by the end of summer.

The ministers, including US Defense Secretry Donald Rumsfeld, will also meet on Friday with their counterparts from seven Mediterranean rim countries, including a number of Muslim and Arab nations plus Israel.

Also high on the agenda will be discussion about the NATO Response Force (NRF); the flagship military unit that can be speedily dispatched to the world's trouble spots.

Despite its state of readiness, one senior diplomat has said "there are still significant holes" in terms of who is willing to take part and how its operations will be funded.

In another first, a Russian cruiser ship will also be in Sicily amid plans for a navy vessel to join NATO's anti-terror operations -- Operation Active Endeavour -- in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time.

De Hoop Scheffer will become the first NATO chief to board a Russian navy vessel when he walks up its gangplank on Friday.

The meeting will also lay much of the groundwork for the next NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, in November.

Afghanistan: NATO Commander Says Drugs Biggest Threat
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 9 February 2006
Speaking at a press briefing on 8 February in New York, General James L. Jones, the supreme allied commander of the NATO military alliance, called the ongoing deployment of foreign troops to Afghanistan "by far the most ambitious operation" for NATO since the Cold War. Jones also said by the end of the year, NATO may assume full control of foreign-led operations in the country. The alliance is now looking to expand its presence into the southern region of Afghanistan, and will then move into in the eastern sector of the country as well. Jones says the major security threat in Afghanistan is not the activities of Al-Qaeda or neo-Taliban fighters, but the drug trade and corruption.

NEW YORK, 9 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Foreign troops serving under NATO command in Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been the target of heated attacks in recent days.

The continued outrage over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad has led to protests in much of the Muslim world.

Some of the worst has been in Afghanistan, where as many as a dozen demonstrators have been killed in protest violence. Four of the deaths took place in the northwest town of Maymana, when hundreds of protesters stormed the gates of a Norwegian military base, leading to a firefight.

'Law And Order'

It remains unclear who is responsible for the shooting deaths of the four protesters. But Jones said the Norwegian ISAF troops acted appropriately under the circumstances.

"In Maymana, where we had the outbreak, the local forces were able to restore law and order, and avoid what could have become a very dangerous situation," Jones said.

He added that the performance of the ISAF troops under the force's commander, Lieutenant General Mauro Del Vecchio was, in his opinion, "very, very consistent with the rules of engagements and capabilities. They exercised restraint, they followed the rules of engagement, and right now, at least as of this morning, calm and order is being restored."

Joining Forces

Commenting on the evolving partnership between the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF actions in Afghanistan, Jones said NATO is looking forward to bringing the missions under the control of a single command and control headquarters, thus completing a plan that was laid out in Munich in 2004.

Jones said Afghanistan is the most visible example of NATO's rapidly changing role in the 21st century. It is a transformation, he said, of not only military capability, but philosophy as well.
"The 20th-century NATO was always conceived to be a static, reactive, defensive alliance. It was never really projected to go anywhere out of area," Jones said. "And the 21st century realities are calling for a NATO that is more agile, more flexible, more expeditionary."

The more aggressive missions in Afghanistan, Jones said, are to be led by the United States Central Command. He said NATO has put into motion structures that will guarantee that all participating nations are doing what they expect to be able to do and that they're doing it in a safe way.

Fighting Terror

He added that each country participating through ISAF in counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan is carefully calculating its own level of engagement and the most efficient way to protect its troops.

"The expansion of the alliance in Afghanistan has dealt with the issues of what it is nations are willing to do or not willing to do in terms of counterterrorism and antiterrorism," Jones said. "We have worked that out in such a way that we feel confident that the mission can expand under NATO, and

those countries that wish to participate in the more offensive part of the counterterrorist mission are free to do so, and we have a very well-developed mechanism by which they can do so."

Jones said it is important to ensure that NATO helps the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai bring to full capability the instruments of governance, security, and policing that will allow the country to function more independently from NATO efforts.

Drugs, Corruption 'More Serious' Problem

"The situation in Afghanistan, in my view, in terms of threats, is multifaceted. I'm not as much concerned about a return of the Taliban or Al-Qaeda as I am about the success of the war on drugs, which is accounting for about 50 percent of the gross domestic product of that country,"

Jones said. "To me, that's a much more serious problem. It has its own threats with regard to violence. I would also identify corruption, criminality and other aspects of the 'threat envelope' that face all of us in Afghanistan, not just ISAF."

The supreme allied commander of NATO said the groups have agreed on how to preserve the individual identities of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF.

The command and control mechanism is essentially centered, he said, around the fact that the deputy commander for security will have dual responsibilities -- heading security for the ISAF portion of the mission, and coordinating the more aggressive counterterrorist missions that will be conducted by United States Central Command in coordination with ISAF.

A 'half full' Afghan army
With 35,000 troops, the army is midway to its final size. Training is new focus.
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Sgt. Mohammad Reza walks silently on a ridge, watching his platoon conduct a reconnaissance patrol in a gully below. His men are all recent recruits. Some are former militia fighters who have seen many battles but little professional training. Others are as green as the helmets on their head.

"They don't know about organized war, they just know about guerrilla warfare," says Sergeant Reza, himself a former militiaman from Bamian Province.

Increasingly, coalition forces are turning over some of the training to Afghan sergeants like Reza. Fresh recruits learn the basics of how to take protective measures and launch counterattacks, skills that will help them hold their positions in a fight.

How well they absorb these lesson will be crucial for Afghanistan's ability to stand on its own two feet. Now half-way toward the goal of a 70,000-man force, the Afghan National Army is reaching a crucial testing period: The US military is preparing to draw down its forces in Afghanistan, NATO forces are moving in, and security conditions along the southern border with Pakistan are worsening.

"Those who are in the military know how difficult it is to make an army self-sufficient, and the Afghan National Army has just been formed, so it will take some work," says Gen. Zaher Azimi, a Ministry of Defense spokesman. "If we are fighting alongside foreign forces, we have the capability to fight against guerrillas, but we can't do it alone."

That means that the international presence in Afghanistan will remain crucial for the foreseeable future. The growing number of ANA brigades in the volatile south will soon by joined by NATO forces who are rotating in to take over the responsibility for Afghanistan's security after the US military draws down 3,000 of its troops this spring.

US, French, British, Rumanian, and even Mongolian trainers will continue to train ANA troops at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC), just outside Kabul, and a growing number of Afghan officers will enter military exchange programs at military bases in the US and other coalition countries.

Yet four years after the Taliban's ouster, there are growing expectations that the ANA will pick up more of the slack in defending the country and providing the sort of security that allows Afghans to trust in their own government and their future.

"The fortunate thing about Afghans is that they have a feeling that our army is able to defend the country at a high level of proficiency," says Gen. Rahmatullah Raufi, the corps commander in Kandahar. "But when we talk of defending our country on our own, I confess, we can't do it ourselves. We are a poor country."

Eighty percent of the soldiers in his corps are illiterate, General Raufi says. Fifty percent of the officers are illiterate. Only 20 percent of his soldiers have a professional knowledge of how to serve in an army; the rest are former militia fighters or young recruits. "No one will tell you this, but even if the president sahib asks me, I will tell him this myself.

While the ANA appears to be on course in reaching its goal of a 70,000-man army by 2009, the army also realizes that it needs to improve the quality of its soldiers rather than merely put warm bodies out into uniform.

"Previously, there was a need to produce large numbers of soldiers, but now we focus on quality instead of quantity," says Brig. Gen. Mohammad Amin Wardak, commander of the training center in Kabul.

At first, ANA soldiers were given a brisk two-month course and then sent out to face Taliban insurgents. But now, the training at KMTC is 15 weeks long, including six weeks of basic training, and the rest in Advanced Infantry Training, where soldiers will be given specialities, from rifleman to artillery to more elite commando duty.

Upon graduation, ANA soldiers earn $70 a month, double the median monthly income nationwide. Officers earn more, depending on their rank.

Sgt. Steve Bromfield, a Canadian military trainer from the 2nd Field Engineer Regiment, is just ending a six month stint guiding the live-fire exercises at KMTC. He says the recruits he trains are eager to learn. In two weeks, he helps break some bad habits from former militia fighters like spraying gunfire instead of making every shot count. "Like everyone, if you give them bullets, they want to shoot," he laughs. "It's the same in the Canadian Army."

Up on a plateau, the first platoon of Afghan soldiers are advancing, team by team toward a target, firing their Kalashnikovs at paper targets. Down below in a dry streambed, a second platoon runs into position, and climbs up a ridge to attack the paper enemy on its flank. Behind, a reserve platoon forms a defensive circle, and prepares to respond to any enemy counterattack.

"This is the most vulnerable time for a platoon," says Sgt. Maj. Rick Dumas, a Canadian trainer, enjoying the moment. "They're getting tired, they are consolidating their forces, preparing for a counterattack."

Behind Sergeant Dumas, some overeager Afghans from the reserve platoon rush through a group of foreign trainers and journalists with their guns at the ready, before being called back by their sergeant.

While the ANA generally enjoys a good local reputation, some Afghans criticize Army leadership for packing the ranks with members of some ethnic groups, and not others.

"I don't want to call this army the Afghan National Army," said Najibullah Kabuli, a parliamentarian during an impassioned outburst in the lower house last week. "I want to call it the Army of National Rivalries. They are asking for exact numbers of Tajiks, exact numbers of Pashtuns."

ANA officials counter that ethnicity is not a criteria for selecting foot soldiers, although there is an attempt to maintain an ethnic balance among officers to reflect the country's ethnic mix.

General Raufi says ethnicity is just one of those issues that will take time to sort out in Afghanistan. "A national army should serve the people, not one ethnic group, not one person, or one province," he says. "Your army is almost 250 years old. Maybe you had those problems in your country's history too."

Worshippers die in Pakistan blast
Thursday, 9 February 2006 BBC News
At least 23 people have been killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack and in subsequent violence at a religious procession in north-west Pakistan.

The explosion tore through a crowd of Shia Muslims marking the Ashura festival in the town of Hangu, sparking rioting among pilgrims.

Pakistan has a history of tension between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Five people also died in Sunni-Shia fighting in Herat, western Afghanistan, on Thursday, doctors said.

Gunfire

The explosion in Hangu, in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, struck a bazaar as hundreds of people walked in a procession from the main Shia mosque in the town.

The army has sent in troops and a curfew has been imposed. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We thought the bomb was detonated by remote control, but now it appears to be a suicide attack," local police chief Ayub Khan told the Associated Press news agency.

Police say another 22 people were taken to hospital in nearby Kohat.

Maulana Khurshid Anwar, a leader of the Shia procession, said the explosion had happened just as he was about to address the crowd.

District administrator Ghani ur-Rehman said the ensuing violence had destroyed 60% of the town's bazaar.

There are several reports of gunfire and possible fatalities following the blast, but the exact number of people who died is unclear.

Cleric's appeal

A judicial inquiry into the attack has been ordered, officials say.

Mr ur-Rehman said the situation had been brought under control by early afternoon, with Sunni and Shia religious leaders helping to calm the situation.

Shia cleric Allama Mehdi Najfi told AP from his base in Quetta in the south-west: "This attack has spread anger among our people throughout the country, but I appeal them not to clash with any member of other sects."

About 3,000 Shias protested on the streets of Karachi over the killings.

In Herat, Afghanistan, five people were killed and 27 hurt in clashes at a Shia procession for Ashura, doctors said.

Ashura marks the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein, an event that led to the split between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

AFGHANISTAN: Criticism of NGO de-registration
KABUL, 8 February (IRIN) - Civic groups in Afghanistan expressed varying reactions to a decision by the government on Tuesday to de-register some 1,600 NGOs in the post-conflict country.

Some NGO groups complained that they had not been given time and support to go through the registration process. "The government has not been able to really process and facilitate the process of registration for the NGOs," Aziz Rafiee, managing director of the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF), a local NGO forum of some 75 participants, said from the Afghan capital, Kabul.

However, some NGO umbrella groups were more positive about the move. "We see this process as at least a means to clean up the list of NGOs, where many 'briefcase' NGOs exist. In a way, it is a good step to clean up the list and then have a better look at those who are registered. As such we don't consider it negative," Anja De Beer, director of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), an organisation representing some 90 humanitarian NGOs, both national and international, said.

Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001 a lot of international donors went back to Afghanistan and there was plenty of funding available, say activists. "Some people registered as NGOs hoping to get funding and the vast majority of them never de-registered and remain on the list of NGOs. They had nothing more than a business card," De Beer explained.

Their comments came after Mohammad Amin Farhang, Afghan economy minister, announced that the licence of 1,620 national and international NGOs would be withdrawn as they had failed to re-register with the Ministry for Economy.

"Only 464 NGOs, including 165 international organisations, have registered with the Ministry for Economy, while the applications of 217 for registration are still under review," the minister added.

Many of the more than 2,350 NGOs - including 330 foreign ones - which had previously registered with the former planning ministry were not operational, the minister said.

The authorities issued a six-month deadline for re-registration in July, which ended on Monday. "Last June, when the new NGO legislation was adopted, there was also a requirement for the re-registration of all registered NGOs. It seems that this number of NGOs [1,600] either did not meet the deadline, which had been extended once or twice, or did not meet the re-registration requirements," De Beer noted.

The Afghan government has been unhappy that it has had little control over donor funds in the past, while foreign NGOs received the lion's share of international assistance money. Donors had been reluctant to channel funds through the fledgling government, citing lack of capacity and corruption fears.

But this imbalance is set to change. "During the past four years, the government was only receiving 22 percent of world aid and the remaining 78 percent was disbursed through NGOs, but now the government would directly receive more than 60 percent of world donations," Aziz Shams, spokesman for the finance ministry, said earlier in Kabul.

An international donor conference held in London last week pledged over US $10.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged country.

Daily Afghan Report
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty [ 9 February 2006 ]
Protests Over Cartoons Claim More Lives In Afghanistan...
Continuing protests throughout Afghanistan against the publication by a Danish newspaper and other media of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad have claimed more lives in Qalat, the provincial capital of Zabul in southern Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported on 8 February. Zabul Province security commander Mohammad Nabi Manakhail told RFE/RL that the 8 February demonstrations turned violent when protesters shot at Afghan security officers. When the officers returned fire, three protesters were killed and up to 13 others were injured. Manakhail said that several security officers were also injured. Police have arrested 40 people who Manakhail said were responsible for instigating violence and destruction of property. According to AFP on 8 February, a total of four protesters were killed in Qalat. The protests over the cartoons have claimed 12 lives since they began in early February, and have prompted Afghan officials to speculate that foreigners are behind the ongoing violence (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6, 7, and 8 February 2006). AT

...As Neo-Taliban Offers Rewards For Killing Publisher Of Cartoons, ISAF Soldiers...

Mullah Dadullah, identifying himself as the military commander in chief of the Taliban militia, on 8 February offered a reward of 100 kilograms of gold to anyone who kills "the person responsible for publishing the cartoons," Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. Speaking with AIP, Dadullah said the militia will give 5 kilograms of gold to anyone who kills a Danish, Norwegian, or German soldier serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The rate of neo-Taliban suicide attacks has increased since the publication of the cartoons, Dadullah claimed in his remarks to AIP. The cartoons were originally published in September 2005. There was, however, no noticeable reaction to them in Afghanistan until early February. AT

...And Declares Jihad Against Danish Forces In Afghanistan

Qari Yusof Ahmadi, claiming to speak on behalf of the neo-Taliban, has said the militia has declared jihad against Danish forces in Afghanistan because of the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, the Copenhagen daily "Berlingske Tidende" reported on 7 February. While all foreign forces remain targets of neo-Taliban attacks, "because of the insults we will to a particular extent attack Danish soldiers," Ahmadi said. Denmark currently has upwards of 150 soldiers in Afghanistan, but Copenhagen has indicated the number of Danish forces will increase to around 350 as part of ISAF's expansion to southern Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 February 2006). AT

School Tents Torched In Northern Afghanistan

Unidentified arsonists have burned two tents used as classrooms in the outskirts of Sheberghan, the provincial capital of Jowzjan, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported on 8 February. Abdul Hayy Yashin, head of the provincial education department, told RFE/RL the tents were located in the Afghan Tapa area and that no suspects have been arrested in the case. The neo-Taliban has began a campaign of targeting schools in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, where they are operating. However, there are few, if any, reports of neo-Taliban activity in Jowzjan. AT

Authorities Arrest More Than 40 Foreign Women In Kabul For 'Immoral' Activities

Afghan Interior Ministry legal adviser Abdul Jabar Sabet told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on 8 February that upward of 40 foreign women have been arrested in Kabul for alleged involvement in "immoral" acts. The women were working in brothels disguised as guesthouses and restaurants operating throughout Kabul, Sabet added. While the media has identified the women as being from China, Sabet refused to disclose their nationality to RFE/RL. Twenty-two establishments involved in immoral activities have been identified in Kabul, Sabet added. The Afghan National Assembly has been debating the spread of what it calls immoral acts in Kabul, including prostitution and the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Sabet, however, said that the action taken by the Interior Ministry was not the result of direction by the parliament. AT