Afghanistan News January 3, 2005

January 3, 2006

Afghan aid worker and policeman die in attacks
Tue Jan 3, 8:34 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Gunmen shot dead an Afghan working for a foreign aid group at a mosque in southern Afghanistan, while a policeman was killed in a separate firefight with militants, officials said.

Aid worker Mirwais was gunned down Monday in Lashkargah, the capital of insurgency-hit Helmand province, deputy governor Moheedin Khan said on Tuesday.

The victim was an engineer with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, which builds schools, roads and clinics in rural areas of the poverty-stricken country.

The Afghan interior ministry said the area had been sealed off by intelligence agents and the police.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack but similar killings in the past have been blamed on remnants of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime.

In April three women linked to the same organisation were found stoned to death in the northern province of Baghlan with a letter written by another Islamic militant group.

Suspected Taliban insurgents attacked a district administration office in the neighbouring province of Zabul, killing one policeman and injuring two others during a two-hour gunfight, an official said.

The fighting in Arghandab district also left four Taliban wounded but they were taken away by their colleagues, said district chief Mohammad Sidiq.

In another district of Zabul, authorities said they had arrested two Taliban fighters, one of them injured, in fighting Tuesday with Afghan and US-led troops.

The Taliban were toppled by a US-led invasion in late 2001 for harbouring Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. They have threatened to kill those working with the government.

Violence blamed on the remnants of the Taliban killed nearly 1,600 people in 2005, making it the bloodiest year since the militia was ousted.

Aid worker killed in Afghanistan
Tuesday, 3 January 2006 BBC News
Suspected Taleban militants have shot dead an Afghan aid worker in a mosque in southern Afghanistan, officials say.

The victim was shot in the head inside the mosque in Lashkargah by two men travelling on a motorbike, Helmand's deputy governor said.

The dead man, identified as Mirwais, had worked as an engineer for a Bangladeshi aid group.

No group has said it carried out the attack but officials have blamed the Taleban for such killings in the past.

Increased violence in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan has made it difficult for aid organisations to operate in those areas.

Insurgency-related violence left more than 1,400 people dead in Afghanistan in 2005 - the country's bloodiest year since US-led forces ousted the Taleban in late 2001.

AFGHANISTAN: Floods destroy 130 homes in the north
03 Jan 2006 15:46:11 GMT
KABUL, 3 January (IRIN) - The victims of last week's floods in the northern Afghan province of Balkh, which damaged 130 houses, have begun to receive humanitarian relief, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) said on Tuesday.

"Following heavy rain, floods completely destroyed 30 mud-built houses and damaged another 100 houses in the Dehdadi district of Balkh province," said Abdul Rahim Zarin, spokesman for the MRRD in the capital Kabul, adding there were no reports of casualties from the affected area.

The provincial authorities have now distributed food and non-food items to the 130 affected families, according to MRRD.

"The government has distributed tents, blankets and packages of food items to the affected families," Zarin noted.

While confirming floods in the northern Balkh province, Adrian Edwards, United Nations Assistant Missions in Afghanistan (UNAMA) spokesman, said on Monday that the UN had held a coordination meeting with relevant government departments to plan assistance to those affected by the floods.

"UNAMA is coordinating the contributions of various UN agencies to provide and transport non-food items such as blankets and stoves," Edwards noted, adding a small inter-agency assessment team had been sent to Dehdadi district.

In Afghanistan, floods at this time of the year are largely a result of brief temperature rises resulting in rapid snowmelt in upland areas.

In January 2005, floods and storms left 48 people dead and more than 1,000 injured in 13 provinces in the northeastern, northern, eastern and southeastern regions. The worst affected area was the northeastern province of Badakhshan where floods killed at least 40 people and left up to 1,000 homes destroyed in 65 villages.

Concern In Kabul Over Order To Remove Security Barriers
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
January 3 2005 -- There is concern among foreign forces and the international community in Kabul over a new order from Afghanistan's government requiring that security barriers blocking streets be removed to relieve traffic congestion in the capital.

A spokesman for the United States military, Lieutenant Mike Cody, is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying U.S.-led forces, international aid agencies and foreign governments have all voiced concern about the plan.

U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards is quoted by the Associated Press as saying the U.N. is waiting for more information from the Afghan government before taking any action toward removing barriers. Edwards said such barriers have been necessary for security in the past.

Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai told reporters on Monday that all barriers set up on streets or pathways in Kabul must be removed by next Saturday. He said there will be no exceptions.

Afghanistan deployment in doubt
News.com-Australia From: By John Kerin and Michael Smith January 03, 2006
AUSTRALIAN plans to send a military reconstruction team to Afghanistan are in doubt following warnings that al-Qaeda and Taliban forces are threatening a fierce counter-offensive in the country's south.

A British military intelligence report suggests Britain's troops could face their biggest losses since the Falklands War if they are sent to southern Afghanistan.

The intelligence report, revealed by London's Sunday Times, comes after Defence Minister Robert Hill confirmed that Australia might delay sending a planned 200-strong military reconstruction team to Afghanistan because of Dutch indecision about sending support troops to the region.

The Dutch cabinet has approved the deployment of 1400 troops, including Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter planes, but is leaving the final decision to parliament, where endorsement is no certainty.

Several Dutch opposition parties have expressed concern that the risk of casualties is too high.

The Australian team would rely on the Dutch troops for logistics, protection and other support.

The latest British report warns that al-Qaeda and Taliban-backed insurgents in the country's south are preparing a big offensive supported by sophisticated weapons and training from Iran.

The report warns that a new terror group linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq has emerged and is imitating his methods. The Taliban has regrouped, waging a classic insurgency campaign involving suicide bombings and roadside blasts.

The warnings follow an increase in fighting over the past year in which several thousand insurgents and about 100 US soldiers were killed.

NATO foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels this month to increase the size of the troop commitment in Afghanistan from 10,000 to 16,000 troops.

The major players earmarked to send extra forces were Britain, The Netherlands and Canada. British, Dutch and Canadian troops were to move into Helmland province in southern Afghanistan, replacing US soldiers who from this year will concentrated along the Pakistani border.

Australia already has a 190-strong special forces taskforce in Afghanistan helping put down a resurgent Taliban.

Australian special forces have already been involved in a series of clashes with gangs of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

Iran-Pakistan: Refugee returns in 2005 top half a million
KABUL, 3 January (IRIN) - Last year saw a significant number of returns to post-conflict Afghanistan, with more than half a million Afghans repatriated, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Monday in the capital, Kabul.

During 2005, a total of 520,100 Afghans returned home with UNHCR assistance, the majority, 453,000, came from Pakistan, according to the refugee agency.

"This figure represents a significant increase over 2004, when 380,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan and is due in part to the closure of refugee camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA)," said Nader Farhad, spokesman for the UN refugee agency in Afghanistan.

UNHCR-assisted returns from Iran in 2005 now stand at around 67,000, a lower figure than had been predicted. The total number of returns from Iran, which includes those returning without assistance from the UN refugee agency, is nearly 280,000.

Despite large numbers returning, many Afghans remain in neighbouring countries. An official census of Afghans living in Pakistan, conducted in 2005, showed that some 3 million remain in the country - or triple the number remaining in Iran, which is estimated to be around 900,000, according to the UN refugee agency.

UNHCR has also been active in assisting refugees when they reach their destination in Afghanistan. Of 23,730 shelters for returnees planned for 2005, UNHCR said it had completed some 21,424, or nearly 90 percent.

"By the end of 2005, UNHCR had provided shelter assistance to more than 140,000 families since it began its repatriation operation in 2002," Farhad explained.

In 2005, more than 7,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were assisted to return to their areas of origin by UNHCR. The majority of IDP returns have been to the provinces of Faryab, Badghis, Helmand and Herat, according to the UN agency.

There are still some 150,000 IDPs, mostly living in camps in the southern provinces of Afghanistan. Since 2002, more than 500,000 IDPs have been assisted to return by the UN refugee agency.

The UNHCR operation to assist returns from Pakistan is currently suspended due to the winter and will resume in March 2006.

"The operation from Iran will continue, though the number of people opting to return at this time is generally low," Farhad noted.

Almost three decades of civil war and serious human rights abuses have forced millions of Afghan men, women and children to flee their homes and seek refuge in other parts of Afghanistan or outside the country. Since the armed conflict began after the Soviet invasion in 1979, civilians - women and children in particular - have suffered enormously from the devastating consequences of continuous fighting.

Between the years 1979 and 1992, more than a fifth of Afghanistan's population - over 6 million people - were driven from the country in search of safety, mainly to the neighbouring countries of Iran and Pakistan.

U.S. Cedes Duties in Rebuilding Afghanistan
NATO, Other Allies Take On New Roles
Washington Post Foreign Service By Griff Witte Tuesday, January 3, 2006
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Four years into a mammoth reconstruction effort here that has been largely led, funded and secured by Americans, the United States is showing a growing willingness to cede those jobs to others.

The most dramatic example will come by this summer, when the U.S. military officially hands over control of the volatile southern region -- plagued by persistent attacks from Islamic militias -- to an international force led by the NATO alliance. The United States will cut its troop strength by 2,500, even though it is not clear how aggressively NATO troops will pursue insurgents, who have shown no sign of relenting.

At the same time, the U.S. government is increasingly allowing Western allies, or Afghans themselves, to take on the tasks of rebuilding a country that has suffered more than two decades of fighting and remains beset by poverty, drugs and insurgency.

The United States says that its shifting approach complements Afghanistan's evolution into a self-sustaining democracy and that Washington has no plans to pull out altogether.

"The Afghans have to have enough space to make their own decisions, even to stumble sometimes," said U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann. "But we shouldn't leave them without critical support before they're strong enough."

As the U.S. presence becomes less visible, however, Afghans are starting to question whether the U.S. support is sufficient. Some Afghan officials express concern that the Bush administration's priorities are simply shifting elsewhere and that the United States may abandon their country prematurely, much the way it did in the early 1990s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

Funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which topped $1 billion for 2005 and has helped build highways, schools and clinics across the country during the last four years, will be reduced to just over $600 million in 2006, unless Congress appropriates more money.

On one of the biggest threats facing the country, the illicit drug trade, the United States has largely ceded leadership to the British government and is pinning its hopes on Afghan provincial governors to eradicate poppy fields. Although U.S. officials have warned repeatedly about the need to curb the burgeoning opium business, they have so far spent only modest amounts to help and now say Kabul must take the initiative.

Politically, too, the United States has been less willing to exert its influence. The previous ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, played a strong, high-profile role here, negotiating directly with recalcitrant regional leaders and openly advising President Hamid Karzai. Neumann, who arrived several months ago, is a quieter presence who rarely interferes in Karzai's decisions.

Earlier last month, to the surprise of many Afghans, the U.S. Embassy stood by silently during a struggle for the leadership of the new parliament, in which Karzai's government was believed to have backed a radical Islamic scholar and ex-militia leader accused of past human rights abuses over a more moderate candidate who had run against Karzai for president.

Some foreign allies are encouraged by the signs that the United States is willing to loosen its grip and allow others a greater role in the country's rebirth. Several Afghan officials said they welcomed the increased responsibility.

"We don't want to be a permanent burden on the international community," said Defense Minister Rahim Wardak. "This country has been defended by us for 5,000 years. That is our duty." Still, Wardak noted, the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. support after the decade-long Soviet occupation ended in 1989 precipitated a civil war that culminated with the Taliban movement taking power.

"I hope the international community, and especially the U.S., has learned the lesson of what happened," he said. "I hope that history will not repeat itself this time."

The transfer of power in southern Afghanistan will provide the first critical test of the new U.S. strategy. The shift will allow the Bush administration, which has spent more than $47 billion on military efforts in Afghanistan since 2001, to cut the U.S. troop presence by 13 percent, from 19,000 to 16,500.

The move will leave U.S. forces in charge only in the eastern provinces, and only until NATO is ready to assume command there as well. That could happen later in the year, allowing the United States to reduce its troop commitment further.

The reduction, the first since the U.S.-led invasion, comes after a year in which nearly 100 American soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, more than double the deaths during 2004. Military commanders said the higher toll was a result of their more aggressive strategy for battling the insurgency. They also asserted there would be a seamless transition when NATO troops take over, with help from the Afghan army.

"It's understood that NATO will be in a position to carry on the same counterinsurgency fight that we're running today," said Col. Don C. McGraw, who directs U.S. military operations here.

But the Afghan army remains in its infancy, and mounting a counterinsurgency has not been NATO's job. Questions remain about whether it will be willing to take on that task once its troops are deployed in the south, where on Monday, a suicide bomber in the city of Kandahar attacked a convoy of foreign troops, injuring a U.S. soldier and two Afghan civilians.

Until now, NATO has commanded the north and the west, which have been less violent than the south and the east. In Kabul, its troops have been a familiar and friendly sight on street patrols. In the countryside, they have spent much of their time coordinating reconstruction efforts -- and none chasing Taliban insurgents.

NATO's rules of engagement will be loosened when it takes over the south, allowing its forces to be more aggressive, but it is unclear exactly how much more. One member country, the Netherlands, is wavering over whether it wants to send troops to the area, a longtime Taliban stronghold that has recently been the site of numerous battles and suicide bombings. Maj. Andrew Elmes, a British spokesman for the NATO force -- officially called the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF -- said he expects its soldiers will primarily serve in a peacekeeping function, unlike U.S. troops, who have been initiating battles with insurgents.

"If you think of a policeman, who is armed but he doesn't go out looking for a fight, that's along the lines we're looking at," he said of the expanded ISAF mission, which will add 6,000 soldiers to the 9,000 currently in the country.

Some knowledgeable Afghans predicted that such a limited NATO role would not succeed in the more dangerous territory. "The threat in the south is terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime," said Ali Ahmad Jalali, who recently resigned as Karzai's interior minister. He spoke by telephone from Washington, where he now teaches at the National Defense University. "If they don't get involved in fighting those things, what will they be providing for the security of the country?"

Another major question is how the transition will affect U.S. efforts to track down top fugitives such as al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mohammad Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the region.

NATO has said it will not spend its time hunting individuals. The U.S. military will keep only a small residual presence in the south, but officials maintain that they will bring in Special Operations troops as the need arises.

"If Mullah Omar shows up in Kandahar," McGraw said, "we'll go to Kandahar."

Still, the U.S. willingness to cede authority in the south suggests just how remote the possibility of catching notorious fugitives within Afghanistan may be. Many security officials here say they believe bin Laden and others are across the border in Pakistan, where the United States has a much smaller presence.

That likelihood is another reason many Afghans wonder how much longer the United States will stay, and whether it is as committed to reconstruction as it is to catching terrorists. The possible dramatic cuts in USAID funds for Afghanistan -- the result of tightened budgets because of heavy U.S. spending in Iraq and domestic hurricane relief -- have increased that concern.

Neumann said the $623 million in aid planned for 2006 will not be enough, and he is hoping Congress will allocate more through a supplemental spending bill, as it has in past years. But he acknowledged that getting lawmakers to understand the importance of the U.S. commitment here "takes more explanation" than it once did.

Despite considerable reconstruction in the past four years, he said, much more needs to be done. Building more roads, he said, would strengthen the government, improve security and cut opium production by giving farmers access to markets for other products.

"This is too critical to just say we want victory but we want it on the cheap," Neumann said. "We're still in a war, and we need to win."

Afghanistan enters 2006 with warning by human rights advocates
Ecumenical News International, Switzerland Chris Herlinger 1/2/06
New York (ENI). The appointment of a religious affairs official of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime to the country's new parliament is prompting concern among international human rights advocates. "There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost," said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, after his return in December from a three-week visit to Afghanistan.

Zarifi's visit coincided with the convening on 19 December of Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament following the ousting of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a United States-led military campaign.

But he said the appointment of Arsala Rahmani, a high-ranking official of the Taliban religious affairs ministry, to the parliament's upper house was contributing to a feeling of "real pessimism" among human rights groups inside and outside the country.

"A lot of Afghans see his presence now and ask, 'Why is he back?'" Zarifi noted about Rahmani.

The former Taliban official was appointed to the upper house by President Hamid Karzai, who has backing from the United States and western allies.

The religious affairs ministry was notorious for many of the rules imposed on Afghans at the time when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to what they said was strict adherence to Islamic law.

The Taliban reaped international condemnation for their human rights record, particularly for their treatment of women but, Zarifi noted, there was now a steady increase in popularity of the Taliban among ordinary Afghans.

Observers say such popularity is fuelled by a growing perception that the Afghan government is corrupt and ineffective, and that day-to-day security within Afghanistan is rapidly declining.

"There are several districts, particularly in southern Afghanistan, where the government doesn't even really exist," Zarifi said.

The Taliban and other government opponents, Zarifi said, are reportedly encouraged by signals that the United States and its allies are undergoing "a wavering commitment on the ground".

In some areas, "the US projects control during the day, but the Taliban projects control at night," Zarifi said.

DCCI receives Consul General of Afghanistan
Source:AME Info - Jan 03 2006
Mr. Abdul Rahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee, Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) yesterday received His Excellency Rashid D. Mohammadi, Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the UAE.

They discussed ways of boosting the diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries and the effective means to activate trade exchange through inviting investors and businessmen from Dubai to take advantage of the investment opportunities available in Afghanistan in various fields of business.

Al Mutaiwee welcomed the Afghan Consul General stressing the importance of holding such meetings to discuss the possibility of opening new channels to enhance bilateral trade cooperation between the two countries, and working on boosting the bilateral economic ties between Dubai and Afghanistan.

He expressed his wishes for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to retrieve its normal political and economic stability after years of war which negatively affected on the political, social and economic life in Afghanistan. He noted that Dubai's foreign non-oil trade with Afghanistan has witnessed remarkable growth, adding that the Afghan market is a big commercial and encouraging market for investors.

"We hope to see the trade relations between Dubai and Afghanistan growing through bilateral efforts to open new channels of direct economic cooperation, in addition to activating the communication between the business communities in both countries with the necessary establishment of modern economic institutions that can cope with worldwide economic movements," said Al Mutaiwee.

He pointed out that Afghanistan enjoys an economic potential and a considerable storage of mineral and animal resources that could be exploited by investors after they make sure of the stable political and economic conditions in Afghanistan.

His Excellency Rashid D. Mohammadi, Consul General of Afghanistan, stressed his government's keen interest in keeping doors wide open in for all kinds of economic and trade cooperation with the UAE for the best benefits of both countries.

"Two months ago, the Afghan Government had invited more than 25 journalists from different UAE and Arabic newspapers and magazines to visit Afghanistan to see for themselves the stability of security in the country where they conveyed an encouraging message for investors as many other European companies are currently carrying out various business projects in the communication and construction fields," said Mohammadi.

He added that the Afghan Government has recently planned to attract more investments from Arab and Islamic countries, stressing the significant role of the DCCI in promoting the investment opportunities in Afghanistan such as in agriculture, building dams and power generating stations, copper and gold extraction, exploring gas and oil and others.

His Excellency Mohammadi pointed out that the Afghani Government is also planning to organize a major economic conference on the investment opportunities in Afghanistan due to be held in Dubai on January 21-22, 2006, under the patronage of the Afghani Business Council which operates under the umbrella of the DCCI.

He said that more than 400 economic personalities, including the Afghani Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Economy and Trade are expected to attend, in addition to representatives of the International Bank and Asian Bank.

"We invite the president and directors and members of the DCCI, as well as investors and businessmen in Dubai to attend this conference to be introduced to the investment opportunities available in Afghanistan and the facilities the Afghan Government provides to investors from the UAE," said Mohammadi.

"The conference would extend a clear message from the Afghani Government to the business community in Dubai to consider benefiting from the promising Afghan market and opening effective channels of communication between the businessmen in both countries, in addition to the necessary signing of major economic agreements such as the economic cooperation agreement, the avoidance of double taxation agreement and the investment protection agreement, as such could provide an encouraging and safe environment for investing in Afghanistan," said Al Mutaiwee.

The Afghani Consul General presented the DCCI with some brochures and pamphlets about the investment opportunities offered by the Afghan Government to Arab investors, mainly from the UAE. He also underlined the rise in the number of direct air flights between Dubai and the Afghan cities and the new flights which will be launched soon from Sharjah to the Afghani capital, Kabul.

Dubai's total foreign non-oil trade with Afghanistan has been doubled in the last five years. It reached AED 460 million in 2000, compared to AED 873 million in 2004. Dubai's total imports from Afghanistan in 2004 reached AED 14.2 million, while Dubai's exports to Afghanistan in the same year hit AED 142.9 million, whereas Dubai's total re-exports to Afghanistan in 2004 reached AED 715.8 million.

Environmental Legislation Comes of Age in Afghanistan
Press Release - United Nations Environment Programme Jan. 3 2006 Via: Harold Doan and Associates (USA)
Kabul – Laws aimed at protecting the natural resources and environment of Afghanistan have been developed by the Government with assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Framework Legislation is believed to be the first legislation in Afghanistan designed to conserve and protect the country’s wildlife, waterways and forests up to the air and soil.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP’s Executive Director, said “Without laws, environmental treaties and agreements are mere paper tigers. So the Environment Act is the cornerstone for the development of an effective and integrated environmental management regime that secures environmentally sound sustainable development and use of natural resources, while still promoting economic and social well-being and development."

“If we are to help deliver a stable future for this country and for countries across the globe, the environment must be factored into rehabilitation and future planning. For the environment is not a luxury but the basis for economic development and livelihoods. Poverty cannot be defeated and prosperity realized without this pillar of sustainable development being strong and viable,” he said.

Studies indicate that over 80 per cent of Afghanistan’s population relies directly on the natural resource base to meet its daily needs.

However, more than two decades of conflict, military activities, refugee movements, collapse of national, provincial and local forms of governance, lack of management and institutional capacity, and over-exploitation have heavily damaged Afghanistan’s natural resource base.

The recent drought has had an additional negative impact. As a result, the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and food shortages has increased.

Other challenges for natural resource and environmental management include still insufficient institutional capacities and the current absence of legislation in many areas.

In order to bridge these gaps, UNEP has being working to assist in the development of the new Environment Act in partnership with the Government of Afghanistan, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and international experts.

The Act contains the tailor-made frameworks needed to manage sustainably and use Afghanistan’s natural resources and to rehabilitate its damaged environment. The Act also clarifies institutional responsibilities and contains the compliance and enforcement provisions required to allow the Government of Afghanistan to enforce effectively the legislation.

The development of this important legislation is one component of a three year programme for capacity building and institutional development for environmental management, which was initiated at the request of the government of Afghanistan, in October 2003.

It is being implemented by UNEP’s Post Conflict Branch. The programme is funded by the European Commission, the Government of Finland and the Global Environment Facility.