Afghanistan News January 9, 2006

January 9, 2006

Afghan 'suicide attack' botched
Monday, 9 January 2006 BBC News
A apparent suicide bomber has blown himself up while preparing for a major attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, reports say.

A police official told the BBC the man had been trying to fix wires for explosives in his car.

An accomplice escaped on foot and is still at large, he said.

There are no reports of anyone else being injured. Police are carrying out house to house searches and three people have been arrested.

They say the man who died was not an Afghan national, but the identity of both attackers is not known.

Another vehicle was later found in a different location containing two pressure cookers packed with explosives.

Police remain on high alert in case more similar attacks are planned.

This week 10 people died and more than 50 were injured in a suicide bombing in a crowded market in the central Uruzgan province.

US ambassador Ronald Neumann was at the local governor's office 500m away at the time of the blast, but was unhurt.

Three schools set fire by Taliban in S. Afghanistan
KABUL, Jan. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Taliban militants set fire on three schools Sunday night in Afghan southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, local officials said Monday.

"Yesterday midnight about 20 gunmen attacked two schools. They tied the hands and feet of the school guard and set fire to two schools. But there is no casualty," Hayotullah Rafiqi, the head of education of Kandahar told Xinhua.

"Last night several gunmen set fire to a school in Tormara district of the provincial capital Grishk, and fled away. Fortunately there is no casualty," Mohammad Abrahem, the district chief told Xinhua.

According to local reports, Taliban always distribute threatening papers in Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban regime. They threatened students and teachers to give up going to school, since they don't want anyone to learn anything about other religions except Islam.

Taliban militants, during the past one month, have set fire to several schools in some southern provinces. The militants beheaded a headmaster of a school in the southern Zabul province last week. Enditem

Three escape death after school torched in southern Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Jan 8 (AFP) - Armed men torched a school in troubled southern Afghanistan after locking up three janitors who were rescued from the flames by villagers, an official said Sunday.

The trio guarding the Qabial primary school in the southern city of Kandahar were rescued after the attackers set the school ablaze late Saturday, said provincial education chief Hayatullah Rafiqi.

"The janitors were locked in one of the classrooms and the school was burnt. The men were freed from flames by villagers whom they called for help," Rafiqi said.

He said one of the janitors was slightly wounded while the school in the northern outskirts of the city, once the stronghold of Taliban insurgents, was gutted.

Rafiqi blamed the incident on the "enemies of Afghanistan who don't want Afghanistan to be educated" -- a term that officials usually use for the Taliban and other Islamic militants who appose the education of girls.

The Taliban were toppled in later 2001 in a US-led operation for failing to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. They barred girls from attending school during their Islamic fundamentalist rule between 1996-2001.

In the same city on Saturday night, another group of armed men failed to burn another nearby school after villagers forced them to flee, Rafiqi said.

As part of their anti-government campaign the Taliban have been targeting schools and teachers. Last week a headmaster in neighboring Zabul province was beheaded, allegedly by the Taliban.

A Taliban shootout at a school which left one student and a janitor dead occurred last month in Helmand, another southern province where violence by the insurgents is on the rise.

Over six million Afghan boys and girls returned to school after the Taliban were toppled.

Taleban reject Karzai talks offer
Monday, 9 January 2006 BBC News
Spokesmen for the Taleban have rejected an offer of talks from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Mr Karzai had said he would be happy for Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar to "get in touch" if he wanted peace.

But Mohammed Hanif, who claims to speak for the Taleban, said Mr Karzai was a "mouthpiece of Americans".

"Such offers are a move to weaken our morale," he told the Associated Press. The Taleban, toppled in late 2001, are fighting to oust the Karzai government.

Another Taleban figure, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund who served as defence minister when the movement was in power, told Reuters that Mr Karzai was an "American puppet" who should be tried in an Islamic court.

President Karzai was to blame for the deaths of thousands of Afghans, he said.

Amnesty offer

The president told AP on Sunday that he did not expect Mullah Omar to come out of hiding.

He also said the Taleban head would have to account for his actions.

Last May a Taleban spokesman said the mullah would reject any amnesty offer, which had been floated by the head of the nation's reconciliation body.

Mr Karzai said: "We would like all the Afghans, Taleban or non-Taleban, whoever they are, if they want to come back to their country, to participate in the life of this country. It's their home, they're welcome."

He said that would include Mullah Omar.

"We would see what he has to say, of course. But I don't think he will come. He has so much on his hands against Afghanistan. We don't even know as to where he is hiding," Mr Karzai said.

"He has to first give us an account as to what he's done."

There has been no sight of Mullah Omar since US forces ousted his regime in late 2001.

Last May, the head of Afghanistan's independent peace and reconciliation commission, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, said Mullah Omar should be accepted back by the government if he renounced arms.

It was not known at the time if the president backed the call but the US made it clear Mullah Omar would have to answer for his actions.

Taliban Leader Vows More Attacks against U.S. Forces
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
January 9 2005 -- Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar has reportedly vowed more attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In a message carried by Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency, Mullah Omar said the attacks will force Americans to leave Afghanistan "very soon".

The authenticity of the message could not be confirmed. AIP said it had been read over the telephone by purported Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif. The statement made no mention of President Hamid Karzai, who yesterday invited Mullah Omar to contact the Afghan government if he wants to seek peace. But in an interview with AP today, Hanif said the Taliban reject the offer, adding that Karzai is "nothing but a mouthpiece of Americans."

Afghanistan needs more US help, Reed says
Source: Boston.com- U.S January 8, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Afghanistan suffers from a "lack of robust resources" for reconstruction, U.S Sen. Jack Reed said Sunday after his three-day trip to the central Asian nation.

The Rhode Island Democrat said the U.S. government must do a better job helping its ally build water and power plants, roads and other infrastructure.

"Here, as in Iraq, there seem to be critical shortages in personnel, and civilian advisers especially, that will provide the assistance in this reconstruction," Reed said in a conference call with reporters. "The critical tasks right now are economic and political rather than simply military."

Reed, a member of the Armed Services Committee and a former Army Ranger who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, has emerged as a leading Senate critic of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. But unlike some of his Democratic colleagues, Reed has not urged an immediate pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Reed, speaking from Qatar, said Afghanistan's inclusive government could serve as a model for Iraq.

Afghanistan, under the direction of the U.S. government after American-led forces drove out the Taliban regime, has established a "pretty good model" of provincial reconstruction teams, Reed said.

In both nations, there are diplomatic gains to be had for the U.S. government through reconstruction efforts, he said.

"The persistent issue I've seen here and also in my trip to Iraq is the lack of robust resources (for) reconstruction and personnel to assist the Afghanis in developing their capacities," he said.

Reed questioned whether there's enough political will in the U.S. to get the job done.

"Once again you have to ask yourself, given the discussion of reductions in our military forces and difficulty in getting key experts, whether we're (prepared) for this long haul," he said.

Latvian soldiers to join Afghanistan reconstruction mission
RIGA, Jan 9 (AFP) - Latvia is to send soldiers to Afghanistan this year to take part in a NATO programme to rebuild the war-battered country, the National Armed forces said Monday.

"We currently have 10 soldiers serving in Afganistan, and in spring we will send 30 soldiers to join a special program of reconstruction of Afghan provinces," Uldis Davidovs, spokesman of the National Armed forces, told AFP.

The exact departure date of the Latvian soldiers was yet to be confirmed, Davidovs said, adding that they would serve under Norwegian command in Afghanistan.

Latvian soldiers have been serving in Afghanistan since February 2003. The soldiers from the Baltic state are based at Kabul international airport.

In addition to Afghanistan, Latvian soldiers are also serving in international missions in Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Georgia.

Latvia joined NATO in 2004.

AFGHANISTAN TO IMPORT ELECTRICITY FROM UZBEKISTAN
Monday January 9, 2006
PUL-I-KHUMRI, Jan 9 Asia Pulse - Work on importing electricity from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan has started and in one year a project would be installed in the Pul-I-Khumri, capital of the northern Baghlan province, officials said on Saturday.

Naqibullah Amani, a senior official of the Energy and Water Ministry in Kabul told Pajhwok Afghan News the scheme worth US$250 million would reach Kabul in three years.

"Uzbek government will provide Afghanistan 300 mega power per hour (mph) according to the accord we have signed with them," he added.

Three sub-stations for the energy distribution would be set up in Samangan, Baghlan and Parwan provinces, he added.

Amani said the programme was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government.

Only six per cent of people have access to power in Afghanistan and people are in dire need of light, which would also enhance industry in the war-ravaged country.

Residents of the Pul-I-Khumri have welcomed the project from Uzbekistan and consider it a good omen for development.
via (Pajhwok Afghan News)

Afghanistan announces $5,000 for Kutty's kin
Monday, January 09, 2006
KANNUR: The Afghanistan government has announced a financial assistance of $5,000 to the family of Border Roads Organisation employee Maniappan who was killed by Taliban terrorists recently, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said on Monday.

The amount would be personally handed over to the widow of Maniappan by Afghan Embassy official, Shah-Gul-Fan, on January 13 at her residence in Chingoli in Alappuzha district in Kerala, Ahamed said in a statement.

Maniappan who was working as a BRO driver in Afghanistan was abducted and killed by Taliban militants in November, last year.

Protests at Afghan border deaths
Monday, 9 January 2006 BBC News
Pakistan has protested to US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan after eight Pakistanis were killed in alleged cross-border firing on Saturday.

"We have protested to the coalition forces because they are responsible for security on the other side," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

She said US forces had not entered Pakistani territory. The US military says it is looking into the incident.

Residents in Waziristan say helicopters attacked a house during the night.

"Helicopters bombarded the house late on Friday night, leaving eight people dead," Salimullah, a tribal elder in the village of Saidgai, 12 km (eight miles) north of Miran Shah, told the AFP news agency.

He also said a number of people were injured.

Hunt for militants

Pakistan's army has been battling Islamic militants in the Waziristan region for the last three years.

Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters fled into the area after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers are deployed in the area.

Across the border, about 20,000 US-led coalition forces are hunting Taleban, al-Qaeda and other militants opposed to the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

There have been a number of reports, and denials, that US troops have crossed over the rugged, poorly-demarcated border separating Afghanistan and Pakistan.