Serving you since 1998
August 2007 :   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

August 26, 2007 

Six Afghans wounded after operation in south
By Abdul Qodous
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Six Afghans, including two women and a child, were wounded, the head of a local hospital said on Sunday, after a military operation supported by Western air power in southern Afghanistan.

Residents of the area, controlled by Taliban insurgents, said dozens of civilians, including women and children, had also been killed in aerial bombing.

But there was no way of independently verifying the reports and the U.S. military denied any civilian casualties.

The fighting came late on Saturday in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province, a long-time bastion for Taliban guerrillas and the biggest drug-producing region of Afghanistan.

At least six wounded civilians were brought to a hospital in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand.

They belonged to the family of villager Ghulam Mohammad and included three men, two women and a child, said Rahmatullah Hanafi, the head of Emergency Hospital where the group was treated. All had shrapnel wounds and one of the women was in a critical condition.

Mohammad said eight of members of his family, including children, were also killed in the attack, which he said went on for several hours.

"So far between 60 killed and wounded people have been recovered and there are people who are trapped under collapsed houses," Mohammad told Reuters outside the hospital.

"It was a quiet evening and the bombardment began all of a sudden. Cattle have also been killed," said a family member of Mohammad, called Haji Saeed Mohammad.

"We can't do anything, can't stay in our villages and can't go anywhere ... it is best for us to be killed all at once than being killed every day," he added.

"NO BOMBS DROPPED"
But the U.S. military gave a different version of events.

It said an Afghan army patrol, advised by members of the U.S.-led coalition force, was ambushed crossing a dry river bed 26 km (16 miles) south of the town of Musa Qala late on Saturday and fought off the ambush with small arms fire and grenade-launchers.

As more Taliban insurgents arrived to reinforce the fight, the patrol "called in aircraft to destroy additional enemy fighters," a U.S. military statement said.

"No bombs were dropped during the engagement," it said. "Twelve enemy fighters were killed in the engagement ... There were no Afghan civilian injures reported."

Musa Qala was the scene of intense fighting last year between British troops and besieging Taliban insurgents.

British troops then withdrew from the town in October in an agreement with tribal elders who pledged to keep the Taliban out. But the deal broke down in February this year and Taliban forces moved in. Since then, the immediate area has remained largely quiet with few of the daily clashes seen elsewhere in Helmand.

But the U.S. military signaled Afghan and foreign forces who have steadily gained ground elsewhere in Helmand were starting to push towards Musa Qala.

"This operation is designed to strike into the heart of the insurgents' safe haven," coalition spokeswoman Captain Vanessa Bowman said in a statement.

"We expect that as we maneuver deeper into this area, the Taliban will raise more and more inaccurate claims of non-combatant casualties," she said.

Civilian casualties are a sensitive issue for President Hamid Karzai's government and the Western troops under the command of NATO and the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.

Already this year, more than 350 civilians have been killed in operations by Western troops in Afghanistan, according to aid groups and Afghan officials.

Karzai has repeatedly urged Western troops to coordinate operations with Afghan forces and avoid civilian casualties.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Report: 18 Afghan civilians killed
By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 26, 6:17 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - Witnesses said Sunday that clashes between coalition troops and Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan left at least 18 civilians dead. NATO officials, however, said no noncombatants were killed.

The alleged civilian deaths occurred in the southern Helmand province. Coalition and Afghan troops clashed late Saturday with militants near the Taliban-controlled town of Musa Qala.

A spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that 12 militants were killed during the overnight clash, which started after Taliban ambushed the joint coalition and Afghan army patrol 15 miles south of Musa Qala.

But Haji Abdul Manan Agha, the tribal leader from the area, said two homes were bombed by coalition forces late Saturday. "In one home 18 people attending an engagement party were killed, including women, children and men," he said.

In the second house, eight Taliban were killed, he said. More than 30 people were wounded in both strikes, Agha said.

Mohammad Gul, a taxi driver who brought six wounded to a nearby hospital, also said that 18 civilians were killed in the clash.

Mohammad Nabi, whose relatives were among the wounded, said dozens of people were killed. "If the Taliban shoot at NATO or American convoys, than NATO and Americans come back and bomb all of the area," Nabi said. "And when we bring our casualties to the hospital then they say they are Taliban," he said.

The claims could not be independently verified due to remoteness of the area where the clash took place.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly deplored civilian deaths caused by NATO or U.S. military action, saying more must be done to prevent such casualties. But military officials have begun saying that some reports are nothing but information warfare by the Taliban.

Coalition and Afghan government officials have said that it is easy for Taliban fighters to falsely claim that civilians were killed by Western or Afghan military action and that militants are forcing locals to lie to journalists.

Meanwhile, 12 Taliban fighters were killed by artillery fire along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after insurgents attacked a military post with rockets and mortars, officials said.

Coalition and Afghan troops in eastern Paktika province were attacked by insurgents who used Pakistan's territory to fire rockets and mortar rounds toward a coalition observation post Saturday, a coalition statement said.

Pakistani authorities gave permission for the troops to return fire, it said.

"Coalition counter-fire batteries destroyed the six confirmed insurgent firing sites, three on each side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," the statement said, adding 12 Taliban were killed.

Insurgents move back and forth through the porous border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan in the past of not doing enough to prevent the movement of militants across the border to attack Afghan and foreign troops in the country.

Pakistan denies the charge and says it has deployed tens of thousands of the troops along the volatile frontier to stem the flow of militants.

Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. This year more than 3,800 people — most of them militants — have died, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.
___
Associated Press writers Noor Khan in Kandahar and Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan forces strike Taliban inside Pakistan
Sun Aug 26, 7:57 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - US-led and Afghan troops struck Taliban positions inside Pakistan in fresh clashes with the extremist Islamic militia that left at least 19 rebels dead, security forces said Sunday.

The US-led coalition said it received permission from Pakistan to attack across the border on Saturday, but this was denied by the chief military spokesman in Islamabad.

Afghan and coalition forces used mortars and artillery fire to destroy insurgent attacking positions on both sides of the border after a military post in Afghanistan came under attack, the coalition said in a statement.

The Afghan army saw Taliban fighters firing mortars and rockets from several positions and Pakistan's military confirmed three of the firing sites were on their soil, the statement said.

"The Pakistani military gave permission for the Afghan National Security Forces to fire on the targets located within Pakistan," it said.

Six insurgent firing sites were destroyed, three on each side of the border, and more than a dozen insurgents were killed.

A Pakistani military spokesman denied any permission was given.

"There was no attack, no firing from our side of the border. And there was no permission asked by them or given by us," Major General Waheed Arshad said.

US military spokeswoman, Captain Vanessa Bowman, insisted to AFP however that "this was fully coordinated with Pakistan and agreed on."

"There is a very close working relationship (with Pakistan) to eliminate this kind of threat," she said.

Remnants of the Taliban regime are believed to have fled into Pakistan after they were driven from government in Afghanistan in late 2001.

From there they are said to train militants, with the help of Al-Qaeda, who launch attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials have said repeatedly they would not allow any foreign troops to hunt militants on its soil, and insist they are doing what they can to hunt down the extremists.

US President George W. Bush this month refused to rule out unilateral US strikes on Pakistani soil if specific intelligence pinpointed top Al-Qaeda leaders.

But he also expressed confidence in the efforts of Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Pakistan army operations in North Waziristan and neighbouring South Waziristan to drive out the insurgents since 2004 have left more than 700 soldiers and 1,200 militants dead.

In another incident near the border Saturday, Afghan troops clashed with rebel fighters in southern Zabul province and killed nine of them, the defence ministry said. Eleven more were wounded, it said.

The same day, three suspected militants -- one of them a foreign national -- were arrested in another border province, Paktia, dressed in all-covering burqas worn by most Afghan women, the ministry said.

Militants have previously used the burqa to escape detection by security forces.

Elsewhere, dozens of Taliban guerrillas attacked police in the eastern province of Nangarhar, injuring a district chief and one of his guards before they were repelled, police said.

The Taliban's insurgency against the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai has grown steadily over the past years and now sees near daily attacks across the country.

The weak Afghan security forces are being assisted in their gruelling fight against the rebels by nearly 50,000 international soldiers.

About half of the foreign soldiers are from the United States and several thousand are from European nations, some of which are debating their involvement in Afghanistan as their casualties mount.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Europe may cut military role in Afghanistan
by P. Parameswaran Sun Aug 26, 1:45 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is worried about weakening Italian and German military commitments in Afghanistan as casualties increase in the fight to stem the bloody Taliban insurgency, officials said.

Debate is raging in Italy and Germany, and to a lesser extent the Netherlands and Denmark, on whether they should remain in the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), already grappling with a shortage of troops in the face of one of the most intense military engagements in decades.

"There is a good prospect that we are going to lose some" contributions from certain countries, a US administration official told AFP, as European nations face upcoming votes at home on their reconstruction, military and training commitments in Afghanistan.

The NATO-led 37-nation ISAF and a separate US-led coalition, in total about 50,000 foreign soldiers, are together with Afghan security forces fighting to block the return to power of the Taliban after the hardline Islamic militia was ousted in late 2001.

But with the fighting now at its toughest since then, and more deaths among ISAF forces -- including the friendly fire" incident Friday that killed three British soldiers -- Washington is deeply worried about eroding support for the effort.

"It will be disappointing if there are fewer NATO partners that are involved in this mission," the US official said.

"Italy and Germany are the ones that are of serious concern," the official added, citing Italy as "one that we are really concerned about."

With 2,500 troops, Italy heads NATO's Herat-based regional command in western Afghanistan.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema recently blamed a lack of coordination between US and ISAF forces for hundreds of Afghan civilian deaths, which he called "morally unacceptable."

"The Italians can be proud of what they are doing but at the end of the day it's not so much a referendum on 'are we making a difference?' but really a referendum about how closely do you want to be associated with the US administration," the US official said.

In Germany, where polls show a strong 64 percent majority calling for withdrawal, parliament would have to vote on whether to continue with commitments for reconstruction, military deployment and training of Afghan forces.

The United States is particularly worried about the military commitment.

"As the issue of civilian casualties becomes more and more an issue in German politics, that is another one that is of real concern," said the US official.

"And if the concerns are really high, that might spill over into the training of security forces."

Germany has lost 25 soldiers, three police officers and four civilians in Afghanistan since 2002.

The past month has been particularly grim with the abduction by the Taliban of two German engineers, one of whom was shot dead. The other is reportedly ill and begging for his life.

Germany has contributed some 3,000 troops to the NATO mission and has six Tornado reconnaissance planes helping to spot Taliban hideouts.

About 100 elite troops have a mandate to participate in the US-led anti-Taliban Operation Enduring Freedom but are not currently deployed against insurgents in the south.

In the Netherlands, there is some unease about how long the Afghanistan effort will continue but US officials believe cuts in the military deployment will be spared.

Similar concerns face Denmark but officials say its deployment is not on the US radar screen as one that is really in danger.

Other key countries like Canada and Britain remain committed despite their own losses. On Friday three British soldiers were killed while fighting Taliban forces near Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province after being hit by a bomb dropped by a US fighter jet.

Two other soldiers were injured in the incident. The United States and British military and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, under which the troops were serving, have all said they will investigate.

The blunder was the latest in a string of "friendly fire" deaths involving US planes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kurt Volker, the principal US deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, is expected to travel to Europe in early September to prod countries to maintain their Afghan presence.

"I think he is going to make some public remarks illustrating how important Afghanistan is and some of the things the European countries can be particularly proud of, in terms of achievements in Afghanistan," the US official said. "We are hoping that can help."
Back to Top
Back to Top
Taliban offers new direct talks on SKorean hostages
Sun Aug 26, 4:44 AM ET
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban said Sunday they were ready for more direct talks with South Korea over 19 hostages held for six weeks but negotiators would have to bring something new to the table.

Face-to-face talks between the Taliban and a South Korean delegation ended in failure nearly two weeks ago after authorities refused to bow to the rebels' demands, especially the release of some of their jailed fighters.

But Zabihullah Mujahed, one of the Taliban's main spokesmen, told AFP the Islamic militant group was ready to resume negotiations if the Koreans and Afghan authorities "come up with something new."

"Our gates for face-to-face talks are open. But they shouldn't repeat what was said in the previous talks," he told AFP by telephone.

"They should accept our demands," he said, repeating calls for the release of Taliban militants in jail in exchange for the hostages. Kabul has rejected the condition.

Mujahed said telephone contacts between the rebels and the South Koreans had continued.

The South Korean embassy in Kabul also said "communication channels" were still open.

The Taliban abducted 23 Korean Christian aid workers, including 16 women, on July 19 as they travelled by bus through the insurgency-plagued south.

The militants have since released two women and shot dead two of the men.

They have also demanded South Korea withdraw its troops from the country. Seoul has said it would pull out the 200 troops, mostly engineers and medics, as scheduled by the end of the year.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Road bridge opens between Tajikistan and Afghanistan
NIZHNY PANJ, Tajikistan (AFP) - A road bridge linking Tajikistan and Afghanistan paid for by the United States was officially opened on Sunday at a ceremony attended by the presidents of the two Central Asian countries.

The project, which cost 37 million dollars (27 million euros), began in 2005.

The bridge, nearly 700 metres (around 700 yards) long and 11 metres across, straddles the river Panj which forms a natural border between the two countries, between the ports of Nizhny Panj on the Tajik side and Shir Khan Bandar in Afghanistan.

"This bridge of friendship is an historic event and will become an important link in the development of trade between the two countries," Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon said.

But he also acknowledged its position on the world's major drug trade routes.

"Everything must be done to ensure that it is not used by drug traffickers or people smugglers," he said, announcing the imminent creation of a free economic zone in the area.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who arrived in Tajikistan on Saturday for a two-day working visit, said he was proud. "The bridge will improve economic and trade cooperation between the countries and the regions.

US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez was also present at the opening ceremony of the bridge, which is the first major US project in Tajikistan.

The imposing concrete structure was designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Before the bridge, there was only an intermittent ferry service across the fast-flowing river, used by a maximum dozen cars a day.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Opium farming in Afghanistan hits new high
Record crop could renew debate of U.S. eradication effort
David Rohde, New York Times Sunday, August 26, 2007
Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan produced record levels of opium in 2007 for the second straight year, led by a staggering 45 percent increase in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province, according to a new U.N. survey to be released Monday.

The report is likely to spark renewed debate about the United States' $600 million counternarcotics program in Afghanistan, which has been dogged by security challenges and endemic corruption within the Afghan government.

"I think it is safe to say that we should be looking for a new strategy," said William Wood, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, commenting on the report's overall findings. "And I think that we are finding one."

Wood said current U.S. programs for eradication, interdiction and alternative livelihoods should be intensified, but he added that spraying poppy crops with herbicide remained "a possibility." Afghan and British officials have opposed spraying, saying it would drive farmers into the arms of the Taliban.

While the report found that opium production dropped in northern Afghanistan, Western officials briefed on the assessment said, cultivation rose in the south, where Taliban insurgents urge farmers to grow poppies.

Although common farmers make comparatively little from the trade, opium is a major source of financing for the Taliban, who gain public support by protecting farmers' fields from eradication, according to U.S. officials. They also receive a cut of the trade from traffickers they protect.

In Taliban-controlled areas, traffickers have opened more labs that process raw opium into heroin, vastly increasing its value. The number of drug labs in Helmand rose to roughly 50 from 30 the year before, and about 16 metric tons of chemicals used in heroin production have been confiscated this year.

The Western officials briefed on the report said countrywide production had increased from 2006 to 2007, but they did not know the final U.N. figure. They estimated a countrywide increase of 10 to 30 percent.

The new survey showed positive signs as well, officials said.

The sharp drop in poppy production in the north is likely to make this year's countrywide increase smaller than the growth in 2006. Last year, a 160 percent increase in Helmand's opium crop fueled a 50 percent nationwide increase. Afghanistan produced a record 6,100 metric tons of opium poppies last year, 92 percent of the world's supply.

Here in Helmand, the breadth of the poppy trade is staggering. A sparsely populated desert province twice the size of Maryland, Helmand produces more narcotics than any country on Earth, including Burma, Morocco and Colombia. Rampant poverty, corruption among local officials, a Taliban resurgence and spreading lawlessness have turned the province into a narcotics juggernaut.

Poppy prices that are 10 times higher than those for legal crops have so warped the local economy that some farmhands refused to take jobs harvesting legal crops this year, local farmers said. And farmers dismiss the threat of eradication, arguing that so many local officials are involved in the poppy trade that a significant clearing of crops will never be done.

U.S. and British officials say they have a long-term strategy to curb poppy production modeled after successful, decadelong efforts in Pakistan and Thailand. About 7,000 British troops are gradually extending the government's authority in some areas, they said. And the U.S. Agency for International Development is mounting a $250 million alternative livelihoods program in southern Afghanistan, most of it in Helmand.

Loren Stoddard, director of the aid agency's agriculture program in Afghanistan, cited U.S.-financed agricultural fairs, the introduction of high-paying legal crops and the planned construction of a new industrial park and airport as evidence that alternatives were being created.

Stoddard, who previously helped Wal-Mart move into Central America, predicted that poppy production had become so prolific in Helmand that the opium market was flooded and prices were beginning to drop.

"It seems likely they'll have a rough year this year," he said, referring to Helmand's poppy farmers. "Labor prices are up and poppy prices are down. I think they're going to be looking for new things."

On Wednesday, Stoddard and Rory Donohoe, the director of the agency's Alternative Livelihoods program in southern Afghanistan, attended the first "Helmand Agricultural Festival." The $100,000 American-financed gathering in Lashkar Gah was an odd cross between a Midwestern county fair and a Central Asian bazaar, designed to show Afghans an alternative to poppies.

Under a scorching sun, thousands of Afghan men meandered among booths describing fish farms, the dairy business and drip-irrigation systems. A generator, a cow and a goat were raffled off. Wizened elders sat on carpets and sipped green tea.

Some wealthy farmers seemed genuinely interested. Others seemed keen to attend what they saw as a picnic.

When Stoddard and Donohoe arrived, they walked through the festival surrounded by a three-man British and Australian security team armed with assault rifles.

"Who won the cow? Who won the cow?" shouted Stoddard, 38, a burly former food broker from Provo, Utah. "Was it a girl or a guy?"

After Afghans began dancing to traditional drum and flute music, Donohoe, 29, from San Francisco, briefly joined them.

Afghans gave the fair mixed reviews. Haji Abdul Gafar, 28, a wealthy landowner, expressed interest in some of the new ideas.

Saber Gul, a 40-year-old laborer, said he was too poor to take advantage. "For those who have livestock and land, they can," he said. "For us, the poor people, there is nothing."

This article appeared on page A - 25 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Back to Top
Back to Top
New Democrats take aim in Quebec, tackle Arctic and Afghanistan at policy retreat
Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service Sunday, August 26, 2007 Article tools
OTTAWA -- Arctic sovereignty and a push to withdraw Canada's troops from their combat mission in Afghanistan are among the issues at the top of the agenda for the New Democrats as they kick off a caucus retreat in Montreal on the eve of three federal by-elections, says NDP leader Jack Layton.

The ridings at stake are all in Quebec, including the Montreal riding of Outremont where former provincial environment minister Thomas Mulcair is trying to steal the federal Liberal stronghold for the NDP. While party organizers say they are hoping the exposure of the caucus retreat in Montreal will give them a boost at the polls, Layton said he was already sensing an opening during campaign stops in the riding thanks to his star candidate and increasing concerns about Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

"There's no question that there's shifting ground," Layton said last week. "Of course this is a Liberal stronghold, we're trying to climb the fort walls here, but the people inside are helping us a bit ... Many of them are saying, 'The Liberals were in power for an awful long time, and we like your candidate a lot. We really like your stand against the war and you seem to be the only ones speaking out on that.'"

Organizers say the war in Afghanistan, which is suddenly getting a lot of coverage in the Quebec media, is a hot topic when they go door-to-door. While the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois have called on the government to end the current combat mission at the end of Canada's commitment in 2009, the New Democrats are the only party in the Commons calling for an immediate pull-out.

The NDP captured a Quebec riding in a 1990 federal by-election, but it has never won a seat in the province in a general election.

Layton said he also wants to bring home the realities of Canada's Arctic to Canadians in the south by pushing the Harper government to look beyond military investments and develop strategies to strengthen the health and prosperity of northern communities.

"The first peoples have lived there for thousands of years, and yet we're allowing them to despair with high rates of suicide, a health crisis amongst young people and no economic development strategy in the face of the impact of climate change," said Layton, who begins a five-day trip to the North following the caucus.

"Running around in some small military vessels and having a functioning military deep water port is not going to accomplish that goal."

Layton said many parents in the north are forced to buy $2 bottles of cola for their children instead of spending $15 for 3 litres of milk. But he said investments in a more navigable sea port in Iqaluit would significantly reduce the high shipping costs of food and supplies.

"We think that the vibrancy of the communities of the North will say much more to the world about Canada's commitment to the North than the more militaristic approach of Mr. Harper," Layton said. "Worse, the neglect of those communities could say to the world or be interpreted by the world as though Canada doesn't care ..."

He said massive investments in research would also be needed to prepare a report staking claim to some of the disputed northern territory as required by 2013 under an international deadline. He added the government also should invest in ships with real ice breaking capacity to help supplement research, support communities and help in search and rescue operations.
Back to Top
Back to Top
'Blasphemous' balls anger Afghans
By Alastair Leithead BBC News, Kabul Sunday, 26 August 2007
A demonstration has been held in south- east Afghanistan accusing US troops of insulting Islam after they distributed footballs bearing the name of Allah.

The balls showed the Saudi Arabian flag which features the Koranic declaration of faith.

The US military said the idea had been to give something for Afghan children to enjoy and they did not realise it would cause offence.

The footballs were dropped from a helicopter in Khost province.

Some displayed flags from countries all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, which features the shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam - the declaration of faith.

The words, which include the name of Allah, are revered, and Muslims are very sensitive about where and how they can be used.

Saudi Arabia has complained to the World Cup's ruling body in the past about the use of its flag on footballs.

Mullahs in Afghanistan criticised the US forces for their insensitivity, and around 100 people held a demonstration in Khost.

Afghan MP Mirwais Yasini said: "To have a verse of the Koran on something you kick with your foot would be an insult in any Muslim country around the world."

A spokeswoman for the US forces in Afghanistan said they made "significant efforts to work with local leaders, mullahs and elders to respect their culture" and distributing the footballs was an effort to give a gift the Afghan children would enjoy.

"Unfortunately," she added, "there was something on those footballs we didn't immediately understand to be offensive and we regret that as we do not want to offend."
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghanistan and Pakistan's problems preclude action on terror
Amin Saikal August 27, 2007 The Age, Australia
THE RECENT Afghan-Pakistan peace jirga, or assembly, held in Kabul and presided over by presidents Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf, was historic.

It agreed on the need for the two countries to strengthen their "brotherly" relations and to campaign jointly against terrorism as part of their national policies. However, neither Karzai nor Musharraf is in a position to deliver on this goal.

Both leaders face mounting political and security problems. President Karzai remains a weak leader. After nearly six years in power, he has not been able to create a clean, efficient and effective system of governance and to generate the necessary conditions whereby a majority of the Afghan people could support and trust his government.

He presides over a more or less dysfunctional administration, infested with highly corrupt, incompetent, officials and dangerous ethnic entrepreneurs. Family, ethnic, tribal and factional connections rather than merit and national needs have continued to form the basis for senior appointments.

Even his presidential palace, cabinet and security forces are widely infiltrated by various opposition groups — most importantly the Taliban and their al-Qaeda and Hezbi Islami (Gulbuddin Hekmatyar group) allies — as well as hostile foreign intelligence networks, most notably Pakistan's military intelligence, ISI. There are not many details of cabinet and National Security Council discussions and decisions that cannot be leaked to opposition forces within hours.

President Karzai is personally clean and forward looking — and acceptable to Washington — but he has not proved to be visionary and decisive enough to enable him to create an administration that could serve the cause of national unity and rapid processes of security building and economic reconstruction. He has had plenty of opportunity to do so, especially after receiving a public mandate in the presidential election of 2004. However, he seems to have missed such opportunities with a remarkable display of political short-sightedness.

The survival of his government depends very much on the support and protection that it receives from the US and its NATO allies. Without such support, it lacks the necessary capacity to endure for more than a few days. As long as this remains the case, there is a huge political vacuum for the Taliban and its supporters to exploit to keep the Karzai writ very limited and the resources of his international backers tied down by a relatively low-grade but costly insurgency.

By the same token, President Musharraf is under siege, facing a severe crisis of political legitimacy and national security. His grip on power has rapidly weakened by opposition from a cross-section of Pakistani polity, ranging from his political and judicial to radical Islamist and provincial nationalist opponents.

Musharraf is now governing largely on the basis of support from the military and the ISI, and the Bush Administration. Even in relation to these forces, he cannot be sure of unqualified support from either the lower echelons of the military and security forces — where sympathy for the opposition is reportedly running quite strong — or from Washington, whose backing has become a public liability for him.

Musharraf has certainly pledged to suppress Muslim extremism, but he knows that he has little control over the free tribal areas of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban and their al-Qaeda supporters are concentrated.

Nor can he confidently rely on the military to achieve his objective. The Pakistani Supreme Court's reinstatement of the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry whom Musharraf had dismissed early this year, and its latest ruling to enable former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whom Musharraf deposed nearly eight years ago, to return from exile have caused much humiliation for the Pakistani leader.

Like his Afghan counterpart, Musharraf now has little or no capacity to engage in anything more than the politics of leadership preservation.

To ask Karzai and Musharraf in their present conditions to act decisively and credibly against terrorism to stop the cross-border flow of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda supporters, as well as drug traffickers and smugglers, is as unrealistic as to expect the US and its NATO allies to deploy more resources to establish control over the long and rugged Afghan-Pakistan border.

With much of US military resources tied down by what is now the Iraq fiasco and with many of America's European NATO allies reluctant to augment their troop deployment in Afghanistan, especially in the fighting zones along the border with Pakistan, it is hard to see how Karzai and Musharraf can fulfil their anti-terrorism commitments.

The approach that could possibly work is for the US and its allies to maintain their present level of troop deployment in Afghanistan, but to invest more in helping the Afghans build a credible government and the Pakistanis move down the path of genuine democratisation.

If urgent serious steps are not taken in this direction, both Afghanistan and Pakistan face a much longer period of instability and volatility than can be anticipated at this stage.

Both countries are already seriously disrupted states. There is a strong chance that they may become failed states. Given Pakistan's status as a nuclear-armed state, this may entail debilitating consequences for US interests in the region and, for that matter, world politics.

Amin Saikal is professor of political science and director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and Central Asia) at the Australian National University.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Samad condoles with families of Canadian soldiers
OTTAWA, Aug 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Afghan ambassador has expressed profound shock over the killing of two Canadian troops in an explosion in southern Afghanistan three days back.

The fallen soldiers served their country with honour by dedicating themselves to helping Afghanistan and creating a safer world, Ambassador Omar Samad said in a statement here on Thursday.

On behalf of my people and my government, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, comrades and friends of Master Corporal Christian Duchesne, Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier and Private Simon Longtin whose lives were cut short this week by explosive devices planted by agents of terror in Southern Afghanistan."

He wished the wounded soldiers and journalists embedded with the unit a speedy recovery, saying their thoughts were also with them as well as with the family of the Afghan interpreter who lost his life.

The diplomat said Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) had detained seven suspected insurgents during an operation near Kandahar City Thursday morning. One of the detainees was suspected of being a major Taliban improvised explosive device (IED) facilitator in the province of Kandahar, he added.

Samad opined greater coordination between Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could disrupt the command and control of the insurgents IED network that instigated attacks on civilians and Afghan and NATO forces.

"The Afghan people are grateful for Canadas continued commitment alongside other members of the international community in helping us to overcome security challenges and provide assistances for Afghanistans development and reconstruction."
Back to Top
Back to Top
IFJ concerned at threats to embedded journalists
NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Injuries suffered by two journalists embedded with Canadian troops in Afghanistan are indicative of threats to media staff in conflict zones, a global media freedom group says.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), reacting to the bomb attack in Kandahar province, Thursday voiced concern over the dangers facing media people - even those travelling under the protection of armed forces.

On Wednesday, cameraman Charles Dubois and journalist Patrice Roy, who work for Radio-Canada Television, were wounded when a roadside bomb hit the vehicle they were travelling in. Two Canadian soldiers and an interpreter died in the attack. Dubois suffered a severe leg injury and Roy was treated for shock.

IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said in a statement: This attack shows the perilous reality of embedded journalism. Media staffers covering conflict are always at risk and when they are travelling with armed combatants, that risk becomes ever-more real.

The IFJ recalled the United Nations Security Council passed in December 2006 Resolution 1738, a measure - championed by the federation and its member unions - protecting journalists in conflict zones and saying killing them could be considered a war crime.

"The IFJ believes that safety should be the top concern when journalists are given assignments in conflict areas. It has called on all employers to provide safety training to employees working in dangerous environments," the statement said.

It added the IFJ was a founding member of the International News Safety Institute (INSI), an organisation of media bodies, press freedom groups, unions and humanitarian campaigners dedicated to the safety of journalists and media staff.

White said: We wish Charles and Patrice a quick recovery and remind all media organisations that safety should be of paramount importance when they send their employees into conflict zones.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Secret Tora Bora operation concludes: US general
NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A secret military operation in the rugged mountainous region of Tora Bora in Afghanistan has concluded, a top American general said Thursday.

Without giving further details of the nature of the operation or the success achieved, the general said both the sides - the US army and Taliban insurgents, suffered around 100 casualties.

"In Afghanistan, focused operations by Coalition and Afghan forces, concentrated in the area of Tora Bora, that -- those operations have concluded, and the battlefield assessments are still ongoing, Brigadier General Richard Sherlock said at a Pentagon Press Conference.

Our initial assessments indicate that those operations inflicted approximately 100 casualties on the forces -- on the enemy forces. Combined follow-on operations will continue in that area, Sherlock said.
Lalit K. Jha
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghanistan cruise into ACC U-19 Cup semi-final
KABUL, Aug 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan Friday outplayed Hong Kong by 17 runs to storm into the semi-final of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U-19 Elite Cup being played in Malaysia, an official said on Friday.

Noorul Haq and Obaidullah Kunari, chipping in with breezy knocks of 64 and 44 runs respectively, were the architects of the national squads impressive triumph over a formidable opposition, Afghan Cricket Federation (ACF) Secretary-General Taj Malik Alam said.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News over the telephone from Kuala Lumpur, Alam hailed Izzatullah, who captured four wickets, as the pick of Afghan bowlers. Aimal Wafa and Asghar claimed two scalps each to seal Afghanistans emphatic victory, added Alam, also the coach of the winning lineup.

Invited to bat first on a predictable track at the Kinrara Oval Stadium, Afghanistan amassed 189 runs in 49.4 overs - thanks to a swashbuckling 44 from Kunari, who faced just 14 balls. Haq mixed caution and aggression to rattle up 64, a contribution that helped the national side post a fighting total.

Set a target of 190, Hong Kong batsmen were restricted to 172, largely because of consistently accurate spells from Izzatullah, Aimal Wafa and Asghar. Almost all Afghan bowlers exhibited precise line and length as well as a remarkable degree of variation while defending what initially appeared an attainable score.

Izzatullah Khan was adjudged Man of the Match for his fiery spell that saw Afghanistan dry and home in a crucial match. The third successive and morale-boosting win drove up to six Afghanistans points in a tournament featuring 10 nations.

Having beaten Malaysia and Qatar in the previous encounters, the national team take on Kuwait in the semi-final on Saturday 9 (tomorrow). Apart from Afghanistan, Nepal, Oman, Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand are participating in the Cup.

Winners of the 10-day event will qualify for the World U-19 Cricket Cup, to be organised by the International Cricket Council. Initially, the U-19 WC was staged as a one-off event in Australia in 1988. But it has been held every two years since 1998.

The 10 contesting countries have been divided into two groups. Included in Group A are Nepal, Thailand, Oman, the UAE and Singapore while placed in Group B are Afghanistan Malaysia, Hong Kong, Qatar and Kuwait.
Reported by Javed Hamim
Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah
Back to Top

 Back to News Archirves of 2007
 
Disclaimer: This news site is mostly a compilation of publicly accessible articles on the Web in the form of a link or saved news item. The news articles and commentaries/editorials are protected under international copyright laws. All credit goes to the original respective source(s).