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August 29, 2007 

12 South Koreans freed in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
QALA-E-KAZI, Afghanistan - Taliban militants on Wednesday released 12 of 19 South Korean captives they promised to free under a deal struck with the South Korean government to resolve a nearly six-week hostage crisis.

The deal, reached in direct talks Tuesday between South Korean diplomats and the Taliban, was criticized by one Afghan government minister amid concerns it could embolden the insurgents at a time of rising violence in the country.

The hostages were released into the care of officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross at three separate locations in central Afghanistan, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene.

Meanwhile, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces killed more than 100 suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The first group of three women were released in the village of Qala-e-Kazi. Several hours later, four women and one man were released in a desert close to Shah Baz. As dusk approached, four more hostages were freed on a main road about 30 miles from Ghazni, said the reporter, who witnessed all three handovers.

None of the freed hostages spoke to reporters.

The first three women freed arrived in Qala-E-Kazi in a single car, their heads covered with red and green shawls. Red Cross officials quickly took them to their vehicles before leaving for the office of the Afghan Red Crescent in Ghazni, witnesses said.

In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said the three, whom he identified as Ahn Hye-jin, Lee Jung-ran and Han Ji-young, did not appear to have any health problems.

To secure the release of the church workers, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Seoul also said it would prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working in the country, something it had already promised to do.

The Taliban apparently backed down on earlier demands for a prisoner exchange. But the militant group, which killed two South Korean hostages last month, could emerge with enhanced political legitimacy for negotiating successfully with a foreign government and could also benefit from the international attention it gained.

South Korea's decision to hold face-to-face negotiations with the militants is in sharp contrast to the U.S. government's refusal to talk to the Taliban.

An Afghan government minister criticized Seoul for the deal, saying it could embolden the Taliban.

"One has to say that this release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger," Commerce Minister Amin Farhang told Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. "We fear that this decision could become a precedent. The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan."

A German engineer and four Afghan colleagues kidnapped a day before the South Koreans are still being held.

Relatives of the released South Korean hostages expressed relief.

"I talked to my parents on the phone and they cried and said '(our daughter) is coming back alive,'" said Lee Jung-hoon, the brother of one woman released Wednesday. "On the other side of my mind ... I strongly hope that the remaining hostages will safely come back soon as well," Lee said from South Korea.

The insurgents have said they will free all the hostages, who were holding in different locations, in the next few days.

The Taliban originally kidnapped 23 hostages as they traveled by bus from Kabul to the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on July 19. In late July, the militants killed two male hostages, and they released two women earlier this month.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, welcomed the news of a deal and called for all the hostages to be freed quickly.

He said he used "all possible efforts" as secretary-general to help obtain the release of the hostages, talking to leaders in Afghanistan and the region who might have influence.

"I welcome that news that both the Korean government and Taliban representatives have agreed to release the remaining 19 hostages," he said.

The Tuesday deal was made in face-to-face talks between Taliban negotiators and South Korean diplomats in the central Afghan city of Ghazni. The Afghan government was not party to the negotiations, which were facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The South Korean government and relatives of the hostages have stressed the South Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan were not missionaries, but were doing aid work such as helping in hospitals.

The Taliban had been demanding the release of militant prisoners in exchange for freeing the hostages. Afghan officials had ruled out any exchange, saying such a move would only encourage further abductions.

Abductions have become a key insurgent tactic in recent months in trying to destabilize the country, targeting both Afghan officials and foreigners helping with reconstruction. A German engineer and four Afghan colleagues kidnapped a day before the South Koreans are still being held.
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Associated Press writer Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul and Fisnik Abrashi in Kabul contributed to this report.
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ROK confirms release of 3 hostages in Afghanistan 
www.chinaview.cn  2007-08-29 16:38:04
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that three of 19 South Koreans, who were held as hostages in Afghanistan since last month, were released by Taliban militants.

The three people were soon to be handed over to South Korean authorities in Afghanistan, said Cho Hee-yong, spokesman for the ministry.

The released are Ahn Hye-jin, 31, Lee Jeung-ran, 33, and 34-year-old Han Ji-young, he added.

The South Korean government announced Tuesday night that the Taliban militants have agreed to free all the 19 South Korean hostages held by them after a face-to-face negotiation with South Korean officials.

The Taliban said earlier that the South Korean hostages will be released in several groups as not all the hostages were detained together.
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Relief in SKorea as hostage crisis nears end
by Park Chan-Kyong Wed Aug 29, 1:27 AM ET
SEOUL (AFP) - South Koreans breathed a sigh of relief across the nation Wednesday at the apparent end of an agonising 41-day hostage crisis, as the government worked to get 19 citizens home from Afghanistan.

"It is like a dead child is coming back to life," Lee Hyoen-Ja, a relative of one of the kidnapped Christian aid workers, told the JoongAng Daily.

"I don't know how we can thank the people and the government of Korea."

Families of the aid workers, who were seized by the Taliban on July 19 in southern Afghanistan, were overwhelmed as the news came in late Tuesday of an agreement between South Korean government negotiators and the insurgents.

Gathered in the basement of the group's church, they had spent almost six weeks in a mixture of hope and dread as Taliban deadlines came and went, two male hostages were killed and two women captives were released.

The hardline Taliban said the rest would be freed within a few days.

In return for the promised release of the rest, Seoul pledged to withdraw some 200 troops in medical and engineering units from Afghanistan by year-end -- something it was already planning before the crisis began.

It also promised to stop missionary activities by its Christian groups in Islamic Afghanistan -- again, the government has already imposed a ban on all unauthorised travel to the war-torn nation.

While families shed tears of relief and hugged one another, other Koreans also shared their jubilation.

"I have been praying every day for them," homemaker Choi Sun-Hee told The Korea Times. "They were like my own sons and daughters."

Kim Soo-Gyeong, a Seoul resident, said she had not expected an agreement to free all the remaining 19, as the Taliban had been insisting on swapping them with jailed fighters.

In the end the insurgents apparently accepted assurances by Seoul that it was powerless to influence the Kabul government, said presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-Seon late Tuesday.

Amid speculation of undisclosed, behind-the-scenes deals, he was asked if there were any conditions for the release other than the stated ones. "There have been no discussions about other things," he replied.

A foreign ministry official told Yonhap news agency that some may even be freed as early as Wednesday.

He said Korean negotiators "will contact the Taliban after the sun rises today (Wednesday) in Afghanistan to set up a detailed plan for the release of the hostages."

Park Myung-Ho, a Dongkuk University professor, said it was unclear why the Taliban dropped their demand for a prisoner swap.

"There might have been a back-room deal," he told AFP. "It could be cash or other incentives that prompted the Taliban to drop their demand.

"The agreement can be seen as a diplomatic victory for (Korean) President Roh Moo-Hyun. But I believe diplomacy was not the decisive factor judging from the government's weak hand from the beginning.

"I believe the goverment promised to give them some kind of sweeteners," Park said.

Although the plight of the abductees and their families brought widespread sympathy, there was also irritation at what was seen as a reckless aid mission to a troubled Islamic nation in defiance of foreign ministry advice.

"It's fortunate that we could save the people's lives, but it isn't right for the government to use the taxpayers' money for some thoughtless church faithfuls," said one Internet posting.

In August last year, Kabul expelled around 1,500 South Korean evangelical Christians who were visiting for a "peace festival," amid concerns that their presence could spark violence.

South Korea has 16,600 evangelists in 173 countries, according to the Korea World Missions Association, the second highest number after the United States.
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Hostage deal fuels Taliban legitimacy
Seeing militants treated as negotiating partners worries observers and Afghans alike
GRAEME SMITH - Globe and Mail Update August 29, 2007
ISLAMABAD — Scenes of joy from South Korea filled television screens Tuesday as the Taliban announced a deal to release 19 kidnapped church volunteers. Far away from the celebrations, however, observers worried that the end of the hostage crisis marks the beginning of a new stage in Afghanistan's insurgency.

Not only did the Taliban succeed in taking the largest group of hostages captured since the start of the conflict, they conducted the raid on a highway paved with American funding – a vital link between Kabul and Kandahar and a zone considered only medium-risk by security experts.

The negotiations leading to the hostage release also included scenes that outraged among some Afghans, as Taliban fighters entered a major city under a white flag to meet Korean representatives face to face, and afterward held their first press conference since their regime collapsed in 2001.

Perhaps most worryingly, observers say, the apparent conclusion of the drama means the Taliban can now claim greater legitimacy as reliable negotiating partners. It could also inspire more kidnappings, an increasingly common tactic as the insurgents try to drive away the foreigners propping up a weak government.

“This takes the Taliban to a different level of recognition,” said Barnett Rubin, a leading academic on Afghanistan. “They successfully negotiated a deal with a foreign government. They committed war crimes and executed hostages, so they didn't look that good, but it's still a victory for them.”

The Taliban originally captured the 23 Koreans on a bus from Kabul to Kandahar on July 19, subsequently killing two of them and releasing two others.

Tuesday's deal appears to give the insurgents little of substance for their effort, as the Korean government's only publicized concessions were a repetition of previous commitments for the withdrawal of 200 non-combat troops by the end of the year, and a ban on Korean missionaries visiting Afghanistan. The insurgents dropped an earlier demand for a prisoner exchange.

As many as eight of the hostages could be freed on Wednesday, a Taliban representative said.

Both sides have said that money wasn't discussed in their talks, but media outlets in Afghanistan and South Korea speculated that a ransom was paid. Neither side would be interested in publicly acknowledging that money was involved: Governments with citizens in dangerous countries don't want to set precedents, and the Taliban's propaganda depends on an image of moral purity, as the insurgents try to distinguish themselves from the brigands who plague the country.

Even before the latest deal, however, Afghans were already losing patience with the flurry of foreigners being kidnapped in record numbers. An Italian journalist, two French aid workers, and two German engineers were captured this year, each case inspiring heavy pressure on the Kabul government to make concessions.

Afghans expressed outrage as the Taliban negotiated cash and prisoners in exchange for their foreign captives, saying that Afghans themselves get little help when they're captured – and complaining about the benefits reaped by the insurgents because of what many Afghans view as the foreign governments' inability to stomach the idea of their own citizens dying.

Several days after the start of the Korean kidnapping ordeal, Kabul newspapers and broadcasters were asking why the Afghan government allows foreigners to travel outside the capital city. “The Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs needs to make sure not to allow foreigners to travel around Afghanistan,” said a major Kabul daily.

Another newspaper said the Taliban would be encouraged by the legitimacy they have gained from talks with the Korean government, suggesting that more kidnappings would follow.

“One can see the sign of further zeal on their faces,” said the Musharekat-e Milli, an opposition newspaper in Kabul.

Despite the concerns, Mr. Rubin also suggested an optimistic view of the Taliban's new tactics. The insurgents have proven they can maintain a coherent bargaining position during a period of weeks, he said, which may give hope to those who wish to find a negotiated end to the war.

“It shows increasing political sophistication by the Taliban,” he said. “Maybe they're moving in the direction where they're capable of a political settlement.”
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Afghan leader urges world to boost anti-drug efforts
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai accused the international community on Wednesday of failing to coordinate efforts to fight his war-torn country's spiralling production of opium.

The United Nations said in a survey on Monday that Afghan opium production had risen by more than a third to a record high in 2007, with the country almost the exclusive supplier of the world's deadliest drug.

"The international community must have more coordination amongst themselves in their efforts against Afghanistan's narcotics," Karzai told a conference of provincial governors, police chiefs and Western diplomats.

Pointing his finger at the foreigners in the audience, who also included workers from the UN and other aid organisations, he said: "One says one thing, the other another thing."

Karzai said opium poppy cultivation was lower or at zero in provinces where his fragile government has more control but sky high in regions where foreign troops are fighting a Taliban-led insurgency.

The Afghan leader also said that the rest of the world was partly to blame for his country's problems because it had not stopped drug trafficking.

"This is an Afghan problem and Afghans are responsible, no doubt in this, but smuggling is being done by the world, not by Afghans. The international community and its people is doing the smuggling," he said.

"The mafia is international, not Afghan," he added.

Karzai however called on Afghanistan's religious leaders to intensify efforts to get farmers to switch to other crops instead of opium which "brings shame to us."

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in its Annual Opium Survey that the "frightening" rise in Afghan production came despite a multi-million-dollar effort led by Britain and the United States to cut the opium trade.

The business finances the growing Taliban insurgency that has killed thousands of people, including scores of Western soldiers.

Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, a major Taliban hotspot, has itself become the world's biggest source of illicit drugs, surpassing the output of entire countries.
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Eradication or legalisation? How to solve Afghanistan's opium crisis
Declan Walsh and Ian Black, Wednesday August 29, 2007 The Guardian
The UN reported on Monday that there had been a "frightening" explosion in opium production in Afghanistan with Helmand province, where Britain has 7,000 troops deployed, leading the way. A record crop means that the country now accounts for 93% of the world's supply and the situation is getting worse daily despite billions being spent to eradicate the trade since 2001.

Here the Guardian asks experts in the field what can be done to bring production of the drug to an end.

Chris Alexander - Deputy special representative of the UN secretary general to Afghanistan
The report is astonishingly downbeat and rightly so. But it does point to some solutions. This year we have doubled the number of poppy free provinces from six to 13. The incentives for others to follow suit must be massively strengthened. We need structured investments in governance, law enforcement, agriculture and infrastructure.

The next step is for the government of Afghanistan and donors to get serious about removing known traffickers from positions of responsibility. This does not require trials and conviction; it can be done on the basis of administrative responsibilities. Everyone in the government from President Karzai down knows this has to be done ... They know who these people are and, with the right support from the international community, can take action.

Thirdly our counter-narcotics and counterinsurgency strategies need to be much more closely linked. Drug trafficking is benefiting from the muddy waters created by the Taliban in the southern provinces where most of the poppy is being grown. The Taliban have an interest in preventing rule of law and governance from emerging. Those who insist on making an alliance with them should be treated with the same seriousness.

On legalisation, we have real questions about the credibility of that proposal. You cannot legalise something in the absence of the rule of law. Legalisation would merely add a notionally legalised component of production.

Joanna Nathan - International Crisis Group analyst
The crucial place to start is at the top because you get much more bang for your buck. Targeting poor farmers means less overall effect and causes enormous discontent when they can see the hypocrisy of government and local administration officials brazenly flaunting their drugs wealth. A culture of impunity has been allowed to flourish which has been a corrupting influence on the new state institutions as well as fuelling the insurgency. This means some officials have an interest in keeping the countryside lawless and facilitating alliances with the Taliban. That is scary.

Aerial eradication of poppies is not the solution. While some ground-based manual eradication is important as a stick, to discourage particularly new growers, it hits the poorest hardest. Aerial eradication can be too indiscriminate and would enrage a large sector of the population possibly driving them into the arms of the insurgents. On the other hand the proposal to license opium for medicinal use is unfeasible at this stage. Most of the drugs grown in Afghanistan are in Helmand which they haven't been able to stop when it is completely illegal. How would you then insert a massive licensing bureaucracy there and stop those who continue to grow for the black market? The price differentials would be so large there would be no incentive to grow for a licensed market.

Norine Macdonald - The Senlis Council
The international community is spending millions of dollars on flawed strategies. Poppy crop eradication was reinforced this year but in the current environment of rural poverty and lack of sustainable alternatives, eradication is wholly ineffective. The crisis is a problem of economic development. Farmers are cultivating poppy because there are no profitable alternatives. In such an environment, crop eradication puts the future of Afghanistan and the entire region in jeopardy.

Opium is the raw material for morphine and other essential medicines. To start tackling the economic nature of the crisis, we presented in June a village-based Poppy for Medicine model whose crux is the production of painkilling medicines. Such a programme would allow farming communities to produce morphine locally, bringing added value to the villages and providing rural communities with viable economic opportunities. This would trigger alternative livelihood programmes, foster rural development and generate economic diversification.

The Senlis Council wants international support for our request to run scientific Poppy for Medicine pilot projects in the next planting season. The alarming UN figures should be reason enough to try a different approach, tailored to the realities of Afghanistan in terms of security and development.

The Senlis Council is a security and development policy group.

Daoud Sultanzoi - MP for Ghazni province
A lot could have been done earlier but was not. Now the situation has reached the point where we are in a vicious circle. Drugs, bad management, rule of law, poverty, terrorism and weak government - all of these things have haunted us over the past six years. The international community is pouring billions of dollars, at least on paper, into Afghanistan. But our government is weak and there is corruption at every level. If the foreign friends are not involved in corruption themselves, then they are failing to ensure accountability inside the government. So they are also responsible.

There is so much waste and so little coordination. The foreigners come here for just one year and call themselves experts. They go on vacation 10 times, draw fat salaries and conduct themselves one inch lower than the clouds. They are not in touch with the real problems of the country; they become their own problem. We could start to resolve this with rule of law and good governance. The international community should have been urged to coordinate with us. We should have revamped our agricultural industry to offset the need for cultivating poppy. I am not hopeless about drugs but I sense hopelessness among many people across the country.

Barnett Rubin
Centre for International Cooperation, New York University
The UN report is about cultivation, not the entire Afghan drug economy. So it doesn't have a lot about trafficking or heroin refining, which are extremely important. The most important people are those in high-level positions who are given money but are not involved in drugs themselves and therefore have deniability. They are getting political contributions so certain trucks aren't searched or certain people appointed to key positions. The point about the northern provinces being opium-free is correct, but there is still a lot of trafficking there and leaders are making plenty of money from the trade.

Eradication was only done in Thailand 10 years after starting alternative development. In Colombia success was due to building up the police and state structures. If you attempt massive eradication in Afghanistan while the state is so weak and there are no alternative livelihoods people will simply not allow the government into the area.

There's a value chain in the drug business and you have to start at the high end. Concentrate your limited forces where the value is and then you have to win over the peasantry. You have to give aid to provinces that eliminate or reduce poppy. That's a good idea, but they're just starting it now. And people don't consider alternative livelihoods just because the US has started a programme. If they are switching to growing fruit trees it can take a few years to get them established. We have done a poor job on eradication but an even worse one with alternative livelihoods. It's outrageous to accuse Afghan farmers of being greedy. Controlled buyback may be possible in a period of transition, but it's not a silver bullet.

Senior Nato official
Nato, under pressure to take a more aggressive role, says publicly that its Isaf mission in Afghanistan does not include counter-narcotics but operates in support of the Afghan government. Alliance sources privately blame widespread corruption for hobbling Kabul's efforts. But the key, they insist, is security.

"The more lawless the area the bigger the drug production, so though we've had an explosion of poppy production in Helmand, the more orderly areas are now producing less," says one senior figure. "If you can bring law and order poppy is a problem you can start to grapple with. The Senlis argument that if you buy up the crop everything will be OK is misleading. The crop in Helmand has already quadrupled in a few years. If poppy becomes legal then people will stop growing other crops and start to grow poppy instead. Also illegal poppy is always going to sell for more than a legal crop. And anyway, why would the Taliban let people switch? This is about power and control: you are challenging their authority in another way. They'll tell the farmers: sell poppy to the government and we'll kill you or rape your daughters; sell to us and we won't."
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Massive Afghan Opium Production Hits Neighbors
August 28, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that the latest opium poppy crop in Afghanistan will yield an amazing 8,200 tons of opium -- an increase of some 2,000 tons on the previous crop.

The country's surging drug output appears not to be destined for the markets of Europe and North America, but instead for Afghanistan's neighbors. Observers warn that the trend threatens to pull neighboring states into the vicious cycle of drug dependence.

Most of the illegal opiates comes from southern and eastern Afghanistan, particularly Helmand Province, where the Taliban militia insurgency is at its worst.

UNODC director Antonio Maria Costa notes that the Taliban has reversed its religious edict of July 2000, which banned poppy cultivation, and is now profiting from the drug trade.

Presenting the agency's report on the Afghan drug industry, Costa said in Kabul on August 27 that "what used to be considered a sin is now being encouraged."

"When there is violence, guerrillas, insurgency -- all of that creates a climate of lawlessness. The rule of law breaks down and criminal activity -- in the case of Afghanistan, opium cultivation...tends to flourish," Costa said.

Afghanistan is now the source of some 95 percent of the opiates reaching the big world markets, meaning mainly North America and Europe.

But UNODC researcher Tomas Pietschmann told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that the rise in production has not been matched by a parallel increase in demand on the major world markets.

Pietschmann points out that the market for opiates in Western Europe is stable, or even declining, and is similarly stagnant in North America. So where is this massive new supply of opium going?

Experts don't rule out that growers, distributors, and dealers are stockpiling some of the surplus for future sale. After all, opium can be stored for 20 or 30 years without losing its potency.

But that wouldn't account for all the drug supplies. Pietschmann says Afghanistan's neighbors may account for increasing consumption, partly because the large-scale transit of drugs across their territories has already brought increased levels of local addiction:

In Uzbekistan, Pietschmann says, about 0.8 percent of the population aged between 15 and 64 use opiates -- about twice the global average, which is 0.4 percent. Kyrgyzstan's level of opiate use is the same, and Kazakhstan's stands at 1 percent.

Opiate usage is also seen to be rising in Iran and China, and lately there are indications that the same is true of India. But hardest-hit of all is Russia, where the UNODC estimates that up to 2 percent of the population uses opiates.

Pietschmann estimates that the real increase in consumption this year lies to the south, toward Pakistan and Iran. The increase is less dramatic "in the countries north of Afghanistan, simply because production has declined in northern Afghanistan," he said.

Farid Tukhbatullin, head of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, described the increased opiate production as "bad news" for everyone -- particularly for Turkmenistan, because it has a very long border with Afghanistan.

In remarks to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, Tukhbatullin noted that Turkmenistan is one of the transit states for Afghan drugs, both to the CIS countries and onward to Europe.

(RFE/RL's Uzbek Service correspondent Farruh Yusupov and Guvanch Gervaev of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service contributed to this report.)
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Suicide blast in Afghanistan kills six
Wed Aug 29, 8:57 AM ET
KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded bazaar in eastern Afghanistan, killing four civilians and two Afghan soldiers, a provincial governor told AFP.

About a dozen other people, most of them civilians, were wounded in the attack near the Pakistani border, Paktika governor Mohammad Akram Khepelwak told AFP.

The blast was the second in as many days in the restive region. Three international soldiers were killed in a similar bombing at a bridge construction site Tuesday in neighbouring Paktia province.

The target of the attack in the district of Barmal appeared to be Afghan soldiers who were in the bazaar shopping, reports said.

The blast was similar to scores of others carried out by the hardline Islamic Taliban militia, which is waging an Al-Qaeda-backed insurgency that sees regular attacks along the border region.

It comes amid a spike in clashes between the Taliban and security forces, who include about 50,000 international soldiers supporting the fledgling Afghan security forces.

The US-led coalition said late Tuesday that more than 100 Taliban rebels were killed in a day of fierce fighting in the southern province of Kandahar.

The three international soldiers were killed the same day, taking to nine the number to die in clashes in Afghanistan since Sunday.
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Over 100 insurgents killed in Afghan battle: U.S.
Wed Aug 29, 6:02 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - More than 100 suspected insurgents were killed in a battle with U.S.-led troops in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

The battle erupted after a convoy of Afghan and U.S. coalition forces came under attack in Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar province, it said in a statement.

U.S.-led close air support attacked insurgent positions in the battle, it added.

"Afghan National Security Forces, advised by coalition forces, engaged and eliminated more than 100 insurgent fighters," the U.S. military said of the Tuesday fighting in the north of Kandahar province.

There were no civilian casualties but one Afghan security force member was killed and three foreign troops and three Afghan soldiers were wounded, it added.

No official from the Taliban, who lead the insurgency against Western troops and the Afghan government, could be immediately reached for comment.

There was no independent verification of the reported deaths of the insurgents.

Taliban spokesman often accuse Western troops of exaggerating insurgent casualties, while Western forces accuse the Taliban of exaggerating the number of casualties on the U.S., NATO and Afghan government side.

If confirmed, the Taliban toll would be the highest for many weeks.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in the past 19 months, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.

On Wednesday, a suicide bomber in a southeastern town near the border with Pakistan blew himself up as Afghan soldiers were shopping, a senior provincial official said.

Four civilians and two soldiers were killed in the attack, he said, adding some civilians were wounded.

Nine Western soldiers, most of them American, have been killed in Taliban attacks in recent days.

Some 50,000 Western troops under the command of NATO and the U.S. military are in the country hunting Taliban and al Qaeda allies.

They are backed by more than 100,000 Afghan soldiers, police and security agents.
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Canadian soldier found dead in Kabul
Canadian Press, August 29, 2007
KABUL — A member of the Canadian Forces has been found dead of a gunshot wound inside a secure compound in the Afghan capital.

A military statement says the soldier serving at the International Security Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul died shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time today.

The victim had been found seriously injured in his room an hour earlier and doctors were unable to save him. Few other details are available.

However, military officials ruled out enemy action, saying the incident occurred within the secure ISAF compound. Capt. Sylvain Chalifour says nothing has been ruled out for the time being concerning the cause of the soldier's death.

Investigators are seriously looking at the possibility of suicide but aren't ruling out homicide or a firearms accident. The deceased's name is being temporarily withheld at the family's request. Seventy Canadian soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
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Final Van Doos soldiers head to Afghanistan
CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette , Wednesday, August 29, 2007
VALCARTIER - "It's hard." Chantale Descarie was eloquently simple in expressing her feelings as her husband, Cpl. Marcel Descarie prepared to board a plane to Afghanistan Tuesday, part of the final 118 soldiers of the latest Quebec-led rotation of Canadian troops on their way to a mission few Quebecers support.

Cpl. Descarie said while public support in Canada and other NATO countries for the mission may be mixed, his family supports it. "They understand we are going there to help," Descarie said.

Flags at the Valcartier military base flew at half staff to honour three Quebec-based soldiers who were killed last week by improvised explosive devices, the favourite weapon of the Taliban insurgents, as Canada's fourth rotation, including 44 solders based in Valcartier, 57 from Edmonton and 17 based in Petawawa, Ont., readied for departure.

Funerals for Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne and Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier will be held Friday, near Valcartier.

Wednesday, their families, who have requested a limited media presence at the funerals, issued a statement thanking Canadians for "the incredible show of support during the repatriation in Trenton on Aug. 26.
"Veterans, ambulance workers, firefighters, police officers and citizens alike were present to pay their last respects to the fallen soldiers," said the statement released by the Canadian Forces. "A crowd of thousands gathered along the road separating Trenton airport from Toronto to salute the passing procession. Many were even perched on overpasses or parked alongside of highway 401.

"The Duchesne and Mercier families were deeply touched by this spectacular demonstration of support.

"Christian and Mario's families would like to emphasize the sacrifice of all Canadian soldiers deceased during foreign country mission. They gave their lives to allow others to hope for a brighter future.
From the Duchesne and Mercier family, sincere thanks and keep supporting your troops." Most of the 2,500-member rotation, under the command of Valcartier-based Brig.-Gen Guy Laroche, are there for six months.

Capt. Martin Rivard, a telecommunications officer who will be in Afghanistan for nine months, said if there is less-than-unanimous support for the mission, it is because people don't know that the NATO mission aims to rebuild Afghanistan and allow the Afghans to develop a form of democracy.

"They haven't been informed of the purpose of the mission," Rivard said. "Maybe we don't talk enough about the good part of the mission," said Pte. Laurent Proulx, of the 12th Armoured Regiment of Canada, who is a crew member in a Leopard tank.

Proulx said the mission is a "challenge," but added, "It's part of my job." Proulx, 20, joined the army cadets as a teenager and has been in the regular forces for two years. "I signed up to defend Canadian values," he said.

Capt. Tanya Levesque from Chicoutimi said the deaths and the wounding of Canadian soldiers is "unfortunate." But, "it's part of the job."

Levesque will spend most of her time at the Kandahar base. "It's my job," she said. "I take the risks that come with it."
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Canada announces $45m aid to Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Canada has announced another $45 million in aid to Afghanistan to fund five key health and community development projects in the southern Kandahar province.

The announcement was made by Canadian Minister of International Co-operation Beverley J Oda at Afghanistan Independence Day celebrations in Toronto on Saturday. The event was organised by the Afghan Association of Ontario.

"Today's contribution will build on previous successes by supporting projects aiming to enhance health services and community development in Kandahar, one of the provinces in greatest need of our assistance," he said in his speech at the function.

The new projects, he said, built on major funding announced in February 2007 by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to accelerate the reconstruction and development process.

"Canada's new government is proud to stand beside the Afghan people as they strive to build better lives for themselves and secure a better future for their children," he remarked. The amount is part of Canada's total contribution of more than $1 billion over 10 years, aimed at good governance, security and reconstruction.

Giving details of the new funding, the Canadian minister said $17.5 million would be spent through the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help implement a national polio eradication initiative and a tuberculosis-control programme.

Another $ 10 million is to the National Solidarity Programme to build on the
substantial results achieved to date in areas of local governance and community development; while an equal amount would go to UNICEF to help improve access to maternal and child health services in the southern region, with a focus on Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar City.

Canada would also give $ 5 million to the Kandahar Local Initiatives Programme to support small-scale, quick-action development and reconstruction plans that respond to immediate needs; and $2.5 million for a rapid-response health intervention fund for local NGOs and institutions in the province, he added.

Thanking Canada for the funding announcement of $45 million, Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad said: This allocation is vital to our overall attempt at creating the enabling environment for peace and economic progress, especially in the Kandahar province."

Samad continued: I am certain that thousands of lives will be touched and even saved by these contributions. Much has been achieved over the past few years, and the overall Canadian contribution has been outstanding."  Lalit K. Jha
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The Afghan Triangle
By Shakila Khalje August 28, 2007 Washington, D.C.
For the past several years the reconstruction of Afghan society has been a tale of progress, slowed down and caught in the middle of Pakistan's role, the recent bloody come back of the Taliban insurgents, and the illegal drug crisis.

It seems that as main actors, the United States, NATO and the Afghan government, have been taking many initiatives to improve the situation.  However, the facts on the ground remind us of a different tale: One of interrupted progress and many logistical challenges to face. Based on the current political situation in Afghanistan, observers believe if necessary steps are not taken to accelerate the process of rebuilding the Afghan economy and society, Afghanistan will fall into a deeper state of instability and chaos.

The recent Peace Jirga (Council) held in Kabul between Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders and other government officials brought about some level of hope to tackle the rise of terrorist activities.

The main focus of the Peace Jirga was to address the rising activities of the insurgents and elements of al-Qaeda at the borders of both countries and to find solutions to fight them. However, it is hard to ignore the question how Afghanistan can succeed fighting terrorism on the face of deteriorating security, a poorly equipped and an underpaid police force, suicide bombings,  and an Illegal drug crisis as well as the sluggish pace of reconstruction?

NATO  and US Forces
What must be done to prevent further instability in Afghanistan?  Will increasing the number of US military and NATO led-forces help prevent the rise of Instability in Afghanistan? Answers were provided through conversations with two experts on Afghanistan.

Professor Tom Barfield is the Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Boston University. He is currently doing  research on war reconstruction and economic development in Afghanistan. His answer is: "We have never had enough US or NATO troops to do the job in Afghanistan.  There has to be enough people on the ground to stabilize the Taliban's strongholds."

Jim Phillips is a research Fellow for the Middle Eastern Affairs at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C. based conservative think-tank. He focuses on the role of NATO forces to bring stability to Afghanistan. "I think NATO forces need to strengthen their operations. They need to be coordinated better under a unified command."

According to Phillips, "There are too many caveats and political restrictions put on the operations of various NATO contingents in ISAF (International Security Assistance Forces.) ISAF's role is to assist the government of Afghanistan in maintaining security within is area of operation. ISAF supports the government of Afghanistan in expanding its authority to the rest of the country, the spread of rule of law, and the reconstruction of the country.

Phillips says: "The caveats need to be removed. Also, greater care needs to be taken to reduce civilian causalities, especially in the use of air power."

As recent as August 24, 2007, three British soldiers died and two were seriously injured when a U.S. fighter jet dropped a bomb too close to their position as they fought Taliban insurgents in the southern province of Helamand, Afghanistan.

But what happens if the political situation in Afghanistan remains the same, and what if there is very little change in the Afghan political landscape in 5 years?

According to Professor Barfield "The Afghans want stability in their country and they see the foreign presence [international community] as a way to get the stability. More emphasis must be put on reconstruction that reaches more rural Afghans, the situation will be messy but could still turn out all right."  Professor Barfield also says "Pressure should be put on Pakistan to stop destabilizing its neighbors."

"Ultimately, only the Afghans, not foreigners, can decisively defeat the Taliban." says Jim Phillips from Heritage Foundation.

He believes the U.S. and its allies need to do more to improve the Afghan government and its capacity to serve and protect Afghans, or "there is a danger that the Taliban gradually will expand its political strength, but much will depend on the situation in Pakistan.  As long as the Pakistani government turns a blind eye to Taliban cross-border subversion, the Taliban threats will remain."

Taliban and Pakistan

For several years, the U.S., Britain, the German BND (intelligence service) as well as  President Karzai's efforts to negotiate with the so called modern Taliban, have brought very little result.

The problem stems from the fact that "the Taliban are not a cohesive political force one can strike a deal with them," says Professor Barfield. However, Barfield believes "It hardly makes any sense to focus on them [Taliban] when you can talk to their Pakistani sponsors directly."

Barfield points out that inside Afghanistan the potential of negotiations with local groups who are currently aligned with the Taliban make sense, since they act for themselves. However professor Barfield says: "I do not think the Taliban's return has anything to do with diplomatic failures but rather a push by Pakistan to up their profile and the move by NATO to secure areas in the south which have been previously under government control."

Even if there is the potential for a political reconciliation with the Taliban, Professor Barfield believes "since I see them [the Taliban] as predominantly outside force based in Pakistan, I see little to reconcile.  It [reconciliation] can be done with those who wish to be part of the process or who represent real local communities that have issues which need to be addressed."  Barfeild says "I am not much of believer in moderate Taliban.  Those who want to enter the political process can, but, they know they do not have enough popular support to win in this way.   Those who enter Afghanistan will not do it for ideological reasons but out of self-interest." believes Barfield. 

Barfield pointed out: "We should demonstrate that theTaliban are losers in the long run."

"The Taliban remains a weak military force, although it can disrupt economic development, terrorize the Afghan people, and harass government and ISAF forces." Says Jim Phillips from the Heritage Foundation. 

Phillips believes Washington and Kabul should not negotiate with Taliban hard-liners, many of whom committed war crimes before 9/11 against the Afghan people.  "The moderate Taliban, who agree to renounce the Taliban and accept an amnesty, might be allowed to return in peace, if acceptable to the Afghan government." Phillips said.  He pointed out that the Taliban has more support in Pakistan than in Afghanistan.  An issue which was raised in the recent Peace Jirga between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Kabul which resulted in some level of tension and disagreement from the Pakistani side.

Phillips said "the sanctuary and support given by Pashtuns on the Pakistani side of the border is a major boost for the Taliban. The questions is how much of the challenges faced by U.S. troops fighting insurgents in Afghanistan involves Pakistan's role or lack thereof? 

According to Barfield:  "Pakistan is a major problem. If the Taliban did not have bases there (in Pakistan) and the ability to retreat there, I do not think we would have much of an insurgency in Afghanistan." He says:  "Pakistan is double-dealing the US and NATO.  Pakistan expects the US and NATO to withdraw from Afghanistan in the near future and is trying to position the Taliban to take over Afghanistan. "However, Professor Barfield points out: "I believe that Pakistan is misreading the situation, but it helps  to explain why they  [Pakistanis] have been so uncooperative about ending their support for the Taliban, particularly providing bases for them in Pakistan and allowing them to operate there [in Pakistan] with little opposition."
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The Narcotics

According to UNODC (United Nations Office of Drug and Crime) report so far, the methods used by the United States and other Western countries to fight the cultivation of poppy seeds in Afghanistan have not been fully effective.

So far, President Hamid Karzai rejected U.S. offers to spray this year's crop after Afghans said herbicide could affect livestock, legal crops and water supplies. The U.N. supports the Afghan government's position, but added it believes the crop eradication is a key element of any strategy to combat the trade.

Afghanistan has doubled its opium production over the past two years and now accounts for 93 percent of the world's output, according to the annual UNODC (United Nations Office of Drug and Crime) survey. The southern province of Helmand alone has become the world's biggest source of illicit drugs.

The military has stayed away from the drug eradication business so this has not been a great problem for the US military.  However says Professor Tom Barfield "the money earned by drugs is a problem since it finances insurgents and creates an incentive for drug dealers to use them as a way to keep the government out."

However, Phillips from the Heritage Foundation thinks "narcotics pose a greater threat to Afghanistan than the Taliban right now." He believes it [narcotics] not only helps fuel the insurgency but it also weakens the Afghan government through corruption.

According to the latest report by Associated Press, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime in the latest U.N. report said: "The Afghan opium situation looks grim, but it is not yet hopeless," Costa said. "It will take time, money and determination -- worthwhile investments to spare Afghanistan and the rest of the world more tragedies."

Determination, time and money

Worthwhile indeed! Time, money and determination seem like feasible solutions to free Afghanistan from the triangle of neighboring interference, the insurgents, and illegal drugs in which it is caught now.  It is safe to say Afghans are a very determined people. It is up to the international community to create time and provide the much needed money and attention to revive the lethargic state of rebuilding of Afghanistan before it is too late.

Shakila Khalje is an Afghan-American freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C.

Thomas J. Barfield is Professor of Anthropology and chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Boston University. Barfield has conducted extensive fieldwork in among nomads in northern Afghanistan. His current research focuses on war reconstruction and economic development in Afghanistan as well as its political reorganization.

James Phillips is the Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. His prime research interests are Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Persian Gulf security issues, and Middle Eastern terrorism.
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Russian man arrested in Afghanistan over terrorism suspicions
ISLAMABAD, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- A Russian citizen has been arrested in Afghanistan as a suspected associate of terrorists, the Iranian hews agency IRNA reported on Monday.

It said the man identified as Andrei, who professes Islam, and two citizens of Afghanistan had been arrested in the province of Paktia near the border with Pakistan.

A representatives of the Paktia authorities said they had been arrested after about 500 kilograms of explosives had been found in their automobile.

The Russian man allegedly told police he had entered Afghanistan from Pakistan after trips to Egypt, Turkey, and Iran. He planned to travel to Tajikistan from Afghanistan and then to Russia.

According to police, all three men were wearing women’s clothes.
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Afghan judges receive first law books
Source: Government of the United States of America By Senior Airman Dilia DeGrego, USAF, Special to American Forces Press Service
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2007 – The 37 judges in Afghanistan's Parwan province are the first of more than 450 judges within the Regional Command East area of responsibility to receive complete sets of Afghan law books.

Delivered Aug. 25 by the Bagram Reconstruction Team and Army Lt. Col. Chris Jacobs, an attorney with the Combined Joint Task Force 82 Staff Judge Advocate Office, these books are the first to be distributed as part of an Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and United States Agency for International Development initiative to distribute complete sets of Afghan law books to every judge in the country.

"For the first time since the Soviet era, each judge in Regional Command East will have complete access to up-to-date Afghan laws," said Army Capt. Ryan Kerwin, another attorney with Combined Joint Task Force 82. "This is significant, because most Afghan judges have either limited or no access to published law. This lack of legal resources made it very difficult, if not impossible, to correctly apply the law and ensure uniformity throughout the Afghan court system. The judges will now have the tools to make rulings based upon the laws of Afghanistan."

Each set of law books consists of 17 volumes that cover both criminal and civil law, including the constitution of Afghanistan, penal and civil codes, counternarcotics and human-rights law.

Parwan Chief Judge Fazil Rahmman Habibi and Head Army Prosecutor Zikria Shitab said they are very glad to receive the law books.

"I cannot remember the last time each judge had his own set of Afghan law books," Habibi said. "We really appreciate getting these books; we've been in need of them, but they are very expensive, so we are grateful to get them."

"We will be sure to distribute the books to all the judges of Parwan, they will gain a lot of knowledge from them," Shitab added.

It took several months to organize the project. To begin, thousands of books were published and prepared for delivery. Provincial reconstruction teams will help distribute the books to provincial courts throughout the country over the next several months.

Combined Joint Task Force 82 is working to improve the Afghan judicial system and help promote the rule of law in Afghanistan in various ways, from building courts and prosecutors' offices, and improving jails to providing legal resources and coordinating with agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development.

"CJTF 82 has taken big steps to help push the rule of law in Afghanistan forward," Kerwin said. "Developing the rule of law in Afghanistan is a difficult task that will take decades. Judge advocates at both the headquarters and task forces have worked hard to help push the Afghan justice system forward."

(Air Force Senior Airman Dilia DeGrego is assigned to Combined Joint Task Force 82 Public Affairs.)
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Cricket: Afghanistan-Nepal duel
New Straits Times (Malaysia) Wednesday, August 29, 2007
THE final of the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup between defending champions Nepal and Afghanistan at the Kinrara Cricket Academy Oval today has been dubbed as a David versus Goliath showdown.

The only catch is just which team is David, or Goliath, for that matter.

The Nepalese, under the coaching of Roy Luke Dias, have won the tournament thrice since 2001, and will certainly want to be seen as the favourites once again going by their impressive record in the on going tournament while the Afghans believe they are good for the title as well.

The pressure, however, is on Nepal as at stake is a spot in the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur as they had qualified for the last three editions and even made 2006 a memorable one by defeating New Zealand in the final of the Plate championship.

Both teams go into the final with the belief they have the right bowlers and batsmen for the job, though the Afghans have certainly proved that against the UAE in the semifinals, scoring 255 runs.

Lanky Paras Khadka, the Nepalese skipper, is among seven players retained in the squad from the last World Cup and is unlikely to let the Afghans take the glamour away from them. Further more, the mounting passion of a Nepalese victory is escalating back home and Roy Dias' boys would surely not want to be on the losing end.

Meanwhile, host Malaysia ended their campaign in the tournament by finishing fourth, going down by four runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method of calculation. UAE had earlier scored a total of 172 runs in 45.4 overs.

However, the Malaysians, set a revised target of 131 runs in 32 overs due to the rain and loss of play time, were 126 for six in the allocated overs.

In the match for fifth-sixth placing, Singapore defeated Qatar by three wickets while Oman beat Hong Kong by five wickets to finish seventh.
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Pakistan transfers rebel commander to Afghan custody
TORKHAM, Aug 27 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A commander of the Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani network, arrested by Pakistani intelligence personnel, has been handed over to Afghan authorities in the Torkham border town.

An Afghan border force official confirmed to Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday that commander Mumtaz, belonging to the eastern Nangarhar province, was detained last week in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP.

Mahmud Khan said the militant was transferred to the custody of a team of security personnel, which had arrived in Torkham from Kabul. The rebel was spirited away to the Capital soon after his handover to the Afghan custody.

Apart from Mumtaz, the border official pointed out, Pakistani and Afghan security agencies last week swapped a dozen detainees each they had held on petty charges recently.

Fakhr-i-Alam, a Pakistani intelligence operative based in Torkham, was unaware of Mumtazs handover to Afghan authorities. But he confirmed the two sides occasionally exchanged prisoners at the border crossing.

Meanwhile, a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) agent, who did not want to be named, verified the transfer of the guerrilla commander to Afghanistan.
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Qalat PRT engineers assess Zabul road project
QALAT, Aug 27 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Civil engineers with the Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) recently conducted an assessment on a $600,000 road construction project in the southern Zabul province.

"The 24-kilometer road connecting Qalat to outlying villages is expected to reduce driving time, said Capt. Bob Everdeen, Qalat PRT official, on Monday. 

The road will provide a safer, shorter route that will allow local residents better access to economic opportunities and emergency services," Everdeen added.

In a statement mailed to this news agency, the NATO-led ISAF said the road also included 20 culverts and improved drainage systems to handle runoff and erosion.

The US-funded project will combine engineer assets from the PRT and local Afghan labourers.

"It is important that we invest in construction projects, said 1st Lt. Travis Vazansky. We need to focus on quality of life improvement projects that will help improve industry, commerce and education that help connect the people of the outlying countryside with each other and the legitimate government of Afghanistan."
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UNHCR plea on refugees turned down: officials
By Zulfiqar Ali- DAWN
PESHAWAR, Aug 28: The authorities are learnt to have turned down a request by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to extend the stay of Afghan refugees living in the Jalozai camp.

Negotiations on the camp’s fate were held between the UNHCR’s country head Guenet Gubre- Christos and Secretary of the Ministry of State and Frontier Region (Safron) Sajid Hassan Chatta.

Sources privy to the meeting said the UN agency appealed to the government to suspend the refugees’ evacuation and allow them to stay until the next spring, but the request was turned down.

“There was considerable disagreement… over the extension and delay in the camp’s closure. The government wants to close it down as early as possible,” the source said.

The UN had asked Islamabad last week to delay shutting down the camp, home to over 120,000 Afghans, and to suspend the evacuation for a period of six months because of the upcoming harsh weather conditions. The UN believed that evacuation of over 100,000 people could trigger a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Safron Secretary Sajid Hassan Chatta told journalists after the meeting that the UNHCR had yet to formally appeal to the government regarding the refugee camp’s closure. “We discussed the issue with the UNHCR, but no extension will be given to refugees (living) in Jalozai (camp) as voluntary repatriation is under way from the camp,” he said.

A source said that last week, the UN formally submitted an appeal to President Gen Pervez Musharraf, seeking extension in the refugees’ stay, adding that the Afghan government was also likely to request Islamabad to delay the repatriation process.Mr Chatta said the refugees had made up their mind to vacate the site and 289 families left the place on Monday. So far, about
10,000 people had gone to Afghanistan.

The government had earlier fixed Aug 31 as deadline for closing the camp, but Mr Chatta said the date could only be extended for a few weeks, not for months. He said that the evacuation process was gaining momentum and the government did not want to create any hindrances.

Official said that Islamabad had been following an agreement of the tripartite commission — comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UNHCR — in letter and spirit, adding that no refugee would be forcibly evacuated.

Under the agreement, the Kacha Garhi camp near Peshawar has already been closed down while in addition to the one in Jalozai, two camps would be closed down this year in the country.
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