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February 10, 2007 


Pentagon to extend troops in Afghanistan
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer Fri Feb 9, 9:55 PM ET
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - The  Pentagon plans to extend its buildup of several thousand combat troops in  Afghanistan, initially announced as lasting until late spring, well into next year, a senior U.S. military official said Friday.

The move comes as U.S. and allied commanders anticipate a renewed offensive this spring by the Taliban, and as they seek additional reinforcements from  NATO countries. The effort to bolster forces there so far has brought only limited success, with a few nations promising handfuls of additional troops and equipment.

The extension of the U.S. buildup means American troop levels in Afghanistan, which increased this month to about 26,000 — the highest of the war — will remain roughly the same until at least spring 2008. Until now, a level of 22,000 to 23,000 had prevailed through much of last year.

The decision, expected to be announced in Washington as early as next week, entails sending an Army combat brigade to replace the 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division when it leaves this spring.

Without replacing that brigade, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would have receded to the lower level. That is because the U.S. has had extra troops in the country since earlier this month, when a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced, declined to identify the replacement brigade. There are about 3,500 soldiers in a brigade.

The move comes as the United States is also adding 21,500 troops to its forces in  Iraq, which totaled around 130,000 before that buildup started.

While  President Bush's troop increase in Iraq has aroused widespread public and congressional opposition, there has been little dissent over efforts to intensify U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Both conflicts, however, are continuing to put severe strains on a military that is constantly scrambling to find fresh troops and equipment to send to the war zones.

The increase in the U.S. force in Afghanistan comes as NATO's new top commander, Gen. John Craddock, is seeking 1,500 to 2,000 extra combat troops for the campaign, plus about 800 more from the British.

Decisions about adjusting U.S. troop levels next year will depend in part on whether the United States' NATO partners send all the combat and support forces they have promised.

About 15,000 of the American troops in Afghanistan are serving in the NATO-led force, which now totals about 36,000. The other 12,000 are special operations forces or are training Afghan troops.

The 3rd Brigade originally was to go home this month, as it turned over command to the brigade of the 82nd Airborne, but the Pentagon announced in January that it instead will be kept in place four extra months.

Until now, it was not clear whether the Pentagon would replace the 3rd Brigade when it went home.

The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision to extend the buildup has not been announced, said the unit that replaces the 3rd Brigade in late spring will remain for a year.

Thus the number of brigades in Afghanistan, which increased from one to two this month with the 82nd Airborne's arrival, will remain at that level until the spring of 2008 and possibly beyond, he said.
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Former Taliban Official Urges Talks
(RFE/RL) Radio Free Europe
February 10, 2007 -- The former foreign minister for the Taliban says the group remains a united force and Afghan President Hamid Karzai must engage in talks to prevent more bloodshed.

Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil told Reuters that an "inter-Afghan dialogue" is needed and that the discussion will "bear fruit."
 
Muttawakil surrendered to U.S.-led forces after the Taliban was toppled and was released from custody in 2003.

Fresh Fighting

Taliban militants killed four Afghan police officers and seriously wounded three others in an ambush late in the evening of February 9 in southern Afghanistan.

Provincial police chief Afmatullah Alizai said the attack on a truck full of Afghan police took place in Kandahar Province's Panjwayi district.

The area is the site of the largest-ever NATO ground battle: more than 500 militants were killed there in September by NATO forces in an operation to clear the region of militants.
(Reuters, AP)
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Blast destroys shopping centre in Afghanistan, 23 hurt
Sat Feb 10, 2:21 AM ET
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (AFP) - A blast destroyed a three-storey shopping centre in  Afghanistan's northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, wounding at least 23 people, a doctor and witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion in the city centre. Police and German troops from the  NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was likely caused by gas but witnesses said it was a bomb.

The northern city has not seen the level of Taliban-linked violence, including suicide blasts, that plagues southern Afghanistan.

A fire engulfed the building after the blast, which came from a single shop, and German military fire engines helped to douse the flames. Nearby buildings and bicycles were also badly damaged, an AFP reporter at the scene said Friday.

Twenty-three people were hurt, including with burns, because they had jumped out of the building, a doctor at a nearby hospital told AFP.

Five of them were in a serious condition, Mohammad Nahem said.

"There are some soldiers from the German unit on the spot... they were called by the government and mayor," German military spokesman Major Jurgen Fischer told AFP.

"We have not had information if this was a bomb or an attack... it seems to be a gas explosion," he said. The force did not know of casualties.

The last attempted attack in the city was in September when security forces discovered a bomb in a car after a dog picked up the scent of explosives, he said.

There are 3,000 German troops in Afghanistan, most of them in the north, as part of the 37-nation ISAF which is helping the government tackle an insurgency launched after the Taliban regime was collapsed in 2001.
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Eleven Taliban, four police killed in new Afghan violence
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Four policemen and 11 Taliban were killed in fresh violence in southern  Afghanistan, as a suicide car bomb narrowly missed a  NATO military convoy, police said.

The Taliban fighters were killed Friday in an Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation in Kajaki district of the southern province of Helmand, provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhail said.

British forces with ISAF have been trying to clear the area of militants to allow the resumption of work to rehabilitate a hydropower project that could supply power to 1.8 million people.

The violence follows the death of 10 Taliban on Thursday in the same area, who were killed in clashes with Afghan and British troops, police said.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, confirmed the fighting in Kajaki but denied any losses on his side claiming instead that several Afghan and NATO soldiers were killed.

The security forces said they did not suffer any casualties.

Overnight Saturday Taliban militants ambushed a police patrol in Panjwayi district of neighbouring Kandahar province, killing four police and wounding three more, provincial police chief Assmatullah Alizay told AFP.

The police were on patrol late Friday when Taliban fighters opened fire, kicking off a gunbattle. There was no information on any Taliban casualties, he said.

Ahmadi claimed in a telephone call from an undisclosed location that around 10 police were killed and wounded.

Also in Kandahar, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb as he tried to approach a NATO convoy near the southern city of Kandahar but he missed by metres and killed only himself.

The attacker was blown to pieces and body parts were flung across the area as was the shattered vehicle used to carry the bomber, Alizay said.

The blast was on a major highway that has seen many of the regular attacks in the city, including a February 4 suicide bombing targeted at a Canadian convoy that also caused no casualties besides the bomber.

The militants stepped up their bloody insurgency in 2006, with the violence claiming more than 4,000 lives. The religious extremists were toppled from power in a US-led offensive in late 2001.
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4 Afghan police killed in Taliban ambush
Associated Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban militants ambushed a truck full of Afghan police in southern  Afghanistan, killing four officers and injuring three, while a separate gunfight left 11 Taliban fighters dead, officials said Saturday.

The attack occurred Friday evening in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, said provincial police chief Afmatullah Alizai.

Panjwayi was the scene of  NATO's largest ground battle in September, when alliance forces killed more than 500 militants, largely clearing the region of insurgents.

Canadian and U.S. Special Forces are now working in Panjwayi to increase security. More Afghan security checkpoints have been put up, a new road is being built and schools and clinics are reopening.

But small groups of fighters remain.

The attack on the police happened near the village of Talukan. Militants in December beheaded two men in Talukan, saying the two were working with NATO forces.

In nearby Helmand province, a convoy of NATO and Afghan troops came under fire, touching off a four-hour gunbattle that left 11 Taliban dead, according to provincial Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhail.

The Taliban took their dead fighters off the battlefield, but officials obtained the casualty numbers through intelligence contacts, Malakhail said.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a NATO convoy outside Kandahar city, killing himself but hurting no one else, Alizai said.

Attacks spiked in Afghanistan last year, with some 4,000 people killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press count based on numbers from U.S., NATO and Afghan officials.

NATO officials are bracing for more violence this spring, when fighters typically step up attacks after a winter lull.
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Gates to meet Musharraf in Pakistan next week: officials
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates will visit Pakistan early next week for talks with President Pervez Musharraf on the threat from Taliban insurgents in  Afghanistan, official sources said.

It will be Gates' first visit to the key US ally in the "war on terror" since he came to office late last year. He is expected to fly to Afghanistan afterwards.

Gates' visit will be closely followed by separate visits to the region by  NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and two top diplomats from the United States and Britain, the sources said.

"These visits are part of a renewed focus on Afghanistan, how to deal with the threat posed by Taliban," a senior Pakistani official told AFP on Saturday.

Afghanistan suffered its bloodiest year in 2006 with more than 4,000 people killed, mostly rebels, sometimes in pitched battles between Taliban-led insurgents and NATO-led troops in regions bordering Pakistan.

Pakistan has faced mounting accusations it has not stopped Taliban using its territory as a sanctuary and launching pad for attacks inside Afghanistan, where the hardliners were ousted from power in late 2001 by US-led forces.

The foreign forces in Afghanistan are bracing for expected surge in Taliban violence in the coming months and NATO has said it wants to reinforce its 35,000 troop-deployment in the war-torn country.

Musharraf recently said security along the porous Pakistan-Afghanistan border was the joint responsibility of all the forces nearby, and Pakistan could not win the fight against militancy on its own.
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EU to give green light to police mission in Afghanistan
Sat Feb 10, 1:35 AM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU foreign ministers are set to give the green light on Monday for a European mission to  Afghanistan aimed at training the local police force, according to diplomatic sources.

"On Monday we are going to take a decision in principle on this mission," one European source said on Friday.

Some 160 European police officers, aided by 50-70 experts, will help "to establish an Afghan police force which respects human rights and operates on that basis on the central, regional and provincial levels," according to the draft conclusion to be adopted by the EU foreign ministers at their meeting here on Monday.

Until now, Germany has been in charge of training the Afghan police force with just 40 experts dealing with some 3,500 officers while Italy deals with reform of the Afghan judicial system.

The European team will operate in the Afghan capital Kabul and in five other regions, with an estimated cost of 40 million euros in 2007.

They are expected to arrive there by May or June, another diplomatic source said.

The EU has been considering sending such a mission for several months, under pressure from  NATO which has called on the bloc to do more in Afghanistan.

NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer himself has suggested that the 27 EU nations take charge of police training while NATO, concerned at the increase in armed resistance from the Taliban, concentrate their efforts on aiding the Afghan army.

The EU foreign ministers, in their draft agreement, also stress their wish to continue collaborating with the Afghan government "to stabilize and reconstruct this country" in the development field as well as in security issues.
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NATO commander says too few troops in Afghanistan
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) -  NATO's top commander has said there were not enough international troops in  Afghanistan to control the border and maintain the steady military presence needed to underpin reconstruction efforts.

US Army General Bantz Craddock, the supreme allied commander, acknowledged that allies were sceptical of the need for more troops at a recently concluded defence ministers meeting in Seville.

"Right now commanders are finding, without adequate forces available, they have to move from one (place) to the other, and they are continually shifting around," he said.

"We must maintain presence, because with presence the Taliban does not come back," he said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an international security conference on Saturday.

Craddock recently concluded a reassessment of requirements of the 35,000-strong NATO-led International Security Force in Afghanistan.

He said he found that the allies had not provided all the forces they had previously promised and that more troops were needed to control border areas and protect reconstruction efforts.

The general declined to discuss the specifics of the new requirements but NATO officials have said it calls for two additional battalions plus support forces, helicopters and transport planes.

He said allies made some offers at Seville but not enough to fill the new requirements, adding he was confident that there would be increased contributions in the weeks ahead.

"I think there are adequate forces right now to effect security," he said. "There are not the forces to do the other things that need to be done concurrently."

"We have talked repeatedly you must clear, you must hold, you must build. We need full sourcing to be able to clear and hold," he said.

Asked what Pakistan was being asked to do to control its border with Afghanistan, Craddock said, "I think we may see some changes along the border."

"I received indications that they do feel there is inadequate control," he said. "They told me they are taking measures to address this and provide greater control."

"We're watching closely, we're looking, we'll be supportive where we can, but we will be insistent," he said.
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Merkel urges NATO, EU to work together to stabilize Afghanistan
The Associated Press February 10, 2007
MUNICH, Germany: German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged NATO and the European Union to work together in Afghanistan, saying this was "crucial for success" of efforts to defeat Taliban guerrillas and bring stability to the nation.

"In Afghanistan our alliance is being particularly tested," Merkel told participants of a security conference in Munich. "It is indisputable that the Taliban are testing our determination."

Commanders of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force fear the guerrillas may mount a spring offensive from their winter-safe havens in neighboring Pakistan.

NATO and EU officials say that for their mission to succeed, the lives of poverty-stricken Afghans need to be improved so they are not tempted to side with the Taliban. But analysts remain skeptical that Afghanistan's Western backers can make that strategy work on the ground.

"We must do everything to bring this mission to a successful conclusion ... that dovetails our military and civilian activities," Merkel said.

Today in Europe
 Emotions run high for Portugal vote Alcatel-Lucent increases job cuts to 12,500 Russian faults U.S. over plan on missiles"If we can achieve this, we are on the right tract," she said.

The NATO-led force has about 35,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, and commanders have expressed confidence they are able to defeat any Taliban military effort in the coming months. But they have complained that, in the past, battlefield successes were not followed up by reconstruction aid to help rebuild regions devastated by the fighting.

Earlier this month, the EU Commission proposed a new €600 million (US$780 million) package for Afghanistan to focus on health, justice and rural development over the next four years.

"Military stabilizing measures have to be hand in glove with civilian measures," Merkel said. But she acknowledged the mission "is more difficult than we originally thought" when NATO forces were first deployed to Afghanistan three years ago.
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FM: Iran-Afghanistan growing trend of agreements to be discussed
Tehran, Feb 10, IRNA
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a meeting with the outgoing Afghan Ambassador to Tehran, Mohammad-Omar Davodzi here Saturday said that the growing trend of agreements between the two countries will be examined at the joint economic commission meeting next month.

According to a report released by the Foreign Ministry Media Department, Mottaki urged the need for further expansion of bilateral relations and said that given the high potentials of both countries, ways of bolstering economic cooperation will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.

For his part, the Afghan diplomat conveyed the warm greetings of Afghan foreign minister to his Iranian counterpart terming Iran as an important neighbor of his country.

"We consider having relations with Iran as a significant opportunity and given our great interest in cooperation with Iran, we attempt to strengthen and develop our mutual ties and benefit from Iran's experiences," he concluded.
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Emphasis on Afghan forces is vital
2007/2/10 By Terry Friel KABUL, Reuters via China Post, Taiwan
The United States wants to refocus its Afghanistan effort on the local army and police, but there are serious questions about a strategy that has also run into problems of desertions, sectarianism and graft in Iraq.

A much-heralded U.S. handover of weapons, vehicles and other materiel in Kabul last week -- the biggest ever with 12,000 guns and hundreds of vehicles -- was as telling for what was held back as for what was given.

"This move is geared toward NATO's overall strategy of eventually being able to hand over security to some form of native force so that NATO can leave -- but, realistically, this cannot happen for years," U.S. think tank Stratfor.com said.

"Humvees and machine guns will give the ANA (Afghan National Army) enhanced mobility and better firepower, but -- unlike heavier weapons, such as armored fighting vehicles and artillery -- they do not indicate that NATO especially trusts the ANA."

The 40,000-strong Afghan army still relies on the almost 45,000 foreign troops for air support, major transport, artillery and medical evacuations.

Even now, in some joint bases U.S. forces operate separately run and separately guarded camps within camps, keeping Afghan soldiers outside the wire.

A popular conspiracy theory here is that the United States is obstructing the formation of a local air force through fear of a an attack by a rogue pilot.

NATO and U.S. forces have been heavily criticized for civilian deaths, mainly from air raids, because they cannot always tell friend from foe. Some Afghans say foreign troops are misled and misdirected to settle tribal and ethnic rows.

Many analysts say a strong, efficient and graft-free army and police are vital to winning support from rural Afghans.

"Where there is a reputation historically in Afghanistan, it is of course a strong will of resisting external forces," said Sean Kay, a security expert and professor of international relations at Ohio Wesleyan University in the United States.

"We stand a much better hope of tipping the balance of hearts and minds in the south if it is the Afghan army and police that are taking the fight there."

The expansion of the Afghan army is being accelerated to reach its targeted 70,000 next year instead of 2010. But this compares with the 120,000 in the Iraqi army for a smaller country, smaller population and easier fighting terrain.

With the new equipment and an extra US$8.6 billion pledged by the Bush administration for the Afghan security forces, Stratfor says they will play a more active role in 2007.
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German organisation distributes aid
PUL-I-ALAM, Feb 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Germany has donated winter material worth 200,000 euros for the needy people in the central Logar province.

The material, including 120 kilograms of firewood, four blankets, four mattresses and a heater, were distributed to 1,000 families in the provincial capital of Pul-i-Alam and Azra, Charkh, Mohammad Agha, Baraki Barak and Khoshi districts of the province. 

Wolsgang Herbt, head of the German organisation Malteser, told Pajhwok Afghan News the aid was distributed to those families after a survey of the area.

Engineer Sayed Abdul Karim Hashimi, governor of Logar province, said people were faced with numerous problems due to the prevailing cold weather. He said most of the roads connecting villages with districts and cities had been blocked due to the heavy snowfall.

Nasrin, resident of the province, told Pajhwok Afghan News the cold weather had created problems for them. They could not afford fuel to keep their houses warm. She hoped the help would go a long way in solution of their problems.

Sher Mohammad, resident of Mohammad Agha district, said he was happy to receive the assistance.
Zubair Babakarkhail
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Govt asked to review Afghan policy
Daily Times, Pakistan -
ISLAMABAD: On the opening day of Senate session on Friday, the government came under fire over worsening law and order situation in the country and the opposition demanded the government review its Afghan policy to cope with terrorism.

The opposition members said the Zia regime’s policy on Afghanistan had given the country “kalashnikov and drug culture” while the “ambiguous” policies of the present government had resulted in suicide attacks and lawlessness across the country. Opposition leader Mian Raza Rabbani said that the government’s Afghan policy was the main cause of lawlessness in the country, adding that the ‘worst’ law and order situation was the outcome of the government’s failed polices in Afghanistan, Balochistan and tribal areas.

He also condemned the way the Gwadar Port was handed over to a Singaporean company and said that the government wanted to turn Pakistan into a “colony of multinationals”. He said that mega projects in Gwadar were “elite-oriented”. He said that street crimes were increasing and were being committed in an organised manner “under political patronage”. Quoting official figures, he said that the street crime increased 85 percent during 2001 to 2006 in Punjab and in Karachi 423 vehicles were being stolen every month. Dr Khalid Soomro of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) termed current law and order worst in the country’s history and demanded the government provide protection to the life and property of people. Awami National Party’s Ilyas Bilour said that Afghan border had become unsafe due to “flawed government policies”. He said that Pakhtoons were also citizens of Pakistan and they should not be “pushed to the wall”. Salim Saifullah Khan, the minister for inter-provincial coordination, defended government policies and asked NWFP government to focus on law and order situation in the province instead of criticising the federal government. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani asked the opposition not to politicise Balochistan issue and give solid suggestions for the development of the province. irfan ghauri
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A third probe for Afghan abuse claims
Case could lead to wider review of detainee policy
PAUL KORING Globe and Mail, Canada
The independent Military Police Complaints Commission yesterday ordered a "public-interest investigation" into possible detainee abuse by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, the third investigation into the case announced in a week.

"The possible abuse of defenceless persons in CF [Canadian Forces] custody, regardless of their actions prior to apprehension and the possibility that military police members may have knowingly or negligently failed to investigate such abuse . . . are matters of serious concern," chairman Peter Tinsley said.

The investigation could expand beyond the narrow issue of whether one or more detainees captured near Dukah, Afghanistan, in April, 2006, were beaten or abused in Canadian custody before being turned over to Afghan security forces.

The murky issue of whether Canadian military police can lawfully hand detainees to Afghan authorities without ironclad guarantees that they will not be mistreated could conceivably become part of the investigation, Mr. Tinsley said, adding it is too early to know where his probe will lead.

"We are looking at a specific complaint, but the commission is not restrained from [progressing] from the facts of a case to systemic issues," he said in an interview.

Ever since Canada joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism, the disposition of captives by Canadian soldiers to other parties -- first to U.S. troops, then to Afghan forces since December, 2005 -- has caused widespread concern among human-rights groups.

"I hope this might be a springboard for a wider review of Canadian detention policy," said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada.

"We have very serious human-rights concerns" about what happens to detainees handed off by Canada, he said.

Mr. Tinsley said he had "been assured of full co-operation" by Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's staff.

The commission may hold public hearings if "our investigation uncovers evidence" that warrants one, Mr. Tinsley said. It could also, for the first time, lift the veil of secrecy obscuring Canada's detainee practices.

Successive Canadian Liberal and Conservative governments have refused to say how many detainees have been handed over in the past five years. Incomplete logs suggest scores of captives have disappeared into Afghan prisons.

Former Liberal leader Bill Graham, who was defence minister when the 2005 pact on detainee handovers was signed between General Rick Hillier and Afghan authorities, said he welcomed the MPCC decision to probe abuse allegations.

"I am totally in favour of something as open as possible, and I welcome it because it's clear they are taking it seriously," he said yesterday.

NDP defence critic Dawn Black also said she welcomed Mr. Tinsley's decision. "Hopefully we will find out that there was no abuse," she said. "That will be good for the Canadian Forces."

Mr. Tinsley rejected a call from Captain Steve Moore, the Provost Marshal, or chief of military police, to delay any outside investigation until the criminal probe launched a few days ago was completed.

The military was quick to order both a criminal investigation and a broader board of inquiry within hours of learning that the MPCC was considering a complaint about an odd pattern of facial injuries suffered by detainees. But last month, it dismissed questions from The Globe and Mail about those injuries being listed in the same document as "appropriate force," even while acknowledging that one of the detainees' hands was bound behind his back.

In addition to the MPCC public-interest investigation and the criminal investigation by a special unit of the military police, Gen. Hillier has also ordered a board of inquiry to examine the "policy and procedural safeguards" surrounding detainee handling.
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Tribal elders warn of blocking Pak-Afghan highway
Demand cancellation of CNICs issued to Afghans
By our correspondent The News International (Pakistan)
GHALANAI: Tribal elders of the Khwezi border town have warned of blocking the Pak-Afghan highway in protest if action was not taken against Maliks (chieftains) who allegedly helped Afghan refugees in getting computerised national identity cards (CNICs).

Talking to reporters here on Friday, dozens of elders, including Malik Matwal Khan, Sarwar Khan, Zarawar Khan, Khaista Khan, Haji Nawab, Haji Bahadur, Haji Sakhi, Sardar Khan and Abdur Rahim Mulla, alleged that Maliks in Mohmand Agency

had helped 5,523 Afghan nationals in getting Pakistani identity cards and becoming Pakistani citizens.

According to these elders, Juma Gul, who is an Afghan billionaire currently based in Peshawar and belongs to the Kuchi tribe, bribed Maliks in Mohmand Agency who declared him a Malik in the Khwezi tribe.

They said Juma Gul has no relation with the Khwezi tribe but spent a huge money and acquired thousands of Pakistani identity cards for his Afghan people.

The elders complained that at a time when the registration of Afghan refugees was going on in Pakistan, Afghan nationals in Mohmand Agency had already got Pakistani computerised national identity cards. Also, they said, people of the tribe in the agency did not get registered with the government, claiming to be Pakistani citizens.

They warned of launching

a protest by blocking the

Pak-Afghan highway if the

government did not cancel

fake identity cards and the nationality of Afghan refugees in the agency.

They also demanded strict action against the Maliks accused of helping Afghan nationals in getting Pakistani identity cards.
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From Iran to Afghanistan, via San Diego
Woman dedicates herself to opening a school in war-torn Jalalabad
By Jim Maceda Correspondent NBC News ET Feb. 9, 2007
JALALABAD, Afghanistan - Two years ago, there were just a couple of tents here in the Jalalabad desert. Now the La Jolla Rotary Club School is a red brick building with 2,000 students, thanks to Fary Moini, a tiny Iranian-American with a big heart whom the kids call "Mama Fairy."

"She's like our mother because she cares so much for us," says one student.

Moini became a U.S. citizen 20 years ago, settling in San Diego.

But it was the war in Afghanistan that changed her life. As a Rotary Club volunteer, she saw illiteracy and neglect, first-hand, inside Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.

"The whole idea came to my mind that I have to help these people," says Moini.

That idea: Giving Afghan boys and girls, who were banned from school by the Taliban, a new life — through learning.

Back in San Diego, fellow Rotarians reacted like architect Rick Clark.

"When she said, 'Is there any way we can build a school in Afghanistan?' we just sort of rolled our eyes," says Clark.

But, inspired — some say bruised — by Moini's sheer will, Clark drew up the plans and others helped raise $250,000.

On opening day in 2004, Moini was overcome with emotion.

"The lines and lines of boys and girls," recalls Moini. "It's a view I'll cherish the rest of my life."

Opening this mixed school was hard enough, but keeping it open — and safe — is even more daunting. After all, this is a war zone, and the area was once a Taliban stronghold.

U.S. forces needn't warn Moini about insurgents. She's already had two close calls on visits here, but remains defiant.

"If we will stop, we give them the power," says Moini. "And I will not allow that."

Instead, "Mama Fairy" is making a difference in a hostile land, tending to a new generation of Afghans she calls her own.
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Ex-police chief house attacked in Kabul
KABUL, Feb 8 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A group of armed men stormed the house of a former police chief in Kabul, but the attacker fled after resistence from security guards and there were no casualties in exchange of fire.

A well-placed source in the Kabul police told Pajhwok Afghan News a group of armed men, disguised as police personnel, attacked the house of Baba Jan in the northwest of the city. The gunmen attempted to sneak into the building but their attempt was thwarted by the security guards and there was exchange of fire between the two sides. No one was killed or injured in the incident that happened around 7:30pm last evening, said the source. When asked about motive behind the assault, the official said there might be some old enmity. Chief of the crime branch of the Kabul police Alishah Paktiawal, however, said the house belonged to Baba Jan's brother. He added the armed men escaped as local police arrived on the site. Paktiwal said search was on to arrest the culprits.

Baba Jan stayed was chief of the Kabul police during 2003-4 and was one of the powerful commanders of the then Northern Alliance before the collapse of the Taliban regime in Kabul.
Habib Rahman Ibrahimi
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