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February 13, 2007 


Afghan forces kill 22 Taliban fighters
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -  NATO and Afghan forces killed 22 Taliban fighters in separate clashes in a southern Afghan province where hundreds of militants have gathered, a police official said Tuesday.

More than 300 British marines cleared "a stronghold of Taliban extremists" around a hydroelectric dam in the Kajaki district of Helmand province — a region that has been the target of Taliban attacks, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhail said 15 Taliban fighters were killed in three days of fighting. Lt. Col. Angela Billings, an ISAF spokesman, said there was an exchange of fire for much of the day Monday but that she couldn't confirm the Taliban death toll.

Taliban fighters shot at the British troops with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades, ISAF said. Attack helicopters provided air support.

ISAF troops in the region have been clearing compounds for the past six weeks, ISAF said. Civilians have fled the area, forced from their homes by Taliban fighters, it said.

Elsewhere, fighting in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province killed seven Taliban militants, including a commander named Mullah Tohr Jan, Malakhail said. He said that NATO and Afghan forces suffered no casualties.
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Gates seeking more effort in Afghanistan
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer Tue Feb 13, 1:37 AM ET
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked  NATO allies and colleagues for more effort in  Afghanistan, but it is too early to tell whether his lobbying will pay off.

In marathon meetings over five days with allied defense ministers and other security leaders and a quick sidetrip to Pakistan, Gates used tough talk wrapped in a congenial package to press his agenda.

His trip ended Monday.

Speaking during the journey to an audience that included many skeptics of the war in  Iraq, Gates was blunt: "If the United States and our partners in Iraq fail, and there is chaos in Iraq, every member of this alliance will feel the consequences."

During more than 15 private meetings with his NATO colleagues, he pressed for more economic and reconstruction support in Afghanistan. Failure to step up and take the offensive against the Taliban as spring comes, he warned them, would be shameful.

Gates also used humor and humility throughout the five-day, three-country diplomatic swing that was clearly aimed at mending fences.

He grabbed headlines when he dismissed a scorching speech by Russian President  Vladimir Putin assaulting U.S. foreign policy. Characterizing it as a throwback to the Cold War, he said the countries must move on and work as partners, adding, "One Cold War was quite enough."

Gates also acknowledged the U.S. has made mistakes in its handling of Iraq and Guantanamo Bay detainees that led to abuse scandals. He said the U.S. must do a better job explaining itself to its global partners.

Saying that in the past the U.S. was looked upon as a force for good in the world, he added: "I believe a lot of people still believe that. And I think that what we have to focus on as we look to the future is strengthening that reputation that we have had for a century."

Gates got hearty applause when he took a subtle poke at his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, for referring to France and Germany as "Old Europe" because of their criticism during the run-up to the Iraq war. Such characterizations belong in the past, he said.

Still, Gates did not come away from the meetings with NATO officials with much tangible gain. Several countries offered to provide additional support for Afghanistan, but it remains to be seen whether coalition commanders will get the troops, equipment and resources they say they need.

In his final stop, a meeting with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Gates was careful to praise Pakistan for trying to shut down terrorist traffic across its border into Afghanistan. Recent sharp criticism of Pakistan's porous border has triggered angry denials from Musharraf.

To make the meeting, Gates tacked 30 hours of travel onto his trip — a lengthy detour that underscored how critical the U.S. says this time is in the Afghan conflict. The U.S. has nearly 12,000 troops there fighting the Taliban as part of a NATO force of 34,000 troops.

"I think there's a mutual interest in improving our effectiveness and improving our coordination, and the understanding that we have a real opportunity this spring," Gates said after his hourlong meeting with Musharraf.

In their meeting, Musharraf told Gates "the problems of extremism and terrorism were indigenous to Afghanistan" and had spilled over into Pakistan, according to a Pakistan government statement. The statement quoted him as saying it was imperative to close camps for Afghan refugees in Pakistan that provided a "safe haven" for militants.

Gates said the meeting, held at one of Musharraf's homes, was not aimed at securing assurances of action from the Pakistanis. He said Musharraf has been meeting with his military commanders to see how they can improve their operations along the border.

Gates also said U.S. forces that have been launching artillery rounds over the border into Pakistan to target the Taliban have been coordinating with the Pakistanis. He said he did not know if Musharraf approved the cross-border fire, but he doubted that Musharraf would do so personally.

Pakistan's border regions along Afghanistan long have been suspected to be the hiding places for al-Qaida leader  Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

____

Associated Press writers Stephen Graham and Sadaqat Jan in Pakistan and AP Military Writer Robert Burns, reporting from Afghanistan, contributed to this report
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Pakistan questions U.S. Army claim on hot pursuit from Afghanistan
February 12, 2007
(Kyodo) _ Pakistan described Monday a statement by the commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan as "not correct" in suggesting American forces did not require Pakistan's approval to fire at insurgent positions in Pakistan if attacks were launched on U.S. posts.

"This not correct. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has also clarified the matter. Crossing into another country is too serious an issue to be decided by a junior commander in Afghanistan," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam told a weekly briefing.

Col. John W Nicholson, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, said in an interview with the Associated Press that "his forces are not required to get approval from Pakistan before responding to an attack" launched from Pakistani territory.

Pakistan's Defense spokesman had earlier rejected the statement and said Pakistan would not allow coalition forces to violate the international border, which was the understanding between Pakistan and the coalition forces.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added that at a press conference Monday morning after meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, Gates regretted border violation by coalition troops.

"I am surprised why so much importance is being given to a colonel-level official" when senior U.S. officials have regretted and apologized for such incidents and assured that the incidents would not be repeated, Aslam said.

Officials said Gates, who arrived in Islamabad on Monday morning, and Musharraf discussed Pakistani-U.S. relations and other matters, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

They said Gates sought Pakistan's cooperation in an expected military offensive in Afghanistan by Taliban forces in coming months.

Gates told a group of journalists after meeting Musharraf that the United States made a mistake neglecting Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan nearly two decades ago, which pushed that country into extremism.

"We won't make that mistake again, we are here for the long haul," he said.

Gates described Pakistan as a "very strong ally" in the war against terrorism that was "incurring significant cost in lives and in treasury in fighting this battle on the border."

"Our operations are coordinated with Pakistan," Gates said.
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Canada Should Mull Leaving Afghanistan, Senate Says
By Greg Quinn
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Canada should withdraw its 2,500 troops from Afghanistan at the end of its mission unless other countries send more soldiers and aid delivery improves, according to a Senate report.

``Canada should be prepared to consider withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan as soon as our current commitment ends'' if more soldiers aren't sent and the distribution of aid doesn't improve, the report by the Senate's National Security and Defence Committee said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party government won a vote in the House of Commons last May to extend the Afghan mission by two years until February 2009. Harper hasn't said if he'll seek another extension. Canada has pressed other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is leading the mission to secure Afghanistan, to send more troops.

The prime minister doesn't have to follow the report's findings, and the unelected Senate has limited powers to try to force an end to the mission. The committee, which is led by Senator Colin Kenny of the opposition Liberal Party, visited Afghanistan in December.

A call to the prime minister's office for comment wasn't immediately returned.

Progress on Infrastructure

``The Harper government won't be really pleased with this report, and I think the government is predisposed to extending the mission in 2009 unless major events happen in the interim,'' Alex Morrison, president of the Toronto-based Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, said in an interview.

Canada built new roads and wells, which the senators may have missed on their visit because the projects were in areas deemed too dangerous for visitors, Morrison said. The lack of enough troops from NATO allies ``isn't enough of a reason'' for Canada to pull out, he said.

NATO is battling the Taliban in southern and eastern Afghanistan, while trying to rebuild the country's infrastructure. NATO's force has 35,460 troops from 37 countries, with the most from the U.S. British, Canadian, Dutch and U.S. troops are fighting Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan.
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NATO commander says Afghan troop shortfall is putting lives at risk
The Associated Press  February 13, 2007 via International Herald Tribune, France
CASTEAU, Belgium — NATO's top commander renewed an appeal Tuesday for allies to fill gaps in the international military force in Afghanistan, warning that the failure to send reinforcements was weakening the mission and jeopardizing the lives of soldiers fighting the Taliban insurgents.

"We do not have adequate forces," Gen. John Craddock told reporters. "It makes accomplishing the mission that more difficult," he added. "It places every NATO soldier there at greater risk."

Hours earlier, a Senate committee in Canada said the government should a consider withdrawing from Afghanistan unless NATO allies deliver additional troops.

Canada's 2,500 troops play a key role in the front-line southern provinces and have suffered relatively high casualties. Craddock said any decision to pull them out would create a "terrible situation."

Taliban guerrillas have proven to be a much tougher foe than the alliance expected in 2003 when they deployed their first contingent of peacekeepers to Kabul. Last year, fighting surged to unprecedented levels and commanders have warned that even fiercer combat could be expected if the insurgents launch a spring offensive against the Kabul government.

Today in Europe
 Poland to privatize stock exchange EU agrees to widen economic sanctions against Iran Portuguese leader to act on abortionPoliticians in Canada, Britain, the United States and other nations with troops in the south have been irked by the reluctance of some European allies to commit extra forces to the 35,500-strong NATO force, and in particular to allow their troops to be deployed to the Taliban's heartland in the south and east.

Speaking at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium, Craddock said he was optimistic allies would come forward with additional contributions in the coming days and weeks.

However, a meeting of NATO defense ministers last week in Seville, Spain, produced only small offers.

Lithuania, which already has 130 troops in Afghanistan, offered to send an unspecified number of special forces; Germany plans to provide six Tornado reconnaissance jets; Italy a transport plane and some unmanned surveillance aircraft; Spain also said it would send four unmanned planes and more instructors to help the Afghan army.

Craddock said such offers should not be overlooked, insisting that securing the right sort of specialized troops and equipment was more important than simply pouring in more manpower.

"Sometime 15 is as important as 1,000," he said.

He said the decision last month by the United States to extend the tour of more than 3,000 of its soldiers has given the force a much-needed mobile reserve. However, he said the force was still about 7 percent short of full strength, needing more ground maneuver units, transport planes and helicopters and crucial "enablers" such as airport managers, intelligence and surveillance planes.

He declined to give exact numbers, saying that could give important information to the Taliban, but officials at the meeting in Seville said NATO was looking for up to 2,500 additional ground troops to take the fight to the insurgents in the spring and keep a closer watch on the border with Pakistan.

Craddock said additional troops were needed essentially to ensure NATO is able to maintain a permanent presence in Taliban strongholds that are brought under international control so allied units could launch "quick impact" reconstruction projects aimed at winning over local support.

"There has to be a coherent, simultaneous effort to secure and stabilize," he said in reply to French and German doubts raised in Seville about the need for more troops. "You can't get long term development and reconstruction without security."

Craddock said the high level of casualties sustained by the Taliban in clashes with NATO last year, made it unlikely they would seek a frontal confrontation this spring. Instead, he noted they had returned to hit-and-run tactics with an increase in the use of roadside bombs.

He said such improvised explosive devices used by the insurgents were becoming more sophisticated, but were not yet as powerful as armor-piercing bombs used in Iraq which the U.S. military this week claimed to have traced to Iran.
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NATO-member Norway agrees to send special forces to Afghanistan
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway will send about 150 special forces troops to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan in response to an appeal for reinforcements from the western alliance, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

The commandos will help provide security and fight terror near the Afghan capital of Kabul, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said, stressing that they would not be involved in operations elsewhere in the country, including in the south.

NATO has been appealing for more troops, especially in the southern part of Afghanistan, to help fight Taliban forces.

There are already about 550 Norwegian troops in northern Afghanistan.

"Norway received a specific request from NATO on Feb. 5 for an additional military contribution," including transport planes, fighter aircraft and special forces, Stoere said in Parliament.

"The special forces contingent will be in line with NATO's wishes and will be important to defending and maintaining security in the capital," he said
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Afghanistan: EU Aid Targets Justice System
By Ahto Lobjakas
BRUSSELS, February 12, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Foreign ministers from the European Union have approved a new mission to help train Afghan police. EU foreign ministers agreed to send about 150 police officers, plus other experts, to Afghanistan to help train that country's national police force.

The 27 ministers said in a statement today that the mission is aimed at furthering respect for human rights and the rule of law and driving police reform at the "central, regional, and provincial" levels.

EU officials say it could also pave the way for more ambitious EU efforts in Afghanistan -- including assistance revamping key legal institutions.

Before today's meeting, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner described Afghanistan's current legal architecture as inadequate in most respects.

Ferrero-Waldner said ahead of today's meeting that the police mission is a harbinger of bigger things to come. She said the EU will provide 600 million euros ($777 million) over the next four years to help fund Afghanistan's public administration, with a particular focus on the legal system.

"We intend to put a very special focus now on strengthening public administration, and also in particular the reform of the key legal institutions," Ferrero-Waldner said.

Focus On Justice

Ferrero-Waldner said about 40 percent of the funds will be earmarked for reforms in the justice sector.

The EU has contributed roughly 135 million euros to police reform in Afghanistan since 2002. Most of that money has helped pay salaries and train Afghan National Police officers.

EU aid to the police will continue. But Ferrero-Waldner suggested that police reforms are well entrenched, so Brussels wants to more actively support the judiciary and prosecutorial processes.

Ferrero-Waldner said Afghanistan's justice sector is in urgent need of reform.

"All three justice institutions -- that is, the supreme court on the one hand, it's the attorney general's office on the other hand, [and] the Ministry of Justice -- they are absolutely in urgent need of reform," Ferrero-Waldner said. "And I must say -- let me be blunt -- the system is operating with staff who are insufficiently trained or educated -- recruited through a system that is not at all transparent -- and who do not operate under very credible mechanisms for [ensuring] accountability and discipline."

'Key Challenge' Lies Outside Kabul

Ferrero-Waldner said that, in the future, the EU will place experts in key Afghan legal institutions to help draft a blueprint for what she said will be "major reforms." She said the EU wants to improve the quality of the justice system, provide a better recruitment and career structure for judges and public prosecutors, and develop a "code of ethics."

There will be an accompanying effort to ensure that judges and public prosecutors are better paid and to streamline their career structure.

Ferrero-Waldner said the EU believes the "key challenge" in resolving Afghanistan's problems is extending the central government's authority outside Kabul -- that and stamping out the illegal-drugs trade.

But she said EU assistance will be limited to working directly with Kabul and the central government will remain responsible for "spreading out" the rule of law into the provinces.

Ferrero-Waldner said this strategy is already bearing fruit in northern and northeastern Afghanistan. She cited "good success" in eradicating poppy fields in the northeastern province of Nangahar.

Officials in Brussels conceded privately that the security situation southern Afghanistan remains too dangerous to station EU officials there.
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AFGHAN SOLDIERS TO UNDERGO TRAINING IN BULGARIA
11:31 Tue 13 Feb 2007 Sofia Echo, Bulgaria
Bulgaria will send more troops to Afghanistan to meet NATO calls for further involvement in the peacekeeping mission there.

Nearly 120 soldiers will travel to Afghanistan, Defence Minister Vesselin Blizankov told Focus news agency.

Bulgaria will also train Afghan soldiers in Vassil Levski National Military University in Veliko Turnovo. Afghan soldiers will form two or three groups of 10 people. Bulgaria will cover training expenses.

The country analysed its possibilities and would continue co-operating actively with NATO, Bliznakov said.

Bliznakov said that the situation in Afghanistan was complicated, infrastructure was demolished and the local economy was in bad condition. NATO mission in the country was important for Afghanistan's future and for the future of NATO as well.

All NATO members, including Bulgaria, had to participate more actively in the mission in Afghanistan, Bliznakov said as.
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Mahipar Pass opens for traffic
KABUL, Feb 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): After hectic efforts for more than 36 hours, the engineers and workers of the Ministry of Public Works succeeded to open the Mahipar Pass closed due to rolling down of heavy boulders from the mountains.

The countrywide three-day of rains and snowfall caused landsliding at Mahipar and other passes disrupting traffic and disconnecting links between the central capital Kabul and some provinces.

The road closures also resulted in problems for people in remote and hilly areas in provinces like Kunar, Nuristan and Bamyan.

Deputy Minister for Public Works Wali Mohammad Rasuli told Pajhwok Afghan News on Tuesday the road had been opened for light as well as heavy passenger vehicles.

He said trailers and heavy goods vehicles were not allowed at the moment because some rocks were still lying on the road and work was on to break and remove it. However, he said, the road had been opened for vehicles carrying passengers.

He said technical staff of the ministry would continue their work with the help of drilling machines and other heavy equipment and the road would be opened for all kinds of traffic soon.

The tricky and zigzag Mahipar route is connecting the central capital Kabul with the eastern provinces of Laghman, Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan.

The Mahipar road was reconstructed by a Chinese road construction company and was opened for general traffic a few months back. During its more than 18-moth closure, traffic was diverted on the uneven and bumpy Lataband route.
Zubair Babakarkhail
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Pakistan to carry out selective fencing at every cost: FO spokesperson
Tuesday February 13, 2007 (0350 PST) PakTribune.com
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said no decision has been taken for mining Pak-Afghan borders adding fencing will however be carried out at selective points on the border at every cost.
This was said by foreign office spokesperson MS Tasneem Aslam in her weekly press briefing here Monday.

Tasneem Aslam told the decision to fence Pak-Afghan border was taken in a high level meeting. Selective fencing will be carried out on Pak-Afghan border in NWFP in first phase and on Pak-Afghan border in Balochistan in the second phase. However no decision has been taken so far in regard to mining, she added.

Spokesperson told the US defence secretary had clarified about his visit during his press conference that his meeting with president general Pervez Musharraf remained productive. This is part of bilateral talks which take place at different level.

To a question she said no country including US can take action inside Pakistan borders. If some junior commander gives such statement, it is of no importance. US defence secretary however had regretted over attack inside Pakistan borders, she added.

She cautioned the whole regions would be affected if US attacked Iran. The date for US state secretary visit has not been worked out so far. " We are in contact with US administration on the bill being debated in US congress.

If India hands over Jinah house to us, it can lend tremendous help in setting up consulate, she told.

Responding to a question she said World Bank expert had handed over his decision to Pakistan and Indian on Baglihar dam. It is binding on both Pakistan and India to accept neutral expert's decision on Baglihar dam.

Tasneem Aslam told at the moment she did not know anything about Nato secretary general visit to Pakistan.

Proposal presented by AJK prime minister to supply gas and electricity to Occupied Kashmir from Azad Kashmir is part of process to boost interaction and trade with India.

She hinted that senior military officers of both India and Pakistan would soon meet on Siachen issue.

Answering to a question she said it was India's decision to purchase modern arms. We will not join any arms race.

To another question she said if relations between Pakistan and India are improved, the bilateral trade between both the countries can get boost. However Pakistan holds this stance complete free trade will take place only when the basic problems are addressed.
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Akram seeks funds for Afghan DPs’ repatriation
By our correspondent The News International (Pakistan)
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister NWFP Akram Khan Durrani has said that the provincial government is fully supportive of the federal government’s decision to repatriate Afghan refugees to their homeland.

He said this while presiding over a high-level meeting here on Monday regarding the government policy on the repatriation of Afghan refugees. The chief minister said that for amicable repatriation of the Afghan refugees, the NWFP government must be provided with financial support, as it has no extra resources to allocate for this purpose.

He said that Afghans were hardworking and honest people who wanted to go home with their own consent. However, he added that before their repatriation, they should be provided financial help so that they could even build two-room houses for themselves in war-torn country.

About the law and order situation in the province, Durrani said that besides financial assistance, the NWFP also needed recruitment of fresh security forces and redeployment of FC at the borders of settled and tribal areas in order to improve security situation in the province. Stressing the need for evolving a comprehensive and effective strategy for the peaceful repatriation of Afghan refugees, he said both federal and provincial governments should work to ensure safe and sound repatriation of the refugees.
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In Afghanistan, clothes and beards do maketh the man
By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target ChronicleHerald.ca (Canada) / February 12, 2007
WE WERE sitting outside the Kabul NATO air terminal — two Australian military contractors, an American ex- soldier and me — watching a few truckloads of troops unloading their gear. The vehicles were marked with the crest of the Afghan National Army, but the soldiers exiting over the tailgate were clad in old- pattern U. S. combat clothing.

They carried brand new Kalashnikov assault rifles, battered old rucksacks and bedrolls of American origin and they sported a wide variety of headgear. In addition to the distinctive Cold War- era Romanian helmets and old U. S. “ brain buckets," officers were distinguished by their elaborate Russian- style forage caps.

Despite my colleagues possessing a wealth of military knowledge and experience in Afghanistan, we could not determine the nationality of this particular unit. Even after one of the officers proudly proclaimed his troops to be the First Battalion of the Afghan National Army, it was still difficult to associate these soldiers with the other members of the ANA one sees at various checkpoints throughout Kabul.

“ I know what it is," one of the Aussies said. “ANA’s shaved off all their bloody beards."

True enough, in preparation for shipping the First Battalion to Germany to participate in a NATO training exercise, the U. S. had ordered all facial hair removed from the Afghan soldiers. Presumably, this was to make the troops appear more westernized for their first foray outside Afghanistan.

For four years, the U. S.- led coalition and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force have been hurriedly trying to establish the Afghan National Army as a self- sufficient military.

To that end, they have pushed nearly 60 battalion- sized formations through the Kabul Military Training Centre ( KMTC) — equipped as described above with a hodgepodge of donated surplus weapons, uniforms and personal gear. The standard of training can best be described as NATO- lite in that recruits receive just 17 weeks of instruction before being deployed on active operations.

By contrast, a Canadian combat soldier undergoes 12 weeks of basic training, a further 16 weeks of battle school and at least a six- month predeployment preparatory work- up period with his or her unit before an actual operational tour.

Front- line gear, like personal body armour, is in such short supply for the Afghan recruits that it is issued only after they are assigned to their combat units. Essentially, the Kabul Military Training Centre is turning out soldiers qualified as light infantry capable of conducting smallunit operations. The current pace of graduating 615 soldiers every four weeks has been deemed inadequate to build the ANA to its approved strength of 70,000. At present, the high attrition rate ( nearly 90 per cent because of low morale) has prevented the total from going beyond about 33,000.

Under the latest initiative and cash infusion from the Bush administration, the KMTC will soon be pumping out 1,200- plus graduates every month. Furthermore, in an effort to stimulate recruitment and slow down attrition, the basic pay for an ANA soldier has been boosted from $ 80 a month to $ 115 — a tidy sum, as the average family income in Afghanistan is just $ 25 a month.

The KMTC has a no- fail policy with no minimum standards. That ensures that only cadets who pose a danger to themselves or to coalition forces will be weeded out during training.

Despite their relatively sizable paycheques, the ANA troops I saw seemed singularly dispirited.

Throughout history, the fighting prowess of Afghan warriors has proven legendary. Yet when we try to establish a new national army, our instinct is to create it in our own image. The result is to remove all sense of national and personal pride from the troops.

In a country where the men pride themselves on their turbans and beards, we issue them berets and razors. The loose- fitting clothing common to central Asia allows the wearer a measure of privacy to perform personal ablutions in a world where such facilities are scarce. Instead of designing a suitable uniform to reflect local customs, NATO issued recruits a potpourri of surplus American clothing from the Cold War.

The Soviets made a similar mistake during their failed nine- year occupation of Afghanistan, churning out a clean- shaven horde of poorly trained conscripts in ill- fitting Russian- style uniforms. They, of course, proved no match for the fiercely proud mujahedeen fighters.

Instead of trying to westernize these recruits, why don’t we celebrate their Afghan nationalism and encourage their historical fighting spirit?

Scott Taylor is editor- in- chief of the military affairs magazine Esprit de Corps.
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Tensions mount over Tehran's Afghan ambitions
Though officially Kabul's ally, Iranian loyalties are less than clear, GRAEME SMITH reports
GRAEME SMITH Globe and Mail, Canada
TAFTAN, PAKISTAN -- You can smell the tension along the Iranian border. A thick stench of rotting fruit and vegetables hangs over market stalls in the border town of Taftan, near the three-way juncture of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

The wild country here on the edge of the Afghan desert has grown notorious as a shipment point for drugs and weapons, a source of worry for all three governments. For years, those concerns rarely interrupted the work of ordinary traders, but last week the Pakistani authorities caught seven Iranians trying to sneak across the border at night, and a squabble ensued over which country had the right to interrogate them.

Iran closed its border in protest, and for several days the town was awash with food destined for Iranian shelves, long rows of packing crates crawling with flies.

Mullah Zafran, president of the Taftan fruit market, said these interruptions of trade are becoming more frequent. "There is no discipline on the border," he said, bitterly.

 The scene in Taftan is one of several signs of growing anxiety along Iran's eastern border. The country's western flank has received vastly more attention in recent days, as the United States accuses Iran of helping insurgents in Iraq. But some observers have also started to question Iran's strategy in the Taliban heartlands of southern Afghanistan and the tribal regions of Pakistan.

Officially, Tehran remains closely allied with Kabul, having poured more than $200-million (U.S.) into the reconstruction of its war-torn neighbour. Iran's Foreign Minister met with Afghanistan's outgoing ambassador to Tehran on the weekend, praising their warm relations and calling for more economic co-operation.

Behind the smiles, however, lies a heated debate.

Nearly every Afghan politician criticizes Pakistan for stoking the Taliban insurgency, but they're divided about Iran. Some describe their neighbour as exerting only political and commercial influence, broadcasting anti-American radio and TV programs and using predatory business practices to gain control over parts of the Afghan economy.

"They are meddling, for sure," a senior Kabul politician said. "But for now, we can't say they are interfering in the military aspect." In Kandahar, another politician said he believes that Iran supports the Ishaqzai tribal faction within the Taliban. The Afghan politician said he recently met with an Iranian official and challenged him about the rumours, which produced only a shrug from the Iranian.

"He said, 'What should we do? If we knew that the United States would behave like this, we would not have opposed the Taliban at first,' " the politician said.

Support for the Taliban would be a major reversal for the Shia government in Iran, which nearly went to war with the Sunni Taliban regime over the killing of seven Iranian diplomats in 1998. Iran continued to give weapons and other assistance to the Taliban's enemies in northern Afghanistan until the regime was overthrown.

But the arrival of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan brought new concerns for Tehran, especially as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization increases its troop strength in provinces near the Iranian border. NATO's chief of staff in southern Afghanistan, Canadian Colonel Mike Kampman, responded cautiously when asked about Iran's response.

"You put all this in the larger international atmosphere, or environment, and you can imagine the tensions of any sort of Western presence that gets close to that border," Col. Kampman said.

Lieutenant-General Rahmatullah Raoufi, southern regional commander for the Afghan army, said he hasn't seen any firm indications that Iran backs the insurgency. "We don't have any evidence," he said. "We just don't know." A few hints -- rumours, mostly -- suggest the Iranians may have established links with the insurgents.

A 22-year-old Taliban fighter from Maywand district, west of Kandahar, was shot in the chest during a fight with NATO troops in September, and dragged off the battlefield by his comrades.

He returned home several months later, with his wounds healed, and told his neighbours that the Taliban took him for treatment to a hospital in Tehran.

"He kept talking about the Iranian nurses," said a neighbour "He said, 'They were really beautiful, and I wish I could speak Persian.' "

A Taliban source said he knows of opium barons who have dramatically increased their regular cash payments to insurgent leaders in Quetta, Pakistan. The smuggling routes often run across the Iranian border, and the source speculated that somebody inside Iran is putting cash in the drug convoys for delivery to the insurgents.

A Taliban fighter in Kandahar, however, was skeptical about Iranian support. "We get some Kalashnikovs from Iran, but we have to pay for them," he said. "If they want to help us, they should give them free." Free or not, Iranian weapons have been reported in Panjwai district, where Canadian troops recently fought insurgents.

Gul Mohammed, a villager from Sangisar, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city, said Taliban fighters burned his cousin's home and stole two Russian-made Kalashnikovs during the fighting in his village this summer. He approached the fighters on his cousin's behalf, he said, asking them to give the weapons back.

The insurgents were reluctant to give back the Russian rifles, which are prized in Afghanistan for their quality. Instead, the fighters offered Mr. Mohammed two rifles they described as "Iranian Kalashnikovs," shorter weapons with two grey plastic pistol-grips and folding metal stocks. His description sounded closer to the Hungarian AMD-65 than any Iranian rifle, but the insurgents said the weapons and ammunition were both supplied by Iran.

"The guns were new," Mr. Mohammed said. "The black paint was very shiny."

Such claims are difficult to verify; Afghanistan has issued AMD-65s to some police officers, and corruption in the country's law enforcement means police weapons often wind up in the hands of insurgents.

In fact, the Afghan police officer who stood guard outside Iran's consulate in Kandahar last week was carrying the same weapon, a weathered AMD-65.

Inside the building, in an office decorated with hundreds of tiny mirrors and a portrait of Ayatollah Khomaini, the head of Iran's reconstruction efforts in southern Afghanistan shook his head when asked whether Iranian weapons are being used by the Taliban.

"It's impossible," said Sheik Hossein Zeineddin, director of the Iranian Council in Kandahar. "We are working in a very transparent way."

Echoing the arguments made by Pakistani authorities, however, Mr. Zeineddin added that it's difficult for Iran to stop insurgents from crossing the expanses of open terrain that form his country's border with Afghanistan.

"We have a 900-kilometre border with Afghanistan," he said. "Who can control every kilometre?"

But the problems with the border are less of a threat to Afghanistan than to Iran, Mr. Zeineddin added, because the Western allies now operating in the region are trying to make trouble for his country.

He alleged British forces are using drug dealers in Helmand province for espionage against Iran. At the same time, he said the United States and Pakistan are supporting the Baloch tribes in their separatist insurgency in southeastern Iran.

A gracious man, wearing a suit jacket and speaking fluent English, Mr. Zeineddin said his suspicions about the Western powers haven't stopped him from pursuing a humanitarian mission in southern Afghanistan. Some of the initiatives he described, such as subsidizing Ariana Afghan Airlines' regular flights to Tehran, and training 300 literacy teachers as Persian-language instructors, seemed designed to extend Iran's influence in this Pashto-speaking area.

But he also gave a long list of other Iranian projects that appeared to support NATO's goal of rebuilding the country: a trade school, a sports centre, a women's clinic, a library, a soccer pitch, renovations for an orphanage and several others.

The frustration of trying to implement these projects with the Afghan government -- money gone missing, and Afghan officials refusing to take responsibility for their work -- shows why insurgent groups such as the Taliban don't require help from outside the country, he said.

"Now, there's so much corruption, no wonder the people go back to the Taliban," Mr. Zeineddin said.

Inevitable ambitions

Iran will eventually be able to develop sufficient weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb, according to internal European Union documents obtained by the Financial Times. The "reflection paper" prepared for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says the limiting factor to Tehran's ambitions are technical difficulties rather than United Nations resolutions, and concludes that problems with Iran cannot "be resolved through economic sanctions alone."
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Afghan analyst says Afghan-Iran ties fruitful
Brussels, Feb 13, IRNA
A leading Afghan analyst has called on the international community to engage with Iran and warned that any hostile action against the Islamic Republic would lead to serious consequences for the whole region.

"Relations with Iran have been fruitful. Iran hasn't conducted any suspicious activities that would led us to believe otherwise," Hekmat Karzai, director of the Kabul-based NGO Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies told IRNA in an interview in Brussels.

"They have engaged Afghanistan and the people. They have supported our western province of Herat remarkably. The relation has been positive thus far," said Karzai, who was in Brussels to attend a conference on Afghanistan.

Hikmet, a cousin of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said he understood Iran's concern over the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But, he said, "I have heard many Afghan government officials say that they will not allow anybody to use Afghanistan as a base for operation against any of its neighbors."
He said engaging Iran in dialogue will be much more fruitful than taking hostile acts that will lead to serious consequences for the whole region.

"I am for engagement with Iran," he stressed.

Commenting on reports that the Taliban were recruiting and gathering forces for a major spring offensive, Karzai said that "whatever their offensive maybe I don't think there will be a strategic serious challenge."
"We will deal with it particularly with NATO and the coalition forces and the Afghan national army," he said.

Karzai, who has served as first secretary in the Afghan embassy in Washington in the past, admitted that some innocent people have been killed in NATO raids in Afghanistan.

"But the reality is that there is still very much support for the international community in Afghansitan. They don't want to go back to the draconian rule, in particular what was forced upon them before 9/11," Karzai told IRNA.

He said the Afghan people were grateful for what Pakistan had done during the Soviet invasion or even for its refugees.

"The sad thing is that the (Afghan-Pak) relationship has not been as fruitful as it could have been."
He said there were allegations of Taliban sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has done much in the global war against terror and has lost over 700 soldiers, noted Karzai, adding that "personally I believe it can do much more in terms of dealing with extremism."
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A third probe for Afghan abuse claims
Case could lead to wider review of detainee policy
PAUL KORING / The Globe & Mail (Canada) / February 10, 2007
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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Pakistani barbers receive Taliban-style beard threat
Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:51 PM IST
KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Barbers in a Pakistani tribal region have received Taliban-style warnings from religious zealots warning them against cutting or shaving beards, residents said on Monday.

Notices were plastered on barber shops in Khar, the main town in the Bajaur tribal region bordering Afghanistan, and in nearby villages.

"Barbers involved in anti-Islamic activities like shaving beards are warned that they would themselves be responsible for any damage to their shops and houses," read the Pashto-language notice on a barber shop at the village of Inayat Kalay.

Many Islamic scholars say Muslims must, if able, grow a beard to at least the length of a clenched fist, although the moustache can be trimmed or shaved.

Threats have been made to barbers in Waziristan, another region regarded as a hotbed of support for the Taliban, Afghanistan's former rulers who insisted on a very strict, conservative interpretation of the Koran.

"The barbers feel scared. Ninety percent of their business was based on shaving beards. We virtually have no business now," said a barber in Inayat Kalay, who requested his name be withheld.
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First-ever girls' school planned for Zabul
QALAT, Feb 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The provincial government was going to construct the first-ever girls' school in the southern province of Zabul, officials said on Sunday.

Head of the education department Mohammad Nabi Khoshal told Pajhwok Afghan News the girls' school would be built in Qalat, capital of the province. Besides, some more schools would be constructed in other districts where girls and boys would study together.

Zabul is one of the volatile and lawless provinces situated in the southern zone of the country. Most of the schools remained closed due to insecurity and for fear of attacks from Taliban in that province last year.

Khoshal added they were also planning to construct a training institute for teachers and a large religious seminary in the provincial capital of Qalat. He said 45 schools would be established across the province this year to provide education opportunities to some 20,000 students.

Schools costing less than $50,000 would be constructed through the local councils, while larger projects would be completed through private construction companies.

Admitting the lawlessness in the province, Khoshal hoped situation would get better this year. He said of the 181 existing schools in Zabul, only 22 remained open last year.
Saeed Zabuli
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Residents concerned over lawlessness
HERAT CITY, Feb 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Expressing concern over the increasing number of incidents of robberies, dacoities and kidnapping for ransom, residents of the  western Farah and Nimroz provinces said organised gangs of thieves and robbers were involved in the crimes.

They said security officials often blame Taliban for such incidents but the militants had nothing to do with the common man.

Abdul Samad Stanakzai, former governor of Farah province, told Pajhwok Afghan News mostly gangs of robbers and dacoits were involved in robberies and other crimes like kidnappings.

He said such gangs had their own interest in creating law and order situation in the province. They wanted to pave way for poppy cultivation by creating law and order problems.

Regarding claims by the Taliban, he said they (Taliban) were doing so to prove their existence in the area. "In fact, it was the organised gangs of robbers and thieves who attack the people and government forces."

Four months back, people of the province staged demonstration against the government for its failure to maintain security. As a result, the then governor Ezatullah Wasefi was replaced with Stanakzai.

Brigadier General Sayed Aqa Saqib, Farah police chief, said they had arrested more than 100 thieves over the previous 12 months. Some of them were detained red-handed, he added.

Meanwhile, passengers and businessmen say the robbers present themselves as Taliban. A local businessman Haji Muzafar, who imports goods from Iran through Qala-i-Kah, said the highway was not safe from security point of view.

Muzaffar said his truck loaded of foreign goods was looted by armed men on the same highway about a month back.
Ahmad Qureshi/Mustafa Kazimi
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