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March 23, 2007 


Afghanistan says 69 Taliban killed in attacks
KABUL (Reuters) - At least 69 Taliban rebels were killed in fighting with Afghan forces in the south of the country, a defense spokesman said on Friday, a day after troops launched an offensive against the guerrillas.

A provincial police official had said on Thursday that  NATO-led forces killed 38 Taliban guerrillas in attacks in two areas in Girishk district of Helmand province.

But Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said NATO troops were not involved in the fighting and added the guerrilla death toll had risen to 69.

Seven policemen were also killed and 19 Afghan soldiers wounded, he told a news conference, adding that troops had begun a "cleaning up operation" after the attacks.

"Even though our forces did not have enough equipment like tanks and armed vehicles but with the weapons that they had ... they could inflict heavy losses on the enemy in several hours of fighting," Azimi said.

He said many rebel bodies still remained on the battlefield while the Taliban had taken away 10 of their fallen comrades. Seventeen guerrillas had also been arrested, Azimi added.

Fighting has begun intensifying across  Afghanistan after winter and analysts say 2007 is a make-or-break year for the Taliban as well as their opponents.

Last year was the bloodiest since the hardline Islamists were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

NATO and the Afghan armed forces have launched their largest offensive ever in Helmand, targeting the Taliban and drug lords who are reaping record crops for the second year running.

Operation Achilles in northern Helmand involves 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghans.

A statement from the coalition said NATO troops provided flank protection, air support and medical evacuation during Thursday's offensive.

"This particular component of Operation Achilles is being conducted to put pressure on Taliban extremists, foreign terrorists and their narco-trafficking criminal associates that continue to operate within the general population," it said.

Helmand is the main drug-producing region of Afghanistan, the world's leading producer of heroin.

Separately, a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Western troops in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Friday and at least one soldier, a woman and a child were wounded, witnesses and officials said.
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Afghan suicide attack on NATO convoy, child hurt
Fri Mar 23, 5:14 AM ET
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) - A suicide car bomb exploded near a  NATO convoy in eastern  Afghanistan Friday, killing only the attacker and wounding a child, officials said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it suffered no casualties in the attack, about 3O kilometres (20 miles) outside the eastern city of Jalalabad.

"One civilian child has been wounded in the blast," a district governor, Khaibar Mohmand, told AFP.

Mohmand blamed the attack on the Taliban, who have waged a bloody insurgency since their ouster from government in late 2001 in a US-led offensive.

The attack was on the same road as one on March 4 that struck a convoy of US forces. The troops, who said they were also shot at, opened fire afterwards. Eight civilians were killed.

The Taliban have vowed a new wave of suicide bombings this year after around 150 in 2006, according to figures released by the British government this week, which said the number was six times higher than in the previous year.

This year has already seen some of Afghanistan's deadliest suicide attacks.

More than 20 people, including two Americans and a South Korean soldier, were killed February 27 when a suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of people trying to enter a US base near Kabul being visited by US Vice President  Dick Cheney.
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In video, al-Qaida urges unification
By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 23, 5:11 AM ET
CAIRO, EGYPT - In a new video posted Thursday on the Internet, an al-Qaida militant who escaped from a U.S. prison in  Afghanistan urged Sunni militants in  Iraq to join the terror group and claimed the U.S. military's security plan for Baghdad has failed.

Abu Yahia al-Libi, who broke out of the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul in 2005, said it was the sacred duty of all mujahedeen, or holy warriors, to "stand steadfast together."

He called on militant groups known as Ansar al-Sunnah, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of the Mujahedeen to "hurry up and respond to the call of the Quran to become one and ... join the Islamic State in Iraq," an al-Qaida affiliate in the country.

"This is the legitimate duty and urgent need imposed by the circumstances of this stage of the jihad in Iraq," the black-turbaned al-Libi said, referring to militants' holy war.

The 28-minute video, posted on a Web site commonly used by Islamist militants, shows al-Libi, whose nom de guerre means 'the Libyan' in Arabic, with a beard and wearing a camouflage uniform seated next to a Kalashnikov rifle.

The videotape's authenticity could not be independently verified. It carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, al-Sahab. The video was also released by IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor that monitors al-Qaida messaging.

IntelCenter said the earliest the video could have been made is Feb. 20, based on comments al-Libi makes on the decision by British Prime Minister  Tony Blair to withdraw a portion of Britain's troops from Iraq. Blair's decision was first reported on Feb. 20.

In the video, al-Libi claims the monthlong Baghdad security crackdown by U.S. military and Iraqi troops, meant to curb sectarian violence that has shaken the Iraqi capital and its residents, has failed. "The break and defeat of your enemy is seen in the military arena, especially after the Security Plan failed and its defeat, with God's will, is very near," he says.

"The enemy knows he is losing in this battle," al-Libi said, adding the proof of this was in the planned withdrawal of the British troops from Iraq.

In addressing the militants, al-Libi said they were the "tip of the spear" in the holy war against the West and that they "must be more strong and more serious, and leave all trivia behind, resist any temptation."

Al-Libi also urged them not to "fall into the trap of enemies reaching out to Sunnis in Iraq" and claimed Saudi Arabia's calls for the support of Iraq's beleaguered Sunni minority were a sham.

"Your enemies are adding poison to exterminate you and sabotage your jihad. So don't be drawn in by flashy advertisements of Satan and his followers," he said.

Al-Libi has recorded several tapes since he escaped from Bagram. Afghan police said at the time that his real name is Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan and that he is a Libyan.
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Italy fends off criticism of Afghan hostage deal
by Gina Doggett Fri Mar 23, 3:03 AM ET
ROME (AFP) - Italy fended off criticism from  NATO allies that it had made hostage-taking in  Afghanistan more likely after the swap of five Taliban prisoners for a kidnapped Italian journalist.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said that he did not regret saving the life of La Repubblica correspondent Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who was held for two weeks and witnessed the beheading of his Afghan driver before being released on Monday.

"It's preferable to have a dispute over the fact that we saved him, rather than to have one over having had him killed," D'Alema said on Thursday.

He spoke by telephone with US Secretary of State  Condoleezza Rice after the United States, Britain and the Netherlands said the swap could invite similar kidnappings of NATO and Afghan troops battling the Taliban.

He planned to seek "clarification after the criticism from an anonymous source" at the US State Department, a foreign ministry official told AFP earlier.

Rice's telephone conversation with D'Alema was "in-depth and cordial," a statement from US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"Given the increased threat created for all of us who have people on the ground in places like Afghanistan, we expect that concessions will not be made in the future," the statement said.

The United States "does not support hostage exchanges or other concessions to terrorists," it said.

This "was not a new position" but a "well-known and long-standing policy that the United States government stressed to the government of Italy during this crisis as it has in previous kidnapping crises."

D'Alema took issue those who said Italy had swapped Taliban prisoners.

"We did not negotiate with anybody, but we did receive a list of people through a humanitarian group," the minister was quoted as saying.

"We did not free anyone because these were not our prisoners, but we gave the list to the Afghan government, which decided that these (five) people were not dangerous," he said.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, asked whether he was concerned about a deal that left Taliban fighters free to resume attacks on coalition force, said: "Yes."

On Wednesday a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, went further, saying the swap increased the risk of kidnappings.

In London, a spokeswoman for Britain's Foreign Office told AFP: "The UK has serious concerns about the implications of releasing Taliban in return for hostages ... This sends the wrong signal to prospective hostage-takers."

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, on a visit to Kabul on Wednesday, said: "When we create a situation where you can buy the freedom of Taliban fighters when you catch a journalist, then in the short term there will be no journalists anymore."

Also Wednesday, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement voicing "deep concern" over the exchange.

"While we are relieved that our colleague has been released and is now safe, we are deeply concerned by these reports that a journalist was ransomed for five Taliban prisoners," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement.

"Such an action has serious implications for the safety of journalists working in Afghanistan."

Leading political analyst Sergio Romano told AFP that domestic political considerations were part of the decision.

"The death of the journalist would have seen an earthquake within the (centre-left) coalition" of Prime Minister Romano Prodi," Romano said.

The issue of Italy's 2,000-strong contingent in Afghanistan -- fiercely opposed by the far left in Prodi's government -- briefly brought down the government last month.

An editorial in Mastrogiacomo's La Repubblica noted that had the episode ended in tragedy the government would be unable to keep its troops in Afghanistan.

"For an America already weak on the international stage," keeping the coalition together in Afghanistan "trumped everything else," it said.

A vote on refunding the mission is set in the upper-house Senate -- where Prodi enjoys only a two-seat majority -- next week.

Italy's defence ministry agreed with the US position, according to press reports. Defence Minister Arturo Parisi said that a "dangerous precedent" had been set by the deal, Corriere della Sera reported.

Since Prodi came to power in May last year, US-Italian relations have suffered several strains including the opening of proceedings against 26 US intelligence agents for the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan and the killing by a US marine of Italian secret service agent Nicola Calipari.
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Fear and anger over Taleban kidnap deal
By Mark Dummett BBC News, Kabul Friday, 23 March 2007
Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo has returned home to a hero's welcome after two weeks as a captive of the Taleban in southern Afghanistan.

It is to everyone's great relief that the Karachi-born reporter survived his ordeal.

But the terms of his release, which saw five insurgent leaders freed from Afghan prisons, have been universally criticised.

So has the fact that his two Afghan companions were apparently not part of the exchange.

'Just as hard'

"We would like to know why the Afghan government and the international community did so much for the foreign journalist, but not for the Afghan journalists," Zia Bomya of the Kabul-based Journalists' Defence Committee, said.

"We want them to work just as hard for the Afghans."

Mr Mastrogiacomo's local driver and guide, Sayed Agha, who was described in a tribute by the Daily Telegraph's Tom Coghlan as "a gentle, witty and deeply likeable young man of 25", was beheaded by his kidnappers last week, apparently to put pressure on negotiators.

His family complain that neither the Afghan nor the Italian governments have yet been in touch with them.

On Tuesday they led protests in the Helmand provincial capital, Lashkar Gar, against the two governments' "double standards".

Mr Mastrogiacomo's Kabul-based interpreter Ajmal Naqshbandi, meanwhile, is still missing, to the great distress of his family.

"The family is frightened and depressed," his brother Munir Naqshabandi said.

"The government doesn't care about us. I don't know why."

He said the Italian embassy in Kabul and Mr Mastrogiacomo's newspaper, La Repubblica, had offered to help, but since the Italian was released they had heard nothing from his kidnappers.

"The government tried to release Daniele, but after he was released they have done nothing to help my brother," Munir told the BBC.

"I appeal to the Taleban to release my brother, because we are Muslim. My brother is an Afghan, he worked as a journalist and not for any governments."

According to their father, Ghulam Haider, Ajmal, 25, who was married six months ago, was the family's main earner.

"He is the only one supporting the family, without him there is no-one else," he said.

'Exceptional measure'

The three men were abducted in Helmand province, where Nato and Afghan forces recently stepped up military operations against the Taleban.

The movement told the local Pajhwok press agency that five of its men had been freed in exchange for Mr Mastrogiacomo.

They named the five as:

Ustad Yaser, head of the Taleban's cultural wing
Abdul Latif Hakimi, former Taleban spokesman
Mansur Ahmad, brother of Taleban commander Mullah Dadullah Akhund
Two other commanders, Hamdollah and Abdol Ghaffar.
The exchange has been confirmed by the Italian government, but not by Afghanistan.

"It was an exceptional measure taken because we value our relations and friendship with Italy," was all President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Karim Rahimi said this week. "It won't be repeated."

There has been speculation that Italy threatened to pull its 1,900 troops out of Afghanistan if Mr Karzai did not authorise the deal - but Mr Rahimi strongly denied this.

'No journalists'

Coalition allies meanwhile have been blunt in their criticism.

"The US does not make concessions to terrorist demands. End of story," said Joe Mellott, the spokesman for the US embassy in Afghanistan.

"When we create situations where you can buy the freedom of Taleban fighters when you catch a journalist, in the short term there will be no journalists any more," Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said during a visit to Kabul on Wednesday.

Mr Mastrogiacomo was asked about the controversy surrounding his release at a press conference in Italy on Wednesday.

"I believe that what has been done doesn't violate the sovereignty of a state or the autonomy of its foreign policy decisions," he said, referring to both Italy and Afghanistan.

"If things are done to save a human life... this is a positive thing."

But journalists here are worried that the deal has set a dangerous precedent.

"Any of us might now be got while we're out working," a Kandahar-based reporter told me.

"I am really disappointed by what has happened, this has made life much more difficult."

Italy is part of a coalition that says it wants to support the Afghan government, defeat the Taleban and win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

But the deal to secure the release of their journalist appears to have undermined President Karzai, gifted a victory to the insurgents and upset and angered a lot of people.
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Gates voices concern over Afghan hostage swap
Fri Mar 23, 3:50 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was concerned about Afghanistan's release of Taliban fighters to gain the freedom of an Italian journalist being held hostage.

"This was between the Afghan government and the Italians," Gates said on Thursday, adding that while the United States had influence in Kabul it had no authority to stop the deal.

War correspondent Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, of the Italian daily La Repubblica, was released Monday after two weeks in captivity in exchange for the release of five Taliban militants.

Asked whether he was concerned about a deal that left Taliban fighters free to resume attacks on coalition force, Gates said, "Yes."

He did not elaborate.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said he did not regret saving the life of Mastrogiacomo, who witnessed the beheading of his Afghan driver before being released on Monday.

"It's preferable to have a dispute over the fact that we saved him, rather than to have one over having had him killed," D'Alema said.

He spoke by telephone with US Secretary of State  Condoleezza Rice after the United States, Britain and the Netherlands said the swap could invite similar kidnappings of  NATO and Afghan troops battling the Taliban.
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U.S. Troops in Afghanistan Proud of Their Work
By Chuck Quirmbach 21 March 2007 Voice of America
As the war in Iraq enters its fifth year, and attention is focused on the additional troops President Bush has requested be sent there, the continuing campaign against the Taleban in Afghanistan is often pushed from the headlines. But some 26,000 U.S. troops are engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom, including members of the 961st Engineer Battalion of the Army Reserves. The carpenters and ironworkers of Wisconsin unit have been repairing roads and building bases in Afghanistan for the last twelve months.

That much time away has taken a toll on their families. Jackie Eisner of Whitewater, Wisconsin, says having her husband overseas was a challenge for her and her five children. "Well, the kids miss him, so they always say 'When's daddy coming home?'" She says she missed him, too. "Learning how to kind of be a single parent, managing household bills, and things like that."

Tina Meriweather of Milwaukee says she and her seven kids also found life more difficult. "You look for that spouse to help you do this and he's not there, so it's been hard, it's been hard."

But this week, the Meriweathers, Eisners and about 50 other families were together again. As two busloads of troops from the 961st pulled into a reserves base in Milwaukee on Sunday, they were met with cheers and screams of delight.

After allowing some time for the troops to get off the buses and greet their loved ones, the unit was called to attention, and Colonel Larry Waldhart told the troops to thank their families and friends. "You know, 'They also serve who stand and wait' was something a very famous person said," he noted, "and it wasn't until my own son deployed that I figured it out, so how about a round of applause for all these supporters while you've been gone?" That prompted applause and more cheering.

While his absence from Wisconsin may have been a challenge for his family, Sergeant Timothy Eisner says he's proud of his work in Afghanistan, explaining, "We actually made it better for other troops that are going to follow behind us. The living conditions are better. The force protection is there and actually I believe that we're doing a good thing with a lot of local people, because at all the bases, we hired in local people from around the area to come in and work for us."

Staff Sergeant Rob Meriweather is also satisfied with his unit's time in Afghanistan. But he predicts that dealing with an expected buildup of the Taleban and other insurgents will be difficult. "They're like eels, you know, like catching fish. [They're] slippery, you know, you isolate a group, some escape, they go somewhere else and regroup and redouble their efforts."

The remaining members of the 961st will be coming home on Saturday. But the Pentagon recently increased the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and some in the 961st could go overseas again in the next year.

While some members of the Army reserves have complained about repeated tours of duty in the Middle East, Colonel Waldhart says many have adjusted to the possibility. And, he points out, they know what to expect. "We've been at this four or five years now, and so we've got an idea of the pace and pattern and the skill set we need. So unlike the first groups arriving back five years ago, it's not quite the same." He says they're walking into it with their eyes open. He adds that the Army will be involved in Afghanistan as long as President Bush needs the troops there.
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Australia to decide within weeks whether to send more troops to Afghanistan
People's Daily Online, China
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Friday said Australia will decide within weeks whether to boost its military presence in Afghanistan.

Downer told reporters in Adelaide, capital city of the state of South Australia, that Australia is being discussing the issue with a number of countries, including the Netherlands.

Australia has about 520 troops in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province where they are serving alongside Dutch troops.

"I have spoken with the Dutch foreign minister in the last few days but there has been no decision yet," Downer said.

"It is pressing -- the situation in Uruzgan province, where the Australians are with the Dutch, is delicate," he said.

"Our analysis is that there is likely to be an upsurge of Taliban activity over the next few months," he added.

"So that is why we are considering the need to send more special forces to Afghanistan, to reinforce defenses and have people who can chase down the Taliban," he said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has also said the Australian government is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan to combat surging movement of Taliban.
Source: Xinhua
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EC contributes 4.75 million to assist Afghans in Afghanistan, Pakistan
Friday March 23, 2007 (0500 PST) PakTribune.com, Pakistan
KABUL/ISLAMABAD: The European Commission (EC) contributed amount of 4.75 million (over US$6.3 million) to support the UN refugee agency`s work in Afghanistan and Pakistan this year.

Earlier this week, the Directorate-General for the European Commission`s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) in Brussels signed two agreements confirming its support to one of UNHCR`s largest operations in the world.

This includes 4 million to assist returnees, internally displaced people and women at risk in Afghanistan, and 750,000 to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan in 2007.

"Despite the relative improvement in the political situation in Afghanistan, the absolute level of needs remains high and requires a continued humanitarian engagement," said Louis Michel, the Commissioner in charge of Development and Humanitarian Aid.

"The European Commission is committed to assisting the most vulnerable populations in Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries."

Since 2002, the European Commission has contributed almost 63 million to UNHCR`s operations in this region.

Raf Rosvelds, ECHO`s expert on Afghanistan, noted, "We are committed to finding regional solutions to the protracted displacement of Afghans.

In that, the Commission services have been actively contributing to the census and registration process in Pakistan, thereby participating in the search for a lasting solution to the Afghan refugee problem."

"We`re very grateful for the EC`s unflagging support," said Guenet Guebre-Christos, UNHCR`s Representative in Pakistan. "While the number of Afghans repatriating has declined after five years, it`s crucial that those who still want to return be given optimal chances to go home and stay home."

Salvatore Lombardo, UNHCR`s Representative in Afghanistan, added, "The challenges in Afghanistan remain immense. By assisting millions of Afghans returning, ECHO has contributed to making their initial steps home more humane and dignified."

Since UNHCR started assisting returns to Afghanistan in 2002, more than 3.7 million Afghans have been helped home from neighbouring countries, including 2.88 million from Pakistan and some 838,000 from Iran. Another 1.1 million have returned home on their own.

In addition, the refugee agency has assisted half a million internally displaced Afghans to return to their areas of origin.

Returnees from Pakistan and Iran receive travel and initial reintegration assistance, currently averaging $100 per person. UNHCR helps them to settle in after years in exile with activities that include returnee monitoring, shelter support and income-generating projects and protection of vulnerable groups like women at risk.
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Afghan plane skids off runway in Istanbul, no injuries
The Associated Press March 23, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey: An Afghan plane skidded off the runway at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Friday and came to a halt resting on its right wing, a news agency reported. All passengers and crew members were safely evacuated through emergency slides.

The Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul, Afghanistan, overshot the runway after it landed, private Dogan news agency said. None of the 50 people, including 20 crew members, on board was injured, the agency said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the Airbus A300 to skid but the runway was slippery due to light rain at the time of the landing.
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More than 18,000 Afghans return home from Pakistan since start of March
23 Mar 2007 14:17:13 GMT
More  KABUL, Afghanistan, March 23 (UNHCR) – More than 18,000 Afghans have returned home since the UN refugee agency started this year's voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan. The pace is expected to increase as a government deadline approaches for unregistered Afghans in Pakistan to be assisted home.

2007 marks the sixth year of UNHCR-facilitated returns to Afghanistan, but this year's arrangements are linked to the recently concluded registration of more than 2.15 million Afghan citizens in Pakistan. The government has said Afghans who did not register during the 15-week exercise, and thus do not have Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, will be considered illegal migrants and subject to prosecution. They have been given a grace period from March 1 to April 15 to repatriate voluntarily with assistance.

A total of 18,609 unregistered Afghans have returned home so far this year, a marked increase compared to the same period in recent years – more than 8,000 Afghans repatriated in March 2006 and over 7,000 in March 2005. Afghans generally prefer to go home in the summer months when the weather is more conducive to rebuilding homes.

The majority of this year's returnees were from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. "Life in Pakistan has been very good and we had no problems," said 56-year-old Sultan Ali at UNHCR's voluntary repatriation centre (VRC) in provincial capital Peshawar. "But now I am getting old, for how long can I live as a refugee? I know it will not be easy to start from scratch, but we weave carpets from 6 am to 6 pm here and we will do the same in Kabul."

Ghundi Gul and his family repatriated on the same day. He used to sell fruit in the market in Khyber agency in Pakistan's tribal areas, "but the local authorities do not allow us to work anymore," he said. "I heard that April 15 is the deadline and did not want to face any problems. So I decided to get the [repatriation] assistance that will at least help us to settle in Afghanistan."

Before leaving for Nangarhar province just across the border, he said: "I am going to build my house. My father and three brothers are still in Khyber agency and will join me soon."

Every day, hundreds of trucks and picks-ups loaded with household goods park in front of the VRC in Peshawar to be processed for return. To discourage fraud that could result from the enhanced return package, UNHCR and the authorities have intensified checks and interviews. They have added fingerprint biometrics tests to ensure that only eligible Afghans are processed, and are maintaining the iris-verification test to ensure that no one receives the assistance more than once.

The cash grant, averaging US$100 per person depending on the distance to the area of origin, is given out at encashment centres in Afghanistan. At the centre in Kabul's Pul-i-Charki district, returnee Ezatullah and his family of seven went through mine-awareness training and vaccinations, and seemed pleasantly surprised at the assistance.

"The money certainly helps," said the 42-year-old, who used to sell knick knacks on Peshawar's streets. "I'm not sure what to do with it yet, maybe we'll pool the money and start a small business." Asked why he was returning now, he replied, "I did not try for the PoR card as I wanted to come back in time for the children to start school [in March]."

Said Najib and his family of five also returned from Peshawar. "You've never lived a life in exile, you don't know what it is like," said his ageing mother. "Afghanistan may be hard but at least it is home."

As the snows melt in the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, more unregistered Afghans are expected to return home in the three weeks leading up to the deadline of April 15. Unregistered Afghans who return after this date will not receive any assistance. Assisted voluntary return for registered Afghans with PoR cards will start on April 16 through a new process that involves deregistration and invalidating their cards.

Recently, the government of Pakistan contributed US$1 million towards the registration and deregistration process, and pledged an additional US$5 million towards repatriation assistance. In addition, the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) this week contributed 4.75 million euros (over US$6.3 million) to support voluntary returns from Pakistan and to help returnees, internally displaced Afghans and women at risk in Afghanistan.

Since 2002, UNHCR has helped more than 2.89 million Afghans to return home from Pakistan and over 830,000 Afghans to repatriate from Iran.
By Vivian Tan in Kabul, Afghanistan and Rabia Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan
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CIDA contradicts Ottawa on funding Afghan monitor
PAUL KORING Globe and Mail, Canada
Canada has not funded the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission for years, despite the government's insistence that it plays a vital role in safeguarding captives transferred by Canada to Afghanistan's notorious prisons.

The detainee issue has already ensnared Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor in its coils -- he was forced to apologize in the House on Monday for misleading MPs on the issue -- and now the question of funding is further complicating the Conservatives' story.

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan said Monday, that "the government of Canada has funded the Independent Human Rights Commission to the amount of $1-million."

Mr. Van Loan did not mention that the $1-million was given five years ago by the previous Liberal government.

"No new money has been issued to AIHRC by CIDA" since 2002, Greg Scott, a spokesman for the Canadian International Development Agency, said in an e-mailed reply to The Globe and Mail.

On Monday, Mr. Van Loan and Mr. O'Connor were keen to explain that the AIHRC could monitor detainees, thus meeting Canada's obligations under international law to make sure they weren't abused, tortured or killed in Afghan custody.

Mr. O'Connor had just apologized to Parliament for misleading MPs about the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in informing Canada about the fate of transferred prisoners.

During a raucous Question Period, as Mr. Van Loan defended both Mr. O'Connor and the arrangements with the AIHRC, he made no mention that the $1-million was old money.

"It is inappropriate, obviously, for the Department of National Defence to be the source of those funds. It is elsewhere in the government from which the funds have been produced," Mr. Van Loan said.

But Michael White, a spokesman for Mr. Van Loan, said yesterday the minister knew it was an old transfer.

Mr. O'Connor said last week that the Defence Department would not provide any money to AIHRC.

"I think it would be improper to give them any money because it would appear that this is not an unbiased organization," he said during a visit to Kandahar where he met the commission's director, Abdul Noorzai, who briefed the minister on the organization's funding and staffing woes.

Still, Mr. O'Connor told the House on Monday that the AIHRC was "capable of following up on prisoners and reporting any possible abuse."

Unlike other major NATO nations fighting in southern Afghanistan, including Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark, Canada didn't retain any right of detainee follow-up in its transfer pact with Afghanistan. And unlike those countries, which also named the AIHRC as a key monitoring agency, Canada did not provide any funds.

Britain and Denmark both pledged more than $1-million, the Netherlands nearly $600,000. CIDA staff say Canada promised nothing, but the AIHRC's annual report shows that it expected $2,211, although nothing was forthcoming by the end of January, 2007.

Now doubts have emerged over another of Mr. O'Connor's assurances in light of a letter from senior Defence and Foreign Affairs officials.

Two assistant deputy ministers told MPs in December that Canada had been notifying the AIHRC of the names of transferred detainees for months. But in a March 15 letter revising their statement, they wrote that Canadian Forces didn't pass along any of the names of transferred detainees.

"No notifications, in fact, took place," until last month, the two assistant deputy ministers wrote.

Colleen Swords, assistant deputy minister of international security at Foreign Affairs, and Vincent Rigby, assistant deputy minister (policy) at National Defence jointly wrote the letter to "to clarify one portion of our testimony."

In short, the two layers of protection to transferred detainees, repeatedly cited by Mr. O'Connor over the past year, have both proved flawed.

While Canada has provided prisoners' names to the ICRC, that organization is prohibited by long-standing convention from reporting back to Canada on the fate of detainees in custody.

Mr. O'Connor had repeatedly and incorrectly claimed otherwise. On Monday, he apologized and admitted he'd been wrong.

Meanwhile, Canada didn't provide the names of transferred prisoners to the AIHRC, despite now saying that group has had a crucial role in safeguarding their fate.

Some of the detainees captured originally by Canadian troops are known to have been released. Mr. O'Connor has publicly referred to "revolving doors" in Afghan prisons where detainees are often freed for bribes. Other transferred captives, including three at the centre of an abuse investigation, can't be found.

Opposition MPs and human-rights groups have demanded that Canada renegotiate its detainee-transfer agreement to match the follow-up rights won by the British, Dutch and Danes.

Nothing for something

Canada provided no funding last year to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, the group that monitors detainees released by Canadian Forces in Afghanistan into the custody of local authorities.



 TOTAL FUNDS PLEDGED FOR 2006 ($U.S.) TOTAL FUNDS GIVEN FOR 2006 STILL OWED
AIHRC income 835 835 0
CANADA (CIDA) 2,211 0 2,211
SCA 4,000 4,000 0
OHCHR 37,800 37,800 0
Govt. of Afghanistan 111,858 111,858 0
Irish Aid 131,724 30,000 101,724
USAID (Salaries)* 368,217 555,266 -187,049
Norway 368,217 242,101 262,534
Netherlands 589,950 89,950 500,000
New Zealand 671,060 262,265 408,795
SDC-Switzerland 749,831 562,500 187,331
Britain 1,005,126 493,068 512,058
Finland 1,005,126 1,116,521 35,138
Denmark 1,220,770 965,127 255,643
USAID (Construction) 2,201,146 1,050,162 1,150,984

*The difference between expenditure and donor contribution received as of January, 2007.

SOURCE: AFGHANISTAN INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (AIHRC)
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NATO troops `shoot dead afghan child,` run over another 
Zee News, India
Kabul, March 23: NATO troops shot and killed a 12-year-old afghan boy who was in a car with his family in Kabul, the government said today, in the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving foreign forces.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed there had been an incident late yesterday but said it could not comment until a military police investigation was completed.

"NATO forces opened fire at a Townace civilian vehicle which apparently tried to overtake the troops or may be the car was too close to the troops," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told reporters.

"A bullet hit a 12-year-old child in the car. The child was apparently driving with his family," he said.

The attack was on the eastern route out of the city, a road which sees most of the suicide attacks in Kabul because it is frequently used by foreign troops.

Soldiers with ISAF and the separate us-led coalition, nervous of suicide car bombings and other attacks, have shot dozens of civilians who have been travelling too close to their convoys.

The troops usually fire warnings shots first and some have fixed notices to their vehicles warning civilians to keep their distance. But afghans say many of them drive and behave aggressively.

In one of the worst incidents, eight civilians were killed when us troops opened fire after a suicide bombing near the eastern city of Jalalabad.

Bureau Report 
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Afghanistan: UN Offers Mixed Report On Poppy Cultivation
By Nikola Krastev
UNITED NATIONS, March 22, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said in New York on March 21 that opium-poppy production is decreasing or being eliminated in some provinces but increasing in others.


And Costa said poppy production in southern Afghanistan is "out of control," and this huge increase is likely to offset the success fighting poppy cultivation in the north and central parts of the country.

Costa says the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan's southern provinces is playing an active role in the increase of the poppy growth and opium trade.

"In the center-northern part of the country we may be able to certify opium-free status for [between eight and 12] provinces of Afghanistan."But Costa says that recently a new trend began to emerge in opium cultivation in Afghanistan.

"The evidence which we provided to the [UN] Security Council points to a new and potentially promising development in Afghanistan, namely the fact that in the country now we see a divergent trend between the central-northern part of the country, [a decrease] on the one hand, and southern part of the country, [an increase]," he said.

In its 2006 report, the UN determined a total of 166,000 hectares of poppy fields in Afghanistan. Costa said that in 2006 six Afghan provinces were declared "opium free." And he expects by June that several more of Afghanistan's 35 provinces will also be declared "opium free."

'Opium-Free' Provinces

Costa says, however, that there are differences in the estimates by his office -- which is more cautious -- and the estimates of the Afghan government.

"In the center-northern part of the country we may be able to certify opium-free status for [between eight and 12] provinces of Afghanistan," he said. "The [Afghan] government is actually more optimistic than that. They believe there will be a higher number of opium-free provinces."

Despite the upbeat statistics, Costa admitted, the poppy-growing potential of the five southern provinces is so high that it will likely neutralize the gains made against poppy cultivation in the north and central parts of the country.

"Those five provinces are the largest area of concentration of any narcotics in the world at the moment," he said. "There are about 100,000 hectares [of poppy fields in] all of the five collectively. We expect a further increase in these provinces. A further increase in these high-cultivation provinces will probably -- that's the bad news, if you wish -- offset the decrease in the north."

The Afghan government is increasing its poppy-eradication efforts, Costa says. For example, so far this year some 8,000 hectares of poppy fields have been eradicated. This is double the figure for the first quarter of 2006.

Export Routes

Because almost all of Afghanistan's raw opium is being exported to Western Europe and further to North America, Costa says, this is additionally complicating Kabul's relations with its neighbors.

"We also see the importance of strengthening relations with neighboring countries," he said. "All of the Afghan opium, obviously, is exported. Most of it is exported through either Iran or Pakistan. About 20 percent [is exported] through the northern states of Central Asia -- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and so forth."

Costa says the UN is now undertaking a major border-strengthening initiative along the Pakistani and Iranian borders.

"We have launched a very major initiative to strengthen border control between Afghanistan and Iran, between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and obviously between Pakistan and Iran, which is the new 'Golden Triangle' area, if you wish," he said.

The UN Security Council agreed in December to add to the list of known terrorist figures and organizations in Afghanistan the names of major drug traffickers. Under the directive of the council, any such person on the list should be arrested if he/she is detected in any of the UN's 192 member states.
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Waziristan jihadis wage war on each other
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online / March 23, 2007
The present bloody infighting between al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal areas is likely to end in reconciliation between the two groups that will mark the beginning of the Taliban's major Afghan offensive.

Well-placed sources maintain that the chief commander of the Taliban in South Wazirstan, Baitullah Mehsud, was in Afghanistan's Helmand province when the fighting, in which scores have died this week, erupted. He immediately rushed to

South Waziristan on the orders of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah.

He put his foot down, and the fighting has now eased. A new protocol is imminent, under which all parties will agree to fight in Afghanistan and not inside Pakistan.

How did this internecine strife in South Waziristan evolve? Is it just a battle between foreign militants and Pakistani Taliban - a clash of interests - or is it a blessing in disguise for the Taliban and a serious problem for the US-led forces in Afghanistan?

Moving the fault lines

There has long been debate within the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants over strategy in the fight against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and US-led-coalition forces in Afghanistan: Should war be waged against all opponents - including US ally Pakistan - without discrimination, or should political issues be considered, so as to allow for strategic repositioning in future?

The Uzbek al-Qaeda-linked militants in South and North Waziristan believe in a global war against NATO and all its allies, such as the Pakistani government. This strategy is now in conflict with that of the Taliban leadership.

The tension between the two sides broke out into open warfare on Wednesday in South Waziristan, with thousands of Pakistani Taliban dug in against the Uzbek militants and their supporters, believe to number 20,000. So far, at least 110 people have been killed, mostly Uzbeks.

The fight has isolated the chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yaldeshiv. Tahir is the main preacher of the idea that fighting the Pakistan Army is the first priority, and he is violently opposed to any rapprochement between Pakistani Taliban and the army.

"The implementation of the sharia [Islamic law] and the appointment of the emir of the sharia emirate are supposed to be the first priority of mujahideen in Pakistan," Yaldeshiv said in a speech now widely available on disc.

Part of the solution

Should the Taliban be part of a solution for their sympathizers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, or a constant problem? That was the debate initiated by Mullah Dadullah when he tried to mediate a ceasefire between Pakistani Taliban and the Pakistani military early last year. Dadullah has constantly argued that Pakistani Taliban going into Afghanistan and fighting against NATO forces was a greater service to Afghanistan's cause of freedom than staying in the two Waziristans and fighting Pakistani soldiers.

The dialogue convinced the leading anti-army commanders in North Waziristan, Sadiq Noor and Abdul Khaliq, and they agreed that jihad was only relevant in Afghanistan and that fighting against the Pakistan Army had no relevance to the Afghan resistance.

Al-Qaeda elements in North Waziristan, including Uzbeks settled in the town of Mir Ali, were converted to this point of view and broke with Yaldeshiv, who was living in South Waziristan and still demanding the establishment of the Islamic Emirates in Pakistan by waging jihad against "the crusaders' ally".

At present, information coming from South Waziristan suggests that Uzbeks settled in three main points, Shin Warsak, Azam Warsak and Kaloosha, have now in effect been surrounded by local Taliban. The Uzbeks are tenacious fighters, but the most likely outcome will be their surrender and agreement that from now on all fighting will be done in Afghanistan. Such unity of purpose would be a boon for the Taliban's looming offensive against NATO.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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160 killed in clashes in northwestern Pakistan this week, governor says
The Associated Press Friday, March 23, 2007
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Clashes between Pakistani tribesmen and foreign militants near the Afghan border this week have left up to 160 people dead, including about 130 Uzbek and Chechen fighters, the provincial governor said Friday.

Ali Mohammed Jan Aurakzai, the top government official in North West Frontier Province, said 25 to 30 tribesmen also were among those killed in fighting that started Monday in the South Waziristan tribal region and was continuing Friday.

The government says the bloodletting shows the success of its decision to use local tribesmen to root out foreign militants linked to al-Qaida. However, experts say it also exposes authorities' lack of control of a region also used by the Taliban to support attacks in Afghanistan.

Aurakzai, a retired Pakistani army general, said tribal militants had captured another 63 foreigners and were hunting 200 more who had scattered into the area's mountains.

"Our forces are not involved. Local tribesmen are not allowing foreigners to live in their areas," he told reporters at his British colonial-era residence in the regional capital, Peshawar.

The death toll from the fighting in several towns in South Waziristan has risen rapidly. On Thursday, officials said the toll stood at about 135. Officials say the two sides have observed brief truces to allow them to bury their dead, but attempts by local militant leaders to broker an agreement to halt the fighting had failed.

Hundreds of Central Asian and Arab militants linked to al-Qaida fled to this semiautonomous region after the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and forged alliances with local tribes. Other Uzbek Islamists opposed to the regime of President Islam Karimov in their homeland have reportedly since joined them from Uzbekistan.

Aurakzai said Tahir Yuldash, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant opposition group, was in the area when fighting started, but would not say what had happened to him.

As part of its support of the U.S.-led war on terror, Pakistan launched military operations in 2004 to wipe the foreign militants out. They succeeded in busting camps used by al-Qaida, but suffered hundreds of casualties and failed to expel the foreign fighters.

The military said at the time that Yuldash, one of Uzbekistan's most wanted men, was wounded but escaped during a raid on a suspected al-Qaida camp near Wana, South Waziristan's main town.

More recently, Pakistan has cut deals with pro-Taliban militants and urged local tribal elders to police the region themselves.

That has sparked concern that Taliban and other militants now have freer rein to launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan on U.S. and NATO forces. American officials are also worried it has allowed al-Qaida to regroup.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday fighting between tribal groups and foreign fighters could help defeat extremists.

Some analysts, however, say militants with links to Taliban and al-Qaida are involved on both sides of the current conflict, which also pits local tribes against each other, and that blood feuds could deepen insecurity in a region viewed as a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
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Musharraf’s exit not on the cards: US
The News International (Pakistan) March 23, 2007
WASHINGTON: President Pervez Musharraf faces no immediate threat to his rule despite violent protests over his removal of a top judge, a senior US State Department official said Wednesday.

“I don’t think it’s too much of a question of (Musharraf) being toppled or serious unrest in country,” the official said, when asked whether Washington was concerned that growing protests could lead to the military ruler’s overthrow.

“It doesn’t seem that way at the moment. I don’t see any signs of that,” said the official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, as Musharraf came under increasing pressure to quit over the judicial crisis.

But the United States, the official stressed, was concerned that the judicial crisis could be “opportunity for critics to say that this is a political manipulation and not something based on a factual problem.”

Musharraf, a key US ally in the “war on terror,” is facing the biggest crisis of his eight years in power since ordering the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9.

In the US House of Representatives Wednesday, the administration of President George W Bush came under fire for relying heavily on Musharraf instead of prodding for greater democratic progress in the nuclear state.

The judicial crisis “highlights the fact that the return of Pakistan to democracy is an issue that has slipped in emphasis if not in actual importance,” said Democratic Representative Gary Ackerman.

“The administration seems content to only speak with President Musharraf and portrays him as the indispensable man. The truth is, for our goals to be achieved in Pakistan there should be more than one phone number there to dial,” he said, chairing a House panel hearing on US policy on Pakistan.

Elections in Pakistan are scheduled for later this year or early next year, “but if past is prologue, these elections will be no freer and no fairer than any others,” Ackerman said. The Supreme Judicial Council, comprising senior judges, is to hold a hearing into Musharraf’s allegations of misconduct and abuse of office against Chaudhry beginning on April 3.

The senior State Department official said it was “hard to render judgment on the whole process” until the hearing was held and called on the Pakistani authorities to let the council “do its work as it is designed to do. “What we have said is we are concerned, we are watching carefully, we want them to proceed very carefully. We will follow this turn by turn as it proceeds,” he said.

The official warned that the allegations against the chief justice were serious and could easily be misconstrued as political. The official said one of the assets Pakistan had was “a judicial process with some integrity” and that it was “something we have often pointed to being an important part of Pakistan’s makeup despite the military government.”

Although Musharraf has been a stalwart US ally, there are some costs for Washington in focusing its policy solely on supporting him, especially if he alienated the secular, moderate political forces in order to tighten his own grip on power, said Lisa Curtis of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

She told the congressional hearing Wednesday that there was a need for the United States to “extend contacts and visibility with a variety of civilian leaders” in Pakistan. “It would indeed be tragic if, in seeking to win over Musharraf and his military, we lost Pakistan,” warned Marvin Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute, another Washington-based think-tank.
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