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October 4, 2007 

20 Taliban killed in Afghanistan
By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 4, 5:18 AM ET
KANDAHAR Afghanistan - Afghan troops backed by NATO-led forces clashed with suspected Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, leaving 20 militants dead, a provincial police chief said Thursday.

The authorities recovered three dead bodies of the militants alongside numerous weapons after the clash in Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar province late Wednesday, said Kandahar police chief Sayed Agha Saqib. There were no injuries among Afghan and NATO troops.

Retreating militants took 17 bodies off the battlefield, Saqib said.

NATO officials could not immediately confirm Saqib's account, and said they were checking the report. The clash could not be independently verified due to the remoteness of the area where it took place.

In a separate incident, militants attacked a police checkpoint in Arghistan district, also in Kandahar province, wounding three officers on Wednesday, Saqib said. There were no report of militant casualties from that clash.

Violence in Afghanistan has peaked this year, with nearly 5,100 people killed in suicide bombings, gun battles, airstrikes, and roadside bombs around the country through the first nine months of the year, according to an AP count based on figures from Afghan, U.S. and NATO officials.

The number represents a 55 percent increase over the first nine months of 2006, when the AP count recorded 3,288 insurgency-related deaths. The AP count recorded 4,019 deaths in all of 2006.

Most of the violence occurred in the country's south, the center of the resurgent Taliban movement that was ousted from power in the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.
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Al-Qaeda's Afghanistan chief says bin Laden alive
Thu Oct 4, 1:25 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Al-Qaeda's chief in Afghanistan urges Muslims around the world to come fight for the country's "independence" and insists that Osama bin Laden is alive and well, according to an audio clip released Wednesday by a US-based monitoring group.

"In every corner of the world, Muslims should be concerned about Afghan Muslims and help them," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid says in the audio message, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.

"Every Muslim who has the feeling of sacrifice in his heart should come forward and fight for the independence of Afghanistan," Yazid says in Arabic in the 28-minute audio, accompanied by a video showing him in a still image.

Yazid, in the speech titled "The Truth of Belief," also claims that insurgents are scoring victories in the battlefield despite the death of top Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah in May.

Yazid calls on Muslims to support Dadullah's successor, Mullah Mansour.

He also says that bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda terror network's chief, supervises all activities and is alive and in good health.
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Canada PM says Afghan mission could stay longer
Wed Oct 3, 6:19 PM ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Wednesday that the country's military mission to Afghanistan could remain longer than scheduled -- an idea bound to anger opposition parties, which have a majority in Parliament.

Canada's 2,500 troops in the southern city of Kandahar are due to leave in February 2009 and, until now, Harper has said he would not extend their stay without the approval of Parliament.

But on Wednesday he said Canada would not leave Afghanistan abruptly if it was clear local authorities were too weak to deal with the Taliban. He also said the nature of the combat mission could change beyond early 2009.

"Am I in a position to responsibly say that ... we'll be ready to leave cold turkey in February 2009? I think that's difficult to imagine," he told a news conference.

"But I recognize the Canadian population will accept us leaving responsibly over a time period they can understand."

So far 71 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. A series of recent polls shows the public is deeply divided over the mission.

"We have responsibilities toward the population of Kandahar. We accepted the responsibility to sort out security problems and I think we have to make sure -- before we leave -- that the Afghan forces can ensure their own security," Harper said.

"I don't think we can responsibly quit the field of battle and leave the potential for chaos in Kandahar."

Two of the three opposition parties in Parliament insist the troops should leave on schedule while the third wants them out now. Harper's minority Conservative government, which needs the support of at least one opposition party to stay in power -- will face a vote of confidence later this month.

"(In February 2009) the combat military role in Kandahar should come to an end and notice ought to be served on NATO now to that effect," Ralph Goodale of the main opposition Liberal Party told CTV.
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Afghan troops regain control of district from Taliban 
By IANS Thursday October 4, 02:51 PM
Kabul, Oct 4 (Xinhua) Afghan troops regained control of Ajristan district in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province Thursday morning and forced militants to flee, provincial police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said.
'The government security forces in a pre-dawn attack against Taliban insurgents re-established their control over Ajristan and forced Taliban to flee,' Ahmadzai told Xinhua News Agency.

Taliban insurgents overran the district Tuesday night and set on fire the district headquarters besides killing two policemen on the spot.

Ahmadzai did not give more details as to if there were any casualties or involvement of foreign troops in the operation.

Taliban insurgents have captured few districts in the southern Helmand province over the past several months.
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Italian agent wounded in Afghan rescue dies
Thu Oct 4, 6:51 AM ET
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian intelligence agent who was kidnapped last month in Afghanistan and wounded during a NATO-led raid that freed him died on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.

Lorenzo D'Auria, 33, was one of two Italian agents briefly abducted by captors who NATO identified as Taliban.

The two were freed by Italian and British special forces. But D'Auria suffered gunshots in his head and neck and had to be put on a respirator soon after his release.

The other Italian was also wounded in the raid, although not seriously. Both were flown back to Italy for hospital treatment.

The kidnapping and circumstances of the rescue prompted new calls by leftist members of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government to withdraw Italy's troops from Afghanistan.

Prodi, who said he authorized the rescue mission "without a moment of uncertainty," has insisted the incident would not affect Italy's military mission there.

The Italians were abducted while on patrol in the country's western region on September 22. They were freed two days later after a gunbattle in which eight kidnappers were killed.

A spokesman for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, which includes 2,200 Italian soldiers, has denied Italian media reports that the two hostages were wounded by their rescuers, saying their kidnappers had opened fire on them.

Corriere della Sera last week quoted Defense ministry sources as saying that at least one of the bullets that wounded the two hostages came from weapons used by NATO-led forces.

An Italian intelligence source has told Reuters the exact circumstances of the rescue were being investigated.

Coalition infighting over the Afghanistan mission forced Prodi to resign briefly earlier this year.
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Afghanistan: Some aid vulnerable to mismanagement, corruption, say experts
LASHKARGAH, 4 October 2007 (IRIN) - Relief operations in insecure parts of Afghanistan are highly vulnerable to waste and corruption, local officials, residents, aid officials and analysts say.

"The spending imperative, the weakness of the Afghan government, and insecurity have contributed to a high risk of corruption in 'postwar' Afghanistan," stated a July 2007 report by humanitarian think-tank Overseas Development Institute (ODI). (http://www.odi.org.uk/hpg/papers/WPcorruptionafghanistan.pdf)

As a result, the relief operation has turned some of its intended beneficiaries into critics.

The residents of several districts in insurgency-hit Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, for example, have accused local officials, commanders and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of aid mismanagement and corruption.

In one episode, relief supplies were delivered to Nad Ali District in Helmand Province in March after clashes between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces.

Intended for distribution to the most vulnerable local people, witnesses say that a few days later they saw a private truck loaded with aid goods heading back to the provincial capital, Lashkargah.

"Government officials and commanders take a big chunk of all aid for themselves and their relatives," said Haji Sardar Agha, a member of the provincial council in Helmand.

Aid for sale
In the city of Herat shops sell notebooks, bags and other stationary kits marked with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) logo. "I can provide thousands of UNICEF notebooks and bags," boasted Noorullah, a shopkeeper in Herat.

Roshan Khadivi, a spokeswoman for UNICEF in Afghanistan, said: "It's really a tragedy to see this aid, which was intended for the children of Afghanistan, ending up in markets."

But the availability of aid items in bazaars does not necessarily prove corruption, observers say.

It can be a sign of badly targeted aid - for example, where shelter is a priority but food is given, or vice versa. Recipients may exchange or sell aid in any relief operation to meet other urgent needs, aid workers say.

UNICEF's Khadivi says the "missing link" is consistent monitoring of local NGOs and the government bodies through which UN agencies, and other international aid organisations, channel aid to inaccessible and insecure areas.

The ODI report, Corruption Perceptions and Risks in Humanitarian Assistance: An Afghanistan Case Study, commented: "Much of the post-war funding in Afghanistan has flowed through international NGOs, which have then subcontracted work to local organisations. This work is then sometimes subcontracted again. This results in a long chain of upwards accountability that is hard to monitor and offers many opportunities for corruption."

The report lists four main risk areas: the "urgency to spend"; state capacity; procurement, construction and public works; and poor security.

Vulnerable to corruption, hard to access

In Helmand Province - much of which is under the control of the Taliban and external civilian actors have little or no presence - provincial officials acknowledge that fragile state structures are extremely vulnerable to corruption.

"Corruption is a countrywide phenomenon," said Assadullah Wafa, the governor of Helmand Province. "Unfortunately our efforts to tackle the problem effectively have been affected by unrelenting armed conflict," Wafa added.

But in dangerous areas, aid organisations have to rely especially heavily on local government and local NGOs to implement projects.

Helmand's war-affected areas are among 78 districts deemed "extremely risky and inaccessible", according to a September 2007 report by the UN Secretary-General. (http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S/2007/555&Lang=E&Area=UNDOC)

If not properly managed these so called "remote-control" humanitarian and development projects can be acutely susceptible to corruption and waste, Lorenzo Delesgues, the director of Integrity Watch, a Kabul-based think-tank, told IRIN.

"In unstable environments where you do not have access, or no capacity to really control what is being done with your money, you really create a lot of opportunities for mismanagement of aid and sometimes corruption," Delesgues said.

Some aid providers, however, say they use various strategies to ensure the effectiveness of projects run on their behalf in inaccessible areas.

"Because we recognise this is an environment which fosters theft of assets for reasons that are pretty well understood, we try to overlay multiple verification systems," said Rick Corsino, the head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan.

The ODI report documented aid mismanagement and corruption in a protracted humanitarian project in Herat Province, 2001-2003, but also looked at the present situation in Afghanistan.

One of the main conclusions of the study was that there should be increased awareness of the risks of aid mismanagement and corruption among those delivering and receiving humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, said Delesgues, one of the report's authors.

"There are two people to whom aid workers should be accountable: people who give the money, the taxpayers in donor countries; and the people who receive it, the beneficiaries in Afghanistan," Delesgues said.
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Violence in Afghanistan has soared by 30%, UN report says
Declan Walsh in Islamabad Thursday October 4, 2007 The Guardian
An alarming surge in suicide attacks has fuelled a 30% rise in violence in Afghanistan this year, according to the UN.
This year has seen an average of 550 violent incidents a month compared with 425 in 2006, a report by the Department of Safety and Security said.

The past 10 days have been a sobering indicator of the trend - almost 300 people have died in coalition air strikes, roadside ambushes and suicide bombings.

The bloodshed is in stark contrast with Iraq, where the death rate has been steadily falling, partly due to a US troop surge. There are 40,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan and more than 175,000 in Iraq.

Brutality has become a hallmark of the insurgency. This week the Taliban hanged a 15-year-old boy from an electrical pole in Helmand, stuffing dollar bills into his mouth and accusing him of being a spy.

In Kabul last Saturday 30 people died after a suicide bomber boarded a bus transporting Afghan army recruits. A second attack on Tuesday killed 17 people on a police bus, including a mother and four children.

In the south, Nato and American-led forces are gaining large military victories, sometimes claiming hundreds of Taliban deaths a day. But the insurgents have adapted to the western military superiority by focusing on low-intensity, high-impact attacks in civilian areas. "The battles with western forces are incredibly lopsided. But the Taliban probably consider they are winning," said Seth Jones, an analyst with the Rand Corporation.

The UN report contradicts recent upbeat statements by President George Bush and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, in New York. Now Mr Karzai and western officials are discussing a previously unthinkable prospect - negotiation with the enemy.

Last Saturday Mr Karzai repeated his offer of talks with the Taliban's one-eyed leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, referring to him as "esteemed" instead of the usual boilerplate "enemy of Afghanistan". But the overture was swiftly rebuffed.

"The Taliban will never negotiate with the Afghan government in the presence of foreign troops," spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told Associated Press. A Karzai spokesman said it was "a process that would take some time".

Analysts say the Taliban have a two-pronged strategy: to re-establish their authority over the southern provinces around their former headquarters in Kandahar and to destabilise a ring of provinces around Kabul.

"They are trying to split Kandahar from the north," said a western military official in the region. A senior British commander admitted to a recent visitor that Nato controlled "at most" 20% of southern Afghanistan.

Rear bases in Baluchistan in neighbouring Pakistan also play a key role. "To the degree there's any central leadership it's based out of Quetta," said Mr Jones, referring to the Baluchi capital.

A western official with access to intelligence files said it was "absolutely true" that some Pakistani officials were helping the Taliban.

"There are clearly people in the ISI [intelligence agency] and the military who help out. They make it a romantic thing: the Pashtuns who haven't been defeated since Alexander the Great," he said.

But the official said that President General Pervez Musharraf had been a "pretty good ally" in the fight against militancy, and that the assistance to the Taliban was limited to a small number of officials.

Mr Karzai's most urgent problem is his own lack of authority. Rampant drug smuggling and government corruption have badly eroded faith in his leadership in the worst affected areas.

"The Taliban are not particularly popular. It's just that people are completely fed up with the government," said Mr Jones.
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Taliban poised for a big push
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online, Hong Kong
KARACHI - Following the success of their 2006 spring offensive, the Taliban were expected to make even further gains in Afghanistan this year. It never happened, due to strong pre-emptive action by Western coalition forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani military action against Taliban bases in the Pakistani tribal areas.

However, plans for a mass uprising on the back of renewed insurgency activity are far from shelved, and could be implemented with vigor at the end of the Islamic holy month of

Ramadan next week, with tens of thousands of freshly trained men pouring into Afghanistan.

The key lies in Pakistan's tribal areas, from where the Taliban draw recruits, have training camps and run their logistics.

The Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad signed peace agreements in February 2005 and September 2006, under the terms of which the Pakistani Army cut back its troop levels in the tribal areas in return for militants stopping their attacks on the Pakistani Army and forces in Afghanistan.

In July the Taliban abandoned the treaties following the storming of the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad by government troops. The mosque was an outspoken supporter of the Taliban movement and many militants used it as a sanctuary.

Since then, the Pakistani military has re-engaged militants in the tribal areas, severely choking their supply arteries.

In the past 10 days, however, militants have launched at least nine carefully planned operations against security positions in both North Waziristan and South Waziristan, and in towns in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), including Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, and in the Swat Valley.

As a result, all security operations against the Taliban and their al-Qaeda colleagues in the tribal areas have stopped, and by all accounts the army is running scared. It is estimated that Pakistan has 100,000 troops and 1,000 military posts along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

From the military's perspective, the situation is exacerbated by a political hiatus in Islamabad. President General Pervez Musharraf stands for re-election in Saturday's presidential polls, after which he is expected to step down as military head and prepare over the next few months for a civilian consensus government, most likely with former premier Benazir Bhutto. No new plans to tackle the problems in the tribal areas can be expected until this situation is settled.

The Taliban and their supporters now have the breathing space to replenish stocks and prepare for their new push into Afghanistan. It is envisaged that at least 20,000 fully trained fresh men from at least 16 entry points along the Durand Line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan will be sent into Afghanistan.

According to people who spoke to Asia Times Online and who are familiar with the planning, the main points will be Noshki (in Balochistan province), Ghulam Khan (North Waziristan), Angur Ada (South Waziristan), Shawal (North Waziristan), and Chitral and Bajuar agencies.

The new forces will go to the front lines in Afghanistan in the southeastern provinces of Ghazni, Khost, Gardez, Paktia and Paktika, and many of them will be trained suicide bombers.

The action has already picked up in Ghazni. On Wednesday, hundreds of Taliban occupied the remote district of Ajristan, killing at least two policemen and forcing the rest to flee. The Taliban have occupied numerous other remote areas. Wednesday's attack came a day after a suicide attack on a police bus in the capital, Kabul, killed 13 people.

The strategy to attack the Pakistani Army is being orchestrated by a cabal of former army officers who have joined up with the militants in Waziristan. (See Military brains plot Pakistan's downfall Asia Times Online, September 26). They draw inspiration from the guerrilla strategy used by Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap against the French and the Americans. Given the backoff by the Pakistani military, their plans are working, at least for now.

Military under attack
From the daring attacks on Frontier Constabulary forts in Bannu in NWFP, where fresh hostages were taken, to suicide attacks on military and paramilitary convoys in the Swat Valley, the militants' intelligence network is doing its job.

In all cases, the targets have been accurately pinpointed, and the operations carried out according to plan. The attacks have swiftly reached into the Swat Valley and send a clear message to the commanders in their barracks in Peshawar to pull back their troops or face the music.

Indeed, the latest offensive against the army has sent shockwaves through military headquarters in Rawalpindi, and it is even feared that they could spread to big cities such as Karachi, Lahore and the capital Islamabad.

Pakistani officials have admitted to more than 1,000 of the country's forces being killed in the tribal areas. Large-scale kidnappings also have a demoralizing effect on troops. To date, more than 500 troops have been abducted in different operations, the most recent being the capture of 22 in Bannu. Some of them have been swapped for Taliban prisoners, while some are still in captivity.

This week, while in the United States pleading for more time in taming the tribal areas, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan acknowledged his country had an "image problem".

Clearly it's more than just image. Pakistan's reaction - or inaction - in the tribal areas will have a direct bearing on the Taliban's offensive in Afghanistan, and the longer its troops are on the defensive, the better the chances of the Taliban.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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In a basement in Bannu, a group of Pakistani Taliban vow to continue Afghan operations
By Suzanna Koster | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
The 26-year-old Pakistani pro-Taliban militant Majnoon used to openly vice patrol in his hometown, Datta Khel, along the Afghan border, he says. But since a peace agreement in his area ended two months ago, the Pakistani Army is after him, and he says he can no longer go after those who violate Islamic social norms. But he still wants to continue his struggle for an Islamic state in Afghanistan.

"Now the training camps over here are shunned, and everybody is on the road to get training in suicide attacks and other tactics inside Afghanistan," says Majnoon, wearing a white prayer cap.

Majnoon, and a few other self-declared Taliban fighters interviewed recently in a basement in Bannu, say that the NATO and US forces in Afghanistan now face more threats from Pakistani pro-Taliban militants than before a controversial peace agreement was broken.

Pro-Taliban militants and the Pakistani government signed a heavily criticized peace agreement in February 2005 and September 2006. The Pakistani Army agreed to reduce its presence in tribal areas if the militants would stop attacking the Pakistani Army and forces in Afghanistan.

But many analysts and observers said that the peace agreement provided free cross-border movement for Taliban fighters, thereby increasing violence and instability.

Last July, the agreement came to an end following a standoff between the Pakistani military and militants in Islamabad's Lal (Red) Mosque.

No longer occupied with vice patrols and running their own tribal government, Majnoon and other Pakistani Taliban say they are now devoting their efforts fighting the Pakistani military and foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, though it has become harder for them to operate.

"Now that the peace agreement is broken it is very difficult for us to move in groups or convoys, because now we are against the military persons, and police officials are everywhere," says Majnoon, making sure to stay in line with his Muslim beliefs and avoid eye contact with his female interviewer.

This development is dangerous for both the foreign and local forces in Afghanistan, say the interviewees, and has already proved lethal for Pakistani security personnel.

Indeed, a new United Nations report shows an upsurge in violence in Afghanistan this year. On average the country has seen an average of 550 violent incidents per month, compared with 425 a month last year.

Some analysts are skeptical of the Pakistani militants' remarks about having more time and incentive to cross into Afghanistan. "They have their own fight here now. They cannot spare any fighters to go to Afghanistan," says Rahimullah Yousafsai, an editor for the Pakistani newspaper The News.

Samina Ahmad, project director for South Asia at the International Crisis Group in Islamabad, agrees. "They have been targeting Bannu every second day," she says.

Though Maulana Attaullah Shah Bukhari, head of the Pakistani Taliban in Bannu, seems light-hearted, smiling after every answer, he considers himself at war. "It is just retaliation here [in Pakistan], but on the other side of the border, NATO forces US coalition forces, and British forces will face the brunt of this situation," he says, referring to the broken peace agreement.

Mr. Bukhari is an enormous man with a long beard, and trained in the notorious Haqqani Madrassah, a religious school that produced several prominent Taliban leaders. He says that now he produces his own Taliban fighters for Afghanistan in his religious school with 2,000 students and followers.

One of them is Qari Afsar, who says that he just came back from the Afghan province of Uruzgan. "We have their cooperation in every aspect, in bread, butter, life, weapons, everything," he says, referring to the Afghans.

The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban coordinate their attacks by satellite phones, says one of the turban-headed fighters who requests not to be named. "We have a special wireless system through which we communicate, clear issues with each other, and to tell who's coming and who's going."

Ms. Ahmad confirms that Taliban militants, like Majnoon and Bukhari are growing stronger in Pakistan. "A US national intelligence assessment tells us that the Taliban have revised and reinvigorated their presence in Pakistan's tribal belt," he says.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement that "the president has repeatedly affirmed Pakistan's determination not to allow our territory to be used against Afghanistan." It also said that 100,000 troops and 1,000 military posts were put along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

But militants maintain that crossing the border is easy. "We don't feel any kind of fear that anyone will spy on us or the government will arrest us, because the other side of the border is also our land," says Bukhari.

Asad Durrani, the former head of Pakistan military's Inter-Services Intelligence Bureau, says it is impossible to stop the cross-border movement. But he downplays the role of Pakistani and other foreign fighters in Afghanistan. "Foreigners never made a difference in Afghanistan."
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No plan to increase Afghanistan troops
October 4, 2007 - 7:02PM The Age
The Federal Government has no immediate plan to increase the number of troops it has in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson today ruled out any immediate plan to increase the size of Australia's force in Afghanistan.

The deployment of two Chinook helicopters to the war zone early next year will see the size of the Australian contingent pass 1000.

But Dr Nelson poured cold water on reports the coalition would send hundreds more troops to Afghanistan's southern Oruzgan province, where diggers are working with a Dutch-led reconstruction taskforce.

The Dutch government is reportedly considering withdrawing its troops.

Dr Nelson today said he had recently deployed a dozen extra soldiers to support the Oruzgan force but had no plan to send more.

"Recently, I deployed a dozen soldiers to support mortars for our troops in Oruzgan, but at this stage we certainly have no plans to increase our troop presence in Afghanistan," he told reporters.

Dr Nelson said Australia was waiting to see whether the Dutch force would be staying or going.

"We're waiting for our partners in Afghanistan - that's the Netherlands - to make a decision as to whether it will continue its deployment or not, and if so, in what numbers," he said.

"But certainly, the Australian government is not planning to send any more soldiers to Afghanistan."

Dr Nelson said there was no suggestion that Australia would step in to replace the Dutch force, which was part of a NATO operation.

"This is a NATO-led operation," he said.

"The Netherlands is making its own decision as to whether it will continue in Afghanistan.

"We understand that it is likely to do so. It may not continue in the numbers that it is, and if the Netherlands does decide to reduce its numbers then obviously NATO will fill any gap that it has left."
AAP
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Afghans' anger muted in fatal shooting
GRAEME SMITH - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail October 3, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The road where a Canadians soldier accidentally shot two Afghans yesterday morning had returned to normal by afternoon, as Kandahar avoided the kind of angry demonstrations that followed another killing last week.

Amid the jostle and clamour of ordinary traffic on the west side of Kandahar city, people at the scene of the shooting voiced a grim acceptance of the deadly mishaps that happen when heavily armed convoys make daily forays into Afghanistan's second-largest city.

“Please tell the Canadians to be careful on the road, because you make people very afraid,” said Mohammed Kabir, 59, a money changer.

The voices were more emotional at the funeral for Esmatullah Zia, the teenager who died of gunshots to the head. In the village of Karam Kalacha, a northern suburb of the city, throngs of relatives and tribesmen gathered to bury the 18- or 19-year-old garage employee. They declared the Canadians “enemies of Islam, and our enemies.”

But the reaction was far less raucous than the street protests that followed the shooting of two religious teachers in a village west of Kandahar last week. In that case, the mullahs had been shot dead in their bedrooms during an apparent raid by U.S. forces, and the villagers received no apology, no compensation and no statement from anybody taking responsibility for the killing.

The Canadian military and NATO made a greater effort at damage control in the aftermath of the latest incident. Press statements from both organizations quickly acknowledged an “accidental discharge” of a weapon had occurred at 6:45 a.m.

Soldiers at the scene gave first aid to the teenager and his younger brother Ahmad Zia, 12, who had been struck by the Canadians' gunfire during their morning drive to work.

The shooting will be examined by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, and the military released few details of the circumstances because of the probe.

“Unfortunately, a motorcycle came near the convoy and a shot was fired, and the driver of the motorcycle died and a passenger was injured,” said Captain Josée Bilodeau, a military spokeswoman. “For sure it didn't result from enemy activity. It was an accident.”

Afghan police initially took the injured boy to Mirwais hospital for treatment, but with a bullet wound in his head, the chances of his survival in the poorly funded local facility were not good. The boy's family pleaded for help from the Canadians, who responded within hours. An ambulance took him to Kandahar Air Field, where he was allowed into the sophisticated military hospital. His head swaddled in bandages, he appeared to be conscious.

“This afternoon he was in surgery, so I don't know whether he's doing well, but for sure we are doing our best to provide him the best treatment we can,” Capt. Bilodeau said.

Military officials from the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar city are also expected to negotiate a payment to help the family in the coming days.

“We have to stop this cruelty,” Ghusudin, the boys' uncle, told a CTV News cameraman at the hospital. “The head of the [provincial] council and other elders have to take serious action; otherwise, we will hold another demonstration.”

Several locals in Kandahar complained that they have never seen a foreign soldier punished for any action that harmed a civilian. “The Canadians are just saying ‘sorry,' and they've killed so many people like this,” said Akbar, 49, a businessman. “They say ‘We will discipline our soldier,' but always we see zero results.”

But the launch of a CFNIS probe of the events does indicate that consequences are possible. An independent body, the CFNIS reports to the military's top police officer, the Provost Marshal, outside the operational chain of command.

“Our National Investigative Service is taking this very seriously,” Capt. Bilodeau said. “There is an investigation ongoing, and we will know what happened.”
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Militants kill three abducted Pakistani soldiers
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pro-Taliban militants holding more than 200 Pakistani soldiers in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border shot dead three of their captives on Thursday, officials said.

The troops were abducted in insurgency-hit South Waziristan district in late August in a major blow to the military, which has around 90,000 soldiers fighting Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels on the frontier.

The militants had threatened on Wednesday to kill three of the soldiers daily to put pressure on the government to halt military operations in the rugged region.

"The bodies of three soldiers were found in the town of Jandola early Thursday when people woke up to take their pre-dawn Ramadan meal," a security official told AFP.

"They were wearing military uniforms and had been shot in the head," he said.

Around 30 soldiers have been freed in recent weeks on the intervention of tribal peace committees, or jirgas.

But they started killing the soldiers after government took action against "innocent" people following a suicide attack on a military convoy last week in which three soldiers were injured, a militant spokesman said.

"The government has sabotaged the jirga process by launching an operation against innocent people," Zulfiqar Mahsud, the spokesman of local militant commander Baitullah Mahsud said.

"We will start beheading three soldiers every day and intensify attacks on security forces in different cities of the country if operations continue in the region," Mahsud said.

Pakistan has been rocked by a string of deadly militant attacks, many of them targeting security forces, since troops staged a bloody raid on the Al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.
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US wants to bring Colombia tactics to Afghan drugs war
The Independent By Kim Sengupta in Lashkar Gar  04 October 2007
The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, is resisting American pressure to authorise a major programme of crop spraying to eradicate the country's massive opium crop amid warnings that it would lead to a rise in support for the Taliban.

The plan has been strongly opposed by the British, who hold that it will make the task of the military in Helmand, the province which produces 50 per cent of the opium crop, much harder. Spraying from the air, critics say, carries with it the danger of destroying other crops, causing long-term ecological damage, and affecting the health of livestock.

But according to senior Western and Afghan officials, the American position has been significantly strengthened following the latest poppy harvest, which shows a jump of 34 per cent from last year, which was already a world record. America's determination has also been sharpened with the evidence that Afghan opium, which now accounts for 93 per cent of the world's supply, has started reaching markets in the United States.

The recent appointment of a former US ambassador to Colombia as envoy to Kabul is seen as the most overt move by Washington to ensure that spraying takes place in Afghanistan. William Wood, who has acquired the nickname "Chemical Bill" among British and other Nato officials for his fervent belief in chemical spraying, was in the team which implemented "Plan Colombia", which involved aerial spraying in the Latin American state in an attempt to eliminate cocaine production.

The policy in Colombia came under severe criticism with claims that it damaged legitimate crops and ultimately failed in its aims of destroying the coca crop. However, during his confirmation hearing before Congress, Mr Wood said the Colombian option may be repeated in Afghanistan and General Peter Pace, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, has also voiced the opinion that it could be a template for Afghanistan. Members of the Colombian security forces are already training Afghan police in counter-narcotics.

A recent meeting of the Afghan cabinet, according to senior officials, came close to approving the use of spraying on a limited, experimental basis. However President Karzai is said to have agreed to delay the decision after impassioned pleas from the ministers of Agriculture and Public Health. The issue remains immensely sensitive and yesterday President Karzai's spokesman insisted: "Our view is there should be a comprehensive policy to tackle the problem, including the provision of alternative livelihoods. It was decided that we will not start crop spraying. This was a unanimous decision by the government."

Yet Ahmed Zia Massoud, one of Afghanistan's two vice-presidents, has publicly declared his support for spraying. He said: "I have no doubt that the efforts of Britain and the international community in fighting the opium trade in Afghanistan are well-intentioned, and we are grateful for their support. But that policy has not worked and the time has come for us to adopt a more forceful approach.

"We must switch from ground-based eradication to aerial spraying. The opium directly supports those who are killing Afghan and international troops. Failure to achieve a substantial reduction in the opium crop will be equivalent to supporting the Taliban."

A US diplomatic source said: "There is absolutely no evidence that spraying causes harm to people or cattle. Everyone has seen the rise in the poppy harvest, and obviously the current policy is not working."
Additional reporting by Ahmed Nasruddin Ali
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Afghan foreign minister urges German support for Enduring Freedom 
Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:20:49 GMT EARTHtimes.org
Berlin - Civilian casualties caused by the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan have fallen dramatically, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Sparta told German radio Friday, urging international support for the counterterrorism operation. Sparta acknowledged that the Afghan government had in the past criticized OEF, but he said that action had been taken to cut civilian deaths.

"We developed mechanisms for greater cooperation between the Afghan authorities and the anti-terrorism coalition, so that the number of civilian victims has fallen dramatically," Sparta told Suedwestrundfunk.

The Afghan foreign minister said al-Qaeda was active in Afghanistan with many foreign elements, and without OEF reconstruction could not be secured.

Sparta in particular urged Germany's Greens party, which is currently in opposition, to back all aspects of the German involvement in Afghanistan when they come up for renewal by parliament in the weeks ahead.

Sparta was long resident in Germany and is a member of the Greens, which backed the Afghan deployment at the end of 2001 when it was in power in but is now divided on the issue.

Germany has three separate deployments in Afghanistan. Up to 3,000 ground troops are deployed on a reconstruction and training mission in the relatively peaceful north under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Since April, six Tornado reconnaissance jets have been assisting NATO operations throughout the country, with up to 500 support personnel.

The Bundestag is to vote later this month on combining these two mandates and extending them.

Next month the Bundestag votes on renewing the more controversial commitment of 100 elite troops to OEF. The troops are not currently deployed.
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Canada issues Afghan rally cry
TENILLE BONOGUORE - Globe and Mail Update and Canadian Press October 2, 2007
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier issued a rallying cry Tuesday to the United Nations, calling on member nations to support the bid to appoint a special UN envoy for Afghanistan.

In his debut speech to the UN General Assembly, Mr. Bernier said the world needed to show the “determination” and “political will” to truly uphold human rights in the country.

And they can rely on Canada to be “a reliable partner” in that effort, he said. “Security is the crucial pillar on which everything rests, and long-term stability means the sustainable development of the country,” Mr. Bernier said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier addresses the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters Tuesday in New York City. Leaders and diplomats from around the world are in New York City for the United Nations yearly General Assembly. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Canada is calling for the appointment of a high-level Afghan envoy, to be modelled on the work of former British prime minister Tony Blair in the Middle East peace process.

Mr. Bernier said the very foundation of democracy in Afghanistan relies on strong support from other nations.

“Canada believes a united international community must support efforts to rebuild Afghanistan. No one country can do this alone,” he said.

“... The challenge is great, we all know that, but the principles we defend are even greater.”

Without security, he said, there was no way to ensure democracy, political stability, health services or education.

“The challenges which we must face to preserve our security are of such a magnitude that no country can hope to tackle it alone,” Mr. Bernier said.

“... Canada will remain a reliable partner for all countries that want to promote freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”

Mr. Bernier said the efforts of about 60 countries and international groups in Afghanistan are commendable, but a new high-profile envoy for the NATO effort should be able to attract more help and better co-ordinate efforts.

The UN's role in Afghanistan is the world body's “most important special political mission,” he said.

Bernier has talked about the idea in some 30 bilateral meetings at the UN last week.

“We built a strong case,” he said after the 10-minute speech. It was not immediately clear how UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will respond.

Mr. Bernier, who used the meetings to ask for military and humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, said the French government committed to putting more planes into the southern province of Kandahar and sending 150 more soldiers to train Afghan forces.

Mr. Bernier, who became foreign minister in a cabinet shuffle in August, also said Canada wants the UN to extend the stabilization mission in Haiti.

And he praised the UN Human Rights Council for holding a special session on Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country also known as Burma.

“In Burma, it is imperative to restore democracy and human rights. We expect the UN to be at the forefront of these efforts,” he said.

In Sudan, he said, peacekeeping missions are forming a security framework for durable peace. “The international community must demonstrate the political will to find new solutions.”

The prime minister usually addresses the annual General Assembly session, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper couldn't get on the roster last week on the day when U.S. President George W. Bush and other leaders spoke. He chose to speak to a special UN panel on climate change instead.
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Pakistan desires lasting peace in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD, Oct 2 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Pakistan has reiterated its earnest desire for lasting peace, stability and prosperity in war-battered Afghanistan.

"Pakistan is also interested in sending back Afghan refugees and the Afghan government has agreed to it," a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said on Monday.

At a weekly media briefing here, Ms Tasnim Aslam said despite the Pak-Afghan understanding, the UNHCR was not in a position to mobilise the required funds for refugees' repatriation.

"We have asked the UNHCR to pay each returnee at least $100," she said, revealing Islamabad had contributed $500 million to the exercise but the world community had not done enough.

Asked about the pullout of foreign troops from the neighbouring country, the spokesperson replied the Afghans themselves had to take a decision on it.

Pakistan had already suggested the foreign forces would have to leave Afghanistan, Ms Aslam observed, restating the issue could be better tackled by the people of that country.

Islamabad was pursuing a comprehensive strategy for Waziristan and FATA, the militancy-plagued tribal region near the Pak-Afghan border, she claimed, saying the policy could be modified according to the situation.
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Islamabad underlines early return of refugees
GENEVA, Oct 2 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Lauding the efforts being made by the US, NATO and the Karzai administration for improving the security situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan has called for the early return of refugees to their homeland.

With peace efforts underway, Pakistans Permanent Representative to United Nations Ambassador Masood Khan underlined the need for creating what he called the 'pull factor' to step up the repatriation process.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the UNHCR's Executive Committee here on Monday, the ambassador observed his country had dealt with the heaviest refugee population since World War II.

High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutteres and Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir John Homes also addressed the meeting.

For an effective repatriation effort, Khan argued, the returnees should have satisfactory security, shelter and other essential amenities like health, education and water.

He believed one way of achieving that objective was to design individual or family return packages for utilisation of skilled and unskilled refugees in labour-intensive reconstruction projects.  

He urged the UN and the world at large to commit more resources to repairing the damage to the environment in Pakistan caused by the prolonged presence of the refugees.
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