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US: More than 24 militants killed in Afghanistan
Fri Aug 29, 11:29 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - More than 24 militants were killed in two separate battles with U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, the coalition said Friday.
Pentagon Reports U.S. Airstrike Killed 5 Afghan Civilians, Not 90
By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 29, 2008; Page A04
A U.S. military review of an airstrike last week in western Afghanistan maintains that only five civilians were killed, Pentagon officials said yesterday, a finding that starkly contradicts reports by the United Nations
FACTBOX - Security developments in Afghanistan, Aug 29
Aug 29 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1100 GMT on Friday:
Afghan Civilians Killed at Checkpoint, Germany Says (Update1)
By Patrick Donahue
Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Three Afghan civilians were killed by soldiers at a checkpoint run by German and Afghan forces after the drivers of their two vehicles ignored orders to stop, Germany's government said. A fourth died in a separate incident.
Afghan president fast losing his popularity
IANS via Yahoo! India News - Aug 28 10:30 PM
Kabul, Aug 29 (IANS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai is fast losing popularity in the streets of his capital, as he is being blamed for the absence of peace in the country, where the Taliban insurgency
Afghan base is "world's busiest trauma hospital"
Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:12am BST By Luke Baker
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan (Reuters) - From the outside it's a prefabricated building in the midst of the desert, an unremarkable one storey white block. Inside it may be the busiest trauma hospital in the world.
US, Pak army chiefs discuss Taliban
Press TV (Iran) Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:14:40 GMT
The top US and Pakistani military officials have met to discuss strategies to contain the growing Taliban threats along the Pak-Afghan border.
Void in U.S. strategy for Afghanistan
By Gordon Lubold The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Aug 29 1:00 AM
Washington - Senior defense officials are debating how many troops they can send to Afghanistan and how soon they can do it to improve the deteriorating security situation there.
Dostum chief accused of rape and murder
www.quqnoos.com Written by Farhad Balkhi Thursday, 28 August 2008
Residents demand arrest of Dostum commander who 'raped and killed'
RESIDENTS have accused a former Sar-e-Pul commander of murder, robbery, land-grabbing and extortion and have demanded the government arrest him.
Good security, but empty stomachs
The National (United Arab Emirates) Chris Sands, Foreign Correspondent August 28. 2008 8:36PM UAE
BAMIYAN, Afghanistan // Chamand Ali was bent over double as he struggled up the dirt track to his tiny home on the face of the cliff.
Australian troops help reop Afghanistan supply route
August 29, 2008 11:03:21 Radio Australia, Australia
Australia's Defence Force says Australian troops have played a major role in re-opening the main supply route in Afghanistan which was sabotaged by Taliban fighters.
Sarath Kumar signed for trilingual movie to be shot in Afghanistan
Calcutta News.Net Friday 29th August, 2008 (IANS)
Chennai, Aug 29 (IANS) Actor-turned-politician Sarath Kumar has been signed by director Om Prakash to play the lead in a trilingual movie - the first south Indian venture to be shot in Afghanistan, publicists told IANS Friday.
Bayat Foundation Announces a Continuing Olympic Training Grant for Afghanistan's First Olympic Medalist Rohullah Nikpai
Aug. 28, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug 28, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Bayat Foundation announced an Olympic training grant to 21-year-old Rohullah Nikpai, Afghanistan's first Olympic medalist
War, mom behaviors hurt Afghan kid health
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Poor child health in Afghanistan can be linked not just to war, but also to a lack of maternal education and autonomy, researchers said.
Pakistan could no longer bear Afghan refugees’ burdens
The Pakistan Link - Aug 29 8:19 AM
ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has said that it could no longer bear the burdens of Afghan refugees, but the return of all the refugees program completion by 2009 is also not being seen possible.
Million dollar reward for ex-opium farmers
www.quqnoos.com Written by Zabiullah Jhanmal & newsdesk Thursday, 28 August 2008
Ministry dishes out $10m as part of pledge to prop up drug-free provinces
Iranian, Afghan, Tajik presidents issue joint statement
Dushanbe, Aug 29, IRNA
Iranian, Afghan and Tajik presidents here on Thursday issued a joint statement for expansion of trilateral cooperation.
French-Afghan team unearths Buddha's head
www.quqnoos.com Written by Noorullah Rahmani Thursday, 28 August 2008
Archaeologists discover statue and precious coin dating back to Alexander
US army to swap dollar for Afghani
Written by www.quqnoos.com Thursday, 28 August 2008
Military sign contract that will see soldiers buy goods in Afghanis on US base
Road closures spark anger among Kabulis
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdullah Anwari Thursday, 28 August 2008
Residents say government should warn people before roads close
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US: More than 24 militants killed in Afghanistan
Fri Aug 29, 11:29 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - More than 24 militants were killed in two separate battles with U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, the coalition said Friday.
More than a dozen militants were killed after they attacked a coalition base in Shaheed Hasas district of the southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, the coalition said. Two Afghan guards also died during the attack.
Coalition troops responded with small arms fire, mortars and airstrikes, killing the militants, the coalition said.
Separately, about a dozen militants were killed during a raid by coalition troops in eastern Paktika province, also on Thursday, the coalition said.
The forces were searching compounds in Paktika's Bermel district for a militant responsible for "the movement of foreign fighters from Pakistan into Afghanistan," according to the coalition.
Militants fired on them during the sweep and they responded with gunfire, killing the militants.
More than 3,700 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence in Afghanistan this year.
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Pentagon Reports U.S. Airstrike Killed 5 Afghan Civilians, Not 90
By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 29, 2008; Page A04
A U.S. military review of an airstrike last week in western Afghanistan maintains that only five civilians were killed, Pentagon officials said yesterday, a finding that starkly contradicts reports by the United Nations and Afghan officials that the civilian death toll from the bombing was at least 90.
The completed review corroborates an initial assessment by the military of the operation Friday by U.S. and Afghan forces in a village in Herat province. The review determined that 25 militants, including a Taliban commander, and five civilians had been killed, the officials said.
"We did not kill up to 90 civilians as has been alleged," one U.S. military official said. The review "comports with our operational understanding" of the events, said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan were expected to present their findings to Afghan government officials -- possibly including President Hamid Karzai -- at a meeting Thursday, the officials said. The U.S. military planned to propose that the two sides conduct a joint investigation of the incident, they said. The Associated Press first reported the results of the U.S. review and stated that agreement had been reached on a U.S.-Afghan investigation.
The Associated Press reported yesterday that according to three Afghan officials, U.S. commanders were misled into striking the village. The Afghan officials said that the raid was aimed at militants who were supposed to be in the village, but that the operation was based on faulty information provided by the rival of a tribal leader.
The airstrike, which the U.S. military said took place after insurgents ambushed Afghan army commandos and coalition troops during a raid, came as U.S. and NATO forces escalated their reliance upon air power to combat an intensifying Taliban insurgency, in part because of a shortage of ground forces in Afghanistan.
The mistaken killing of civilians in airstrikes has long been a sore point between the U.S. military and Karzai, who has in the past demanded a temporary halt to airstrikes and other military operations in certain regions. Tensions over the issue have flared anew with the latest charges.
Senior U.S. military leaders have in recent days voiced doubt about the credibility of reports that scores of Afghan civilians died in the airstrike.
"I've seen the account stated from both the U.N. and certainly from the Afghan government. I've also seen it . . . discussed that, in fact, that didn't happen," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a media roundtable at the Pentagon yesterday morning.
Mullen said he had not yet seen the results of the review ordered by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, who commands U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan as well as U.S. Special Operations forces that operate in Afghanistan with Afghan army commandos.
Still, Mullen acknowledged that even a single civilian death harms the American effort in Afghanistan. "We know that when collateral damage occurs, that it really does set us back. So we work exceptionally hard to make sure that doesn't happen," he said.
The use of airstrikes in Afghanistan increased tenfold from 2004 to 2007 as a result of a growing Taliban insurgency and a lack of adequate ground forces, said Anthony Cordesman, a senior military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Nevertheless, Cordesman also found that in many instances aircraft make sorties without dropping major munitions, suggesting that the military is using considerable restraint in targeting.
Mullen said Thursday that there is "an urgent requirement" to send additional troops to Afghanistan. "We're looking to do that as rapidly as we can," he said.
Mullen, who this week met with Pakistan's senior military leadership on a U.S. aircraft carrier, also said that the U.S. and Pakistani militaries must intensify efforts to crack down on insurgents flowing across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, warning of "syndicate-like behavior" among extremist groups in Pakistan's tribal areas.
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FACTBOX - Security developments in Afghanistan, Aug 29
Aug 29 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1100 GMT on Friday:
* KUNDUZ - One woman and two children were killed and three others wounded when Afghan security forces and German soldiers fired at a car that failed to stop at a checkpoint in the northern province of Kunduz on Thursday, deputy police chief Abdurahman Aqtash told Reuters. A spokesman for the German defence ministry confirmed the incident, saying three civilians had died and that an investigation had been launched.
PAKTIKA - U.S.-led coalition forces killed about 12 militants during a search for an insurgent in the Barmal district in eastern Paktika province on Thursday, the U.S. military said.
* KUNAR - Militants attacked a small NATO-led outpost in the Pech district of northeastern Kunar province, killing one civilian, on Thursday, the NATO force said in a statement. No soldiers were wounded in the attack, it said. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Paul Tait)
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Afghan Civilians Killed at Checkpoint, Germany Says (Update1)
By Patrick Donahue
Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Three Afghan civilians were killed by soldiers at a checkpoint run by German and Afghan forces after the drivers of their two vehicles ignored orders to stop, Germany's government said. A fourth died in a separate incident.
Authorities are investigating the checkpoint shooting that occurred yesterday southeast of the northern city of Kunduz, German Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said today at a briefing in Berlin. NATO said the victims were two children and a woman, adding that two others were injured.
The fourth civilian was killed by militants who attacked an outpost in the eastern province of Kunar, which lies on the border with Pakistan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in an e-mailed statement.
Security in northern Afghanistan, which has been calmer than the more violent south, has deteriorated this year as Taliban-led insurgents step up a campaign against the government and foreign troops. Tensions have increased in the area since a German soldier was killed two days ago in a bomb attack.
``The situation in the north has intensified,'' Raabe said, adding that Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung has deployed more of Germany's 3,370 soldiers in the area around Kunduz.
The German soldier was killed and three others were wounded in Kunduz on Aug. 27 when a vehicle in their convoy struck a roadside bomb. The German government's mandate for the country's participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan keeps most troops in the north and places strict limits on their participation in joint combat missions.
Afghan insurgents have stepped up their attacks as NATO and a U.S. counterterrorism force have struggled to stabilize the country under the leadership of President Hamid Karzai. Karzai has also been critical of operations resulting in civilian casualties in the country.
The United Nations said this week that it found ``convincing evidence'' that 90 people, including 60 children, were killed in an air raid in Herat province on Aug. 21.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.
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Afghan president fast losing his popularity
IANS via Yahoo! India News - Aug 28 10:30 PM
Kabul, Aug 29 (IANS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai is fast losing popularity in the streets of his capital, as he is being blamed for the absence of peace in the country, where the Taliban insurgency is gaining momentum despite the presence of over 8,000 soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
'Since his appointment as president he has never thought about the people of Afghanistan. Rather he is bent upon appeasing his foreign masters,' says Mesi Ameri, who has lived in Kabul since his birth in 1957.
'I've seen a kingdom, the rulers backed by Russia, the Mujahideen government and Taliban, but this man (Karzai) is the weakest ruler,' he told IANS at his electronics goods shop in this city where people live under the constant threat of not only terrorists but the security guards of different UN, NATO and ISAF organisations.
At every building, be it a bank, a foreign embassy or a UN mission, a private building or a hospital, several guards are seen standing alert, fingers on the triggers of their automatic weapons.
'The most unpopular man is in power, one who has never been seen at public places for the last five years. He is living in his highly guarded palace. How can he serve the nation?' questions Suliman Jalaluddin, teacher in a local high school.
Like him, many think that Karzai will not return after the next presidential elections scheduled next year. But they are not really looking forward to that, as many think that the US-led alliance will replace Karzai with someone else.
'We have to see whether the US wants Karzai to continue, as he has completely failed to deliver according to the wishes of people of Afghanistan and the alliance (ISAF),' Hamadan Pazhwak, professor in a local college, told IANS.
He thinks that Karzai has lost the confidence of the US and other international players in Afghanistan. 'He is fast losing his friends and I am sure after President George Bush steps down in January next year, Karzai will be completely left alone and will be dumped by the new US administration,' Pazhwak said.
The Kabul that was ruined during the long civil war is gaining back its glory but may take at least 10 more peaceful years to establish itself as a modern city. On the one hand there are five-star hotels with all modern facilities and crammed with the latest costly vehicles from around the world; on the other, people living on the hills in areas around Bagh-e-Babur have to carry water to their homes on donkeys.
'The governments have done nothing for us, neither the Mujahdeen, Taliban nor President Karzai. We have no water, no electricity and are living in a miserable condition,' local resident Najib Ahmedzai told IANS, adding that they need a government that will care about the people.
The reaction from women is a little different, though. The president does have a few supporters among them, women who think he should continue in power in order to keep the Taliban away from Kabul. 'You can't imagine how we were living during the Taliban era,' says Zohra Pehlani, who was not allowed to continue her studies during that time.
Karzai was installed as president in 2003 after the Taliban government was overthrown by the ISAF forces which are now present throughout the country.
'I would say that NATO should stay in my country until Taliban forces are eliminated... still we are living under threat... it was a nightmare and if they again came to power I would prefer to kill myself rather than live under Taliban,' said Pehlani, covered from head to toe in a hijab, the all-enveloping veil.
'Hijab should be my choice. I like to cover my head and body according to Islamic tradition, but I don't want someone else to tell me to do so,' said Pehlani, who completed her masters in political science after universities were opened to women once more.
Like Pehlani there are some others who want the 'US man' in government and the ISAF personnel in the country as they feel only these groups can ensure the development of Afghanistan, a country torn by war since late the 1970s when the former USSR invaded it.
'As long as Karzai or some other person appointed by the US is in power and the ISAF troops are in Afghanistan, we will continue to develop,' said Naita Sultan who works in an NGO.
The Afghan currency is higher against the dollar than any other currency in the region, she pointed out. 'And this is only because the US is controlling our government and economy, which to me is not bad,' she told IANS.
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Afghan base is "world's busiest trauma hospital"
Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:12am BST By Luke Baker
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan (Reuters) - From the outside it's a prefabricated building in the midst of the desert, an unremarkable one storey white block. Inside it may be the busiest trauma hospital in the world.
In the past week more than 100 casualties have been shuttled in to the British-run Camp Bastion hospital in southern Afghanistan, more than half with major trauma from explosions and requiring surgery, according to medics.
The wounded, and sometimes dead, have included British, American and Danish soldiers, members of the Afghan army and police, and civilians caught up in the crossfire as the battle against the Taliban has intensified across Helmand province.
"It's the busiest trauma hospital in the world," said a member of Britain's airborne medical response team, pausing barely long enough to catch his breath after delivering another two casualties from a hovering Chinook helicopter.
"At least this week it has been. Busier than anywhere in Iraq. Busier than Johannesburg," he said, referring to the city in South Africa with a notoriously high crime rate and one of the busiest hospitals in the world. "It's non-stop."
The Taliban have indeed stepped up attacks in recent weeks, mounting ambushes and planting deadly roadside bombs across the province, one of the most volatile in Afghanistan.
The upsurge was expected -- in past years the Taliban have taken advantage of the dry summer months and the end of the opium poppy growing season to step up their activities. But this year's rise in violence has surprised even medics.
"I've been in-theatre six weeks and in that time we've dealt with around 500 casualties," said Colonel Iain Moles, the commanding officer of the hospital, showing a reporter around the facility as doctors readied to receive more wounded.
"Whichever way you look at it, that's substantial. Everything has shot up since July," he said.
DEADLIEST MONTH
July was bad, but June was in fact the deadliest recent month for British troops, with 13 killed as the Taliban mounted stiff resistance across Helmand. In July four were killed, and two have died so far in August.
U.S. Marines serving further south in Helmand, and Danish troops who are part of the 75,000-strong NATO-led force in Afghanistan, have also been in the firing line.
In the hospital, Moles and his 150 staff take in whomever they are brought, including wounded Taliban picked up from the battlefield. A U.S. Marine was guarding one bearded, bed-ridden militant, yards from recuperating British soldiers.
Three patients lying alongside each other in the intensive care unit told almost a full story of Afghanistan.
In one bed lay an Afghan policeman badly wounded in an attack. Doctors had given him morphine for his pain but quickly discovered he was an opium addict and that no matter what dose of the drug they gave him it didn't help.
In the next bed lay what Moles -- an Irish family doctor when he's not on deployment -- described as a "$10 Taliban", a young man willing to carry out militant attacks for a bit of cash but not because he's a big believer.
He had accidentally detonated a roadside bomb as he was planting it, blowing off his right hand and riddling his face with shrapnel.
Two beds down in the pristine ward lay a small Afghan child, barely 18 months old, breathing heavily through a respirator. She'd been hit in the abdomen by a fragment of shrapnel. Nurses said she was not faring well.
Asked how she was wounded the nurse said "by a strike", then explained that she'd been hit by U.S. munitions in a mistaken attack on civilians.
(Editing by Alex Richardson)
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US, Pak army chiefs discuss Taliban
Press TV (Iran) Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:14:40 GMT
The top US and Pakistani military officials have met to discuss strategies to contain the growing Taliban threats along the Pak-Afghan border.
The officials met on an American aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to discuss growing militancy along Afghan border.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen who led the US side to the talks, said that Pakistan military chief General Ashfaq Kayani had stepped up operations to flush out Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who were using the border area as a staging point for attacks in Afghanistan.
Mullen told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that he welcomed recent Pakistani military action in the violence-plagued tribal areas but said both Pakistan and the United States needed to do more to shore up security.
"(Kayani) is moving in that direction. I'm pleased that he's moving in that direction and that he is actually operating. Kayani is undertaking operations that were not ongoing a few months ago," the admiral said, adding "We have got to figure out how to get at this problem."
"I came away from the meeting very encouraged that the focus is where it needs to be," he said.
The meeting on a US aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean was the fifth between Mullen and Kayani and took place amid mounting US concerns about insurgent violence in Afghanistan.
Kayani led the Pakistani team to the talks among the top military brass. Also in attendance were US Commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus, who takes over responsibility for the Middle East and South Asia next month; top NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen. David McKiernan; US special operations chief Eric Olson and Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is currently in charge of the Middle East and South Asia region.
The meeting also followed attacks on a major US military base in the southeast of Afghanistan and the combat deaths of 10 French elite troops. Last week, at least 10 suicide bombers staged a coordinated attack on one of the largest American military bases in the country. Also, about 100 insurgents ambushed and killed 10 elite French paratroopers in what was seen as the Taliban's most complex and audacious attacks of the war since 2001.
US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan face an intensifying insurgency, especially in eastern regions of the country where troops have clashed with highly skilled fighters that US officials say are based at Taliban and al Qaeda safe havens across the border in Pakistan.
There are now nearly 70,000 US-led soldiers in Afghanistan to fight a Taliban-led insurgency. But the violence has mounted year by year, with about 50 percent more unrest in some areas this year as compared with 2007, according to NATO commanders.
The Bush adminestration's concerns have deepened about the ability of nuclear-armed Pakistan to confront militants in its northwestern tribal regions, with US ally Pervez Musharraf no longer in office as president and political squabbles paralyzing the country's civilian government.
Political experts say Washington has now focused their attentions on the Pakistani powerful army.
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Void in U.S. strategy for Afghanistan
By Gordon Lubold The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Aug 29 1:00 AM
Washington - Senior defense officials are debating how many troops they can send to Afghanistan and how soon they can do it to improve the deteriorating security situation there.
But even as political pressure mounts to do more to stop the violence in that region, there is increasing fear in the Pentagon that sending in more forces is just a stopgap measure that masks the absence of a broader, viable strategy.
"To a certain extent, we have boxed ourselves into the idea that additional troops is a panacea for revising strategy," says a senior Pentagon official. "That in and of itself becomes the strategy."
More troops does mean more security, says the military official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the matter. But he and others don’t think the conversation inside the Defense Department or at the national level has “matured” past that.
Other officials fear that plans to withdraw more troops from Iraq offers a convenient way to send more to Afghanistan, without a plan for how they would be used or to what objective.
That thinking suggests that Iraq and Afghanistan are one and the same, says the official, when in fact they are different, not only in terms of US interests but in what can be done on the ground.
When the war in Iraq was failing at the end of 2006, President Bush appointed counterinsurgency expert Gen. David Petraeus, who laid out a new approach. The announcement of a surge of roughly 30,000 new troops in Iraq at the start of 2007 was not so much a change in strategy as tactics – and more forces to help implement it. Many defence officials believe Afghanistan needs that same kind of reassessment. But as with Iraq, sending in more troops alone won’t do the trick, they say.
“If my tires are low on air, putting more gas into the car won’t help,” says the senior official.
Any attempt to reassess US strategy in Afghanistan is made more difficult by two factors that don’t exist in Iraq: Much of the violence in Afghanistan stems from terrorist sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan, where coalition forces generally cannot tread. And responsibility lies with a NATO coalition of forces, which means the US has to walk a political tightrope as it sorts out what needs to be done and who should do it.
Experts outside the Pentagon say that though oil-rich Iraq is considered strategically more important, given its proximity to Iran, the US cannot afford to lose in Afghanistan, which is in a region critical to US geo-political interests. Even if it becomes 100 percent secure, the terrorist threat from border regions in Pakistan remains strong. Regardless of the debate over strategy, political pressure makes more troops in Afghanistan inevitable. Both presidential hopefuls, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, have expressed a desire to provide more resources and troops to Afghanistan, with Sen. Joe Biden, Mr. Obama’s running mate, calling Afghanistan “the real central front on terror” in Denver Tuesday.
The Pentagon has said it wants to send as many as three brigades, or about 12,000 more American troops, there. Some could be sent before the end of the year. Earlier this year, then NATO commander US Gen. Dan McNeill told the White House by video teleconference that three more brigades would do the job. There is concern that the request for three brigades has come to dominate the debate about Afghanistan, but without being scrutinized with any real vigor. “That kind of rationalization has not been done for Afghanistan as far as I can tell,” says one aide to a senior member of Congress.
The request for more forces is tied to the assessment General Petraeus will provide this fall on how many troops can be drawn down in Iraq.
The debate over a proper strategy shouldn’t delay sending more forces there soon, says John Nagl, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. Mr. Nagl believes a “decades long” campaign plan is necessary but there is a short term need, too.
“There are always risks of action and inaction, but the risks of not taking action fairly urgently to get boots on the ground, and they have to be American boots, is far graver in my eyes,” he says.
Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, recently visited Iraq and Afghanistan and pressed again Wednesday for more Marines to be pulled out of Iraq and sent to Afghanistan. “More Marines, more coalition forces, will allow us to go to those places and force the bad guys into the mountains,” General Conway said. “And you know what? Sooner or later, they get hungry. They start to starve to death. And they’re much more willing to listen to terms.”
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Dostum chief accused of rape and murder
www.quqnoos.com Written by Farhad Balkhi Thursday, 28 August 2008
Residents demand arrest of Dostum commander who 'raped and killed'
RESIDENTS have accused a former Sar-e-Pul commander of murder, robbery, land-grabbing and extortion and have demanded the government arrest him.
Protestors marched to Balkh province to demand the arrest of Abdul Rahim, a former commander in General Dostum’s Jumbesh Party, accusing government officials of colluding in the commander’s crimes.
Protestors said Abdul Rahim had acted with total disregard for the law in the Sarang Charak district of Sar-e-Pul.
Chief of police in Sang Charak, General Hakim Baig, said the accusations were false and that law and order was in place in the district.
But residents accused the commander of murder, rape and levying illegal taxes on inhabitants in the district.
They said his connections with government officials meant that he could get away with brutal crimes.
One of the protestors said four days ago that one of Abdul Rahim’s guards hit him with a knife in front of the police station before escaping with the help of the police.
General Hakim Baig denied Abdul Rahim had interfered in the activities of local officials.
The head of Sang Charak, Sakhi Dad, denied the resident’s claims and said there was law and order in the district.
Last month, Kamaluddin, also a former commander in the Jumbesh-e-Milli Islami party, was arrested for murdering several people and taking land by force. He was taken to Kabul for investigations.
Abdul Rahim was not available for comment.
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Good security, but empty stomachs
The National (United Arab Emirates) Chris Sands, Foreign Correspondent August 28. 2008 8:36PM UAE
BAMIYAN, Afghanistan // Chamand Ali was bent over double as he struggled up the dirt track to his tiny home on the face of the cliff.
“You can check – there is nothing to eat,” he said after finally arriving. “Every day we just have bread and tea. Once a month we have something to cook in oil as well.”
For villagers across the central province of Bamiyan, life is a constant battle for survival.
Mr Ali has been unemployed for three months and needs his two sons, aged 10 and 12, to earn the family income.
High above them lives Baqir Jafari, who returned to the area after being deported from Iran, where he worked in a shoe factory. He initially looked for a house in the town, but rents were too expensive.
“I don’t know what’s happening in the rest of Afghanistan,” he said. “Poor people do not think about politics and fighting, they just think about how to feed themselves.”
Surrounded by mountains and with no easy transport to other provinces, Bamiyan finds itself cut adrift. The government, the international community and the media have all, in their own ways, ignored the situation here.
This place is famous for two things: its Buddhist heritage and good security. Together they provide an idyllic image that is frequently used to highlight Afghanistan’s potential. In fact, they serve only to conceal a troubling reality.
According to residents and the highest-ranking local official, public anger is rising.
At the heart of the problem lies an economy that is still in ruins. Frustration with Hamid Karzai, the president, is palpable, and while this has not resulted in widespread violence, there is a sense that some kind of unrest could soon develop.
Both Mr Ali and Mr Jafari live illegally on a cliff-face where ancient caves have been crudely fashioned into makeshift houses. During the winter there are regular landslides to go with the near starvation and the threat of eviction.
In the fields below, wheat and potatoes are grown. The farmers can be heard complaining that “nobody cares about the poor people” and fondly remembering a government that has not been in power for 30 years. Some have a second job as labourers in the town.
Among them is Faz Lullah, who said money is what counts. If he could earn a decent living and easily feed his family, he would be happy.
“It’s not getting better, it’s getting worse because the prices are high and the situation is very bad,” he said.
“Security is good but the problem is with the economy – prices are high and the people cannot find jobs.”
Like everywhere else in the country, food costs have increased here. A kilogram of flour is up to three times more expensive than it used to be, yet business for farmers is worse.
Abdul Samad, an imam, accused Mr Karzai’s administration of ignoring Bamiyan’s most pressing concerns.
“Our economy is dependent on the potato, but our government imports potatoes from Pakistan and other countries,” he said. “Why don’t they want to buy ours?”
A 2007 report ranked Afghanistan as one of the world’s poorest nations, placing it 174th out of 178 on the UN’s human development index. It added that 6.6 million Afghans – out of an estimated population of 33 million – do not even receive their minimum food requirements.
Bamiyan’s residents are among the worst off, with the provincial governor estimating 60 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Habiba Sarabi said no one has died from hunger yet, but warned that some people have come close. She blamed the weakening economy on several factors, including a failure to improve the roads leading in and out of Bamiyan.
The return of refugees who fled Afghanistan under the Taliban has also hurt, increasing unemployment and creating a shortage of affordable housing.
“We have the best security here in Bamiyan compared to the other parts of Afghanistan, but from an economic point of view Bamiyan is one of the poorest provinces,” Mrs Sarabi said. “By the time crops are ready for harvest the market is already full of potatoes from other parts of the country and Pakistan, so farmers can’t sell their potatoes at the best price.”
It has been almost seven years since the US-led invasion that promised so much, and one of the few remaining peaceful parts of the country is now at a tipping point. The people have not quite given up hope, but patience is running out.
Mohammed Hashim has experienced a lot in his life. Having been seriously injured by friendly fire while serving in the army during the Soviet occupation, he is waiting to see what fate will deal him now.
“Bamiyan is the safest province in Afghanistan, but the people keep the security – not the government. If the international community and the Afghan government do not care about this province, then the future will not be good,” he said.
“In the provinces where there is fighting the government will pay them money, build bridges and lots of schools. Now they have just closed their eyes to us and this was our mistake – we brought security and that’s why the government doesn’t care about us.”
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Australian troops help reop Afghanistan supply route
August 29, 2008 11:03:21 Radio Australia, Australia
Australia's Defence Force says Australian troops have played a major role in re-opening the main supply route in Afghanistan which was sabotaged by Taliban fighters.
Soldiers from the reconstruction taskforce rebuilt two bridges along the highway linking Kabul and Kandahar.
Defence says a combat team fought a Taliban attack, extreme heat and sandstorms to complete the restoration in half the time expected.
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Yeaman says it was a significant operation.
"The Taliban had sabotaged a number of key bridges along the road between Kabul and Kandahan - our job was to come out of our province to rebuild those bridges and to move back safely," he said.
"Our role as the reconstruction taskforce combines two components: a security component and an engineering component. We were one of the few organisations available to ISAF who could put those two components together."
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Sarath Kumar signed for trilingual movie to be shot in Afghanistan
Calcutta News.Net Friday 29th August, 2008 (IANS)
Chennai, Aug 29 (IANS) Actor-turned-politician Sarath Kumar has been signed by director Om Prakash to play the lead in a trilingual movie - the first south Indian venture to be shot in Afghanistan, publicists told IANS Friday.
Kumar plays a commando on the trail of international terrorists in the movie.
Apart from Kabul, the movie is to be shot in Macau, Hong Kong, Bangalore, Madurai and Chennai.
The film will go on floors in November. It is scheduled for an April 2009 release, publicists added.
Om Prakash has so far directed 23 Kannada films.
According to a press release issued by producer Shankar Gowda's office, the untitled venture will be made in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada and its music will be scored by Vidyasagar.
Currently, Kumar is busy shooting for 'Jaggubhai', an action thriller being directed by K.S. Ravi Kumar and his home production '1977'.
'Jaggubhai' was touted as the next major venture starring Rajnikant after 'Chandramukhi' but Rajnikant withdrew from the project following differences with director Ravi Kumar.
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Bayat Foundation Announces a Continuing Olympic Training Grant for Afghanistan's First Olympic Medalist Rohullah Nikpai
Aug. 28, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug 28, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Bayat Foundation announced an Olympic training grant to 21-year-old Rohullah Nikpai, Afghanistan's first Olympic medalist who won the men's 58-kg taekwondo competition against the former world champion on August 20, 2008 in Beijing.
Upon the medalist's return to Afghanistan, Chairman Ehsan Bayat said, "In recognition of Nikpai's achievement, we are pleased to honor him with this continuing Olympic training grant to support his training and related efforts. He prepared and overcame hardship during a time of war to excel through dedication, a disciplined routine and a commitment to excellence and is a role model and beacon of hope for Afghan youth."
The Bayat Foundation is helping to rebuild Afghanistan through various programs and projects including sports teams and athletic events, the renovation of the Habibia High School sports facility and the construction of the recently inaugurated stadium in Parwan Province to encourage individual and team participation and accomplishment. Executive Director Mrs. Fatema Bayat said, "Nikpai's Olympic victory is an inspiring moment for all of the youth of Afghanistan. Our goal is to reach out to many Afghan children and young people and help them achieve and prosper in the face of adversity."
About Bayat Foundation
The non-governmental Bayat Foundation headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan partners with other NGOs to support in-country humanitarian activities. Since 2005 the Bayat Foundation led by Ehsan & Fatema Bayat has contributed to over 140 projects to improve the quality of life in Afghanistan by providing for basic human needs, constructing new facilities and infrastructure, organizing sporting events, promoting health, education and economic programs and preserving Afghanistan's cultural heritage. The independent New Jersey based 501(c)3 Bayat Foundation partners with the organization in Afghanistan to provide advocacy, outreach, education and engagement to promote the well-being of the Afghan people through the support of its donors. Email info@bayatfoundation.org for information or to sponsor a program.
Media Contact:
Rosalie Wyatt 1-703-399-6929
r.wyatt@tsiglobe.com
SOURCE Bayat Foundation
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War, mom behaviors hurt Afghan kid health
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Poor child health in Afghanistan can be linked not just to war, but also to a lack of maternal education and autonomy, researchers said.
Child health in Afghanistan suffers from the impact of war -- shortages of water, food and shelter and the forced displacement of families -- as well as family behaviors, the researchers said.
Taufiq Mashal of the Graduate School of Tokyo Medical and Dental University and colleagues from the Ministry of Public Health in Kabul, Afghanistan, said the mortality rate for children under age 5 in Afghanistan was 191/1,000 live births.
The study involved 1,327 households from urban and rural areas of Kabul province. The research team recorded height, weight and other health indicators of 2,474 children under age 5.
The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, found that 32.5 percent of children suffered from acute diarrhea and 41.5 percent from respiratory illnesses, respectively. The prevalence of emaciation and growth retardation was 12.4 percent and 39.9 percent, respectively.
There were correlations between those health conditions and family behaviors. For instance, a mother's lack of autonomy was associated with acute respiratory illness and growth retardation while a lack of maternal education and marriage during childhood were found to be associated with the incidence of diarrhea.
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Pakistan could no longer bear Afghan refugees’ burdens
The Pakistan Link - Aug 29 8:19 AM
ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has said that it could no longer bear the burdens of Afghan refugees, but the return of all the refugees program completion by 2009 is also not being seen possible. Addressing a tripartite Commission’s meeting for reviewing and revising Afghan refuges’ return, Federal Minister for Frontier Affairs, Najmuddin Khan said that the government of Pakistan could no longer bear the burdens of the Afghan refugees, but the return of all the refugees program completion by 2009 also not appearing possible. Federal Minister for Frontier Affairs urged upon making arrangements for the settlement of the Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan in their homeland. Afghan Ambassador, Sher Muhammad on this occasion said that the peace and stability in Pakistan has a direct bearing with the rehabilitation of the returning refugees, while the rehabilitation was being delayed due to security matters. The government of Pakistan also feels that the program for the return of all the refugees by 2009 has no longer remained practicable.
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Million dollar reward for ex-opium farmers
www.quqnoos.com Written by Zabiullah Jhanmal & newsdesk Thursday, 28 August 2008
Ministry dishes out $10m as part of pledge to prop up drug-free provinces
THE MINISTRY of counter-narcotics has said it will pump $10 million into the eastern province of Nangarhar to reward residents for eradicating opium in the region.
The money will be spent on the construction of two water dams and a small hydro-electric power station in the province.
Nangarhar went from being Afghanistan’s second highest opium-producing province in 2007 to entirely eradicating the drug in 2008, the UN said in its annual drug report.
The head of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, Christina Oguz, on Tuesday wanred that farmers would revert to growing opium in provinces where the crop had been eradicated unless the government provided jobs for ex-opium farmers.
She urged the government to keep its promises to pump money into drug free provinces.
The minister for counter-narcotics, General Khodaidad, said: "We support the United States in its fight against drugs in Afghanistan. The $10 million is vital to the people in Nangarhar.
"We are doing our best to continue this process in those provinces where poppy cultivation is nearly over."
Over the last year, strong governorship and drought has wiped out opium from five provinces, bringing the total number of opium-frree provinces to 18, the UN said in its report.
But, in some provinces where poppy crops have been wiped out, farmers are growing hashish, pushing the country to the top of the world’s league of hash-producing nations.
This year, opium growth decrease for the first time in three years, down 19%, but opium production is expected to drop by only 6% because of bumper yields.
Oguz said that drug lords were importing foreign drug experts into Afghanistan to help them produce purer grades of heroin and to increase efficiency.
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Iranian, Afghan, Tajik presidents issue joint statement
Dushanbe, Aug 29, IRNA
Iranian, Afghan and Tajik presidents here on Thursday issued a joint statement for expansion of trilateral cooperation.
The statement, a copy of which was made available to IRNA, says the presidents, voicing satisfaction with outcome of their foreign and energy ministers' meetings, welcomed formation of the joint council of national coordinators to follow up and implement trilateral June 2008 accord.
It also envisaged holding regular meetings and exchange of views on ways of expanding trilateral cooperation in the political, economic, and cultural sectors and on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Afghan President Hamed Karzai and Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon also called for full implementation of their Dushanbe 2006 joint statement and also their foreign ministers' joint statement in Dushanbe in April 2008.
Under the statement, the three sides would form a joint commission to look into expansion of economic cooperation from 2009 to 2015, implement joint venture projects for road and
railway construction to facilitate cargo and passenger transit, arrange power transfer from Tajikistan to Iran via Afghanistan, and establish a joint investment institution to secure finance for trilateral projects.
Iran will under the statement provide draft of an agreement for establishment of a joint investment institution by the year 2008 and put the document at the disposal of Tajikistan and Afghanistan in order to make necessary coordination for the purpose.
Highlighting significance of establishment of a common TV network in expansion of trilateral communications, the three presidents in the statement authorized related officials to prepare necessary documents in two months with regards to legal aspect of
he project and for procurement of necessary manpower
and financial resources.
The statement also envisions establishment of optic fiber network to facilitate trilateral communications and cooperation in farming, campaign against terrorism, extremism, new version of organized crimes, and drugs transit and investment in Afghan reconstruction projects.
The three sides agreed that their third summit be held in Tehran in 2009. The exact time of the meeting will be decided by their foreign ministers in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.
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French-Afghan team unearths Buddha's head
www.quqnoos.com Written by Noorullah Rahmani Thursday, 28 August 2008
Archaeologists discover statue and precious coin dating back to Alexander
FRENCH and Afghan archaeologists have unearthed the head of a Buddha statue and a precious coin in the province of Bamiyan.
The statue's head belongs to the period when Buddhism thrived in the central province and the coin dates back to the time of Alexander and the Greek empire, the director of the information and culture department in the province, Najeebullah Ahrar, said.
The team of Afghan and French archaeologists is working under the supervision of Professor Zemaryalai Tarzi, an Afghan archaeologist.
Bamiyan hit world headlines in 2001 when the Taliban destroyed the enormous Buddha statues that for centuries stood in carved niches in the cliff faces around the main town.
The town of Bamiyan is situated on the old Silk Road and became a meeting point of eastern and western cultures.
Buddhism arrived in Bamiyan in the third century with the spread of the Kushan empire.
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US army to swap dollar for Afghani
Written by www.quqnoos.com Thursday, 28 August 2008
Military sign contract that will see soldiers buy goods in Afghanis on US base
US-LED troops based in Bagram airbase will soon use the Afghani rather than the US dollar to buy goods at the military base, where more than 15,000 foreign troops are stationed.
The US military on Wednesday signed a contract with a major Afghan bank, who refused to be named for security reasons, that will see the bank ship $100 million in Afghan currency to Bagram every month.
Major Jason Perez of the US army said: "We will also sign a similar agreement with the bank in Khost province to held develop the economy of Afghanistan."
The head of the bank, who refused to be named, wants to provide facilities for swift money transfers, check deposits and automatic telling machines in all military bases in Afghanistan.
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Road closures spark anger among Kabulis
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdullah Anwari Thursday, 28 August 2008
Residents say government should warn people before roads close
ROAD closures in the capital have produced many problems for Kabulis who say police should limit traffic disruption when high-profile visitors come to town.
On Thursday morning, when the Afghan Olympiads returned from the Beijing games, some of the roads leading to Ghazi Stadium from Kabul Airport were closed to traffic.
One Kabuli said: "When the government wants to receive the returning players, it should announce to the people through the media that today all the roads are closed and its a public Holiday and you don’t have to go to your jobs today."
Another Kabul resident said: "In the morning, all the people are going to work and teachers and students are going to their schools, and the closure of the roads is producing big problems for all of us."
Another said: "This government forces poor people to stay away from their work.”
The bank’s chief said: "Our efforts in offering bank services have not only provided facilities for many people in Afghanistan, but we have also attracted the attention of the coalition forces, specially the American forces in Afghanistan."
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