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Bomb targets Pakistani consulate in Afghanistan
By FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press / July 31, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan - An explosives-rigged bicycle detonated outside a Pakistani consulate in western Afghanistan on Thursday, wounding two people at the gates of the building, officials said.
Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over consulate blast
(AFP) via Khaleej Times Online 31 July 2008
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said Thursday it had summoned the Afghan ambassador to the foreign office to convey ‘grave concerns’ over a bombing outside the Pakistani consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat.
Al Qaeda says Bagram escapee killed in U.S. bombing
DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda field commander who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan in 2005 was killed in a recent U.S. bombing, an al Qaeda leader said in a statement posted on the Internet on Thursday.
Afghanistan: Insurgents increasingly attacking power stations, bridges
KABUL, 31 July 2008 (IRIN) - The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said "anti-government elements" have been trying to blow up a major hydro-electric power plant, the Naghlu Dam, to the east of Kabul, which supplies electricity to over three million people.
US commander, Tajik president meet for Afghan border talks
DUSHANBE (AFP) - The head of the US military's Central Command held talks in Tajikistan Thursday on securing the border with Afghanistan, which is often crossed by drug runners and militants.
Iraq militant group head said to be in Afghanistan
Thu Jul 31, 6:06 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
A dozen militants killed in E Afghanistan
KABUL, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Afghan troops and militants in Afghanistan's eastern Paktiya province left 12 insurgents dead, provincial governor Mohammad Akram Khapalwak said Thursday.
20 Taliban killed in NATO strikes: official
Thu Jul 31, 5:12 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - NATO-led ground troops backed by air power killed more than 20 Taliban-linked militants in a battle in central Afghanistan that erupted after a bomb wounded some soldiers, an official said Thursday.
NATO must do more in southern Afghanistan: Canada
Thu Jul 31, 5:18 AM ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - NATO members must send more troops to southern Afghanistan, where Canada and a few other nations are bearing the brunt of combat against Taliban militants, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said on Wednesday.
Pakistan probes Taliban collusion Prime minister sees no spy ties
The Washington Times Sara A. Carter (Contact) Thursday, July 31, 2008
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said U.S. concerns about collusion between members of his nation's intelligence agency and terrorists are being taken seriously and "will be resolved."
Afghan reporter freed, charged with bribe seeking
Thu Jul 31, 2:23 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Authorities have freed an Afghan journalist who was detained after alleged criticism of top government officials, but he has been charged with seeking bribes from ministers, his station said Thursday.
Karzai Grip on Presidency Weakens as Afghans Tire of Corruption
Bloomberg By Bill Varner July 31, 2008
Burhanuddin Rabbani turned over the presidency of Afghanistan to Hamid Karzai with a hug and his blessing seven years ago. Now, like many Afghans, Rabbani says he's counting the days until Karzai is turned out of office.
Envoy says Pakistan cabal trying to restore Taliban
Afghan diplomat says extremists, intelligence elements responsible for recent terrorism - July 30, 2008, Bruce Campion-Smith – Toronto Star
OTTAWA–Intelligence services in Pakistan are part of a network that wants to see the Taliban restored to power in Afghanistan and are using terror attacks to make it happen, a senior Afghan diplomat says.
CIA official confronts Pakistan over ties to border militants
The International Herald Tribune By Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt Wednesday, July 30, 2008
WASHINGTON-A top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled secretly to Islamabad this month to confront Pakistan's most senior officials with new information about ties between the country's powerful spy service
Rivalry to Taliban 'not welcome' Afghan unity urged as militias rearm
The Washington Times Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Bush administration's senior official for South Asia said Tuesday that a reported buildup of the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance's forces in Afghanistan to counter the Taliban's expanding influence is
Haqqani emerging as new leader of a resurgent Taliban
The Times of India - India 31 Jul 2008 NEW DELHI
He is a slightly built man with a flowing, grey-flecked beard. He has been a guerrilla for nearly three decades, except for a stint as a government minister. He is an Islamic scholar, equally comfortable firing shoulder-fired Stingers
Afghan tanks in atrocious condition
www.quqmoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Most of the ANA’s equipment including tanks need parts and maintenance
Most of Afghanistan’s army tanks, which were working well before the civil war, are useless now.
Pak using ads to appeal to Taliban
The Times of India - Indo-Pak Ties 31 Jul 2008
Pakistani authorities have launched an emotional advertisement campaign to persuade local Taliban to end their campaign of bombing girls' schools in Swat valley.
Rumours of cabinet reshuffle
BBC Monitoring 07/30/2008
The following is a summary of Afghan press commentaries available to BBC Monitoring between 24 and 30 July 2008:
Rumours of cabinet reshuffle
The privately-owned daily Payman says that despite media speculation, a cabinet reshuffle is unlikely because only a few months remain before the end of President Karzai's term in office:
Germany denies report on dragging out decision to send AWACS planes to Afghanistan
Berlin, July 30, IRNA
A spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry on Wednesday denied a recent report in the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine which said the German government was deliberately delaying a decision on a NATO request until September to send German-based AWACS planes to war-stricken Afghanistan.
Achieving victory in Afghanistan
The Washington Times - Editorials Thursday, July 31, 2008
While the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is proving to be an extraordinary success, the same cannot be said for the military situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent. It is almost seven years since the Sept. 11
Injury time goal by Climax gives India 1-0 win over Afghanistan
[PTI] -- HYDERABAD, July 30: An injury time goal by Climax Lawrence saw a patchy India scrape past minnows Afghanistan 1-0 in their opening Group A match of the AFC Challenge Cup.
Majority of schools closed in Helmand
Pajhwok By Zainullah Stanekzai 07/30/2008
LASHKARGAH -Over 169 schools of around 227 schools have been closed and 59 are not functioning normally in southern province of Helmand, provincial governor said on Thursday.
Kidnapping gang arrested in Samangan
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Hostage released, defense ministry to put cameras on Kabul streets
The Ministry of Interior Affairs has reported the arrest of a gang in Samangan province suspected of kidnapping.
6 Iranians arrested for drug trafficking
www.quqnoos.com Written by Reza Shir Mohamadi Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Iranian nationals seized in Kohsan district of Herat
Afghan Border Police have arrested 6 people for allegedly smuggling drugs in the Kohsan District of Herat Province on Tuesday .
Taliban executes one of its own
Written by www.quqnoos.com & PAN Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Taliban kills suspected informant in Kapisa province
(PAN): Taliban militia executed one of their colleagues in the Tagab district of central Kapisa province on the suspicion that he was a spy for coalition forces.
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Bomb targets Pakistani consulate in Afghanistan
By FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press / July 31, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan - An explosives-rigged bicycle detonated outside a Pakistani consulate in western Afghanistan on Thursday, wounding two people at the gates of the building, officials said.
Pakistan's government, which has had tense relations with Afghanistan, was quick to remind the Afghan government of its duty to protect diplomatic offices. "We hope that Government of Afghanistan will take its responsibility seriously," a statement from Pakistan's foreign ministry said.
The Afghan government said in a statement that it also "strongly condemned the blast."
The explosives detonated outside the gates of the consulate in the city of Herat, said Naeem Khan, spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
He said a policeman was wounded. Mir Ahmad, a police official in Herat, said two people were hurt — a police guard and a woman.
No one was injured inside the consulate, Khan said. Pakistan has four consulates in Afghanistan, he said.
Afghanistan is battling a raging Taliban-led insurgency, but much of the violence has occurred in the south and the east of the country, although the west has not been immune.
The growing instability in the country has strained relations with Pakistan, which Afghan officials contend is not doing enough to crack down on militants who hide out on its side of the border in the east.
Afghan-Pakistan relations hit a new low after a huge bombing outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul on July 7. Indian and Afghan officials say their information indicates Pakistani involvement in the attack, which killed some 60 people.
In other violence, Taliban militants killed Bacha Khan, a tribal elder, and his two sons, and wounded his wife in Arghandab district of the southern Kandahar province, said district chief Zemarai Khan.
The militants kidnapped seven other elders during the Wednesday raid, Khan said.
Arghandab is seen as a strategic location that is key to controlling access to Kandahar city, the main hub of southern Afghanistan and the Taliban's former stronghold.
Insurgents have overrun the district, which is located 8 miles north of the city, at least twice this year, only to be pushed back by Afghan and foreign troops.
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Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.
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Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over consulate blast
(AFP) via Khaleej Times Online 31 July 2008
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said Thursday it had summoned the Afghan ambassador to the foreign office to convey ‘grave concerns’ over a bombing outside the Pakistani consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat.
Afghan authorities said a policeman and a woman were wounded when a small bomb attached to a bicycle was remotely detonated Thursday near the consulate building.
‘The government of Pakistan condemns the bomb explosion outside its consulate in Herat,’ the foreign ministry said in a statement.
‘The ambassador of Afghanistan is being summoned to the foreign office to convey the grave concerns of the government of Pakistan.’
The statement said Pakistan ‘holds the government of Afghanistan responsible for the safety and security of its personnel in its embassy in Kabul and consulates in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif.
‘We hope that the government of Afghanistan will take its responsibility seriously.’
Relations between the two countries have been tense in recent months over allegations that Pakistan is failing to crack down on Taleban militants based in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Ties were further strained when Afghan and Indian officials blamed Pakistani intelligence for masterminding the deadly bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul earlier this month.
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Al Qaeda says Bagram escapee killed in U.S. bombing
DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda field commander who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan in 2005 was killed in a recent U.S. bombing, an al Qaeda leader said in a statement posted on the Internet on Thursday.
"Al Qaeda announces the martyrdom of one of the heroes and field leaders who performed well in facing the modern crusade, our brother Abu Abdallah al-Shami," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said in the statement dated July 14 on an Islamist website.
Abu al-Yazid did not say when the U.S. bombing took place or name the region in which Shami, an alias, was killed.
The militant, whose alias indicates that he was born in a Levant country along the eastern Mediterranean, was one of four who escaped from the U.S. military prison in Bagram in 2005. Among the group was Abu Yahya al-Libi, a key al Qaeda figure.
"Since his feet touched the battle field (after the escape) he resumed jihad with stronger zeal ... he had led and took part in several successful military operations," Abu al-Yazid said.
Violence has been at its worst level in Afghanistan since 2006, the bloodiest period since the removal of the al Qaeda-backed Taliban in 2001.
U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government after its leaders refused to hand over Osama bin Laden and his top aides to the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
(Reporting by Inal Ersan, editing by Mary Gabriel)
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Afghanistan: Insurgents increasingly attacking power stations, bridges
KABUL, 31 July 2008 (IRIN) - The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said "anti-government elements" have been trying to blow up a major hydro-electric power plant, the Naghlu Dam, to the east of Kabul, which supplies electricity to over three million people.
"We have received credible intelligence reports indicating that insurgents are trying to demolish the Naghlu power dam," said Zahir Azimi, a spokesman of the MoD. Gunmen believed to be associated with Taliban insurgents attacked a security post near the Naghlu Dam on 29 July but withdrew after Afghan forces put up a fight, the MoD said.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has called on Taliban insurgents and other anti-government elements to stop attacking what they called "civilian infrastructural facilities", saying the attacks adversely affected civilians.
However, Zabihullah Mujahid, a purported spokesman for the insurgents, denied the insurgents had any intention of destroying the dam. "The government is only trying to camouflage its failure to provide electricity to people because billions in aid money has been wasted," Mujahid told IRIN on the phone from an unspecified location.
Afghan officials had previously warned that insurgents were intending to blow up the second biggest power plant, Kajaki Dam, in volatile Helmand Province.
Adverse impact on civilians
The AIHRC said attacks on public infrastructural facilities adversely affected civilians and were unjustifiable.
"Such attacks are clearly in violation of international humanitarian law [IHL], the Geneva Conventions and other laws applicable to armed hostilities," Ahmad Nadir Nadiry, a spokesman of the AIHRC, told IRIN on 30 July.
Nadiry accused the Taliban of repeated and systematic violations of IHL and the Geneva Conventions and said the insurgents' tactics often deliberately put civilians at greater risk.
Barnett Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, said civilians were suffering the brunt of the Taliban's insurgency.
"Naghlu Dam belongs to the nation of Afghanistan, not any particular government," said Rubin, adding that the insurgents should not attack it.
"New stage" in guerrilla war
Taliban insurgents have attacked schools and hospitals, and were now turning their attention to bigger infrastructural targets such as hydro-electric plants, bridges and telecommunications facilities, the AIHRC and analysts said.
The insurgents reportedly destroyed a major bridge on the Kabul-Kandahar highway on 26 July, causing extensive traffic problems.
In another incident on 27 July Taliban gunmen burnt down a private telecommunications tower in eastern Kunar Province, local media reported.
"It seems the insurgents have reached a new stage in the development of guerrilla war. They can organise sophisticated operations against well-defended targets. This is quite different from burning down a school at night and shows a new level of organisation," Rubin said.
According to Rubin, the recent wave of attacks on civilian infrastructural facilities resembled the Mujahedin's war against Soviet forces in the 1980s.
"They [the insurgents] are trying to show they can move and strike anywhere with impunity and that the government, NATO, and the US are powerless to stop them," he said.
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US commander, Tajik president meet for Afghan border talks
DUSHANBE (AFP) - The head of the US military's Central Command held talks in Tajikistan Thursday on securing the border with Afghanistan, which is often crossed by drug runners and militants.
"We appreciate the friendship and support of the Tajik people ... We cooperate with the Tajik government to secure the Tajik-Afghan border," Lieutenant-General Martin Dempsey told reporters in Dushanbe.
Dempsey held talks with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon at which the two were due to discuss "regional security and joint action against international terrorism," a Tajik foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
The United States last year donated 20 million dollars (12.8 million euros) in equipment and training to help Tajikistan improve patrols and customs checks along the mountainous 1,400-kilometre (870-mile) border with Afghanistan.
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Iraq militant group head said to be in Afghanistan
Thu Jul 31, 6:06 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
In a report from Baghdad that quoted group leaders and Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials, the newspaper said there were also indications al Qaeda was diverting new recruits from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda fighters have suffered serious setbacks in Iraq, but are making gains in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it said.
In a sign of increasing weakness, the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq has dropped to 20 a month, down from about 110 a month last summer, the newspaper quoted a senior U.S. intelligence analyst as saying.
"We do believe al-Qaeda is doing some measure of reassessment regarding the continued viability of its fight in Iraq and whether Iraq should remain the focus of its efforts," the newspaper quoted Brig. Gen. Brian Keller, senior intelligence officer for Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, as writing in an e-mail. (Reporting by Paul Eckert, editing by Alan Elsner)
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A dozen militants killed in E Afghanistan
KABUL, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Afghan troops and militants in Afghanistan's eastern Paktiya province left 12 insurgents dead, provincial governor Mohammad Akram Khapalwak said Thursday.
"Afghan troops backed by the international force eliminated 12rebels in Barmal and Walmami districts on late Wednesday night," Khapalwak told Xinhua.
These militants were attempting to raid government interests in the area but the troops with the support of air power pounded their hideouts leaving 12 dead, he added.
Taliban insurgents active in the region have yet to make comment.
Moreover, Afghan Interior Ministry in a statement released Thursday reported capturing seven armed rebels from the same province Paktiya on Wednesday.
Around 70,000 foreign troops have been deployed in the war-torn country under the flag of the NATO and U.S.-led Coalition forces to stabilize security and help accelerate reconstruction process there.
Spiraling conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have left more than 2,500 people mostly militants, according to officials sofar this year in Afghanistan.
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20 Taliban killed in NATO strikes: official
Thu Jul 31, 5:12 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - NATO-led ground troops backed by air power killed more than 20 Taliban-linked militants in a battle in central Afghanistan that erupted after a bomb wounded some soldiers, an official said Thursday.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed Wednesday's fighting in Ghazni province's Andar area, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Kabul, but could not give details.
The fighting started after a roadside bomb hit an ISAF vehicle and slightly injured some soldiers, Captain Mark Windsor said.
The spokesman could not say how many insurgents were killed when military forces hit back.
Ghazni province spokesman Ismail Jahangir said reports from the district were that more than 20 rebels were killed.
"The international forces had an operation against Taliban in Andar district yesterday. We have reports that more than 20 Taliban were killed," Jahangir told AFP.
It was not possible to independently confirm the figures because of the remoteness of the area, where Taliban extremists are active.
The Taliban were ousted from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001 and are waging an insurgency to take back power.
The unrest has increased every year, with this year shaping up to be the most violent.
To confront the insurgency, the US-backed government in Kabul relies on about 70,000 international soldiers, most of them in ISAF which has called for more troops and military equipment to be sent to Afghanistan.
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NATO must do more in southern Afghanistan: Canada
Thu Jul 31, 5:18 AM ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - NATO members must send more troops to southern Afghanistan, where Canada and a few other nations are bearing the brunt of combat against Taliban militants, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said on Wednesday.
Canada, which has 2,500 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar and plans to send around 200 more, has long complained that many NATO members refuse to send soldiers to the most dangerous parts of the country.
"We're doing enough ... but NATO has to do more," MacKay told reporters in televised comments from Levis, Quebec.
"Southern Afghanistan is the flash point in this mission. It's the most vulnerable, the most volatile part of the country ... we're not going to let up or relent on our request for other NATO countries to come to the south," he said.
The majority of soldiers fighting in southern Afghanistan are U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch.
Canada's mission in Kandahar is due to end in 2011. So far 88 of its soldiers have died.
The extra 200 troops will maintain and operate unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters that Canada has pledged to buy before February 2009.
MacKay said that, in the interim, Canada was leasing between six and eight Russian-made Mil Mi-8 helicopters as well as an unspecified number of UAVs.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)
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Pakistan probes Taliban collusion Prime minister sees no spy ties
The Washington Times Sara A. Carter (Contact) Thursday, July 31, 2008
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said U.S. concerns about collusion between members of his nation's intelligence agency and terrorists are being taken seriously and "will be resolved."
In an interview with reporters and editors of The Washington Times, Mr. Gilani said he had seen no evidence to support allegations that Pakistan´s Inter-Services Intelligence, known as ISI, is compromised.
Asked whether he was confident that the ISI contained no pockets of Taliban sympathy, Mr. Gilani said, "I'm pretty sure about it." But he added, "We still have to look into [the accusations]. It will be resolved."
Pakistani police officers take position at a check post in Kabal, a troubled area of Swat valley in northern Pakistan on Wednesday. Pakistan imposed a round-the-clock curfew in the restive mountain valley in the northwest on Wednesday as the army claimed more than 20 militants died in clashes with security forces. (Associated Press)
Top CIA and U.S. military officials traveled to Pakistan this month in part to complain about ties between Pakistani officials and Taliban insurgent groups that may have contributed to a rise in attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The prime minister confirmed the visit in mid-July of CIA Deputy Director Stephen R. Kappes and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael G. Mullen. According to the New York Times, Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, acting commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia, visited Pakistan's tribal areas on Monday.
A U.S. official told The Washington Times that "not enough is being done" by Pakistan to combat growing problems in the country's remote Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), including Taliban and al Qaeda sympathizers within government agencies.
"In Pakistan, you have both real counterterror cooperation and real concerns about terrorism," said the official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the subject. "[The concerns] coexist."
"Plainly there is a problem in the tribal areas, and that problem is not being addressed adequately at this point," the official said. "The tribal areas and the terror activities pose a threat to Pakistan, South Asia and regions beyond."
Mr. Gilani said the best way to combat the Taliban and al Qaeda is through extensive education and economic aid.
"The root cause of the problem in the tribal areas and Afghanistan is poverty," he said. "People are turning to those militants because they bribe them, give them money and protection. And they use them for their own benefit."
Mr. Gilani spoke after meeting with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat, to discuss legislation approved by the committee to commit up to $15 billion in development assistance to Pakistan over the next 10 years.
Mr. Gilani took office four months ago after parliamentary elections that diminished the power of President Pervez Musharraf, who seized control in a 1999 coup.
A soft-spoken politician who spent five years in prison for his political opposition to the Musharraf regime, Mr. Gilani is not considered a strong figure compared with prior Pakistani leaders, said Karl F. Inderfurth, a former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs.
"Gilani has multiple problems," Mr. Inderfurth said. "There is no strong political leadership, and the government is divided from within. Gilani is not a particularly strong leader." Mr. Inderfurth said Mr. Gilani was also undermined by the fragility of the Pakistani economy.
"This government is in a perfect storm right now" with 19 percent inflation," Mr. Inderfurth said. "What they really need is food aid."
The Bush administration has promised Pakistan an emergency infusion of $115 million, primarily to compensate for rising food prices.
In addition to economic aid, Mr. Gilani said, intelligence sharing is key to solving the problems in the FATA, an area populated by Taliban insurgent groups, criminal organizations and al Qaeda training camps, as well as ordinary villagers. Many of the residents are members of Pashtun tribes with relatives across the sparsely monitored border.
"We want to have more intelligence sharing with Afghanistan and NATO, so if there's credible, actionable intelligence, it will be passed to us," he said.
Mr. Gilani said Pakistani security forces now could be trusted because "the army chief [Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani] is highly supportive of democracy and is not ambitious," unlike his predecessor, Mr. Musharraf.
However, U.S. concerns about Taliban sympathizers within the ISI have made the Bush administration reluctant to pass on such intelligence and prone to take unilateral action against terrorism suspects.
The ISI nurtured the Taliban movement to stabilize Afghanistan after the Soviet army retreated in 1989 and to counter Russian, Indian and Iranian-backed militant groups.
The fight against terrorism is personal for the prime minister, whose party leader, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated last year.
"This is not 'Charlie Wilson's War,'" said Mr. Gilani, referring to a popular book and movie about U.S. support for the anti-Soviet resistance of the 1980s. "This is Benazir Bhutto's war."
CONFIDENT: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani tells The Washington Times he is "pretty sure" there are no pockets of Taliban sympathy in Inter-Services Intelligence. (Mary F. Calvert/The Washington Times)
"Now [the Taliban] have become monsters for both of us," said Mr. Gilani, referring to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistani authorities and Afghan intelligence officials who have spoken to The Washington Times have said that a Pakistani militant, Baitullah Mehsud, who lives in the FATA region, is accused of planning the Bhutto killing.
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Afghan reporter freed, charged with bribe seeking
Thu Jul 31, 2:23 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Authorities have freed an Afghan journalist who was detained after alleged criticism of top government officials, but he has been charged with seeking bribes from ministers, his station said Thursday.
The intelligence service arrested Nasir Fayaz, presenter of an outspoken TV programme called "Haqiqat" or "The Truth" on privately-owned Ariana TV, on Monday, a day after the airing of part of his show.
Authorities alleged the show, in which commentators were invited to give their opinions about developments in the country, had insulted certain ministers. It was halted mid-broadcast on orders of the intelligence agency.
"Mr Fayaz was freed Wednesday unconditionally," Abdul Qadir Mirzai, the chief news editor and a spokesman for Ariana, told AFP.
He had been charged "demanding a bribe" from Commerce Minister Mohammad Amin Farhang and a 24-hour power supply for his home from Energy Minister Mohammad Ismail Khan, he added.
Mirzai dismissed the charges as untrue. The case had been referred to the attorney general's office, he said.
Afghanistan's parliament and a leading media watchdog, Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF), have demanded Fayaz's release.
President Hamid Karzai and his cabinet had discussed the show at a regular ministers meeting Monday where the reporter was accused of "insulting" top government officials, according to a government statement released Tuesday.
The meeting ordered the reporter be "legally pursued."
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Karzai Grip on Presidency Weakens as Afghans Tire of Corruption
Bloomberg By Bill Varner July 31, 2008
Burhanuddin Rabbani turned over the presidency of Afghanistan to Hamid Karzai with a hug and his blessing seven years ago. Now, like many Afghans, Rabbani says he's counting the days until Karzai is turned out of office.
``We thought he was a young man who should be given the opportunity to work as president in a period of transition,'' Rabbani, 66, said in an interview at his Kabul home. ``Unfortunately, he failed. It is a great tragedy.''
Rabbani, who was president from 1992 to 1996 and for a month after the Taliban regime fell in 2001, shares a growing concern that sending more U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan won't improve security unless the central government fights corruption, slashes opium production and stops squandering reconstruction aid.
``There is a lot of anger and frustration,'' said Paul Fishstein, director of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. ``People want decisive action taken against corruption. They are looking for strong leadership. Instead they see impunity for people involved in the biggest crimes.''
Voter registration is set to begin within weeks for a presidential election in the second half of 2009.
In a national opinion poll conducted by the San Francisco- based Asia Foundation in October, the most recent data available, 64 percent of Afghans said Karzai's government is doing a poor job of controlling corruption. Of the more than 6,000 Afghans questioned, 53 percent said Karzai hadn't done enough to rebuild the country.
Consensus Candidate
Afghans who gave 55 percent of their votes to Karzai in 2004 saw him as a consensus candidate who could unite ethnic factions after 15 years of strife. He's a 50-year-old Pashtun, the group that represents 40 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million people.
Karzai initially made a positive impression on the world stage, where he was greeted as a charismatic leader whose colorful capes and peaked karakul cap landed him on Esquire magazine's list of best-dressed men. His stature helped attract pledges of more than $25 billion in reconstruction aid.
Afghan confidence in Karzai has faded amid the Taliban's resurgence, and he is increasingly at odds with the U.S. and its European allies. Karzai vetoed the appointment in January of Britain's Paddy Ashdown as the United Nations' top envoy to Afghanistan, saying he would be too intrusive, criticized allied forces for air strikes that killed civilians, and said Taliban and al-Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan should be attacked.
Obama, McCain
Both U.S. presidential candidates fault Karzai's leadership while pledging to send more troops to Afghanistan. The U.S. contributes about 17,500 of the 53,000 troops under North Atlantic Treaty Organization command and has 18,500 other troops in an American-led counterterrorism force.
Democrat Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, said on July 10 that Karzai has not ``gotten out of the bunker'' to rebuild the country. Republican John McCain, an Arizona senator, said on July 14 that Karzai ``has not been effective.''
The loss of confidence in Karzai is compounded by a lack of candidates with the background and national standing to defeat him, according to Haroun Mir, founder of the Afghanistan Center for Research and Policy Studies. Possible contenders such as Afghan native Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the UN and former envoy to Afghanistan, have been out of the country too long to understand the current challenges, Mir said. Others are tainted by human-rights abuses during the civil war, he said.
`No Alternative'
``Everyone recognizes there is no alternative to this president,'' Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai's top spokesman, said in an interview. ``We are putting our house in order. Afghanistan's problems are linked to the situation in the region, and they are a legacy of the Soviet invasion and civil war for decades.''
Rabbani stroked his well-trimmed gray beard and with a smile suggested he would be open to a draft by the United National Front, the political coalition of Tajik militias that helped the U.S. oust the Taliban and which he now leads. The party's nominee, to be named in about six months, is likely to pose the most serious threat to Karzai's re-election.
``In the past that was a decision I made,'' said Rabbani, who led the mujahedeen fighters that drove the Soviet Union's army out of Afghanistan in 1989. ``Now it is up to the National Front, and my life is for my country and my people.''
The campaign gathered steam when Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabit declared his candidacy on July 16 and was ousted from the Cabinet because of a law that ministers can't simultaneously serve and run for office. Other potential candidates include former Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalili, Mustafa Zahir, grandson of Afghanistan's last king, and Younis Qanooni, speaker of the parliament's lower house.
Rabbani's problem is that he was the first leader of Afghanistan in 250 years to be a Tajik, the group that makes up only about 25 percent of the population, and that his presidency was marked by ethnic conflict that destroyed much of Kabul and led to his being deposed by the Taliban.
``The Afghan people are looking for a change,'' Rabbani said. ``Each day they are counting the final days of the administration, even more than Americans.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner in Kabul, Afghanistan, at wvarner@bloomberg.net
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Envoy says Pakistan cabal trying to restore Taliban
Afghan diplomat says extremists, intelligence elements responsible for recent terrorism - July 30, 2008, Bruce Campion-Smith – Toronto Star
OTTAWA–Intelligence services in Pakistan are part of a network that wants to see the Taliban restored to power in Afghanistan and are using terror attacks to make it happen, a senior Afghan diplomat says.
Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador in Canada, blamed a recent upsurge in violence in his country on extremists who take haven across the border in Pakistan and are working with elements of Pakistan's intelligence service.
"It's a very complex situation and one that also has historic roots. One has to go back to see how these relationships and networks evolved over the past 25 years, 30 years," Samad said in an interview this week.
"We believe there is a network that is still active that believes they can impose the Taliban on Afghanistan and that is not acceptable.
"It has elements of intelligence services that believe in a strategy to use outfits like the Taliban for their own vision.
"We have all been waiting to see some concrete action taken to dismantle the networks that feed extremism and terror ... it is getting to be unacceptable."
He said countries like Canada and the United States, which have a stake in Afghanistan's future, must do more to pressure Pakistan to take action on its border, noting that diplomatic efforts have done little to bring change.
"We feel that the handling of the Afghan-Pakistan issues, including the increasing threat of the Taliban, has not been handled with intensity," Samad said. "We haven't seen the results. Whatever people have done or said has not translated into concrete change that we can consider improvement."
And he warned that until the violence is curbed, Canadian blood and treasure remain at risk. "It puts at risk the political process, the security situation and the reconstruction process. It undermines all this effort and all this investment which has been put, in lives and in money," he said.
This week, Chris Alexander, a Canadian who serves as UN deputy special representative in Afghanistan, was reported as saying Pakistani agents are likely responsible for recent attacks in Afghanistan.
Last week, Washington demanded Pakistan investigate Indian and Afghan accusations that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency was involved in a Kabul suicide bombing that killed 58 people outside the Indian embassy.
Samad said Alexander, who served as Canada's ambassador in Kabul, "knows the situation very well." "It has been on our minds more so over the past few months in Afghanistan because of some heightened insecurity."
The Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa had no comment on Alexander's allegations yesterday. Canadian foreign affairs officials also declined comment. With files from Reuters
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CIA official confronts Pakistan over ties to border militants
The International Herald Tribune By Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt Wednesday, July 30, 2008
WASHINGTON-A top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled secretly to Islamabad this month to confront Pakistan's most senior officials with new information about ties between the country's powerful spy service and militants operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, according to American military and intelligence officials.
The CIA emissary presented evidence showing that members of the spy service had deepened their ties with some militant groups who were responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, the officials said.
The decision to confront Pakistan with what the officials described as a new CIA assessment of the spy service's activities seemed to be the bluntest American warning to Pakistan about the ties between the spy service and Islamic militants since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The CIA assessment specifically points to links between members of the spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, and the militant network led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, which American officials believe maintains close ties to senior figures of Al Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The CIA has depended heavily on the ISI for information about militants in Pakistan, despite longstanding concerns about divided loyalties within the Pakistani spy service, which had close relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks.
That ISI officers have maintained important ties to anti-American militants has been the subject of previous news reports. But the CIA and the Bush administration have generally sought to avoid criticism of Pakistan, which they regard as a crucial ally in the fight against terrorism.
The visit to Pakistan by the CIA official, Stephen Kappes, the deputy director, was described by several American military and intelligence officials in interviews in recent days. Some of those who were interviewed made clear that they welcomed the decision by the CIA to take a harder line toward the ISI's dealings with militant groups.
Pakistan's prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, is currently in Washington meeting with Bush administration officials. A White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, would not say whether Bush had raised the issue during his meeting Monday with Gilani.
In an interview broadcast Tuesday on the American public television program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Gilani said he rejected as "not believable" any assertions of the ISI's links to the militants. "We would not allow that," he said.
The Haqqani network and other militants who operate in the tribal areas along the Afghan border are said by American intelligence officials to be responsible for increasingly deadly complex attacks inside Afghanistan, and to have helped Al Qaeda establish a haven in the tribal areas.
Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey, the acting commander of American forces in Southwest Asia, made an unannounced visit to the tribal areas on Monday, a further reflection of American concern.
The ISI has for decades maintained contacts with various militant groups in the tribal areas and elsewhere, both for gathering intelligence and as proxies to exert influence on neighboring India and Afghanistan.
It is unclear whether the CIA officials have concluded that contacts between the ISI and militant groups are blessed at the highest levels of Pakistan's spy service and military, or are carried out by rogue elements of Pakistan's security apparatus.
With Pakistan's new civilian government struggling to assert control over the country's spy service, there are concerns in Washington that the ISI might become even more powerful than when President Pervez Musharraf controlled the military and the government.
Last weekend, Pakistani military and intelligence officials thwarted an attempt by the government in Islamabad to put the ISI more directly under civilian control.
Kappes made his secret visit to Pakistan on July 12, joining Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for meetings with senior Pakistani civilian and military leaders.
"It was a very pointed message saying, 'Look, we know there's a connection, not just with Haqqani but also with other bad guys and ISI, and we think you could do more and we want you to do more about it'," one senior American official said.
The official was briefed on the meetings; like others who agreed to talk about it, he spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic delicacy of Kappes's message.
The meetings took place days after a suicide bomber attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing dozens. Afghanistan's government has publicly blamed the ISI for having a hand in the attack, an accusation American officials have not corroborated.
The decision to have Kappes deliver the message about the spy service was an unusual one, and could be a sign that the relationship between the CIA and ISI, which has long been marked by mutual suspicion as well as mutual dependence, may be deteriorating.
The trip is reminiscent of a secret visit that the top two American intelligence officials made to Pakistan in January. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and Michael Hayden, the CIA director - sought to press Musharraf to allow the CIA greater latitude to operate in the tribal territories.
It was the ISI, backed by millions of covert dollars from the CIA, that ran arms to guerrillas fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It is now American troops who are dying in Afghanistan, and intelligence officials believe those longstanding ties between Pakistani spies and militants might be part of an effort to destabilize Afghanistan.
Spokesmen for the White House and CIA declined to comment about the visit by Kappes or about the agency's assessment. A spokesman for Mullen, Captain John Kirby, declined to comment on the meetings, saying "the chairman desires to keep these meetings private and therefore it would be inappropriate to discuss any details."
Mullen and Kappes met in Islamabad with several high-ranking Pakistani officials. They included Gilani; Musharraf; General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief of staff and former ISI director; and Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, the current ISI director.
One American counterterrorism official said there was no evidence of the Pakistan government's direct support of Al Qaeda. He said, however, there were "genuine and longstanding concerns about Pakistan's ties to the Haqqani network, which of course has links to Al Qaeda."
American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months sounded an increasingly shrill alarm about the threat posed by Haqqani's network.
Earlier this year, American military officials pressed the U.S. ambassador in Pakistan, Anne Patterson, to get Pakistani troops to strike Haqqani network targets in the tribal areas.
General Dan McNeill, the senior NATO commander in Afghanistan until last month, frequently discussed the ISI's contacts with militant groups with Kayani, Pakistan's military chief.
During his visit to the tribal areas on Monday, General Dempsey met with top Pakistani commanders in Miramshah, the capital of North Waziristan, where Pakistan's 11th Army Corps and Frontier Corps paramilitary force have a headquarters, to discuss security in the region, Pakistani officials said.
North Waziristan, the most lawless of the tribal areas, is a hub of Al Qaeda and other foreign fighters, and the base of operations for the Haqqani network.
On Tuesday, Pakistani security forces raided an abandoned seminary owned by Haqqani, Pakistani officials said. No arrests were made.
Ismail Khan contributed reporting from Peshawar, Pakistan.
New fighting in Swat valley
Fierce fighting erupted Wednesday between militants and Pakistani troops in a restive valley, reportedly killing dozens and undermining the new government's disputed strategy of offering peace deals to pro-Taliban insurgents, The Associated Press reported from Peshawar.
The army announced an indefinite, round-the-clock curfew throughout the northwestern valley of Swat, a day after militants there abducted at least 25 police and paramilitary troops.
The army said security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, had been exchanging fire with militants since early Wednesday morning.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the umbrella group for the country's main militant groups, threatened Wednesday to mount attacks across Pakistan because of the renewed military action in Swat.
"We will start operations in the entire country, in the entire province," the group's spokesman, Maulvi Umar, said. "We consider this an action against all Taliban."
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Rivalry to Taliban 'not welcome' Afghan unity urged as militias rearm
The Washington Times Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Bush administration's senior official for South Asia said Tuesday that a reported buildup of the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance's forces in Afghanistan to counter the Taliban's expanding influence is "not welcome" and that "ethnic politics" should not impede the central government's efforts to unite the country.
Although Richard A. Boucher described the reports as "chatter" by South Asian media and Afghan politicians, he said the buildup of any ethnic group at the expense of the Kabul government is worrisome.
"It's not welcome. I don't have a feel of how extensive it is ... and some of those guys may have never really disarmed," Mr. Boucher told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.
"The point is that Afghanistan has got to figure out how to get along as a nation, and there have been a lot of steps toward nation building," he said. "A lot of local warlord-type leaders have been marginalized - not all of them completely."
Mr. Boucher, who is assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, also attributed some of the chatter to political jockeying ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan late next year.
"That's bringing out a little more these days - resentments and alliances between groups and talk about ethnic politics, but I think there is a stronger movement toward creating a sense of nation."
The Northern Alliance was founded by mostly Uzbek and Tajik warlords and took power after the Soviet pullout in 1989. The Taliban was formed later as a Pashtun resistance to the alliance and seized control of most of Afghanistan in 1996. The Bush administration relied on the alliance to win back the capital, Kabul, in November 2001.
In recent weeks, the Taliban has mounted a series of bold attacks on U.S. forces, killing 13 Americans in northeastern Afghanistan and freeing hundreds of Taliban prisoners from a jail in Kandahar.
Mr. Boucher said that a "stronger Taliban is a misconception," because its widely expected resurgence in the spring of 2007 did not materialize. It couldn't amass forces to take towns, so it adopted terrorist tactics, such as kidnappings and suicide bombings, he said.
However, Peter Tomsen, U.S. special envoy to Afghan guerrillas during the 1980s, said the Taliban was expanding its presence in rural areas in the south, in the east, around Kabul and even in the north because the United States and the Afghan government led by President Hamid Karzai have made too many mistakes and failed to reconstruct the country. Mr. Tomsen said the Northern Alliance "sees the Taliban coming" and is responding.
Karl F. Inderfurth, who held Mr. Boucher's position in the Clinton administration, agreed with Mr. Boucher that the Taliban had failed to seize and hold territory in last year's offensive.
At the same time, he said, "we're not losing and we're not winning. There are a lot of things that can be done that can keep Afghanistan in a position where some development can go forward. The key is in the tribal areas of Pakistan."
Mr. Inderfurth praised legislation sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat, and Sen. Richard G. Lugar, Indiana Republican, that promises long-term assistance to Pakistan of up to $1.5 billion a year and shifts the focus from military to civilian help. The bill "sends a powerful signal that this time, we will not tire and walk away," he said.
Mr. Boucher said the Taliban and al Qaeda were using Pakistan's remote tribal areas as a base to plan attacks on both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Increasing numbers of foreign fighters, including Arabs, Uzbeks and Chechens, are showing up in Afghanistan this year, he said.
However, "endemic corruption" remains Afghanistan's biggest problem, Mr. Boucher said, and everyone against whom there is evidence of wrongdoing - including perhaps Mr. Karzai's brother - must be prosecuted.
Mr. Boucher said he has not seen specific evidence implicating Wali Karzai in drug trafficking but urged the Afghan authorities to treat all suspects equally.
"If he is [implicated], then he needs to be prosecuted," Mr. Boucher said.
According to secret U.S. military documents dating as far back as 2005 that were widely publicized in 2006, Mr. Karzai "receives money from drug lords as bribes to facilitate their work and movement."
Assistant Secretary of State Richard A. Boucher downplayed talk of a "stronger Taliban," noting that it has resorted to terrorist tactics because it has not been able to amass forces. (Michael Connor/The Washington Times)
At the time, he denied the accusations.
"I was never in the drug business, I never benefited, I never facilitated, I never helped anyone with the transportation of any kind," he told ABC News.
An Afghan woman and her children ride in a donkey carriage through Kabul. Mr. Boucher said it is not the militants in tribal areas, but the "endemic corruption" in the central government, including accusations against the president's brother, that is the country's biggest problem. (Associated Press)
A convoy of the U.S. soldiers travels along the main road in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. An increase in Taliban attacks on U.S. forces is fueling fears that the Islamic movement will start recovering some of the power it lost when the regime was ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. (Associated Press)
Mr. Boucher said some ministries are capable now, but others are still problematic.
"Corruption is probably the biggest problem," he said. "Everywhere it not only undercuts economic efficiency but the opinion people have of government."
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Haqqani emerging as new leader of a resurgent Taliban
The Times of India - India 31 Jul 2008 NEW DELHI
He is a slightly built man with a flowing, grey-flecked beard. He has been a guerrilla for nearly three decades, except for a stint as a government minister. He is an Islamic scholar, equally comfortable firing shoulder-fired Stingers and negotiating with American or Saudi paymasters.
Meet Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, 60, recognized as the emerging leader of a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. Haqqani made his name in the jihad against the communists in Afghanistan much before the Taliban emerged out of Kandahar. He was credited with the first ever victory against the Najibullah government in 1991 when his Pashtun fighters dramatically seized the town of Khost, in eastern Afghanistan.
His extensive contacts in Saudi Arabia helped him mobilize huge funds for the war. In those days, Haqqani reportedly had the largest hoard of weaponry received from the US. This was the time when he forged links with the ISI of Pakistan, which was deeply involved in the anti-Soviet war. Such was his legend both as a scholar and as a strategic military commander, that the Taliban offered him a ministership in their government in Kabul.
After the US attacked Afghanistan in 2001, Haqqani was relentlessly pursued by US bombing raids in western Afghanistan. He escaped unhurt to Miram Shah in Waziristan, western Pakistan. From there arose the dreaded Haqqani Network — a secretive, loosely-knit organization of fighters carrying out armed raids and suicide bombings in Afghanistan, and if need be, in Pakistan. His old ISI connections have helped him retain the safe haven in Pakistan. One of his sons, Sirajuddin, known as Khalifa, has also emerged as a leader of this network.
In recent years, as Haqqani's influence has grown, he challenged Mullah Omar, openly ridiculing him as an illiterate. This led to several overtures being made by the US to win him over to their side. However, all the efforts failed, as Haqqani vowed to continue the jihad. Haqqani is once again in the thick of the fight, but this time he may well emerge as the new leader of the Taliban.
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Afghan tanks in atrocious condition
www.quqmoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Most of the ANA’s equipment including tanks need parts and maintenance
Most of Afghanistan’s army tanks, which were working well before the civil war, are useless now.
The defense ministry says that only one of the army units in Kabul is equipped with these tanks.
The ministry of defense says that negotiations are continuing with the international community about equipping the Afghan National Army (ANA) with tanks; but a decision has yet to be made as to what type of tanks to purchase and from which nation.
The spokesman for the ministry of defense, General Zahir Azimi, told Quqnoos.com that Afghanistan’s “military units outside Kabul, severely lack tanks.”
Some parliamentarians have different view points about Afghanistan’s former National Army’s tanks.
A representative from Paktia province in the parliament, Gul Pacha Majidi told Quqnoos.com “when Dr. Najibullah’s government was overthrown, Afghanistan’s enemies, and some Afghans themselves, destroyed equipment of the former National Army.”
A parliament member from Kunduz, said “although it is not enough, military units in the country’s provinces do have some access to tanks and other military equipment.”
But the defense ministry emphasizes that all the old weapons, including the tanks, have been collected in the DDR program, and these weapons, which are useless now due to different reasons, are kept in depots in the provinces.
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Pak using ads to appeal to Taliban
The Times of India - Indo-Pak Ties 31 Jul 2008
Pakistani authorities have launched an emotional advertisement campaign to persuade local Taliban to end their campaign of bombing girls' schools in Swat valley.
The advertisement, published in several Urdu newspapers, features the picture of a weeping girl who is dejected at being deprived of the basic right to education.
"Oh God, attaining education is my basic right, but some extremists in violation of thy orders and religious teachings have become enemies of girls' education. To them, girls have no need to get education. They are bent upon snatching our basic right from us," reads the ad issued by North West Frontier Province government.
"The enemies of our education have destroyed 56 girls' schools while another 62 are closed to shut the doors of education for us in the NWFP. Now, where should I go for education?" the ad states.
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Rumours of cabinet reshuffle
BBC Monitoring 07/30/2008
The following is a summary of Afghan press commentaries available to BBC Monitoring between 24 and 30 July 2008:
Rumours of cabinet reshuffle
The privately-owned daily Payman says that despite media speculation, a cabinet reshuffle is unlikely because only a few months remain before the end of President Karzai's term in office:
"Even Assuming Karzai somehow does try to introduce reforms in this short period of time by dismissing a minister from the cabinet in the name of bringing reforms, for the Afghan people it will be like repentance while sensing impending death, which is natural and inevitable but unacceptable." (27 July)
The private daily Arman-e Melli is sceptical that changing the composition of the government would help:
"If the government intends to establish a political system based on social justice and national participation, a clear plan to build a system is lacking. Similarly, the nation has bitter experiences of system-building and governments, including the present government and the previous shameful governments of the Taleban and others."
Still, the paper has some advice for Karzai if he does go ahead with a cabinet reshuffle:
"Our country and people need officials who are both knowledgeable and sharp-sighted. Otherwise, our future will be worse than our present and our people will be even more miserable. Therefore, if the president wants to make changes to his cabinet, he should not appoint those who have failed the test in the past. (24 July)
The independent secular daily Hasht-e Sobh wonders how the media would be affected by a reshuffle:
"One of the ministers who will reportedly no longer be in Karzai's cabinet will be Information and Culture Minister Karim Khorram. But given the importance of the post of the information and culture minister and the proliferation of the free media in Afghanistan, who and with what particularities can create a better environment for the realization of freedom of expression and respect for civil values?" (24 July)
Counter-narcotics efforts
The independent Daily Afghanistan says accusations by former US counter-narcotics official Thomas Schweich in the New York Times that President Karzai is an obstacle to counter-narcotics efforts and drugs-related corruption is rife in the government cannot be ignored:
"These remarks are really serious, because they were made by a senior official of an influential country in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that it will have its impact on the government in Afghanistan. It will force the international community to take these remarks seriously and launch investigations into them. Mr Karzai dismissed these allegations and indirectly said that foreigners were involved in drug smuggling and called it an international mafia. Karzai said that his countrymen were forced into in drug smuggling, On the other hand, an Afghan MP accused foreign countries of being involved in drug smuggling this spring."
The paper says there are implications for Afghanistan's media image too:
"Thomas Schweich's article could have another impact on the current government and that is the government has been defamed before the Western media. Perhaps, they will not support this government's programmes. The Western media have a significant impact on the opinions of their people and governments. The unpopularity of the Afghan government in the Western media will significantly reduce support for this government." (28 July)
Hasht-e Sobh agrees foreigners are to blame as well as Afghans:
"Some analysts confirm the involvement of Afghan government officials in opium trafficking and meanwhile see the recent stance of western officials as politically-motivated... But as to why the names of the senior officials involved in drug trafficking are not disclosed, these analysts again blame security issues for the failure to disclose them." (29 July)
The state-owned daily Hewad says Schweich and people like him should admit their own faults:
"Why has this foreign official not commented on foreign media reports on the involvement of some of the foreign military forces in smuggling heroin to Europe and America? Why has he not commented on the demand for heroin in his own and a number of other countries? He and other people like him should no longer blame Afghans for their failures. They should admit the bitter fact that their strategy against narcotics has failed." (26 July)
Payman says the timing of Schweich's accusations is significant:
"The essence of this accusation does not seem as important as the timing because it shows that when westerners feel one of their unique assets is in a unsustainable situation, they will at once forget all kindness, formalities, friendship and the sweet past and turn to stone. But were they not the same westerners that made the current situation for Hamed Karzai?"
The paper does not think a new leader would do any better than Karzai:
"The new propaganda has obviously been launched to weaken the power of the president. It is a part of an international and regional game. If anyone else comes to power after Karzai, he will do nothing useful to the benefit of the Afghan people after the clamour of propaganda!" ( 27 July)
Fight against Taleban, Al-Qa'idah
The state-owned daily The Kabul Times says a unified command is essential in the fight against the Taleban:
"Why have the Taleban, a small group, become a threat to the national forces and the friendly 70,000 international troops and why are they are able to disturb peace and stability in Afghanistan? Most people who follow the situation believe that the absence of a unified command creates an obstacle to putting an end to the war. If a unified command is established and led by Afghan authorities, very soon we will win the war." (29 July)
Payman says NATO is playing an "intelligence" game with disintegrating Taleban groups:
"The Taleban have recently confirmed that the number of Taleban individuals who are giving information to NATO forces is on the rise. The spread of these reports may be to a large extent, intentional, and on the other hand, considered another type of deceitful game of information to each other. But it is self-evident that NATO operations which have been described aimed at killing commanders, have so far been able to seize the operational` initiative from the Taleban."
The paper suspects the motives of British forces in Helmand Province:
"Analysts say the British forces in the south have established broad and complex relations with the multi-ethnic Taleban groups and these forces can manage the crisis in the south any way they wish. But British military officials deny the reports. Of course, the denial of the reports by the British officials is baseless because the British leaders speak in favour of the Taleban's interests in their own language through the official media of their own country, and even propounded the need to recognize the Taleban's ideology in Afghanistan." (29 July)
The independent daily Cheragh also picks up the intelligence angle:
"The NATO leaders do no consider the reason for their success in the war against this group to be local intelligence alone. NATO announced early this year, that in order to break the resistance and to delay the Taleban military operation, they will rely more on their intelligence reports than on their military muscle. It seems that they have implemented their plan and it is proving to be effective.
The paper says Taleban members use intelligence leaks to get rid of rivals in the movement:
"Reports say serious differences over reaching fame and wealth have emerged in the mid-level Taleban ranks. This has resulted in the deaths of many of their leaders at the hands of NATO and in their removal from the scene.... Deals with the Taleban have strengthened the motive to reach power within this group and NATO forces have been chosen as an effective and cheap option to tip the balance and clear the way to reach higher positions. (29 July)
Hasht-e Sobh describes a Pakistani Geo TV interview with Mustafa Abu al-Yazid ,senior Al-Qa'idah commander in Afghanistan, as a "publicity trick":
"No Al-Qa'idah member has given an interview to any media outlets since 2002 and the fact that Geo TV is the only media outlet able to conduct the interview creates suspicions. One can suspect that Pakistan's intelligence agency and the Al-Qa'idah terrorist network have contacts at a very high level."
The paper says the aim is to give the impression that Afghanistan's insurgency problem is nothing to do with Pakistan:
"Actually, as the main terrorist network, Al-Qa'idah either leads the main terrorist attacks across the world or supports the orchestration and implementation of the attacks. As Pakistan tries to describe the Taleban problem as a local problem inside Pakistan and is even ready to sign a peace agreement with them as a legitimate political group, the airing of the exclusive interview with the Al-Qa'idah commander in Afghanistan is in fact an attempt to deceive public opinion. In this way Pakistan wants to say that the main base of terrorism is in Afghanistan and it is so serious that even a senior Al-Qa'idah commander can freely give an interview from an Afghan province to the so-called private media." (24 July)
The state-owned daily Anis describes the interview as part of a "psychological war" against Afghanistan and adds:
"Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, has warned the people of Afghanistan in order to confuse them that they will increase their attacks. Comments by this terrorist Al-Qa'idah figure, through terrorists, is nothing but inimical propaganda against the government and people of Afghanistan to accomplish their evil objectives and thus trick the people into accepting their inimical plans. If the terrorists are not annihilated, international security will be damaged and no country in the world will feel safe." (24 July)
Relations with Pakistan
Hewad gives a cautious welcome to a move by the Pakistan prime minister before his departure for Washington, ordering his country's foreign intelligence service to be subordinated to the Interior Ministry:
"US President George W Bush should hold decisive and transparent talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani today. Mr Gillani ordered the ISI [Pakistan's foreign intelligence service, to be put under the Interior Ministry's control shortly before his visit to Washington. Perhaps this is Gillani's biggest gift to White House during this visit. Pakistan's government should not content itself with this step alone, but introduce a deep change in its position on the war on terror, prevent its intelligence agency from supporting terrorists and take decisive steps to eliminate terrorism in line with the international community's demands." (28 July)
However, the pro-government daily Weesa warns against being taken in by what it describes as such "manoeuvres" by Pakistan:
"It will be very regrettable and surprising if the international community, particularly America is misled by such dramas and manoeuvres by Pakistan. The fact is that this will completely disappoint nations in the region and world which are facing terrorism, war and miseries, about the ongoing war on terror. These nations, including Afghans, will definitely ask some day why they should fall prey to such a blind war whose pioneers are busy striking deals with the centres of terror. America and its allies should realize that nations of the world can no longer tolerate such deals and demand an action." (28 July)
Cheragh says the USA and Pakistan both want Afghanistan's obedience but have different agendas:
"They will eventually probably have the same fate, these two influential countries - Pakistan and the USA. One of these two countries, Pakistan, is pursuing an adventurous policy to regain its lost position in Afghanistan, while America is spending millions of dollars in a remote country to establish its military bases and transform it into its regional base. The USA and Pakistan both have a number of objectives in Afghanistan, although they follow different policies. They both want the Kabul government to obey them." (24 July)
Daily Afghanistan wonders how far NATO countries will go to back US efforts to persuade Pakistan to allow attacks on militants on its territory:
"Relations between Washington and Islamabad are not sincere due to the Pakistani authorities' objections to this plan. In this situation, will NATO follow America's path? Will it reach the conclusion that the only way to suppress terrorist movements is to launch various attacks on terrorist nests inside Pakistan?"
The paper cites NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as saying on a recent visit to Afghanistan that the presence of militants in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan is unacceptable:
"These remarks as well as some others by Western officials indicate that these countries are now running out of patience over the presence of extremist forces in Pakistan. It is not acceptable that the Pakistani authorities treat the phenomena of terrorism and extremism in the region with double standards." (26 July)
But Hasht-e Sobh is unimpressed by Scheffer's remarks:
"The fact that Scheffer said the NATO forces would act only in self-defence if they were attacked from the other side of the border shows that NATO and its allies do not have at least a precise and organized programme at the moment to eliminate terrorists in the region. Basically, NATO's current strategy to prevent infiltration of terrorists into Afghanistan from Pakistan has not produced any effective result. On the contrary, making such a remark can also be taken as an assurance to the Taleban and Pakistan's intelligence service.
The paper doubts the will really exists to challenge Pakistan's policies:
"Given the experience of the recent years, Pakistan's diplomacy in its internal and foreign affairs has been one of the strongest in the region. Pakistan is running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, and there is no one who dares to openly warn Pakistan over its double-standard policies." (26 July)
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Germany denies report on dragging out decision to send AWACS planes to Afghanistan
Berlin, July 30, IRNA
A spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry on Wednesday denied a recent report in the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine which said the German government was deliberately delaying a decision on a NATO request until September to send German-based AWACS planes to war-stricken Afghanistan.
Talking to journalists in Berlin, Captain Christian Dienst branded the report as "nonsense."
He reiterated ahead of any political talks, the NATO request had first to be discussed in the military committee.
Der Spiegel was quoted as saying over the weekend that Berlin was to pre-occupy NATO with technical questions on the controversial AWACS mission in Afghanistan.
The move is reportedly directed at defusing a likely domestic political conflict within the German ruling government coalition, comprised of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats.
Several Social Democratic as well as opposition politicians have already expressed serious doubts on the AWACS operation which may also parliamentary approval.
NATO's military leaders in Afghanistan have asked the western pact to send surveillance planes in a bid to combat the Taliban and al- Qaeda insurgency.
NATO owns a fleet of 17 Boeing-made Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar aircraft located in the west German town of Geilenkirchen.
Around a third of the 1,600 AWACS personnel at the Geilenkirchen base are German.
The German military deployment in Afghanistan has for months been nearing the limit of 3,500 soldiers as mandated by the parliament.
Germany has indicated it wants to increase its number of troops by 1,000 after the present Afghan mandate expires in October.
Most Germans oppose the Afghan mission, according to various opinion polls.
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Achieving victory in Afghanistan
The Washington Times - Editorials Thursday, July 31, 2008
While the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is proving to be an extraordinary success, the same cannot be said for the military situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent. It is almost seven years since the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed close to 3,000 Americans, were carried out by al Qaeda terrorists given sanctuary by the Taliban regime in Kabul. In the fall of 2001, a combination of CIA operatives, several hundred commandos and waves of air strikes drove the Taliban from power. Today, there are more than 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, together with more than 22,000 from NATO countries. But the increase in U.S. and NATO forces has been dwarfed by the ability of the Taliban and its allies to find new cadres of terrorists.
Recently, terrorists bombed the Indian Embassy in Kabul and almost assassinated Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Last month, Taliban fighters escaped from an Afghan prison and captured several villages, which were subsequently retaken by NATO forces. But a large part of the instability inside Afghanistan emanates from outside the country - in particular, Pakistan, where Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's government has made "peaceful" engagement with the Taliban a top priority and has released hundreds of lower-level jihadists from prison.
As Rowan Scarborough of The Washington Times reported Tuesday, Pentagon officials and military specialists say the No. 1 reason for the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan is the chaos in the neighboring (and largely ungoverned) tribal region of Pakistan - where al Qaeda and Taliban operatives are left alone to train, recruit and cross the border to create mayhem in Afghanistan. That is why Mr. Karzai declared on June 15 that Afghanistan had the right to launch cross-border strikes against terrorist bases in Pakistan. "We're seeing a greater number of insurgents and foreign fighters flowing across the border with Pakistan, unmolested and unhindered," Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen said recently. "This movement needs to stop." Adm. Mullen is correct. In the short term, that will require intensified diplomatic pressure on Islamabad - which until now has found it easier to appease the jihadists than to deal with U.S. displeasure over Pakistan's role in fomenting discord in Afghanistan. But the
status quo cannot continue indefinitely: Eventually the Pakistani government will act against subversion emanating from its territory, or some outside force will take action.
Dealing with Pakistan-based subversion is just the first step toward stabilizing Afghanistan. President Bush and his successor will be faced with some critical decisions about whether to increase the size of U.S. military forces in that country, and if so, whether these should be in the form of conventional armies or special forces. As Mr. Scarborough wrote, Adm. Mullen believes that there are too few U.S. and European troops to hold ground that is captured. But U.S. veterans of the Afghan war, speaking on background, warn that larger conventional forces are much less useful than expanding the role for special operations forces. Both sides have a point. Assuming that the military situation in Iraq continues to improve, that would free up more troops to come to Afghanistan, as Adm. Mullen suggests. But we do not see any inherent contradiction between expanding both conventional and special operations forces. Both have unique, important roles to play in stabilizing Afghanistan.
The major problem when it comes to increasing the size of allied forces in Afghanistan, however, continues to be the refusal of many NATO countries to pull their weight. The United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia provide close to two-thirds of the nearly 52,000 troops serving in the International Security Assistance Force, But countries like France, Germany and Italy impose severe restrictions on the movement of their troops, often rendering them useless for the most critical, dangerous military operations in Afghanistan.
For the current democratic government in Kabul to survive and eventually stand on its own, however, will also require much greater leadership from Mr. Karzai and members of his cabinet. That means more effective training of Afghan security forces. It means pushing ahead with Marshall Plan-type efforts (with Western assistance) if necessary to eradicate the country's heroin crop and come up with substitutes for farmers to grow. It means going after corruption and drug trafficking.
All of the above - and more - will be necessary to achieve victory in Afghanistan. The decisions fall to the Bush administration and the 110th Congress - not their successors.
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Injury time goal by Climax gives India 1-0 win over Afghanistan
[PTI] -- HYDERABAD, July 30: An injury time goal by Climax Lawrence saw a patchy India scrape past minnows Afghanistan 1-0 in their opening Group A match of the AFC Challenge Cup.
Climax saved the day for India scoring in the 92nd minute after being fed by substitute Clifford Miranda to the relief of the Indian camp and handful of spectators who cheered every move of their home team at the floodlit Gachibowli stadium here.
India, however, largely failed to live up to pre-tournament hype and they have to dish out a much improved performance in their two remaining matches -- against Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to harbour hopes of winning the eight-nation tournament and qualify for 2011 Asian Cup after 24 years.
India completely dominated the first 25 minutes having most of the ball possession and making several attacks. It seemed for a while that Bob Houghton's charges would walk away with full points without much resistance from their opponents, the lowest ranked side in the tournament at 181st in latest FIFA charts, but the fight by the players from the war-ravaged country left the Indians surprised as well as red-faced.
The Afghans, who had two players who their ply trade in lower division clubs in Germany in their ranks, almost turned the tables towards the breather, getting two fine chances with the hosts surviving thanks to Subrata Paul's brilliant goal-keeping.
While the Indians failed to produce the finishing move even while having more attacks, the Afghans employed tight man marking inside their own half and Indian captain Baichung Bhutia was given little space by Djelaluddin Shrityar, one of the two Afghan players who play in Germany.
India had at least three attempts at rival goal. First in the fifth minute, it was captain Baichung whose header beat the goalkeeper but missed the target by inches.
Next, in the 10th minute, NP Pradeep could not do more than poke his toe off a Baichung pass which ballooned over the head of an onrushing Afghan goalkeeper Shamsuddin Amiri. A few seconds later, home team striker Sunil Chhetri's shot from outside the box landed straight to goalkeeper.
Chhetri again failed to connect a Climax Lawrence high cross from near the right touchline in the 19th minute.
Four minutes later, a looping shot by Bungo Singh, who was fielded in place of injured Steven Dias, was fisted away in time by a busy Afghan goalkeeper Shamsuddin.
Baichung's back-heel attempt from the resultant corner, after being fed by defender Anwar Ali, was again blocked by the rival goalkeeper.
The Afghans though slowly found their feet and started finding space in the Indian half with their strikers Abdul Saboor and Qadami Hafizullah looking dangerous and their midfielders feeding them well.
In the 26th minute, the home supporters were nearly stunned with Afghan striker Hafizullah sending a left footer towards the Indian goal but Subrata Paul was up to his task punching away in time diving high on his right.
In the 42nd minute, India were saved from conceding the lead, and following a move from the right flank Hafizullah's low drive but Paul was able to lay his hands on and the ball landed at the back of the net after one bounce.
The second half was a midfield tussle with few clear chances and India pressing hard for the lead but failing to find the finishing touches.
In the 67th minute, Baichung's misdirected shot from outside the box flew foots above the bar and a Chhetri shot two minutes later also missed the target.
Baichung then missed the easiest chance of the day in the 78th minute. After the Afghan goalkeeper dropped the ball in front of the India captain following a charge by Chhetri, the Sikkimese Sniper only had to fire into the empty goal but he chose to shoot a grounder only to get deflected from a defender.
India were finally saved the blushes by Climax, who after being fed by Clifford Miranda, a substitute of Bungo Singh in the 75th minute, fired a waist-high shot past the Afghan goalkeeper following a move by Chhetri to the to the dismay of the Afghans.
The Afghans had fought hard for the 90 minutes without giving an inch to their more fancied rivals and they ended the game with their heads held high.
India's injury concerns though compounded with Deepak Mondal limping out of the ground towards the close of the match and replaced by Mahesh Gawli whom the coach said on Tuesday would not be fit for the match.
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Majority of schools closed in Helmand
Pajhwok By Zainullah Stanekzai 07/30/2008
LASHKARGAH -Over 169 schools of around 227 schools have been closed and 59 are not functioning normally in southern province of Helmand, provincial governor said on Thursday.
Addressing to a tribal meeting held for reopening schools in the lawless province Gulab Mangal said his province having no educated people that are why violence was on the rise. The province would not face such violence if schools were opened for children, he pointed out.
He promised that all the schools will open at any cost and will bring various changes in education sector of the province from start of the new education year that will start on September 5th.
"School must be reopened for schoolchildren if it is by talking with the militants or if by the help of tribal gatherings" he said. More than 4000 students are being deprived of education, according to the information of education department.
The tribal gathering held for the reopening of schools in the restive province have participated by 400 tribal elders, government officials and religious scholars. Fifteen schools have even closed in the provincial capital, Lashkargah, said education director Sher Agha Safi.
All the schools are not closed by the anti government movement of Taliban guerrillas but some schools are being closed by the area people because of low salaries to the schoolteachers and because of other problems, said Mukhtar Ahmad, head of Hajj and Auqaf department.
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Kidnapping gang arrested in Samangan
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Hostage released, defense ministry to put cameras on Kabul streets
The Ministry of Interior Affairs has reported the arrest of a gang in Samangan province suspected of kidnapping.
The Ministry says the gang members, which are suspected of kidnapping the deputy of a business company in Zorabi village in Samangan one week ago, were arrested on Monday as the result of a police operation in Samangan province that also rescued the kidnapped man.
The arrested gang members were shown to the reporters in Kabul.
The kidnapped man, for whom the kidnappers had asked for $1 million in return for his freedom, was also shown to the reporters.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Zimarai Bashari, said: "The arrested gang are not a terrorist or a political group; their only purpose was to get money."
The Defense Ministry also once again insisted on putting security cameras in some parts of Kabul.
Although it is not yet clear in which areas these cameras are to be placed, the Defense Ministry says that cameras will be put in areas which are in danger of terrorist attacks and other crimes.
Mr. Bashari said: "This project is being donated by the United States of America, and after putting these cameras in place, you will witness a big change in the struggle against crimes, and how to stop the crimes."
The Interior Ministry has emphasized that the police will take stronger steps to prevent the crimes and terrorist attacks in Kabul.
The Ministry says that as of last year more than one thousand policemen have been killed by attacks in different parts of the country.
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6 Iranians arrested for drug trafficking
www.quqnoos.com Written by Reza Shir Mohamadi Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Iranian nationals seized in Kohsan district of Herat
Afghan Border Police have arrested 6 people for allegedly smuggling drugs in the Kohsan District of Herat Province on Tuesday .
Head of the Fourth Security Garrison in Heart, Rahmatullah Safi, said on Tuesday that these Iranian nationals are from Turbati Jam of Iran, and were arrested in the border areas carrying 70 kilograms of narcotics and a Kalashnikov.
He added that these narcotics were intended for Iran.
Officials say this is the first time that foreign smugglers were arrested in Herat.
Recently, Border Police in Herat arrested one Turkish national accused of smuggling narcotics near the border of Afghanistan, carrying some narcotics with them.
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Taliban executes one of its own
Written by www.quqnoos.com & PAN Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Taliban kills suspected informant in Kapisa province
(PAN): Taliban militia executed one of their colleagues in the Tagab district of central Kapisa province on the suspicion that he was a spy for coalition forces.
Taliban spokesman Qari Ahmad said that Toryal, the suspected 22 year old Talib, who was the resident of Qala Salih village in Tagab district, had joined the militia only for the purpose of spying for the coalition forces.
Ahmad added that the recent air strike by foreign forces on the district, in which two civilians were killed, was prompted by information provided by Toryal.
He said the Taliban had vacated the area just few moments before the airstrike.
"That was why Toryal was killed and the dead body is lying in Thethar Khel village near Qala Salih," he said.
Abdul Hakim Akhunzada, the district chief of Tagab, also confirmed the killing of Toryal but said he was a Talib who was killed due to internal strife in the militia.
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