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Gates regret over Afghan civilians killed in air strike
by Jim Mannion
KABUL (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday announced a joint probe with Afghanistan into civilian deaths in an air strike, and suggested more troops may be sent next year to help fight Taliban rebels.
Gates, Afghan official agree to joint civilian death probe
KABUL (AFP) - US military and Afghan authorities will jointly investigate a UN-backed Afghan claim of high civilian casualties in a recent coalition air strike, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.
France wants Europe to lift Afghan troop restrictions
By Rob Taylor Tue Sep 16, 11:52 PM ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - France on Wednesday asked its European allies to relax restrictions on troop deployment and operations in Afghanistan just a month after losing 10 soldiers in a Taliban ambush.
French, Australian Ministers Plan Afghan Visit to Show Resolve
By Gemma Daley
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- French Defense Minister Herve Morin invited his Australian counterpart to join him on a visit to Afghanistan to reaffirm their countries' commitment to defeating the Taliban insurgency
Bomb kills 4 U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan
Wed Sep 17, 3:39 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed four soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force and an Afghan national in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.
Bolster Afghan force with 15,000 troops: U.S. general
Andrew Gray, Reuters Wednesday, September 17, 2008
KABUL - NATO's top commander in Afghanistan said yesterday he would need thousands more U. S. troops on top of planned reinforcements as the security situation in the country remains volatile.
Probe backs commander who removed Marine unit
By KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 16, 6:14 PM ET
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A top commander acted properly by removing a Marine special operations unit from Afghanistan amid allegations that members killed as many as 19 civilians after a car bomb hit their convoy
FACTBOX - Security developments in Afghanistan, Sept 17
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan reported until 0800 GMT on Wednesday:
EASTERN AFGHANISTAN - A bomb killed four soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force and an Afghan national on Wednesday in an eastern area, the U.S. military said.
US commander holds Pakistan talks
Wednesday, 17 September 2008 BBC News
America's top military commander, Adm Michael Mullen, has met Pakistani officials to discuss operations along the troubled border with Afghanistan.
‘Taliban to abide by Wana peace deal’
* Ahmedzai Wazirs say Taliban should avenge drone attacks from US, not Pak troops
By Iqbal Khattak Daily Times (Pakistan) September 17, 2008
PESHAWAR: The Taliban have agreed to abide by a peace agreement with the Ahmedzai Wazir tribes in South Waziristan, and to defer attacks on the government forces in retaliation for US drone
Taliban Releases Kidnapped Afghan Senator After Two Months
KABUL (AFP)--An Afghan senator was released unharmed two months after his abduction by Taliban militants, he said Wednesday, as rebels abducted an aid worker and his driver in the country's east.
New breed of Taliban replaces old guard
Money and a hatred of foreigners are motivating a new generation of Afghan fighters.
By Alex Thomson The Telegraph (UK) September 17, 2008
Mehran Bozorgnia, a cameraman working for Channel 4 News, spent time with the Taliban in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan to discover this new breed.
NATO Orders Lethal Force Review to Cut Afghan Deaths
By Ed Johnson and Gregory Viscusi
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan ordered troops to review when they use lethal force to avoid civilian casualties, as the United Nations reported a surge in the number of Afghan villagers killed this year.
Harper hounded to release Afghan war cost report
Wed Sep 17, 9:46 AM By Martin O'Hanlon, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Pressure is mounting on Stephen Harper to allow the release of an independent report on the true cost of the Afghan war that could dash his hopes for a majority government.
Canadian troops cleared in deaths of two children
TOBI COHEN - The Canadian Press September 17, 2008
KANDAHAR -- Canadian troops followed proper procedures when they opened fire on a civilian vehicle that failed to stop and accidentally killed two young Afghan children last July, an investigation into the incident has revealed.
WHO says Afghan polio campaign to go ahead despite killings
GENEVA (AFP) — The World Health Organisation said Wednesday that a polio vaccination campaign in southern Afghanistan would go ahead despite the killing of two doctors in a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban.
Afghanistan in Backward Slide, Analysts Say
By Gary Thomas Washington Voice of America 16 September 2008
Taliban attacks in Afghanistan rose sharply this year, underscoring the difficulty faced by the Afghan government and coalition forces trying to stamp out the persistent and deadly insurgency. But just how serious a threat does
UK offers more food aid to Afghanistan
London, Sept 17, IRNA
The British government Wednesday announced an extra pnds 5 million (dlrs 9 m) of food aid to Afghanistan, virtually doubling the amount supplied so far this year.
Giving Afghan trade a boost
U.S. aid teams aim to up farmers’ productivity with power, water
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes - September 17, 2008
TORKHAM’S GATE, Afghanistan — The line of trucks stretching back along the road to this border crossing in the Khyber Pass runs a mile or more, and as it eases forward there’s a distinct tinkling
New UN figures show sharp rise in Afghan civilian casualties
Source: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 16 Sep 2008
GENEVA - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed serious concern Tuesday as new figures released by her office showed a sharp increase in the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan
Intelligence agency disrupts Kabul criminal gang
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 17 September 2008
'Key members' of kidnapping network arrested by secret service
THE intelligence service has broken up a criminal network accused of a string of kidnappings, murders and armed robberies in the capital Kabul, the agency said.
Gunmen kidnap two Afghan water engineers
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdullah Anwari Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Two men were working to bring water to a district when they were kidnapped
UNIDENTIFIED gunmen have abducted two Afghan engineers working on a water project in the eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said.
Afghanistan Cricket team winning spree continue
Associated Press of Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Sept 17 (APP): The winning spree of the Afghanistan Cricket team continued when they defeated Malik Sports by three wickets in their Tour second match played here at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium
Police arrest man for kidnapping nurse
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdullah Anwari Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Hospital staff urge governemnt to punish the man for kidnapping colleague
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Gates regret over Afghan civilians killed in air strike
by Jim Mannion
KABUL (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday announced a joint probe with Afghanistan into civilian deaths in an air strike, and suggested more troops may be sent next year to help fight Taliban rebels.
Gates, who is on a visit to Afghanistan, expressed regret over the August 22 incident in which Afghan and UN officials say 90 non-combatants, mostly women and children, were mistakenly killed in an air raid.
The US military says it killed "five to seven" civilians along with 30 to 35 rebels but has reopened its own investigation after mobile phone video footage emerged showing a large number of casualties.
The defence secretary voiced "sincere condolences and personal regret over the recent loss of innocent lives as a result of coalition air strikes," pledging to look for better ways to target insurgents.
"On those rare occasions when we do make mistakes, when there is an error, we need to apologise quickly, to compensate civilians quickly, and then carry out an investigation," he said.
Gates, speaking to reporters at the Bagram Air Base, the largest US-run military base in Afghanistan, said he and Afghan counterpart Abdul Rahim Wardak had agreed to a joint probe.
Commanders have increasingly resorted to air power, instead of ground raids, fearing casualties to their own forces as they tackle a growing insurgency by Islamist fighters.
There have been 4,000 air strikes in the country so far this year, according to one US military official. In recent months there have been 18 to 20 times more incidents involving close air support in Afghanistan than in Iraq, another official said.
Such air strikes have killed scores of civilians, angering war-weary Afghans and prompting President Hamid Karzai's administration to call for new rules to regulate the use of force by coalition troops.
"You have my word we will do everything in our power to target our common enemy while protecting the good people of Afghanistan," Gates told reporters after meeting Karzai in Kabul.
Gates blamed the mounting violence on the tactics of the Taliban and other insurgent groups and their ability to operate from what he called safe havens in Pakistan.
Tens of thousands of US soldiers, making up about half of the 70,000-strong international force, are deployed in Afghanistan.
In the latest unrest, four US soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in Paktia province, raising to at least 210 the number of international troops who have died in Afghanistan this year.
The US administration has already announced an increase of 4,500 soldiers for Afghanistan early next year, but Gates suggested that the Pentagon was preparing to send in even more soldiers at a later date.
"In addition to the forces our international partners have agreed to send, we will be sending additional forces in 2009, and my expectation is we will be able to meet the requirements the commanders have in the course of 2009," he told reporters.
The top US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, said Tuesday he needed more than 10,000 combat troops to fight the insurgency, in addition to those already committed.
The rebels are not winning, but "it's going to take a while to defeat this insurgency," he said.
He said the estimate of 10,000 more troops was "probably on the low side," amid suggestions the numbers required might be as high as 20,000.
When asked about stepped-up US strikes across the border into Pakistan's tribal areas, Gates said Washington would work with Islamabad to address the problem of Taliban safe havens.
He said he was encouraged by recent Pakistani military operations which had put pressure on extremists.
The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, has flown to Islamabad in an effort to ease tensions over recent missile strikes and casualties in the rugged tribal terrain bordering Afghanistan.
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Gates, Afghan official agree to joint civilian death probe
KABUL (AFP) - US military and Afghan authorities will jointly investigate a UN-backed Afghan claim of high civilian casualties in a recent coalition air strike, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.
Afghan and UN officials charge that 90 non-combatants, most of them women and children, were accidentally killed on August 22 in a western Afghanistan village.
The US military disputes the toll, saying it killed only "five to seven" civilians along with 30 to 35 rebels. The military however has reopened its own probe after video footage, recorded on a mobile phone, emerged showing large number of casualties.
Gates, speaking to reporters at the Bagram Air Base, the biggest US-run military base in Afghanistan, said he and his Afghan counterpart Abdul Rahim Wardak had agreed to a joint investigation of the incident.
"On those rare occasions when we do make mistakes, when there is an error, we need to apologise quickly, to compensate civilians quickly, and then carry out an investigation," he told reporters.
Gates, on the second day of his visit here, also pledged to find better ways to prevent civilian casualties during operations against Islamic militants.
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France wants Europe to lift Afghan troop restrictions
By Rob Taylor Tue Sep 16, 11:52 PM ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - France on Wednesday asked its European allies to relax restrictions on troop deployment and operations in Afghanistan just a month after losing 10 soldiers in a Taliban ambush.
Limits on troop operations and years of military underspending in Europe outside the United Kingdom and France were damaging the coalition war effort, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said on a visit to Australia.
"Most of Europe has made NATO responsible for their security. Therefore, the weakness of Europe is typified by what you see in Afghanistan," Morin told journalists.
NATO has struggled to get major nations to contribute more to its Afghan force, and as the death toll rises the challenge only gets greater.
Last month was the deadliest for foreign troops since the conflict began, according to independent website icasualties.org. Forty-three troops were killed, including the 10 French soldiers hit in a single Taliban ambush.
Many NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan have "national caveats" that restrict how their troops may be used, limiting their flexibility.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last year compared the problem to a chess game in which one side enjoyed full freedom of movement and the other could only move a single space in a single direction.
Australia and the United States, both close allies, have been critical of European countries for not doing enough to combat the Taliban in their mountain havens.
Australia, an original member of the U.S-led coalition that arrived in 2001 to topple the Taliban, still has around 1,000 troops in the restive Oruzgan province, including special forces.
Morin said "not a cigarette paper in width" separated his own views from those of his Australian counterpart Joel Fitzgibbon after 10 French troops were killed and 21 wounded by the Taliban on August 18.
"We share the point of view that the effectiveness of the forces in place in Afghanistan depends very heavily on the conditions that are applied for their use. Caveats prevent the best possible application of the forces," he said.
Morin said he and Fitzgibbon, and German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, hoped to visit Afghanistan in December to inspect security for themselves.
Jung visited the country earlier this month to meet with tribal leaders and express sympathy after German troops shot and killed a woman and two children who failed to stop at a roadblock, leading to fears of reprisal attacks.
Morin said "rumors and lies" in media reports, and an "almost obsessive denigration of what is being done on the ground" were also damaging the coalition war effort and eroding public support for the war in western countries.
France has 3,300 troops serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and after last month's ambush said it may send special forces troops back for the first time since 2007.
Morin is in Australia for two days to discuss Afghanistan and boost security cooperation between France and Australia in the South Pacific.
(Editing by Valerie Lee)
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French, Australian Ministers Plan Afghan Visit to Show Resolve
By Gemma Daley
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- French Defense Minister Herve Morin invited his Australian counterpart to join him on a visit to Afghanistan to reaffirm their countries' commitment to defeating the Taliban insurgency after suffering recent casualties.
The international campaign against terrorism is being ``played out'' in Afghanistan, Morin said at a news conference with Joel Fitzgibbon in Canberra today. ``We do not have the right to lose.''
Ten French soldiers were killed in an ambush east of Kabul last month in the heaviest toll for the French military in 25 years. Earlier this month, Australia suffered the highest number of combat casualties in a single incident since the Vietnam War when nine commandos were wounded in an ambush in Uruzgan province.
Morin also wants Germany's defense minister to join the tour. The three nations' troops cover much of the South Asian nation, with France's 3,300 soldiers in the central and eastern provinces, Australia's 1,000 in the south and Germany's approximately 3,300 soldiers in the north.
Insurgents are stepping up attacks against North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and the U.S.-led coalition almost seven years after the Taliban regime was ousted. The monthly death toll for international troops in Afghanistan has topped that in Iraq. Australia is a partner of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in the country.
Australia and France will work ``more closely'' on efforts in Afghanistan to face the ``significant challenges'' there, Fitzgibbon said.
The conflict ``goes to the heart of security in both our countries,'' he said, adding that he would try to take up Morin's invitation to visit in December. The tour would be ``a good way to show Afghanistan is a global effort,'' he said.
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Bomb kills 4 U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan
Wed Sep 17, 3:39 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed four soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force and an Afghan national in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.
The military did not identify the victims, but most foreign troops serving under coalition force in eastern Afghanistan are Americans.
The toll is the bloodiest in a single attack in recent weeks in Afghanistan, where the al Qaeda-backed Taliban have stepped up their campaign of suicide attacks and roadside bomb blasts against the government and foreign troops backing it.
At least 194 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in 2008, the deadliest year for the foreign forces since U.S.-led troops removed the Taliban from power in 2001.
The resurgent Taliban have made a come back since 2005 and have gradually extended the depth of their attacks despite the increase in number of foreign troops, now standing at more than 71,000.
Separately, the guerrillas freed a member of the upper house of the parliament who they had kidnapped more than two months ago from a province to the south of Kabul, the parliament said on Wednesday.
It said the release was secured following the mediation of the area's tribal chiefs, but the Taliban said the government had freed three of their jailed militants in a deal.
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Bolster Afghan force with 15,000 troops: U.S. general
Andrew Gray, Reuters Wednesday, September 17, 2008
KABUL - NATO's top commander in Afghanistan said yesterday he would need thousands more U. S. troops on top of planned reinforcements as the security situation in the country remains volatile.
U. S. Army General David McKiernan, head of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said he needed three brigades plus support units -- possibly about 15,000 troops -- in addition to other forces scheduled to arrive in coming months.
His comments come amid growing Western concern about Afghanistan, where violence by Taliban fighters and other insurgents has risen dramatically in the past two years.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U. S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this month he was not convinced the United States was winning in Afghanistan.
"We're in a pretty tough fight here ... and I think we're going to be here for a while, although I don't think the insurgency will ever win in Afghanistan," Gen. McKiernan told reporters travelling with Robert Gates, the U. S. Defence Secretary.
Mr. Gates arrived yesterday in Kabul, where he will also meet Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President. The President has condemned the killing of Afghan civilians by foreign troops hunting Taliban insurgents.
However, Mr. Karzai backed last week's announcement the United States would target rebel bases in neighbouring Pakistan. Such raids have triggered fury in Pakistan, with reports of civilian casualties and even near-skirmishes between U. S. and Pakistani troops.
About 33,000 U. S. personnel are among nearly 71,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, some led by NATO and some by a separate U. S. command.
Canada has about 2,500 troops in the particularly violent south of the country. The government has pledged to end its troop contribution when the present mission in Kandahar ends in 2011.
Under plans announced last week by George W. Bush, the U. S. President, about 1,000 Marines will be deployed in Afghanistan in November to take over a mission training Afghan forces.
A 4,000-strong U. S. Army brigade is due to arrive in January, but Gen. McKiernan said that unit was emergency assistance for U. S.-led forces facing renewed fighting in eastern Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan.
Another three more brigades were needed. U. S. officials say Taliban fighters operate from safe havens in tribal areas of Pakistan and are crossing the border to mount attacks.
"Our fight in the east is different than we had predicted," Gen. McKiernan said. "It's a tougher fight."
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Probe backs commander who removed Marine unit
By KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 16, 6:14 PM ET
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A top commander acted properly by removing a Marine special operations unit from Afghanistan amid allegations that members killed as many as 19 civilians after a car bomb hit their convoy, the Department of Defense said in a report made public Tuesday.
The report found Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney acted properly in removing the unit and also bringing murder charges against two Fort Bragg Special Forces soldiers in a separate case. But U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday that he is not satisfied with a report from the department's inspector general.
Jones sought the investigation after Kearney ordered the company involved in the March 2007 ambush out of Afghanistan. The Camp Lejeune-based Marines were driving along a highway in eastern Afghanistan when their convoy was hit by a car bomb and gunfire. The Marines fired back, killing civilians, though the exact number is disputed. In May, a military Court of Inquiry found that the Marines acted appropriately and within the rules of engagement.
Camp Lejeune, home of Marine Special Operations Command, is in Jones' district, and Jones was upset Kearney made public comments about the Marines before an investigation was complete. Kearney told The Washington Post soon after the March 2007 attack that there was no evidence the Marines were shot at after the car bomb hit their convoy.
"Not only has the presumption of innocence been discarded, but the reputation of these Marines may be maligned," Jones wrote in a May 2007 letter.
Jones said he plans to file another letter asking the Defense Department additional questions.
"At this point, I am still very concerned," Jones said. "There are still questions that need to be answered. I appreciate the inspector general looking into this case, but maybe I wasn't clear."
The investigation was finished in July, but Kearney's command announced the findings in a statement Tuesday.
The inspector general found that Kearney, who was commanding general of Special Operations Command-Central Command and oversaw special operations forces in the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan, acted within his authority in ordering the company out.
"His actions were based upon repeated operational and command failures within the company that led to loss of confidence in the company's ability to successfully conduct its assigned missions," the report said.
The inspector general also found that Kearney did not abuse his authority or exert improper command influence when he charged two Special Forces soldiers with the murder of a known enemy fighter near the Pakistan border. Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko dismissed the charges in Sept. 2007. He was then-commander of U.S. Army Special Forces Command.
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FACTBOX - Security developments in Afghanistan, Sept 17
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan reported until 0800 GMT on Wednesday:
EASTERN AFGHANISTAN - A bomb killed four soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force and an Afghan national on Wednesday in an eastern area, the U.S. military said.
The toll brings the number of losses among foreign troops to at least 194 so far in 2008 in Afghanistan, the deadliest year since Taliban's ouster in 2001.
LOGAR - Taliban insurgents freed a member of the upper house of parliament kidnapped more than two months ago in Logar province to the south of Kabul, the parliament said on Wednesday
It said provincial tribal chiefs had mediated the release, but the Taliban said the government had freed three militants in return for his release.
GHAZNI - Coalition forces killed two militants and detained two suspected militants during an operation in Ghazni province on Tuesday, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.
(Compiled by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani
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US commander holds Pakistan talks
Wednesday, 17 September 2008 BBC News
America's top military commander, Adm Michael Mullen, has met Pakistani officials to discuss operations along the troubled border with Afghanistan.
Adm Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani "to defuse tension", the state news agency APP said. Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani was also present.
The visit comes after Pakistan's army said it would not tolerate incursions.
Tension has been rising in Pakistan over an increase in US attacks along the border with Afghanistan.
'Comprehensive strategy'
Adm Mullen arrived on his unannounced visit to Islamabad on Tuesday evening and met Prime Minister Gilani on Wednesday.
The men discussed "measures to defuse tension between the two countries, following a spate of air and ground violations along the Pakistan-Afghan border", APP said.
The US embassy in Islamabad said: "Admiral Mullen reiterated the US commitment to respect Pakistan's sovereignty and to develop further US-Pakistani co-operation and co-ordination on these critical issues that challenge the security and well-being of the people of both countries."
Earlier this month, Adm Mullen said he was not convinced Western forces were winning in Afghanistan.
He called for "a new, more comprehensive strategy" to deny militants bases across the border in Pakistan.
His visit come two days after Pakistani troops were reported to have fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the South Waziristan tribal area.
The tribal region is one of the main areas from which Islamist militants launch attacks into Afghanistan.
Pakistan's military confirmed firing but denied that Pakistani troops were involved.
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told the Associated Press on Tuesday that "no incursion is to be tolerated".
But he stressed to the BBC that no specific orders had been given to open fire if US troops crossed the border from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, British Justice Secretary Jack Straw, who is also in Islamabad, says operations along the border should be done "in a way that is not counterproductive".
"We believe that these matters have to be subject to consent of the Pakistan government because Pakistan is a sovereign nation," he told the BBC on Tuesday.
Diplomatic fury
It emerged last week that US President George W Bush has in recent months authorised military raids against militants inside Pakistan without prior approval from Islamabad.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says there is a growing American conviction that Pakistan is either unwilling or unable to eliminate militant sanctuaries in its border area.
There have been a number of missile attacks aimed at militants in Pakistan territory in recent weeks.
Pakistan reacted with diplomatic fury when US helicopters landed troops in South Waziristan on 3 September. It was the first ground assault by US troops in Pakistan.
Locals in the Musa Nikeh area said American soldiers attacked a target with gunfire and bombs, and said women and children were among some 20 civilians who died in the attack.
Pakistan's army has warned that the aggressive US policy will widen the insurgency by uniting the tribesmen with the Taleban.
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‘Taliban to abide by Wana peace deal’
* Ahmedzai Wazirs say Taliban should avenge drone attacks from US, not Pak troops
By Iqbal Khattak Daily Times (Pakistan) September 17, 2008
PESHAWAR: The Taliban have agreed to abide by a peace agreement with the Ahmedzai Wazir tribes in South Waziristan, and to defer attacks on the government forces in retaliation for US drone attacks against suspected Al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban, a tribal source said on Tuesday.
“There have been successful talks with senior Taliban leaders and we have won their backing for the peace agreement until the end of Ramazan,” a tribal elder told Daily Times by phone from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan.
He said a jirga of Ahmedzai Wazir elders had met the Taliban leaders in Wana on Monday. The Wazirs had made the peace agreement in March 2007 after the ouster of Uzbek militants from Wana.
Revenge: “We have told the Taliban that Pakistan can do little to stop drone attacks and they should take revenge from the US if they wish so and not from the Pakistani forces,” the tribesman said.
“It was decided in the meeting that the Taliban will take no action against the army at least until the end of Ramazan. We will meet again after Ramazan to discuss the situation as the Ahmedzai Wazirs do not want peace to be disturbed,” the Wazir elder said.
A grand jirga of the Ahmedzai Wazirs will meet in Wana today (Wednesday) to take up the issue of continued drone attacks.
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Taliban Releases Kidnapped Afghan Senator After Two Months
KABUL (AFP)--An Afghan senator was released unharmed two months after his abduction by Taliban militants, he said Wednesday, as rebels abducted an aid worker and his driver in the country's east.
Abdul Wali, an upper house parliamentarian from Logar province near Kabul, denied any deal had been struck following his abduction by gunpoint on July 13.
"Yes, I've been freed," Wali said by the telephone from his home in Logar.
"There was no deal. I was freed by the efforts of the tribal elders. The elders using their influence, pressured the Taliban to free me," he added.
Logar provincial police chief Ghulam Mustafa also said tribal elders had been instrumental in winning the senator's release.
"Yes, I'm aware that he has been released. Taliban has freed him. I think it was negotiated by tribal elders," the police chief said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said the group released the senator late Tuesday in exchange for three militant prisoners.
"We freed Abdul Wali in exchange for three of our colleagues who were in jail, " he said by telephone from an unknown location.
Meanwhile, suspected Taliban kidnapped an Afghan engineer and the driver working for a local non-governmental organization in Nangarhar province, where a Japanese aid worker was kidnapped and killed last month in an incident claimed by the rebels.
Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the armed kidnappers were believed to be Taliban. An operation to locate the engineer was underway, he said.
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New breed of Taliban replaces old guard
Money and a hatred of foreigners are motivating a new generation of Afghan fighters.
By Alex Thomson The Telegraph (UK) September 17, 2008
Mehran Bozorgnia, a cameraman working for Channel 4 News, spent time with the Taliban in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan to discover this new breed.
After months of planning, phone calls, endless cups of tea at meetings in Kabul to arrange the visit, it began with two knocks at the steel door of a mud compound near the southern city.
Eyes glinted as a face and a white turban appeared - as did a Kalashnikov. The door slammed shut. Nerve-wracking minutes passed before the door opened again.
Inside, it turned out to be the former home of Mullah Dadullah, the Mujahideen-turned-Taliban commander, killed by Nato forces (including Britain's Special Boat Service) last year. The house is still a command centre for "the Taliban". But that word is starting to lose meaning.
Beware: these men may lay down their lives for you if you are their guest. But they may hack your head off if you're an intruder.
They soon demonstrated gruesome beheading videos on their state-of-the-art mobiles to establish their credentials.
Hamidullah Khan, a veteran fighter in his mid-forties, underlined why the wild body-counts of the Afghan government are meaningless. These Talibs fight, he claimed, like shark's teeth. "This is the late Mullah Dadullah's home. He gave his life for God's will. When he was killed 20,000 more came forward in the name of Dadullah. They're now behind him. This is the Taliban way. When one is killed another comes in. Then another. We don't leave the ground empty."
And there was no evidence here of hordes crossing the frontier from Pakistan. To a man they were Afghan. The sole foreigner, Aftab Panjabi, a former Pakistan Army officer, took a dozen Talibs through the art of firing an AK47 accurately.
They were candid about their motives. There was no chat of Mullah Omar - the old Taliban leader - nor Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Their fight is both modern - and yet traditional.
In modern terms they feel nothing has changed. They see a country mired in corruption. They know there is a government of sorts in distant Kabul but it has no writ here. Haji Hyatullah, in his twenties, may have his face covered in black turban - but talks openly about getting far more money fighting with the Taliban than any other job around. Assuming for a second that there were any jobs. "People are getting fed up with the lies the government has told them.
There is no work for people. They do this because they need a piece of bread to eat," he said.
But surely someone has got to negotiate eventually with the government? President Hamid Karzai himself wants that, even if the Americans are lukewarm.
"No, no, no," he laughed, genuinely amused by the concept of negotiation with Kabul.
"We don't see any need for talks with this government. Actually there is no such thing as the government. The issue here is foreign countries and we deal with them by fighting like this. Jihad is the only way for us. Our Jihad."
And that is the second, timeless motive. Talk to them about fighting the British and they don't do "war on terror". Instead, they left the compound to visit a nearby graveyard, a resting place for Afghans who fought against the British over a century ago. Haji said: "People want to defend their independence, Islam and Afghan national pride. That's why they come and support the Taliban."
They were nonplussed that President Karzai says it is "un-Afghan" to attack Nato troops. And they have no lack of support.
Hamidullah Khan explained how arms and ammunition come in from both Pakistan and Iran. Asked where the general finance comes for all this, war being nothing if not expensive, he said: "The money's coming in from all Islamic countries. All over the world.
"But in particular we are getting plenty of money from Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia."
During the visit, the fighters talked more like old-time Mujahideen, discussing the Russian invaders, than the unsmiling students of Mullah Omar.
By night they liked nothing more than a drop (or three) of whisky - though did not drink in front of a camera.
By day they encouraged locals to bet on the local sport of ram-fighting, laying money on which horned headbutter stuns its opponent the quickest. The Taliban who overtook this country more than a decade ago would have blanched.
They appeared equally happy to be filmed at a local wedding where - heaven forefend - a local band whacked out traditional Pashtun party tunes. The drum and keyboard combo need not have worried about the Mullah sending in goons to silence them. There is more, much more to the modern Taliban than brain-washed kids coming in from Pakistani madrassa schools, strapped up with explosives.
Of course they exist. But so do these new-style Afghan Talibs. Changed lifestyles and changed military tactics too. They happily showed off their stash of Afghan police and army uniforms. They discussed how they infiltrate local security forces. So they know when, where and how they will move. It's all about intelligence, ambush technology - not the costly frontal assaults of old.
As if to prove that, they supplied a video of them using the main Kabul-Kandahar highway as cover for rocketing a nearby compound. Daylight, brazen, confident - they moved almost leisurely, firing from the road. The traffic barely slowed. And what can Nato do - strafe Afghanistan's equivalent of the M1 motorway?
I remember when officials in Kabul pointed to that road as a shining symbol of "New Afghanistan". Nowadays any Afghan will advise you to do anything you want on that road - except drive along it.
In all of this, an urgent lesson for Nato: these local, Afghan fighters enjoy real support. It is simply wrong to say it is just coercion and terror. Just like the Mujahideen did. Indeed, on this evidence the so-called Taliban might be changing into something far more like the Mujahideen than the madrassa-produced Pakistani Taliban.
Have Nato allowed themselves to become the new Russians? Many an Afghan would say yes.
• Alex Thomson is presenter and chief correspondent for ITN's Channel 4 News. His report will be shown on Wednesday Sept 17 at 7pm.
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NATO Orders Lethal Force Review to Cut Afghan Deaths
By Ed Johnson and Gregory Viscusi
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan ordered troops to review when they use lethal force to avoid civilian casualties, as the United Nations reported a surge in the number of Afghan villagers killed this year.
U.S. Army General David McKiernan said he issued a revised ``tactical directive'' emphasizing ``proportionality'' during operations. Afghan soldiers will carry out more house-to-house searches in an effort to ensure civilians aren't in the line of fire, the Pentagon news service cited him as saying yesterday.
President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly criticized international troops for civilian deaths as NATO and the U.S. military battle Taliban insurgents trying to topple his government. The Pentagon is investigating Afghan allegations that 92 villagers, including about 60 children, were killed in an air raid in western Herat province last month.
In the first eight months of this year, 1,445 civilians were killed in Afghanistan, either by international and Afghan forces or militants, an increase of 39 percent on the same period last year when 1,040 died, according to the UN.
The Taliban and other rebels were responsible for 800 deaths during the period, or 55 percent of the total. That is almost double the 462 for which they were blamed in the corresponding period last year.
Among the 577 civilians killed by international forces or the Afghan National Army, more than two-thirds died in air strikes, the UN said. Another 68 deaths, mostly from crossfire, couldn't be attributed to either side.
August was a ``particularly deadly month'' with 330 civilians killed, including the 92 deaths reported in Herat. The U.S. disputes the Herat death toll, though is sending a team to review its initial probe that found between five and seven civilians were killed.
``This is the highest number of civilian deaths to occur in a single month since the end of major hostilities and the ousting of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001,'' UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement yesterday. ``There is an urgent need for better coordination between Afghan and international military forces to enhance the protection of civilians.''
McKiernan told reporters in Afghanistan that it is extremely difficult to avoid civilian casualties because the Taliban ``mixes in with the population,'' the American Forces Press Service reported on the Pentagon's Web site.
The directive, issued Sept. 2, orders troops to be ``very measured in how we apply lethal force.''
French Defense Minister Herve Morin, whose country has about 3,300 military personnel in Afghanistan, said civilian casualties were ``counterproductive to our mission.''
International forces are in the country ``to ensure the stability and security of Afghanistan,'' he said at a news conference in Canberra today with Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon. ``We must do everything possible to avoid such situations because that weakens our mission.''
Australia has about 1,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and their rules of engagement are ``very, very robust,'' Fitzgibbon said. ``The people we are fighting in Afghanistan do not play by the rules and they do not hesitate to use civilians as human shields.''
Insurgents are stepping up attacks against North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and the U.S.-led coalition. The monthly death toll for international troops in Afghanistan has topped that in Iraq.
Twenty-eight NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in June, the highest tally since the Taliban regime was toppled. Twenty-three died in July, according to the alliance.
The number of American military personnel who died in Iraq dropped to 12 in July, the lowest monthly total since the 2003 invasion, according to Pentagon figures.
Security has worsened during the past 18 months in Afghanistan as fighting in the west becomes as intense as in southern and eastern provinces, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday.
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Harper hounded to release Afghan war cost report
Wed Sep 17, 9:46 AM By Martin O'Hanlon, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Pressure is mounting on Stephen Harper to allow the release of an independent report on the true cost of the Afghan war that could dash his hopes for a majority government.
Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page has tallied the full cost of the mission - past and future - and says he would like to release it. But he's worried about interfering with the federal election and wants all-party consent.
No problem, say the opposition parties. Not up to me, says the prime minister.
Harper refused to say Tuesday whether he would give his blessing to the release, commenting only that the budget officer is independent and "he can make his own decisions."
When pressed by reporters, a spokesman said Harper doesn't oppose the release, but refused to say if he would give his consent.
If Harper doesn't give the all clear, voters won't know the full cost of the multibillion-dollar mission until after the Oct. 14 election.
That prospect doesn't exactly sit well with the opposition. They say it would be undemocratic to keep the report secret - especially during an election.
"An election is no time to start shutting the doors on important public information on a key issue that's facing Canadians as they make their choice," NDP Leader Jack Layton said Tuesday.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion accused Harper of "hiding" the cost of the war.
And Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said it would be "immoral, indecent, irresponsible" for Harper not to allow release of the information.
"It's always important that we know what we're paying, especially when we see that a large majority of Quebecers - and I would say also a majority of Canadians - are opposing the mission in Afghanistan as it is," he said.
The minority Conservative government has estimated the cost of the six-year mission at under $8 billion. If the new figures are much higher, it could be bad news for Harper.
Polls have repeatedly shown that Canadians are lukewarm to the mission, especially in the key electoral battleground of Quebec, where Harper must make gains to have any chance of winning his coveted majority.
And critics suggest cost overruns in the Afghan mission could erase the government's shrinking surplus and put the country into deficit, especially given the economic slowdown.
The Afghan mission has been a heavy burden for Canada with 97 soldiers and one diplomat killed. Canada has more than 2,000 personnel based in the dangerous Kandahar region.
The political dilemma came as Harper made his most direct pitch yet for a majority government. He said Tuesday that he needs a "strong mandate" to fight crime and preserve law and order.
He also said the country will need a forceful government to weather economic uncertainty.
Poll results in the first week of the election campaign suggested the Tories were in majority territory. But they have since slipped, as some voters leery of a Conservative majority apparently had second thoughts.
The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll suggests the Liberals are gaining on the Conservatives, whose lead has shrunk to 10 points from 15 last week. The survey put the Conservatives at 38 per cent support and the Liberals at 28.
All the party leaders were out on the hustings again Wednesday.
Dion was first out of the campaign blocks with a $600-million promise to boost support for students and research.
In a speech at the University of Western Ontario, Dion said Canada's productivity and economic success depend on investments in research and development.
He said a Liberal government would increase education grants and bursaries, and guarantee low-interest loans.
Harper is in Welland, Ont., and Saguenay, Que., Layton is in Toronto, and Green Leader Elizabeth May is in Nova Scotia.
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Canadian troops cleared in deaths of two children
TOBI COHEN - The Canadian Press September 17, 2008
KANDAHAR -- Canadian troops followed proper procedures when they opened fire on a civilian vehicle that failed to stop and accidentally killed two young Afghan children last July, an investigation into the incident has revealed.
According to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, the driver of the vehicle, which was transporting the children and their parents, failed to respond to warning signals as it approached the Canadian convoy.
It also found that the soldiers involved "followed proper escalation-of-force procedures and acted within their rules of engagement during the incident."
A single round from a 25-millimetre cannon was fired into the speeding vehicle, which came within 10 metres of the convoy.
"[The International Security Assistance Force] deeply regrets the accidental death of these two Afghan children," task force commander Brigadier-General Denis Thompson said in a release issued yesterday.
"Our thoughts continue to be with the family of the deceased during this difficult time."
Four-year-old Maraka and two-year-old Tor Jan were killed July 27 in the Panjwai district southwest of Kandahar city.
The gunner pulled the trigger fearing the approaching vehicle might have been planning a suicide attack.
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WHO says Afghan polio campaign to go ahead despite killings
GENEVA (AFP) — The World Health Organisation said Wednesday that a polio vaccination campaign in southern Afghanistan would go ahead despite the killing of two doctors in a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban.
"Today, the country and Kandahar team has finally decided to continue the campaign to take forward the mission of polio eradication for which our two colleagues sacrificed their lives," Kabul-based WHO official Tahir Mir said.
The WHO had said on Tuesday that the campaign targeting 1.2 million children under five in Afghanistan's southern regions, due to start on September 21, had been cancelled following the attack.
But Mir said on Wednesday that the WHO's staff in Afghanistan are "totally committed to this noble cause and do not feel defeated due to this recent sabotage activity."
The campaign "will be carried out in all the planned areas on the scheduled dates, September 21-23," he added.
Two Afghan doctors working for the WHO were killed in a suicide car bombing in southeastern Afghanistan Sunday that was claimed by the Taliban.
The WHO said earlier this week that a similar campaign in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Laghman was still likely to go ahead, as were future campaigns in the south in October and November.
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Afghanistan in Backward Slide, Analysts Say
By Gary Thomas Washington Voice of America 16 September 2008
Taliban attacks in Afghanistan rose sharply this year, underscoring the difficulty faced by the Afghan government and coalition forces trying to stamp out the persistent and deadly insurgency. But just how serious a threat does the Taliban pose to the wobbly government of President Hamid Karzai, who is up for re-election next year. VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas looks at the situation in Afghanistan.
In a recent speech, the European Union's outgoing special representative to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, said conditions there are the worst since 2001, when a U.S.-backed force deposed the Taliban government.
New York University Professor Barnett Rubin, a leading expert on Afghanistan, agrees. He says Afghans are beginning to despair about whether the U.S. and NATO troop presence will make a difference in their lives.
"Right now is the time when there is the least hope since the Taliban were overthrown, the worst security, and the least belief by Afghans that actually this intervention is going to bring them a better future," said Rubin.
An Afghan expert at the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, Ken Katzman, agrees the security situation is bad.
"Everybody is agreed there is more violence, which started in mid-2006," he said. "No one is quite certain why it was so much less violent from 2001 until 2006. Maybe the Taliban had to regroup. Maybe they got their networks established in Pakistan and then they were able to make somewhat of a comeback starting in 2006. We are still seeing their effects."
But, Katzman adds, the news is not all gloomy. He says despite the security situation, there are signs of progress, particularly on the economic front.
"But we are seeing a tremendous amount of, at least, economic progress elsewhere - in the west, in the north, and even Regional Command-South, Helmand province," said Katzman.
Once thought to be effectively finished off, the Taliban-led insurgency is back in action, attacking coalition forces from safe havens across the border in Pakistan.
The top-ranking U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said last week the situation is difficult but still salvageable. "I am not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can," he said.
Barnett Rubin says the Taliban does not pose any immediate direct threat to the government of President Hamid Karzai.
"The Taliban are not trying to militarily defeat the United States and NATO and march into Kabul," he said. "What they are doing is consolidating their control over much of the country, showing the people that things are moving in their direction."
"And, at the same time, one of the purposes of spectacular terrorist acts and attacks in the capital in particular - of which I expect to see more in the next couple of months - is to also illustrate to the international community that they [the Taliban] are winning and that it is pointless to continue," he continued.
Rubin adds the security threat is compounded by ineffective governance and rampant corruption. "As long as the international forces are there and the money is flowing, the government will probably not collapse or disappear," he said.
"But it could very well become increasingly corrupt and increasingly impotent. One of the effects of the growing expectation that the momentum is going in the direction of the Taliban is also an increase in corruption because people do not see any rational reason to obey rules or plan for a long-term future," he added.
The United Nations says civilian deaths from both Taliban attacks and airstrikes by U.S. and NATO forces have risen by 40 percent in the past year. The United States denies targeting civilians, and says any noncombatant deaths are inadvertent.
Nevertheless, analysts say, the civilian casualties are sowing bad feeling toward the United States and NATO forces, and putting President Karzai, a staunch U.S. ally, in an awkward position.
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UK offers more food aid to Afghanistan
London, Sept 17, IRNA
The British government Wednesday announced an extra pnds 5 million (dlrs 9 m) of food aid to Afghanistan, virtually doubling the amount supplied so far this year.
The donation is being channelled through the World Food Program and comes as the UN reported a sharp increase in the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan this year. The 1,445 civilians were killed up to August is up 39 percent on last year.
The offer of more food aid was announced by International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander during a wide ranging speech on the future of Afghanistan to academics, military leaders and foreign affairs specialists at the IISS in London.
"Afghan citizens look to the state for protection against shocks such as drought and natural disaster," Alexander said, adding that aid was help some four and a half million to find food for their families with winter approaching.
"Oxfam currently estimates that up to five million Afghans face severe food shortages. The Afghan government does not have the capacity or the resources to respond to this alone," he said.
The minister said the UK was among the first countries to pledge assistance to the appeal, but warned that it was clear 'the international response is falling short at a crucial time'.
"As we approach the bitter Afghan winter, as many as half a million pregnant and breastfeeding women, and more than a million children under the age of five, are facing malnutrition," he said.
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Giving Afghan trade a boost
U.S. aid teams aim to up farmers’ productivity with power, water
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes - September 17, 2008
TORKHAM’S GATE, Afghanistan — The line of trucks stretching back along the road to this border crossing in the Khyber Pass runs a mile or more, and as it eases forward there’s a distinct tinkling sound amid the wheezing and coughing of the diesel engines.
That would be the "jingle trucks," pride of Afghanistan’s transportation. In all, better than 500 vehicles pass this way on the average day. Many of them are dressed in metal skirts, painted like rainbows, jingling with bells and topped with improbable turrets and even more improbable loads of cargo.
Insurgents and weapons are hardly the only things crossing the Afghan-Pakistan border, and U.S. officials say the majority of the commerce plying this ancient trade route is legitimate. But Pakistanis are getting the better end of the bargain.
With Afghanistan’s largely agrarian economy lacking even basic infrastructure, Afghan farmers in the east remain at the mercy of Pakistani merchants for everything from cold storage to canning, and often end up buying back what they sell at considerable mark-up, officials say.
"If it’s not sold by the side of the road, it’s sold to Pakistan," says U.S. Army Master Sgt. Larry Godsey, an agricultural adviser based in Jalalabad, at one end of the highway that runs through Torkham’s Gate to Peshawar, Pakistan.
Take tomatoes, Godsey says. Afghan farmers sell them to Pakistani businesses for a cent-and-a-half per kilogram. The Pakistanis dice them, put them in a can, and "three months later" the Afghans buy them back for 10 cents a kilogram.
Or wheat. Afghans have no cold storage to keep their surplus harvests, so they sell them to Pakistan, then buy them back in winter at four or five times the price.
"There’s zero value-added processing in Afghanistan," says Godsey, who is part of the inaugural Agribusiness Development Team in Nangarhar province. And in simple terms, Pakistani businesses are taking advantage.
"What do you expect when they can buy wheat at one-third the world price because people in Afghanistan don’t know what the world price is and have no outlet to the world market," Godsey says.
In a country like Afghanistan, it’s hard to know where to start. There are no processing plants or cold storage facilities, but there’s little electricity to run them if there were. U.S. officials in Nangarhar estimate the province’s electrical needs at 60 kilowatts a day, but say it rarely gets more than 10 and often as little as 4 or 5, most of it coming from a silted-up Soviet-era dam. Seventy percent of the province’s arable land, meanwhile, lacks a reliable source of irrigation.
U.S. officials are pushing for a series of small hydroelectric dams that would provide local power, prevent flooding and hold irrigation water for the rainless summers.
"We’re not talking about the Hoover Dam here," Godsey says, but the dams’ roughly $3.5 million price tags are well beyond his team’s budget, which runs to roughly $50,000 a month.
Officials hope the provincial government, which recently received a $10 million award after the province was declared poppy-free, will pony up some of that money for the dams.
"Power is the linchpin to everything here," says Army Maj. Robert Minton, a civil affairs officer with the American provincial reconstruction team in Nangarhar.
Without a bigger budget, development efforts have remained smaller scale. The Americans have paid for a livestock slaughterhouse and are working to improve seed quality and form agricultural cooperatives so farmers can pool resources. A number of nongovernmental organizations are also active in the province, though American officials say the overall effort is not well-coordinated.
"I don’t care who’s out there helping, just let me know what you’re doing," Minton says. "Otherwise, the people are going to play us."
One of the Americans’ main projects has been a district map that marks all the reconstruction projects that have been completed or are under construction.
Still, Godsey’s agribusiness team, which other troops refer to as "the farmers," has a good deal of respect for their Afghan counterparts. The Americans started a model garden on their base in Jalalabad, and after several team members went on leave and KBR contractors turned off their water, everything died.
"Really, these farmers do pretty well," Godsey says. "What they need is legitimate power and water. If they get that, they’ll double production."
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New UN figures show sharp rise in Afghan civilian casualties
Source: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 16 Sep 2008
GENEVA - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed serious concern Tuesday as new figures released by her office showed a sharp increase in the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan during the first eight months of 2008 compared to the same period the previous year.
The number of killings by the Taliban and other anti-government forces almost doubled by comparison with the first eight months of 2007, with the numbers killed by government and international military forces also increasing substantially.
The human rights team attached to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded a total of 1,445 civilian casualties in the first eight months of 2008, an increase of 39 percent compared to the same period in 2007, when there were 1,040 conflict-related deaths.
August was a particularly deadly month, with 330 civilians killed, including up to 92 civilian deaths reported during an operation involving Afghan and international military forces in Shindand, in the west of the country, as well as the killing of four NGO workers, including three women, by the Taliban on 13 August, in Logar province, south of the capital Kabul.
"This is the highest number of civilian deaths to occur in a single month since the end of major hostilities and the ousting of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001," Pillay noted.
Exactly 800 killings – or 55 percent of the total number of civilian deaths recorded in the first eight months of 2008 – are attributed to the Taliban and other insurgent forces, almost double the 462 deaths for which they were held responsible in the corresponding period in 2007.
Suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices, used extensively by the armed opposition, were the cause of 551 civilian deaths, or 38 percent of the overall total number of civilians killed since the beginning of the year. In addition, UNAMA has recorded 142 summary executions carried out by the Taliban and their allies so far in 2008, and dozens of cases of threats, intimidation, and harassment.
"There is substantial evidence indicating that the Taliban are carrying out a systematic campaign of intimidation and violence aimed at Afghan civilians they believe to be supportive of the Government, the international community, and military forces," Pillay said.
Pro-government forces are reported to have been responsible for 577 civilian deaths in the first eight months of 2008 during military operations, up from 477 during the same period last year. Responsibility for a further 68 casualties, including a number of cross-fire incidents, was not clear.
According to the statistics compiled by UNAMA, 395 civilians were killed in operations involving air strikes during the first eight months of 2008 – over two-thirds of the total number of casualties inflicted by pro-government forces.
The most high-profile incidents include an air strike on a wedding party in Nangahar province on 6 July, that resulted in the death of 47 civilians, including 30 children – as well as the 22 August Shindand event, which is believed to have resulted in the deaths of up to 62 children.
"There is an urgent need for better coordination between Afghan and international military forces to enhance the protection of civilians and the safety and welfare of war-affected communities," Pillay said. "I call on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, and to ensure every effort is made to avoid the killing of civilians. The Taliban and other insurgent groups must desist from practices that result in huge and indiscriminate loss of life. Efforts must also be made to hold such groups to account. There is a long history of impunity in Afghanistan – and that needs to change."
"It is also imperative that there is greater transparency in accountability procedures for international forces involved in incidents that cause civilian casualties," she said, adding that there should also be a rapid and independent assessment of damages and a fair and consistent system of condolence payments to survivors and relatives of victims.
The High Commissioner also expressed concern at the continued reduction in humanitarian space, as large swathes of Afghanistan have become increasingly off-limits to aid organizations whose staff have been subjected to direct attacks, threats and intimidation. On Sunday, in the latest such episode, two doctors working under contract with the World Health Organization (WHO) were killed, along with their UNAMA driver, by a suicide bomber in the border town of Spin Boldak, bringing the total number of aid workers killed so far in 2008 to over 30.
"Targeted attacks on aid workers are not only atrocious in themselves," said Pillay, "they also have far-reaching negative consequences on the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population." In addition to the civilian deaths and injuries caused directly by the conflict, Afghans are continuing to face displacement, destruction of property and other assets, as well as disruption to healthcare, education, housing and other essential services.
The full statistical bulletin, entitled "Armed Conflict and Civilian Casualties, Afghanistan Trends and Developments, 1 January -31 August 2008" can be found here.
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Intelligence agency disrupts Kabul criminal gang
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 17 September 2008
'Key members' of kidnapping network arrested by secret service
THE intelligence service has broken up a criminal network accused of a string of kidnappings, murders and armed robberies in the capital Kabul, the agency said.
An operation launched by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) led to the arrests of three people, two of which were key members of the criminal ring, the intelligence service said on Tuesday.
The gang is led by a man named Raiees Khodaidad, the NDS said.
A reward of Afg500,000 will be given to anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest and capture of other members of the network.
Abdul-Wara, a resident of Panjshir and another key member of the network, said in a video sent to media groups by the NDS: "The boy we kidnapped was from Helmand. He was taken from there and remained for twelve to thirteen days with us; at the end we got $50,000 and released him."
Members of the criminal network are involved in abductions, killings, and armed robberies, the NDS said.
A spokesman for the intelligence service, Saieed Ansari, said: "On the basis of given information, the wealth of Wara and his brother Mullah, who was killed in armed clashes with the security forces, is more than $1 million in Kabul and Dubai."
The NDS said the network rented several houses in the north of Kabul to keep kidnap victims in.
Ammunition and military uniforms were discovered in the houses, the NDS said.
In a video submitted to the media, the three arrested men confessed to involvement in the kidnapping ring.
Zaki, a resident of Kabul and one of the key members of the network, said: "The kidnappers told me that my name was clean and that I could rent the house. They didn’t tell me what it was for."
Babrak, a resident of Qarabagh District of Kabul Province and member of this network said: "A person named Muhaiudden said he wanted to make me rich and told me to rent a house."
The NDS revealed photos of other kidnappers stored on the three men’s mobile phones.
Operations in the last six weeks have led to the disruption of ten criminal networks and more than 40 arrests, the NDS said.
Fourteen people were freed from captivity, the intelligence agency said.
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Gunmen kidnap two Afghan water engineers
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdullah Anwari Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Two men were working to bring water to a district when they were kidnapped
UNIDENTIFIED gunmen have abducted two Afghan engineers working on a water project in the eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said.
Eye-witnesses said they heard gunfire and then saw armed men burn the engineers' car before bundling them into the back of a truck on Tuesday afternoon.
It is unclear if the engineers, who were bringing clean water to the district of Shirzad, were working for a foreign or domestic organisation.
A spokesman for the provincial governor said police had launched a search for the kidnapped men.
Also on Tuesday, a roadside bomb killed one policeman and one civilians in the Haska Maina district of the same province, police said.
The Taliban have killed more than 700 policemen in the last six months, according to the Interior Ministry.
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Afghanistan Cricket team winning spree continue
Associated Press of Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Sept 17 (APP): The winning spree of the Afghanistan Cricket team continued when they defeated Malik Sports by three wickets in their Tour second match played here at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Afghanistan Nowroz Mangalzai won the toss and invited Malik Sports to bat first. Malik Sports while batting first scored 212 runs all out after playing 38.4 overs. The batting line up of the Malik could not stand in front of the Afghanistan bowlers.
Only Yasir Hamid (41) and Shahid Khan (58) were the leading runs takers. Both added 99 runs third wicket partnership with Yasir struck 41 runs off 38 balls with four boundaries and a six while Shahid made 58 runs with seven boundaries and two sixes.
Skipper Hashmat Ali scored 22 runs off 19 balls with three boundaries and Khurram Shehzad made (21) runs with three boundaries.
For Afghanistan Shah Pur took two wickets for 36 runs in his four overs spell, Muhammad Nabi took three wickets, Hasti Gul and Raees Ahmadzai, Nusrat Daulat Khan took one wicket each.
In reply, Afghanistan chased the target for the loss of eight wickets after playing 40 overs. It was a dramatic situation as Afghanistan needed four runs on the last ball of the 40 overs allotted quota for the victory on which Raeez Ahmadzai struck a beautiful six to march Afghanistan to two wickets victory.
For Afghanistan Shafique Khan (51) off 43 balls with five boundaries and two sixes, Raeez Ahmadzai made a vital 67 runs not out with seven boundaries and three six, Nowroz Mangalzai (25) off 17 balls with three boundaries and Karim Sadiq (30) off as many balls with four boundaries were the other leading runs takers.
For Malik Sports Hidayat Khan claimed six wickets for 36 runs in his six overs spell, Hadi Hussain got one wicket for 19 runs, Hashmat Khan took one wicket for 13 runs. Jamshed Khan and Muhammad Nawaz supervised the match while Khyal Muhammad acted as official scorer. Afghanistan will now face Arshad Khan Academy in their third match while they will play their fourth match against Charsadda Youth.
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Police arrest man for kidnapping nurse
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdullah Anwari Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Hospital staff urge governemnt to punish the man for kidnapping colleague
POLICE have arrested a man who kidnapped a female nurse two days ago in the province of Baghlan, police said.
Staff at Baghlan hospital have urged the government to punish the man severely for kidnapping one of their colleagues.
Head of the police department in Baghlan said the man was a resident of the province and was now he is in police custody.
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