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Afghan leader vows punishment for deadly US raid
By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 4, 11:19 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Afghan president said a deadly raid on a village by American and Afghan commandos has put new strain on relations with the United States and promised Thursday to punish those responsible.
Top Afghan anti-drugs judge murdered in Kabul
KABUL (AFP) - A top judge in Afghanistan's counternarcotics court, working to bring to justice key players in the world's biggest opium-producing country, was gunned down in Kabul Thursday, his office said.
Pakistani parliament condemns US-led attack
By NAHAL TOOSI Associated Press September 4, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Parliament passed resolutions Thursday condemning an American-led attack in Pakistani territory after the government summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest the unusually bold raid that officials say killed at least 15 people.
Sarkozy warns that Pakistan also at stake in Afghan campaign
Thu Sep 4, 7:04 AM ET
DAMASCUS (AFP) - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday that pulling out of Afghanistan, where 10 French troops were killed by the Taliban last month, would amount to abandoning nuclear-armed Pakistan.
General: US forces to up Afghan winter offensives
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 3, 2:12 PM ET
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALAGUSH, Afghanistan - American troops in Afghanistan will step up offensive operations this winter because insurgents are increasingly staying in the country to prepare
A sting in Pakistan's al-Qaeda mission
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online September 4, 2008
KARACHI - The Pakistani military has halted operations in Bajaur Agency in the northwest of the country, saying "the back has been broken" of the militancy there.
US envoy denies 'unauthorized contacts' with Pakistan's Zardari
September 3, 2008
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The US ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday slammed as "patently false" press reports that he had "unauthorized" contacts with Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani presidential
U.S. Envoy Cites 'Fog of War' in Afghan Tolls
Ambassador to U.N. Also Denies He Gave 'Advice and Help' to Pakistani Candidate
By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 4, 2008; Page A10
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 3 -- Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Wednesday that widely divergent U.S. and U.N. estimates of the death toll from American airstrikes in Afghanistan
UK soldier killed in Afghanistan
Thursday, 4 September 2008 18:27 UK BBC News
A British soldier has been killed in an explosion while on a routine foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said.
Career diplomat Ron Hoffmann appointed Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan
By The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Ron Hoffmann, deputy head of mission at the Canadian embassy in Afghanistan, has been promoted to ambassador in Kabul.
Three Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Wed Sep 3, 1:45 PM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - Three Canadian soldiers were killed and five wounded in an insurgent attack on their armored vehicle in Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday.
UNHCR: Iran to play key role in upcoming confab on Afghan refugees
Tehran, Sept 4, IRNA
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that Tehran would play a significant role in the upcoming conference on "Repatriation of Afghan Refugees to their motherland" slated for November.
FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, Sept 4
04 Sep 2008 14:35:18 GMT
Sept 4 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1430 GMT on Thursday:
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Wheat loan to ease food shortage
04 Sep 2008 13:21:03 GMT
ABUL, 4 September 2008 (IRIN) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and government of Pakistan are finalising an agreement involving the loan of 50,000 tonnes of wheat for pre-winter food aid operations in Afghanistan.
US Gen Sees Afghan Army Numbers Almost Doubling To 130,000
BRUSSELS (AFP)--A U.S. general said Wednesday that he expected the numbers of the Afghan army to swell by nearly double to more than 130,000 troops.
Malaysia's Global Air secures Afghan haj deal
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Global Air, a unit of Malaysia's Global Industries Inc Sdn Bhd, has won a 29.55 million U.S. dollars contract to transport some 30,000 of Afghanistan's haj pilgrims, local media reported on Thursday.
German-Afghan peace alliance calls for withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan
Berlin, Sept 4, IRNA
A newly formed German-Afghan peace alliance on Thursday urged the withdrawal of all German soldiers from Afghanistan, while calling for boosting of civilian aid to the war-stricken country.
Taliban leaders identified killed in E Afghanistan
www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-04 14:36:17
KABUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led Coalition forces have identified five Taliban sub commanders killed during operations over the past month in Kapisa province, some 80 km from Afghan capital Kabul
Almost two-thirds of Canadians say Afghan mission too costly, poll suggests
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians believe the country is paying too high a price in terms of blood and treasure for its involvement in Afghanistan.
We must not be trapped in a war without end
The Age, Australia Editorial September 5, 2008
If casualties are to increase, we must be clear why we are fighting in Afghanistan, and whether the war can be won.
New attorney-general to stamp out corruption
www.quqnoos.com Written by Ghafoor Sabori Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Alako urges co-operation in fight against crime during first day in office
THE country’s new attorney-general, Mohammad Ishaq Alako, has vowed to clamp down on administrative corruption and crime during his first day in office.
Man jailed for kidnapping teenage girl
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Court sentences man to 16 years in jail for abducting Mazar girl
A COURT in Kabul has sentenced a man to 16 years in jail after he was found guilty of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
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Afghan leader vows punishment for deadly US raid
By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 4, 11:19 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Afghan president said a deadly raid on a village by American and Afghan commandos has put new strain on relations with the United States and promised Thursday to punish those responsible.
U.S. officials have said that at least 30 militants, including a Taliban commander, and no more than seven civilians were killed during the Aug. 22 raid. Afghan officials, backed by the United Nations mission, insist that more than 90 civilians died, including dozens of children.
President Hamid Karzai's comment come a day after he spoke to President Bush about the raid and how to prevent civilian casualties, his office said.
"President Bush told President Karzai that he grieves anytime innocents die," White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Thursday.
Karzai said that following the raid "our relation with the foreigners got worst," according to the statement from his office.
"In the last five years I have tried day and night to prevent these incidents from happening," Karzai told the villagers assembled inside a mosque in Shindand, several miles away from Azizabad.
Karzai promised them that those responsible for the raid would face justice and be punished, the statement said. He already has fired two Afghan officers involved in the raid.
The U.S. has long said that Taliban militants pressure Afghan villagers to falsely claim civilian casualties, information warfare that does serious damage to the reputations of the U.S., NATO and the Western-backed Afghan government.
In Azizabad and other small villages where civilians are reported killed in combat, the Afghan government and international militaries pay about $2,000 for each person killed, giving villagers incentive to file false claims. U.S. officials acknowledge that payments have been made for people who never existed.
But the Afghan claims in the case of Azizabad have been backed by the United Nations own preliminary investigation, which said that some 60 children were among 90 people killed.
The dispute over the Azizabad raid has soured relations between Karzai and his key foreign supporters — the United States and other nations with troops fighting against the Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials say U.S. special forces and Afghan commandos raided the village while hundreds of people were gathered in a large compound for a memorial service honoring a tribal leader, Timor Shah, who was killed eight months ago by a rival.
A U.S. report released Tuesday said that up to seven civilians and between 30 and 35 Taliban militants were killed in the Azizabad operation in the early hours of Aug. 22.
The U.S. said its casualty numbers were determined by observation of militant movements during the engagement and onsite observations immediately after the battle.
Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said in a statement Wednesday that he "concurs with the findings" released by U.S.-led coalition command, whose troops were involved in the raid.
The U.S. report said American and Afghan forces approaching Azizabad took fire from militants that "justified use of well-aimed small-arms fire and close air support to defend the combined force."
Afghan and some Western officials say there is video and photo evidence to prove their assertion that a large number of children were killed during the Azizabad raid.
None of that material has been made public yet.
Following the raid, Karzai ordered a review to examine whether the U.S. and NATO should be allowed to carry out airstrikes or raids in villages. Karzai also called for an updated "status of force" agreement between the Afghan government and foreign militaries.
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Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.
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Top Afghan anti-drugs judge murdered in Kabul
KABUL (AFP) - A top judge in Afghanistan's counternarcotics court, working to bring to justice key players in the world's biggest opium-producing country, was gunned down in Kabul Thursday, his office said.
Gunmen shot dead Alim Hanif, chief judge of the Central Narcotics Tribunal appeals court, soon after he left home to go to work, the Counter Narcotics-Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF) said.
"Judge Alim Hanif was shot on his way to work and later died of his injuries in hospital," it said in a statement.
Hanif, aged between 50 and 60, was described as having a distinguished legal career and being widely respected for his honesty in a notoriously corrupt sector.
"He was motivated by bringing influential drug traffickers to court and seeing them punished for their crimes," CJTF prosecution director Ramatullah Nazri said in the statement.
Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium, most of which is turned into heroin inside the country and is said to in part finance an extremist Taliban insurgency.
Top government officials and former warlords are said to be involved in the multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry, although most kingpins have escaped justice.
The government set up the CJTF in 2005 with the aim of prosecuting serious drug-trafficking offences.
Hanif, who had been shot in the heart, was also the head of the drug-related crimes investigation commission, the task force's communication director, Sareer Ahmad Barmak, told AFP.
"Police are investigating the motives for his death but we think it is in relation to the job he was doing," he said.
"He was one of the very rare judges, especially in relation to counternarcotics, who would never accept bribes, would never be influenced by pressure from government authorities, who was not corrupt," Barmak said.
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Pakistani parliament condemns US-led attack
By NAHAL TOOSI Associated Press September 4, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Parliament passed resolutions Thursday condemning an American-led attack in Pakistani territory after the government summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest the unusually bold raid that officials say killed at least 15 people.
The criticism grew two days before Asif Ali Zardari is expected to be chosen as president in a vote by legislators. A spokesman said Zardari condemned Wednesday's pre-dawn assault in the South Waziristan tribal region — the first known foreign ground assault in Pakistan against a Taliban haven. But Zardari also said Pakistan stands with the U.S. against international terrorism.
Zardari, widower of former premier Benazir Bhutto, is expected to pursue a pro-U.S. policy similar to that of former President Pervez Musharraf and continue to go after Islamic militants accused of crossing into Afghanistan to attack the U.S.-led international security force there.
An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of cross-border operations, confirmed to The Associated Press that U.S. troops conducted the raid about a mile from the Afghan border.
It was unclear whether any extremist leader was killed or captured. Pakistan's border region is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned the attack, saying "no important terrorist or high-value target" was killed.
"Innocent citizens, including women and children, have been targeted," Qureshi said. The ministry's spokesman said officials had no indication that U.S. forces had captured anyone.
Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, citing witness and intelligence reports, said troops flew in on at least one big CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, blasted their way into several houses and gunned down men they found there.
Army and intelligence officials as well as residents said 15 people died, while the provincial governor said 20 civilians, including women and children, were killed.
Pakistan's Senate and National Assembly passed resolutions Thursday condemning the attack.
In the past, similar protests over suspected U.S. missile attacks in Pakistani territory have led to little tangible effect on America's relationship with Pakistan, which has received billions of dollars from Washington for its aid in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Still, the operation in South Waziristan's Angoor Ada area threatened to complicate an already difficult relationship.
U.S. commanders have been pushing Pakistan to root out militants. American officials say destroying militant sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal regions is key to defeating Taliban-led militants in Afghanistan, whose insurgency has strengthened every year since 2001, when the fundamentalist militia was ousted for harboring bin Laden.
Suspected U.S. missile strikes killed at least two al-Qaida commanders this year in northwest Pakistan, angering many among the region's fiercely independent tribes.
In a sign of the complex nature of the situation along the porous border, a U.S. commander told the AP that U.S. troops in Afghanistan will step up offensive operations this winter because insurgents are increasingly staying in the country to prepare for spring attacks.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser said 7,000 to 11,000 insurgents operate in the eastern part of Afghanistan that he oversees — a far higher estimate than given by previous U.S. commanders.
He said the U.S. military realized more militants spent last winter in Afghanistan after speaking with elders and villagers who were pushed out of their homes. The spike in violence in the spring occurred because insurgents were already in position to unleash attacks, though U.S. officials did not know it at the time, he said.
In Washington, some administration officials have pressed President Bush to direct U.S. troops in Afghanistan to be more aggressive in pursuing militants into Pakistan on foot as part of a proposed radical shift in regional counterterrorism strategy, the AP learned.
In a column Thursday in The Washington Post, Zardari described global terrorism as chief among the challenges facing his country. The column mentioned an apparent assassination attempt Wednesday against Pakistan's prime minister but did not refer to the earlier cross-border raid.
"We stand with the United States, Britain, Spain and others who have been attacked," wrote Zardari, whose wife was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack in December. "Fundamentally, however, the war we are fighting is our war. This battle is for Pakistan's soul."
A lawmaker from the chief opposition party of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif blasted the U.S. for the attack.
"The American war against terrorism has become a war against Pakistan," Zafar Ali Shah said.
In another sign of opposition to Zardari, lawyers in the capital, Islamabad, scuffled with police in a protest over his broken promise to quickly reinstate judges ousted by Musharraf.
The circumstances of Wednesday's raid remained unclear, but U.S. rules of engagement allow American troops to chase militants across the border into Pakistan's tribal region when they are attacked. They may only go about six miles on the ground under normal circumstances. U.S. rules allow aircraft to go 10 miles into Pakistani air space.
However, army spokesman Abbas said "hot pursuit" wasn't an issue, calling the attack "completely unprovoked." He said Pakistani troops were near the village and saw and heard nothing to suggest the U.S. forces were pursuing insurgents.
He said the raid would undermine Pakistan's efforts to isolate Islamic extremists.
"We cannot afford a huge uprising at the level of tribe," Abbas told the AP. "That would be completely counterproductive and doesn't help the cause of fighting terrorism in the area."
Elsewhere in the volatile northwest, a firefight and airstrikes killed 37 Islamic militants Wednesday, officials said.
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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad and Stephen Graham contributed to this report.
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Sarkozy warns that Pakistan also at stake in Afghan campaign
Thu Sep 4, 7:04 AM ET
DAMASCUS (AFP) - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday that pulling out of Afghanistan, where 10 French troops were killed by the Taliban last month, would amount to abandoning nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"If we abandon Afghanistan we will be abandoning Pakistan, which doesn't need that. I want to remind you of one thing: that Pakistan has the nuclear bomb," he told reporters before winding up a visit to the Syrian capital.
"I want to say to the French that my conviction has not changed," he said.
A Taliban ambush followed by intense fighting in the Sarobi district near the Afghan capital Kabul on August 18 and 19 left 10 French soldiers dead and 21 wounded.
The attack prompted a public outcry in France, with some calling for the immediate withdrawal of the 3,000 French troops serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
"If almost all democracies are down there, if (US presidential candidate) Barack Obama has made the presence in Afghanistan the centrepiece of his election campaign... he must have a good reason," Sarkozy said.
"Our soldiers, by fighting terrorists down there, are protecting us here. We must understand that terrorism is a global movement."
Last month's attack near Kabul shocked France, with Sarkozy travelling to Afghanistan immediately afterwards. It prompted calls for more reconnaissance and intelligence gathering in operations.
About 70,000 international troops are fighting alongside Afghans against Taliban insurgents whose regime was ousted in a US-led invasion launched after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
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General: US forces to up Afghan winter offensives
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 3, 2:12 PM ET
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALAGUSH, Afghanistan - American troops in Afghanistan will step up offensive operations this winter because insurgents are increasingly staying in the country to prepare for spring attacks, a U.S. commander told The Associated Press.
Maj. Gen. Jeffery J. Schloesser said a 40 percent surge in violence in April and May was fueled in part by militants preparing stores of weapons during the winter, which generally is a slow period for fighting, particularly in snowy Afghan mountainous areas.
"If we don't do anything over the winter the enemy will more and more try to seek safe haven in Afghanistan rather than going back to Pakistan," Schloesser said.
U.S. and NATO officials say militants cross into Afghanistan from Pakistan, where they rest, train and resupply in tribal areas along the frontier where the Pakistani government has little sway.
Schloesser estimated 7,000 to 11,000 insurgents operate in the eastern part of Afghanistan that he oversees — a far higher estimate than given by previous U.S. commanders.
He said the U.S. military realized more militants spent last winter in Afghanistan after speaking with elders and villagers who had been pushed out of their homes. The spike in violence in the spring occurred because insurgents were already in position to unleash attacks, though U.S. officials didn't know it at the time, he said.
"They didn't have to come over the passes, they were already here," Schloesser said during an interview while flying in a Black Hawk helicopter Monday to a small U.S. outpost in Nuristan, a province that borders Pakistan.
A NATO spokeswoman said she didn't believe increased operations would take place over the winter in other areas of Afghanistan where the U.S. isn't the primary military force.
Attacks in the eastern part of Afghanistan where U.S. troops primarily operate were 20 percent to 30 percent higher in June and July than a year earlier, Schloesser said.
He said an attack by six or so suicide bombers on a large U.S. base near the Pakistan border Aug. 18 was carried out by Arabs and Chechens, foreign militants who are increasingly flowing into the Afghan theater. He said militant Web sites have been encouraging fighters to go to Afghanistan instead of Iraq.
"I can't prove they are coming from Iraq to Afghanistan, but I've seen it on Web sites that that's what they're being told to do," Schloesser said.
This year is on pace to be the deadliest for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan since the invasion that ousted a Taliban regime in late 2001, as militants increase the complexity and scale of their assaults. Nearly 200 soldiers in the international forces have died this year, including 105 Americans. The total for all of last year was a record 222.
On Wednesday, the Canadian military said three of its soldiers were killed and five wounded when their patrol was attacked in the volatile Zhari district near Kandahar city in the south.
U.S. and NATO commanders have been urging that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan be increased by about 10,000. There are already 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan, the highest since the war began. That includes 15,000 in a NATO force of 65,000, also a high for the war.
Schloesser said he was "reasonably optimistic" that he would see the additional American troops in the next several months. He said leaders in Washington "understand the importance of what our people are doing here."
In the last two months, troops in the U.S.-led coalition have killed six top insurgent leaders in a valley 40 miles northeast of Kapisa, Schloesser said. The top militant leader in the Tagab Valley of Kapisa province is still on the loose.
U.S. and NATO leaders keep a wary eye on Tagab because it is close to Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and the big U.S. military base at Bagram.
"I still want to get (militant leader) No. 1. I'm waiting for him to come back into the country," Schloesser said. "I don't believe he's in the valley right now, otherwise he'd be captured or killed."
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A sting in Pakistan's al-Qaeda mission
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online September 4, 2008
KARACHI - The Pakistani military has halted operations in Bajaur Agency in the northwest of the country, saying "the back has been broken" of the militancy there.
A military spokesman said that in light of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on Sunday, all action would stop, which would allow about 500,000 displaced people to return home. Officials claim that in three weeks of fighting 560 militants have been killed, with the loss of 20 members of the security forces.
The ground reality, though, is that the operation failed in its primary objective, to catch the big fish so wanted by the United States - al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. This would have been the perfect present for Islamabad to give the George W Bush administration in the run-up to the US presidential elections in November.
Pakistan said they had Zawahiri in their sights, but he evaded them. Zawahiri, who has a US$25 million bounty on his head, escaped a US missile strike in January 2006 near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
The Bajaur operation was a comprehensive joint show of power by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Pakistan forces as they were convinced that the al-Qaeda leaders and other senior Taliban militants were in an area spanning Kunar and Nooristan provinces in Afghanistan and the Bajaur and Mohamad agencies immediately across the border in Pakistan. (See Ducking and diving under B-52s Asia Times Online, May 22, 2008.)
NATO and the Pakistani military had hoped that a pincer operation would force their prey to move their base, thereby exposing them. The thinking was that the militants would seek refuge inside Pakistan, where they could be cornered.
The mission began disastrously, though. Two days before troops were ordered from the corps headquarters of Peshawar in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) early last month, news of the impending attack was leaked to the militants and the al-Qaeda leadership was hastily moved. The Pakistani forces also received an unwelcome - and unexpected - reception when they began operations in Bajaur; the militants were armed and waiting.
The al-Qaeda leaders were taken under the wing of Qari Ziaur Rahman, a senior Taliban leader and regional commander of Nooristan, Kunar and adjoining Pakistani regions. Over the past few months he has emerged as a key figure and has generated considerable publicity by staging public executions in Kunar and Bajaur of suspected spies for the Americans. Rahman even took the unusual step of contacting the Pakistani press to claim responsibility for successful attacks on Pakistani troops.
Pakistan and NATO had placed high store on a successful mission, launching the heaviest-ever aerial bombardment inside Pakistan's tribal regions - hence the high level of displaced persons. The militants claim that many dozens of paramilitary troops were killed and many captured, along with their heavy weapons and tanks.
The assault continued for several more weeks, but on August 28 during a secret meeting on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, and the chief of the Pakistani Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, it was agreed the Bajaur mission had failed. No key militants had been hit and they had now completely fallen off all radar screens.
Inter-Services Public Relations of the Pakistani army then issued a statement confirming that the leading militants had escaped from Bajaur and that the army did not have any idea where they had gone, be it Afghanistan or elsewhere.
The Pakistani government then changed tack and lavished millions of rupees on tribal chiefs through its political agents to form lashkars (groups) to fight against the Taliban and militants. This experiment had earlier failed dismally in the North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areas, resulting in the assassination of over 200 tribal chiefs and religious clerics. The survivors fled to the cities, leaving the self-acclaimed Pakistani Taliban to take charge of those areas. There is no reason to believe the story will be any different in Bajaur.
The Bajaur operation was carried out at a time when the Taliban's offensive in Afghanistan was winding down for Ramadan. The militants tend to fast and sleep in peace for the month until Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.
By this time winter has set in and, as they do each year, the Taliban gradually leave Afghanistan and melt into the Pakistani tribal areas.
Unlike previous years though, the militants are unlikely to remain inactive during their winter break from the battlefields of Afghanistan.
The Bajaur operation, mainly because of the severity of the aerial bombing that caused widespread civilian displacement, has aroused intense anger in militant circles and bloody reprisal attacks can be expected within Pakistan.
The initial skirmishes have already started in NWFP, where members and political allies of the ruling Pashtun sub-nationalist Awami National Party have been targeted. Four top leaders have already been killed and many homes have been gutted. Scores of anti-Taliban political workers have fled from the Swat Valley and other areas.
Taliban sources have confirmed to Asia Times Online that high-level targets are also planned, including army chief Kiani, the leader of the lead party in the ruling coalition, the Pakistan People's Party's Asif Zardari and Rehman Malik, the powerful advisor to the Ministry of Interior. Zardari has vacated his private Islamabad residence in favor of the prime minister's house and he has also curtailed his public appearances.
On Wednesday, shots were fired at Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's motorcade, his spokesman said. The attack took place on the road to the airport in Islamabad. Gilani was not believed to be in the motorcade.
The Bajaur operation, which was intended to eliminate key figures in the "war on terror", could end in leading figures in Pakistan being killed.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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US envoy denies 'unauthorized contacts' with Pakistan's Zardari
September 3, 2008
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The US ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday slammed as "patently false" press reports that he had "unauthorized" contacts with Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani presidential contender and widower of slain Benazir Bhutto.
Zalmay Khalilzad spoke to reporters here to refute a New York Times story last week alleging that senior US administration officials were puzzled and angry over Khalilzad's frequent contacts with Zardari.
Describing the reports as "patently false", Khalilzad said: "I was a little surprised that very reputable outlets would publish such things without ... checking things."
A former US envoy to both Afghanistan and Iraq, he said he had for years maintained friendships and relationships with many people in the broader Middle East, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"These contacts and relationships have been useful for the United States but at the same time I am experienced enough to know the difference between being a channel with these friends on behalf of the United States and having social contacts...particularly with regard to the Bhutto family," Khalilzad said.
He said he had had mostly "social contacts" with the Bhutto couple since Benazi, a former Pakistani prime minister, returned from exile to Pakistan in October 2007 and in the aftermath of her assassination two months later.
Noting these contacts were "perfectly natural", he insisted that he had reported them to US Secretary of State "and relevant officials" whenever policy issues had been raised. And he strenuously denied having acted as an advisor to Zardari.
The New York Times last week quoted a senior US official as saying that Khalilzad had spoken with Zardari by phone "several times a week for the past month until he was confronted about the unauthorized contacts."
According to the text of an email obtained by the newspaper, US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher asked Khalilzad about the nature of his contacts after learning that Khalilzad sought to provide Zardari with "advice and help."
"Can I ask what sort of 'advice and help' you are providing?" the email said. "What sort of channel is this? Government, private, personal?"
Khalilzad, who was a close ally of Bhutto's before she was slain, canceled a planned meeting with Zardari while on vacation in Dubai, after Boucher learned of his plans, the report said.
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the daily that the behavior by Afghan-born Khalilzad "raised hackles because of speculation he might seek to succeed Hamid Karzai as president of Afghanistan."
But Khalilzad Wednesday insisted anew that he had no plan to run for the Afghan presidency when his term as ambassador here ends.
"I am an American ... I have no plan to become a candidate (for the Afghan presidency)," he noted. "When I leave here I will work in the private sector."
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U.S. Envoy Cites 'Fog of War' in Afghan Tolls
Ambassador to U.N. Also Denies He Gave 'Advice and Help' to Pakistani Candidate
By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 4, 2008; Page A10
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 3 -- Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Wednesday that widely divergent U.S. and U.N. estimates of the death toll from American airstrikes in Afghanistan may reflect the difficulties of obtaining an accurate account in a war zone.
"I believe that there is a bit of a fog of war involved in some of these initial reports," Khalilzad said. "Sometimes initial reports can be wrong. And the best way to deal with it is to have the kind of investigation that we have proposed, which is U.S., coalition, plus the Afghan government, plus the United Nations."
The remarks provided the strongest expression of skepticism by a top U.S. official over conflicting assertions by the United Nations and the Afghan government on one side, which claimed that a U.S. airstrike in western Afghanistan two weeks ago killed 90 civilians, and the U.S. military on the other, which said five people died in the operation.
In his first public appearance in weeks, Khalilzad also defended himself against allegations that he had improperly provided "advice and help" to a Pakistani presidential candidate, Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari, the husband of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is seeking to replace Pervez Musharraf as president. The United States is officially neutral in the race.
Richard A. Boucher, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asia, scolded Khalilzad in a recent e-mail when Zardari informed him of his plans to meet with Khalilzad in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Boucher said Zardari told him Khalilzad had provided him with "advice and help." The contents of the e-mail were first reported by the New York Times.
The Afghan-born Khalilzad, who again denied rumors that he intends to run for president of Afghanistan and wishes to undermine Afghan President Hamid Karzai, emphasized that he has a long-standing personal friendship with the Bhutto family and that he has spoken to Zardari six or seven times since the family returned to Pakistan to reenter politics.
"No, I've not offered him any political advice," Khalilzad told reporters. He said communications with Zardari "have been social contacts, for the most part. It has been 'How are you?' . . . 'When can we get together?' "
The U.S. envoy said that he has an extensive network of friendships with influential figures in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Those contacts and relationships have been useful for the United States," he said.
"I have many contacts and friends around the world," Khalilzad said. "And just because I am a government official now doesn't mean that I should end those friendships and relationships."
Khalilzad said that he is an experienced enough diplomat to know "the difference between being a channel with these friends on behalf of the United States or having social contacts."
He said that Zardari has only raised substantive political issues in one or two conversations with him and that he reported the substance of those discussions to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. officials.
"I'm also aware of the phone being an unreliable, untrustworthy instrument for communicating, in terms of security," Khalilzad said. "So I wouldn't see somebody as experienced as myself offering advice to a friend on an open line, on behalf of the United States. . . . You'll have to give me a little more credit than that."
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UK soldier killed in Afghanistan
Thursday, 4 September 2008 18:27 UK BBC News
A British soldier has been killed in an explosion while on a routine foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The soldier was from 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment.
Lt Col David Reynolds, spokesman for British Forces in Afghanistan, said: "This is a tragic loss."
Next of kin have been informed. The death brings the number of soldiers killed on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 117.
Explosion
The Ministry of Defence said the explosion, near Sangin district centre early on Thursday, was believed to have been from an improvised explosive device.
The soldier was given first aid but died later.
Lt Col Reynolds said: "Our thoughts and sympathies are with the friends and family at this most difficult time."
Brig Gen Richard Blanchette, International Security Assistance Force spokesman, offered his condolences to relatives.
He said: "This soldier died honourably, helping bring security to Afghanistan."
The soldier is expected to be named by the MoD on Friday.
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Career diplomat Ron Hoffmann appointed Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan
By The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Ron Hoffmann, deputy head of mission at the Canadian embassy in Afghanistan, has been promoted to ambassador in Kabul.
He replaces Arif Lalani, who is joining the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto as a senior visiting fellow.
The new ambassador to Afghanistan is a career diplomat who joined Foreign Affairs in 1989 and has held posts in The Hague, Johannesburg, Beijing and London.
The department says Hoffmann will oversee a number of Canadian development projects in Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson called Hoffmann "a seasoned senior diplomat with a distinguished reputation."
"He brings tremendous experience to his new post and will ensure that Canada continues to make an important contribution to helping rebuild the lives of millions of men, women and children throughout Afghanistan."
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Three Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Wed Sep 3, 1:45 PM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - Three Canadian soldiers were killed and five wounded in an insurgent attack on their armored vehicle in Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday.
The explosive attack occurred at 9:30 a.m. local time in the Zhari District in the south, said Brigadier-General Dennis Thompson, the top Canadian commander in Kandahar.
"The soldiers were conducting a security patrol when the attack occurred," he said. "All eight soldiers were evacuated to the Kandahar Airfield where three were confirmed dead by medical officials.
"Of the five soldiers who were injured, one is reported to be in critical condition, one is in serious but stable condition, two are in good condition, and one has been treated and released."
The deceased soldiers were to end their Afghan tour later this month, Thompson commented. Tragically, the insurgents found a weakness in their military vehicle's armor, he said, adding: "Sometimes the insurgents get lucky."
Canada maintains a contingent of 2,500 soldiers in the Kandahar region as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Since the start of the mission in 2002, 96 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died.
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UNHCR: Iran to play key role in upcoming confab on Afghan refugees
Tehran, Sept 4, IRNA
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that Tehran would play a significant role in the upcoming conference on "Repatriation of Afghan Refugees to their motherland" slated for November.
He made the remark in a meeting with Interior Minister Ali Kordan in Tehran on Thursday.
"Tehran's contribution to such an event is of prime importance for us," he said.
He said the current situation in Afghanistan should be further improved to prevent incoming Afghan refugees from leaving their country again.
"We will spare no efforts to have the best possible cooperation with Iran in dealing with the issue," he said.
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FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, Sept 4
04 Sep 2008 14:35:18 GMT
Sept 4 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1430 GMT on Thursday:
SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN - One soldier from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the ISAF said in a statement. It did not release the nationality of the soldier or any other details.
HELMAND - ISAF soldiers shot and wounded an Afghan civilian after he ran towards a ground patrol in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province, the ISAF said in another statement. The soldiers thought he was a suicide bomber and the incident is under investigation, it said. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Wheat loan to ease food shortage
04 Sep 2008 13:21:03 GMT
ABUL, 4 September 2008 (IRIN) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and government of Pakistan are finalising an agreement involving the loan of 50,000 tonnes of wheat for pre-winter food aid operations in Afghanistan.
Once the agreement is signed, WFP will begin importing the wheat over two months, Susana Rico, WFP's country representative, said. It will be pre-positioned in vulnerable areas where access is difficult in winter.
The loan will help WFP to remedy immediate funding delays in emergency food aid for about five million Afghans hit by high food prices and drought.
Upon receiving funds from donors WFP will pay the loan back.
Funding delays
UN agencies and the Afghan government jointly appealed on 9 July for US$404 million to deal with the food crisis resulting from high prices and drought.
The joint appeal included WFP's request for $185 million, which it will use to procure 230,000 tonnes of food to be distributed until August 2009.
The UN has reiterated calls for "vital funding" to avert a possible crisis this winter amid donors' "slow and insufficient response" to the joint appeal.
WFP said it had received up to 25 percent by 3 September.
Meanwhile, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged 50,000 tonnes of wheat, WFP said.
The American donation "is expected to arrive at port [Pakistan] six to eight weeks from now and a further two to three weeks to arrive at regional hubs in Afghanistan", Rico said.
WFP said the 100,000 tonnes of wheat would be sufficient for its "winter pre-positioning programme".
Government wheat procurement
The hike in food prices has prompted Pakistan to impose a ban on food exports to neighbouring Afghanistan, which relies particularly on Pakistani wheat flour.
Earlier this year Pakistan agreed to sell 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the Afghan government to ease its domestic food shortages.
"Over 12,000 tonnes of the wheat procured from Pakistan have been imported to the country and the process is ongoing," according to a government statement on 2 September.
The imported wheat will be offered at a subsidised price, the government said.
The statement also said separate agreements signed with the Russian Federation and Ukraine would allow the country to import about 80,000 tonnes of wheat.
According to the country's National Risk and Vulnerability Assessments, 42 percent of the Afghan population (approximately 12 million people) live below the poverty line, on 45 US cents per day or less.
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US Gen Sees Afghan Army Numbers Almost Doubling To 130,000
BRUSSELS (AFP)--A U.S. general said Wednesday that he expected the numbers of the Afghan army to swell by nearly double to more than 130,000 troops.
"We envisage a 122,000-strong structure, with a total of 134,000 personnel, the extra 12,000 allowing to keep a lot of people in school and training," Major General Robert Cone said.
However Cone, who is in charge of helping to train the Afghan army, did not say how long he expected it to take to assemble a force of 134,000. Originally some 90,000 troops was targetted by 2009.
Currently, the Afghan army counts about 60,000 soldiers on the ground with 8, 000 in training, Cone said from Kabul through a video conference beamed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Brussels' headquarters.
"There has been a growing trend in enemy (Taliban) activities," he said.
"The Afghans feel very strongly about their ability to defend their country," he said. "I personally believe the best people to defend Afghanistan are Afghans."
He said that the Afghan forces now even had an "air corps", dedicated primarily to transporting troops and equipment.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force has about 53,000 troops operating in the country under a U.N. mandate to help give security support to the Afghan government.
There are a further 17,000 troops in an international coalition, under direct U.S. command, charged more specifically with hunting down militants.
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Malaysia's Global Air secures Afghan haj deal
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Global Air, a unit of Malaysia's Global Industries Inc Sdn Bhd, has won a 29.55 million U.S. dollars contract to transport some 30,000 of Afghanistan's haj pilgrims, local media reported on Thursday.
Afghanistan is the second country to sign such a deal with Global Air after Thailand, the New Straits Times reported.
The work involves transporting the pilgrims from Kabul and Kandahar international airports to Jeddah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia.
Global Air has also initiated negotiations with several Middle Eastern parties to establish direct flights from Dubai into Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Oman and Kuwait by early 2009.
Afghanistan is in the process of outlining a long-term plan to become a systematic hub for Haj and Umrah for countries in the region which include Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The new contract was signed by Afghanistan Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Hamidullah Qaderi and Global Air managing director Zamri Ibrahim in Kabul last week.
The maiden flight from Kabul will be launched on Oct. 31 using two Boeing 747s and one Boeing 767.
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German-Afghan peace alliance calls for withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan
Berlin, Sept 4, IRNA
A newly formed German-Afghan peace alliance on Thursday urged the withdrawal of all German soldiers from Afghanistan, while calling for boosting of civilian aid to the war-stricken country.
The group titled 'German-Afghan Peace Cooperation' is composed of 50 German peace activists as well as representatives of the Afghan loya jirga.
The German-Afghan peace group called also on German legislators to vote against extending the Afghan military mandate which is up for renewal next month.
"Peace is possible in Afghanistan but not by continuing the war and the steady escalation of combat actions," the German-Afghan peace group was quoted saying in a press release.
It pointed out that a widening the military conflict in Afghanistan had led to a rise in the number of civilian casualties.
The Afghan government was also urged to engage in direct negotiations with the radical Taliban militia.
It pleaded also for the formation of an international Afghan peace conference, comprised of Afghanistan's neighbors .
Germany has been the scene of various Afghan peace demonstrations over the past months amid the surge in the number of civilian victims in the Afghan war.
Thousands of Germans on Monday staged nationwide protests against the war in Afghanistan, while marking the anniversary of the beginning of World War II.
Numerous labor unions, church and student groups took part in the traditional September 1 'anti-war 'rallies by holding solemn vigils, round-table discussions and peace festivals.
The Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1 marked the start of World War II in Europe which killed around 60 million people.
A focal point of this year's anti-war protests was Germany's participation in the NATO-led war in Afghanistan.
Protesters called for the withdrawal of the 3,500-strong German military force from Afghanistan.
The peace demos came in the wake of last week's deadly shooting of three Afghan civilians by the German army at a military checkpoint near the northern Afghan city of Kunduz.
German soldiers rained reportedly gunfire on a carload of innocent civilians, killing a woman and two children.
Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung acknowledged last week a worsening of the security situation in northern Afghanistan, where German forces are based.
Some 28 German soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since January 2002, according to official statistics.
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Taliban leaders identified killed in E Afghanistan
www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-04 14:36:17
KABUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led Coalition forces have identified five Taliban sub commanders killed during operations over the past month in Kapisa province, some 80 km from Afghan capital Kabul, said a Coalition statement released here on Thursday.
Qari Nejat who is a Taliban commander in the Tag Ab valley having links with senior insurgent figures was killed during a Coalition forces operation in Nijrab district on Aug. 5, the statement said.
Coalition forces also eliminated Khairullah Nezami and Qari Ezmarai on Aug. 23 in Tag Ab valley while Ahmad Shah and Mullah Rohoullah Nezami were killed on Aug. 30 in another Coalition operation in Nijrab district, it said.
Those figures mentioned above have all been involved in IED (Improvised Explosive Device) facilitating, coordinating the movement of suicide bombers and foreign terrorists and conducting numerous attacks against international forces, it said.
During the operation, six other militants were killed in the air strike, multiple AK-47s and machine guns were also found in the site, it said.
However, Taliban militants have yet to make any comment.
Afghanistan has witnessed the surge of Taliban attacks on international forces, Afghan troops and even foreign aid groups during past months when the anti-government militants continue to demonstrate their strength through suicide and roadside bombings.
Escalating insurgency and violent incidents have left over 3,200 people dead including over 800 civilians since January this year in the war-torn country.
Editor: Sun Yunlong
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Almost two-thirds of Canadians say Afghan mission too costly, poll suggests
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians believe the country is paying too high a price in terms of blood and treasure for its involvement in Afghanistan.
The Canadian Press-Harris Decima survey also shows an overwhelming number of respondents were uncertain about whether the Kandahar mission, which has claimed the lives of 96 soldiers and one diplomat, has been a success.
The telephone survey of 1,000 people was conducted before the latest attack on Wednesday, in which three soldiers died.
The survey found that 61 per cent of respondents believed the cost of the country's mission in terms of lives and expense has been unacceptable, while only one in three said it was acceptable.
When asked overall, whether they would say the mission in Afghanistan has been a success, a failure or that it is too soon to tell, a majority of respondents, roughly 48 per cent, took the wait-and-see answer.
At least 30 per cent were prepared to categorically declare the mission a success.
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We must not be trapped in a war without end
The Age, Australia Editorial September 5, 2008
If casualties are to increase, we must be clear why we are fighting in Afghanistan, and whether the war can be won.
IN THE beginning, it looked so clear-cut. The US-led invasion of Afghanistan was not like the invasion of Iraq that followed it. There was no dubious justification offered for a course of action that the Bush Administration seemed intent on pursuing anyway. There were no contrived claims about weapons of mass destruction that later were conceded to be baseless. The war in Afghanistan fitted into the global war on terror as the war in Iraq never has (except in the sense that the latter acted as a magnet to al-Qaeda and other jihadist movements, drawing them into a place in which they had previously been suppressed.)
The evidence pointing to Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership as the ultimate perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks was overwhelming, and the Taliban regime then in power in Afghanistan was providing al-Qaeda with a haven. If they refused to hand its leaders over to international justice, then they, as well as al-Qaeda, would suffer the consequences.
That was the rationale for the October, 2001, invasion, to which Australia, as a US ally, contributed troops. Seven years later we are still there, and the seriousness of Australia's involvement is underlined by this week's report that nine Australian special forces soldiers were wounded in an encounter with Taliban fighters. To a country that has heard very few casualty reports since the end of the Vietnam War, it is a reminder, if one were needed, of what a military commitment is all about. Somewhere along the way, however, the goal of this war has become obscured, and along with it a sense of what would count as victory and sufficient reason to bring the troops home.
The declared reason for the invasion was the capture or elimination of bin Laden and his accomplices, but the search for them lost priority as the US shifted its attention to Iraq, and it is no longer certain where the al-Qaeda leaders are to be found. Many intelligence reports suggest that they are in Pakistan, and Wednesday's raid into that country by US forces based in Afghanistan will strengthen fears that the war may flow over into Pakistan, whose notional alliance with the West grows steadily more tense and complicated.
In Afghanistan itself, the NATO-led war has become much less a hunt for al-Qaeda than an attempt to shore up the Karzai Government, which has little effective authority outside Kabul, against the encroachments of the resurgent Taliban.
In part this is a consequence of the way in which the initial invasion was carried out, with heavy reliance on light special forces and the use of the Taliban's rivals, the Northern Alliance, as proxies. There was no commitment to building a substantial occupation army, and not much commitment to the rebuilding of Afghanistan. These attitudes have changed, but in the meantime the Taliban have regrouped and reasserted their authority over much of the country. Not for the first time in Afghanistan's long history of invasions, the invaders have found that deposing a regime is no guarantee of subduing a faction-ridden, tribalised nation.
With an eye perhaps more on the need to nurture the US alliance than on the changing military and political realities of Afghanistan, the Rudd Government declared its enthusiasm for the war there from the moment it was elected. That sent a message: Australia may be withdrawing from the mire of Iraq, but it remains firmly committed to the war on terror, and Afghanistan is where that war should always have been fought. It was the original message, the clarion call of 2001, all over again. And if the pursuit of bin Laden had remained the specific aim of the war in Afghanistan, it might have been a coherent message. But if the war remains, as it seems to have become, an endless conflict with a relentless enemy, Australians will reasonably begin to ask just what their soldiers are being asked to risk their lives for.
"Exit strategy" has become a cant phrase associated with modern military interventions, but it refers to a reality that no government can ignore. If an intervention force does not have both a clearly defined goal and the means to achieve it, the most likely consequence will be the squandering of human life and endeavour. Australia's troops cannot now easily be extracted from Afghanistan without making a difficult situation worse, but the Rudd Government needs to weigh carefully whether the professed goal of the intervention in Afghanistan is achievable with Australia's present level of commitment. If it is not — and the Government is already clear in its unwillingness to increase that commitment — then it should begin to prepare for their withdrawal.
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New attorney-general to stamp out corruption
www.quqnoos.com Written by Ghafoor Sabori Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Alako urges co-operation in fight against crime during first day in office
THE country’s new attorney-general, Mohammad Ishaq Alako, has vowed to clamp down on administrative corruption and crime during his first day in office.
Justice Minister Abdul Salam Azimi introduced Alako to civil servants working in the attorney-general’s office on Tuesday.
Alako, who was catapulted into the chief prosecutor’s chair after Karzai forced his predecessor to resign, promised cabinet members and the Afghan people that he would focus on enforcing the law during his time in office.
President Karzai nominated Alako after the former attorney-general, Abdul Jafar Sabit, said he wanted to run for president at next year’s election.
Under the constitution, the president has the power to dismiss prosecutors if they become a member of a political party during their time in office.
Alako, who arrived from Germany to work as a researcher in the prison service after the fall of the Taliban, urged his colleagues to co-operate with him in his fight against corruption and crime.
He was elected to the role of attorney-general last week after Members of Parliament voted 157-32 in his favour.
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Man jailed for kidnapping teenage girl
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Court sentences man to 16 years in jail for abducting Mazar girl
A COURT in Kabul has sentenced a man to 16 years in jail after he was found guilty of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The man, Habibullah, told the preliminary court on Tuesday that the girl had willingly travelled with him to Kabul from the north.
But the 15-year-old girl, Ferishta, who also accused Habibullah’s wife of helping to kidnap her, said in court: "I was brought from Mazar to Kabul by force."
Habibullah’s wife, Ferida, who was found not guilt of aiding and abetting her husband because of the lack of police evidence against her, accused the girl of lying.
Habibullah said Ferishta had approached himand had asked to be taken to Kabul.
"I brought her a ticket to go to Kabul because I told her she was like my daughter and then I took her to Kabul," he said.
The judge, after sentencing Habibullah to 16 years in prison, said: "You, Habibullah, will be jailed for abduction and, because of a lack of evidence, your wife will be found not guilty."
Police in Kabul say they have investigated about 100 cases of kidnapping in the city so far this year.
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