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Afghanistan May See Up To 60 Presidential Candidates In Vote
April 30, 2009
KABUL (AFP)--Up to 60 people may run in Afghanistan's presidential vote in August, based on the number of people who collected registration forms before a deadline, the elections authority said Thursday.
Using clinics as polling stations "not a good idea" - ICRC
KABUL, 30 April 2009 (IRIN) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern over the use of health facilities for voter registration or as polling stations in Afghanistan's upcoming presidential elections
Afghanistan needs help in fight against corruption
By Richard Lardner Associated Press April 30, 2009
WASHINGTON – The United States must do more to help Afghanistan battle the corruption undermining critical programs to rebuild the war-torn country, a top government watchdog said Thursday.
Afghan Presidential hopeful promises Taliban talks
By Sayed Salahuddin – Thu Apr 30, 8:39 am ET
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan's insurgency can be brought to an end through "soft diplomacy" with the Taliban, if Western forces commit to a timetable to withdraw from the country, a veteran of past negotiations with the militants says.
Taliban announce 'countersurge' in Afghanistan
The militants have vowed to launch a new offensive against US and its allies, which are preparing to increase troop levels.
By Anand Gopal The Christian Science Monitor April 30, 2009 at 8:37 am EST
The Taliban have vowed to launch a new offensive this summer in Afghanistan against the government and the foreign soldiers stationed there. The news comes as the United States and its allies plan to increase
Security developments in Afghanistan
April 30 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1030 GMT on Thursday:
A bomb greets a new US unit in Afghan countryside
By FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press April 30, 2009
TANGI VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) — Only a few Afghan villagers waved as the new American forces patrolled deep into this valley, a warning sign even in a region not exactly known for its love for foreign troops.
German Soldier Killed, Nine Injured in Afghan Attacks
By Brett Neely
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- A German soldier was killed and nine injured in two separate attacks in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, where the army is suffering more frequent insurgent assaults.
Australia to Send 450 More Troops to Afghanistan
By Gemma Daley
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Australia will send 450 additional troops, police and military personnel to provide training and security in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.
US sees spike in Afghanistan, Pakistan attacks
By Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Thu Apr 30, 12:24 am ET
WASHINGTON – Terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan have risen sharply as extremists have consolidated and expanded operations, according to the government and independent analysts.
Pakistan concerned about US plan in Afghanistan
Wed Apr 29, 1:36 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Pakistan has voiced concern that US reinforcements in Afghanistan's south could push Taliban insurgents and refugees over its porous border, a US general said on Wednesday.
Under pressure Pak to shift 6,000 troops from border with India to Afghan side
New Kerala - Apr 30 2:57 AM
New York, Apr.30 : Under immense pressure from the United States and the international community, Pakistan has decided to shift around 6000 troops from its eastern border with India to the western Afghan border, The New York Times reports.
42 insurgents die in Afghan fighting
KABUL, Afghanistan, April 29 (UPI) -- Afghan and coalition forces Wednesday killed an estimated 42 insurgents during fighting in Oruzgan, Helmand and Lowgar provinces, officials said.
Surrendered Taliban commander joins government in N Afghanistan
KABUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban local commander along with four of his armed men laid down arms and joined the reconciliation process in Badghis province, northwest of Afghanistan, police said Thursday.
Obama's Afghanistan mission
Source: Al Jazeera
In order to tackle the foreign policy challenges he inherited from George Bush US president Barack Obama has announced a new strategy.
In Brief: Beggars being arrested in Kabul
KABUL, 30 April 2009 (IRIN) - Over 15 beggars were arrested and put in a temporary shelter in Kabul on 30 April in line with a new government policy designed to end street begging, which officials say is strongly linked to crime.
Strategic Affairs Analyst Takes Broad View Of 'Af-Pak' Strategy
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 30, 2009
Julian Lindley-French is a professor of strategic studies at the University of Lieden and a professor of military operational science at the Royal Military Academy of the Netherlands.
Falling Short on Afghanistan
New York Times By PADDY ASHDOWN and JOSEPH INGRAM April 29, 2009
A just-released report from Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance has produced some shocking findings with disturbing implications for the future of the war-ridden country and its unstable neighborhood.
What Afghanistan can learn from the Taliban
By An American Aid Worker – The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Apr 29 2:00 AM
Kabul, Afghanistan – Corruption in Afghanistan is called baksheesh. The word literally means "to give something up" – as in a sacrifice to the needy. In practice, it refers to any kind of money, good,
Afghan forces pitching in with security
By JEAN LAROCHE, QMI AGENCY The Sudbury Star - Apr 29 6:13 AM
PANJWAI, Afghanistan -- Right in the heart of Taliban territory, the Afghan army is lending a crucial helping hand to Canadian forces. Every morning at dawn, the Afghan National Army (ANA) leaves forward operating
Mortar blast kills three Afghan children
Thu Apr 30, 5:00 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – An old mortar shell exploded as a group of children played with it in Afghanistan, killing three of them and wounding another three, the interior ministry said Thursday.
Swine Flu Threats Afghanistan
www.quqnoos.com Written by Shakeela Abrahimkhil Wednesday, 29 April 2009
WHO warns Afghanistan facing swine flu threat – a widespread fatal disease
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Afghanistan May See Up To 60 Presidential Candidates In Vote
April 30, 2009
KABUL (AFP)--Up to 60 people may run in Afghanistan's presidential vote in August, based on the number of people who collected registration forms before a deadline, the elections authority said Thursday.
Candidates have two weeks from April 25 to submit their forms and register officially but none had yet done so, Independent Election Commission official Daud Ali Najafi told reporters.
"Sixty potential candidates have visited the commission for information and have received registration forms," Najafi said.
He refused to be drawn on the identities of those who had shown interest in signing up for the election, Afghanistan's second presidential vote, but said two women were among them.
President Hamid Karzai said this week that he would run for a second term. Other likely candidates include former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-finance minister Ashraf Ghani.
To register, a candidate must deposit around $1,000 with the commission and prove they have been endorsed by at least 10,000 voters, Najafi said.
Candidates must also be at least 40 years old and have no prior conviction for crime or human rights abuses.
Twenty-four people registered for Afghanistan's first presidential election held in 2004, but only 18 eventually appeared on the ballot paper.
Karzai won with 55% of the vote.
Concerns about attacks by Taliban insurgents have prompted NATO troops to call in thousands of extra soldiers to shore up security for the election.
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Using clinics as polling stations "not a good idea" - ICRC
KABUL, 30 April 2009 (IRIN) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern over the use of health facilities for voter registration or as polling stations in Afghanistan's upcoming presidential elections, saying this could jeopardise the security of health workers and put patients at risk.
Whilst there is no provision in international humanitarian law and/or the Geneva Conventions banning the use of health centres in electoral processes, ICRC said insecurity in large swaths of Afghanistan would necessitate the presence of military forces to protect polling stations.
"If you have a strong presence of security forces - be they national or international - they do represent a legitimate target," Reto Stocker, head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul, told IRIN.
Taliban insurgents have vowed to disrupt the elections and have warned people not to participate.
"We do hope that - be it through a ruling of the Supreme Court or a presidential decree - it would be made very clear that it is not a good idea to have health facilities used for electoral purposes," Stocker said.
The ICRC said it would encourage all warring parties, particularly the armed opposition, to respect the impartiality of health centres and health workers and not attack them.
Two clinics destroyed
The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said two health centres had been attacked and destroyed by the insurgents because they had been used as voter registration sites.
"One health centre was destroyed in [southern] Kandahar Province and another was attacked in [eastern] Kunar Province," said Mohammad Amin Fatimie, the health minister.
"I have talked very seriously to the president [Hamid Karzai] to instruct the election commission to stop using health centres for election purposes," he said, adding that he would ask the Supreme Courte to intervene if his request was not accepted.
Fatimie's concerns were dismissed by officials at the Independent Election Commission (IEC) who said hospitals and other health facilities would be used as voting stations in the August presidential elections.
"According to Article Six of the electoral law, all government and public bodies are obliged to facilitate and support the election," Noor Mohammad Noor, an IEC spokesman, told IRIN.
"We have no report of any health centre having been attacked because it was used in the electoral process," he said, adding that health activities would not be disrupted during voting in August.
Insurgents and other criminal groups have torched dozens of health facilities and killed or abducted dozens of health workers over the past four years, according to aid agencies.
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Afghanistan needs help in fight against corruption
By Richard Lardner Associated Press April 30, 2009
WASHINGTON – The United States must do more to help Afghanistan battle the corruption undermining critical programs to rebuild the war-torn country, a top government watchdog said Thursday.
Corruption remains a significant problem within key government ministries in Afghanistan even as more U.S. tax dollars continue to flow into the country, said the inspector general for Afghanistan construction.
In his third quarterly report to Congress, special inspector general Arnold Fields said Afghan officials have made repeated pleas for assistance in ensuring the billions of dollars in international aid they're receiving are spent properly.
Since 2002, the U.S. has committed nearly $33 billion for reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. Nearly half that money has gone for rebuilding the country's army and police forces.
In November 2008, the head of Afghanistan's interior ministry told Fields' office that he wanted 35 international auditors to work with Afghan accountability officials to support anti-corruption efforts.
According to Fields' report, this request was made "in the presence of U.S. Embassy representatives." Yet the State Department didn't follow up on the request until early April.
President Hamid Karzai asked Fields for support in fighting corruption in the country's public institutions during his most recent visit to Afghanistan in March, the report says.
Karzai wanted Fields' office to participate in the country's Anti-Corruption Council. But due to its status as an independent oversight body, the office had to decline.
In the report, Fields cites an April 7 letter he sent to top U.S. officials, including Gen. David Petraeus, seeking information on what concrete steps the U.S. and other countries are taking to improve anti-corruption efforts in Afghanistan.
Traci Scott, a spokeswoman for the special inspector general's office, said Fields has not yet received a response.
Fields also said his office will begin an audit to assess Afghanistan's ability to fight corruption. The causes of corruption, the report said, include weak procurement regulations, lax enforcement, low wages for public officials and a thriving drug trade that frustrates political stability.
Fields' position was created last year by Congress. In his quarterly report, he said his office next month will release its first audit report. It examines the oversight of a $404 million contract to provide training to the Afghanistan army and police.
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Afghan Presidential hopeful promises Taliban talks
By Sayed Salahuddin – Thu Apr 30, 8:39 am ET
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan's insurgency can be brought to an end through "soft diplomacy" with the Taliban, if Western forces commit to a timetable to withdraw from the country, a veteran of past negotiations with the militants says.
Sayed Jalal, a former child prodigy famous across the country for brokering talks between Iran and the Taliban around a decade ago, plans to run for the presidency in August 20 elections on a promise of bringing peace through diplomacy.
Setting a timeframe for foreign troops to leave Afghan soil would allow him to convince the Taliban to lay down their arms and join the government he wants to lead, Jalal said.
The Saudi-based businessman has a track record of successful talks with the hardline Islamists, and his support for Sharia law in Afghanistan could give him credibility as a potential partner or intermediary with the Taliban.
In 1998, he negotiated with the Taliban for the release of a dozen Iranian hostages. The same year he also arranged a ceasefire and the exchange of more than 1,200 prisoners between the then opposition Northern Alliance and the ruling Taliban.
Jalal said his success as a mediator puts him in a strong position to win over militants, but only with an expiry date on the foreign military presence in Afghanistan.
"We do need the presence of the foreign forces for a period of between three to five years," Jalal, a soft-spoken 40 year-old, who sports a trim salt-and-pepper beard, told Reuters.
"I would like to put a timetable for one reason: so that the international community can give us their best support for preparing our army. For if we leave it open, they are not going to work as fast as possible."
SHARIA LAW
Jalal, a mathematics prodigy who completed high school at eight before matriculating at Moscow University at the age of nine, runs construction, gas and oil businesses in Saudi Arabia.
The youngest of nearly 40 presidential candidates, he wants to see nationwide implementation of strict Sharia law reminiscent of Taliban-era rules, with public punishment for violators.
He took aim at President Hamid Karzai who has led Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban and won the first direct vote in the country's history, saying he has frustrated ordinary people and strengthened the Taliban by failing to implement Islamic law.
If there had been stronger punishments and better access to justice for ordinary Afghans, the country would not be so destabilised by corruption, drug cultivation and poverty, he said.
"By simply respecting law and implementing the law, Afghanistan can escape these problems," he said.
(Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Bill Tarrant)
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Taliban announce 'countersurge' in Afghanistan
The militants have vowed to launch a new offensive against US and its allies, which are preparing to increase troop levels.
By Anand Gopal The Christian Science Monitor April 30, 2009 at 8:37 am EST
The Taliban have vowed to launch a new offensive this summer in Afghanistan against the government and the foreign soldiers stationed there. The news comes as the United States and its allies plan to increase their troop presence to counter the growing Taliban threat.
A wave of suicide attacks and ambushes will start Thursday, according to the Taliban website, al Emerah.
Since America and NATO have resolved to send extra troops to Afghanistan, therefore, the Afghans too in response feel the need to start rapid and strong operations, as part of their struggle, to defend themselves and to free the country…
The targets of these operations will be the military units of the invading forces, diplomatic centers, mobile convoys, high-ranking officials of the puppet administration.
The Guardian reports that the insurgents have the potential to make good on their promise.
A western security official said the statement should be taken seriously as the Taliban have previously lived up to their often bold statements of intent, including their past promises to attack roads and encircle Kabul.
"They said they would launch operations in the north of Afghanistan this year and that's exactly what they have done," he said.
"There is no doubt that they can counter-surge if they want to – if they choose to consolidate themselves in Pakistan."
Fighting has been intense across the country. The US claims to have killed up to 42 insurgents in various battles on Wednesday. Meanwhile, nine German soldiers were injured and one killed in a pair of attacks on Wednesday in the north of the country. Earlier this week a British soldier was killed in an explosion. The website iCasualties.org, which tracks troop fatalities, reports that 90 foreign soldiers have been killed so far this year, a 67 percent increase from the same period last year.
The US government and independent analysts said Thursday that violence has risen in the past year and the insurgents have consolidated and expanded their operations, according to the Associated Press. A new State Department study found that the number of insurgent attacks has increased. In addition, the American Security Project, Washington-based think tank, reported on Wednesday that the Taliban is gaining ground in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"Governmental weakness in both states has created opportunities for radical Islamist groups on both sides of the border," the independent analysts concluded.
"Terrorist attacks are up, but worse, territory controlled by the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban has also increased," said the American Security Project…
The American Security Project attributes the rise in incidents to the spread of the Taliban, which it said has a "persistent presence" in about 75 percent of the Afghanistan. In Pakistan, it noted that the government increasingly has ceded authority to militants in tribal areas, even before turning over the Swat Valley to the Taliban earlier this month.
Western nations are pouring more troops into the beleaguered country in hopes of stemming this violent tide. In addition to the more than 20,000 soldiers that the US has earmarked for Afghanistan, Australia and Britain are also pledging troop increases, The Afghan news website Quqnoos reports:
[The] British Prime Minister [said an] extra 700 troops will be sent to Afghanistan mainly to help provide security during upcoming elections.
Deployment of the new British contingent will [raise the number of] troops to 9,000 stationed in Afghanistan, mostly in Helmand, the stronghold of the Taliban militants.
"For Afghanistan, our strategy is to ensure the country is strong enough as a democracy to withstand and overcome the terrorist threat," Brown said.
In addition, Australia has pledged to send an additional 450 troops. The force increases this year will bring the total number of foreign forces in Afghanistan to more than 90,000.
President Obama is also planning to ask Congress for an additional $83 billion in funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, CNN reports.
The request is expected to pay for those conflicts for the rest of the 2009 budget year, two Democratic congressional sources said.
The money would bring the running tab for both conflicts to about $947 billion, according to figures from the Congressional Research Service.
More than three-quarters of the $864 billion appropriated so far has gone to the war in Iraq, the agency estimated.
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Security developments in Afghanistan
April 30 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1030 GMT on Thursday:
LOGAR - U.S.-led and Afghan forces killed four militants in an operation in Logar province around 70 km (45 miles) south of Kabul on Thursday, the U.S. military said. One woman was also wounded in the assault and treated by the military, it said.
URUZGAN - Afghan police and U.S.-led forces killed five militants in an offensive in Uruzgan province 300 km (190 miles) south of Kabul on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.
KAPISA - Three children were killed and three more wounded on Wednesday while playing with a mortar round left over from decades of war in Kapisa province, just northeast of Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.
KUNDUZ - A German soldier was killed and four more were wounded in an ambush in Kunduz province, some 240 km (150) miles north of Kabul on Wednesday, the German army said.
(Compiled by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by David Fox)
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A bomb greets a new US unit in Afghan countryside
By FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press April 30, 2009
TANGI VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) — Only a few Afghan villagers waved as the new American forces patrolled deep into this valley, a warning sign even in a region not exactly known for its love for foreign troops.
As the 10th Mountain Division troops moved slowly down a rocky road that cuts through high cliffs and fertile land in the central province of Wardak, what awaited them were not smiles.
It was a bomb.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
But it was a reminder that in the cat-and-mouse game of insurgency warfare, the ultimate prize is the loyalty of the man on the street or in the bazaar.
In the Tangi Valley — a region just 40 miles south of Kabul that newly deployed U.S. troops entered this year — the people's sympathies for now are with the insurgents.
That's why Lt. Col. Kimo Gallahue, the commander of the 3rd brigade's 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, has been traveling this narrow stretch of road that passes by wheat fields, apple trees and small villages. He clears the road of bombs and tells any Afghan willing to listen that the Americans are here to stay.
Gallahue's unit is part of a brigade that was initially slated to go to Iraq. But a rapidly deteriorating security situation, along with an increased U.S. focus on Afghanistan after the election of President Barack Obama, forced the Pentagon to rush new forces here.
Obama has ordered an additional 21,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines into Afghanistan this summer, most of whom will deploy in the country's south — the Taliban's heartland and the world's largest opium producing region.
When the brigade was last in Afghanistan, in 2006-07, they were in charge of at least seven provinces, from the rugged border with Pakistan southwest toward Helmand province.
But with the Pentagon's shift in focus, thousands of troops now do a job previously covered by hundreds. In Wardak province alone, the number of U.S. troops has increased tenfold from this time last year.
The province is critical to Kabul's security and the flow of the country's commerce along Afghanistan's main highway. More than 50 roadside bombs went off on the Wardak stretch of Highway 1 last year, so the deployment has become an important test case of what a surge in troops can do to reverse such violence.
Many of the armored vehicles under Gallahue's command have been hit by roadside bombs. Firefights are common. But with the extra troops at hand, Gallahue says he will now hold ground, an important part of U.S. counterinsurgency strategy to make the local population confident that security will last.
If U.S. forces move into an area but don't stay, local Afghans who cooperate can later be killed by Taliban militants who accuse them of being collaborators. Only if U.S. or Afghan forces stay for the long-term, and help develop a permanent government presence, can villagers safely break away from the militants.
But that takes trust, and a long-term commitment. A common argument used by insurgents is that they will outlast the Americans, an idea best captured in a phrase often repeated here: "The Americans have the watches, but the Taliban have the time."
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In Wardak, Gallahue is the bad cop. He is the infantry commander whose troops fight to secure areas where the Taliban roam. The hope is that the good cop — Lt. Col. Michael Gabel, commander of the 4th Battalion, 25 Field Artillery regiment — can step in.
Gabel, a 40-year-old father of four from New York state, is a field artillery commander who works closely with the province's governor to help with economic development and bolster the Afghan security forces.
The two officers' reinforcing roles were clearly on display last week.
While Gabel sat cross-legged inside a whitewashed building in Sayed Abad with local leaders, across the hill in Chak Valley a roadside bomb hit a vehicle in Gallahue's unit, sparking a fight in which drones, attack helicopters and aircraft beat back the militants. Explosions reverberated around the rolling brown hills. Over a dozen insurgents were reportedly killed.
Days before, gunmen on motorbikes had kidnapped the father of the country's education minister near Sayed Abad. Gabel joined the governor to discuss the issue with elders, but also make a first pitch in trying to win their approval to send volunteers for a new community-based defense group called the Afghan Public Protection Force.
"If all we did is go search and kill the enemy without talking to people, without ensuring the government is running well, without getting the government up or helping the people restore the destroyed infrastructure, you might kill 10 guys here, but if you do not fix it, everybody else is going to get mad at you and then say you guys are just as bad as the enemy," said Gabel.
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Gallahue and his men know that the Tangi Valley has not been kind to foreign troops.
An entire Soviet military division was bogged down and defeated here in the 1980s, American officers say. And last year militants used a roadside bomb and rocket-propelled grenades to kill three U.S. troops and their Afghan translator and then mutilate the body of at least one of the victims.
With its cave and high vegetation, he terrain favors the insurgents. The narrow gorge is the main land-bridge between the provinces of Logar and Wardak.
So it was no surprise when a mission last Sunday to clear the eight-mile stretch of road and surrounding fields of any bombs took over nine hours. Taking territory back is hard labor best done on foot.
The mission's dangers were apparent early. Soon after entering the valley, a roadside bomb exploded 300 yards in front of the lead U.S. vehicle, scooping a large crater out of the road but hitting no soldiers.
"They might have wanted to stop us, or someone lost his nerve too early," Gallahue said of the detonation.
As his troops walked slowly down the road and then through the wheat fields and apple orchards, few people waved — a typical Afghan greeting and a sign that soldiers use to know whether they are in friendly territory. Gallahue occasionally jumped from his armored vehicle to shake hands with weary shopkeepers.
"We will not leave," Gallahue told two of them in the village of Zamuch, hoping his words would reach others.
One of the shopkeepers, an elderly man wearing a traditional tunic, complained that American troops only create problems for him and his business, just as the Taliban do. Bombs go off, and firefights send people scurrying for cover.
"The difference this time is that we are here to stay," Gallahue responded.
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German Soldier Killed, Nine Injured in Afghan Attacks
By Brett Neely
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- A German soldier was killed and nine injured in two separate attacks in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, where the army is suffering more frequent insurgent assaults.
One soldier died and four were injured in a roadside ambush yesterday, while five more were injured in a suicide bombing, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters in Berlin today. The attacks happened as Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where he met with President Hamid Karzai.
“We know that Kunduz has become a problem area, there’s nothing to gloss over there,” Army General Inspector Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the armed forces’ highest-ranking officer, told the same briefing. “It’s become more difficult there than it was four years ago.” While the attacks appear to have been planned in advance, he ruled out a connection to Steinmeier’s surprise visit.
Chancellor Angela Merkel told a NATO summit April 4 that Germany is ready to do its duty in Afghanistan to stem the terrorist threat. Merkel, who went on to tour German military bases during a surprise visit to Afghanistan after the summit, is scheduled to meet for talks with Karzai in Berlin on May 10.
Germany has about 3,500 troops in provinces north of Kabul that have witnessed less Taliban-related violence than in the south. President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 more troops and military trainers to Afghanistan as part of a new strategy in the region that calls for aid, fighting corruption and a bigger focus on Pakistan.
Talks With Taliban
Asked about the possibility of talks with elements of the Taliban, Jung gave a warning to “those who do not clearly and unambiguously distance themselves from violence and such attacks as they have just carried out.”
“They are terrorists and so must experience our clear resistance,” Jung said.
Vice-President Joe Biden said last month in Brussels that at least 70 percent of the Taliban are mercenaries who could be persuaded to lay down their arms, as he stepped up U.S. calls for outreach to “moderate” elements of the insurgency.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brett Neely in Berlin at bneely3@bloomberg.net
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Australia to Send 450 More Troops to Afghanistan
By Gemma Daley
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Australia will send 450 additional troops, police and military personnel to provide training and security in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.
The new recruits will train the Afghan army, join front- line troops and provide security in Uruzgan province and around Kandahar Airport in the south. Ten Australian troops have been killed and 40 wounded in the country since 2001.
“It takes our numbers from 1,100 to 1,550,” Rudd told reporters in Canberra today. “We are in Afghanistan for the long haul, but it is not an open-ended commitment.”
U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered 17,000 extra U.S. soldiers and 4,000 military trainers be sent to bolster international forces in the South Asian nation. Australia’s soldiers, who serve under NATO command in Afghanistan, are the biggest contingent from a non-alliance member.
“I fear more Australians will lose their life as a result of this commitment today,” Rudd said. “Australia will not bow to the threat of terrorism in Afghanistan.”
Obama called Rudd last night to express his thanks for the increased troop support. It will help Afghanistan support the country’s forthcoming presidential election and aid in the training of security forces, a White House statement said today.
“Enhanced commitments like Australia’s are critical if we are to meet our shared goal of disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al-Qaeda and its extremist allies and preventing Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven,” the White House statement said.
Resurgent Taliban
U.S. and NATO forces are trying to defeat a resurgent Taliban, the radical Islamist movement that sheltered al-Qaeda in Afghanistan until its regime was ousted by the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Two-thirds of Australians oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan and 30 percent are in favor, according to a Nielsen survey of 1,400 people published in Fairfax Media Ltd. newspapers on March 30.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net
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US sees spike in Afghanistan, Pakistan attacks
By Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Thu Apr 30, 12:24 am ET
WASHINGTON – Terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan have risen sharply as extremists have consolidated and expanded operations, according to the government and independent analysts.
On Thursday, the State Department's annual assessment of worldwide terrorism is expected to show that terrorist attacks in Pakistan alone more than quadrupled between 2006 and 2008, according to a U.S. official briefed on its findings. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress is still being notified of the findings.
Last year's "Country Reports on Terrorism" from the State Department found that attacks in Pakistan had more than doubled from 375 to 887 between 2006 and 2007, and the number of fatalities jumped by almost 300 percent from 335 to 1,335.
Terror attacks also were up in Afghanistan, according to the new report. Last year's State terrorism report found the number of attacks rose 16 percent in Afghanistan, to 1,127 incidents in 2007, killing 1,966 people, 56 percent more than the 1,257 who died in 2006.
The American Security Project reported separately Wednesday that there is "no good news" from either Pakistan or Afghanistan.
"Governmental weakness in both states has created opportunities for radical Islamist groups on both sides of the border," the independent analysts concluded.
The attacks complicate the Obama administration's efforts to boost military and civilian programs in the region.
"Terrorist attacks are up, but worse, territory controlled by the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban has also increased," said the American Security Project, a bipartisan Washington-based organization that analyses terrorism trends and the effectiveness of U.S. counterterrorism policies.
The American Security Project attributes the rise in incidents to the spread of the Taliban, which it said has a "persistent presence" in about 75 percent of the Afghanistan. In Pakistan, it noted that the government increasingly has ceded authority to militants in tribal areas, even before turning over the Swat Valley to the Taliban earlier this month.
Bernard Finel, an author of the report, offered a starkly dim view of Pakistan, saying the Taliban's power has become institutionalized in the Swat Valley and the situation in the country "may already be irretrievable."
The report added that the number of attacks attributable to Islamist extremists is on the rise in other nations as well, notably in the Middle East, Somalia, Russia and the Philippines, and that the trend would pose great difficulties for what the Bush administration termed the global war on terrorism.
It said the rise in such violence could be due to a decrease in attacks in Iraq in 2008.
It counted 670 attacks by Islamists in 2008 outside of the Iraq and Afghanistan war theaters and Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the fourth consecutive year the number has risen. It said the radical Islamist violence is now 10 times more common than in the late 1990s.
"The explosive growth in Islamist violence in 2008 forces us to have a very pessimistic outlook on the struggle at the start of the Obama administration," the project said.
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Pakistan concerned about US plan in Afghanistan
Wed Apr 29, 1:36 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Pakistan has voiced concern that US reinforcements in Afghanistan's south could push Taliban insurgents and refugees over its porous border, a US general said on Wednesday.
The commandant of the US Marine Corps, General James Conway, said Pakistan's military chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, conveyed his worry about a planned push by the US military in southern Afghanistan in a recent meeting.
"He expressed concern that our forces going into the south could cause a refugee problem that Pakistan is ill-equipped to handle right now, based on their fiscal scenario, and the possibility that we could be forcing Taliban out of the south and onto supply lines that the Pakistani forces are currently trying to protect for us," Conway told reporters.
US President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan as part of a new strategy to fight a growing insurgency, with most combat forces to focus on the volatile south.
Conway said it was unclear if the Taliban would flee pressure from US forces and move across Afghan's southern border.
"I accept General Kayani's concerns as face value from his perspective. I would offer to you that not everybody believes that's where the Taliban will flush to," he said.
"But in any event, we've got to do what we've got to do in the south," he said, adding that the Pakistani general "might be citing a worst-case scenario to us."
The US general warned that any military success in Afghanistan would be undermined without progress against the insurgents in neighboring Pakistan, where Islamist militants operate from safe havens.
"We also believe that for any gains in Afghanistan, there must be corresponding advances across the border in Pakistan. Otherwise, you're just squeezing the air out of one end of the balloon," he said.
"We can and will eventually run up the victory pennant in Afghanistan. But without eliminating sanctuary across the border, the bad guys will simply come back, as they did in 2003 and 2004."
Conway said he was encouraged by Pakistan's offensive this week against the Taliban in the northwest but said there were still questions about Islamabad's commitment or ability to tackle the Taliban within its own borders.
"I cannot judge from my discussions with him at this point as to whether or not Pakistan's scenario as it exists right now vis-a-vis the Taliban and the Al Qaeda is a matter of will or of capability," said Conway, who recently returned from a visit to the region.
"Maybe it's portions of both," he said.
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Under pressure Pak to shift 6,000 troops from border with India to Afghan side
New Kerala - Apr 30 2:57 AM
New York, Apr.30 : Under immense pressure from the United States and the international community, Pakistan has decided to shift around 6000 troops from its eastern border with India to the western Afghan border, The New York Times reports.
The newspaper, quoted a Pakistani official as confirming the movement of forces to a pre-Mumbai attack position.
The redeployment of troops is seen as an important step by President Zardari ahead of the proposed trilateral talks with his US and Afghan counterparts in Washington next week.
Several American officials, in recent times, have questioned Pakistan's sincerity in the fight against extremism in the region.
A senior military official saw Pakistan Army's offensive in the Buner and Dir region of the NWFP as a 'fake'.
He said it was "inexplicable" that the incidents like the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, attack on Sri Lankan cricket team and on a police training academy had not "galvanised the Pakistan Army and civilian leaders to link arms in a comprehensive, sustained campaign to fight back.
The United States has repeatedly asked Pakistan to focus more on its internal 'existential' threat rather than India.
CENTCOM chief General David Petraeus recently highlighted the immediate need for Pakistan to address its internal threat.
"Pakistan must reconfigure its military forces to deal with counterinsurgency operations rather than to continue its conventional focus on traditional rival India," Petraeus said.
However, US also believes that convincing Pakistan that the internal threat posed by extremism is a bigger threat to it than India is a "tough sell".
Addressing a US think tank recently, Senator Joseph Lieberman highlighted the need for Islamabad to understand and realize who its real enemy was.
"Pakistanis have to understand that their major enemy in the region is no longer India, but its extremism. In fact, they have a common enemy in that with the Indians," Lieberman told Council on Foreign Relations.
He said that it was very difficult to make Pakistan accept the fact that it's internal problem is the root cause of all the trouble.
--- ANI
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42 insurgents die in Afghan fighting
KABUL, Afghanistan, April 29 (UPI) -- Afghan and coalition forces Wednesday killed an estimated 42 insurgents during fighting in Oruzgan, Helmand and Lowgar provinces, officials said.
In Oruzgan province, Afghan police and coalition troops were attacked by several militants with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. The police and coalition forces returned fire and called in close-air support, killing 23 militants, American Forces Press Service reported.
In Helmand province, Afghan and coalition troops encountered armed militants preparing an attack from a wooded area. The initial firefight left four militants dead and a subsequent battle resulted in five more militants being killed. The Afghan-led forces also found 220 pounds of opium, hundreds of pounds of bomb-making materials and several explosive devices.
In Lowgar province, Afghan-coalition forces battled suspected Taliban operatives in two encounters, resulting in about 10 insurgents being killed.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber blew himself up in northern Afghanistan, injuring five German soldiers. The German daily newspaper Bild reported the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Surrendered Taliban commander joins government in N Afghanistan
KABUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban local commander along with four of his armed men laid down arms and joined the reconciliation process in Badghis province, northwest of Afghanistan, police said Thursday.
"Mullah Mohammad Isa along with his four men surrendered the government in Balamirghab district Wednesday and vowed to defend the government thus working for peace," police spokesman in west Afghanistan Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told Xinhua.
However, Taliban militants, fighting the government, have yet to make comment.
While in another incident, Taliban attacked on police checkpoint in Pashtonkot district of Herat province Wednesday night injuring four police, a police spokesman Noor Khan Nikzad said.
Nikzad also added that police inflicted casualties on militants when returning fire but he did not give the exact figure.
Taliban militants in a statement read out to media from unknown location on Wednesday vowed to launch spring offensive against government and international troops from April 30.
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Obama's Afghanistan mission
Source: Al Jazeera
In order to tackle the foreign policy challenges he inherited from George Bush US president Barack Obama has announced a new strategy.
He intends to re-deploy 17,000 troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, in an attempt to replicate the success of the surge in troop numbers in Iraq.
The stated goal is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The US hopes to encourage Afghans to take a more active role in the military and policing of the country, whilst simultaneously sending more civilian aid and "soft power", similar policies to those used in Iraq.
Empire examines the motives behind this policy and its chances of success. The task ahead is not easy.
Warlords and Taliban leaders control most of the country outside of Kabul and the whole mission will cost tens of billions of dollars that the US can no longer afford.
In the meantime, the battle for Afghan hearts and minds is being lost, every time a civilian dies in a US strike.
This problem is also spilling over into America’s most unstable ally, Pakistan. With non-existent borders, government no-go areas, and a large percentage of the population that disapproves of US policy.
Marwan Bishara and guests ask if the United States has learnt lessons from its operations in Iraq.
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In Brief: Beggars being arrested in Kabul
KABUL, 30 April 2009 (IRIN) - Over 15 beggars were arrested and put in a temporary shelter in Kabul on 30 April in line with a new government policy designed to end street begging, which officials say is strongly linked to crime.
Most of the arrested beggars were children, women and disabled people, an official told IRIN.
Ranked the fifth least developed country in the world by the UN Development Programme, Afghanistan outlawed begging in November 2008.
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Strategic Affairs Analyst Takes Broad View Of 'Af-Pak' Strategy
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 30, 2009
Julian Lindley-French is a professor of strategic studies at the University of Lieden and a professor of military operational science at the Royal Military Academy of the Netherlands.
In an interview with RFE/RL correspondent Abubakar Siddique, Lindley-French explains that the next two years will be critical for Western stabilization efforts in Afghanistan, and suggests that U.S. President's Barack Obama's new "Af-Pak" strategy will require a robust regional economic development plan to succeed.
RFE/RL: Considering that the deteriorating situation compelled U.S. President Barack Obama to devise a new strategy for Afghanistan, how do you assess international engagement in the country, post-9/11?
Julian Lindley-French: The key success is...the commitment that we have to the stability in the region, which is actually far deeper than people realize. The key failure was a lack of strategy from the beginning, that there was no real concept of how extensive the engagement would have to be. To make sure that the Afghan people -- who are the critical ground for this whole operation -- [that] their life quality improves over time. That takes a lot of time [and] a lot of investment. And only now are we really beginning to grip, to understand, that reality.
RFE/RL: We have heard a lot of praise being showered on Obama's new "Af-Pak" strategy, but what are its critical shortcomings?
Lindley-French: Well, let's say what's there first, which is now an appreciation that the Afghan stability is linked to the wider region, and that talking to the neighborhood is very important. There is a strong understanding of the economic side of stability. There is a growing understanding of the importance of partnership with international organizations because legitimacy is vital. And finally, political reconciliation is at the heart of the American thinking now within Afghanistan.
Clearly, at times, one has questioned that, but [there is now] hope. I think the most important thing is the new atmosphere with the new president. It gives us a chance to start afresh. What I would like to see much more is a genuine regional economic-development plan.
RFE/RL: Washington's alarm at recent developments in Pakistan appears to have led President Obama to call for a meeting with the Pakistani and Afghan presidents early next month. Are apparent U.S. concerns justified?
Lindley-French: I think these concerns are genuine, but I think they are overstated. I think that there are still some stable institutions within Pakistan that we must work [with] -- the presidency, the parliament, and, of course, the army. And these are fundamental pillars of stability within the country. Now they might not operate in an entirely Western way, but why should they? Pakistan is not, as of yet, a failed state. So I think it is important that we remember that.
We recognize the challenges that are in Pakistan and [must] not avoid the reality of what is happening [in] Baluchistan, Waziristan, [and] the [Federally Administered Tribal Areas]. And of course, the Pakistani Taliban is indeed a threat. But Pakistan is, and must remain, a vital partner in our efforts to stabilize the region.
RFE/RL: How do you view the U.S. "Af-Pak" strategy's prospects for success when, as it targets Pakistan's Pashtun tribal areas with drone attacks, Washington appears reluctant to push for a Pakistani political strategy aimed at economic and political integration of these regions aimed at ultimately depriving Al-Qaeda of its sanctuary there?
Lindley-French: One has to understand that there is an ongoing military campaign. From time to time there is action taken against potential targets in what is a very poor area around the "Af-Pak" border. So I have some sympathy with the American dilemma and position. But at the same time there is genuine discussion going on in Washington [and] within other capitals about the economic assistance required in Pakistan to help strengthen the institutions of the Pakistani state by improving the life quality of people in the northwest of the country.
So, I think, there is an evolving argument going on -- an evolving discussion about the future of Pakistan, which is much more sophisticated than sometimes is represented in the press and elsewhere.
RFE/RL: Since the inauguration of President Obama, there has been an effort to bring Iran on board in Afghanistan. But so far we have not seen a major breakthrough. How do you see the future Iranian role in Afghanistan?
Lindley-French: Well, there are a series of trade-offs which are being sought with all of Afghanistan's partners, one of which is Iran. Diplomatically, it makes sense for the Obama administration to talk to Iran on issues other than the nuclear question. Of course, Afghanistan is a vital question. Iran has influence in Afghanistan -- certainly in the northwest -- and one has to recognize that. But there are also issues which tie Iranians in the longer term closer to the coalition.
One is, of course, concern about the Taliban. Although there is some evidence of short-term Iranian support [to the Taliban], the long-term Iranian support is not to have the Taliban back. On that basis there is -- there are grounds for optimism.
RFE/RL: Interviews with our listeners in the southern Afghan province of Helmand suggest that security there has deteriorated even after the deployment of 8,000 British troops. What's your take on this?
Lindley-French: Helmand Province is the center of gravity of the entire insurgency right now. So the situation in Helmand is particularly acute because the Taliban is seeing it as the center of their particular effort in the last couple of years. It is also a major line of communication -- line of supply -- in from Pakistan for the Taliban. So this struggle is fundamental for both sides for the future shape of Afghanistan.
Now, whilst you have seen significant progress in other provinces and indeed in some parts of Helmand Province, because it is the pivotal place in the overall struggle, it's been tough. But the next two three years will be critical because the Americans are coming in greater strength. Given that there also be a new political reconciliation strategy, which is absolutely vital, it's important that we keep the pressure [on the Taliban].
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Falling Short on Afghanistan
New York Times By PADDY ASHDOWN and JOSEPH INGRAM April 29, 2009
A just-released report from Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance has produced some shocking findings with disturbing implications for the future of the war-ridden country and its unstable neighborhood. Yet the report and its conclusions have failed to capture the attention of the key politicians overseeing financial and military support from Afghanistan's allies.
What this technical report, “The Donor Financial Review for 2008,” concludes is that the international community is falling woefully short in financing its own estimates of Afghanistan's needs. For the period from 2008 to 2012, the financing gap is about $22 billion, or 48 percent of estimated needs. Worse, the activities financed by the donors have so far been seriously out of line with the strategic priorities established in Afghanistan's National Development Strategy, which has been strongly endorsed by the donor community as a whole.
Although the Obama administration and its allies have stressed the need to direct more resources to economic and social development, the review suggests this direction is still to be established. As under the Bush administration, proportionately more appears to be going to security, with shrinking resources available for meeting Afghanistan's development needs.
If this trend continues, as projected donor commitments suggest it will, the suffering of a very poor population will get worse, fueling support for the fundamentalist insurgency that threatens the entire region.
How can these dangerous trends be addressed, and are there lessons to be drawn from “successes” in other parts of the world?
Given that in the first years following conflicts in Bosnia and East Timor, financial aid per capita was on the order of $580 and $400 respectively, commitments today of only $57 per capita to Afghanistan seem laughably insufficient. These numbers suggest that the financing aid that has been committed or actually disbursed needs to be dramatically augmented.
At the same time, the proportion of resources being managed through Kabul's own budget — rather than separately by each donor — needs to be increased. Currently, only 20 percent of the international community's financial aid is being managed through Afghanistan's national budget and in accordance with its strategic priorities. This is occurring despite a recent World Bank assessment that shows substantial improvements in the government's overall capacity to manage developmental resources. Instead, 80 percent is being managed by donors themselves, creating costly inefficiencies.
Indeed, the situation described in the review defies all the principles of good practice in donor coordination, principles established by these same donor governments in a recent document known as the “Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.” While coordinating the donor community is often equated with herding cats, and each situation is unique, there are “success stories” like Bosnia, which offer important lessons.
In Bosnia, the international community was led by a so-called high representative, an impartial individual with credibility in the eyes of both the civilian and military communities. Though equipped with extraordinary powers conferred by a council made up of the government signatories to the Dayton Peace Accord, the high representative used these powers selectively, and only after consultation with the Bosnian government and council members.
Critical to successful coordination, however, was the creation locally of a board of key donor agency heads, a de facto cabinet under the chairmanship of the high representative, which met weekly, set common objectives and worked to align those objectives with government priorities. The board consisted of the heads of NATO forces, international police and security forces, the ambassadors of the European Union, the United States, Britain, the United Nations, the I.M.F. and the World Bank. Through this arrangement, the high representative, an E.U. national, was perceived as representing the interests of the broader international community rather than those of any single power.
This enabled the international community to act with unity in a way that allowed them to be better partners to the domestic authorities. The result was an efficient use of international aid, through a more effective prioritization of financial resources directed to infrastructure, health, education, a social safety net and job creation, as well as ensuring adequate security.
Given the desperate poverty and the danger of a fundamentalist takeover in the region, Afghanistan deserves no less.
Lord Ashdown is a former E.U. high representative in Bosnia. Joseph Ingram is a former director of the World Bank's office in Bosnia.
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What Afghanistan can learn from the Taliban
By An American Aid Worker – The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Apr 29 2:00 AM
Kabul, Afghanistan – Corruption in Afghanistan is called baksheesh. The word literally means "to give something up" – as in a sacrifice to the needy. In practice, it refers to any kind of money, good, or service given outside the law in exchange for a desired outcome.
Baksheesh is more than bribery: It's the economic backbone of most official ministries and many businesses in Afghanistan. Ordinary Afghans know that they must pay it to receive the most basic of social services, such as electricity and irrigated water for their crops. And, most significantly for American taxpayers, foreign agencies admit it is only through baksheesh that any constructive work can be done in Afghanistan.
"It's not that there's corruption in the system," remarked one US State Department official. "It's that the system is corruption."
Unable to rely upon a transparent judiciary, or other government offices, ordinary Afghans are the ones who suffer the most from this system. They must pay government officials for services they should receive for free or as a fixed cost. All of the aid money that the US supplies to this country will amount to little if Afghanistan doesn't eliminate cronyism, nepotism, and the systems of baksheesh that they support – while retaining the ideals of traditional Afghan culture.
To say they went about it the wrong way is an understatement, yet the Taliban proved that corruption could be curbed. As the US and others aid Afghanistan, they should learn from the Taliban and draw on the Koran, Islamic law, and Afghan values to help the country move away from the corrosive system of baksheesh.
The director of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) recently revealed that groups based in Afghanistan usually designate 7 to 10 percent of their annual budgets to pay baksheesh to the officials with whom they conduct business – or to expenses they expect to be "inflated" through illegal means. (In budget reports, these allotments are often called "facilitation fees" or "marketing expenses.")
Consider this: baksheesh amounting to a few million dollars in cash, has been used to keep several former mujahideen commanders from attacking United States forces in key areas. The US military gives Viagra in exchange for intelligence information.
From buying land to renewing visas, to side-stepping taxes, the legal process can be nearly impossible without those handy paper pictures of Benjamin Franklin. Turning a blind eye is an important income-generator.
Would granting higher salaries to government employees reduce demands for this type of baksheesh? Sure. But a lasting solution would have to address two major problems: first, the government's lack of transparency, and second, the lack of checks and balances in the rule of law. Both are complicated by Afghanistan's tribal system, and the fact that attitudes we might call "cronyism" or "nepotism," might be considered "honorable" by an Afghan.
A single baksheesh results in gains for many individuals beyond the one who asks for the payment. These outlying beneficiaries are often close friends and family members. With these networks to support them, officials are more likely to demand baksheesh – and less likely to be punished for doing so.
Meanwhile, the Karzai administration asks international organizations and foreign militaries to provide the social services it should be offering. The Afghan government is little more than a fragile image propped up by the US military, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and international partners. It has offices and ministries, positions, titles, and payrolls – all of which look good on paper, for democracy fabrication. But its officers lack the will to actually run anything.
Without a systemic adjustment, this will not change. To be sure, making such change will be a delicate task. But there are lessons to learn from the Taliban. Under their hard-handed rule, governmental corruption, and crime were virtually eliminated. True, this came at great cost, not least to human rights and women's rights in particular.
But the Taliban's policy of zero tolerance worked. The streets were safe and cleaned regularly. The police were harsh, but honest. Doors to Afghan homes and cars were left unlocked, without fear of theft. Many warlords stopped fighting. The Taliban maintained a network of community mobilizers who used Koranic verses to shame farmers out of poppy production while also introducing alternative crops.
Again, the Taliban went too far. But America can learn from what worked, and avoid what didn't. America can help the Afghan government enforce a zero tolerance rule for baksheesh among officials in the executive and judicial branches. President Hamid Karzai and his cronies can be replaced. Progressive schools for Islamic law can be established to support the judiciary.
International funding can be withheld from corrupt ministries and channeled into those with track records of integrity as a reward. International NGOs and USAID contractors can be prosecuted for paying bribes. Local commanders who request bribes from international forces can be shamed by involving local Islamic leaders – and, where necessary, shamed publicly on Afghan radio and television.
In tribal cultures, shame works. In modern cultures, education works. The Taliban used one and not the other. America must use both.
This essay is written by an American aid worker living in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2005. He wishes to remain anonymous because of threats.
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Afghan forces pitching in with security
By JEAN LAROCHE, QMI AGENCY The Sudbury Star - Apr 29 6:13 AM
PANJWAI, Afghanistan -- Right in the heart of Taliban territory, the Afghan army is lending a crucial helping hand to Canadian forces. Every morning at dawn, the Afghan National Army (ANA) leaves forward operating bases in their Hummers or Ford Rangers and begin combing the nearby roadways.
Moving on foot, they carefully look for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that may have been planted by the Taliban during the night.
They also do a detailed check of the area surrounding the roadway where IEDs are often put to scare the local population and discourage them from cooperating with the Canadians.
Sometimes the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team will come along for the ride.
"We make sure they're doing things correctly. But they know how to carry out their duties very well when they put in the effort," said the OMLT's Major Richard Collin.
When the ANA comes along, people line up on the side of the road and the overloaded vehicles are searched on the spot.
Not far from away, beyond a forward Canadian base perched on a hilltop, you can clearly see the desert that extends to the border with Pakistan.
This area is the supply route for all the weapons and explosive devices used by the insurgents. It's also how the drugs that finance them leave the country.
This is the Taliban's stronghold. This key piece of geography explains the Canadians' alertness.
"They (the Afghan soldiers) don't always see the usefulness of checking the roads every morning. But it's essential in order to carry out our operations," Maj. Collin explained.
Foot patrols are sent into the town of Panjwai several times a week. Right after the bazaar, the ragged tents of a refugee camp come into view.
What was supposed to be a temporary solution has, over the years, become a permanent settlement for hundreds of people. The roads through the mountains are clearly visible in the distance.
"The Taliban comes through here to bring weapons east," said Maj. Collin.
Traffic through this area is inspected for anything out of the ordinary. Canadian soldiers sometimes give pencils or necklaces to children here, but it has to be done discreetly to avoid fights breaking out between the kids.
In the Panjwai bazaar, the ANA takes a long time questioning a young man who has a shiny new dirt bike parked in front of his store.
"There's probably an enemy in there. They realized that that kind of bike lets them move much more quickly in the desert," Maj. Collin added.
But without any further proof, the ANA will have to move on.
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Mortar blast kills three Afghan children
Thu Apr 30, 5:00 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – An old mortar shell exploded as a group of children played with it in Afghanistan, killing three of them and wounding another three, the interior ministry said Thursday.
The shell, apparently left over from Afghanistan's decades of war, exploded on Wednesday in the province of Kapisa north of the capital Kabul, it said in a statement.
"The mortar shell explosion killed three children and wounded three other children," it said.
There are regular blasts involving ordnance left over from Afghanistan's decades of war, despite efforts of mine clearing teams who have been operating here for years.
However, most bombings are linked to an insurgency being waged by the extremist Taliban. Around 70,000 international soldiers are in Afghanistan to help the government fight the Islamist rebellion.
Also Thursday, the US-led coalition reported it had killed four suspected insurgents in the strategic province of Logar, adjoining Kabul.
A civilian woman was also wounded in the battle which erupted late Wednesday as troops were tracking down a bomb-making network, it said in a statement.
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Swine Flu Threats Afghanistan
www.quqnoos.com Written by Shakeela Abrahimkhil Wednesday, 29 April 2009
WHO warns Afghanistan facing swine flu threat – a widespread fatal disease
Afghan Public Ministry said they are prepared to safeguard Afghanistan from swine flu.
Although no sign of this virus has been detected in Afghanistan, but ministry of healthcare said international travelers can easily carry this epidemic virus to Afghanistan.
Afghan healthcare ministry has established some 134 awareness centers within the country at the initial state.
“Those who come to Afghanistan must have full preparations against the disease” said deputy ministry of health, Faizullah Kakar.
The swine flu is rapidly spreading in the world since it has been identified a month ago.
Wine flu as an active epidemic virus spreads through air and it can infect others through breathing system.
Ministry urges all those international travelers to use breathing masks in order to not get infected to the virus.
Since there is no medication to protect human body against the virus, Afghan healthcare ministry is highly alerted to prevent it reaching Afghan environment.
Many countries in the world have been suffering from the swine flu over the past month as it was initially confirmed in Mexico.
More than one thousand cases of swine flu has been confirmed globally that some 150 people have died of the lethal disease.
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