 |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serving you since 1998 | ||||||||||||
|
|
Spiralling violence unnerves Afghanistan before vote
by Charlotte Mcdonald-gibson – Sun Jul 26, 2:57 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – Spiralling Taliban attacks and record Western military deaths have put Afghanistan on edge less than four weeks before key elections that many fear could be overshadowed by violence.
Afghan vice-presidential candidate survives ambush
By Abdul Mateen – Sun Jul 26, 9:13 am ET
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) – One of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running mates in next month's elections escaped unhurt from an ambush by Taliban insurgents Sunday, officials said.
'Concerns over media imbalance in Afghan polls'
Sun Jul 26, 6:45 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – Afghanistan's election commission said Sunday government-run media was giving disproportionate coverage to President Hamid Karzai, and urged fairness in reporting campaigns for the upcoming polls.
We Have No Candidate: Obama’s Envoy
Written by Lotfullah Najafizada Quqnoos July 26, 2009
Super Envoy Richard Holbrooke in his recent visit to Kabul said ensuring free elections is a significant task
Hazaras May Play Key Role in Afghan Vote
Long-Oppressed Minority Is Wooed By Karzai, Others
Washington Post Foreign Service By Pamela Constable Sunday, July 26, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan - For generations, Afghanistan's Hazara minority has occupied the humblest niche in the country's complex ethnic mosaic. The political power structure has been dominated by the large
Gunbattles erupt in Afghanistan following Taliban attacks
KABUL (AP) — For the second time in a week, Taliban fighters armed with suicide vests and automatic weapons attacked a provincial capital in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, triggering hours-long gunbattles that left seven militants dead, officials said.
US eyes private guards for bases in Afghanistan
By Richard Lardner, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan may hire a private contractor to provide around-the-clock security at dozens of bases and protect vehicle convoys moving throughout the country.
Suicide attackers strike southeastern Afghan city
By Jason Straziuso And Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writers – Sun Jul 26, 4:32 am ET
KABUL – Less than a month before Afghanistan's presidential election, Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests attacked a provincial capital Saturday, triggering gunbattles that killed seven militants. U.S. envoy
FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 26
26 Jul 2009 13:39:57 GMT
July 26 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1330 GMT on Sunday:
* KUNDUZ - Taliban gunmen ambushed a convoy in which President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running mate Mohammad Qasim Fahim was travelling in northern Kunduz province, provincial governor Mohammad Omar
Italy vows more hardware for troops in Afghanistan
26 Jul 2009 12:29:27 GMT
ROME, July 26 (Reuters) - Italy vowed on Sunday to supply more military hardware to its troops in Afghanistan after three more soldiers were wounded in attacks, prompting a member of the ruling coalition
UK to donate $370 mln in Afghan development process
KABUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday met with Minister of Overseas Development of United Kingdom(UK) Douglas Alexander and discussed the current situation in Afghanistan
U.S. commander in Afghanistan shifts focus to protecting people
Gen. Stanley McChrystal says the military must work for the safety of the Afghan people, even if it means temporarily allowing the Taliban to operate more freely in remote areas.
Pakistan seizes key pro-Taliban cleric
(CNN) -- A pro-Taliban cleric who helped negotiate a short-lived cease-fire between the militant organization and the Pakistani government was arrested Sunday in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
1,500 OFWs still in Afghanistan
Sun Star - Jul 26 6:09 AM
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- About 1,500 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are still struggling to work in war-torn Afghanistan, risking life and limb despite an existing ban prohibiting Filipinos in working and traveling to the said country.
US military increases attacks on Afghan drugs
By JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
KABUL — U.S. Marines and Afghan forces have found and destroyed hundreds of tons of poppy seeds, opium and heroin in southern Afghanistan this month in raids that a top American official said show the new U.S. counter narcotics strategy in Afghanistan is working.
Afghans look beyond bickering leaders
Times Online July 26, 2009
Enterprising village chiefs are not waiting for election candidates to secure their future, ahead of next month's poll
Back to Top
Spiralling violence unnerves Afghanistan before vote
by Charlotte Mcdonald-gibson – Sun Jul 26, 2:57 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – Spiralling Taliban attacks and record Western military deaths have put Afghanistan on edge less than four weeks before key elections that many fear could be overshadowed by violence.
The August 20 presidential vote, only the second in Afghan history, is seen as a crucial test in the nearly eight-year effort led by the United States and NATO to stabilise Afghanistan since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban.
Thousands of newly deployed foreign troops have flooded into southern Afghanistan to try to wrest back Taliban strongholds, but the resulting surge in soldiers' deaths has created a backlash in Western nations.
Violence has spread in the east and north, while coordinated suicide attacks in three Afghan cities killed six people last week, underscoring the vulnerability of the government as the clock ticks to nationwide polls.
"There are major security issues again in southern Afghanistan, in eastern Afghanistan," said Haroun Mir, analyst from the Afghanistan Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Kabul.
"Suicide bombs which happened in Paktia and in Jalalabad, these are indications that indeed there are some elements either from Al-Qaeda or the Taliban that want to disrupt the elections."
The independent www.icasualties.org, which calculates military losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, records 67 troop deaths so far in July, the highest monthly toll since the US-led invasion followed the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Britain, whose apparent equipment and helicopter shortages have sparked fierce debate at home, has encountered some of the deadliest combat, while US military fatalities are also at record levels this month.
There are currently about 90,000 foreign troops -- mainly US, British and Canadian -- deployed in Afghanistan on a mission to stabilise the country, and more are flooding in to try and secure restive areas ahead of the polls.
About 4,000 US Marines and 3,000 British troops, backed by hundreds of Afghan forces, have battled behind Taliban lines in the south for weeks.
But even in districts recently secured by foreign forces, officials worry there is little time to prepare for voting in the presidential and provincial elections held together on August 20.
"For a long time this area was under the control of the Taliban," Afghanistan's counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad told AFP on a trip to southern Helmand province's Garmsir district.
"We have very little time. We should have started this operation one year ago... I think it will be difficult to have people take part at the polling stations, especially in volatile parts of the country."
While the Taliban and other insurgent groups have made no specific threat against the polls, attacks are intensifying.
On Saturday, seven suicide bombers tried to blow themselves up at state and security targets in the eastern city of Khost.
Although most were shot dead by security forces, one civilian was killed and the attacks will likely further unnerve Afghans already concerned about their security on polling day.
Similar commando suicide raids struck the eastern cities of Gardez and Jalalabad on Tuesday, also claimed by the Taliban, and Afghan officials warn that militant violence is seeping into the previously peaceful north.
Rear Admiral Greg Smith, spokesman for the commander of foreign troops here General Stanley McChrystal, told AFP the rising military deaths were linked to increased troop activity, but said rebels could take advantage of the polls.
"We said all along we expect insurgents will use this election period as a means to communicate their intent -- they don't want this government to succeed, they don't want people to have the right to vote," he said.
He said Afghan forces were "doing everything they can" to ensure security on polling day, but analyst Mir was not so confident.
"There will be 7,000 voting centres in Afghanistan and I think neither the Afghan government and coalition forces have enough personnel to provide security for each of these voting stations," he told AFP.
The consequences, he said, will be that people stay away from the polls, or the legitimacy of the ballot will be called into question with election monitors also scarce.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan vice-presidential candidate survives ambush
By Abdul Mateen – Sun Jul 26, 9:13 am ET
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) – One of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running mates in next month's elections escaped unhurt from an ambush by Taliban insurgents Sunday, officials said.
Mohammad Qasim Fahim, the former head of an alliance that toppled the Taliban in 2001, was ambushed on a road in northern Kunduz province where he was campaigning on Karzai's behalf for the August 20 poll, said senior campaign official Zalmai Mujadidi.
Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar said Fahim was traveling by road to adjacent Takhar province Sunday afternoon when his convoy was attacked by insurgents.
"Fahim is alive and fine," Omar told Reuters in Kunduz.
One of Fahim's body guards was wounded in the attack, in which an unidentified number of insurgents used small and heavy-weapons fire against Fahim's convoy, Mujadidi said.
Fahim, an ethnic Tajik and once a leading opposition figure, was nominated by Karzai as one of two vice presidential running mates in May as Karzai sought to solidify fragmenting support by drawing former opponents into his re-election campaign.
It was the second attack on a candidate in less than a week.
Wednesday, Mullah Salam Rocketi, a former Taliban commander and now one of 38 candidates challenging Karzai, was also ambushed as he returned to Kabul after campaigning in northern Baghlan.
Rocketi -- who took his name because of his liking for firing rocket-propelled grenades at occupying Soviet troops -- was also unhurt.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the latest attack on Fahim, a former deputy leader and defense minister under Karzai.
"We killed four of Fahim's bodyguards," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
International observers have identified poor security, especially in Taliban strongholds in the south, as one of the main stumbling blocks confronting the poll, Afghanistan's second direct vote for president.
Attacks across the country have increased since thousands of U.S. Marines and British troops launched major operations in Helmand province in the south earlier this month.
Fahim survived another attempt on his life while he was campaigning in the eastern city of Jalalabad during the 2004 election campaign.
Back to Top
Back to Top
'Concerns over media imbalance in Afghan polls'
Sun Jul 26, 6:45 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – Afghanistan's election commission said Sunday government-run media was giving disproportionate coverage to President Hamid Karzai, and urged fairness in reporting campaigns for the upcoming polls.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Karzai -- who is standing for re-election on August 20 -- received 72 percent of coverage in the government-run print media, while TV stations were also showing bias.
"Two TV stations did not observe balance in this period of monitoring. National TV allocated most of the time to President Karzai and Noor TV to Dr. Abdullah," the IEC report released Sunday said.
Noor is a one of dozens of private television stations in Afghanistan, while National TV is state-owned.
Karzai is favourite to win the presidential polls but is facing tough challenges from his one-time foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, while 38 other candidates are also running.
"In print government media... 72 percent is allocated to President Karzai, 12 percent to Dr. Abdullah and five percent to Dr. Asharf Ghani Ahmadzai," Sadiqullah Tawhidi, the media monitoring chief, told a press conference.
This imbalance could impact on audience's decisions on polling day, he said.
In private print media -- which has boomed after a US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in 2001 -- about 50 percent of the coverage was focused on Karazi with other candidates sharing the rest, Tawhidi said.
Karzai pulled out of a televised presidential debate on Thursday at the last minute, accusing the host station of bias, prompting Ghani and Abdullah's campaign offices to say Karzai was unable to defend his time in power.
The debate went ahead with his rivals laying out their campaign manifestos standing next to an empty lectern, with the moderator making frequent references to the president's absence.
Karzai won the 2004 election with 55.4 percent and is tipped by observers to have a good chance at the August ballot despite his failure to rein in corruption or the Taliban in his nearly eight years on the job.
The election comes with Afghanistan gripped by the deadliest violence since the Taliban rose up against Karzai's government. About 90,000 Western troops are deployed in the country to help quell unrest.
Back to Top
Back to Top
We Have No Candidate: Obama’s Envoy
Written by Lotfullah Najafizada Quqnoos July 26, 2009
Super Envoy Richard Holbrooke in his recent visit to Kabul said ensuring free elections is a significant task
President Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan ensures the US neutrality in the Afghan elections as a number of Afghan hopefuls accuse the US and European Union for supporting their own players in the race.
Holbrooke paid visits to volatile Afghan provinces, including Helmand and Ghazni, where he said the troops are struggling to intensify the security for the August 20 elections.
“The international forces only provide a secure environment for the elections and it is up to the Afghan people whom to vote,” Holbrooke told a news conference in Ghazni.
“We neither support any candidates nor oppose any candidates,” the former US ambassador to the UN further said.
The special envoy added that the US is optimistic about free and fair elections in Afghanistan despite the fact that many hurdles are challenging the process.
Holbrooke’s meeting with incumbent Karzai, hopeful Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai provoked tensions among other candidates as they condemned such visits to specific candidates.
Playing Game
“Americans come here to support and fund their own team to reach the power,” said, Mohammad Yasin Safi, one of the 39 Afghan candidates.
Speaking in a rally in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the protesting candidates attacked Britain and European Union for playing similar games in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s second-ever presidential and provincial council elections in the post-Taliban country have been facing serious threats as Taliban militants vowed to disrupt the polls.
The Taliban have intensified their attacks across the country ahead of the elections. In parallel to Taliban raids, international and Afghan forces have also launched many offensives to stablise the situation.
Yesterday, an Afghan candidate, Ramazan Bashardost, narrowly missed multiple suicide attacks in the eastern Khost province while he was campaigning.
More than 4,000 US Marines have been conducting an operation in Helmand province for the past one month but militants still rule at least three districts in the spiritual Taliban stronghold.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Hazaras May Play Key Role in Afghan Vote
Long-Oppressed Minority Is Wooed By Karzai, Others
Washington Post Foreign Service By Pamela Constable Sunday, July 26, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan - For generations, Afghanistan's Hazara minority has occupied the humblest niche in the country's complex ethnic mosaic. The political power structure has been dominated by the large southern Pashtun tribes, followed by the slightly less numerous northern Tajiks.
During various periods in history, the Shiite Hazaras have been forced from their lands and slaughtered in bouts of ethnic or religious "cleansing." In more recent times, they have often been relegated to lowly jobs as cart-pullers or domestic servants. The abused boy in the novel and movie "The Kite Runner," which generated much controversy here, came from a family of Hazara servants.
But the group now stands poised to play a decisive role in the Aug. 20 presidential and provincial council elections. It has produced a popular presidential candidate, independent Ramazan Bashardost, who is an extremely long shot but has been traveling the country nonstop, preaching a message of government reform and social justice.
Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun who is seeking reelection, and his major challengers are aggressively courting the Hazara vote. The group makes up as much as 20 percent of the country's electorate and had high voter-registration and turnout rates in the last presidential election, in 2004.
"We have become kingmakers," said Mohammed Mohaqeq, a leader of the main Hazara political party, Wahdat-e-Islami, who agreed to support Karzai in return for pledges that Hazaras would be given control of several ministries and possibly a newly created province. "I cannot get elected, because my Pashtun brothers might not support me, but our people can make a big difference in deciding who wins," he said.
Mohaqeq has been campaigning in various provinces for Karzai, who has remained largely invisible during the run-up to the elections. Mohaqeq's party has organized an army of campaign workers and has fielded a slate of 14 candidates for the upper house of parliament and provincial councils, including one young man whose posters depict an old Hazara cart-puller bent under a load of goods.
Karzai, whose second vice presidential pick is a Hazara, took pains to appease conservative Hazara leaders in March by approving a controversial Shiite family law, even though it outraged human rights groups because it subjected Hazara women to the absolute control of their fathers and husbands.
Yet the political emancipation of Afghanistan's Hazaras, whose children are flocking to universities and office jobs, has created a generational and political split in a community that long fell in lockstep behind ethnic militia or religious leaders such as Mohaqeq as a matter of survival.
Many older or less educated Hazaras still express strong loyalty to such leaders and say they intend to follow their political instructions on voting day. But many others, including students and former refugees who have returned after years in Iran, said they value their political independence.
"I am Hazara, but we have rights now, and no one can tell me how to vote," said Farahmuz, 33, a laborer who joins dozens of men each morning at a traffic circle, hoping to obtain a few hours of work. "I don't want ethnic issues to come up in these elections, because they can destroy the country again," he said.
Many Hazaras said their sentimental favorite for president is Bashardost, 44, a reformist legislator and former planning minister whose office is in a tent across the street from parliament. He has been campaigning in much the same style, accepting government-provided planes to reach distant provinces but then mingling with voters in parks and markets.
"I like Mr. Bashardost because he understands our problems," said Jawad, 25, a Kabul resident who grew up in exile in Iran and now supports his elderly parents as a construction worker. "He doesn't campaign in luxury vehicles like the others. He came to Shar-i-Nau Park on foot and sat there in a tent and listened to the people."
Reached on his cellphone Saturday in a noisy market in Khost province, Bashardost said he had discovered "a big distance between the ordinary people and the politicians in Kabul," adding: "I am sure we are going to see a revolution on August 20." He also said he had received a surprisingly large amount of support from Pashtuns at home and abroad. "This is something very new for Afghanistan," he said.
As a minority group that has long faced economic exploitation and social oppression, Hazaras seem to be taking particular advantage of political freedoms that have opened up since the fall of extremist Sunni Taliban rule in late 2001.
At a new private Shiite college in Kabul, teachers and students said the elections are important for their community, no matter who wins, because they represent a step toward modern, democratic practices that can help overcome Afghan traditions of ethnic and tribal competition.
"We need to develop the values and practices of democracy," said Amin Ahmadi, the college director. "Unfortunately, ethnic issues still play a large role in our country, and people don't trust leaders from other ethnic groups. But if we can have fair, transparent and peaceful elections, that will matter more than if we get a good or a bad president."
In West Kabul, the rundown but bustling heart of the capital's Hazara community, every public surface is papered with campaign posters. Yet many cart-pullers, mechanics and other workers said they are fed up with both national and ethnic politics. They said that their community suffers from widespread unemployment and poverty, but that no one in power has done anything to help.
"We are not happy with our government, and we are not happy with our own leaders," said Imam Ali Rahmat, 61, who sells firewood. "To them, we are just made of grime and dust. To us, they are just made of false promises. We need a change and we need new leaders, because we have lost our way."
Back to Top
Back to Top
Gunbattles erupt in Afghanistan following Taliban attacks
KABUL (AP) — For the second time in a week, Taliban fighters armed with suicide vests and automatic weapons attacked a provincial capital in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, triggering hours-long gunbattles that left seven militants dead, officials said.
The latest militant attack came less than a month before Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election. U.S. and NATO forces have stepped up operations in hopes of ensuring enough security for a strong voter turnout.
The assault in Khost began when at least six Taliban fighters carrying AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the area around the main police station and a nearby government-run bank. All were shot and killed before they could detonate their suicide vests, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
A seventh attacker detonated a car rigged with explosives near a police rapid reaction force, wounding two policemen, the ministry said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said all the attackers were killed, but the Defense Ministry later said an eighth attacker may have escaped. The ministry said no government forces were killed but 14 people were wounded — 11 civilians and three police.
The attack came five days after Taliban militants launched near-simultaneous assaults in Gardez, about 50 miles northwest of Khost, and in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Six Afghan police and intelligence officers and eight militants died in the two attacks.
Though the three attacks did not kill large numbers of Afghan or U.S. security forces, they showed the tenuous security situation in Afghanistan's countryside. Such attacks grab headlines in Afghanistan and raise the question of whether voters can safely go to polls.
The U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, alluded to those concerns, saying Saturday it was "extraordinary" to hold an election in the middle of war. He said the vote faces "many complex challenges," including security issues and access to polls for women. Authorities need a respectable turnout for the results to appear credible both here and in countries supporting the government.
Holbrooke met separately with President Hamid Karzai and his top two challengers — former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani.
Abdullah told Holbrooke that he is struggling to fight Karzai's built-in advantage as president with government assets at his disposal.
The former foreign minister noted a recent election commission report that said 70% of election coverage on the country's state TV channel goes to Karzai. "That's a very worrying sign," Abdullah said. "All the ministers, the main ones, are out doing campaign work."
Holbrooke said he was "concerned" over reports of state media bias. Karzai's campaign has denied the president is using government tools to campaign.
Karzai is believed to be the favorite to win the presidency, but he must win more than 50% on Aug. 20 to avoid a run-off. Analysts say it is likely Karzai will win unless the almost 40 challengers rally behind a single opposition candidate.
Holbrooke and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry toured the election commission and watched dozens of Afghans enter voter registrations into banks of computers. He said the "whole world" will be watching the election.
Responding to a question at a news conference about whether there was enough security in the countryside to hold a vote, Holbrooke said: "Do you want the Afghanistan people to abandon the election in the face of a small band of Taliban?"
U.S. troops helped provide security during the Khost attack but were not involved in the battle.
Khost is about 15 miles from the Pakistani border and has long been a flash point because of smuggling across the frontier. Last May, 11 Taliban suicide bombers struck government buildings in Khost, killing 20 people and wounding three Americans.
Also Saturday, a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province, the focus of major offensives by U.S. and British forces. The soldier was the 20th British service member killed in Afghanistan this month and the 189th since the war began in 2001.
Fighting has increased sharply in Afghanistan this month after President Obama ordered thousands more U.S. troops to the country, shifting the focus of the war against Muslim extremism from Iraq.
At least 66 international troops have died in July, the bloodiest month of the nearly eight-year war.
Back to Top
Back to Top
US eyes private guards for bases in Afghanistan
By Richard Lardner, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan may hire a private contractor to provide around-the-clock security at dozens of bases and protect vehicle convoys moving throughout the country.
The possibility of awarding a security contract comes as the Obama administration is sending thousands of more troops into Afghanistan to quell rising violence fueled by a resurgent Taliban. As the number of American forces grow over the next several months, so too does the demand to guard their outposts.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he wants to cut back on the use of contractors that now provide a wide range services to American troops in war zones, including transportation, communications, food service, construction, and maintenance. As recently as February, however, Gates called the use of private security contractors in certain parts of Afghanistan "vital" to supporting U.S. bases. A contract for the work also creates job opportunities for Afghans, he said.
But the use of private contractors in Iraq has been highly contentious. Since a September 2007 shooting of Iraqi civilians in Baghdad by guards employed by Blackwater (now Xe Services), critics have urged U.S. officials to maintain much tighter controls over hired guards.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Army published a notice July 10 informing interested contractors it was contemplating a contract for "theater-wide" armed security.
"The contract would provide for a variety of security services, to include the static security of compounds on which U.S. and coalition forces reside, and for the protection of mission essential convoys in and around forward operating bases located throughout Afghanistan," the notice states.
No formal request for proposals has been issued. If the military decides to move ahead, a contract could be awarded by Dec. 1.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Suicide attackers strike southeastern Afghan city
By Jason Straziuso And Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writers – Sun Jul 26, 4:32 am ET
KABUL – Less than a month before Afghanistan's presidential election, Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests attacked a provincial capital Saturday, triggering gunbattles that killed seven militants. U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said it is "extraordinary" to hold a presidential election during a war.
U.S. and NATO forces have stepped up operations in hopes of ensuring enough security for a strong voter turnout for Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election.
The assault in Khost began when at least six Taliban fighters carrying AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the area around the main police station and a nearby government-run bank. All were shot and killed before they could detonate their suicide vests, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
A seventh attacker detonated a car rigged with explosives near a police rapid reaction force, wounding two policemen, the ministry said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said all the attackers were killed, but the Defense Ministry later said an eighth attacker may have escaped. The ministry said no government forces were killed but 14 people were wounded — 11 civilians and three police.
The attack came five days after Taliban militants launched near-simultaneous assaults in Gardez, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Khost, and in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Six Afghan police and intelligence officers and eight militants died in the two attacks.
Though the three attacks did not kill large numbers of Afghan or U.S. security forces, they showed the tenuous security situation in Afghanistan's countryside. Such attacks grab headlines in Afghanistan and raise the question of whether voters can safely go to polls.
The U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, alluded to those concerns, saying Saturday it was "extraordinary" to hold an election in the middle of war. He said the vote faces "many complex challenges," including security issues and access to polls for women. Authorities need a respectable turnout for the results to appear credible both here and in countries supporting the government.
Holbrooke met separately with President Hamid Karzai and his top two challengers — former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani.
Abdullah told Holbrooke that he is struggling to fight Karzai's built-in advantage as president with government assets at his disposal.
The former foreign minister noted a recent election commission report that said 70 percent of election coverage on the country's state TV channel goes to Karzai. "That's a very worrying sign," Abdullah said. "All the ministers, the main ones, are out doing campaign work."
Holbrooke said he was "concerned" over reports of state media bias. Karzai's campaign has denied the president is using government tools to campaign.
Karzai is believed to be the favorite to win the presidency, but he must win more than 50 percent on Aug. 20 to avoid a run-off. Analysts say it is likely Karzai will win unless the almost 40 challengers rally behind a single opposition candidate.
Holbrooke and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry toured the election commission and watched dozens of Afghans enter voter registrations into banks of computers. He said the "whole world" will be watching the election.
Responding to a question at a news conference about whether there was enough security in the countryside to hold a vote, Holbrooke said: "Do you want the Afghanistan people to abandon the election in the face of a small band of Taliban?"
U.S. troops helped provide security during the Khost attack but were not involved in the battle.
Khost is about 15 miles (20 kilometers) from the Pakistani border and has long been a flash point because of smuggling across the frontier. Last May, 11 Taliban suicide bombers struck government buildings in Khost, killing 20 people and wounding three Americans.
Also Saturday, a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province, the focus of major offensives by U.S. and British forces. The soldier was the 20th British service member killed in Afghanistan this month and the 189th since the war began in 2001.
Fighting has increased sharply in Afghanistan this month after President Barack Obama ordered thousands more U.S. troops to the country, shifting the focus of the war against Muslim extremism from Iraq.
At least 66 international troops have died in July, the bloodiest month of the nearly eight-year war.
Back to Top
Back to Top
FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 26
26 Jul 2009 13:39:57 GMT
July 26 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1330 GMT on Sunday:
* KUNDUZ - Taliban gunmen ambushed a convoy in which President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running mate Mohammad Qasim Fahim was travelling in northern Kunduz province, provincial governor Mohammad Omar and campaign officials said. Fahim, one of two vice presidential candidates in the Aug. 20 election, was unhurt but one of his bodyguards was wounded, they said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
* NURISTAN - Afghan and foreign troops killed 16 Taliban insurgents in artillery strikes in eastern Nuristan province on Saturday, the Defence Ministry said.
* HELMAND - A landmine planted by insurgents killed three private security guards and wounded two in the Nahar Saraj district of southern Helmand province on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said.
PAKTIKA - A roadside bomb killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded three in southeastern Paktika province on Saturday, the Defence Ministry said.
NANGARHAR - A roadside bomb killed two road workers in eastern Nangarhar province, the Interior Ministry said.
SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN - A soldier from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died of wounds suffered in an attack by insurgents on Saturday in southern Afghanistan, ISAF said in a statement.
KANDAHAR - A roadside bomb wounded a passenger in a vehicle in the centre of Kandahar city in the south, residents said. The target of the bomb was not immediately clear.
(Compiled by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Paul Tait)
Back to Top
Back to Top
Italy vows more hardware for troops in Afghanistan
26 Jul 2009 12:29:27 GMT
ROME, July 26 (Reuters) - Italy vowed on Sunday to supply more military hardware to its troops in Afghanistan after three more soldiers were wounded in attacks, prompting a member of the ruling coalition to call for the contingent to be withdrawn.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said two attacks on Saturday in western Afghanistan, which left three Italian soldiers injured, were a confirmation the Taliban was intensifying violence before the Aug. 20 presidential election.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government has already committed to strengthening its presence in the NATO peacekeeping force to around 3,300 troops ahead of the poll.
"There is visibly an escalation (in violence). The attacks of the latest hours demonstrate that," Frattini told Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday.
"We will increase the use of Predator (unmanned surveillance aircraft) and Tornado (fighters), not just for reconnaissance but for real coverage (of troops)."
He also said Italy would reinforce the armour of its Lince troop carriers and send new generation armoured vehicles.
This month, Corporal Alessandro Di Lisio became the 14th Italian soldier killed in Afghanistan when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near the western town of Farah.
In NATO-ally Britain, rising military deaths in Afghanistan have prompted concern that soldiers lack the necessary equipment. Army chiefs have called for more troops, helicopters and armoured vehicles to reduce casualties, but Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the mission has the resources it needs.
Umberto Bossi, leader of the Northern League party which forms a crucial part of Italy's ruling centre-right coalition, said the results of the Italian presence in Afghanistan did not justify the high costs involved.
"I would bring them all home," Bossi said, asked about the latest troops wounded.
Berlusconi has insisted the Italian contingent, the sixth largest in the NATO mission, was essential "for the stability of a strategic region".
The commander of Italian forces in Afghanistan, General Rosario Castellano, said tensions could increase ahead of the elections but the violence was a sign of desperation by insurgents who were being pushed out of areas they controlled.
"The attacks on NATO forces show that the strategy put in place by the international coalition is working," he said in a statement. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Back to Top
Back to Top
UK to donate $370 mln in Afghan development process
KABUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday met with Minister of Overseas Development of United Kingdom(UK) Douglas Alexander and discussed the current situation in Afghanistan and the region, according to a statement issued by the presidential palace.
"Mr. Douglas Alexander praised the recent developments in Afghanistan, especially the increase of tax income, and development of agriculture sector and British government will grant 225 million Pounds (some 370 mln U.S. dollars) to support reconstruction in Afghanistan,"the statement said.
The British minister assured President Karzai that his country supports development process in Afghanistan and will continue its donation to the post-Taliban country.
Both sides discussed about development projects and boosting security in southern Helmand province where UK has deployed some 8,000 troopers to fight Taliban insurgents.
Back to Top
Back to Top
U.S. commander in Afghanistan shifts focus to protecting people
Gen. Stanley McChrystal says the military must work for the safety of the Afghan people, even if it means temporarily allowing the Taliban to operate more freely in remote areas.
Los Angeles Times By Julian E. Barnes July 26, 2009
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- The U.S. and its allies must change their mission to focus on protecting the Afghan people -- even if it means temporarily allowing the Taliban to operate relatively freely in sparsely populated areas, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said in an interview Saturday.
Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who was appointed to overhaul military operations in the country, discussed his new strategy to shift the course of a war that has become increasingly intense.
With the American public growing more anxious about rising death tolls, McChrystal has been charged with showing some progress in the next year.
"Everybody's watching. I don't mean just in the United States or Europe; the Taliban is watching, the people of Afghanistan are watching," said McChrystal, who assumed command last month. "They will judge our commitment to a new strategy, they will judge our resolve to a new strategy, our resolve to succeed."
The general, who did not say whether he would need additional troops, said his strategy is aimed at separating insurgents from noncombatants and increasing confidence in the Afghan government.
He acknowledged that U.S. and alliance forces cannot routinely enter some areas.
"Practically speaking, there are areas that are controlled by Taliban forces," he said. Over time, McChrystal said, the command will "reduce" those areas, but the first priority will to be to make sure populated areas are free of insurgent influence.
The U.S. has pulled up a few of its remote combat outposts and firebases in areas where they were doing little to protect the population, military officials said. McChrystal said that though some remote firebases would be eliminated, others would stay if they proved important in keeping insurgents away from populated areas.
"If the insurgents are in remote areas, they don't have access to what they need for success, which is population," McChrystal said.
McChrystal said the operation led by U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province is a key test of his strategy. Although planned before he took command, McChrystal said the offensive was well timed because it offered an opportunity to show that the U.S. and NATO alliance had changed tactics and would no longer move into an area, fight insurgents, then leave.
"What I don't think you will see as much of is big unit sweeps," he said. "Historically it doesn't work, but almost every counterinsurgency tries it and relearns the lesson."
Because of that familiar pattern, Afghan leaders in Helmand fear that the U.S. may leave after their clearing operations are complete, allowing Taliban forces to return.
McChrystal said U.S. forces must prove they are going to stay and help local governments get reestablished.
The interview took place on a wooden deck next to McChrystal's office just as the sun was setting on it -- both figuratively and literally. One of the general's few places of quiet repose, the deck, outfitted with an umbrella and chairs, will soon be torn up to create a mini-war room.
"So much for the ambience," McChrystal said.
McChrystal is in the midst of conducting a 60-day assessment of the war. He said he will wait until the last moment in mid-August to submit that report. But he has begun discussing his findings with officials in Washington.
In addition to implementing the new counterinsurgency strategy, McChrystal said, a key to turning around the war effort is improving and speeding the training of Afghan security forces; using intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft more effectively and overhauling how the military command operates and makes decisions.
McChrystal is overhauling his main command center, allowing Afghan military and police to participate in morning updates and share their information.
He also intends to build a series of "fusion cells" around the country where information from spy planes and other kinds of intelligence can quickly be turned into operations.
The commander has also been leaning on the U.S. military and other parts of the government to send their best people to the war. In a teleconference Friday with White House and Pentagon officials, McChrystal offered an assessment and said experienced hands were needed for the fight.
"It is important we put talent to this issue," he said. "We have to think our way through this problem; it is not going to be won through brute force."
McChrystal has also ordered a review of how the military uses reconnaissance planes such as Predator drones and U-2 spy planes.
Some commanders use the drones to troll for information over a wide area. McChrystal wants to end such air patrols and instead use the Predators to watch specific targets.
"If you don't know what you are looking for . . . then it becomes wasteful," McChrystal said.
He said he and his advisors have determined that they can both increase the rate at which the Afghan security forces are trained and build the size of the force beyond the current goals. Under current plans, the U.S. is trying to create an army of 135,000 soldiers and a police force of 80,000 officers by 2011.
The recommendation is still being reviewed, but the military has begun to overhaul the training effort. McChrystal is pushing for a much closer partnership between Afghan security forces and units from the U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In addition to trainers who live and work with Afghan security forces, McChrystal wants international military units to work more closely with Afghans.
"Whether we grow the Afghan security forces faster or not, partnering closer is to our benefit and we can do it better," McChrystal said.
Some military officials have said turning around the war in Afghanistan will not happen as quickly as in Iraq because there is little likelihood that fighters in Afghanistan will lay down their arms en masse as many Sunni Arabs in Iraq did.
But McChrystal said he thought there was significant potential to "re-integrate" Taliban fighters and leaders into Afghan society because most fighters are neither politically motivated nor ideological.
Instead, he said, they are under the sway of charismatic leaders, working for pay or frustrated with their local government, meaning that they can be persuaded to stop fighting.
julian.barnes@latimes.com
Back to Top
Back to Top
Pakistan seizes key pro-Taliban cleric
(CNN) -- A pro-Taliban cleric who helped negotiate a short-lived cease-fire between the militant organization and the Pakistani government was arrested Sunday in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
Sufi Muhammad, the head of the banned jihadi organization Tehreek e Nifaz e Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) -- which translates as the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Sharia Law -- was detained in the town of Seethi, near Peshawar, intelligence and police sources told CNN.
Muhammad's two sons, Rizwanullah and Ziaullah, and one friend, Mulvi Tahir, were also arrested. North West Frontier Province officials confirmed Muhammad's arrest, though not the reason for his detention, at a news conference in Peshawar.
In February, Muhammad acted as an intermediary between the government and the Taliban in negotiations over a cease fire in return for the imposition of Sharia law in the Swat Valley.
However, the agreement was short-lived and in April he withdrew his support, claiming that the government was not holding its side of the agreement.
Muhammad had been jailed by Pakistan authorities previously and was released in 2008 after agreeing to renounce violence and work towards peace.
He is also the father-in-law of Maulana Fazullah, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley.
Violence in the Swat Valley has had devastating affect on the region's residents.
The United Nations estimates that 375,000 Swat Valley residents fled their homes during the fighting. In all, 2.5 million Pakistanis were displaced in what was said to be one of the largest human migrations in recent history.
About 260,000 people have been living in 21 refugee camps in neighboring Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Peshawar and Charssada districts, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says the "vast majority" of internally displaced Pakistanis have been staying with host families, in rented homes or in schools.
Back to Top
Back to Top
1,500 OFWs still in Afghanistan
Sun Star - Jul 26 6:09 AM
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- About 1,500 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are still struggling to work in war-torn Afghanistan, risking life and limb despite an existing ban prohibiting Filipinos in working and traveling to the said country.
This was bared on Sunday by Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) Administrator Carmelita Dimson, saying that the information was relayed to her by Ronald dela Cruz and Juan Pelayo Jr. -- the two Kapampangan OFWs which were earlier stranded in Afghanistan.
Pelayo and dela Cruz are reportedly among those illegally deployed to Afghanistan.
Dimson said that the 1,500 OFWs are mostly from Luzon and have entered the war-torn country in the prospect of looking for high-paying jobs. But Dimson said the OFWs are merely risking life and limb since they are not properly monitored.
“The peace situation in Afghanistan is still a major consideration why the country placed a ban on our workers to seek employment or travel to that country,” Dimson said. Of the 1,500 OFWs, 500 are in Kabul and 1,000 in Southern Afghanistan.
The death of 10 OFWs was confirmed by their employer, a US-based construction firm, to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the Filipino workers were onboard the aircraft which malfunctioned during takeoff and plunged to the ground. Among the dead were four Kapampangans.
Dimson said they are coordinating with authorities in Afghanistan as well as with the DFA to check on the status and safety of the remaining 1,500 OFWs and possible process their safe return home.
The Owwa official said the government has a long-standing ban on the deployment of OFWs to Afghanistan due to security concerns. She also reminded that the deployment ban imposed by the government against Afghanistan is still in effect since the peace and order situation in the Arab country remains a threat for OFWs.
The government's policy against OFWs in Afghanistan has offloaded at least 13 workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) during an operation of the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (TFAIR) last week. (IOF)
Back to Top
Back to Top
US military increases attacks on Afghan drugs
By JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
KABUL — U.S. Marines and Afghan forces have found and destroyed hundreds of tons of poppy seeds, opium and heroin in southern Afghanistan this month in raids that a top American official said show the new U.S. counter narcotics strategy in Afghanistan is working.
U.S. and NATO troops are attacking drug warehouses in Afghanistan for the first time this year, a new strategy to counter the country's booming opium poppy and heroin trade. NATO defense ministers approved the targeted drug raids late last year, saying the link between Taliban insurgents and drug barons was clear.
U.N. officials say Taliban fighters reap hundreds of millions of dollars from the drug trade each year, profits used to fund the insurgency.
The U.S. announced last month it would no longer support the destruction of individual farmers' poppy plants, and instead would increase attacks on drug warehouses controlled by powerful drug lords — a wholesale change in strategy.
U.S. Marines, British troops and Afghan forces supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have increasingly targeted drug warehouses in Helmand and Kandahar provinces — the largest opium poppy growing region in the world.
Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said early evidence indicated the new strategy was working.
"This administration set out to reverse the counter narcotics program by de-emphasizing crop eradication and emphasizing interdiction," Holbrooke told The Associated Press on Saturday. "The forces in the south are actually making that a reality. It's a historic change if it's successful, and the first indications were very, very promising."
Seizures made this summer illustrate the huge quantities of drugs the military can destroy.
Marines in Helmand working alongside DEA-mentored Afghan police seized 297 tons of poppy seeds, 77 pounds (35 kilograms) of heroin and 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of opium in raids in mid-July. Some 1,200 pounds (550 kilograms) of hashish and 4,225 gallons (16,000 liters) of chemicals used to convert opium to heroin were also seized.
"This wasn't an accident. This was planned interdiction," Holbrooke said.
Bomb-making materials, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s were also seized, underscoring what the U.S. Embassy said was "the connection between drug trafficking and the insurgency."
"We consider the link between narcotics trafficking and the insurgency to be a security and force protection threat, and therefore a legitimate target," said U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker. "The narcotics industry has a corrosive influence across all aspects of Afghan society and inhibits our work to provide a secure environment."
For years the U.S. strategy has centered on training Afghan forces to eradicate farmers' poppy fields by hand. But such efforts never destroyed a significant portion of the crops. Farmers complained that the program targeted small, helpless poppy growers and passed over more powerful land owners. And the forces came under constant attack by militants.
Holbrooke said the U.S. efforts cost about $44,000 to eradicate 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of poppies. Overall the U.S. spent about $45 million a year on eradication, he said. Holbrooke has called eradication efforts a waste of money.
Mohammad Ibrahimi Azhar, deputy minister of Afghanistan's Counter Narcotics Ministry, said he was "very happy" with the new U.S. strategy but that his ministry would continue eradication efforts. He said farmers needed to be fearful their crops might be cut down.
"Many years we have done this activity. If we stop, all 34 provinces would cultivate" poppies," Azhar said.
Governors across Afghanistan, particularly in the more peaceful regions, lead poppy eradication efforts. The governors are paid $135 for each hectare, or about 2.5 acres, destroyed, a program funded in part by Britain.
Azhar said 98 percent of Afghanistan's poppy crop is grown in five southern insurgency-plagued provinces, where the government has little or no control. That is where U.S., Afghan and British forces have been destroying drug warehouses.
On July 14, U.S. coalition and Afghan forces searched compounds in Kandahar and found bomb-making materials, mortar rounds, AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of opium.
In early June, British forces destroyed 12,125 pounds (5,500 kilograms) of opium paste during two helicopter-borne assaults. The operation destroyed 10 narcotic manufacturing facilities, 485 pounds (220 kilograms) of morphine and 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of heroin.
The operation was backed by British and Canadian helicopters and U.S. jets that flew in from the Persian Gulf.
In the latest Afghan violence, a U.S. service member died Saturday during a clash with insurgents in the south, the U.S. military said Sunday, bringing to at least 39 the number of U.S. troops killed this month.
July has been the deadliest month for U.S. and NATO forces in the Afghan war. Some 60,000 U.S. forces now operate in Afghanistan — a record number.
Also Sunday, one of President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running mates in next month's election escaped injury when his convoy came under fire in northern Afghanistan.
Mohammad Qasim Fahim, the former commander of the Northern Alliance that helped oust the Taliban in 2001, was traveling from Kunduz to Takhar province when militants opened fire on his 30-vehicle convoy, said Kunduz Gov. Mohammad Omar.
A Karzai aide, Abdul Jalal, said one cameraman working for the campaign was wounded and Fahim's armored car was struck by bullets but the candidate was not hurt.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghans look beyond bickering leaders
Times Online July 26, 2009
Enterprising village chiefs are not waiting for election candidates to secure their future, ahead of next month's poll
WHEN Haji Faqirullah, the malik (head) of Korak Dana village, decided to marry off all five of his grandsons in one ceremony last year, there was an outcry in the community.
“People were shocked,” he laughed. “They were all complaining: that means you feed us only once instead of five times.”
That was exactly the point. Sitting in the shade of some mulberry trees, Faqirullah runs his fingers through his long white beard and plays with a mobile phone as he explains: “I was fed up with seeing everyone in my village bankrupted by weddings and wanted to set an example.”
High on the Shomali plains north of Kabul, in a landscape dominated by the snow-topped Hindu Kush mountains, Korak Dana is poor but extremely beautiful. Streams run through lush fields of green grapes, men wobble along stony lanes on donkeys and bicycles and women in blue burqas flit between the mudwalled compounds.
Like much of Afghanistan it has seen decades of war, first against the Russians, then different mujaheddin groups and lastly the Taliban. At one point Faqirullah led the entire village on a 17-hour exodus to the Panjshir valley during which several elders and children drowned crossing a river.
Today, far from the south and east of the country, where the Taliban have returned, the villagers want to move on from their troubled past.
Afghanistan will vote next month in its second presidential election since the Taliban were ousted eight years ago. In villages such as Korak Dana, with entrenched tribal traditions, notions of modern democracy may seem remote. Faqirullah says the elders have met several times to discuss how to vote and women tell me they will cast their ballots as instructed by their men.
Although only 90 minutes' drive from Kabul, the village is still waiting for the government to build a road, bring electricity or open a factory that could give work to their young men. Meanwhile, it is the villagers who are making changes.
Ainuddin, the local teacher, leads me inside a low building and smiles at my astonishment as we enter a magical room of light and letters. Every inch of the mud walls is plastered with papers covered in drawing and writing, and more flutter from the ceiling.
For $100 (£60) a month provided by the charity Habitat for Humanity, he has made it his mission to teach the villagers to read and write. Fifty illiterate men and women attend his classes. Muhammad Mahfouz, 28, who never went to school because of war, walks four miles each way. “An illiterate is like a blind man,” he said. “I want to read so I can solve my problems for myself.”
An even more radical departure is the end of costly weddings. “The poorest family would spend $6,000 minimum on the marriage of a son,” said one woman, Parwin. “Imagine, some of us have five sons. All the time we were selling land and borrowing money to pay.”
Faqirullah said the village had been falling apart. “We had this crazy situation where the day after the wedding the bride would be left sitting alone in the house while her husband went off to Iran to work to pay for it all.”
Encouraged by female Afghan lawyers from the Women and Children Legal Resource Foundation, Faqirullah led the way in showing there was no shame in modest weddings.
Now villagers hold tea parties for the betrothed instead of banquets with rice and goat meat, or join together in mass weddings. All agree this simple step is making more difference to their lives than anything since the end of the Taliban.
While villagers such as these want to move on, the country's leaders seem wedded to the past. Kabul is dominated by giant billboards from which the face of President Hamid Karzai stares out next to the brutish features of Marshal Mohammed Qasim Fahim, the Tajik former warlord he has chosen as his running-mate.
Fahim was blamed in a Human Rights Watch report in 2005 for “systematic human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law” such as murdering prisoners of war in the 1990s.
The president has also secured the support of General Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek warlord known for running over his enemies with tanks.
Ordinary Afghans and the international community are horrified by the reemergence of such figures. Among the most vocal in protesting to the president was Kai Eide, the top United Nations official in Afghanistan.
“We need more competent politicians and fewer warlords,” he said. “There's been a very significant improvement in government over the past seven or eight months with some new reformist ministers and we don't want to lose that.”
Although Karzai used to blame the warlords for the destruction in Afghanistan, supporters say he has had little alternative but to work with them.
Prince Ali Siraj, the grandson of one king and the great-nephew of another, sits in a house full of black-and-white photographs of his illustrious ancestors.
“The most important thing Karzai has done is keep this country together,” he said. “He has to make deals with strong men to avoid breaking Afghanistan into north and south.”
This election is far more hotly contested than the last in 2004. Then, there was no doubt about the victory of Karzai, who had been installed as interim president by the West.
The international community and local population now seem equally disenchanted. A poll in May showed Karzai's support was down from 55% to 31%, although the next highest candidate scored only 7%.
To ensure reelection, Karzai has had to turn to regional powerbrokers. “Dostum got 1.2m votes in the last election,” said the president's elder brother Mahmoud Karzai, a businessman who is running his campaign. “We can't ignore that.”
To the fury of his international backers, Karzai also pardoned one of Afghanistan's few convicted heroin traffickers because he came from a powerful family.
“I prefer to call it forgiving, not pardoning,” Karzai told The Sunday Times. “It's giving a new chance to someone whose
family has made many sacrifices for this country.”
Although it is hard to find anyone in Kabul who says they will vote for Karzai, most expect him to win because of support from his fellow Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group. He has been helped by the failure of the opposition to unite behind one candidate. There are 41 candidates, most of whom have no hope. Two are women, one a psychiatrist and the other the widow of a murdered aviation minister.
The 51-year-old president's main challengers are two former ministers, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, 49, an ophthalmologist and former foreign minister, and Ashraf Ghani, a 60-year-old academic and former finance minister.
Both took part in the country's first presidential debate last Thursday, broadcast by the private Tolo network on radio and television. An empty podium stood between them after Karzai refused to take part in the discussion.
“He didn't want to favour one channel,” said his brother. Others said he was scared.
Ghani came over better in the debate, helped by advice from James Carville, the US strategist who oversaw the election of President Bill Clinton in 1992.
Aiming to attract the votes of young people – about two-thirds of the population is under 25 – he promised to create 1m jobs and provide wider access to education.
Support is mounting for Abdullah, however. He is well known for his past in the mujaheddin, who fought the Soviet occupation.
Among his backers is Karzai's uncle, Asadullah Wasafi, one of the country's most respected tribal elders. “It's because Karzai is my nephew that I know he's not capable,” he said.
The biggest challenge is making sure the election happens. In the Election Commission office in Kabul, British-printed ballot papers are being sent to 7,000 polling stations. Thousands of donkeys have been hired to reach remote areas.
With security worsening in the face of an increasingly powerful Taliban insurgency, the big question mark is voter turnout, particularly in the southern Pashtun region. According to the latest UN security map, 164 of Afghanistan's 378 districts are highly unsafe. In May, for the first time, the number of violent incidents in a month passed 1,000.
General Karl Eikenberry, the former US commander in Afghanistan who recently returned as ambassador, said he was optimistic: “In spite of all the challenges, think about Afghanistan 10 or 20 years ago, when differences were being settled by Katyusha rockets fired into Kabul and tens of thousands of innocent civilians slaughtered, and here we are, the next president of Afghanistan being decided by open political debate.”
Back to Top
Disclaimer:
This news site is mostly a compilation of publicly accessible articles
on the Web in the form of a link or saved news item. The news articles
and commentaries/editorials are protected under international copyright
laws. All credit goes to the original respective source(s).